Eroticon 2018: t-shirts and snowflakes and mugs and oh, my!

Well, the haul this year includes three mugs, two t-shirts, and a wonderful woolly hat courtesy of Doxy, who probably ought to have a special prize for picking the most unexpectedly useful promo item, given the weather we had. Yeah, I think there may have been an additional amount of huddling together for warmth at this year’s Eroticon, because it was absolutely bloody freezing. Not that this deterred anyone from having the usual wonderful time: whether it was the newcomers who began on Friday night with wide eyes and slightly tentative grins but were blissed out and stuck in well before the end, or the veterans joyously renewing relationships with the beloved dirty sexy pals they only get to see once a year.

The social aspect is, for nearly all attendees, just as important as the talks and workshops – it’s that writer thing about being a bit anti-social in general but unable to stop talking when you finally find your tribe.

So: the highlights from Eroticon 2018 are as follows. Thank you to Fetish for the useful tips about SEO and traffic, several of which are being employed in this particular post (shout out if you notice anything in particular that I have actually done properly, and I might even send you a share of the goodies I got in my swagbag) – and also thanks to Kayla Lords and the Sarahs for their advice on earning a living via writing and blogging.

Fun with rope was involved in the weekend’s experiences as well – a virtual hug to the lovely person who was willing to be experimented on by me and whose card I have managed to lose, and a nod and a wink to WrigglyKitty who enjoyed a suspension session as well as winning a bundle of sex toys – and who has pretty hands and feet.

It’s a whole weekend about erotic writing, so there has to be a bookstall. There’s also an anthology this year – and you can pick up a copy here if you want to read 28 very different but very readable takes on the concept of Truth. And yes, I am going to show off a bit about the fact that I got to edit the collection this year, and mention that lots of people said lovely things about my editing chops and no one actually wanted to fight me about semi-colons or anything. Victoria and Kev Blisse took charge of the bookstall and did sterling work as well as being too nice to mind the amount of stuff I parked with them for the entire weekend, having ordered stock in for the next round of fetish markets as well as titles to sell at Eroticon 2018. To my great gratification (and relief at having some beer money) there was a rush of keen bookbuyers at the very end – I never mind having to open up the bag and display my wares. Any time. Honest.

Another highlight has to be the reading sessions, particularly the pieces by Hannah Lockhardt and Drew Bigglestone, both of whom are relatively new to the game, at least when it comes to reading in public. Both of you will be bagged at some point for Dirty Sexy Words slams. Oh yes you will.

Finally, coming back to the subject of t-shirts, regular and irregular readers may remember what I got up to at Eroticon 2016, and how that film won an award last year. I said at the time that I was going to have it printed on a t-shirt, and that’s exactly what I did, because it had to be done.

What are we going to do to top Eroticon 2018 next year, though?