Iâve written many times before about time management and how I tend to take on more projects than I possibly could. Well, this week, that bit me in the buttâhard. Remember how I was supposed to have a book signing at the North Webster Public Library Monday?
I completely forgot about it.
You read that right. I didnât even show up at my own book signing. Thatâs never happened before. Iâm the kind of person who keeps his commitments. I feel terrible if I donât. I donât like letting people down. Yet despite seeing promotions for my signing and even blogging about it, it completely slipped my mind. Since I was scheduled to work at my day job, I couldnât even show up late. I spent the next 24 hours beating myself up over it until I talked with the librarians this afternoon and found out all is well. Iâve been rescheduled for June 6 from 3:30pm-6:30pm.
Me yesterday when I got the call from the library.
I had no excuse or justification for forgetting it. The problem is Iâve had a hundred other things on my mind, from writing/creative projects to family concerns to a ballroom dance showcase this weekend, and everything in between. Something was bound to get lost in the shuffle, to fall through the cracks. Itâs not the first time itâs happened, but it was never something this major. It was usually just something like forgetting to blog (Iâve apologized many a time for that) or neglecting my writing time (a greater crime for writers). Never have I neglected an entire event centered on me that was promoted for several weeks, if not longer, beforehand. My only solace is the library is too nice to make me wear the proverbial bag of shame over my head whenever Iâm there.
At the height of my metaphorical self-flagellation over this, I told myself I should just cut out everything that isnât work or writing from my life to avoid more gaffs like this. Now that Iâm in my right mind, I donât think Iâll go that far. Iâll certainly put some thought into cutting back on some things, though. More importantly, Iâm going to be smarter about remembering my own schedule. Put it on my calendar or in my iPhone as a reminder.
Or marry a secretary. đ
The point is I canât afford to make a mistake like this again. It was unprofessional and irresponsible. At least it only happened for relatively small event. If I forget Gen-ConâŠ.
So, be it known that future events will not sneak up on me like one of Master Heeyahâs ninjas. đ
You get two posts today, True Believers! A new story and an announcement.
I currently have two book signings scheduled for 2016 (more will probably be on the way). The first will be at the North Webster Community Public Library in North Webster, Indiana. It’ll be held April 11 3:30pm-6:30pm. It’s part of their celebration of National Library Week, which starts that day. I’ll have most, if not all, of my books with me, but I’ll be focusing on my newest ones, Ninjas and Talking Trees and 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom. You can find out more on the library’s website.
The big one as usual, though, is Gen-Con. The “best four days in gaming” will be held at the Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium August 4-7 in Indianapolis, Indiana. I’ll be in Authors’ Avenue in the vendor’s hall, but you’ll probably also see me attending events and enjoying the con. I’ll hopefully have added one or two more titles to the long list of books I’ll be selling there. I can’t wait to see all my Gen-Con friends! You can find out more about the event on its website.
When I have other signings scheduled, I’ll be sure to let you know!
How many times can I apologize for missing âblog daysâ before you, dear readers, dump me like a bad boyfriend? Itâs been a few weeks since I posted a video detailing some of my experiences at Tri-Con 2015 in Evansville, Indiana, and I promised a full blog on it, which only now am I writing.
Iâll say it, anyway: Sorry for the delay.
âAnd now for something completely different.â
Day One
Tri-Con got off to a rough start. I thought the vendor hall opened at noon, but it was gonna take me five hours to drive there. It didnât help that I worked late the night before at my day job. So, I bought two bottles of 5-Hour Energy to get me through the day. I took one just before leaving and one more just before I arrived. Complicating matters, since both the CD player and tape player in Silver Sable (my car) werenât working, I created a makeshift stereo system using my iPhone and a portable speaker. This disallowed me from using my phoneâs GPS because of the battery drain, so I had to print out directions. It made things a bit more annoying.
My table.
After a harrowingly long drive, I arrived at the Holiday Inn where the con was being held. I was surprised to learn that the vendor hall opened at 2pm, and thanks to slipping from eastern time to central time (barely), I ended up being early instead of late. (I think. My brain was buzzing more than a beehive at the time). I set up shop and introduced myself to my neighbors, which included chiptunes artist Professor ShyGuy and anime crafts company Sweets Haven. I was glad we all got along since the vendor hall was cramped. The aisles were narrow and the vendors were practically sitting back-to-back.
