DragonCon 2008

After reading about it forever, I went to DragonCon this year for the first time. It was awesome and went far beyond my expectations.

My son and I arrived to see the parade Saturday morning. We loved it. My little boy marveled at the comic book characters, cheered for the star wars troopers, and refused to give the witch with the detached hand a high five. As we hopped on the MARTA and headed home, he was just tickled pink.

After an hour or two, I headed back to the Con and got in line. It only took a few moments to get registered and head towards the first panel. The writer’s track turned out to be my first great choice of the con. The panels were great and gave me some great ideas. Keith DeCandido and Jospha Sherman were in several panels adding humor and valuable info. The best quote of the con came during one of these panels as well, “You need to drag the reader across the page by their eyeballs.”

Later, I decided to head over to the SF Lit track and check it out. This was my second great choice at the con. The panel “The golden age of Science Fiction” blew me away. The panelists were tremendously informed and the moderator was a cute young lady by the name of Stephanie Souders. She intrigued me a bit. It was odd to see a twenty-something sitting at the table between two older men, talking sensibly about fiction that was written way before she was born. I actually selected a couple of other literary track opportunities to see her specifically. She didn’t disappoint me and proved to be well informed and well spoken. Larry Davis was another great panelist. This track was terrific and complimented the writer’s track perfectly. Special thanks to Sue Phillips, the Track director.

Gaming at the con was another special experience. I played “Cash and Guns” one night and loved it so much I bought it the next day. Another day, I saw “Playing Gods” which premiered at the con. Bottom line, even if you’re not into fantasy and sci-fi, but love board, miniature, or card gaming, DragonCon still has something for you.

Overall, DragonCon is worth the 90 bucks I paid to go. I’ve signed up to go next year, and I encourage anyone who loves writing, fantasy, science fiction, gaming, robots, anime, movies, or just a good time to check the convention out in 2010.