MidSouthCon 30 and a Big April Looms

MidSouthCon 30 and a Big April Looms!

Jackie Gamber at the SSP Booth on Friday of MidSouthCon 30

MidSouthCon 30 went fantastic.  As a whole, the SSP camp had its biggest convention of the year, bolstered by the release of Jackie Gamber's 2nd Leland Dragon series book, Sela.  H. David Blalock and myself also had really good conventions, making the weekend a very strong one overall.

I ended up staying with the Gambers over the weekend after I blundered in not reserving my hotel early enough to get the convention rate.  Yes, even though I do lots of events, I forget the basics from time to time.  But I had a really time with Jackie, Dan, Ben, Ellen, their two four-legged family members, a big bulldog named Ursula and a very talkative cat named Katie.

Jackie Gamber and Ursula

Ursula came to visit the convention on the first day, in fact.  Jackie had to assist Ursula with the escalator, as this picture can attest!

As often happens on these sorts of excursions, the first day involved a nice 4am wakeup and subsequent 6 1/2 hour drive to Memphis, straight to the Convention site where I immediately set up the SSP Booth.  Banners, stands, posters, buttons, a ton of books, signage, and a billion other things are integrated into these displays, to the point that Jackie wondered how I manage to get so much worked into a 6 foot table display, LOL

Georgia Jones and me at MidSouthCon 30

Georgia Jones, whose new book Legends of Darkness just came out last week, helped me get things in order and had some great decorative touches on the booth.  She's with Blackwyrm Publishing and is also a good friend of mine who was part of our booth for the weekend (incidentally, she met Dave Mattingly of Blackwyrm at the Pitch the Publisher panel we hosted at Fandom Fest last summer!).   Georgia's got an excellent book and is really hitting the ground running, so be expecting to hear alot more about her in the near future.

The weekend involved quite a bit of booth time, along with some panels, and a nice visit to the Literary Underworld Party on Saturday night.  My neighbors in the dealer room were the Literary Underworld to my left, Yard Dog Press to my right, and Kerlak Publishing across the aisle from me.  Talk about a fun sector of the dealer room!  We definitely were not the most quiet area either!  LOL

Elizabeth Donald with Jimmy Gillentine and Angelia Sparrow
just to the back of them

It is a blast getting to hang out with the likes of Allan Gilbreath, Selina Rosen, Elizabeth Donald, Jimmy "Popcorn King" Gillentine, Angelia Sparrow, Kimberly Richardson, and the others that were about the booths over the weekend.  Shorty, an icon on the convention circuit, runs a great dealer room and this was no exception.  Many kudos to the staff that helped us get carts, load in, come by and bring drinks throughout the weekend, and more.

Me with Amanda Trowbridge at MidSouthCon 30

I also got to meet some folks in person that I had only known through Facebook interaction and the like.  As I've always said, nothing beats meeting someone in person, such as happened when I ran into Amanda Trowbridge, someone I had known from Facbook for a couple of years, but had never met in person before this event.

MidSouthCon is truly a first rate, well-run Con.  The literary track was fantastic, from the marketing panel I was on, to one on author's co-ops, to another on Faith in Speculative Fiction, and one on convention etiquette. The Faith in Speculative Fiction panel was particularly fun, as it was moderated by Kirk Stevens, who is possibly one of the best moderators out there, and included Herika Raymer, Robert Krog, and Stephen Dorning, three authors that I think very highly of, and who also happen to be friends I have a lot of fun being around at these events.

These weekend events tend to speed by in a whirlwind, and this was no exception.  Before I knew it, it was time to break down the booth, pack up, and make the drive back to Lexington.

A big April is looming.  Matt will be doing artwork for the third Fires in Eden book, and we'll be putting the final polish on! :)  I will also be heavily involved with a number of activities involving fellow SSP authors' Jackie Gamber, Michael West, and Steven Shrewsbury's new books.  Keep your eyes on the SSP blog, SSP Facebook and Twitter pages, and Google + for a lot of contests, articles, and more.

ConNooga Wraps Up, and some Andy Deane video footage!

ConNooga wrapped up nicely, and yes, I do have a video link of the serenade I got from internationally known goth/rock maestro Andy Deane of Bella Morte (who is an amazing author too).

After a day full of panels, I got to join David Blalock, D.A. Adams, Roni Jonah, Jason Crowe, Justin Powell, and other friends at the Pizza Car...literally a train car that has been turned into a Pizzeria. The pizza is pretty good too. Definitely hit the spot as I usually forget to eat much during the day at conventions.

Later that night, I got to see the Bella Morte show at the theater on the convention site. Andy Deane is a fantastic front man, and the band puts on a very good show. Tight musicianship, great energy, all you want from a rock band. They played a new song from their next album, called Falling Star, which was excellent.

