After a whirlwind ~two week tour of Texas, I have finally returned home! Friends (old and new), family, and oh my goodness- so many flowers.
Many highlights of the trip to look back on, but one in particular was attending HavenCon and finally meeting several of my @renegadepublishing folks in person! And just as exciting as the people-- the books! What a joy to hold in my hands the numerous constructions I've seen photos of over these last couple years.
There really is nothing like in person interactions- the many mild mannerisms that are certainly lost via text and even escape audio or video bring me the greatest of joys.
additional mumbling under the cut....
While there were obviously beloved members not in attendance, I was quite pleased to meet some of my "favorites" and discover I greatly enjoyed the company of others who weren't quite as familiar to me.
My fears of social awkwardness were largely unfounded and everyone was great about letting me slink off to sulk for a bit and recharge. I think the larger group gathering (we were ~12?) was actually more ideal than I expected- folks able to pair off, the conversation was varied and easily flowed, and it made for more dynamic listening/eavesdropping.
The only down side was that there wasn't enough time to actually sit down and just craft!! Also, so many beautiful books and absolutely no time to actually read them!
Some highlights for me:
restaurant at next door hotel having a perfect room for us to grab dinner Friday night
not having a dedicated space/room for us early Saturday resulted in us just plunking down in the hallway for an impromptu book show-off. Each reveal of books bringing greater and greater joy. I've some misc macro photos of covers I'll be posting later
Renegade members dominating the Renegade talk and laughing at our own jokes (and our panelists [@robins-egg-bindery, @fanboundbooks, @armoredsuperheavy] & moderator [@celestial-sphere-press] doing an excellent job)
folks joining me on the lobby's quasi chaise lounge to just chit chat- cactuscacti's admonishments about curation (appreciated) are still rattling about my thoughts
meeting some of our lurkers ;)
@fanboundbooks's moderation & the talk on transformative works
watching @clovenhoofbindery use a chisel to trim a mini book on my mini press
one of the con goers asking specifically about my loquat dye book!
watching everyone go ape shit for all the supplies at the Austin Book Arts Center
Bonus: the pins, the stickers, the stamps, and @aetherseer suggesting an excellent signature for me ;)
