I am a huge fan of superlatives. They are fantastically wonderfully superb! Outstanding, fabulous, excellent, splendiferous! Over the top words pepper my speech and occasionally bubble over into the ridiculous. I remember being mocked by a receptionist at a German hostel literally in the act of checking in because I’d said ‘brilliant’ so many times. I am overenthusiastic and excitable and prone to hyperbole, but it means that I do actively seek out experiences that make me want to squeal with joy. Why stick with the same old mundane existence when I could do the best thing ever?! And the best thing about the best thing is that it constantly changes. I have too many favourites and top-10s and most-exciting-evers…and I love them all!

And my most recent best thing ever? Eroticon 2016.

I struggle every now and then with labelling myself as a writer, and tend to avoid doing so. I’m much more comfortable with my scientist/doctor persona. I have spent so long studying numbers and figures and gaining old fashioned academic knowledge that for a long time I just admired the arts from afar. And no matter how proud I am of my writing and this blog, I am in awe of the abilities of the other writers. There is so much talent surrounding me and so many stunningly beautiful authors who can manipulate words to paint beautiful images and draw out powerful emotions. They are just extraordinary, and I am learning so much from reading them.

So, obviously, I jumped at the chance to meet some of them and learn from them at Eroticon, an erotic writing and sex blogging conference, aiming to rein in my fangirling tendencies and hoping not to faint in delight!

Oh my gosh, it was wonderful, and for so many reasons. The sessions that I attended were so useful and I am so grateful for the opportunity to absorb the knowledge and experience of writers that I admire, from Girl on the Net‘s advice on battling trolls to Hyacinth Jones‘s lecture on writing about sex in a more beautiful way. I was fascinated by the discussions around sex and sex positivity, particularly Milena Popova and Charlie Hale’s workshop on consent in erotic writing and Pandora Blake‘s talk on DIY porn. There was just so much creativity shared and I loved taking part in Tabitha Rayne‘s life drawing session and learning photography tips from Molly Moore. It was certainly an inspiring weekend…

It was also amazing to meet and chat to some tremendous people. I could name the entire attendance list as I loved meeting everyone, but there were some that I do want to particularly mention – I was so happy to finally meet the fabulous F. Leonora, who is as flamboyant as I’d hoped! I discovered via the lovely gentlemen from Luke and Jack that I have a doppelgänger in Glasgow, Lady Celine gave me some great tips on vintage dress shopping, and Exhibit A‘s Sinful Sunday photo will always be a highlight. But I honestly didn’t meet anyone who wasn’t interesting; I didn’t meet anyone who I wouldn’t love to talk to again. I loved it, every minute of it. And I wanted to say thank you to everyone for making it such a memorable and fantastic weekend. (I think I might actually be running out of superlatives…!)

But the best part, and one which Michael Knight wrote about at the time, is that for those two days, I could be this other person completely. I am still anonymous, hiding my blog and much of my sex life from my family and friends, but for the weekend I was The Other Livvy, writer, sex geek and photographer, without concealing anything. Dr Livvy became the secondary person, the less important part, and that was surprisingly liberating. It’s been difficult to go back.

There is a chance that this was the last Eroticon. I hope that’s not true. I hope that there are many, many more opportunities to have this much fun again. I hope that I can see all of these wonderful people again and meet many more. I have so much more to learn and so much more to do!

But, if not, I am so happy to have attended because, if nothing else, where else will I have the chance to take part in one of the most joyful and inspiring moments of the year with so many beautiful people?

…because this, and the smiling and laughing faces that are cropped out of the top of the picture, perfectly sums up Eroticon 2016!

(Do click on the photo to jump to Hyacinth’s Boob Day post where she talks more about taking the photo and who is in it!)