Raincon 2019 Report

Raincon 2019 Report

 

I sometimes think I’m the luckiest person on the planet.

 

 

My table at Raincon was placed between two of the sweetest, most talented and interesting vendors I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

 

The one on my left, Alice Ryan, creates truly amazing things with leather and wire and other materials that are just stunning. She says she does it to relax, so she’s a multi-tasker, for sure. She played a table game at a gamer’s table while spinning a new piece out of wire: every part of her mind must have been working overtime to attend to both disciplines as beautifully as she did. She is also a Science teacher in the Forks area. And she competed in the cosplay costume contest in a beautiful gown that she fashioned and accessorized with her own handwork. To top it all off, she is a hoot of a personality! She must be everyone’s favorite teacher where she works!

 

 

The vendor on my right was Emma-Grayce Tinker-Fleck of TheWanderingPrincess.net  and her brother William. Over the course of one evening and one day, these two actors enacted extreme makeovers, turning themselves into a series of various princesses, from Vampire Goth to Disney-esque Frozen characters. Watching them disappear for a time only to return in entirely different guises was enchanting. I have no doubt these two exquisite human beings are the delight of Clallam Bay children everywhere they go. The ones who came to Raincon spent a lot of time standing before Emma-Grayce or William, just gaping at them in wide-eyed wonder, mesmerized by their charm and sweet spirits. It was delightful to see their cherubic little faces ogling “real” princesses!

 

William  did such a great job impersonating various types of female  fantasy figures that an adult stopped by after he left and engaged Emma-Grayce in conversation, saying, “I spoke with your sister here a little while ago…”

 

When Emma interrupted her to say, “That was my brother,”  the look on the woman’s face was priceless–not to mention incredulous!!!

 

 

 

Lisa and Ben came to Raincon to support me, and they did, hands down. They helped me set up, tear down, get food and drink, record my presentation, and keep my butt from falling asleep. (Ben smuggled two pillows from our motel for Lisa and me to sit on all day Saturday, since four hours on chairs the afternoon before convinced us we needed some padding to remain comfortable for an entire 12-hour day.)

 

When my Paypal Here device failed to work, Lisa popped two Paypal buttons into my Yellow Balloon Publications site so I could still reliably take credit card payments from her Chromebook.

 

The people who ran the convention and volunteered for it couldn’t have been more accommodating or nicer to us. I was thanked for coming no fewer than a dozen times–sometimes more than once by the same people! They seemed to think I had somehow managed to beam in from Antares or somewhere impossible like that… (True, I drove from Tacoma, a close to four hour trek, but…)

 

One of the volunteers, Jodi Riker (and the woman responsible for getting me there), said meeting me was one of the items on her bucket list, and I could tell she meant it when she said it. It choked me up to hear that!

 

Alas, Friday afternoon/evening and Saturday, the days I was there, the convention wasn’t very well attended. There were always more vendors in the room than there were visitors. I’m sure the turnout was disappointing; the organizers work very hard to create an event that the whole community can enjoy, and when they don’t show up to see it, it has to hurt. It was well publicized. They didn’t miss a beat there.

 

About ten people were in the immediate audience for my presentation. (The vendors behind the curtain that separated the speakers from them could certainly hear me, too, but they were sequestered at their tables and couldn’t get away.) The people in the audience were all keenly engaged and asked great questions about De and his career.

 

 

I was soooo relieved and happy to see Judy Grover and her friend (and now mine, too) Beth Vachon Parker step into the room about five minutes before I was scheduled to go on. I was beginning to panic because I hadn’t seen them all day or the day before, and I KNEW they had registered for a hotel room and everything months in advance so they could attend… I practically bowled them over when they walked into the room!

 

One of the attendees, a gentleman from Wales, told me that DeForest Kelley’s portrayals were what inspired him to become an actor. He said De was a masterful actor. I agreed, saying that Leonard Nimoy had said something very similar about De; that he made acting seem as natural and easy as stepping off a porch and saying the lines; he could find the exact core of a scene and deliver what was needed to make it appear real.

 

We had a great time.

 

Alas, the ambient sound of Raincon vendors and attendees at the venue where I spoke yesterday was so intense that Lisa isn’t sure she will be able to cancel it out well enough to make the video of my appearance sound peasant enough that anyone would be able to sit through it, so I may not be able to post it on my website. Stay tuned. We should know in a few days if it’ll be do-able and how labor intensive it will be to do it…

 

I was one of three judges for the cosplay costume contest. There were 13 contestants and there were supposed to be three winners. All contestants were judged based on the originality of their presentation, how much of their costumes they made themselves, and other  things.  We pretty much agreed on our choices but  couldn’t figure out how to eliminate enough of them to settle on just three winners, so we fudged  a little and gave a tie for second place, so there were four winners instead of three…

 

First place was unanimous: the gentleman from Wales (yes, the man who De had inspired to become an actor) dressed as Captain Jean Luc Picard. He made  his own costume and his “Why” was so compelling that we all put several stars or hearts beside his name…

 

Immediately after the awards, which happened at about 6:30, I spent about fifteen minutes with “Captain Picard” while he told me a bit more of his story, which got more intriguing as he went along. I fell in love with his spirit and personality. I gave him both of my business cards (author and copywriter) and implored him to stay in touch. I hope he does. I’d like to share more of him with you. He has done some amazing things as an actor and advocate for various causes.

 

 

I donated two books to the cosplay costume contest, and two to local libraries (which Jodi Riker will deliver for me).

 

I also donated a copy of Yay-Sayers to a gentleman Ben met at our motel who seemed captivated by my branded SUV. Ben saw him taking photos of it, walked over and introduced himself as a friend of the owner of the vehicle and they hit it off and started a conversation. I was in my pajamas already and didn’t even know what was taking place outside, but eventually Ben came in and told me about the man who was interested in my story.

 

The next morning while I was loading the SUV, the man (Mark) spoke from the balcony above our motel unit, saying to me, “There’s the Word Whisperer!”

 

I found out he was interested because he has a daughter who’s is a terrific writer. She’s about 40 and has a child. She also has Cystic Fibrosis and has been trying to think of work she can do from home because she’s a both a mom and limited physically by the CF, and he thinks she could make it as a writer if she had a little more confidence. “She writes beautifully.”

 

I grabbed a copy of my new book Yay-Sayers and signed it to her, saying, “You can do this!!!” and my name. I gave Mark my contact info in case she has follow up questions.

 

So, I hope I inspired some people to listen to the yay-sayers in their lives the way I listened to De and the other yay-sayers in my life so they go after what they want and create their dream careers.

 

It happened to me. It’s possible!  It isn’t a pipe dream!