Geek Media Expo V.3 wrap up!

Last weekend I had the great opportunity to attend Geek Media Expo V.3 (GMXv3) as a writer guest. To say it was a LOT of fun would be an understatement!

I think most of my weekend was spent with me fangirling over one thing or another. You would have been hard pressed to differentiate me from the attendees for sure – and I’m ok with that! I’m a geek at heart, and when I’m not a writer guest at a convention, I’m quite happily, a paying attendee!

I will say that I went to the convention with some trepidation. You see, I didn’t really know anyone! I’m not exactly what you would call shy, but I’m so used to my husband, a friend, or a co-worker going with me on my trips that to go completely alone was odd & a bit daunting.

I needn’t have worried – within about 30 seconds of arriving in the Green Room to pick up my badge & schedule I was immediately befriended by the wonderful & talented Patricia Alice Albrecht (the voice of Pizzazz from Jem, among many things). She basically took me under her wing for the entire convention. She & her wonderful husband Bruce and son Forest, took me out to dinner on Friday night & then spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with me & giving me some great tips & advice on things. I also have some potentially AWESOME news, but more on that later if it comes to fruition.

I’d also like to mention that Jennifer Byrd, the guest relations coordinator was AWESOME. I arrived at GMX, was ushered up to the green room & there she was with my badge and a folder detailing my full schedule for the weekend so that there would be no confusion as to where & when I was needed. Plus, she made a point of checking on me, making sure I had everything I needed all weekend. She is a true pro & made my entire experience smooth & seamless. THANK YOU JENNIFER!

Opening ceremonies on Friday were great & I really loved the sweet tribute they had for Ryan Jones – I never had a chance to meet him, but was saddened none the less by his passing. He seems like he was a really amazing/great guy. 🙁

Following opening ceremonies I set up my table in the dealer’s room & discovered that I was next to the very talented comic book artist Mark Dos Santos. We hit it off immediately (which is a good thing when you’re stuck sitting next to each other for hours at a time!) and had a great weekend overall. I ended up taking home quite a bit of his artwork & my daughter was more than a bit excited over her 9th Doctor print. 🙂

The remainder of my evening was spent at Samantha Newark’s (AKA the voice of Jem) CD release party (she’s really awesome BTW) & then the kickin’ 80s party up on the 10th floor (great view of the city, BTW). I wish I’d remembered to bring my leg warmers…

I went to bed early because I knew bright and early was going to be Saturday Morning cartoons. I wore my Star Wars PJs & settled in to eat some breakfast & watch my very first episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers – it was TERRIBLE… A pumpkin head rapper whose evil super power is confusing the Power Rangers with mad rhymes??? Really???. Also, if you had told me when I was 8 years old that I would someday be watching Saturday morning cartoons sitting next Pizzazz and Jem I would not have believed you – total fangirl moment for me!

Later that morning I had to change into my Princess Buttercup costume to be the White Queen for the Human Chess match. My king was the fantastic author Jamie Chambers – We had a great time & even though I was killed early on in the game (the other queen, Sara M. Harvey was also killed off early too) my sacrifice was not in vain – WE WON! WOOHOO! 🙂

We were very concerned about our lack of protection… I died soon after. 😉

I had to go straight to the Orion slave charity auction where I was being sold originally to teach a knitting class. Not surprisingly no one was really interested in that – but as soon as I jokingly said “I’ll tell war stories” the bidding commenced. A very nice man named “Driver John” won me and we had a great lunch together where he actually did most of the talking (those of you who know me, stop acting so surprised! I am capable of actually listening to people). It was nice to have made another new friend & to help benefit a the Nashville Oasis center).

I do need to mention another fangirl moment for me that happened at the Orion Slave Charity Auction – While waiting to be auctioned I somehow found myself in conversation with Tiffany, yes, THAT Tiffany. If that wasn’t crazy enough (I kept thinking, YOUR CONCERT AT KNOTTS BERRY FARM WAS THE FIRST CONCERT I EVER WENT TO!) at the end of our conversation she hugged me several times and told me I was amazing. I have no idea what I said in response… I felt so tongue tied! Like I said, Fangirl moment!

I had my first panel that day – Stories with friends. My fellow panelists (M.M. Buckner, Sara M. Harvey, John Patrick Lowrie, & Robert J. Schwalb) and I, along with the rest of the audience were given prompts and we went around the room taking turns telling a short story. They were hilarious, if a bit surreal – the first one took place in a unisex convention bathroom with a toilet dwarf stuck in the u-bend. The second one took place in the Fortress of Solitude and featured the cleaning crew & talking jello. As I’m sure you can tell, the stories were anything but normal, but also a lot of fun to come up with.

That evening was the USO dance and while I didn’t stay long, I did enjoy the opportunity to wear one of my vintage dresses – specifically my red “Agent Carter” (from Captain America) dress. While I’m sure most people thought it was just a costume, as you saw from my previous post, I have a thing for collecting (and wearing) vintage dresses. 🙂

Which brings us to the last day of the con – while I was very sad to see it end, I was anxious to get back home to my husband and daughter. Hopefully they can accompany me next year.

I had my final panel – “How to write a fantasy novel” and to my surprise it was standing room only! Of course I didn’t mind a bit, and over all I think it was received well. In fact, I think we could have easily gone for another hour or two!

After the panel I said goodbye to all my new friends (mostly mentioned above, but I also can’t forget Ellen McLain (the voice of GLadOS from Portal) , Sonya Thompson (from Walking dead) , Rodney Cox (fellow Marine, HOORAH!), Dan Carroll, Bob & Carl (SciFi Janitors) , the great podcast WeRinCtrl, and… I’m certain I’ve forgotten someone so I’ll mod this post when I remember).
Me with Bob & Carl

Me with Ellen McLain and John Patrick Lowrie

Before I left I got one last fangirl moment – John Wesely Shipp (The Flash & Dawson’s dad) took a picture with me & I was inwardly jumping around. YAY! 🙂

Anyways, all in all it was a good productive trip (I sold out of my books!) my travel was seamless & the convention itself is a fun, young, convention.

If you are within driving distance of Nashville (or you could be like me & fly!) GO TO GMXv4 next year! You’ll be glad you did. 🙂

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Cool Shirts… eek! I think I only took a photo of one this time, but it was a GREAT one!

Also, SQUEE!!!

One cool costume at the 80s dance!