Me with a new fan (hopefully he’ll like my work and seek out more) and his young Dr. Who son!
On Saturday I attended the Leesburg Comic Con in Leesburg, Florida. I’ve been under the impression that this was the first ever such event, however, several attendees told me they’d been to that event several times before, albeit smaller, making me think they’d done a “comic con” before just on a much smaller scale. So, truthfully, I’m not really sure if it was the first one or not.
Regardless, Brett and I had a fun time. While we had fun, the show was actually pretty slow for those on the 2nd floor; the first floor was a hap’ning place. Regrettably, though, many didn’t make it upstairs, which is were I was…I was…well, in the bio section and there was barely enough room to walk by…and that’s what many did despite my attempts to engage them. I considered tackling some, but decided better. That said, I did meet some cool folks and some who took the chance to pick up some of my work without having heard of me before. That’s always cool and I’m ever thankful to the READERS who take that chance. I also always solicit feedback in order to help me grow as a writer.
I got to meet Charlene Qazi (a former online student of mine. Here she is with me and her grandmother.
I took a small stash of comics to give away since this was a library thing. I’ll tell you—I’m surprised at the number of folks who actually decline a free comic. I was giving away a bunch of the extra copies of ROCKET RANGER that I have so maybe had it been Spider-Man or Batman the responses would have been different. I dunno…but I rarely turn down something free when I’m at a con.
I got to meet Charlene Qazi, one of my former online students who brought her grandmother with her to the convention. Grandma was pretty cool, too, traipsing around all the cosplay and geek folks.
I also got to chat with Kingstone publisher Art Aryis who was set up right next to me. Kingstone was there because they’re local to Leesburg. They’re the publisher of the graphic novel THE REMAINING that I was pushing to you all a few months back (and I TRUST you all ran out and grabbed a copy!). Manning the Kingstone table for much of the day was Stephen, one of the
Me with Kingstone publisher Art Aryis.
hardworking staff at Kingstone. It was cool to learn that he wasn’t just a “worker,” but he was both a comic geek and a Christ follower!
Unless something comes up, July and August will be quiet for me in terms of signings/appearances/conventions. September, however, gets busy-busy! I’ll talk more as the dates get closer, but on September 19, I’ll be at the Mt. Dora Comic Show. The following weekend (Sept 25-27) I’ll be a comic guest at the WizardWorld show in Nashville, TN. The weekend after that (Oct 2-4) I’ll be a comic guest at the WizardWorld show in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Two week after that (Oct 16-18), I’ll be a speaker at the Florida Writers Conference in Altamonte Springs, FL. Whew! But I’m very much looking forward to them!
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