It’s been nearly a week since Gen-Con, and only now am I sitting down to write about it. My apologies. I’ve been busy with some writing projects. I’m also trying to upload the photos I took at the convention.

Anyway…

For those who don’t know, Gen-Con is a gigantic four-day convention that’s been held in Indianapolis for the last 45 years. It started as a gathering for players of board games and roleplaying games, but it has expanded into science fiction, fantasy, anime, and everything in between. It’s all the same audience, after all. One of the latest editions was the Authors’ Avenue, a place where independent authors and publishers could sell their books to the thousands of attendees. I heard about it two years ago, but I didn’t go until this year.

It was the most exhausting and fun four days I’ve had in a long time.

The convention started Thursday (August 16), but I went a day early to set up my booth. I stayed with my college buddy/roommate Josh Smith, who lived only 20 minutes from the Indiana Convention Center, where the event was held. After a brief stop at his house at the end of a three-hour drive, I went to the ICC. I ended up parking in a parking garage across the street because I couldn’t find any other place to park. I quickly learned I am too much of a small city boy—I don’t like parking garages. They’re confusing and expensive. I’m not used to paying for parking, and even if I have to, it’s a few quarters in a meter. I spent almost as much on parking that week as a four-day pass to the convention cost!

Finding a spot, I hauled my two heavy boxes of books and other items to the convention center. This became a Herculean feat because I had no one to help me and I couldn’t figure out how to navigate the maze-like parking garage. Then when I got to the center, I couldn’t figure out where to go register. Thankfully, it wasn’t far. I did have to stand in line for a while, though.

It took me a while to find my table, but once I did, I went to town setting up. I also used this time to get to know my neighbors in my aisle. These included Edward J. Russell, who writes zombie fiction; Tammy Blackwell, who writes young adult urban fantasy (more Buffy the Vampire Slayer than Twilight); L. Douglas Rudder and his family, who write fantasy; and Lee Cherolis, the artist for the webcomic The Little Guardians. It was a great time to build some rapport.

Once I was set up, I explored the Crown Plaza hotel for a while. It’s a gorgeous place. It used to be a train station, and some of the passenger coaches are still there on display. Guests can even stay in them!

With that, I returned home.

Now, for day one…

I arrived at 9am to cater to the V.I.G.s (very important gamers), who got early access to the exhibitors’ hall. My first sale came not long after 10am. It was to this guy:

(Sadly, I’ve forgotten his name. I’m sorry! If you’re reading this, please leave a comment to remind me).

I also met Alyssa Weaver, the daughter of a longtime family friend. She and her boyfriend stopped by to buy a book. Here’s a photo of us:

I made a few more sales before taking a break to meet one of the media guests of honor at the convention: Wil Wheaton, who played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Ironically, the autograph area was just around the corner from me. It took a little while to get through the line, but it was worth it. I even gave Mr. Wheaton copies of all my books.

The hall closed at 6pm. I hadn’t signed up for any events that night, so I wandered around for a while, looking for something to do. I took a few photos of some amazing cosplayers, including one of a guy who built a working costume of a Dalek from Doctor Who.

I finished the day off by going to a room run by Nexus Gaming and participating in two video game tournaments, one for Super Smash Bros. Brawl and one for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I quickly learned I was very rusty at both games. It didn’t help that the former was hampered by large brackets, a power outage, and haphazard organization. The latter was small, but the characters I used were determined by drawing cards, so they were almost entirely random. I ended up wishing I had participated in the “Mega Man Mega Awesome Challenge” tournament. Players had to accomplish certain tasks while playing the classic Mega Man games (which I loved playing as a kid). These tasks included things like completing a level without firing a shot unless it was needed to advance. The bystanders got really into it, especially with the purple-haired Asian guy hosting the event, who gave commentary in a cliché Asian accent usually heard in bad martial arts movies. Hilarious!

Stay tuned for day two!

Also, I’ll be posting a full photo gallery of the event both here and on Facebook.

TO BE CONTINUED IN DAY 2!

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