The weekend trip to MidSouthCon in Memphis was great. My only complaint is that I didn’t get to come earlier and stay longer to visit the city a little more. Anyone who has lived there will know what I mean when I say that even though it’s a hard place to live, it’s an enchanting city that stirs my creative juices and recharges my batteries. I couldn’t live there again, but visiting every year is cool.
The convention was terrific this year. I don’t want to thank any individual for fear of forgetting someone important, but the show was definitely the best year I’ve attended, so thank you to everyone who played a part in putting it together. I loved being on my panels with so many talented, creative people, and I loved the quality of the audience members who challenged us to meet their expectations. Each year, I leave MidSouthCon feeling more validated in my writing career, and that’s a nice feeling to have.
This year also marked a first for Third Axe Media and myself. This was the first time we sold more copies of Red Sky at Dawn than The Brotherhood of Dwarves at an individual event, and overall, sales were pretty strong. That’s a pretty big milestone and signifies that people liked the first book well enough to get the second, and while it has taken some time to get to this point, it’s definitely a nice moment to enjoy. I’m still a long way from where I want to be, but it’s nice to see some movement in the right direction.
One last thought about the weekend — I got to spend a lot of time with my good friend Stephen Zimmer. He’s a fascinating guy and very talented in many facets. I’m glad he introduced himself at Hypericon last year and am grateful for his friendship. He’s just a good person all around, and I’m lucky to count him as a friend.
Big Owl's Tree 