Lights, Camera, Sell some Books

Blog No. 183

The fun never ends in the world of Adventure Worlds. This week is no different. This weekend is likely going to be the first high point of the year (after the book launch that is). Christian and I are packing up his car and heading for London Ontario to spend three fabulous (likely rainy) days at Shock Stock. The three day horror convention is the largest event we’ve been a part of. It’s also the longest, furthest, and most expensive. Not only is the table a pretty penny, but we are staying in a hotel to boot (oh la, la). Add on some food, a few drinks, and the money we’re likely to spend on other people’s tables, and we’ll be lucky to break even.

London Nerves

Blog No. 181

One of the banner images at the top of my page (the ones that change when you reload it) is a snow-scape taken from the balcony of my tiny apartment when I was living in London Ontario. It was several years ago now, and I was only there for eight months for school, but it was a very formative time in my life, so it’s really stuck with me. I even talk to people like I know London like the back of my hand, but, while I’m acquainted with the place, I realize I will never know it like someone who was born there or lives there. Still, I have the lay of the land and a few potent memories that stick out above the jumbled mess in my head.

The Weekend of Firsts

Blog No. 172

A few years ago (as documented in the deep bowels of this blog) I worked at Chapters. Initially, it was a love affair for the ages. Raises came quickly, the people were great, and I was surrounded by books. For a university list student, it was great. Eventually, all things must end, and my time at Chapters did just that. I moved on and (a little while later) started down the road of writing, perusing my dream of becoming a working writer, free from the shackles of any job, be it book based or otherwise.

During my time at Chapters, there were a few things that constantly ran through my mind. Gee, some of these books are terrible, how did they get published? Even I can write something that bad. Why aren’t I writing? And the big, Wow, some of these authors who come in to do singings are just people. I’m people. Why not me? There were other thoughts, but they mostly revolved around lunch and when my next break was. The pertinent ones are those first italicised thoughts. In January, a few years after leaving Chapters, I fulfilled the first of those quests. My book was published (by Christian and me) and it was put on the shelf in Chapters. Now, Saturday in fact (from 1pm to 4pm to be precise) I will be doing my first Chapter signing.

The Storm

Blog No. 169

I tend to start writing these on Tuesdays. It gives me time to explore what I want to write about, and I can scrap the whole things and start over when I’m not happy with it. This morning, I was sitting in anchor, sipping a coffee before heading to work. I was thinking about the weekend and what I’d like to post this week. Obviously I want to mention Syndicon. I could also talk about my current struggles with keeping up the daily work count. There are editing and Adventure World things I should mention, along with the next event on the docket. But really, I’m just tired and I want to go to bed. I can’t do that though, so I’ll mention little bits of a bunch of those things, or not. Let’s see.

Comic, Comic, Comic-chameleon

Blog No. 108

 Last weekend was Windsor’s Christmas Comic Con. It was both my first time ever at a con and the first time I was at a table at any event (other than for work I suppose). No, that’s a lie. I did help my brother’s band once at a music festival in St. Catharines, but I was a small part of a larger team then. Last weekend I was helping Christian with his table (but really I think he just wanted me to help him carry things). It was the two of us, his book (which you should buy if you haven’t yet) and some of his personal collection of comics and horror movies. The main goal was to sell as many copies of his book as we could. The comics and movies were bait and fodder to help pay for the cost of the table. They helped, but it turned out they weren’t necessary. With the large number of connoisseurs, and my shilling skills, he made enough with books sales to cover the costs. I didn’t read the fine print though. My cut is a coffee.