Mysticon 2014

 

Rika Daniel, Tony Daniel, Laura Haywood-Cory & Gray Rinehart setting up for the live Baen podcast interview with Tom Kratman, Feb 22

Some of the attendees at the Losing Humanity to Artificial Intelligence Panel, Feb 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mysticon started as a small convention four years ago. Last year con tickets sold out on the second day of the convention.  So many attended that Holiday Inn Tanglewood could not accommodate them all and some attendees had to stay in a second hotel. This year, Mysticon 2014, which took place February 21 though 23, not only sold out before the convention began, but convention goers (including me) spilled over into a third hotel. Next year’s convention will probably sell out early as well, so I’d advise anyone interested in attending to register and reserve a hotel room early.

 

Opening Ceremonies with John de Lancie, Todd McCaffrey, A. J. Hartley, and (behind) Rich Sigfrit, Feb 21

Opening ceremonies with guests A. J. Hartley, John Jennings & John Jones, Feb 21

Opening Ceremonies with (front) Bella Morte, (back) John Jones and Kenneth Hite, and (behind) Carla Brindle, Feb 21

 

This year’s guests of honor included Media Guest of Honor John de Lancie; Author Guest of Honor Todd McCaffrey; Special Author Guest A. J. Hartley; Artist Guest of Honor John Jennings; Musical Guest of Honor Bella Morte; Fan Guest of Honor John Jones; Gaming Guest of Honor Kenneth Hite; and Master of Ceremonies Rich Sigfrit.

 

Panel: Losing Humanity to Artificial Intelligence with Tom Kratman, Sunny Moraine, Peter Prellwitz, and Randy Richards, Feb 21

Panel: Dragons through the Ages with Steven S. Long, Todd McCaffrey, Alexandra Christian, Randy Richards, and Cassidy Cornblatt, Feb 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scheduled activities, which commenced at 3 PM on Friday and finished up at 4 PM on Sunday, included panels on writing and many other topics, musical and magic performances, workshops, open gaming, video gaming, LARP gaming, Koffee Klatch author readings/performances, author signings, Indie films, the costume masquerade, the art show, the dealers’ room, and much more. Drinks and light snacks were available throughout the day in the hospitality suite; more substantial fare could be purchased at 10 Forward Food Concessions or in the hotel’s Elephant Walk Lounge.

 

Panel: Spooky Tales — Writing Ghost Stories with Alexandra Christian, Tally Johnson, and KT Pinto, Feb 21

Panel: LOL — Writing Humorous Speculative Fiction with Andrew Luckett, Travis Surber, Alexandra Christian, KT Pinto, and Patrick Thomas, Feb 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every convention has its own flavor, and each year some special event makes that year’s convention unique. This year, however, three occurrences at Mysticon 2014 made the event especially memorable. On Saturday, the fire alarm went off — a false alarm. This happened two years ago as well, but at least this time it was in the late afternoon instead of the middle of the night. The convention also had an impressive dragon cake in the Hospitality Suite. The cake had a two-fold purpose: first, to honor the guest appearance of Todd McCaffrey, who has continued the legacy of his mother Anne; and second, to honor the third memorable event, the wedding of Charles and Emily at the close of the Opening Ceremonies. It was wonderful being a guest at their wedding, and we at Author Chronicles wish them a healthy and joyous life together.

 

The wedding of Charles and Emily, Feb 21, 2014

The Dragon Cake, Feb 21

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some of the panels and activities presented at the convention:

For those interested in art: Does Art Work Sell the Game?; Spinning a Web Comic; Painting Is Such Sweet Sorrow; Beyond the Paintbrush:Non-Traditional Mediums of Artistic Expression; Introduction to Acrylic Painting; Beauty of Science; Drawing Portraits and Figures; The Basics of Drawing

For children and families: Flabbergast the Wizard: Comedy Magic for the Whole Family;Magic Lessons; Starship Farragut Animated; Steampunk Kids Sing-Along

