Let me just start out by saying this: I’m lucky. I’ve gotten to go to five different cons, some of them twice, in the last five years. I’ve been to the infamous Dragon Con, as well as up and coming cons like Treklanta,  WHOlanta(formerly TimeGate), and CONjuration. I’ve had a great time at all of them, as well as getting a great sampling of different kinds of conventions. This is even more true if you include the three literary/publishing conferences I’ve attended: Publish15, the Atlanta Writing Workshop, and TLC’s Writer’s Day.

And now I can add last weekend’s London Film and Comic Con as well as the Young Adult Literature Convention! That’s what this post is about.

I only purchased a one day pass. I did this because LFCC’s page was a bit lacking on firm schedule information when I bought my ticket. I don’t know what it is about convention websites, but they often seem to be a little disorganised when it comes to disseminating information on their scheduling and events. Maybe I’m missing something. It’s happened before. I also wanted to have a taster menu of what nerd cons were like on this side of the Pond.

No, not that one.

I followed my usual pre-con plan:

1. Settle on a good cosplay idea well ahead of time
2. Figure out how best to incorporate cargo space into said cosplay and stuff it with snacks so I don’t have to actually shell out for price-gouged food.
3. Go over travel routes in meticulous detail
4. Check the weather forecast for the day every day from the time it’s included in ten-day forecasts
5. Put off actually working on the cosplay until the last minute and end up with a #CloseEnough cosplay

Who did I go as? Liv Moore, from iZombie.

Nailed it.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone with something a little more prevalent in the UK, as only one person recognised me and I had to wear way too much clothing.
PROTIP: Don’t cosplay CW characters except for winter cons cause all CW characters wear approximately five layers of clothing.

Go figure.

I will say this: entry into the con was handled very well, although it actually seemed to more heavily benefit those who showed up right when they started letting people in. The queue was absolutely massive, nearly filing the loading warehouse of the Olympia. But once the doors were opened, it took no time at all to get inside. And once we got inside?

OH MY GOD WAS IT BLISSFULLY AIR CONDITIONED. This was so far the best thing about LFCC, and to be honest, the comfort levels exceeded those of any con I’d been to previously. I was pretty disappointed that there was no badge involved, as I was looking forward to adding it to my collection. Ah well, c’est la vie.

So what did I do there?

Not much, if I’m honest. I began to understand why the FAQs were dominated by queries about autographs and photography slots, and why there wasn’t a lot of information about the event beyond the celebrity autographs/photo sessions and the vendors.

LFCC, in comparison to previous cons I attended, was sorely lacking in workshops, panels, activities, and other things to do. That being said, their board/video gaming area upstairs was TOP. NOTCH. Most cons confine their gaming to a single cramped room, which ends up getting overheated and overcrowded. They handled this perfectly.

They did have some talks, and their celebrity guest list was really fantastic, but, as with a lot of high profile talks, a large portion of them were paid entry. I’m not saying at all that high profile guests’ talks shouldn’t be paid entry, because they should. It helps offset costs by pushing them onto just the people who want to benefit from the guest talk, and it helps with crowd control issues.

But between that and the typical pricing for celebrity meet and greets, it didn’t leave a lot left over for those guests who were strapped for cash. Me personally, I believe that a con should be like a cruise. There should be a lot of premium entertainment available at a premium, but you should also be able to have a perfectly good time on just what’s included in your cabin price. And that’s where LFCC was a bit disappointing. The good thing is, this is a relatively easy fix, since they’ve clearly already sorted out their cashflow with the plethora of premium options.

I still had a good time. I still had fun.
I still have mad respect for the organisers for what they accomplished.

Half the fun was seeing if anyone would pay me
£20 to drink my hot sauce. No one did.

And now onto the YALC!

The ticket that covered entry to both LFCC and YALC was only £2 more than just entry to LFCC, so I decided to hedge my bets and spring for both. I was further pushed to this decision by the fact that YALC offered a very well put together schedule as well as 1-on-1 agent pitching (not useful to me now, but in the future…). It was just simply more in line with what I expected from a convention. Panels, talks, workshops, scheduling, freebies.

And it did not disappoint. I enjoyed two of the free workshops, one on co-writing(a subject near and dear to my heart) and one on screenwriting(because God love me but I do love pain). The hosts were really fantastic, informative as well as entertaining.

I also sat in on one of the panels, Fear Factor, which featured a smattering of YA horror authors. It was here that I met what I’m sure will end up being one of my favourite authors: Dawn Kurtagich. I’ll admit I was drifting between the discussion on stage and my phone until I heard her mention three little words that are one of my dog whistles…

House of Leaves

She said it was one of of her inspirations and that she drew on it heavily in her book The Dead House. I put my phone away for the rest of the talk, and then powerwalked out of it at the end to go round the corner and pick up both of her books.You should, too. But not immediately. You’re mine right now. Sit down. Powerwalk out at the end.

Oh, and did I mention I got her to sign my books after? She’s a swell gal.

So in summary…

I’m looking forward to next year’s YALC, but I think I could probably be just fine attending only YALC until LFCC has more to offer besides autographs and vendors.

I understand that every piece of a convention represents the culmination of months and months of blood, sweat, tears, and money from so many people, and I’m not trying to downplay what’s been done so far, and according to people who are LFCC veterans, they’ve already made huge strides. So I’m interested to see what the future holds for LFCC, but in the mean time, YALC has my heart. ❤