Great Cornwall & Area Pop Event this Past Weekend

Photo courtesy of author Benoit Chartier.

My heartfelt thanks go to organizers Carol Sauve and Randy Sauve for last weekend's fourth annual Cornwall & Area Pop Event (CAPE). Anita Dolman and met familiar faces and many new ones. We drove home Sunday with one less box of books (my horror novel Town & Train from Lethe Press and her Lost Enough from Morning Rain Publishing). Having my giant face opposite fellow author Benoit Chartier's was a blast (He also snapped this early Sunday morning photo of my booth) and seeing writer Liam Gibbs was also fun. 

Make mine Marvel!
Photo of the author and Miles Morales
courtesy of Benoit Chartier.

Because Anita and I tell stories, we are inspired and by other people’s stories. An awe-filled young woman asked our son "What is it like to grow up with writers as your parents?" "Meh," said the kid. “It's so-so...” Cheers also to the high school guys (Dawson and the tall fellow) who told me what DC Comics they’re reading and about the comeback of vinyl records.

Of course, getting feedback from readers about our books was fabulous. My return customers from the 2016 CAPE did wonders for my spirits. I traded puns with my favourite volunteer and rubbed shoulders with all manner of creature, hero and character. Didja’ see Lobo? Amazing. My personal favourite, Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man (thanks, cosplayer Gary Raiche, for the photo), also swung by my booth.

All in all, the two-day event was another fun and successful CAPE.

Thwipp! Photo courtesy of Benoit Chartier.

Ready for April 21-22 CAPE, the Cornwall & Area Pop Event

Photo with the author and
Lord Vader, CAPE 2016.

The Dark Side is calling me once more to the April 21-22 Cornwall & Area Pop Event (CAPE), a comic-book and pop-culture geek haven, where I'll be with my literary horror book Town & Train and Anita Dolman's stellar short story collection, Lost Enough (Morning Rain Publishing). I anticipate dueling with Benoit Chartier and trading Jedi gossip with Liam Gibbs.

Many thanks, Carol Sauve and Randy Sauve, for organizing the saga. I've been going to Randy's Fantasy Realm since '85. In Town & Train, in fact, seventeen-year-old John Daniel visits a fictionalized version of the Realm. The store may merit an appearance in the two follow-up books that I toil on.

Shout-outs also to Matt Bright of Inkspiral Book & CoverDesign for my brand, spanking-new promo posters and Steve Berman (aka the Duke) of Lethe Press. Steve's short story edits can cut like a Sith Lord's lightsaber, sometimes striking down but only making the work stronger in the end.

Break from Social Media

Effective now, I am taking a break from social media because I have too much to do and I'm uncertain if I am reaching anyone effectively via social media platforms. My efforts might be better focused in other arenas and not a spectrum of overloading and over-stimulating media.

I need to withdraw, retreat, and question just how useful my whole writing shtick is, whether I have anything relevant to say, whether there are too many voices already out there, whether other voices might be better suited to telling stories than me, whether my voice enriches the world or merely adds to the cacophonous white noise of everything already out there, either in print or online.