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those interested in costuming: 2 Hour Costume Workshop; The Mindful Paparazzi; Mask Casting Workshop; You Wear It Well: Owning the Costume; Costume Fusion; Cosplay hints and Tips; Costuming: Form, Function, and Fantasy; Henna Workshop

For those interested in fandom topics: Nerdiquette; Random Fandom Fun; Are You Ready to Rumble? Wrestling Guests; Raising the Next Generation of Geeks

 

Panel: The Evolution of YA Literature with Tiffany Trent, Angie Smibert, Michael M. Jones, and Stuart Jaffe, Feb 21

Panel: Tooting Your Own Horn with Gail Z. Martin, Michael A. Ventrella, Gray Rinehart, Tally Johnson, and Michael Pederson, Feb 23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those interested in gaming: Costumed Roleplaying, LARPing 101; Indie RPG & Kickstarter Q&A; From Start to Finish, Publishing Your Gaming Idea; Role-playing Games 101; Women and Gaming; Rolling the D20: How to Role-Play; 2013 in Video Gaming; Table Top Gaming

For those interested in media: Parental Guidance Required; Color Me Casted; AMC Breaks Bad; Is Doctor Who an Angel?; Lights, Action, Youtube!

 

Koffee Klatch with Gail Z. Martin, Feb 22

Koffee Klatch with Gray Rinehart, Feb 22

Filk Performance with Danny Birt, Feb 23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those interested in music: Valentine Wolfe Concert; Write a Song with Bella Morte; We Got the Beat! Mysticon’s Drum Circle; Belly Dancing with Samra

For those interested in the paranormal: All Creatures Fantastic and Weird; Spooky Tales: Writing Ghost Stories; Dancing Neck to Neck: Romancing the Vampire; Bump in the Night; The Real Dr. Venkman

 

Panel: All Creatures Fantastic and Weird with Tally Johnson,Randy Richards, Pamela K. Kinney, Jim Beall, and James ‘Butch’ Allen, Feb 21

Authors Patrick Thomas and John French in the Dealers’ Room, Feb 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those interested in podcasting: Mr. Adventure Live Podcast; Geek Radio Daily Ding; Baen Podcast Interview with Tom Kratman

For those interested in publishing: If You Spell “Cheif” Like That One More Time!!; Kickstarting Your Project; What’s After the Fun Stuff: Starting Up in Self-Publishing and Small Press

 

Koffee Klatch with Todd McCaffrey, Feb 22

Koffee Klatch with Stuart Jaffee, Feb 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those interested in science: Losing Humanity to Artificial Intelligence; Robotics Workshop and Demonstration; The Science of Star Trek; Lucky Stars in Our Eyes: Wonders of the Night Sky; The Great Atomic Power: Propulsion Systems of the Future; Hello Glass … A Closer Look Inside Google Glass

For those interested in writing: Worldbuilding 101: Crafting Your Alternate Universe or Timeline; The Biggest Mistakes Made by Beginning Authors; The Influx of Alternate Futures; Terrifying Killers in Literature; Whodunnit?; Military Science Fiction: Getting It Right; Everything Old Is New Again: Mythos in SF/F

 

Panel: Quit Using Logic to Destroy my Great Story with Travis Surber, Bill Rockwell, Cassidy Cornblatt, Emmy Jackson, and KT Pinto, Feb 23

 

 

And some were interesting activities that are hard to categorize: A Tribute to Anne (remembering beloved author Anne McCaffrey); Star City Mystery Theater presentation of “Murder: The Next Generation”; A Trek to the Star (a trip up to Roanoke’s famous, lighted mountaintop star); and the Practical Self-Defense Workshop.

Another great convention come and gone too quickly. I can’t wait until next year. Hope to see you there!

 

Panel: Social World Building with Leona Wisoker, Peter Prellwitz, Allen Wold, and Kenneth Hite, Feb 23

Multi-Media Hour with Danny Birt, Feb 22

 

For more photos, check out my blog post: Mysticon 2014 Photo Gallery.