I have to give tremendous credit to Admin for a fantastic Castle convention this past weekend.  Everything seemed really relaxed and to run smoothly, and the guests seemed to enjoy their time with fans as much as fans enjoyed their time with Andrew, Terri, Jon, Tamala, and Seamus.  It was great to be able to get items autographed, have photos with the guests, and bid on some fabulous Castle and cast-related items, from the staircase artwork to signed scripts, little elephants signed by Stana, and Castle pictures signed by the whole cast.  I ended up winning the pilot script signed by AWM, and I'll certainly enjoy having it, but it's even better that all of the auction proceeds went to the great charities of the guests' choice.

The meet and greet lunch was a special treat, and I spent around 10 minutes with each of the guests in a small group.  It was in that setting that Tamala talked about what an honor the nomination for People's Choice was for cast and crew (and how much a win would mean to them).  Jon asked our group about other favorite TV shows and talked about what's next with his music and plans for a variety-type show and music combined with some great visual stuff.  Seamus talked about plans for vacation over theatre during coming breaks and some of the behind-the-scenes preparation required for certain scenes (as well as how much he hated the Elvis wig).  Andrew and Terri were together with our group for a bit, and talked about how they came to write Cuffed together after they were asked to abandon the Christmas episode they had been writing together (due to initial plans not to show Castle in December).  Andrew mentioned that writing together is pretty great because Terri's strength is the romantic comedy, and he has strong skills with the case elements.  I saw on twitter yesterday that they will write together again because they enjoyed it so much.

The Q and A sessions were also completely enjoyable.  There were great questions from the attendees, many of which the guests haven't been asked before or not as often as they get asked other questions.  Terri and Andrew were completely adorable together, at times whispering to each other and smiling at each other, and there was such a nice play between them as they answered questions.  Many of their answers were very long and thoughtful (writers block, getting into the business), and I especially liked hearing more about the genesis of the show and bringing Stana and Nathan together for the first time.  They were very complimentary about Nathan's comedic timing and Stana's ability to bring the subtext to life.  Yes, there was mention of the "Always" as a form of "I love you" and discussion about how sometimes the most common terms or lines of dialogue develop such significance.  They felt the network were good partners to them, and they talked about the writer's room process whereby 3 or 4 writers (each with different strengths) are together to break a story so that they all have some ownership of the final product even though it is ultimately one writer's voice that predominates.

The afternoon Q and A with the cast was full of fun.  They all have such a great rapport with each other, and it's obvious how much they respect each other and enjoy the company of the others.  Since Nathan and Stana usually get the focus of the fans, it was really wonderful to see them be the center of attention.  Each gave a detailed story about how they got their roles, their worst jobs (Seamus at 1-800-Dentist), their wishes for their characters this season (Seamus has had his fulfilled).  It was difficult to see the line in which people with questions stood, so at one point when the line was empty, Jon went into the audience to ask questions (and feed questions if need be)…he was very funny.

I highly recommend purchasing the DVD for the convention when it becomes available…the sessions were really interesting and enjoyable, and I think the proceeds will be for charity as well.

Like Nev827, another fan from the board and I were fortunate enough to watch some of the taping for 4x11.  The cast and crew were very gracious in allowing us to observe, although we were asked not to take pictures during filming.  As someone curious about the behind-the-scenes stuff, it was fascinating to watch all the effort that goes into maybe 5 minutes of tape, and Castlegrip on twitter came over to chat for 20-30 minutes during a break as well (he's a great guy).  Jon said hi a couple times walking by the small group in which I stood, but there were conflicting reports about whether anyone other than Jon and Seamus were taping that night.  When I popped out for a quick dinner, Nathan, Stana, and Tamala showed up for rehearsal, so my friend and I missed a picture opportunity with them at that time.  When they wrapped for the night (following everyone singing Happy Birthday to Tamala and another member of the crew), Stana and Jon walked by, but I felt badly that it was so late so I did not stop them.  However, they got stopped by some other fans some way down the sidewalk on the way back to their trailers, so we ended up getting a picture with them as well.  I didn't get a picture with Tamala, but was part of a small group that talked with her for about 15 minutes in between scenes…she is a sweet, lovely person, and so appreciative of the fans.

All in all, it was quite an amazing weekend.