Octocon Day 2

Hello and welcome back to my Octocon weekend.

It was such a full on weekend that I’m only getting a chance to write-up a post now! So Day 2 started early enough we had a great breakfast and filled up for the day. There were a number of events on but I’m just going to share the ones I went to.

First up was Play Nicely Together: Shared Universes moderated by Michael Carroll with Guests of Honour Pat Cadigan, Colleen Doran, Peadar O’Guilín and Sean Williams.

“Many creators work in a world that’s built by or shared with others such as the Star Wars and Star Trek universes, Marvel, DC, and George R R Martin’s Wildcards. What are the pros and cons of sharing your work and your worlds?“

Very interesting talk on stepping into worlds that are already created and putting your own spin on it, realising how much research the creators have to do into the history of the worlds/universes to make sure they don’t crossover or revisit something that has already been done. Enjoyed this one.

Next up was Frankenstein’s Legacy moderated by Jack Fennell with Sarah Maria Griffin, Robert JE Simpson and Oisín McGann.

This talk was fantastic, I’m a big fan of Sarah Maria Griffin after reading her book Spare and Found Parts, she really has made me want to read Frankenstein now! I didn’t realise Mary Shelley was only 19 when she wrote it and I found the whole topic fascinating. Are we still influenced by the legacy of Frankenstein? I think we are!

I talked to Sarah after and she was genuinely so lovely, I forgot to bring my books for the weekend (I KNOW 😭) but she signed my sampler of Other Words For Smoke and we even got a selfie 😁

After lunch I went to Author Readings by Sarah Maria Griffin and Peadar O’Guilín.

It was great to hear them both reading from works that aren’t even out yet, it made me excited to see what they have coming up. Also I could listen to Peadar read all day he has a great voice, he should really do audiobooks.

I got time then to talk to Ruth Frances Long and finally managed to get my hands on a copy of A Crack In Everything and she signed it for me 😍

The absolute best part was getting caught fangirling, I genuinely was so delighted to be there right in that moment..

Tiredness caught up on me then so I took a break, had a lie down and read for a bit, bonus side of staying in the hotel where the con is held!

After a break it was finally time for The Vault Of Horrors!!!! I had heard a lot about it and was super excited to go. Unfortunately there was some technical issues from the event before hand so it delayed the vault and meant it had to be cut down but it was still awesome fun.

YOU WILL GO TO THE VAULT..

If you here these words at some point in your future (Dublin2019 Worldcon watch out) just know that you will go and your life will be changed. John Vaughan presents a selection of horrifyingly bad films but hilariously enough I found myself getting some movie recommendations. See I love a bad movie, so bad it’s good and watching John painfully go through Geostorm and having us all in stitches laughing makes me want to watch it 😂 I can’t wait to see it all, it must be really really bad to have made it to the Vault!

Finally we ended the night with The Monster’s Ball, this was a chance to get dressed up and let loose on the dance floor. I went for a Nancy from The Craft 90s goth inspired look, honestly I’d love to look like this everyday but it would be so much effort trying to take all of that eyeliner off every night 😂

Yes that is a bathroom selfie because the lighting was good! 😂

And hey look we even found a dinosaur!

That was all for Day 2.. after I finally left the dance floor and made it to my bed, and there’s still a Day 3 to follow!! Keep your eyes peeled it should be on the way tomorrow and with a bit of information about World Con Dublin 2019.