… It would probably have been Eroticon this weekend. In an alternate timeline, this previous post would have been rather more on the mark, perhaps. Lastyear’s Eroticon was, understandably, cancelled a few days before it was due to happen, though some people had a discreet independent catch-up or two during the weekend. It was exactly a year ago, in those volatile mid-March days, where some were going into pre-emptive isolation and others were more inclined to be out and about while it was still possible. (I am not condemning the decisions any individuals made here, though anyone who knows me is probably aware that my take was more along the lines of fragments-shored-against-the-ruins and making additional memories to lighten the coming darkness.)
So I thought I would share a few Eroticon flashbacks from previous events. My first time was in 2014 (when I still had my original blog – this was my pre-event mindset back then). And I had every bit as nice a time as I expected. I went again in 2015 and every subsequent year. In 2016 I made a porn film, which was definitely one of the most-viewed blogposts I put up that year. It has always been a brilliant event, sometimes literally life-changing for different people. It has helped authors and bloggers connect with a wider writing community, gain ideas, learn useful practical stuff about editing and tech for those self-publishing, and built a broadly sustainable community in many ways.
We can hope it will return in some form, some day, along with many other of the things we have been missing. I’m not sure if there is any feasible way of scuttling off into any alternate timeline, though I imagine at least some people, somewhere, might be working on such a thing.
But there are always books as a means of escapism, whatever else may be going on.