I did manage a few sales that day. Here are photos of my first buyers (I regret I lost my note with their names. Sorry!):
As usual, I explored the convention and checked out the evening events. I quickly learned that this was a party con. I think I saw more drunk people during the three days of this small convention (400-500 in attendance, at most) than I did all four days of Gen-Con, which had 60,000 in attendance. One of the events I checked out briefly was a what I thought would be a concert, but it was more of a rave. Raves arenât my thing, but I did take a few photos and videos of the dancers.
I left to check into my hotel roomâcourtesy of a friend of a friendâand ran into a woman Iâd met in the dealer hall. She wanted to talk with me about some stuff. We ended up chatting for at least two hours about reconciling faith with fandom because she had concerns about her teenage son. She and her pre-teen daughter were the only Christians in her family, which made things even harder. I think that conversation was the most important one I had the entire weekend and was one of the biggest reasons God wanted me there. It was a miracle I was still awake since my energy drink had worn off.
I checked into the hotel room and met my roommates. They were a bit rough around the edges, but despite starting as strangers, we got along and became friends.
Day Two I slept in a bit since the dealer hall didnât open until 11pm, I think. I took that opportunity to get a photo-op with Michele Specht and Chuck Huber who, among other things, are cast members from the fan-created series Star Trek Continues. Both were enthusiastic about their work, especially Michele. My gosh! And people think Iâm crazy on caffeine. Sheâs a whirlwind!
Me with Chuck Huber and Michele Specht (who accidentally cosplayed Kim Possible).
I regretted not wearing my 10th Doctor costume on Saturday like I normally do since I missed some great photo-ops.
A attended the Star Trek Continues screening/panel, though I missed the screening. It was still great seeing Michele and Chuck interact with fans, though.
Loki winning at Cards Against Humanity.
The next event was another 21 and up party, so I skipped out on it. The alternative was an open play for Cards Against Humanity. I decided to watch before trying it, and I quickly learned it wasnât the game for me (though I did make some great jokes while watching). I especially didnât want to play when I saw Loki (a cosplayer) winning almost every round. He is Loki, after all.
Day Three The last day of the con was one of the slowest, as you would imagine. I did wear my Doctor cosplay, but that was because I attended a âsteampunk prayer service.â Only six or so people were there, but I still enjoyed it. It was presided over by an Anglican minister, so I got a taste of how that denomination conducted their services. It was educational. I gave the minister one of my business cards, and he came by later and bought a copy of 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom.
My favorite photo of the weekend. You might be cool, but you’ll never be the Doctor riding a speeder bike while sonic-ing his enemies cool. đ
When not in the dealer hall, I wandered around for some photo-ops. At 3pm, the vendor hall closed an hour before the con did, which was kinda weird. After packing up and saying goodbye to all my friends, new and old, I began the five-hour drive home.
The 42 Challenge If youâve followed my social media, youâll know that my 42 co-author Eric Anderson, founder of Nerd Chapel, was attending Grand-Con in Grand Rapids, Michigan, that weekend and challenged me to see who could sell more copies of our devotional book. The loser would buy the winner a board game expansion. I was probably a bit overconfident. Eric beat me 20-6. It helped he went to a larger con, but thatâs not an excuse. I will make good on my promise and buy him a game.
I hope you enjoyed this report. You can watch my video on the con here.
I havenât kept up with listing dates for book signings for a while mostly because I havenât had many for a long time. But with two new books out, Iâve been stepping up my game. I have fourâthatâs right, fourâupcoming signings in the next several months! These include:
September 25-27: Tri-Con, Evansville, IN â This was a last-minute addition. I know the organizers for this convention, and theyâve been trying to get me to come for nearly a year. I kept postponing a commitment because I didnât know if Iâd be starting grad school this month. That didnât pan out, so I inquired about getting a table several months ago. The cheaper tables were sold out, so I tried to get some writer friends to join me so we could get a larger table, but that sparked such a long debate, we missed that chance, too. Then last week I was asked to man the Fans For Christ/Christian Gamers Guild table at the convention, where Iâll also be selling 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom. At least, thatâs what it seems. Iâve also been offered my own table. Yeah, itâs a little confusing. Hopefully, Iâll have it sorted out soon.
