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.

The latest visit to Archon!

(photo is of a new reader-friend, Martin Austin, with myself on the right, at Archon 2010)

I am about a week behind in my report on Archon, as I came right back from it and did the last two shoots for Swordbearer, and had to get a full set report up with pics on the final shoots.

The trip to St. Louis went very well, and I had another good Archon experience. Archon was held at a new convention site in the city, so it had a new layout and arrangement. The dealers room and registration was in one building, with most of the programming in another building that was a short walk away. It made for a little adventure upon arrival, as I first went to the programming office (as I was slated for 5 panels, a reading, and a signing), and had to do a little walking around to get my badge and such.

Literary Underworld was on hand in the dealers room, and were carrying The Exodus Gate, The Storm Guardians, and Crown of Vengeance, so I did not have to worry about running a dealer/exhibition table for the weekend. I did spend several hours there during the weekend so I could be on hand for Becky, who was the primary person running the table. Other "Underlords" as Elizabeth calls the authors that she stocks for The Literary Underworld, included Angelia Sparrow, Sara Harvey, Jimmy Gillentine, and Jon Klement. I finally got to met Angelia's mom, which was a very cool surprise!

Speaking of Jon, he was really awesome in that he picked me up at my hotel and was my guide on day one for getting to the convention site. Really helped, as my travel to and from the site was smooth on the following days.

Panels went very well. Elizabeth Donald and I were almost late to the Urban Fantasy panel, but we made it in the nick of time (Elizabeth had to get from the dealers room to the building with the panels and I was having my adventure getting my credentials). A promotion/marketing panel, focusing on low-budget promotion and marketing for authors and others, followed, which included Joy Ward, myself, and filmmaker Jack Snyder. This was a fun panel, where I found out about the mutual love of basset hounds that I share with author Barbara Hodges, who turned out to be one of my main new friends that weekend.

Later, I was on a "Not New York" panel, which focused on small press publishers. This was the second panel I have been on with Selina Rosen (chief editor of Yard Dog Press), who is one of the most out-going, informative, and fun panelists you can encounter. She doesn't hold back! Van Plexico was my other co-panelist, and this one turned out to be a lot of fun.

They day was rounded out with a signing hour on the lower level, where I was with Sandy Lender, Angie Fox, and Murv Sellars. Sandy and I met at ConText in 2009, and she is part of an exciting new publishing venture. Angie is one of the authors at the Something Wicked blog, where my friend Shirley Damsgaard does her blogging. Angie and I talked about new projects and some of the things in the state of the publishing industry. It is definitely a new frontier now, with the eBook element!

On Saturday, Elizabeth hosted a Literary Underworld panel, which included Angelia Sparrow, Jimmy Gillentine, Sara Harvey, Jon Klement, and Elizabeth, who was brandishing a riding crop, I suppose for keeping us in line! We talked about author's groups, such as The Literary Underworld and Imagicopter, both of which I participate in. I was able to give out copies of the new issue of Imagyro, the Imagicopter magazine, which has yours truly on the cover. If you haven't seen it yet, here it is!



I was also on a Book vs. Movie panel that Saturday with Jack Snyder, a successful independent producer, whose movie Ghost Image has met with outstanding success in both domestic and foreign markets. Jack is a great panelist, very knowledgeable and fun to listen to, and I found myself taking a few notes as he talked about his experiences.

Had a reading towards the end of the day, and ended up doing a section of "In the Mountain Skies", the new short story in the Dreams of Steam steampunk anthology from Kerlak Publishing (Kimberly Richardson, editor).

I did get to meet and talk with some new readers in the dealers room, and hang out a little with some of my author friends like Mike D'Ambrosio, a great science fiction writer out of the Philly Area. Mike is very active on the Con circuit, and also is working on the film/screenplay side of things, so we always have lots to talk about and catch up on. (Photo is of Mike D'Ambrosio talking with one of his fans in the dealer room at Archon).

I caught up with Haley Elizabeth Garwood and a new author friend, Barbara Hodges, at panels and author signings later on Saturday. The day definitely ended on a good note there, and I headed back for the night to my hotel, as I needed to get back earlier on Sunday to meet with Aaron Champion, the cinematographer on Swordbearer as we had the final two shoots coming up on that Monday and Tuesday.

