So this last weekend I went to my first ever Eroticon!

I was fortunate to be drawn for a ticket via the Eroticon ticket pool, travelling down to London for Friday and Saturday, before returning home on the Sunday. I asked my sister Wanda, a romance writer and reviewer, if she wanted to come along and she was really excited to!

If you haven’t checked out her blog, click the link and show her some love!

So to sum up our Eroticon experience…

We had such an amazing time!

It was fantastic to finally meet some of the fantastic people I’ve connected with in this community, whose blogs I’ve followed and admired for a while and getting to know you better, and introducing Wanda to you all!

We were made to feel so welcome, and given the offer of being introduced to people if we felt nervous.  A humungous thank you to all for being the lovely people that you are!

We both learned so much in the day of talks we went to. It was difficult which ones to chose because they all looked so good! I thoroughly enjoyed the talks I went to, coming away with a truckload I can apply to my blog, my everyday life and to learn some good, juicy history!

Eleanor Jenaga’s talk on the history of Medieval women and desire was absolutely fascinating! It’s incredibly how the perception has flipped on women’s sexuality since those times. And that unfortunately one same concept is still alive and well: that women’s sexuality is something that needs to be controlled, policed and kept under the heel.

Plus, learning the exact definition of sodomy (sexual activity that doesn’t directly result in pregnancy) was pretty damn cool and will be used to counter any future bigoted arguments I have hehe!

Kayla Lords & Amy Norton’s talks on time management and how to make money from sex blogging were an absolute Godsend. For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently a full-time MA student as well as freelancing. So having good time management is essential…something I’m not very good at! Plus, learning how to earn money through sex blogging definitely showed me new ways to approach building my blog.

Jaime Mortimer gave me my historical literature fix with a kinky writer’s happy place: learning the history of BDSM literature. Wise words from the man himself: ‘Be careful when you have sex with people descended from Gods and Goddesses!’

The Meme Panel with Kayla Lords Marie Rebelle, Molly Moore and Hyacinth Jones brought to light how getting involved with memes can improve site traffic as well as finding a community.

One thing that definitely surprised me was how enthralled I was at the Vac Play room. Normally that’s something I’d be frightened stiff about and while I wasn’t brave enough to try the vac bed, I was completely engrossed in watching how it worked and how the sensation play became different with vacuumed latex. Plus, Mac was an absolute scream and made little newbie me feel very comfortable!

I think next year, if I’m brave enough I’ll try the cube!

The demos were fantastic as I got to learn, watch and try new things I’d otherwise be apprehensive about. Like the ElectraStim paddle! Electro play was something I’ve always been a little scared of (until Eroticon my knowledge was limited to the violet wand and tazappers, which can be pretty hardcore)

But after trying out some of the items at the stall and how it can be used sensually to enhance one’s sexual experiences, I’m more than eager to try them now! As well as that, witnessing a rope suspension demo with Cara Thereon I was complete awe of how much work goes in to the beautiful rope work and how much it can relax someone.

As well as the talks and learning however, what I really loved was how welcome we were made to feel and how I could just be completely myself, where I could share my love of writing and kinky fuckery and not get strange looks!

The vibe of the entire weekend was very much ‘I’ve found my people!’ and the first thing Wanda said to me on Saturday afternoon was: We’re coming here next year, right?

Already working on saving the pennies!

 

A huge thank you to Michael, Molly, Girl On The Net and all the sponsors for Eroticon for doing such a fantastic job!

 

All my love,

Violet xx