I’ve added another signing to my itinerary, True Believers. In fact, I just bought the table a few minutes ago as I write this. For the first time, I will be attending a local convention as a vendor. In this case, it’s Fantasticon 2016 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the Grand Wayne Center October 29-30.
I won’t be the only noteworthy person there, though. My friend and fellow Children of the Wells creator Nick Hayden will be joining me at the same table. We’ll be selling and signing our individual books and, obviously, some CotW collections. However, my brother Jarod, who has done some great illustrations for my short stories and YouTube show, will be at the table next door selling his artwork. The icing on the cake is if Brian Scherschel and I can get our Godzilla podcast going by then, he may also join us for part of the con to promote that.
Fantasticon is a mid-size show created for true comic book and pop culture collectors and fans. The fans that come to our shows are true collectors that are looking for those rare items for their personal collections. Most leave very satisfied as we pride ourselves on having great dealers and artists at our shows. If you collect it, you will find it at a Fantasticon Show.
Fantasticon is proud to have a presence in multiple cities throughout the mid-west. Currently we are in four different cities in Michigan and Ohio, and expect to expand into Indiana in the near future. We also, are very proud of the fact that our admission price is the lowest of any other comparable shows. And the cost for being an exhibitor or artist at the Fantasticon is far less than any comparable comic cons out there.
In other words, this is a smaller traveling convention. If you’ve never been to a con before, this would be a great one to start with. It’s smaller and more manageable. Don’t be crazy like me and start with something huge like Gen-Con (although I did attend a tiny Star Trek convention in high school in Warsaw, Indiana).
I don’t know who the special guests will be, but at its previous stops the con has featured the likes of Billy Dee Williams (aka Lando Calrissian) and Michael Dorn (aka Worf) as well as some comic artists and writers, among others. In other words, I’ll probably be in good company.
I’ll be here with my friend/fellow author/collaborator Nick Hayden selling and signing books, both old and “new.”
I haven’t had many book signings lately because I’ve been wanting to have new books to take with me.
I plan to amend that soon at this event.
I’ll be returning to the Allen County Public Library November 8, 2014, for their annual Authors’ Fair. But I won’t be going alone. My friend/fellow author/collaborator Nick Hayden will also be present. I’ll be selling some of my mainstays–Pandora’s Box and The Day After—but I’m excited to announce that I’ll be selling not one but two “new” titles at the fair!
The first will be Destroyer: Deluxe Edition. I’m in the process of migrating that novella from Lulu.com to CreateSpace, and this new edition will include Nick Hayden’s bonus story, “House of the Living,” which will be available exclusively in print in this book!
The second title will be Children of the Wells: Jaysynn Kyzer, Vol. 1. Much like the first collected volume of Children of the Wells novellas, this will collect the first three stories of the serial’s second plotline, which tells the tale of the exiled prince Jaysynn Kyzer as he endeavors to raise an army to liberate his ruined city from a tyrant. It collects The Fall of the House of Kyzer by yours truly, The Rules Changeby John Bahler, and the just-released New Wells Risingby Timothy Deal.
Not only that but I will be one of the speakers at a panel entitled, “Not Just for Teens: Trends in Writing for Young Adults” at 1pm.
It’s been a week since Gen-Con 2014 ended, and as usual, I miss it. Not only does Gen-Con have a great Authors’ Avenue where I can sell books and a great Writers’ Symposium where I can attend seminars, it’s one of the few places I can be an unbridled nerd and nobody judges me.
If you follow me on Facebook (and if you don’t, you should), you saw my almost up-to-the-minute updates while my brother Jarod and I were at the four-day convention. There’s a lot I could write about, but for now I’ll focus on a few highlights not mentioned in those posts. UPDATE: More photos from Gen-Con have been posted on my Facebook page!
Want to see photographs from the convention? I recommend checking out my Facebook page. Until I figure out how the new photo gallery plug-in I downloaded works, that’s where I’ll be posting photos from signings and such. Sorry.
First, here are the fans/readers I met while I was at the con, both new and old.