Tri-Con will be held at the Holiday Inn Airport. For more info, check out the conventionâs website.
October 11: Joannaâs Treats, Kendallville, IN & the Cupbearer in Auburn, IN â My friend/co-author Nick Hayden and I will be two of many authors selling and signing books at Joannaâs, a family-owned ice cream parlor in Kendallville, Indiana, from 10AM-2PM. Then Iâll be joining many of the same authors at the Cupbearer in Auburn, Indiana, from 3PM-7PM. Joannaâs is located on Main Street in Kendallville, and the Cupbearer is across from the courthouse in Auburn.
November 7: Author Fair at Whitley County Historical Museum in Columbia City, IN â Nick Hayden and I will attend this author fair held at a small town museum. I donât quite see the connection, but Iâm not asking questions. These people contacted us themselves.
Writing and publishing workshops will be held from 10AM-12PM followed by the author fair from 1PM-4PM. For more info, go to the museumâs website.
November 14: Author Fair at Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, IN â Nick and I will return to the annual author fair at the Allen County Public Library in downtown Fort Wayne. Itâs being held from 1PM-4PM. You can get more info on the ACPLâs website.
Forgive me, True Believers, for my delay in completing this series. I do my best to post blogs on Tuesday and/or Thursday, but that doesnât always work out. I lead a busy life.
The siege of Cardhalla.
Before I continue with the last day of Gen-Con 2015, I neglected to mention that I witnessed the fall of Cardhalla on my way back to the hotel that Saturday night. Cardhalla is a massive display created by con-goers using cards from the many popular games at the convention (though most seemed to be from Magic: The Gathering). Essentially, itâs a âcityâ consisting of houses of cards. On Saturday night, con-goers throw coins at the card towers to topple them and the money is collected to be donated to charity. I didnât throw any coins since I didnât have any, but it was fun to watch. One large tower refused to fall despite everyone’s efforts. A guy even tried throwing a Zip-loc bag of money at it, but he missed. I kept joking that any towers left standing should be âdestroyedâ by Godzilla cosplayers. Because why not?
Now on to day fourâŠ
The day did start with a bit of frustration. I ended up being late to the Christian Gamers Guild/Fans For Christ worship service because Jarod and I had to pack up the car and check out before it started at 9AM. We had to be out by 1PM, and since I was going straight from the service to the vendor hall at 10AM, we had to do all of that beforehand. Eric and Jarod went ahead of me while I took the last of our stuff to my car in the parking garage below. I had about fifteen minutes to get to the serviceâbut realized I left my 10th Doctor costume in our roomâs closet! I rushed upstairs, got a new card key, rode the elevator up, and got to the room, and grabbed my costume. By the time I returned to the car, I had only five minutes to get to the service. It was fairly close by in another hotel (in fact, it was held in the same room as the Five Year Mission concert the night before), but I still ended up being five minutes late.
Derek White the “Geekpreacher.”
Regardless, I found Jarod and sat with him. Eric was helping with the service. The worship leader (whose name escapes me, unfortunately) was dressed as a bard (gotta love cosplay in church). After singing and communion, the message was, as usual, delivered by Derek White âThe Geekpreacher.â He came dressed in what Iâd call âLARP armorâ (minus the sword) and preached on Ephesians 6:10-18 (the âarmor of Godâ passage, naturally). He said he conducted a poll on Facebook for the title of his message: itâd either be âThe Power of Fairy Talesâ or âHere There Be Dragons.â The latter won, obviously. The highlight for me was hearing him get the entire crowdâthe largest ever for this eventâto recite the most famous line from the original Conan the Barbarian movie. He asked, âWhat is best in life?â The crowd replied, âTo crush your enemies and see them driven before you. And to hear the lamentations of their women.â (I left the last part off unsure theyâd say it. Itâs a Christian service, after all).
EDIT: Here’s a video of his sermon.
The bard who led worship (I didn’t get her name, unfortunately. Sorry!)
