Another super weekend is over....
So I've been away at writerconuk this weekend. It's enormous fun, there is excellent food, convivial company and cocktails, and we all get the chance to discuss our favourites in fandom... Here's my story.
I was a bit later leaving on Friday than I'd have liked - I'm so disorganised I shame myself. The next hurdle was driving to the venue, in Coventry. I don't like motorway driving as it makes me sleepy, however much sleep I have had the night before. So I totally rely on the satnav apps on my phone as I have the directional skills of a peanut (I mean, I STILL get lost coming back from Lakeside... every time!)
Anyhow, last year I used google maps and had a lovely scenic ride through countryside pretty much all the way. This year, my app of choice was Waze, which unfortunately sent me round the North Circular which was full of roadworks. And then there was Watford, Towcester, Milton Keynes... So it took me about 4 and a half hours instead of 3 and a half to get to Coventry. When I got to the hotel, the reception staff had my room all sorted out (4th floor - I told them when I was booking that I had mobility issues and wouldn't be able to get down the stairs speedily in the event of a fire if I was on one of the upper levels - Result!!) and I took my bags up and unloaded them before joining everyone else in the bar. I hadn't had anything to eat since first thing in the morning, so had a really nice crayfish sandwich from the bar - complete with salad garnish and small dish of fries. It was totally yummy...
We began the event by issuing our name badges with fandom names and goodie bags, followed by kazzy_cee being our quizmaster on a fandom quiz. Now, I rarely know any of the answers to the questions, but this year actually knew some! Inconceivable... and even funnier, our team came joint first! Ice broken, we all went off to get ready for dinner.
Every year we go to Aqua, a local lebanese restaurant for dinner on Friday. The food is scrumptious - this year I had chicken wings for a starter, and this was followed by a rice dish with chicken and lamb. Weird thing - with the main course I ate solidly for 20 minutes until I could eat no more and the plate still seemed to have as much food in it as when I started!
We got back tot he hotel quite late and we congregated in the breakout area, chatting for a bit and there may have been cocktails quaffed until I felt so tired I just had to go to bed!
The rooms at the Ramada have been redecorated, and the bed was super comfy. Much nicer than the bed I have at home, I have to say... I slept like a log, waking at about 7.30 am on Saturday morning. I showered, washed my hair and got dressed and ambled down to breakfast. You have a choice of continental (meats, pastries and cheese) or full english (scrambled or fried egg, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and beans) or cereals. There is fresh juices and a toasting machine. Totally yummy.
At 10 we started the talks with Kazzy again, this time discussing music in fandom. We looked at the history of music used in film and television, and listened to examples. After this talk we had a break for refreshments, and then gillo explained how to find inspiration without plagiarism. I'm not a writer, but it was still interesting to try the tricks she shared!
We went to the Hotel restaurant for lunch - I had the same crayfish sandwich I'd had on Friday as it was so very nice. And very reasonably priced.
After lunch, I went to my room to prepare some additional calendar kits and unfortunately missed the talk by tlanti on finiding inspiration in what's around you - it seems I missed a good session, judging by the comments of everyone else! (curses....)
Another refreshment break followed, with the most delicious little pastries, and we reconvened for more talks - speakr2customrs elaborated on writing the perfect line, and hab318princess spoke about giving feedback to authors in a constructive way. hils then finished off the talking sessions by discussing the pros and cons of social media, especially relating to fandom.
We broke briefly for some more cocktails (!) and I set the room up for the craft session.
I had made up the kits for people in little bags with their names on, and we made flip over calendars. Unfortunately, even though I had pre prepared as much as I could, we still ran out of time. *sad face*. As people are going to have to finish them at home, I will post instructions on the writerconuk blog tomorrow!
We had to finish at 7pm so the hotel could prepare our room for our banquet buffet. I have to say, they totally pulled out all the stops this year! We had seafood or meat with salad or butternut squash soup with a roll as a starter; there was an aubergine moussaka, a vegetarian pasty and chicken cooked in white wine sauce with tarragon, served with the most delicious small potatoes and mixed steamed or roasted vegetables for the main course; and dessert was fruit salad, a pavlova with fruit or chocolate cheesecake (I think). All of this for a very reasonable £21 per head!!!!!
After dinner I personally was too stuffed to eat or drink another thing, but we sat in the breakout area for a while where lilachigh introduced kazzy_cee and myself to a fiendishly addictive game on our phones called tap tap fish... noooooooo! Eventually, I went to bed.
I slept like a log AGAIN and even slept later this morning - I didn't get down to breakfast until 9am! I had a big breakfast so I wouldn't have to stop for something to eat on the way home, and we had the final talk of the event at 10am, when ningloreth elaborated on why we love fictional characters so much and how they can take on a life of their own (*cough* Spike!!), in a fascinating and very enjoyable way.
All good things have to come to an end eventually however, and after the AGM and then the raffle we all made our way home. We agreed that the date next year would be 7th to 9th September 2018 and I for one have put it in my diary already! For many years I hesitated about going to this event, but I am SO GLAD I did eventually pluck up the courage and go. I hope we can encourage some more people to come along and join us, they will have a really lovely time and meet some great people. I did!!!
