From Richard Armitage to ASC - A Fan Experience!

A promotional 'poster' from Armitage4Clairmont

This is from someone we are now proud to call a friend!  She came down all the way from Alaska to to have an AST experience via this convention!  She found the All Souls Trilogy ironically enough from another entirely different/separate fandom (we'll take a bit of responsibility for this one—she stumbled upon some of the pictures & videos from our other venture.)  Hey!  We'll take it!  Our first love has always been the books, and we are happy that someone new got to experience the brilliance of the All Souls Trilogy no matter how they stumbled upon it!
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The Armitage Effect

By Donna Barrington

For fans, it seems all roads potentially lead to Richard Armitage. For me, the All Souls Trilogy was a side trip into an alternate realm, being led there by dogging said Armitage’s every potential role, interest or appearance (yes, I am obsessed.)  I stumbled upon the trilogy oddly enough through the Daemons’ handful of Armitage4Clairmont promotional materials and YouTube videos.  Who the hell is Matthew Clairmont, and why is Richard perfect for the role?  These were questions posed, and the answers were supplied!  I didn’t expect to be so mesmerized or so gob smacked by the absolute brilliance of these books.  Enchanted?  Yes, Ms. Harkness, you have woven quite a spell.

I dove into the deep end, swimming through the nuanced words, imaginative turns of phrase, tantalizing history, and brilliant scholarship of the author. She brought a new and fresh perspective to storylines as old as the hills. My Armitage-centric world expanded to include not only what I came to agree was the “perfect” role, but I found myself loving these books for their own merit.  From my early years as a vampire-loving weirdo and a card-carrying member of the Count Dracula Society, dreaming of imaginary make-out sessions with Christopher Lee and Jonathan Frid, (I hasten to add this was at least twenty years before the word Goth would be commonly applied to a group of black-wearing wannabes), I have, in the sixth decade of my life, firmly and proudly re-embraced the title of “fan girl” (or “fan woman”).

The All Souls Convention came at an opportune moment for me. I was bored out of my gourd, drinking too much wine, bemoaning the loss of my sparkling youth. There it was - like a shining path to redemption, a chance to reawaken something exciting, fun and most of all, out of the ordinary. I was willing to fly thousands of miles, attend an event where I knew no one, a newbie fan with arguably the weakest grasp of the Trilogy. The Convention was everything I hoped it would be and more. I made friends. I found inspiration and a renewed sense of self. Like Bilbo Baggins, I had gone on an adventure!

I am still mad as a Hatter for Richard Armitage. My madness now extends to the All Souls Trilogy, which has even provided inspiration for this year’s Halloween costume. Thank you, Ms. Harkness, organizers and Daemons for expanding my universe. I will definitely see you next year! Gratitude!

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We'll see you next year, Donna!  :)  We are definitely doing dinner again!
We hope to see the rest of you at AllSoulsCon 2016 as well!



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