Blackmoor Vituperative

SheVaCon was great, as always. Here are some high spots:

Friday

Registration was a breeze. There was no line at all at 17:00 or so, when we got there. We got our badges and then checked into the hotel. The Holiday Inn Roanoke Tanglewood is a terrific hotel. The room was large, and included frills like a refrigerator, microwave, and Wi-Fi. I wish I’d brought the 802.11g card for the laptop: I assumed I would have no use for it on our trip.

We didn’t do much Friday night but roam around and go to a few panels. I attended a sparsely-attended workshop on miniature painting by Bob Snare (one of the MarsCon organizers — he’ll be running the Dealer’s Room for MarsCon 2006). I learned quite a bit, to my surprise. Turns out I have been doing washes and dry-brushing wrong all this time. Well, maybe not wrong, but his figures definitely look better than most of mine. I’m going to try his technique on the next few I paint.

Saturday

Lots going on Saturday. In the morning to early afternoon, I ran a Champions game, The Testament Of Dr. Destroyer. Five people played: only one had ever played Hero System before, and that was a long while ago. To say the game was lively would be an understatement. I am sure the other people in the room would have liked us to be quieter. Fortunately, I don’t think any of them were actually gaming. SheVaCon isn’t really a gaming convention, alas. Maybe they’d attract more gamers if the game listing on the web site was kept up to date. The SheVaCon web site is under new management this year, so hopefully, it will be better for 2006. Another thing they could do better is post the game schedule on-site in a legible format. What was posted near the game room was like a tenth-generation Xerox copy of a Gantt chart. It also did not help that the RPGA games were in the convention area, and anything else (including my game) was hidden away on the fifth floor somewhere, without any indication of its being there. All in all, the con could do much better in the gaming arena.

After the game, I visited the con suite, which was terrific at SheVaCon, as always. I do wish people would let the hotdogs finish cooking before grabbing them, though.

Some other highlights of Saturday were the panels, the costume show, and the never-to-be-missed Nth Degree party. SheVaCon seems to atrract a literary crowd, at least in terms of guests. Most of the panels that I attended were concerned with the art and science of science fiction writing and publishing. Interesting stuff. I did not get into the costume show itself, because it was standing-room-only by the time I got there. Still, they all had to walk by me in the hallway to leave, so I got a good long gawk at the costumes. The ones which stand out in my memory were Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmations, the evil fairy Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, and the character Rayne from the Bloodrayne computer game. These were all good, but the one that realy impressed me was Rayne. She pegged the costume exactly, and she matched it physically, right down to the hair.

I spent a lot of time playing Bloodrayne.

There was an unusual event on Saturday: the world premiere of a movie called Apocalypse. Wow, was it bad: real Mystery Science Theater material. But the people who put on the show, which included the director and a few of the actors, were all good sports, and treated us to a terrific catered dinner. They looked like they had a good time making the movie, and for what it’s worth, it was still better than What The Bleep Do We Know?.

The high point of Saturday, of course, was the Nth Degree party, which is a blast at every convention. SheVaCon’s schedule for Saturday night didn’t amount to much more than various people reading their own stories out loud, which has never thrilled me. I’d much rather talk to them one on one at the Nth Degree party. Various folks associated with Meisha Merlin Publishing were in attendance, and were a pleasure to chat with, as always. There were other authors scattered here and there, as well: unfortunately, I do not remember most of their names, as I was pretty drunk at the time. However, I did have the opportunity to pick up a book for a friend: A Million Shades of Gray, by John C. Hertel. How many parties have you gone to where you can get a book signed by the author right in front of you? Nth Degree’s parties are simply fabulous. I hear they publish a damned fine magazine, too. You should check it out.

Sunday

Sunday is the day to browse the Dealer’s Room and spend any leftover cash that somehow hid in the bottom of your pockets all weekend. I came really close to buying some Reaper miniatures, but didn’t, since I’ve been spending way too much on stupid, ugly, plastic HeroClix to use as figures in our Champions games, and I need to take a break from spending money on gaming crap for a while. Susan picked up a book on writing fantasy, The Complete Guide To Writing Fantasy. I hope she writes something. I plan on reading the book as well, if I can ever find the time.

After that was saying good-bye and feeling bummed because the convention was over: that post-convention malaise. It was only the start of our Virginia Vacation, so I didn’t stay bummed long. After all, we had places to go and friends to see.