Broadstairs Bacchanalia 2015: con report
Nov. 15th, 2015 10:15 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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broadstairsbaccA long time ago and on a planet that now seems very far away...
I went to Broadstairs for Broadstairs Bacchanalia.
You might remember last year's excitement. There were only four of us this time. People were scattered - in Australia, on holiday, at work, ill and nobody took their place. We still had a wonderful time and would recommend anyone who can to join us next year. We did manage to include![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
margaret_r in one session via Skype since she was the one in Australia and was disappointed at not being able to join us again.
This year,zellieh and I stayed in a delightful guest house just across the road from the house a few of us had rented in 2014. The landlady was German (with an English husband) and was an artist. There were some interesting samples of her work on the walls. Breakfast was delicious - continental with the addition of smoothies (we were supposed to guess the fruits used) and the things you expect from a good German breakfast - cooked meats, cheeses, boiled eggs and lovely bread.
Our landlady talked to us and when we said we were attending a writing weekend she admitted to belonging to a local reading group and told us that the last book had been so disappointing they had all decided to write their own versions of the story in the hope of improving it. When we murmured something about fanfic she'd obviously never heard of it. So - small group of readers on the Kent coast independently invent fanfic in the second decade of the 21st century. We managed to keep our faces straight.
The bacchanalia itself was great. We had the traditional (can the second year be called a tradition??) evening at The Chapel (a bar in a second hand bookshop), ice cream at Morelli's on the seafront, a 'smart' dinner at a Thai restaurant, a game of Slash in the local pub, vid recs and watching. I managed to traumatise everybody with Metalocalypse though I'm suredelaese would have approved and I hope I made up for it with the 'pretties' in Engragements (Spiral). Plus there was obligatory swooning over Karl Urban. We had a number of panels as well which I have also uploaded here to the comm
How to discourage your troll.
Fanfic v. Original Fic: a writer's view.
- and a picnic on the beach.
This was accompanied by a pathetic young seagull who had been sent out to beg on his own whilst his parent watched from a distance. Despite his cries we manage to do a Harry Potter quiz which our gracious hostesskat_lair won by a whisker, and eat some delicious finger food.
We were also accompanied by my new purchase: 50 Shades of Grey in a plain carrier bag, found in a second hand bookshop between our guest house and the sea front. Zellieh knew I needed it and she found it for me. I only paid £1 and I did actually carry out the transaction myself but then I made her carry it. It was our picnic centrepiece and then took pride of place again at Morelli's.
We spent a great deal of time eating. There was gorgeous food at the house, including cup cakes with pictures from LotR, and a meal at the Chinese restaurant across the road as well as fish and chips from round the corner. We remembered from last year that the portions were huge so we reduced our order but we still had plenty to give to Perdy and Tricks, the resident cats who attended the bacchanalia with every sign of enjoyment.
We heard about a 'century plant' that was flowering in Ramsgate, just down the road, so off we went, with Stephen Fry's inimitable satnav voice-over inpushkin666's car telling us the way. It was in a beautiful restored Victorian greenhouse though it was merrily escaping through the roof. We had coffee and explored the park surrounding it, and got back to Kat's house just before rain set in for the rest of the weekend.
We also spent a lot of time writing. Writing in company, almost but not quite in competition, was very pleasurable and I think we were all very productive.The collection is available here:
on AO3 I have been getting more kudos for a very mundane drabble in that collection than for almost anything I have posted since kudos became a thing. Heaven knows why.
We agreed provisionally to hold the bacchanalia later next year, to avoid holidays, returns to uni, etc. The idea is to combine it with an observance of Samhain and have a Halloween theme for the weekend. (I think the 31st is actually on the Monday.) We would like to use the Samhain connection to remember people we have lost includingmoonlightmead who was with us in 2014 but was very ill this year and sadly died at the beginning of November.
It was a great weekend and then I travelled home by train and started, on the way, to feel ill. From what I can gather, none of the others suffered, so I have no idea where I picked up the virus that laid me low for the next six weeks.
