[Writer Post] Waxacon, Power Rangers, and Plot Bunnies
This past weekend was Waxacon – a first year comic con in Waxahachie. Waxahachie is a commuter community just south of Dallas that also is the home of Scarborough Renaissance Festival and Screams. I found out about this show at Marvelous Nerd Year’s Eve and was an early adopter. This was my last show of 2017, which is a good thing. I need the next few months of “close to home” to get some stuff done that’s been piling up, as well as get to the “to be written pile”. I need this time. I feel like I’ve been treading water the last couple of months.
So…Waxacon. Waxacon was a “Good News/Bad News” type of show.
Good News – Easy access to the celebrities. The layout was such that the celebrities were in the same room as the rest of us which was a good move on the organizer’s part. I was able to use the line “To find me, go to the Power Rangers and turn around.”
Power Rangers setting up – Jack Guzman and Phillip JeanMarie directly across.
Bad News – It was a first year show in a commuter community, the celebrities were what the organizers could afford (which was a good move), which aren’t the “A-Listers”
Good News – I wrote four pages of a brand new short story inspired by a comment made during the Saturday panel I was on with Steven Brust. A friend of one of the voice actors gave me a couple more elements.
Bad News – I had time on Sunday to write four pages of a short story.
Good News – The folks who were there were willing to spend money.
Bad News – There were very few folks there. Some of the lack of attendance was beyond the organizer’s control – TWO major local events landed on his dates (one promised not to but did, the other he didn’t find out about until the weekend of).
The people who were there were a lot of fun. I named one character of my short story after the two actors across the way from me. (And this weekend I need to watch a Netflix movie because I promised and it sounds hysterical.) Another character is named for the guy who gave me elements. I need to get back to that because, even though it’s four pages of kind of stream of consciousness (first person, so allowable to a degree) it’s pretty good and I want to see where it goes. And also, because of that pesky “Finish Stuff” mantra that plagues me. Though I didn’t need a new project right now, there are so many that need my attention, but I can’t ignore a plot bunny of this magnitude.
I am going to give Waxacon one more year – there was a discount, and the organizers made the right sounds about how to address the issues. I always give a benefit of the doubt. Here’s hoping next time is better.