I was surprised by how many people attended the con on Sunday. It was different sort of crowd, too. The usual 4-day attendees were there, but since Sunday is âfamily dayâ at the convention, many new people came. While I wouldnât say it was as busy as Saturday was, it was still very active.
Here I am with Arthur, one of my most avid fans.
Regardless, I myself didnât do as many exciting things that day. Eric left by early afternoon. I mostly interacted with some amazing cosplayers and sold my books. I even found I had returning fans! One guy even came by saying he remembered me from last year, having bought and read Destroyer and The Day After, and wanted more. I barely said two sentences before he grabbed both volumes of Children of the Wells and Pandoraâs Box. It was the easiest $35 Iâve ever made.
The big highlight for me was meeting Marina Sirtis, an actress most famous for playing Deanna Troi on Star Trek: the Next Generation. While I wasnât smitten with her like I was Summer Glau the day before, Mrs. Sirtis has had a greater influence on me since Iâd been a Trekker since age three and was reared on both the original Star Trek and TNG. I didnât have to wait long to see her since the line was short. Because of that, though, Mrs. Sirtis spent a few minutes with each fan talking with them as they got photos and/or an autograph. Like with Mrs. Glau, I intended to give Mrs. Sirtis one of my books. In this case, a copy of 42: Discovering Faith Through Fandom since one of my entries is about Troi. I wasnât sure if sheâd accept something with such strong religious overtones, but I thought I overheard her say to someone in line ahead of me that her husband was Catholic, so I thought I might have a chance.
Representing GameChurch while meeting the amazing Marina Sirtis.
When it was my turn, I got a photo with her and had a wonderful chat, telling her that Iâd realized that one reason TNG resounded with me as a child was because Picard reminded me of my Dad and Troi reminded me of my Mom. âYou mustâve had an awesome Mom,â said Mrs. Sirtis. âI did,â I replied. I seized the moment and gave her the book, explaining that it was a devotional for geeks and nerds. She was noticeably surprised by this. I then said I wanted her to have a copy as a thank you for coming since I wrote about Troi in an entry. âLet me read it,â she said. I turned to that page and she read it. âSo, you use stories like this to illustrate the Scriptures?â she asked. âYes,â I replied, simultaneously nervous and excited. âThank you so much. Iâll read this on the plane back to England.â
I walked away a happy fanboy.
Safe to say when 4PM tolled, I was sad Gen-Con was over. Not only was it the four best days of gaming, it was four of the best days of my year. đ
I’ll be here with my friend/fellow author/collaborator Nick Hayden selling and signing books, both old and “new.”
I haven’t had many book signings lately because I’ve been wanting to have new books to take with me.
I plan to amend that soon at this event.
I’ll be returning to the Allen County Public Library November 8, 2014, for their annual Authors’ Fair. But I won’t be going alone. My friend/fellow author/collaborator Nick Hayden will also be present. I’ll be selling some of my mainstays–Pandora’s Box and The Day After—but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be selling not one but two “new” titles at the fair!
The first will be Destroyer: Deluxe Edition. I’m in the process of migrating that novella from Lulu.com to CreateSpace, and this new edition will include Nick Hayden’s bonus story, “House of the Living,” which will be available exclusively in print in this book!
The second title will be Children of the Wells: Jaysynn Kyzer, Vol. 1. Much like the first collected volume of Children of the Wells novellas, this will collect the first three stories of the serial’s second plotline, which tells the tale of the exiled prince Jaysynn Kyzer as he endeavors to raise an army to liberate his ruined city from a tyrant. It collects The Fall of the House of Kyzer by yours truly, The Rules Change by John Bahler, and the just-released New Wells Rising by Timothy Deal.
Not only that but I will be one of the speakers at a panel entitled, “Not Just for Teens: Trends in Writing for Young Adults” at 1pm.
I’m a writer, and I can’t find the words to express how fun Gen-Con was this year! Here’s a video compilation of the fun things I did and crazy/amazing people I met. Thanks Eric Anderson and Darrin Ball for joining me on this adventure!
After three days of sleep-deprived insanity and fun, Sunday was a welcome relief. I only signed up for one event and the exhibitorsâ hall closed early. My last cosplay was a simple one: the 10th Doctor. Mind you, it was only a fancy T-shirt that looked like his costume. I had tried making a real costume using thrift store items, but that didnât pan out before the con. Iâll save it for Halloween.
