A lot has been written about World Con: the annual gathering of fans of science fiction and fantasy sharing their passion and enthusiasm with others who ‘get it!’ Hundreds of people from all over the world gathered in Melbourne the first week of September and simply had a great time talking, laughing, learning and partying.

We had Jedi Knights, Mord Sith, Druids, Witches, Steampunks …

Fans, authors, bloggers, academics, publishers, booksellers …and more fans ….

As you know my passions are paranormal romance and urban fantasy which are still the poor cousins of spec fiction, so I was all for anything that promoted these genres, the local book industry and women writers. So amongst all the panels and discussions I guess the highlights were really the people.

When I read Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire’s debut UF novel last year I was blown away by its world building, depth and range of characters. So to find Seanan on my first panel and then having coffee with her (oh okay best bud Seannan, me and eight others!) on the Thursday was so good. Heh, there’s nothing like feeling like an insider in the club! Of course the following day, still in my BFF glow I saw Seannan and merrily started chatting away. The poor girl jumped back about a metre, looking around for an escape from what she obviously saw as a weird and rabid fan. By this time Seannan was looking at me with horror, I was all but rolling around the floor in laughter and I swear security was closing in around us. Thankfully one of her friends remembered me and we ended up having a chat about her forthcoming book release and nearby wifi hotspots.

But, I’m sorry, this was such a typical ‘Rosie’ moment – blithely sailing along and then falling on my face! (this time metaphorically … it’s normally far more literal!)

Of course I also caught up with our lovely Tracey O’Hara and Erica Hayes who were staying at the same hotel as me. Most of our conversations were over breakfast so I can’t really remember much about them (okay so mornings aren’t favourite times for me…show me a morning person and I’ll show you the door!)

But on Saturday night we had a bit of time so Erica and I grabbed a bit over at the Casino and ….. we then managed to scope the place out for scenes for her current book. Oh what a scream! Of course my suggestions for how sculptures could be used as emergency weapons just MIGHT have been a little much (but Erica – this’d be great!!!!) but hey – I was adding my creativity to the moment J

And Gail? Oh what can I tell you about my lovely Gail Carriger? (yes, mine – you can’t have her!).

The night of the Nightmare Masquerade I was all dressed up with my whip, mask and black wings but stopped in at the Hilton bar first hoping that Gail would be there. Somehow I was hoping to recognise Gail as well as Liana (Ali and I are her book pimps!) whom I’d never actually met before. So we finally all got together, I did my famous fangirl public squeezing and spent about an hour or so having a lovely time with Gail, her friends and Peter Brett (great SF author). In fact I didn’t actually make it to the ball, but instead basked in the Gail-glow quite happily.

There were loads of other authors I met including Carrie Vaughn (who is absolutely lovely), Nicole Murphy, Trent Jamieson, Tansy Rayner Roberts …. plus oh so many more.

Of course my focus was on the PNR and UF authors and panels and I was absolutely beside myself at the Hugo Awards when the Award for Best New Novel went to Seannan! First time ever that Urban Fantasy has hit the level of the Hugos. It’s just a shame that she’s now terrified of me. *grin*