Archon was definitely a good experience, and the new location is nice. My hat is off to Beth Bancroft for putting together another great programming track, which I really enjoyed participating in!

DarkWoods Con and MidSouth Con...a Report!

Been on the road quite a bit the past couple of weeks, and still not quite done yet. Coming up this weekend is Millennicon, but I figured that I would give a report on DarkWoods Con and MidSouthCon before heading up there.

Dark Woods Con took place the first weekend in March. This was the first year for the convention, which is located in Pikeville Kentucky. I think that the organizers chose a great location and time to hold the convention, as it fits a great gap in the Kentucky schedule, and does not rub up against some of the larger events in the state such as the Fright Night Film Fest and ScareFest. Smart planning, and it met with good results.

My hat is off to the staff of DarkWoods Con. Cherokee and Chris Hall, Billy and Denise Blackwell, and everyone involved did a great job, as the event went very smoothly. The dealer's room had a lot of exhibitors and the attendance was strong. Plus Billy has been growing a great new beard, for his role in ZP International's Santa vs. Zombies movie. I got a pic of Billy B with the new beard, and have posted it here to share with all of you Billy B fans!

I did two panels over the weekend. One was a screenwriting/author's panel. My friend Jeffrey Reddick, who is a VERY talented screenwriter (his credits include Final Destination, the LionsGate film Tamara, the Day of the Dead remake, and others) was in from LA. Jeffrey is from Kentucky, and I really respect the fact that Jeffrey has come to the state to support the independent film community on several occasions, dating back to when I was involved in organizing music/film conference events. It was a blast to be with him on the panel, which also featured horror authors Elizadeth Hetherington and the incomparable Nic Brown (author of Blood Curse: Werewolf for Hire, and the head honcho of the B-Movie Man site).

The community really seemed to embrace the convention, which leads to interesting photo opportunities such as the one posted here, where Michael Berryman of the original Hills Have Eyes movies is talking with myself, and two of the local police officers. The officer standing to my right expressed that he hoped that this event happens again, and even suggested some other area events that the organizers might be able to align with or promote with.

I also got to catch up with some of the folks that I see regularly out on the Con circuit. Artist Sam Flegal was there, with his friend Matthew, running a table in the dealer's room. We didn't realize we were staying at the same hotel until the last day, which was a bummer as it would have been good to hang out a bit more. Sam's a very hard-working artist who is really pushing hard with a thorough appearance schedule, and I advise anyone that encounters him to check out his prints and artwork.

DarkWoods Con has the potential to become a very big event, and I'm hoping that the staff moves forward full throttle in 2011.

MidSouthCon in Memphis is a wonderful, well-established convention, and for me it was a homecoming. As you can see from my website's appearance schedule, it was the first event I did for The Exodus Gate last year. For me it was a homecoming, and I had no less than six panels to do over the weekend and shared space with D.A. Adams in the dealers room (he's the author of the highly recommended Brotherhood of Dwarves series).

This year, it felt so good to walk in and know so many people from Memphis and the convention circuit. I was glad that D.A. Adams was willing to put up with me, as he is a great guy to team up with at a convention. His girlfriend, Rene, is a blast as well, and the two of them help to keep me sane during the course of an event!

Lo and behold, Nick Valentino had a table right next to ours. This is amazing, as Nick and I go back to when I was doing some independent music activity, and he was in a very solid metal band called Fall With Me. Nick is now a fast-rising author, whose Steampunk novel Thomas Riley was flying off the table all weekend. David Gates, a graphic artist who was helping Nick out, was also there (and he hails back to the Fall With Me days as well!), and I have to say he has one of the best "self help" business cards around...the back of it has a sketch of Dave's face and the words 'I Can Do It'. I told Dave that whenever I feel shaky, I will pull that card out and read the slogan again and again! LOL

I got interviewed by Kimberly Richardson, the Goth Librarian herself, for a video interview series being hosted by Kerlak Publishing. Kimberly has a really good vibe and instinct for video interviews, and I feel that the interview turned out really well. It was great to spend more time with Kimberly in person...and we also got to share a panel together.

