A WorldCon Recap

Well, it's been a week since I went back to work after a whirlwind 5 days at WorldCon Seattle...and it's been a very difficult transition! I miss the costumes, the hordes of people excited to talk about all things science fiction and fantasy, the rush of choosing between multiple fascinating subjects every hour. In comparison, my regular old day job has seemed dreary and boring.

This was my first WorldCon, and as soon as I heard it was happening in Seattle--my hometown!--I knew I had to go. I was a little worried, as I primarily write and read fantasy and I was concerned it would skew fully sci-fi. But this is a genre fan convention. It was fully welcoming to all genre fans; I never once felt out of place as a fantasy writer.

Despite a few organizational challenges and mishaps, I thoroughly enjoyed the con. It was my first time back at an in-person convention since 2019. Not only did my best friend travel out to attend with me, we also met some online writing friends in person for the first time, which made it even more special! As four writers, we found plenty of sessions to keep us busy--and I was pleasantly surprised at the number of available practical sessions, from broadsword training to teaching various crafts. I ended up taking a tiara-making workshop from Sarah Felix, who won a Hugo award that night for best fan artist!

The Hugo award ceremony was well worth the long line and 45-minute wait to get in, though I do wish I had some context of the special guests who presented some of the award categories. I decided not to stand in any book signing lines and avoided the sessions with the biggest names simply to prioritize competing sessions that were interesting to me and weren't being recorded.

Since the con was also an opportunity to spend time with my best friend, we prioritized quiet dinners debriefing our days over barcon (hanging out at the hotel bar with other attendees in the hopes of meeting someone well-known) or room parties, though there were plenty of options on that front. We both also masked whenever we were in the convention center, and we both walked away without COVID or any other illness. No small feat after spending five days with more than 5,000 strangers!

Now we're back in the real world, where we won't see astronauts on elevators or strangers comparing notes on their hand-sewn Renaissance outfits. But with lots of new connections, and lots of information about local cons happening throughout the year, I'm excited to stay connected to fandom.