I’m now home, safe and sound, from GenCon, contently working away on the current coat of Defiance’s (book 4 of Tale of the Fallen) polish since I told a few hundred people to hold me accountable for it. The good news is I’m on the last two chapters, and then I get to kick this draft over to my alpha readers!

Though exhibiting at GenCon kept me from running around to play (and had me in bed by about 9pm, as opposed to gaming into the night… gosh I feel old!), it was an absolutely amazing experience that I hope to revisit on a regular basis.

It was such a joy to visit with everyone who came by to talk books with me–established fans and new readers alike. I had the chance to meet one of my first super fans in person, welcomed a few new super fans to Abaeloth, ran into a friend from high school I haven’t seen in over a decade, met a bunch of enthusiastic and creative aspiring authors, made a complete (but loveable) fool of myself in front of Tom Doherty (yes, that Tom Doherty), and got to meet my lifelong writing hero, Margaret Weis! Overall, the Best Four Days in Gaming ended up being some of the Best Four Days in Authoring, and I’d like to thank everyone who helped make that possible.

Considering it was my first year attending GenCon in any capacity, I still made it out with a modest haul, including 15 new books (14 of them pictured below. I actually picked up YA dystopian author Samantha Mina’s “Spectrum” this past weekend, after we discovered we only live 30 miles away from each other!), an adorable dragon from one of my favorite artists, David Lee Pancake, and a long-awaited griffin shoulder puppet from The Midsummer Knight’s Dream (I’ve been eyeballing these beauties since I first saw them at a Renaissance festival about 8 years ago).

And, because I can’t get enough of conventions and all the amazing people I meet at them, I’m also gearing up for my next two conventions! If you’re wanting to stop by for a chat or to jump into the world of Abaeloth, you’ll be able to find me:

September 21-23, 2018 in Richmond, VA for Ravencon 13.5

and

January 18-20, 2019 in Williamsburg, VA for Marscon 2019

I’m planning on applying for several other conventions during the 2019 year and have a couple of convention-exclusive goodies in the works for those of you who want to come say hi! I’m also always on the lookout for new conventions to attend and new audiences to reach, so if you’ve got a convention you’d like to see me try to visit, send me some recommendations!

Until next time, I hope your reading is as happy as this guy’s!