Me with Jodi Cleghorn, holding eMergent Press books. Pic by Bothersome Words

I attended my first writing convention (‘con’ for those in the know) over the Canberra long weekend and what a hoot it was. I met some amazingly talented SpecFic authors, editors and fans and had a blast hanging out with my good friend Jodi Cleghorn, who came down from Brisbane for the event.

Conflux is held every year in Canberra, except when WorldCon gets in the way. This year was Conflux number 7 and was chaired by the fabulous Karen Herkes and featured a dinner aboard the ‘Graf Zeppelin’ with an authentic 1929 dinner created by Gillian Polack. We had a great time dressing up. I even made a dress (see below)!

Other, more organised Conflux folk have beaten me to a comprehensive wrap, so here are some links you should check out:

Zena Shapter

Alan Baxter

Bothersome Words

Nicole Murphy

Me with Jodi Cleghorn and Patty Jansen. Photo by Bothersome Words

Let me know if I’ve missed any!

So how did I enjoy (aka survive) it? Lots of yakking, a little bit of reading, a little bit of eating and a little bit of drinking. I’m reliably informed that the more cons I attend, the more yakking, reading, eating and drinking there will be. I must work on my con-stamina before the next one approaches at the end of September 2011. That will be but one leap-frog away from Conflux 9, which is double-hatted as NatCon13. Looking forward already to seeing all my new-found writer friends again next year. Until then, there’s Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.

Devin, Lawrie, John and me. Pic by Bothersome Words