ImagiCon 2009

This past weekend, Mark and I were in Birmingham, Alabama for ImagiCon 2009. We were a little concerned about it being the con’s first year in existence, but our fears were largely unfounded. The organizers, volunteers, and fans made the entire weekend a blast and we can’t wait for next year!

Friday, as most opening days tend to be, was a bit slow and there was some brief confusion over which room the literary track was assigned. However, it was quickly resolved at the first panel, Publishing and Self-Publishing, was well attended and the audience had great questions for all of us. As the day progressed, more people found their way into our panels and the discussions/debates became livelier.

Sherrilyn Kenyon joined the panel on Character Development. I was very interested in hearing what she had to say about her process. Overall, I’d have to say she was an interesting lady period. Who knew she could speak fluent Old English/Gaelic? (That earned her a huge round of applause in the Making Make Believe Believable panel.)

Some of the other interesting authors I met on Friday were Christina Barber, M. B. Weston, William Drinkard, J. F. Lewis, Van Allen Plexico, Sean Patrick Fannon, and The Wandering Men. Everyone had their own opinion on the various topics and it led to some great discussions. I also have to give mad props to Dwayne the Moderator for keeping us (mostly) on topic, asking great start off questions, and fielding all the questions from the audience. He was a real pro and I, for one, greatly appreciated his presence and participation.

Saturday was much better for attendance. The panels grew in the number of participants as well as audience size. Everything was going smoothly until the fire alarm sounded and we had to evacuate the building. (I have pics of everyone standing outside the convention center and will post them as soon as I download them.) Thankfully the alarm was false. Some idiot decided the “Smoking is prohibited except in designated areas” signs didn’t apply to him/her and lit one up inside. The same thing happened again a few hours later. We didn’t have to evacuate that time, however. The first time was amusing. The second time was annoying. After the third alarm on Sunday morning, I think some of the organizers were ready to kill and/or maim the party/parties responsible.

Saturday also brought more interesting people. I met a young author, Shelly Li, who writes for Nature and Cosmos magazines. (Did I mention she’s only sixteen? Color me impressed!) I also met Allan Gilbreath and Tim Lawler, aka Mr. Terrific of Entertainers That Care. Tim’s imposing in his appearance, but quick to laugh and an all-around great guy.

Sunday was wrap-up day and my only obligation was the writers’ workshop. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time talking to the writers in my group. (Jared, Joe, Zombie Girl, and Sci-Fi Bookstore Guy (Sorry, ZG and SFBG, but I didn’t catch your names when we swapped groups!) — Great stories! Keep writing and I wish you all much success!) Mark and I then attended a panel on Creating Villians, which proved to be a very interesting, diverse, and amusing discussion.

After the Villians panel, Mark and I said our goodbyes and hit the road for Mobile. Five hours later, we arrived home and were very happy to be back. ImagiCon was great and I met a ton of great people, but home is home. The kitties are home today and finally allowing me to have a little space to blog about the weekend. (It’s like they missed me or something.)

My next event will be this weekend — Saturday, to be exact. I’ll be attending the Oracle Launch Party at the University of South Alabama and reading a section from my creative writing thesis. Should be a lot of fun. After that, it’s back to work until CONvergence, ThrillerFest, and RWA National in July.

For now, I think I’ll find some dinner and spend some quality time with the kitties.

TTFN JKH

ImagiCon Panels

Here is a list of my scheduled panels and events for ImagiCon:

Friday, March 27, 2009

1:00 PM – Panel: Publishing and Self-Publishing (MB Weston, Van Allen Plexico, Christina Barber, Jeannie Holmes, Sean Fannon)

Learn the pros and cons of publishing and self-publishing, as well as some of the new technologies that are making a world of difference in the way we do things.
2:30 PM – Panel: Character Development (MB Weston, Christina Barber, Jeannie Holmes, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Williman Drinkard, The Wandering men)

These authors will speak on the fleshing out and developing of characters for story lines.
4:00 PM - Reading: Jeannie Holmes (CRIMSON SWAN)
8:00 PM – Panel: Urban Fantasy (Christina Barber, Marna Martin, Moira Rogers, Jeannie Holmes, Jeremy Lewis, The Wandering Men)

What is out there and what is it that our fantasy desires?

Saturday, March 28, 2009

12:00 PM – Panel: Goblins, Monsters, and Zombies (Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christina Barber, MB Weston, Allan F. Gilbreath, Jeannie Holmes, Jeremy Lewis)

How scary monsters make good reads!
3:00 PM – Panel: Mentoring a Young Author (Jeremy Lewis, Jeannie Holmes, William Drinkard, Shelly Li)

Grooming the next generation.
7:00 PM - Panel: Making Make Believe Believable (MS Weston, Shelly Li, Christina Barber, Jeannie Holmes, Sherrilyn Kenyon, William Drinkard)

The art and science of world building.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

9:00 AM – Writing Workshop: All Author Guests (Attendees must register in advance on Saturday at ImagiCon & provide a writing sample at time of registration. See ImagiCon program schedule, available on ImagiCon’s website, for more details.)

The Writing Workshop is where aspiring authors can get advice and Q&A authors and publishers who have been there. So collect up your writings and bring them in. Don’t forget you need to register for this workshop on Saturday beginning at 9am.

CoastCon — The Lowdown

Friday marked the opening day for CoastCon 32. Mark and I arrived in Biloxi around 11:00 AM and made our way to the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum’s convention center. We met with Leanne, one of the guest coordinators for CoastCon and received our badges, panel info, and all that fun stuff. Mark and I then set up the promo table for CRIMSON SWAN in the Merchant Room and waited for the doors to officially open.

