Over the weekend of ST Patrick’s Day, I attended 90’s Con in Hartford, CT. For those who don’t know, 90’s Con is a new fan convention (2023 is only the second year) with a theme focused on the 90’s era – my childhood!
I was lucky enough to meet quite a few of the cast members from some of my favorite movies and TV shows – Charmed, Hocus Pocus, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But one interaction I had in particular will always stand out in my mind – and I promise this is writing related!
Vinessa Shaw played Alison in the movie Hocus Pocus, which is my favorite Halloween movie. When I was around eight or nine years old, I started writing what would now be called fan fiction (I didn’t know it by that term back then – in fact, I’m not even sure “fan fiction” officially existed yet!), and wrote stories and “scripts” about characters in Hocus Pocus.
When I met Vinessa, I told her that the movie came out when I was around eight or nine years old, and that I started writing Hocus Pocus fan fiction, and it inspired me to want to be a writer, and I have now been published in two (three as of June 30th!) books. Vinessa loved that story, and gave me a big, long hug and said she was proud of me for following my dreams to be a writer. Vinessa was SO nice, and I’m so glad that I decided to be brave and tell her that story.
Getting to meet and talk to one of the people who portrayed one of the characters in one of my absolute favorite movies was more than I ever could have asked for, especially when I was writing those stories all those years ago.