My first sale of the con! A gentleman named Scott Blankenship purchased “Destroyer” and “The Day After.”Here I am with fellow kaiju fan Tom Tancredi after he purchased “Destroyer.”My first “Children of the Wells” buyer! His name is Sean Steele (which sounds like the name of a hero in a book).I convinced my buddy Darrin Ball to buy “Destroyer” and “The Day After” since he purchased “Pandora’s Box” from me a few years ago. He’s still the HeroScape champ to me! 😉This is Ben and Ashley Davis. I befriended them through Facebook (mostly), and they stopped by and bought “Pandora’s Box.” Wonderful people!Joe Stichmeyer (I hope I spelled that right), anotehr fellow kaiju fan, bought “Destroyer” from me and “Mammoth Monster Madness”–an anthology I contributed to–from Ed Russell.A Rogue cosplayer named Alyssa who bought “The Day After.”I met Alyssa VanderGalien (I hope I spelled that right) at the FFC/CGG worship service that morning, and she stopped by to purchase “The Day After.”Here I am with Patricia Gore.
This was Jarod’s first time at Gen-Con, though it wasn’t his first convention. He’s gone with me to several others this year as attendees. We made prints of the illustrations he’s done for my short stories and the titles cards he’s made for my YouTube show, “But I Digress…”. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, we weren’t able to sell any of these. I was shocked. Conventions seemed like the places where people would eat up his artwork. Perhaps it was because we were in the authors’ section and not the art show area. Regardless, he did manage to get a pair of commissions: one for a steampunk pin-up girl a guy wanted for a restaurant he wants to start called Pandora’s Lunchbox (he told us about it because of the title of my novel), and another for a con-goer who wanted little pictures of Wile E. Coyote and a Digimon for a Magic: The Gathering card. Jarod also drew a few random sketches during our downtime, especially when things were slow on Thursday, including Maleficent, a ballerina Dalek (no joke), and a ninja Elsa. He gave the last one to a Jedi Elsa cosplayer, who inspired the artwork.
As for my book sales, they were slow again this year. I took fewer books with me assuming I’d sell out, but I didn’t. I got a few bits of advice from my fellow writers on how to improve that:
1) Get new signs. I’ve been using Jarod’s handmade sign for three years now. It’s time I upgraded. It’ll help me look more professional.
2) Have more books. For whatever reason, people will be more interested in buying books when they have more choices. I thought the opposite was true, but I think it would diversify my appeal and show people I’m still writing.
It didn’t help that the new books I wanted to take—Children of the Wells, Volume 1—didn’t arrive in time, so I wasn’t able to sell them until Saturday. Even so, that was a bit of tough sell since I wasn’t in that collection (but I’ll be in volume two).
However, I think my networking was much-improved this year. I talked with more of the writers there and shared my business cards with them. I think I even found a publisher interested in seeing Ninjas and Talking Trees. J Hopefully, in the coming year, that will all pay off.
As usual, while other vendors were too tired to enjoy the convention after the exhibitors’ hall closed, I was still running around with boundless energy like the Doctor. (In fact, I cosplayed as the 10th Doctor while I was there on Sunday).
I’ve harassed this Dalek every year, and I was excited to do so this time since I had a real costume. But his batteries were dead. He must’ve been so scared, he shut down. 😛
I attended many writing seminars since many of the other events I wanted to attend were sold out. (I waited to sign up since I was on the waiting list for months and wasn’t sure I’d make it to the convention). Regardless, I was still able to participate in an “Ultra Street Fighter IV” tournament Friday night and see the Five Year Mission show Saturday night. I wasn’t able to play any board games, though.
Overall, I don’t think it was quite as good of an experience as last year’s convention, but I still want to return next year. That, sadly, is uncertain since the organizers didn’t allow writers and artists an early sign up at the end of the convention like they usually do. I have no idea when tables will be available. On the bright side, I could have as many as three new titles to sell at next year’s convention if all goes as planned (more on that later).
You may remember that I went to Gen-Con last year. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. Well, I’ll be returning this year. The convention is this weekend, August 15-18, in Indianapolis, Indiana. It’s being held at the Indiana Convention Center, just a hop, skip, and a jump from Lucas Oil Stadium (where the Colts play). I’ll be selling copies of my books–including Pandora’s Box–and promoting Children of the Wellsin the vendors’ area all four days. The hours will 10am-6pm Thursday-Saturday (9am for VIGs Thursday) and 10am-4pm Sunday. I will be taking breaks to attend a few events and meet Walter Koenig (the original Chekhov!) and Peter Davison (the 5th Doctor!), but this year I’m bringing my friend Eric as an assistant, so he’ll be manning my table if I’m not there. (Thanks, Eric!)
By the way, I’ll be cosplaying as a different sci-fi/comic book hero each day of the convention. Who will they be? Come to Gen-Con to find out!
Gen Con Indy is the original, longest-running, best-attended, gaming convention in the world!
For more than 45 years, Gen Con Indy has set the trend in gaming and has broken attendance records. Last year, more than 134,775 turnstile and 41,000 unique attendees experienced Gen Con Indy.
