So, the Creatures, Crimes, and Creativity (C3) con I attended this past weekend was a fantastic weekend. I’m a person who craves being with other people, and when those people are other writers, more’s the better. At C3 you can find yourself commiserating with other writers, getting advice from other writers, giving advice as well, and rubbing elbows with some of the most well-known and well-recognized writers in your genre. You know, the ones perennially on all the best-seller lists, and they actually make time for you.

I moderated one panel and was a panelist on another. The panel I moderated was about using the “ticking clock” literally or figuratively to develop tension, and I had Jeffrey Deaver as a panelist. Yes, that Jeff Deaver, he of the dozens of best-selling crime novels, most featuring Lincoln Rymes as a paraplegic detective. He was gracious and an excellent panelist. I could have sat back and let him talk for the whole 45 minutes, but he was the one to make sure the other panelists got their time in.

Deaver was also one of the con’s keynote speakers. You know, when you see a writer who has had remarkable success, become a well-known celebrity even, you tend to forget that writers’ journeys to publication are all remarkably similar. Multiple rejections, publication, more rejections, publication, etc. His experience, relayed with hilarious self-deprecation, was inspirational.

Then, came the panel where I was a panelist. It had to do with including fight scenes in your work. So, let me describe this panel to you. From my left to my right: retired cop, 40+ year stuntman in Hollywood, me, retired cop, special forces guy. Everyone except me and the moderator (also a woman) was a big, hulking guy. You know, the kind you’d want to have on your side in a fight.

When it was my turn to introduce myself, I said to the audience, “I know what you’re thinking. Why on earth is she here?” That broke the ice, as did my comment that “though I’m not much of a fighter, I’m half-Irish, so the potential is there.”

But it was a great discussion, with real-world techniques described, and I actually contributed, based on the few fight scenes I’ve written in my books. YouTube videos are a marvel. I actually sounded as if I knew what I was talking about.

And I have to give a shout-out to those two ex-cops, the stuntman, and the special forces guy. I came to the panel with my own biases, which come from past experiences in the workplace. I expected to be interrupted, talked over, and/or my comments reinterpreted by one or more of them. Didn’t happen a single time. Not once. A pleasant and heart-warming surprise, and I thanked them all for that afterward. The special forces guy said, “Man, I hate when men do that to women.”

There is hope.

My favorite intervals at C3 were the meals where you sat at a table of writers, most of whom you didn’t know, and you simply talked writing, regardless of genre, regardless of experience level. At one dinner, we all discussed how we could have written Sharknado better. Great fun and lots of laughs.

I sold only one book, but in a way, that wasn’t the point. It was the camaraderie, the shared experiences, the laughs, the learning from others who are like you–writers.

C3 is not the cheapest event. For me it’s a long drive and an expensive hotel, but sometimes you don’t and shouldn’t put a price on being with the family you make.

So, to quote the Terminator, “I’ll be back” next year.