Anyway, we enjoyed our last breakfast at the hotel. I walked by Darrin, who was still too humble to brag about his HeroScape title, and said, âThis means what you eat is the breakfast of champions.â After eating, I made sure to thank the black man who Iâd seen every day at breakfast. I deduced he was the chef, so I thanked him for all his work. With our stomachs full, we packed up and checked out.
Since we were leaving at different times, Eric and Darrin rode together and I drove separately. Our only event that day was the Christian Gamers Guild/Fans for Christ worship service at the Westin. It was huge this year and required a larger room. The music leader was Tom Vasel, the president of the Dice Tower network. He was quite animated while singing, which was a great thing to see. Also, this year we actually had music! Last year the attendees had to sing the worship songs a cappella. We partook of communion using the same wafer/juice packets used last year. Derek White the Geek Preacher returned. This year he cosplayed as his Dungeons and Dragons character, a cleric. His message was entitled âLiving a Life Well Playedâ and preached from Genesis 1:26; 2:4-7. I learned some interesting things during that service, the most mindblowing being that D&Dâs co-creator, Gary Gygax, was a Christian!
A couple arrived at 10am thinking that was when the service was and were disappointed they missed it. The woman even cried a little. Derek gave them leftover communion packets, offering a blessing, and several othersâincluding myselfâhugged her. Iâm sure they felt the love.
On the way to the exhibitorsâ hall, I caught a few minutes of a floor show (there were many throughout the weekend, and I wish Iâd taken more time to watch them), featuring a Klingon minstrel and his lovely assistant/dancer. His name was Il Troubadour. Iâd met him at his table the day before. He played a mandolin while singing in Klingon. Yes, you read that right.
The rest of my day was dominated by Doctor Who. Since the crowd was thinner, I went to see Peter Davison, aka the Fifth Doctor. Meeting him was probably my best story from the convention.
As I always do at a convention, I give the celebrities free copies of my books. But I also had another gift for Mr. Davison. His Doctor was known, among other things, for wearing a celery stick as a lapel, claiming it warded off a gas he was allergic to. So, after taking one photo and giving him the books, I said, âI’m sure thousands of fans have given you this over the last 30 years, but…,â and slid him the bagged celery. âIn case your allergies flare up again.â
He laughed. âActually, no one has ever given me this before.â
âYouâre kidding me!â
âNo. Youâre the first.â
Geeking out, I asked, âCan I get another picture since I’m the first?â
He thought about it a second. âOh…all right.â
This is that photo:
What you can’t see is my hand is shaking being this close to greatness.
Riding high on that experience, I left Eric in charge of my table while I explored the hall. I met a fellow writer who had a toy of the First Doctorâs sonic screwdriver, which he introduced saying I was âplaying with cosmic forces.â He told me heâd had the thing was over 30 years old and heâd had it for 15 yearsâand the batteries still worked!
This kid was just hamming it up.
I returned to the Who North America booth to meet the Dalek Iâd bantered with last year. The Dalek was having fun posing for photos with other fans, saying things like, âSmile or you will be EXTERMINATED!â But before I could get a picture with it, a kid stole the show. He was maybe 6-8 years old, dressed as the 11th Doctor, and had perfected his British accent. I filmed him as he taunted the Dalek and fell over after the evil alien had zapped him, only to stand up and say he had regenerated as the 12th Doctor and continue to taunt the Dalek.
Then I made things worse. I walked in front of the Dalek and pointed my sonic screwdriver at him. He panicked. âAlert! Alert!â he yelled. âSonic device detected! Alert! Alert! Eye stock malfunctioning!â Then the light on said eye stock went off.
Yeah, I might be the DoctorâŠif I was cool enough.
When I returned to my table, I was soon joined by Becky and Kate. The latter wasnât wearing her costume, so I didnât recognize her at first, which they didnât let me live down. As the day progressed, Becky appointed herself my manager, literary agent, editor, and fashion designer, among other things. (Did I mention the little tyrant likes being in charge?) đ
Four oâclock came too soon. The con ended. My friends left. I packed up. A small sadness crept over me. I missed the convention already.