Featuring game industry veterans, award-winning authors and artists, jaw-dropping costumes, thousands of events, a growing Family Fun Pavilion, and the newest games on the market, Gen Con truly is The Best Four Days in Gaming™!
Gen Con is more than just a convention, however. It’s a passion, a community, and a unique experience that keeps people coming back for decades.
Learn more about the convention at its website here.
See you there!
If I don’t, I’ll do my best to post daily updates!
In a special episode for the online serial, “Children of the Wells,” I talk about where I got my ideas for the novella I wrote for the fantasy saga, entitled “The Fall of the House of Kyzer.” I reveal how I created the city of Thyrion, the characters’ names, and what my goals were for the story.
Then when I couldn’t contain myself anymore and try to give spoilers, I get a call from one of the novella’s characters insisting I keep my mouth shut. Talk about breaking the fourth wall…
Today marks the beginning of the serialization of my novella, The Fall of the House of Kyzer. Here’s a synopsis for you:
In Thyrion, power is everything.
But not for Jaysynn, the youngest of the Kyzer royal family who rule the city with an iron fist. He alone is unable to manipulate magic, making him an outcast in his own family. However, General Dracon, himself non-Select, sees the prince’s potential and trains him to be a warrior in his own right.
In the wake of the Cataclysm, Jaysynn is the only Kyzer to survive. Ascending to the throne, he is overwhelmed by the weight of the crown and the devastation of his city. What’s worse, he learns of a conspiracy brewing within his own ranks. Even as Emperor, he feels like an outcast.
It will introduce a character (not Jaysynn) who, I hope, will be a prominent villain in future stories.
Chapters of this novella will be posted on the website every Tuesday and Thursday for the next several months. You can also subscribe via our e-mail newsletter. We also post a “behind-the-scenes” blog every Friday. We love getting feedback from our readers.
Children of the Wells (CotW) is a bit of a first for me. I’ve been involved in serial fiction and group projects before, but nothing like this. The previous serials I worked on were never published; they were read and enjoyed only by the writers’ club I joined in college. The previous group project I participated in with those same writers produced Destroyer(which I may make a special edition of to include Nick’s new story, “House of the Living“). CotW, however, will be an ongoing web serial for everybody to enjoy! It has been over a year in planning, and I can’t wait to see it luanch.
What is CotW about? Read this:
The Cataclysm destroyed our magic wells and, along with them, our technology, our scientific advancements, and our aristocracy. We thought the world was dying. Forced to rely on our former enemies, we evolved, but in those first days, we had no inkling of the true extent of that change.
It takes place in a semi-modern fantasy world where technology developed around magic. If you’ve seen and/or read Full Metal Alchemist, you’ll have a good understanding of this concept.
The saga will begin with the serialization of the first novella, The Select’s Bodyguard by Nick Hayden (a writer friend whose name I can’t stop dropping). This story takes place in the scientific capital of Jalseion just after the disaster and introduces the characters of Bron and Calea. Calea is a nihilistic but brilliant young scientist making breakthroughs in magic technology and Bron is her singleminded bodyguard.
The story will continue in July with the publication of my novella, The Fall of the House of Kyzer. This will introduce readers to the imperial city of Thyrion, which rules much of the world with an iron fist, and to the heroic prince Jaysynn Kyzer. He is the youngest son of the city’s Emperor and Empress, but unlike them and his six siblings, he has no magic abilities, making him an outcast in his own family. However, Jaysynn is trained by Gen. Xander Dracon, himself a non-magic user, to become a warrior in his own right. There’s more to it than that, but I won’t give you any spoilers. Sorry, True Believers!
The adventure begins April 1!
Click here to see the website. Sign up for the newsletter and spread the word!
I was a little late posting this, but it was Christmastime, so I was a little busier than usual. Regardless, in this video I talk about my four biggest writing projects for 2013, including a sequel to my first novel and a fantasy/comedy novel I’ve sent to a publisher. I also make a BIG announcement about an equally big ongoing project that will be starting soon. CHECK IT OUT!
A belated Merry Christmas and a Happy Year!
Please comment, subscribe, and share!
www.NathanJSMarchand.com
A Man from Another Time Exploring Another Universe
I’ve added another signing to my itinerary, True Believers. In fact, I just bought the table a few minutes ago as I write this. For the first time, I will be attending a local convention as a vendor. In this case, it’s Fantasticon 2016 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at the Grand Wayne Center October 29-30.
