Why Horrorfind Is Awesome: The Fellowship of Ink

I had this big Con retrospective planned, but because of time limitations, I've cut it short.  Maybe, also, it's time to stop repeating myself and let some things stand understood as they are.  Some things we don't need to over-hype, because it weakens the significance of that thing.

Horrorfind 13 went down this past weekend.  A grand time of fun, foolishness, and serious writing business was had by all.  I spent time with great friends, but more than that: I communed with a Fellowship.  A Fellowship connected by ink, heart, and soul.  Writing is a lonely gig.  Especially in a small city like mine, with very little in the way of writing groups and fellowships.  Add in that I'm a weirdo/horror/speculative writer, and the scene gets lonelier.

At Horrorfind, I communed with my brothers and sisters, bound by the mad desire to write and pen dreams and nightmares. I hung with folks who don't write but share intimate membership in that fellowship: editors and artists and loyal supporters. 

And we just had fun.  Sure, we talked a lot of shop.  But we also just had fun.  Lots of memorable tid bits, like the Midget Jason Vorhees and "HEY LADY! YOU CALL HIM DOCKTA JONES!"

But I digress.

I also saw a roast - and honoring - of author Brian Keene.  But I saw more than just a roast.  I saw a gathering of fans and supporters who have stuck together for more than a decade, through thick and thin, troubles both personal and professional.  Writers running the gamut, from relative newcomers like Kelli Owen and Ron Malfi and Rio Youers and Jeremy Wagner through current mainstays like Chris Golden and James Moore and Tim Lebbon, to legends like Tom Monteleone. 

Makes me wonder: ten years from now, will the folks laboring alongside me still be toiling away and writing?  Will I be writing?  Will we all be gathered to roast and honor one of our own ten years from now?

Who knows? And it doesn't really matter.  Because the best thing about Cons is in the picture below (and no, not the beer or that it's happening in a bar).  It's  the people.  My friends.

My family.  Which makes these pictures like snapshots in the family album.

And that's all I've got to say, this morning.

I hope it's good enough.