This wonderful woman gave me a ride back to the parking garage.
I packed everything up, but despite all the books Iâd sold, the boxes were still heavy. I was determined to get to the parking garage, though. Thankfully, I met some people riding on big modified bicycles with seats in the back for hauling. I got a ride from one of them, a woman multicolored hair, and gave her a nice tip (I shouldâve given her a book).
Well, there you have it, True Believers. Gen-Con 2013 in a nutshell for me. There are many other stories I couldâve shared, but I did my best to focus on the important ones. Iâll be posting a photo gallery from the conventionâincluding photos of many fans who purchased booksâon the website soon. I’m also compiling a “highlight reel” of the videos I filmed while I was there. That’ll be posted on YouTube.
I canât wait until next year! Only 363 days to go!
My apologies, True Believers! I did my best to try to post a daily update on my Gen-Con exploits, but busyness and sleep deprivation joined forces to prevent me. đ
Regardless, I shall regale with with more stories.
I operated on the least amount of sleep–5 1/2 hours, at most–this day. I was slightly loopy and I think I slurred my words a few times. Thankfully, adrenaline and the copious creativity managed to fuel me the entire day.
My cosplay was Superman. Capt. Charisma said it was a “bold costume” (I’m not sure what he meant by that). It’s a good thing since, as you’ll soon read, I “battled” two nefarious characters.
After manning my table for around an hour, I joined Eric for a swing dance lesson. Along the way, I met young woman who had designed her own TARDIS dress and a white Dalek. This resulted in a deadly stare down. Anyway, as for the lessons, it was very fun. I met several interesting girls, including one named Susan. She was a lot of fun to dance with. The lesson itself was taught by a local dance teacher, who called himself a “raging geek.” It covered the same steps I already knew, but like I said, it was still fun.
On the way back to my table, I saw the now completed gigantic balloon sculpture of Cthulhu, which had been made by a talented artist. I couldn’t risk the opportunity for a photo-op.
With Superman (me) here, we stand a chance against the evil Elder God!
After snapping a few more pictures of cosplayers, I returned to my table. That afternoon I met a young man who could solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute. I have the video to prove it (it’ll be part of a “highlight reel” I’m editing).
That doesn’t compare to the 4-year-old  little girl I met. Her name was Darcy. Walking with her mother and two siblings, she saw the kobold sculpture on my fellow writer Edward J. Russell’s table and thought it was a dinosaur. I seized the opportunity to say, “Do you like dinosaurs?” and pointed at Destroyer. She got excited, so I said she needed to get her mom to buy it for her. I even told her to give her the pouty face, which she did. Then she looked at Pandora’s Box and said, “A ‘Halo’ book!” Then at The Day After and said, “A teddy bear!” I spent several minutes talking with Darcy and her family, always trying to get Darcy to convince her mother to buy a book for her. It almost worked, I think. I took a few pictures with her and her siblings before they left. At least I entertained them.
I had another writing seminar at 3pm with Michael A. Stackpole. This was one on writing a successful book series. While I realized I may have taken this one the year before, I ran into my friend Becky Blomberg while I was in it. When we stepped out, I met her friend Kate, who was dressed as a ranger, complete with facepaint. After a few photos, I returned to my table.
Lyric and Lyssa from the Dwarven Tavern came to me with their father, saying they needed to interview right then, which I obliged. They were some of the coolest people I met the entire convention.
Saturday night my big event was the Five Year Mission show, so I changed into my Capt. Kirk costume again and headed to the Westin Hotel. Along the way, I met a kid dressed as Link from “Legend of Zelda,” who was playing an ocarina. While I took a few pictures, I kid you not, a Joker cosplayer sat next to me and started meditating! (I love insane crossovers!)
Music DOES soothe the savage beast!
I talked with a pair of girls standing outside the ballroom was being held in, and I learned they were helping the band. Not only that, I learned one of them was engaged to a member of the band. In fact, she had started as a fangirl! It was a wonderful “nerd love”: story. I talked with the other while waiting for the doors to open and inadvertently became the start of the line–a line that stretched around the hall! The crowd had to be twice the size of the one from last year’s show.
