JordanCon 2024: Day two!

 

Hello, Readers! Day two of JordanCon 2024 is in the books! I just returned to the room from the dance party, but more about that later! Tress and I decided to take today a lot slower. There weren't any events we had our hearts set on attending until 4, so we wandered over to Starbucks and then chilled outside for a while and talked. Proof that my trail of ribbons is taller than me. Swag N' Seek is a thing, so these little duckies are everywhere. I didn't have to find this one, however. A sweet little girl was passing them out and gave me a green one. 

After that, it was already lunchtime. I wasn't hungry, so I bothered more authors and vendors while Tress ate lunch. First up was Cecilia Dominic, who had fantastic antlers on. I asked her which series she would recommend, and she recommended her book, The Shadow Project, so I also picked up the 2nd book, Shadows of The Heart. 

Next on my Author's Alley rounds was Jason Gilbert. He gave me an elevator pitch about his book being Psych but with werewolves. Obviously, I was in. Somehow, we started discussing bad horror movies. It was great. 

Right next door was Jason Roach. I could only stay briefly at his booth because I would have blown my entire budget if I had. There were notebooks, pins, tarot cards, his book, and another author's. Once he told me he had taken his paranormal experiences and turned them into a story, I knew I had to have it. Fun fact about Gold Dust Publishing: It is a publishing group that strives to be a safe place for LGBTQIA+ Authors. 

I had briefly talked to Kyoko yesterday, but it was before I was ready to buy books. I tried returning later that day, but she was away from her booth. So, I made a point to come find her again today. She had several books out, and the covers drew me in! Once I started talking to her, she explained that her book The Black Parade could be described as "Constantine with a grumpy afro-latina waitress with a drinking problem," I'm not sure how I could turn away from that. I picked up that one and another of her series because the cover was pretty.

Next up, I got to talk to Milton J. Davis for a bit. It was fascinating learning about his fantasy stories set in Africa. He and a few other authors shared the space, and they had something for everyone. Sci-fi, fantasy, and steampunk. There may have even been comics/graphic novels. I love seeing different cultures in fantasy. I feel like I get to learn a bit, and I'm sure the representation is appreciated by readers of the various cultures.

After I talked to Milton for a bit, I took a quick walk-through of the Dealer's Hall. I stopped and spoke with the lovely proprietress of Leveled Up Geek. I saw she had dinosaurs on her dress, and I was super excited because my phone case is dinosaurs. It has just dawned on me that I did not catch her name in my excitement about dinosaurs. So, my apologies for that. Anyway, if you want cute geek earrings, check out her booth! You can also find her on Etsy at leveledupgeek.etsy.com

After doing rounds at the Dealer's Hall, I made a quick run through the Gaming Hall, as I had yet to check it out. While there, I met the lovely Emily and admired her artwork. We may collaborate in the future - if I ever finish writing one of my books. Who needs linear thought processes, though?

These are the stickers I got from her booth.

At this point, I am trying to remember the timeline of events. Somewhere, I went to the room and ate lunch, and Denni and I walked around more and attended a writer's panel. The panel was fascinating, and we discussed handling writer's block and burnout. It inspired me to get back into writing more regularly. We'll see how it translates when I return home, and remember I have responsibilities. 

I talked to a fascinating couple who made D&D dice on one of my walks. I'm slowly learning more about tabletop games, and though I haven't played D&D, I'm vaguely aware of some things about it and have Dice Goblins for friends. They told me a story about trying to make mini dice, and they didn't work, so they were banished to Dice Jail. Dice Jail turned out to be a bigger math rock. I loved the story, so I bought it. I am now the owner of a sparkly Dice Jail. You can order shiny math rocks from them at faerie-dragon-gaming.myshopify.com.

Next up on Lindsey's A Dragon and Needs to Hoard Shinies Tour was Thandor of Thandor Metalworks. He doesn't have a website listed but go check him out if you want some cool chainmail designs. One of my 8 million hobbies is jewelry making, and I've tried to do things like this. It's hard and I lack the patience needed. If you're in a shopping mood, check out his work today. 

Tress and I both decided we needed new rings, so we went to visit Maggie at Moonstruck Silver. We talked with her for a good while about the Wheel of Time. I finally settled on some lovely black and green stacking rings. 

It was then time for the final event of the night: the dance party. Tress and I went back to our room to get ready. Tress had the perfect shirt for the evening, and I opted for a dress. A lovely clown was doing lovely facepaint and glitter, so I let her use me as a canvas. We spent much of the night dancing with some of the authors we connected with. Our dance crew included Barbra Evers, Sara Sover, and Darin Kennedy. We both fangirled a bit about getting to party with authors. It was so much fun! Around 11:30, Tress and I's bodies started protesting, and we were no longer feeling 22. So we went up to the room and crashed. I had started this post last night after, but by 1pm, I was ready to crawl into bed and sleep for the rest of eternity. I'm now up and trying to be a functional human; however, I am currently being reminded by my joints that I will be 37 in a few months. Bleh.