Other highlights included getting zinged by Dan Gamber, the Creative Executive Director (I hope I got that title right) of Meadowhawk Press. Meadowhawk Press is one of only 4 small press publishers to win the Philip K. Dick award, and also features Jackie Gamber, the author of Redheart, who is piling up awards faster than that guy Apollo could skate at the recent Winter Olympics.

It didn't matter whether I was on a panel or in the audience...Dan found a way to zing me good, and turn every head in the audience in my direction. I noticed that he had a certain look when he was about to do this, so I was able to brace for it before the weekend was out. I feel honored, as out of 1500 attendees, he selected me for this distinction. Maybe I should find a way to list this honor in my promotional blurbs! Seriously, though, keep an eye on Meadowhawk...they have some really great things in the works, as Dan is an out-of-the-box thinker when it comes to the publishing world.

Spending time with friends like Kirk Stevens, H. David Blalock (and his nephew William), Angelia Sparrow, Elizabeth Donald and Haley Elizabeth Garwood was wonderful as well. I can say that there is a very wonderful camraderie amongst many small press authors who are regularly out on the Con circuit, and it really does make a difference when you arrive at an event like this.

Between the 6 panels and the dealer's room, I had a very full weekend, but it was a very good one. Major salute to Dan, Jackie, Kirk, and Kat Hibpshman for an outstanding literary track.

I'm already looking forward to MidSouthCon 2011 and DarkWoods Con 2011...two very pleasant weekends, one featuring the debut of a very promising new Con, and the other another triumph of a Con with an excellent legacy already in place.

Now on to Millennicon in Cincinnati!

On the eve of the new SSP Blog Series.

I'm sitting here about a day away from the kickoff of the new blog/interview and podcast series for Seventh Star Press, which will be like a sibling to the similar thing I've been doing for Indie Movie Masters.

I'm really excited about this series, as it is a chance for me to put the spotlight on some very talented individuals that I have come across during my travels to conventions and events.

The first one is going to be excellent, featuring D.A. Adams, author of The Brotherhood of Dwarves series. Each of these blogs will have an interview, brief introductory article, AND a book review.

It is a very, very hard road to be a small press author or independent filmmaker. I know from direct experience. This is why I am very sensitive towards others who have taken on this hard road, and it is what motivates me to a series like this. I hope it results in producing some good showcases of some very gifted individuals, and makes their path just a little easier if it can raise awareness and interest in them.

From time to time I will also be highlighting some events and bloggers as well.

Some of the books that will be reviewed shortly include Jackie Gamber's Redheart, H. David Blalock's Ascendant, Lettie Prell's Dragon Ring, and TammyJo Eckhart's Servants of Destiny. Farther ahead, I'm hoping to cover Michael Sullivan, Maurice Broaddus, Jason Sizemore, Elizabeth Donald, Angelia Sparrow, Sara Harvey, and more on either the podcast or blog series. This should be alot of fun, and all of those featured are individuals that I have met in person, whose work I have read personally, and who exemplify what is great about the small press world. It is definitely one of the highlights of going to alot of conventions to be able to meet such individuals. I hope all of them become best sellers! ;)

Well, back to work, I've been digging away at corrections on the new medieval fantasy book, making great progress on it. I will also post some thoughts on a collection of horror short stories I'm working on, and a horror novella... stay tuned!

The Hypericon Adventure!

I really love Hypericon. Actually, I am beginning to think of Nashville as my second home. I have attended Hypericon since the early days of this Con, missing only the year that my father passed away, and this convention has always been a very pleasant experience.

It is still a smaller convention, though it has grown alot since its first year. It showed more growth this year, and as always was a pleasant environment in which to meet and talk with people.

There were alot of outstanding writers, starting with the guest of honor, Brian Keene, who has written some magnificent horror novels such as The Rising, City of the Dead, and Dark Hollow. I was pleased to discover that Brian apparently has excellent taste in music, attested to by his Iron Maiden shirt.

Scott Nicholson, who wrote one of the coolest and most visceral non-typical vampire books out there, They Hunger, was actually on one of the film track panels with me (a screenwriting panel). Scott has alot going on, including the world of graphic novels.