As usual, the first day was a bit slow. I did have time to meet and talk with some of the other guests, including Chris Roberson (END OF THE CENTURY) and Diana Rowland (MARK OF THE DEMON). As the afternoon progressed, the traffic picked up, but not drastically. Mark and I attended Diana’s reading of the first chapter of her debut novel. (As an aside, MARK OF THE DEMON is available for pre-order through Amazon.com and will be released in June from Bantam Spectra. If you like urban fantasy with a Southern flair, you’re going to love Diana Rowland.)

I was scheduled to read from CRIMSON SWAN immediately after Diana’s reading. Unfortunately, Michael Moorcock (THE ELRIC SEQUENCE), David Weber (HONOR HARRINGTON SERIES), and Mark Van Name (OVERTHROWING HEAVEN) — the three biggest names in sci-fi fiction in attendance — were conducting a panel at the same time as my reading. Yep, you guessed it — Mark and Diana were the only people to stick around for my (non)reading. However, I didn’t mind. I had a lovely time talking to Diana and getting to know her better, which was great since she and I were presenting a panel on urban fantasy the following morning.

Saturday was much better for attendance. It gradually picked up throughout the day. Diana and I had about half a dozen people sit in for our urban fantasy panel. She and I both talked about our books as well as the trends within UF and answered questions — and asked questions to the readers — regarding likes, dislikes, and where we see the genre heading. Even though my reading on Friday was a bit of a flop, after the UF panel, I began having more and more people approach me and ask about CRIMSON SWAN, which was awesome.

Later I participated in a panel on Breaking into Writing with Chris Roberson, Glenda Finklestein (NEMESIS RISING), and Laurel Anne Hill (HEROES ARISE). It was a popular panel with an estimated 20-30 people sitting in and asking lots of really good questions regarding writing and how to get their voices heard.

The next panel I was scheduled to sit on again united me with Diana and added Michael Moorcock to the mix. The three of us discussed the pros and cons of writing science fiction set in the South. We probably had about the same number of people as the Writing panel, maybe a few more. It was very interesting to have such a diverse group of Southerners talking about this subject. (Mr. Moorcock is from south London but divides his time between Texas and France, and his wife is from Biloxi. Diana is from southern Louisiana, and I’m a Mississippi native living in Alabama.) It certainly was a fun (and informative) time.

Then came the charity auction. Lots of great stuff sold for a good cause. Although, I did scare the crap out of Mark when I bid on an item. He wasn’t expecting it. It was funny.

Sunday brought illness. I wasn’t feeling well on Sunday (It actually started Saturday morning, but I managed to survive the day on sheer stubbornness.) so Mark and I skipped the final day of CoastCon.

Overall, my CoastCon 32 experience was awesome. As a Mississippi native, I’ve long dreamt of appearing at CoastCon as a guest. Thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, and fans for being there and showing support to all the guests, including me. I hope I can return to CoastCon in the future and so some love for my home state.

This coming weekend, Mark and I will be in Birmingham, Alabama at ImagiCon. Another reading and even more panels are scheduled. I’ll be posting on Twitter from ImagiCon, so be sure to check it out for updates on all the events.

TTFN JKH

ORACLE Launch Party

Where: University of South Alabama, Student Center Ballroom
When: April 4, 2009
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Celebrating the release of the lastest edition of ORACLE, the University of South Alabama’s fine arts magazine, featuring special key note speaker, novelist Sonny Brewer. Other activities will include author and poet readings, a gift basket giveaway, art show, and a silent auction. Heavy hors d’oeuvres will be provided.

Author readings are scheduled to begin aroun 6:30 PM. I’ll be reading a section from my creative writing Master’s thesis.

Updated CoastCon Panels

CoastCon (March 20-22, Biloxi, MS) has updated their programming schedule and added one more panel to my schedule. Yay!  Here’s the updated info:

Adding a little Dixie to Sci-Fi: Author guests Jeannie Holmes and Diana Rowland will discuss the benefits and maybe some drawbacks of adding a deep southern flare to a perfectly good sci-fi story.

Writing Urban Fantasy: Jeannie Holmes and Diana Rowland discuss what elements are needed to create the perfect Urban Fantasy Settings

Breaking into Writing: So you want to get into writing for profit? Author guests will tell you what it takes to make it or break it in the business.

CoastCon 32 Meet the Guests and Opening Ceremonies
 
Time:   6:00 pm
Day:    Friday, March 20th, 2009
Location:   
Super 8 Ballroom
1870 Beach Blvd
Biloxi, MS 39531

I’ll also be conducting a reading (at some point during the weekend) and most likely taking a brief Q&A session afterwards. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and say “Hi!”

Here are the times and locations for my CoastCon panels:

Friday
 
5:00 pm:  Reading (Panel Room Three)
6:30 pm:  Function – Meet the Guests Party (Hotel Ballroom)

Saturday

11:00 am:  Panel – Writing Urban Fantasy (Panel Room Two with Diana Rowland)
  1:00 pm:  Panel – Breaking Into Writing (Panel Room Three with Tom Trumpinsky, Laurel Anne Hill and Chris Roberson)
  3:00 pm:  Panel – Adding a Little Dixie into Sci-Fi (Panel Room Three with Michael Moorcock and Diana Rowland)

If there are any more updates, I’ll post ‘em as they come in.