Can-Con 2014

Like GenreCon, Can-Con is an out-of-Toronto sci-fi convention that I want to keep as a regular part of my life. Two years ago I attended, back when I was still pushing The Cupid War, and I regret not being able to go last year (same weekend as my first GenreCon).

This time around, the con was held at the Sheraton, a much bigger and more convenient hotel in downtown Ottawa (as opposed to being out past Bell’s Corners). The Sheraton had a lot more available space, meaning bigger panel rooms and a larger dealer’s room.

My panel schedule involved some interesting and creative stuff. Unfortunately I missed my very first one on Friday night – my bus was over an hour late getting into the city. Saturday morning onwards, however, I had no trouble at all.

Here’s what I was up to:

Saturday

10 AM – 11AM
The Economics of Self-Publishing: Kevin Johns (m), S.M. Carriere, Mark Leslie Lefebvre, Tim Carter

12PM – 1PM
The Whedonverse: from Buffy to Firefly to the Avengers:
Derek Newman-Stille (m), Timothy Carter, Kevin Johns

7PM – 8PM
Email spam: Can a narrative be created? Silliness may ensue.
Rebecca Simkin (m), Timothy Carter, S.M. Carriere, Geoff Gander, Max Turner

Sunday

12PM – 1 PM
No More Sparkly Vampires! Scary Monsters in Fiction:
Derek Newman-Stille (m), Mike Rymar, Timothy Carter, Caroline Frechette, Kevin Johns

1PM – 2PM
Talking about your Sonic Wrench and Other Tricks for Flushing Out the Nerds Who Are Hiding As Muggles:
M. Bilodeau (m), S.M. Carriere, Erik Buchanan, Timothy Carter, Mark Shainblum

I did three panels with S.M. Carriere, a novelist and party animal like myself. She's the one who, during my last Can-Con visit, said "I'm stealing this from you. This looks awesome!" to her friend The Blurry Fan, who was reading Evil at the time. Speaking of The Blurry Fan, I ran into her once more in the dealer's room, next to S.M.'s table. Good times.

I still have my spam stories. It was an interesting writing exercise – each of us interpreted the directive in our own way. I found I couldn’t come up with a narrative and then work the spam into and around it – I chopped my spam up and put the sentences back together in a new and (hopefully) funny way, figuring out where I was going with it as I went along.

Sadly, I no longer have Optimus Plane, my entry into the paper airplane contest. Run by Marie Bilodieu and her terrifying minions, it was just as fantastically fun as 2012’s. And my plane went a lot further, too! Before a terrifying minion crushed it under her foot. I won a prize, and my cats have enjoyed playing with it. Marie really knows how to put on a good show.

No, I mean she really, really knows – I went to her reading Saturday night, and she demonstrated her storytelling talents with a tale of tragic love. It was a moving experience I shall not soon forget.

The final day’s panels were No More Sparkly Vampires and Talking About Your Sonic Wrench. Sparkly vampires was about the de-fanging of monsters that used to be, well, monsters. As an example, vampires used to be bloodsucking fiends of terror before certain authors turned them into brooding romantic leads. Good fun, and we all had plenty to say.

Marie hosted Sonic Wrench, a panel about discovering whether or not someone is a closeted geek. The audience tossed out names from genre media properties, and each panelist had to come up with a way to subtly bring up said media property through casual conversation. Many laughs ensued, and some of them were actually mine! I like it when I’m actually funny (as opposed to just trying to be).

The con ended, I said my goodbyes, and added a few more people to my Facebook friends list. My parents picked me up, and we had some quality time together before I headed back to Toronto the next day.

Can't wait for next year!

Can*Con 2012 - Saturday

On Saturday I checked into the hotel. We could have stayed with my folks again, but having a room at the hotel just seemed easier. I wanted to have the freedom to do con stuff late into the night without worrying about how I was getting home(OC Transpo and I have, shall we say, a sordid history). Besides, staying in a hotel is kind of exotic. And it was great for Violet and I to have a place to dump our suitcases.

I had no panels that day, so I spent a lot of time in the dealer's room selling my stuff. I was delighted to see so much interest in Evil and The Cupid War - it was my first Ottawa convention, so I was introducing myself to a lot of new people. Do you have any idea how amazing it is to look over and see someone reading a book you wrote? Well, trust me, it's fantastic. But almost as fantastic was hearing the person next to them saying, "I'm stealing this from you. This looks awesome!" Thank you for that, S.M. Carriere (author of The Dying God & Other Stories)!

Apart from my novels, I was also trying to unload some of my Transformers toys. I know I made some fellow Trans-fans very happy (I'm looking at you, John Seed!).

In the afternoon, I attended a panel on marketing one's novel(with Marie Bilodeau, Matt Moore, Allan Isfan and Above author Leah Bobet), and learned the benefits of not being an a$$h0le. Apparently that's a really bad thing. All kidding aside, though, I came away from that panel with plenty to think about. Afterward, Marie joined Violet and I for dinner at a small Vietnamese restaurant across the road from the hotel. Good soup, and lots of it; when they say a large bowl, they really mean LARGE!

That night I went to the ChiZine launch party for John Park's new novel Janus. I missed his reading, sadly, but I got there in time for good conversation and plenty of beer! It was a perfect way to unwind after the events of the day.

Then I slept. Just down the hallway from the dealer's room. Super convenient, and it sure beats lugging a suitcase full of books back and forth by transit, lemmie tellya!

