Yes. Yes it was, as Faceb**k Memories conveniently reminded me a decade ago: ten years ago this week I went to Eroticon for the very first time. And I have been to every single one since then. My third visit included this memorable experience; by the sixth, I was encouraging everyone to come and check it out for themselves.
Covid clobbered this event harder than many, with the Great Panic starting around the time that the 2020 Eroticon would have taken place, and making it impossible for a couple of years after that, before a joyous comeback last summer. It’s interesting to look back on what’s changed and what’s stayed sort of the same. Even for me – if you look at the link you will see it takes you to a different blog, which is the one I had running at the time.
In 2014 generally, some things were less awful than they are now. The existence of a coalition government seemed to have kept some of the Tories’ worst instincts on a leash and we hadn’t even heard of Brexit, let alone Covid. Authors of erotic fiction were still riding the post-50 Shades waves of interest, and sex blogging was a big deal. There were, however, the ever-present pro-censorship rumblings in the background: the panel discussion I was part of covered the issue in some depth. The sex-hating, pro-repression mobs of grifters, bigots and spiteful losers haven’t won the war completely as of yet, but they haven’t stopped trying, either, and a certain amount of grit and vigilance is probably always going to be necessary.
There seem to be fewer sex bloggers than there were, and several of the writers I met and made friends with in the previous years have moved on in a variety of ways. Some are working in different genres of fiction, some switched to event organising or media other than writing and some have other things entirely to occupy their time.
As yet, I have heard nothing about plans for another Eroticon to take place this year, and I don’t want to be putting pressure on anyone else, but if it does come together, well, I’ll be there.
(The Eroticon anthologies, pictured LEFT, are no longer in print but I still have a few copies on stock: get in touch if you never got around to getting one…)