Romancing Dragon Con

It is time to gear up for things that go bump in the night, come from beyond, or below, or from a time past or a time which hasn’t yet occurred.  That is Dragon* Con in Atlanta Labor Day weekend each year. I’ve been attending the last few years, sitting in on the Writer’s Track to catch up on the writing news and trends and to rub elbows with old acquaintances.

Dragon*Con 2011There is a kickoff parade which stops traffic and has eyeballs popping. Fans of various genres, TV shows and movies, are garbed in superb costumes. To see Storm Troopers marching down Peachtree Street flanked by elves, fairies, the steampunk crowd and vampires is something Atlanta has come to expect.  I snap photos of strangers and marvel at their attention to the smallest detail in creating their costumes, then head for the exhibition hall for a gander at the most spectacular fantasy art. I usually find a trinket or two to take home.

Celebrities from film, television are on hand to meet their fans. William Shatner, who must have more energy than a nuclear plant, usually appears. Carrier Fisher is on the list, along with Lea Thompson, Kate Mulgrew, and dozens more representing decades of favorite fantasy and science fiction shows and movies. Authors of the fantastic abound too, including such chroniclers of vampires and other creatures of the night as Sherrilyn Kenyon, Charlaine Harris and Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (who was writing great romantic vampire fiction long before the current run on the blood banks).

I’ll be looking for the cast members from The Vampire Diaries, my current fav TV show. (I must count as the equivalent of several teenagers.) Sarah Canning and David Anders from TVD will be there, and maybe more.  There will also be a Vampire Diaries open casting call for paid extras during the con. I would give it a shot but I haven’t seen anyone over 40 on the show.

Dragon Con is great SF/Fantasy fun. Why is a romance author joining in? Because I have big plans for dark things. Before next year’s Dragon*Con Parade marches down Peachtree Street, I’ll have a paranormal tale of my own ready for readers. Nope! No peeking between the covers yet!  But if you come to Dragon* Con and see a romance writer amid the superheroes, Starfleet captains, Cylons, hobbits, wizards, and other strange visitors to our world, please say hello.

PS: If you are a Dragon Con fan/attendee, I’d love to hear what draws you to the con.

Vampire Love

Handsome, beautiful, desirable.  Vampires haven’t always been so.  As a child I saw a few vampire movies in which the vampires were horrifically ugly and frightening instead and would be victims were saved by wearing or waving a cross.

Around the same time a comic book I read had a vamp named Kitty who was no looker but who claimed she wasn’t really bad in spite of hovering around a town randomly attacking and draining to death her victims.  Townspeople had no clue a vampire was the culprit in those savage killings.

In the last scene a woman stepped out her back door with a bowl of milk and called, “Kitty, kitty, kitty”. Vampire kitty swooped in for the kill.  Blood dripping from her fangs she shrugged and said.  “I don’t want to kill them but they call me.”

To my kid’s mind, it could happen.  I had cats.  I put on my cross necklace and wore it for years.  Eventually, I grew up.  Vampires got better looking, more sophisticated, even desirable.  I’ve been a vampire fan since.

My good fortune is that the TV series The Vampire Diaries films near where I live.  The show is based on the L.J. Smith book series by the same name. To date I haven’t met any of the actors but have watched the shooting a few times.  I absolutely love the show even though I am not in their demographic.  It is beautifully cast and beautifully set.  Romance and danger, handsome vampires, humans and even werewolves, and a lot of heart stopping action (literally).

Recently I had the pleasure of attending a tea on the grounds of the home of Mayor Lockwood, one of the characters in Vampire Diaries.  That night on the square in Mystic Falls, (Covington, GA) a mock vigil was held for the characters who have met their demise in the first twos seasons. Great fun ruled as fans from all over lit candles and said goodbye.  The event was sponsored by Mystic Falls Tours and V.R.O. Radio.  I won a terrific autographed photo of good-looking Gino Anthony Pesi, Maddox on the show, in a charity auction.

Lovers of the paranormal, check out The Vampire Diaries.  If you wouldn’t leave your window open for one of the vampires on this show, you may already need a transfusion.

As a writer I’ve got my own vampire camping out in my head with all the other unwritten characters whose stories are waiting to be told.  It’s about time I got him out of there with my own version of Vampire Love.

http://mysticfallstours.com

http://www.thevro.com