Sunday had a Swordbearer screening that apparently went well. We did not have a big crowd, as it was an 11am slot on a Sunday morning (a time when most people at Cons are not yet awake, lol) But the folks there did seem to like the film a lot. Allan Gilbreath joined me onstage to introduce the film. The screening and projection was very good, which certainly helps make the experience better.

It was a well-run Con and one that I definitely want to go back to. Got to see many good friends, meet some new ones, and have a few unusual adventures. Not much time to recover, as MystiCon in Roanoke VA looms this weekend! :)

Now, as far as the Andy Deane serenade of me...look for it at the 3:15 mark or so, onward...

Midway through ConNooga!

I'm about middle of the way through ConNooga, and things are going well so far. Definitely no lack of interesting things going on here.

Got to see Dave Mattingly of Blackwyrm Publishing in a Mini-me costume, which was a big hit at the Costume Contest. Got serenaded by Andy Deane of Bella Morte (After he led an entire legion of his fans down the aisle right up to my exhibit booth...I am not kidding about this. There will probably be some pics posted on this one! LOL). David Blalock has made a surprise visit to the Con. Even stranger, Sean Taylor, Jason Crowe, D.A. Adams, and Sam Flegal all showed up with the same kind of collared, buttoned, red shirts today. Apparently I didn't get the memo that it was red-shirt day.

The panels have been really good. Robby Hilliard's put together a very nice literary track, and we've definitely had full discussions going on every panel I've been on. Been great to share panels with the likes of Mike D'Ambrosio, Dan Jolley, Allan Gilbreath, Kimberly Richardson, Sean Taylor, Shane Berryhill, and all the great folks on the literary track.

Got one more day to go. We're doing a Swordbearer screening tomorrow at 11am, and then I have 2 more panels, and it will be time to head back to Lexington. Will need to get ready for Mysticon in Roanoke VA next week!

;)

Memphis-Clarksville-Nashville Book and Movie events this week

It is a little after 11pm, and I still haven't fully packed to head out at about 4:45 am for the first larger roadtrip of 2011, but I needed to get a post up here regarding this week's trip while the copies of the questionaires for the Swordbearer test screenings print out!

In a nutshell, this week involves 5 events in 4 days in 3 cities.

Here's the scoop:


Thursday: Memphis, Tennessee

6-8 pm book signing at Davis-Kidd Booksellers
I'll be doing a presentation with giveaways a little after 6, and will be on hand until about 8 to hang out, visit with reader-friends, and sign any books anyone wants signed/personalized. This is an amazing bookstore, part of the Joseph-Beth family (which is my hometown store here in Lexington). I encourage everyone to come out to show their support for small press authors and Davis-Kidd. This is my second visit to Davis-Kidd in Memphis, and I'm really looking forward to returning.

I will then be going over to Studio on the Square in Memphis, a fantastic screening venue, where at 9 pm we will be doing a test screening of Swordbearer. This will be the first live audience to see it on the big screen, and it will include the Author of Ascendant, David Blalock, whose book was the foundation for Swordbearer, and Fight Choreographer Allan Gilbreath.

Friday-Saturday: Clarksville

On Friday, February 4th, I will head to Clarksville for a 2 day event at the University of Arkansas' Ozarks Campus. It is called the Red Gunk Festival, and will be a celebration of speculative fictiion, with readings, workshops, and more. I will be doing a reading on Friday between 7 and 8. I will then be doing another test screening of Swordbearer.

The festival continues through Saturday the fifth, and I will be on hand in the morning to afternoon running an exhibit on my work in the lobby of the Fine Arts building there.

Sunday: Nashville, TN.

Then, I will finish the trek with a visit to Borders West End on Sunday, in Nashville TN. I will be doing a presentation/Q and A/discussion a little after 2, and then hanging out until 4, and I definitely hope all Nashville folks can make it. Due to a schedule conflict, I can't make Hypericon this coming summer (I do the programming for the Writer's Track at Duckon, and they are on the same weekend that Hypericon just announced for this year's Con), so this may be my major Nashville stop for 2011.

This is my first visit to this Borders, and I hope that we can have a successful turnout, as it will encourage Borders to do more events with small press authors in the future. Borders stores have been very good to me during the past couple of years, and I really would like to see this one become a new Nashville home for me.


I really hope that people in the three cities above will give some serious thought to coming out and supporting the events (and maybe help pass the word around). The road treks are far from easy to pull off...In truth, they are very difficult much of the time. (Someday, I will go into some detail about what is involved in these kinds of events, as they involve a load of planning, logistics, media, expense planning, and more, from months out until the day of the event).

It really does matter when I see a reader-friend in person. I can't say that enough. I also hope that my reader-friends see that I make every effort to be an accessible author, as well as an author who goes the extra mile with what I do for my reader-friends. So, take a few minutes, and come on out and say hi and visit for a little while if you live around Memphis, or Clarksville, or Nashville! All the events are free to attend as well!