When Jennifer Liang asked us to be Toastmasters for 2024 we had a few questions, such as “Can we get paid in cheese?” and “Can we set things on fire?” We took the silence as a yes…AND HERE WE ARE.
This is the 16th JordanCon, a coming of Age for the convention and we, Graendal and Lanfear, disguised as mortals Aleena Jack and Kitty Rallo, are here to bask in the celebrations as your Ringmasters.
JordanCon was first graced with our presence back in 2013. A Memory of Light was published that year and we planned on finishing it before the con. Alas, the road to the Dark is paved with good intentions. Unsurprisingly, we spent Saturday in our hotel room speed-reading until the final minute. We managed to finish just in time to be the last ones to get our books signed by Team Jordan. Did we learn our lesson? No. Did we come back? Not right away. We thought
the convention would be ending since the books ended. How exorbitantly wrong we were. This seemingly one-show convention has turned into a magnificent 3-ring grand circus. JordanCon has grown and thrived, and we have grown with it. Our lives are now intertwined with our Chosen chosen family and our friends that we have met here.
A little about each of us. Aleena Jack lives in northern California with her partner as well as her cat, Zeppelin. She is a Gothy Sparkle Mermaid stuck on land. Currently she is a second grade teaching assistant. When not reading, being an executive/personal assistant, wrangling 7 year olds, or working as a Social Media Manager for JordanCon, this Red is probably knitting. You can also find her in her garden getting messy.
Kitty Rallo is an actor living in LA with her main partner and the real loves of her life, her cats Dandelion and Sunflower. She is a Dark Ray of Sunshine, has worked as a chef and a butcher and is doing nothing with her degrees in Physical Anthropology and Dance. You’ve seen her as a host for Dragonmount, in numerous national commercials, the motion capture behind well-known games, and as a legion of Wheel of Time characters on TikTok. Perpetually freezing, this cold-blooded Green is never far from a hot body drink or warm socks.
This year’s theme of Valen Luca’s Traveling Circus is close to our dark hearts. We agreed to be Toastmasters at JordanCon this year to cause mayhem; why else would they have even asked us to host? The past JordanCons were about coming together as a family, but this year we are all running off to join the Circus. This includes our delightful Guests of Honor, whom we grandly welcome into our show of chaos.
Our Author Guest of Honor, Michael Livingston, PhD, is a three-ring circus in his own right. Author of not only Origins of the Wheel of Time, he also released Agincourt and Killing Ground this year. He is also an award-winning conflict analyst, an avant-garde armorer, and a scholar of pre-modern military history. Two of these are true, and the other could be true in a different timeline.
Incidentally, Mark Poole, our Artist Guest of Honor, is concentrating on his personal visions of imaginative realism. He is a superstar, a worldwide award-winning and displaying artist, creating oil paintings that cross subtle landscapes of dreams with emotional journey. His works of riot and color fit perfectly into the havoc of JordanCon.
All great traveling shows have a surprise headliner, and for us this year it is none other than Guy Roberts, who plays Uno Nomesta in Amazon/SONY’s smash-hit TV Series THE WHEEL OF TIME. Guy is the Founder and Artistic Director of Prague Shakespeare Company, the professional English-language theatre of the Czech Republic, now celebrating its 17th season. We are devilishly delighted to have him be a part of our show.
Welcome to the delightful chaos of JordanCon. We relish in the flow of creativity and friendship. If you lose your way or want to join in, come find us and say hello. We are here to serve you as your Toastmasters. Let the Show begin!
