Ad Astra 2013 Recap

Ad Astra was held April 5-7, and it was a whirlwind kind of weekend! I was on five different panels, and I competed in the masquerade as well. There were lots of great friends, old and new, some wonderful conversations, and a lot of fun was had by all!

 I arrived on the Friday in my Eilonwy cosplay. She's the "forgotten" Disney princess, from The Black Cauldron, and it was great fun being her for a day. ^_^

And my bauble lit up!

I was on a panel with Kelley Armstrong and librarian Joel Sutherland on the topic of Dystopic YA. Such a great discussion to start the weekend!

And then, Friday night...time for Disney Karaoke! Eilonwy doesn't have a song, so I sang Colors of the Wind, lighting up my bauble at the appropriate time. :)

This Snow White was an incredible singer and cosplayer.

 And, as we all joked, Storm Trooper, the newest Disney princess:

 

He was also our fab karaoke DJ.

 Saturday I wore my Rosa Farrell of Final Fantasy IV cosplay:

  

And started the day bright and early with a panel on The Changing Face of YA Fiction with Kelley Armstrong and Timothy Carter. So great! We talked about diversity in YA, the influence of gaming-culture and non-western storylines, and what we'd like to see more of in the future. It was also my first time moderating, which was nerve-wracking. I went with two pages of questions written out, but in the end all went well. :)

Then I met up with Lance Schonberg (Writing Dad) and his very cool daughters, in their amazing Steampunk outfits!

I had the pleasure of meeting Writing Dad (Lance Schonberg) at World Fantasy Con. He and his daughters and putting together their own Podcast, Cyborg Bunnies Review, so look out for that coming soon!

And they made their own outfits, and their own weapons. Don't they look amazing?

I also had the chance to see my lovely friend Tanya Gough, author of ROOTBOUND:

Click to add to your goodreads!

We went for a tasty Japanese lunch (mmm curry rice!), where I drew a bit of a stare in my cosplay. Oops... ^_^

Afterward it was time for the Cosplay and Photography Walkabout, where we got some great photos:

Better still if I had a better camera :)

 Then another panel--Writing YA Fiction--with Kelley Armstrong and Joel Sutherland. And then a mass author signing! I got to sit in a room with fantastic authors including Rob J. Sawyer, Ben Bova, Jim Butcher, Lesley Livingston, J.M. Frey, Kelley Armstrong, Julie Czerneda, and many many others that caused me to fangirl. :D

The ARCs I signed, and behind them, the water I spilled everywhere.

Then it was time for the masquerade! There were awesome book-inspired and game-inspired creations:

She even LIT UP.

Link can't lift the hammer. Maybe if he wears the Iron Boots?

And I won this!

Best in Class and Best Workmanship, as well as the Amano Award of Elegance on stage. Yippee!

Things wound down on the Sunday, but there was still a great attendance for my last panel, Writing Beyond Your Boundaries with Derwin Mak. Good times!

What a fun convention! I definitely needed a nap after.

I'll finish with my cosplay on the Sunday, and a picture with my daughter:

Pegasisters 4 life! XD

Thanks, Ad Astra 2013! See you next year!