So - who's for Broadstairs 2016?
I went to Broadstairs for Broadstairs Bacchanalia.
You might remember last year's excitement. There were only four of us this time. People were scattered - in Australia, on holiday, at work, ill and nobody took their place. We still had a wonderful time and would recommend anyone who can to join us next year. We did manage to include
margaret_r in one session via Skype since she was the one in Australia and was disappointed at not being able to join us again. This year,
zellieh and I stayed in a delightful guest house just across the road from the house a few of us had rented in 2014. The landlady was German (with an English husband) and was an artist. There were some interesting samples of her work on the walls. Breakfast was delicious - continental with the addition of smoothies (we were supposed to guess the fruits used) and the things you expect from a good German breakfast - cooked meats, cheeses, boiled eggs and lovely bread. Our landlady talked to us and when we said we were attending a writing weekend she admitted to belonging to a local reading group and told us that the last book had been so disappointing they had all decided to write their own versions of the story in the hope of improving it. When we murmured something about fanfic she'd obviously never heard of it. So - small group of readers on the Kent coast independently invent fanfic in the second decade of the 21st century. We managed to keep our faces straight.
The bacchanalia itself was great. We had the traditional (can the second year be called a tradition??) evening at The Chapel (a bar in a second hand bookshop), ice cream at Morelli's on the seafront, a 'smart' dinner at a Thai restaurant, a game of Slash in the local pub, vid recs and watching. I managed to traumatise everybody with Metalocalypse though I'm sure
delaese would have approved and I hope I made up for it with the 'pretties' in Engragements (Spiral). Plus there was obligatory swooning over Karl Urban. We had a number of panels as well which I have also uploaded here to the comm How to discourage your troll.
Fanfic v. Original Fic: a writer's view.
- and a picnic on the beach.
This was accompanied by a pathetic young seagull who had been sent out to beg on his own whilst his parent watched from a distance. Despite his cries we manage to do a Harry Potter quiz which our gracious hostess
kat_lair won by a whisker, and eat some delicious finger food. We were also accompanied by my new purchase: 50 Shades of Grey in a plain carrier bag, found in a second hand bookshop between our guest house and the sea front. Zellieh knew I needed it and she found it for me. I only paid £1 and I did actually carry out the transaction myself but then I made her carry it. It was our picnic centrepiece and then took pride of place again at Morelli's.
We spent a great deal of time eating. There was gorgeous food at the house, including cup cakes with pictures from LotR, and a meal at the Chinese restaurant across the road as well as fish and chips from round the corner. We remembered from last year that the portions were huge so we reduced our order but we still had plenty to give to Perdy and Tricks, the resident cats who attended the bacchanalia with every sign of enjoyment.
We heard about a 'century plant' that was flowering in Ramsgate, just down the road, so off we went, with Stephen Fry's inimitable satnav voice-over in
pushkin666's car telling us the way. It was in a beautiful restored Victorian greenhouse though it was merrily escaping through the roof. We had coffee and explored the park surrounding it, and got back to Kat's house just before rain set in for the rest of the weekend. We also spent a lot of time writing. Writing in company, almost but not quite in competition, was very pleasurable and I think we were all very productive.The collection is available here:
on AO3 I have been getting more kudos for a very mundane drabble in that collection than for almost anything I have posted since kudos became a thing. Heaven knows why.
We agreed provisionally to hold the bacchanalia later next year, to avoid holidays, returns to uni, etc. The idea is to combine it with an observance of Samhain and have a Halloween theme for the weekend. (I think the 31st is actually on the Monday.) We would like to use the Samhain connection to remember people we have lost including
moonlightmead who was with us in 2014 but was very ill this year and sadly died at the beginning of November. It was a great weekend and then I travelled home by train and started, on the way, to feel ill. From what I can gather, none of the others suffered, so I have no idea where I picked up the virus that laid me low for the next six weeks.
So - who's for Broadstairs 2016?
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