Had another adventure this weekend, this time at the Troy Book Lover's Festival in Troy Ohio. I thought getting to Dayton from Lexington was going to be quick, and for once the weather was clear, but lo and behold, a semi truck broke down on the bridge into Cincinnati, and construction issues clogged up the passage through Dayton. This extended what should have been a 2 1/2 hour trip into a 4 hour one!
I did get to the event on time. I checked out Around About Books first. They are the folks that put on the festival, and they have a really superb independent bookstore right by the central town square in Troy. It is a 2 level store, and they have entire rooms devoted to both fantasy/sci-fi and horror, which I thought was really cool.
The event was held in the Franklin Masons Lodge, and featured about 20 authors from all genres. I was so glad to see Bonnie Stewart, an Ohio based horror author that I had met back at Scarefest last fall in Lexington. Bonnie's quite the rockstar, lively, engaging, and full of flair! Her sister was with her helping out with things, as Bonnie was recovering from a recent surgery.
Bonnie unveiled a new t-shirt for Dark Days Publishing, done by Joe Garcia from Fast Custom Shirts, the same gang that does the great shirts we have at Seventh Star Press. the new shirt looked awesome, and I hope Bonnie is going to sell them at FandomFest, as I definitely would buy one.
I met some fantastic other authors, such as Stephen Hines and Terry Ervin. Stephen's got some great things going in the graphic novel area, and Terry's bookcover for Flank Hawk features a WWII era German Stuka flying right towards a dragon!
I got a chance to screen Swordbearer on Friday night, and participated in a panel on Fantasy/Horror on Saturday. We then had a three hour signing/selling period, at which I met some great new reader-friends, and sold several books. Many thanks to those that picked up books and are diving into the mayhem of my fantasy worlds!
The festival provided wonderful hospitality, including a welcoming dinner on Friday, breakfast Saturday morning, and a dinner to end the day on Saturday. I really enjoyed meeting Mike and Dave, two guys from Around About Books who were very instrumental in the festival. I'll end with this cool pic of myself with these two, as the week beckons, and Millennicon is right ahead in Cincinnati next Friday through Sunday! :)
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2 comments:
Stephen,
It was great to meet you and a bunch of other people. A fun event! I hope we cross paths again in the future.
Hey Terry, it was great to meet you as well, and I hope to be back in the area very soon! It was a very enjoyable weekend.
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