I was very happy to see Dan and Jackie Gamber of Meadowhawk Press (and look out for a special blog article on Jackie's book Redheart...coming very soon to this blog and the Seventh Star Press blog too!). Jackie unveiled a new sharpie tattoo, showing off her new rock n' roll image...it looked a little faded on the last day of the convention, but Jackie explained that was because she was demonstrating her toughness by using a brillo pad to remove the tattoo! Don't mess with Meadowhawk Press! lol

Actually, Meadowhawk Press became one of 4 small press publishers ever to have a release win the Philip K. Dick award! (for Terminal Mind by David Walton) THAT ROCKS!

Jason Sizemore of Apex Publications was also on hand. I have not gotten to know well Jason yet, even though we both live in Lexington! Apex is an excellent publisher, with many writers that I have alot of respect for ( Sarah Harvey, Fran Friel, etc. ), and I hope to get a chance to meet with Jason on the homefront a little more often.

One of the coolest things I encountered this past weekend were P'ckit Dragons, from the Smerdiverse developed by Jon Klement. He is not hard to find, walking around with a big purple hat with ears and a shirt with a little purple dragon peeking out from the shirt pocket. Jon took some time to tell me some of the background of the multi-dimensional P'ckit dragons, and after learning more, I believe everyone should have their own P'ckit dragon! Jon is from St. Louis, so I hope to catch back up with him in person at Archon later this fall.

I finally got a chance to meet D.A. Adams, author of the Brotherhood of Dwarves series. I had been looking forward to meeting him at MidSouthCon, but he had some last minute schedule conflicts and was not at a reading that we were supposed to do together there. I picked up a copy of his first book and will be reading it for sure. D.A. and I appear to have quite alot in common as well, which was really cool to discover.

Seeing Sarah Harvey, Elizabeth Donald, and Angelia Sparrow is always a great thing, and Hypericon was no exception! Elizabeth was generous/kind enough to consign some of my books there so that I had availability in the dealer's room. Believe me, this is a really helpful thing at a convention, and I appreciated it tremendously.

I did get to visit for a little while with Steven Shrewsbury, though I did not get to talk to him as long as I wanted to. Steven's book Hawg was a great read, if not disturbing! Not for the faint of heart! LOL His new one Tormentor is just now coming available.

I got to spend a good bit of time with my pals/partners in crime/fellow independent media sufferers Stephen and Suzie Lackey (who do all kinds of stuff, like Con Trek, Cinegeek.com), and Mike Young. As always, we came up with absurd ideas, as well as a few that might yet have merit! lol Stephen had his hands full running the film track, but we did get out for some very excellent pizza on Sunday.

Speaking of ideas that might have merit, something may be brewing regarding the film side of things! My cohorts in Cineline Productions, Matt Perry and Sven Granlund, and I had a great meeting with the eminent H. David Blalock, author of Ascendant (Sam's Dot Publishing). Suffice it to say that it appears that I will be directing a new project, short film in nature, fantasy in nature (YEEESSSS!) later this summer. Get ready, I'm fired up!

The good Jarl of House Blalock and his daughter Hericka and I did get to spend a good amount of time together, which was fantastic, as they are rapidly becoming a couple of my favorites out there. I am going to be posting something soon on Ascendant as well...so stay tuned!

Was very happy to meet a couple of Kentucky authors, David Jack Bell, author of The Condemned, and Julie Kagawa, whose first YA release The Iron King comes out at the beginning of 2010.

Big thanks to Matthew, Jon, Deb, and all those that came to support my signing slot in the dealer's room and who picked up a copy of The Exodus Gate. It means alot when you see someone step forward to take a chance on a new author. I can assure you that it is not forgotten! ;)


Many, many thanks and salutes go out to conference chairpersons Fred and Stephania Grimm, who are among those willing to take on the punishing job of running a large event. I think they have really been steadily building a very nice event, and I hope that they continue, despite the many headaches and challenges involved. (and kudos to all the volunteers like Deborah, and all the others involved with various aspects like running registration, cooking for the con suite, and more).


Oh yeah, while in Nashville, I also got to visit Davis-Kidd in Nashville. Awesome store, 2 levels, grand scale, while still being indie friendly. I got to meet Ashley Strosnider and Joe Nettles in person, which was super cool as I just knew them through phone calls and emails before.




