Two Places at Once

HOTCON, Here I Come!This past weekend, I was incredibly busy preparing for...

In fact, I was so busy yesterday that I began to wonder how I let my daughter and her brilliant boyfriend talk me into going to a Comic Con.  When they first brought it up, I thought they were nuts. Aren't I a little old for cosplay? Then the two connivers reminded me that my fantasy series, The Gifted Ones , has a superhero theme, and that the first book somewhat fit the "Con of the Living Dead" theme.

Okay, okay, it could be fun. I am a Whovian, and I love Supernatural and Smallville. I have always loved superheroes and I have been wanting to go to a Comic Con, so... what the heck! I registered for an artist booth.

I didn't have much time to prepare this past week, so the three of us met Saturday, brainstormed ideas, researched and dedicated the entire day to shopping and planning for HOTCON.

By end of day, I was wiped out.

Sunday, I spent the day cutting, sewing, gluing, printing--wait, I still hear the printer running--and studying. Finally, I'm down to cutting bookmarks and making T-shirts.

Here are the ideas my highly intelligent, remarkably creative, and quick-thinking team came up with:

The backdrop is shiny, black (and super-on-sale) material, discovered by my theater/ marketing expert (my daughter's boyfriend. I'm adopting him if they break up). The PVC frame was my husband's handy work... a three hour job for him. As the series is incomplete at this time, I left plenty of room for additions later. Besides, with the table in front of it, heads won't block the view from across the room.

The table setup, minus the books and candy.                  Some brilliant guy's idea for The Gifted Ones 
                                                                                     scholarship contest I'm running.


And, bookmarks are still rolling out of the printer. It appears that I will be cutting bookmarks while I am sitting at the table and speaking to fans. I have to remember to make those QR code shirts, too...

Two Places at Once?
Then there is the ultimate mix-up. I made arrangements for TWWF, which I attend every year on September 11 and 12, only to discover I need to set up for HOTCON September 11 and 12.

Uh, oh!
For a day or two, I entertained thoughts of not attending TWWF this year. After all, it is a free event sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the only money it costs me is travel expenses. They feed us and bring in classes of school children from surrounding communities to meet the authors. It's pretty special, but I hadn't had to pay for a booth or table like I did with HOTCON.

"No, no, you can't skip that!" My husband adamantly refused claiming TWWF involves school children and that my scholarship contest focuses on 13-18 year old students.

He's right. I can't miss out on that kind of exposure. So, what do I do?

Hey, teammates, I have a problem!
My very energetic, intelligent, helpful, wants-to-go-to-ComicCon team found the solution, even though we all have full time jobs.


Daughter and boyfriend are setting up at HOTCON on Thursday night. Daughter is manning the booth on Friday until we return from TWWF, in which case I will go straight to HOTCON.

This week is going to leave my head spinning.
And I thought I was tired after making my decor yesterday.

That is the life of a busy writer with a full time job... speaking of which, what day is it?

Well, those bookmarks and T-shirts may just have to wait.