You Never Forget Your First… Fantasycon 

We’re entering the home straight: Fantasycon looms in the near-future! To get us ready, we asked previous attendees to tell us about their first time, or any abiding memories from cons of yore. The fabulous Sarah Elliott starts us off.

So, where can I get a costume from? Costume shops have closed so is everything online? What shall I dress up as? What would be an easy make-at-home costume? Find some furry slippers and go as a hobbit? I knew I should have kept my wedding dress even after I got divorced. Long flowy white dress – yes Lady Galadriel! 

Many, many thoughts running through my mind after I’d booked my one-day ticket to my first FantasyCon last year. It was in Birmingham therefore local to where I live in Nottingham, and I could get the train there. That would avoid the additional anxiety of getting lost driving in the Birmingham one-way system. A three-day event. I don’t think so. Not only do I dislike being away from home (I detest packing), but I was also not ready to spend three days with a bunch of strangers.

Thank goodness I knew one person – Lauren McMenemy. She who is essentially the Pied Piper of spec fic luring me along a one-way path to genre delight! I think I asked Lauren if I needed to dress up or anything. I really didn’t know what to expect. (Imagine if she’d told me I did have to dress up…) I’d heard of ComicCon so I’d assumed it would be the same thing but with Fantasy characters. Thankfully, no dressing up involved. My list of anxieties was fast decreasing. Lauren kept reassuring me that genre people are some of the nicest people around.

And Lauren was right.

I didn’t want to go into this event unprepared, so I’d packed snacks, water, a phone charger, and a book I wanted signed by the author. The advance programme was mega useful although I took days to decide which panels I wanted to attend. There was so much choice. I highlighted a few possibilities and eventually decided on the day. 

I’m really grateful I had Lauren acting as my ‘buddy’ for the day. I got to watch her in action on a panel (swells with pride), had someone to talk to about the panels we’d attended and even better, someone who wasn’t going to rein me in when buying books!

Everyone was so nice. Volunteers supporting the event were friendly and welcoming. New people I met had a smile for me and I basically got to spend a whole day immersed in topics I found exciting, ideas I found intriguing and best of all, I hardly felt the need to mask. These were my people. I even spotted the rare protected species known as People of Colour attending a spec fic literary event. They would never believe me at home!

It wasn’t all ‘raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens.’ What I found most difficult was navigating the rooms. It was like a labyrinth and Ariadne hadn’t given me a ball of thread. I think I would have benefitted from arriving a bit earlier and doing a bit of a reccy to familiarise myself. Obviously, there were priorities like locating every single toilet in the building and finding out where I could buy some food. Funny how ‘within walking distance’ means different things to different people. Overall though I left with no regrets and ended up joining BFS!

So, this year I’m jumping right in and attending the whole weekend. I’ve decided to stay at the hotel where FantasyCon 2024 is being hosted. I don’t have to worry about finding my way between a separate hotel and a venue. Seriously, I can get lost following directions that are basically ‘follow the street all the way to the end’ because on the way something will distract me, and I will hallucinate a different set of directions altogether.

I’ve booked my train ticket, because surprise surprise, I won’t be driving lest I end up in Liverpool. I’m arriving in plenty of time so I can lay a breadcrumb trail.  I’m not the most social person in the world but I can be sociable and I’m looking forward to seeing familiar faces I’ve seen at other events since last year’s FantasyCon. I’d love to connect with some of the BFS members who chat on the Discord channel too. My confidence has definitely grown. So much in fact that…

…I’m moderating a panel this year! The plea for involvement went out and in a moment of impulsivity, I filled in the form. I cannot remember what I put as it was a while back when I sent it off. But not only am I moderating a panel, I’m taking part in two others. I don’t even feel like I’m an expert in those areas but at the end of the day, I can state an opinion. Nobody said anything about requiring a PhD (I know some panel members have these so let’s avoid Imposter Syndrome Alley). I write spec fic. I read spec fic. I watch spec fic, and I’m enthused to be a part of the community. 

I don’t quite know how to describe FantasyCon to someone outside the reader/writer/publisher community. I guess I see it as a mini quest. I need a plan. I need to prepare, and I need an end goal. Fight off the internal demons of self-doubt, anxiety, trepidation, procrastination and possible overwhelm. Collect treasures of subtle humour, inspiration, shared interests, wonderful books and deep knowledge. The main thing in any quest though? The camaraderie. It can’t be beaten. Genre people really are the nicest people. Come and join the BFS Fellowship. See you there at FantasyCon!

(Pictured: Lauren, Sarah and fellow BFS member Peter Rothe)

Grab your ticket to Fantasycon here, or check out the programme.