The long hallways of the Queen Mary.
I have to say, so far, Stokercon 2017 has been great. For those of you who don’t know what Stokercon is, it’s the annual convention of the Horror Writers Association. This year, it’s located in Long Beach, CA at the historic Queen Mary.
The trip out wasn’t too great. My flight was in the afternoon, and security at the airport was sloooooow. I gave myself plenty of time, so there wasn’t a rush, but it’s never fun to stand in line for a long time. Plus, and I knew this was coming, they had to inspect my bag. I suppose when you have 30 books in your bag and it goes through the scanner, it looks a little weird.
The plane was packed as well; however, Jet Blue Airlines is great. Even the cheap seats had enough room to make them comfortable, plus they had free WiFi.
The real horror began with the cab ride from the airport to the Queen Mary itself. The ride gave me flashbacks of public transportation in Ecuador, the only difference being the car was nicer. The cabbie pushed that Prius as fast as it would go, but was constantly hitting the brakes, then speeding back up, weaving in and out of traffic. We about hit another Prius in front of us that was almost hit by a truck (California is the land of the Prius by the way). Yet, I survived!
After checking in and getting my books to the vendor here for consignment, I finally got to wander around. Meeting up with old friends from Seton Hill, and friends from my local HWA chapter was great. Socializing and networking is really what these conventions are about in my mind. The panels and other activities are secondary. I’ve already made some new friends and I’m sure before the convention is over, I’ll have made some more contacts.
The ship is great as well. There is so much history packed into these walls. I’m going to go on a haunted ghost tour of the ship, but check out some of these pics.
The trip out wasn’t too great. My flight was in the afternoon, and security at the airport was sloooooow. I gave myself plenty of time, so there wasn’t a rush, but it’s never fun to stand in line for a long time. Plus, and I knew this was coming, they had to inspect my bag. I suppose when you have 30 books in your bag and it goes through the scanner, it looks a little weird.
The plane was packed as well; however, Jet Blue Airlines is great. Even the cheap seats had enough room to make them comfortable, plus they had free WiFi.
The real horror began with the cab ride from the airport to the Queen Mary itself. The ride gave me flashbacks of public transportation in Ecuador, the only difference being the car was nicer. The cabbie pushed that Prius as fast as it would go, but was constantly hitting the brakes, then speeding back up, weaving in and out of traffic. We about hit another Prius in front of us that was almost hit by a truck (California is the land of the Prius by the way). Yet, I survived!
After checking in and getting my books to the vendor here for consignment, I finally got to wander around. Meeting up with old friends from Seton Hill, and friends from my local HWA chapter was great. Socializing and networking is really what these conventions are about in my mind. The panels and other activities are secondary. I’ve already made some new friends and I’m sure before the convention is over, I’ll have made some more contacts.
The ship is great as well. There is so much history packed into these walls. I’m going to go on a haunted ghost tour of the ship, but check out some of these pics.
The opening ceremonies were fun. Mainly because I got to hang out with friends and meet this dude! George R.R. Martin! He’s such a nice guy too. I went up there to get my picture taken with him and he engaged me in conversation and seemed genuinely interested in who I was and what I do.
I haven’t seen any ghosts yet, but I plan on delving into that aspect a little more seriously tonight or tomorrow. Now it’s time to finish my overpriced (but delicious) breakfast, and get back to stoking the Stokercon fires.
RSS Feed