Camp NECON 34

This past Friday I was fortunate enough to attend one day of "Camp NECON" in Rhode Island. (It is a 4 day affair, but I figured I would ease into it considering family time demands, etc.) NECON is the abbreviation New England Horror Writers Convention. I don't know why HW is left out of the acronym - I guess it's not as fun to say. And NECON is fun!

I haven't really tried my writing pen on horror in a long time, but there have been some short stories in that vein of late on my computer. I've been reading more horror lately, and a lot of the writers attending are genre-crossers anyway.

I met Charles Rutledge and Jim Moore in person. Charles showed me all the ropes. We spent most of the day together and with others chatting & socializing.  I cursorily had brief greetings with Amber Benson, Kasey Lansdale and Christopher Golden, among higher profile names you might recognize.

Yeah, Jim & Charles are big guys!

A panel on Horror & Crime fiction and the lines they blur.

A panel on film making (mostly indie, but some network t.v., too!)

Christopher Golden and James A. Moore

I met and bought a pile of signed books from Darrell Schweitzer, plus a few other books.

Loot! And all signed except the Keith Taylor collection.

I just missed meeting F. Paul Wilson as he showed up just as dinner started, and I headed home afterwards.

Aside from those names you know, I met plenty of other friendly, considerate, passionate and kind folks. The panels were fun. The informal KaffeKlatsch discussions were informative and fun.

I must thank Charles publicly for including me. Learning that he had been in my backyard (so to speak) last year, I wanted to meet up this year. Then I figured I didn't want to just third-wheel my way into a dinner, so I decided to do at least a day of the convention properly. And Charles agreed that was a fine plan.

 I ate well, I talked writing and books and genre and Doctor Who and I had a blast.

The unfortunate bit was that this is NECON's 34th year, and the convention founder and organizer Bob Booth died last year, so I never met him. But there was a wonderful tribute to the man, his legacy. We watched an interview where he went over the history of NECON. It was touching and very informative.

And that was all in one day! And I didn't even get to stay for the evening stuff!

NECON is a great, small, no pretensions, all inclusive little convention.They do keep it small. But, if you ever get the chance to go, especially if you know someone else attending who can guide you through the first time, it's is absolutely worth the experience.

Great motivation, too. I can't show up empty-handed next year, or Jim Moore will look me in the eye and say, "Write your damn book." ;)