I was a bit later leaving on Friday than I'd have liked - I'm so disorganised I shame myself. The next hurdle was driving to the venue, in Coventry. I don't like motorway driving as it makes me sleepy, however much sleep I have had the night before. So I totally rely on the satnav apps on my phone as I have the directional skills of a peanut (I mean, I STILL get lost coming back from Lakeside... every time!)
Anyhow, last year I used google maps and had a lovely scenic ride through countryside pretty much all the way. This year, my app of choice was Waze, which unfortunately sent me round the North Circular which was full of roadworks. And then there was Watford, Towcester, Milton Keynes... So it took me about 4 and a half hours instead of 3 and a half to get to Coventry. When I got to the hotel, the reception staff had my room all sorted out (4th floor - I told them when I was booking that I had mobility issues and wouldn't be able to get down the stairs speedily in the event of a fire if I was on one of the upper levels - Result!!) and I took my bags up and unloaded them before joining everyone else in the bar. I hadn't had anything to eat since first thing in the morning, so had a really nice crayfish sandwich from the bar - complete with salad garnish and small dish of fries. It was totally yummy...
We began the event by issuing our name badges with fandom names and goodie bags, followed by kazzy_cee being our quizmaster on a fandom quiz. Now, I rarely know any of the answers to the questions, but this year actually knew some! Inconceivable... and even funnier, our team came joint first! Ice broken, we all went off to get ready for dinner.
Every year we go to Aqua, a local lebanese restaurant for dinner on Friday. The food is scrumptious - this year I had chicken wings for a starter, and this was followed by a rice dish with chicken and lamb. Weird thing - with the main course I ate solidly for 20 minutes until I could eat no more and the plate still seemed to have as much food in it as when I started!
We got back tot he hotel quite late and we congregated in the breakout area, chatting for a bit and there may have been cocktails quaffed until I felt so tired I just had to go to bed!
The rooms at the Ramada have been redecorated, and the bed was super comfy. Much nicer than the bed I have at home, I have to say... I slept like a log, waking at about 7.30 am on Saturday morning. I showered, washed my hair and got dressed and ambled down to breakfast. You have a choice of continental (meats, pastries and cheese) or full english (scrambled or fried egg, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, tomatoes and beans) or cereals. There is fresh juices and a toasting machine. Totally yummy.
At 10 we started the talks with Kazzy again, this time discussing music in fandom. We looked at the history of music used in film and television, and listened to examples. After this talk we had a break for refreshments, and then gillo explained how to find inspiration without plagiarism. I'm not a writer, but it was still interesting to try the tricks she shared!
We went to the Hotel restaurant for lunch - I had the same crayfish sandwich I'd had on Friday as it was so very nice. And very reasonably priced.
After lunch, I went to my room to prepare some additional calendar kits and unfortunately missed the talk by tlanti on finiding inspiration in what's around you - it seems I missed a good session, judging by the comments of everyone else! (curses....)
Another refreshment break followed, with the most delicious little pastries, and we reconvened for more talks - speakr2customrs elaborated on writing the perfect line, and hab318princess spoke about giving feedback to authors in a constructive way. hils then finished off the talking sessions by discussing the pros and cons of social media, especially relating to fandom.
We broke briefly for some more cocktails (!) and I set the room up for the craft session.
I had made up the kits for people in little bags with their names on, and we made flip over calendars. Unfortunately, even though I had pre prepared as much as I could, we still ran out of time. *sad face*. As people are going to have to finish them at home, I will post instructions on the writerconuk blog tomorrow!
We had to finish at 7pm so the hotel could prepare our room for our banquet buffet. I have to say, they totally pulled out all the stops this year! We had seafood or meat with salad or butternut squash soup with a roll as a starter; there was an aubergine moussaka, a vegetarian pasty and chicken cooked in white wine sauce with tarragon, served with the most delicious small potatoes and mixed steamed or roasted vegetables for the main course; and dessert was fruit salad, a pavlova with fruit or chocolate cheesecake (I think). All of this for a very reasonable £21 per head!!!!!
After dinner I personally was too stuffed to eat or drink another thing, but we sat in the breakout area for a while where lilachigh introduced kazzy_cee and myself to a fiendishly addictive game on our phones called tap tap fish... noooooooo! Eventually, I went to bed.
I slept like a log AGAIN and even slept later this morning - I didn't get down to breakfast until 9am! I had a big breakfast so I wouldn't have to stop for something to eat on the way home, and we had the final talk of the event at 10am, when ningloreth elaborated on why we love fictional characters so much and how they can take on a life of their own (*cough* Spike!!), in a fascinating and very enjoyable way.
All good things have to come to an end eventually however, and after the AGM and then the raffle we all made our way home. We agreed that the date next year would be 7th to 9th September 2018 and I for one have put it in my diary already! For many years I hesitated about going to this event, but I am SO GLAD I did eventually pluck up the courage and go. I hope we can encourage some more people to come along and join us, they will have a really lovely time and meet some great people. I did!!!