Me (center) with Five Year Mission.
This year, the band had an opening act: a rapper named Andy D. All I’ll say about him is that I didn’t care for him. Regardless, I was happy to see Five Year Mission take the stage. They played several new songs from their upcoming album, along with some of my favorites from the CD I bought last year. However, while last year they selected an audience member to be the Gorn, now the lizard creature is their mascot. He wandered the ballroom, watching the show and interacting with fans–including me! I’d been running around taking photos and videos, and I saw him coming down the aisle, so I snapped a photo. He even stopped to pose. I stepped aside and motioned for him to go by, but he instead attacked me! I (gently) punched him, neglecting to do the trademark Kirk double-fist swing (which might’ve worked), but to no avail. Finally, I ducked down. He showed mercy (I guess the band did reform him) and walked on.
The best moment of the show was when they re-enacted the fight between Kirk and Spock in the episode “Amok Time” during the song for that episode (which I;m listening to as I write this, ironically). These guys are such fun, and they love their fans.
I met up with Eric and Darrin. During our walk back to the parking garage, I ask We were ed Darrin how he did in the HeroScape tournament, which he told me was the national tourney for the game. He won it! Yes, I am friends with the national HeroScape champion (who’s too humble to brag). He defeated the longtime reigning champ in the semifinals. The prize was the increasingly rare first master set for the game. As he told me what happened, I felt like the three of us needed mugs of root beer to clink together like vikings in Valhalla.
We did our best to get to sleep earlier than usual at the hotel. We were sorta successful.
Today has been busy, and yet not so. I cosplayed as Captain America. After exploring the exhibitors’ hall a bit, I went to my table. While there was more traffic than yesterday, I still encountered many uncommitted buyers. They still wanted to survey the area to see what else they could. Many promised to return tomorrow or Sunday.
At noon, I attended two writing seminars. The first was on cater building. One of the writers on the panel was a professor/writer who hosted a podcast that interviewed writers. I asked him if he needed more interviewees, but they were booked until December. Afterward, I might get in.
The second seminar was on networking (not name dropping). It was an informative panel. One of the writers present even showed up in a corset she was goaded into wearing!
When I returned, I met my favorite customer of the con so far. A young woman named Emmanuell. She was cosplaying as classic Uhura. My writer neighbor Ed had told her to wait for me because I wore my Capt. Kirk outfit yesterday (so he says… :P). She was a sweet girl, but disappointed nobody else in her group dressed up. She bought a copy of Pandora’s Box I told her to come to the Five Year Mission show tomorrow night, and she said she might (albeit in another costume).
Emmanuell and I.
I also met one of the reviewers who stopped yesterday while Eric watched my table. Two girls named Lyric and Lyssa (they have such awesome parents!) They work on their parents’ podcast, the Dwarven Tavern. I enjoyed talking with them and gave them free copies of all my books. They’ll interview me tomorrow.
By the way, a lady amateur director offered Capt. Charisma a movie role. đ
My costume was a huge hit. Even at a con, with thousands of other cosplayers, I’m the most popular guy in the room. It helped I was a rare Cap cosplayer (so far). I was popular at my table and wandering the halls. A three-year-old boy named Connor especially loved me, so much so he warned me there was a Dalek down the hall (I shoulda said I’d kick its ton can keister).
I managed to arrive at my next event, a photography seminar at the Westin Hotel, only slightly late due to the many photo-ops. It was two hours long, but not as good as I was hoping. đ It was at least informative.
My final event was a long HeroScape open play with custom figures. I played a game with Eric, who had the Wrecking Crew plus Lizard, and I had the original X-Men. I was cleaning his clock until he made a crazy comeback. But it didn’t compare to Darrin using the cheapest HeroScape army EVER! It shall not be spoken of again.
We left afterward. Sadly, when we reached the hotel and I undressed, I discovered the catch on my Cap costume zipper had broken. đ If anyone knows how to fix it, please let me know!
On to day 3! The craziest of them all! Even more sleep deprivation!
I havenât kept up with listing dates for book signings for a while mostly because I havenât had many for a long time. But with two new books out, Iâve been stepping up my game. I have fourâthatâs right, fourâupcoming signings in the next several months! These include:
