Aftermath

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind. I am utterly and totally exhausted. We went from Dragon Con directly to Florida for vacation. I still haven’t decided if that was a good way to do things or not. On one hand, vacation. Yay. On the other, I feel so behind and am trying not to feel overwhelmed by the fact that it’s the middle of September and I’m only on chapter two of the rewrites.

Dragon Con was amazing. There were so many sights and people to see. Thank you to everybody who came out to see me or sent their neighbor, friend, or coworker to procure them a book. I know the lines were long and the heat was unbelievable. It really meant a lot and I consider talking with you about my worlds and characters one of the highlights of my career.

The Con was way more successful than I imagined going in. I envisioned not being able to sale any of my books and having to drag the heavy boxes all the way to Florida and then back to Ohio. Instead, I sold out of books 2, 3 and 4 of the Aileen Travers series by Saturday (I didn’t bring many admittedly), the first book of Dragon Ridden by Sunday, and Rules of Redemption and Age of Deception early on Monday. Not bad considering I think I could have sold more of the Firebird series if I’d brought more.

I also ran out of all of the bookmarks, postcards, and business cards first thing Sunday. Next time I do something like this, I’ll have to make a note to bring way more than I did. At one point, I was rationing the items like a dragon hoarding gold.

The only thing I regret is not making it to the rest of the Con. I was so exhausted each night that I think I fell asleep at nine. It was pretty much get off, get dinner, go to sleep. Thank goodness my husband attended with me to help with things.

A couple of people have been asking if I plan to attend other Cons. I am definitely putting that on my to-do list and checking out which ones are feasible. There’s one or two in Ohio (near where I live. Hence my interest) and RARE in Australia and I think Scotland. My husband and I are trying to work out the logistics. I.E. how do I get books there without breaking the bank? It’s so expensive to ship. Also, will this fit into the writing schedule? I don’t want to go to too many conferences because they are a massive time and energy suck that could be used putting out more books. On the other hand, interacting with fans makes everything worth it and reminds me that there are people who care about these stories. Sometimes my inner doubter makes me forget that.

Returning to Dragon Con is also on that list. I think my husband already started looking for hotel rooms, but haven’t made my final decision as there is something happening next year that we’re not sure of the timing for.

If you have Cons you attend, feel free to drop the name in the comments. I will definitely check out whether they are feasible to attend but I make no promises.