AM NY, I-Con, and a Flat
Observant New Yorkers with a penchant for free newspapers may have noticed the article on page 18 of AM New York yesterday, entitled ‘Warded Man’ author Peter V. Brett writes novel on the F(antasy) train. Sorry for not posting something about it in time for anyone to grab hardcopy. I did the interview a couple of weeks ago, but I had no idea when it would see print. I haven’t even seen hardcopy myself yet, though the above link has the full article.
In other news, I had a reasonably good time at I-Con this weekend. I say reasonably because while the convention itself and the company of my entourage (agent extraordinaire Joshua Bilmes and writer/pal Myke Cole) was quite enjoyable, I started coming down with a head cold on Friday, and became progressively sicker as the weekend wore on. Even now, I am still trying to rid myself of a lingering cough, and Dani has caught the bug and is in the “use a whole box of tissues every day” phase.
Thanks to the wonders of nursing, though, Cassie seems immune. Praise be to mother’s milk.
I-Con was a bit scattered this year, with events divided over three locations (Suny Suffolk College Campus, The Marriott, and the Holiday Inn), but armed with my badass Honda Civic and GPS navigator, we were in a better position than most. We headed out bright and early on Saturday from Brooklyn to Queens, and then on to Islandia Long Island to the SSC campus to pick up our badges. Then we had to rush across town to the Marriott for the first panel of the morning, which Joshua was on. I was just attending to support my agent, but it proved an unexpected boon as Joshua held up a copy of The Warded Man, and the woman next to him said “Hey, I copyedited that!”
And that’s how I met Terry McGarry, my copyeditor, who is really nice, even though she put back in that indefinite article on page 347 that I TOTALLY left out on purpose, forcing me to stet the change. The nerve.
After that it was back to the SSC campus for a “signing”. Since TWM has only been out for 4 (albeit fantasy bestselling) weeks, and since I was once again lax about promoting my appearance, I didn’t really expect to do too much actual signing, which was just about how it turned out. I did have one reader (left) seek me out, though, after having already bought a signed story copy in Manhattan! Now that’s fricken’ cool.
I also signed some books at the Larry Smith Bookseller booth for Larry’s wife Sally, and we actually sold a few copies to browsers who saw me at it and asked about the book. My rap is getting better with experience, though I still stutter a bit when hawking my own work. I’m an introverted writer, not a salesman.
Following the signing we went back across town to the Marriott for a panel called “My Personal Gateway”, where I and the other panelists discussed the books, TV shows, and movies that pulled us into genre fiction. It was a fun panel that touched on a lot more than it’s original topic.
After that we went to another of Joshua’s panels and then headed out. Joshua took the opportunity to crack the whip and made us hit all the local bookstores for me to sign my shelf stock (more on that topic later), followed by dinner out.
By Sunday I was feeling pretty sick, but I had two panels to attend, and I was designated driver, so there was no rest for the congested. I got back to the con and dropped Joshua off at SSCC before heading to the Marriott for a great panel entitled “How Will We Read in the Future?” It was pretty full as these things go, and we had a really great discussion about e-readers, illegal downloading, and whether the love of paper is nature or nurture. I enjoyed that panel the most.
After that we hung out in the green room a while, and chatted up some hot redhead actress from Battlestar Galactica. If I ever watched the show, I could tell you who, but I haven’t, so I can’t. She was cute as a button, though.
After that there was a panel on “Starting to Sell Your Work” which I expected to be packed, as all the panels for would-be writers seemed to be well-attended, but I guess everyone was hunting for bargains in the SSCC dealer’s room, and not interested in wasting half the day 5 miles away at the Marriott. No one showed up, and we eventually ditched and went to blow some money at the dealer’s room ourselves.
Then the whip came out again, and it was off to more bookstores. Joshua needs no iPhone or GPS. It’s like he has a built-in map of the world with an overlay of Barnes & Nobles and Borders stores. They can’t hide from him. If you live in Long Island and are interesting in scoring an autographed copy of The Warded man, we hit the B&Ns in Bay Shore, E. Northport and Huntington, and the Borders in Bohemia, Commack, and Syosset.
It was on the way to the store in Bohemia that things got interesting. We took a secret back path into the Borders shopping center, and there was a pothole in the road (left). Seems innocuous, right? Well that car up ahead of it is mine, and if you squint, you can see me changing the tire after it fucking EXPLODED from hitting that deep-ass hole.
Ever try changing a tire with a bad head cold? I don’t recommend it.
But I’ve changed some tires in my day, and we were only out of commission for 15 minutes or so. Then we had to rush to a Costco to buy a new tire so we didn’t have to drive all the way back from Bohemia on the friggin’ donut. $170 down the drain. Certainly any profit from increased sales from the signings, and then some.
We made one more stop after that, at the Borders in Syosset. That was actually a fun stop, as the guy at the infodesk made me pose like the picture in the back of the book to prove I was really the author:
And the lovely Laura agreed to pose for a picture.
Good times.
It was Nikki Clyne.
And she *was* as cute as a button.
And she *totally* would have gone out with me, if only I had used a different aftershave. Uh, and, you know, had actually asked. Instead of all the stuttering and pointing.
Because. . . dude!. . . Battlestar Gallactica!