Can*Con 2012 - Friday

Last weekend I attended Can*Con, a sci/fi convention in my home town of Ottawa. It reminded me a lot of Ad Astra and Con-Cept - not too large, and more of a literary focus. Actually, I was surprised at how small the convention space actually was; three panel rooms, a con-suite, and a tiny little dealer's room! I worried the con wouldn't be very well attended, but that concern was quickly put to rest. I sold lots of books, had a great time, and hope to make my attendance an annual thing.

I have a lot to say, so I'm splitting this post into three parts - one for each day of the con.

Violet & I arrived by train Thursday afternoon and stayed over with my parents. It's been a long time since I got to spend quality time with them, and the convention provided a wonderful opportunity to kill two stones with one bird! My folks drove us to and from the hotel on Friday night, which was extremely kind; they live in Orleans, which is as far East of Ottawa as the hotel is West! They must love me or something(Awwww!!!). It was nice to show them what I do for an almost-living!

We arrived in time for the Paper Airplane Contest, hosted by my friend and fellow author Marie Bilodeau. But she was no friend to anyone that night, oh no... as judge of the contest, she was a living embodiment of fear itself! I still have nightmares(hold me). There were many impressive and flight-worthy airplanes made from paper that night. Mine was not one of them.

Nevertheless, the evening was a joy. To get the extra-special folding paper, Marie insisted we sing. I stood and gave a terrific rendition of the Lumberjack song, with Violet as my Best-Girl-By-My-Side. I also made friends with some kids, all of whom gave me their paper airplanes afterward. It may have been out of pity, but I prefer to think of it as a sweet gesture!

We didn't stay any later Friday night, preferring to save our energy for Saturday. The Saturday post is coming soon...

Can*Con This Weekend!

This weekend I'll be in Ottawa for Can*Con 2012! This will be my second time at this convention - the first was many, many years ago, before I'd even published my first short story - and my first time as a pro writer.

My panel schedule is fairly small, and all of them are on Sunday. First, I'll be reading from The Cupid War in Room 3 sometime after 12:30 PM. Immediately after, I have GLBTQ Reader in Room 2(I love how the rooms are so clearly labelled!) at 1 PM. Then, at 3 PM, I'll be doing Humour in Science Fiction with my good friend Ira Nayman (author of Alternate Reality Ain't What It Used To Be) in Room 1.

All day Saturday I'll be selling Evil & Epoch, which I suppose I could classify as collector's items! I'm also hoping to take part in Friday night's paper airplane-making contest, hosted & judged by author friend Marie Bilodeau (Destiny's Blood & Destiny's Fall). I'm lucky in that there will be plenty of people there (like Marie & Ira) whom I've met and befriended at other cons. Gives these events a feeling of community!

As always, I'll provide a full write-up of my experience when I return to Toronto.

Can't wait! Cons are good for me.

Ad Astra 2012

Another fantastic convention has just passed, and as usual I'm in a state of mourning. Some of the happiest times for me over the last few years have been spent at cons, and this year's Ad Astra was one of the best.

That's not to say there were no problems; the con was held in a new hotel this year, a fact that brought its own unique issues. However, dealing with all those issues was, for me, part of the fun.

For instance, when I arrived Friday evening, I still wasn't entirely sure what my panel/reading schedule was. Unforeseen chaos had hit the programming team hard, reducing that team to only one very stressed but ultimately heroic person(under the circumstances, Adi, you did tremendously, and I'm sorry I never got to buy you that beer I'd promised). I had a reading that night with Gabrielle Harbowy, but our reading room (Salon 1) hadn't been assigned yet! Adi assigned us her own hotel room; Gabrielle and I read to our audience from the bed, making the reading informal yet fun. She read a devastatingly funny and clever story called Deserter(which anyone who has ever known a cat will appreciate) and I read from The Cupid War, and good times were had by all.

Saturday was my busiest day; five panels, mostly back-to-back, and the autograph session! My good friend Mike Bryant came to help me run my table; he had to spend several hours on his own that day while I was off being clever, including a three hour stint in the afternoon. He did remarkably, and I couldn't have done it without him.

Like my Friday night reading, most panels were held in hotel rooms(with the beds removed for extra space). This gave the panels a crowded bus/sardine-can feel, but it also made the experience more intimate. I did two panels dealing with the publishing industry, one panel on 2012 stories, and two panels that I'd been longing to be a part of for several years - Mental Health in Fandom, and the panel on writing for YA readers. Unlike in previous years, I never felt out of my depth or woefully unprepared.

That night Mike and I attended the Dragon Moon Press Launch for Leah Petersen's Fighting Gravity and Marie Bilodeau's Destiny's Fall. Marie is a friend I made at Ad Astra 2010; we've done several panels together over the last two years, including the 2012 panel this year. Time spent in her company is always a convention high point for me. I wasn't as familiar with Leah, which was hardly surprising; it was her first book, first book launch, and first reading! I think she acquitted herself with style, and I hope to get to know her over the next few cons.

The Chizine party was next, but by that point I was exhausted. I stayed for one poem reading and one beer before heading home for some much-needed sleep.

Sunday was mellow. I had one panel that afternoon(Sequels: How Do They Work?), then I was free to interact with friends and sell a couple more books before calling it a weekend. My table's location wasn't the greatest; seven of us were squirreled away in a corner next to the pool. The phrase we heard most that weekend was, "I didn't know there was anyone back here!" Nevertheless, I sold 16 books in total, gained some new fans(this shout-out's for you, Amanda!), and generally had a good time.

On Monday I faced the usual post-con blues. I miss everybody, and wish my life could be like this all of the time. I'm booked for next year, and I have Polaris to look forward to this summer. Long live the cons, I say! And long live Ad Astra.