Overall, Hypericon 5 was yet another great experience. I am already looking forward to Hypericon 6!!

MidSouthCon 27 -First-Class Experience

What can I say? Other than that the MidSouthCon 27 staff, organizers, and event itself are simply first rate.

I just got back in from Memphis, and the trip reinforced why I like Tennesee so much. Everyone was extremely hospitable, from the staff members that checked me in to the Ops room to the individuals such as Dan Gamber that were involved in the panels and programming itself.

At a convention like this, there is so much to choose from. As a guest, I had two panels that I was scheduled on (Film and Editing, and another on Paranormal, Supernatural, and the New Gothika). I also was given a reading and an hour slot in the professional's row for signing The Exodus Gate.

Beyond my scheduled items, I tried to attend as many panels and workshops as I could, and there were indeed some fantastic ones.

Jeff VanderMeer and Matt Staggs had a workshop called Explore Your Book Life which centered around a new book they have coming out called Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for 21st Century Writers. With backgrounds in publishing, writing, and publicity, Jeff and Matt were the perfect duo as they delved into the things involved in developing a sustainable writing career. They covered a wide range of elements, from time management, to new media tools, and much more. This workshop had something for everyone from beginning writers, to newly published ones (like myself) and well-established writers.

Another fantastic panel was Folk Dance in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Dee Birnbaum, who is a world-traveling dance expert with a tremendous expertise in Middle Eastern cultures and dancing, was joined by Kirk Stevens (this guy is a renaissance guy if I ever met one. Conducted a very intruiging creativity panel that I had to miss due to schedule conflicts) and Sara M. Harvey (who is also a very talented writer and costume designer). They discussed the use of dance in science fiction and fantasy, and approaches for fictional settings. As someone who is not, to put it mildly, very skilled at dancing, I found this panel very informative and accessible.

My panels were really enjoyable. On the film panel I was joined by the great Luke Ski, a very outgoing and entertaining music and parody performer. Guest of Honor John Hudgens, creator of many Star Wars parody films, was on hand, following his screening of his new DVD documentary release American Scary (check out www.americanscary.com ). Paul Robinson, a producer and editor of numerous tv productions and a former Rolling Stone contributor, and Tim Brown, of Inked Monkey Productions (who are doing the online adult puppet show Them F#@%ing Puppets)rounded it out.

For the Paranormal/Supernatural/Gothika panel, I was joined by Angelia Sparrow, who writes GLBT romance/speculative fiction (you won't often see werewolves and vampires like hers in the mainstream too often!), Rickey Mallory, a very established Romance and speculative fiction writer, and Ruth A. Souther, author of Immortal Journey: The Death of Innocence. It made very a very interesting and diverse discussing of supernatural elements and trends in current fiction, filtering a little over into the movie/television side of things.

It was wonderful to see some faces I'd known before, such as Tyree Campbell of Sams Dot Publishing, Bill Snodgrass of Double-Edged Publishing, and writers such as Elizabeth Donald and the aforementioned Sara M. Harvey. Also got to visit for a few minutes with the legendary Glen Cook (of the Black Company series), one of fantasy's best writers ever. (and I also had the opportunity to attend some panels that had C.J. Cherryh on them. Wow!)

Among the bright new faces that I met were Dan and Jackie Gamber of Meadowhawk Press (I can't wait to dive into Jackie's new book Redheart), Windsong Levitch (Fascinating individual with a very courageous personal story), Kirk Stevens (who I harassed often throughout the weekend), publicist Matt Staggs, and many other wonderful individuals. I sat next to Haley Elizabeth Garwood during my signing hour and had a great visit with her, and got to meet author H. David Blalock as well.

The event itself was run very smoothly, with excellent organization, generous hospitality, and a very good layout for the size of it. The Con Suite was always stocked with Red Bull, Bawls soft drinks, and loads of food, the program was easy to follow, the staff were always polite, and the programming featured excellent topics and outstanding guests. Evidently, this was the first year that they had MidSouthCon at this facility, and I found it to be a very good and efficient location.

Yes, this is a rather long blog posting, but I wanted to give props to the MidSouthCon and the wonderful folks I got to meet and hang out with last weekend!

I now have lots of good new books to read (yes, I went over my intended budget!)