gen con

Upcoming conventions & suchlike

Posted on February 4, 2019 by Dawnrigger

I am excited, daunted (okay, terrified) and exhausted in advance looking at this calendar. Doing even one of these was beyond my imagining a few years ago. I am beyond grateful to all the people who have supported me and given me opportunities.

<deep breath> Here we go…

February 14-17 Capricon 39, Wheeling IL.

Panels about heroes, fantasy physics, the art of violence, and more. I have a reading scheduled, and will have books for purchase in the vendor room.

March 1-3 Cleveland ConCoction, Aurora OH

In Author’s Alley with books, participating on fun panels, doing readings & more. Hoping to have my badges for sale by then along with the books.

March 22-24 C2E2, Chicago, IL

I’ll be working at the Bard’s Tower pop-up bookstore in the Exhibit Hall.

June 7-9 Indy PopCon, Indianapolis, IN.

Planning to be at Bard’s Tower here, too. This is a new con for me, so…EEP.

August 1-4 Gen Con Indianapolis, IN

I’LL HAVE MY OWN TABLE ON AUTHORS’ AVENUE THIS YEAR. Yes, that news is worthy of shoutycaps. I dance a little Pinocchio dance and sing silly songs about happiness every time I think about this.

Gen Con is now where I’m hoping to debut Sharp Edge of Yesterday, because why not throw my big party at a big con I can reach by driving?

August 29-Sept 4, Labor Day Weekend DragonCon, Atlanta GA.

With Bard’s Tower and beyond! Too soon to know about programming here, but I have emails out to the organizers and fingers crossed.

Two wonderful cons that aren’t on this list: WisCon & Windycon. Here’s why, sorta.

WisCon. I loved it the one time I went, but going back as an author…scares me. I don’t think Im up to the emotional exposure. My voice would never add enough to panels to justify silencing anyone else by taking the spot, and vending? My books are fabulous, but I can easily see no one at WisCon having the slightest interest, and that would just crush me.

All that plus I’m wary of overtaxing brain and pocketbook with the other obligations I’ve made makes it a Bad Idea to take on another con.

But…butbutbutbutbut… But I want to go again so much. Maybe just as an attendee for a day trip? Maybe offering to volunteer? I dunno. I just…at this rate I’ll waffle right up until Memorial Day weekend.

I’m on the fence about WindyCon this year too. I sense I may be burned out on life by November…but….I know people there now and it’s a fun time, and I love to hang out with Rich and Rich & the Games Plus booth. November is a long way off. I can put off this decision too. Maybe a very low-key presence, zero money invested and a couple of panels at most?

ANYway. Now you know where I’ll be for quite a few weekends this year, in case you ever want to meet me and talk about writing, or Marvel movies, or fantasy sub-genres, or Night Vale, or discuss what a jerk Carl can be or what Elena’s political ambitions are…

And no need to worry who’ll feed Scooter & take pictures of him while I’m away. Spouseman holds down the fort and keeps the home fires burning. It’s nice to come home to fresh fruit & milk in the fridge, I do confess.

That’s all until later.

Another post about GEN CON? YES!

Posted on August 5, 2018August 5, 2018 by Dawnrigger

Sunday morning at 9 o’clock as the exhibitors file into the hall. Seven more hours of con.

Booth 1841 with Games Plus. Many-colored coat, bright yellow hair. Can’t miss me. Unless I’ve wandered off.

Yes, yes, I didn’t post last night. Too busy catching up with a dear, dear friend(HI GARY! I had so much fun. Thank you for making time for me. It was fab to crowd-watch & sight-see & catch up!) from back in the summer camp days when piling six people into a car and driving from “outside Morgantown,” to head into Bloomington Indiana was our weekend entertainment. Oh, Waycross-Hickory Hill. Always in my heart, you shaped my life in wonderful ways.

ANYWAY. Con notes. Just a few, because I want to get onto the exhibit floor to wander while the crowds are absent.

Many thanks to all of you who have been sent by mutual friends to drop by and talk to me about books ‘n stuff. And many, MANY thanks to my supportive friends. I am beyond grateful and thrilled and humbled and all that. Glitter hearts and hugs to all of you.
Special shout-out to the wonderful Troy Maynard, the Very Vocal Viking, who braved peak Saturday crowds to say hello. (If you haven’t read his book, you should. WONDERFUL stuff.)
People are stopping for stickers and then buying books just because they think the stories sound good. How cool is that? SUPER COOL.
Someone who bought Rough Passages on Friday dropped by to ask a fantastic, thoughtful plot&concept-related question no one else has ever asked me. Filed under “How To Make This Author GIDDY With Book Joy.” (Yes, I answered his question. We had a lovely short convo about it.)
I’m going to have a proper logo. Daniel Govar, who designed my Dawnrigger Logo & dawn dragon, has it. No idea what it looks like yet, he wanted to surprise me here. So…THAT’s exciting!
I had dinner last night with the Games Plus crew and it was delicious. Mount Yummy was demolished, drinks and food and stories shared. (key points: dry humor, phrasing, and a bit of gentle mockery.) Good times. I am privileged to be included.

That’s all. I have many photos, but my technology is not cooperating. Later. for now…

ONWARD!

MOAR GEN CON: Friday edition

Posted on August 3, 2018 by Dawnrigger

At Booth 1841 with Games Plus. All weekend. Just saying.

It’s 11 PM on Gen Con Friday. Today was equally epic to yesterday in similar ways. My feet hate me. I am dead-dog tired. The con is still going strong. I’ll post some pics at the bottom of the post. ALL the gaming goes on until 2AM. And gaming is welcomed in almost every imaginable spot in the convention center and most of the hotels. SO. COOL.

Today’s things of note:

The people in the booth next to Games Plus are demo’ing and selling a neat game called Era of the Ninja. I got to chatting, As One Does, and it turns out one of them works in a library in Ohio & likes SF & fantasy, go figure. We talked libraries, and books, and she now has a copy of Rough Passages to take back to her library. So maybe soon people in Ohio will be checking out my book. That would be sweet!
I played hooky all morning with my Minneapolis friends & generation-next, tackling my third True Dungeon. Our party reigned victorious, although my elf wizard did not survive the final encounter. Next time, someone needs to be a cleric. When the druid is the only healer and everyone is being zapped & poisoned left & right…yeah.
But hey. I boosted the team’s initiative to beat the Big Bad to the first punch, AND I bumped up the ranger’s fighting ability before I expired. We rocked the teamwork part. ANYway. The event was fun and it was truly a joy to hang with good friends I feel instantly comfortable around despite a gap of nearly 10 years…but that isn’t even the big news.
The BIG news is: a book sold while I wasn’t even at the booth. How ’bout THEM apples, eh, world? Now if you’re wondering, “Is one whole book sale that exciting?” The answer is, “HELLS YEAH IT IS.” It can’t be a pity sale if I’m not even there, see? I did more sales today than I expected again, and am now sold out of the title I didn’t bring many of because I didn’t expect it would sell, based on past cons.
I continued to practice good people-engagement and passed out stickers & bookmarks and bitty-little biz cards all day. My smile muscles are so tired.
Note to self for the next generation of bling: get the website name onto the stickers somehow, and do author-branded bookmarks rather than book-focused ones. Maybe bookmarks to match the banner styling. Also 2 banners, with the full text.

I’m sure there’s more, but I’m wiped and want to wind down with a little more reading in Freelance Familiars before bed. Here are the pics I promised.