Still got it, Eroticon…
There was just a bit of a sense of: has everything changed? Will I still have a good time? Will it be better, or worse? After an unavoidable four-year gap it was reasonable to expect a few changes, and the first one was simply a new venue for the Friday evening initial meet and greet. From the minute I pushed open the gate to the pub garden, feeling quite splendiferous in my fabulous new jacket from Seven Sin, to spot several familiar faces, it was a case of YEAH, this is the Eroticon zone, and I am in it.
The rest of the weekend zipped by joyfully. It’s not possible to attend every workshop unless you have mastered the art of being in two places at once (and if you have, do share) but there was an excellent selection. On Saturday I learned more about inclusive language in sex writing and then had tremendous fun picking up tips on audio porn from Girl on the Net – later in the year I might be releasing a few audio stories of my own via her site, so keep a look out for more news on that. After lunch there was a fascinating session on queer monsters (ooh, give us more tentacle porn with heart as well as suckers!) followed by the ever-entertaining Going Medieval.
After nipping out for a quick bit of shoe-shopping (when in Camden Town…) it was back to the pub for more story-swapping, catching up and general gossip.
Sunday featured workshops on affiliate marketing, which is something I am going to look into properly in the coming months, sex in the cinema (on-screen, not whatever you might be getting up to in the back row and, of course, the usual after-lunch reading slam. I decided to opt for more silly than sexy and read one of the stories from this collection.
Eroticon’s definitely still got it. In some ways I think this was the best one I have been to so far. As always there is the overwhelming ‘I have found my tribe’ energy about the event, and this year’s talks and workshops covered a great range of topics, with several acknowledging the challenges people who write about sex and sexuality face in the current climate. On a personal level, I felt this year that I have found my own place within this scene, having been a bit undecided about quite where I fitted in on previous occasions. (I never felt unwelcome or that I had no right to be there, but there were times, in previous years, where I felt a bit unproductive and indecisive and less sure of myself than I do now.) Oh, and it was helpful to have enough pocket change to buy drinks, dinner… and new shoes this time around.
So thank you everyone who contributed, came along, shared their knowledge and their views or just hung out and added to the atmosphere. Most of all, of course, thank you Eroticon and above all thank you Molly for everything you do.
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