Phoenix Comicon Wrap-Up

If you missed me at Phoenix Comicon, you are basically a big ol’ smelly ol’ mean ol’ ol’ troll and I hate you forever.  Lee Whiteside puts intense effort into this sonofabitch and you just threw it all away!  It’s okay, Lee.  I appreciate you.

If you came to see me, though, you probably want your money back because I am a perpetual disappointment.  All of my panels were well-attended, and for that I am pleased, but I was frequently a disgrace and a lout at most of them.  I spent a very lengthy conversation with Michael Stackpole over whether or not it is funny to taze an elderly woman (I still kind of think it is, if the context is right).  I called Paul Cornell a dick at least six times in public view (in private view, I put an index card in front of him and told him to eat it).  John Scalzi, at one point, spoke loudly and with great disgust: “I have been MOISTENED by Sam Sykes!” (no, I won’t explain, ask him).

And I got to see my good friend, James A. Owen again, who gave us a very awesome present (again, you’ll have to ask Scalzi).

That is to say, it was a super fun weekend and I’m really glad everyone who came did so.

Probably one of the best aspects of this weekend was meeting Cherie Priest.  From her tweets, her writing and her austere, enigmatic pictures, I kind of suspected she would be a reserved, quiet and dignified creature.

…no.

Ms. Priest is basically the closest thing to a Leprechaun I have ever met.  She is very, very exuberant when she talks and she starts hopping up and down like she’s going to tell you a riddle or something and then it’s infectious and you’re hopping up and down and it’s really, really fun talking to her and you just want to keep talking and then she stops hopping and you’re still hopping and she’s like “dude, control yourself.”

Also, her husband likes pugs, so, I mean, yeah.

John Scalzi is ever a delight to hang out with and, if I were you, I’d keep an eye on his blog for something really important in the coming days.  Seriously.  You’re going to want to watch it.

The priority of delight, however, goes to the people who came to my panel, the people with a lust for talking about writing.  I adore these panels and I adore Comicon for giving me the opportunity to spaz out in front of a large audience, whom I equally adore for their enthusiasm and exuberance for the subjects, which we all adore.  So there is a lot of adoration going on.  Thanks to all the fans and moderators who made it possible.

I actually quite liked the idea of an epic fantasy-themed set of panels, like we had.  From Worldbuilding to Magic Systems to Combat Writing, we managed to touch on a lot of very cool bases and subjects and I like to think a lot of people were helped by what we (Michael Stackpole, James A. Owen) and myself had to say on the subject.

But, as fun as they were, I think I might have liked the other panels on Social Media and the Big Idea even better.  Why?  Because they came away with a message that I’d like to share with you.

Writing is not a competitive sport.

Don’t look at it that way.  There may be blogs saying that only ONE can emerge triumphant.  There may be awards recognizing excellence.  There may be hordes of people proclaiming one way or another.  But writing is not about competition.  There is no such thing as a reader that only buys one book and, thus, they are probably not looking at you and thinking “well, what has he done to EARN my love?”

What I love about these cons is that they reinforce that message: writing is not necessarily about community, but it is there.  James A. Owen and John Scalzi have both helped me out tremendously, much more than they had to, just as other authors have helped them out.  Just as I hope to help other authors out some day.  I have never met an author that wasn’t supportive.  We want each other to succeed.  It’s good karma, it’s in our own best interests as professionals and it’s just plain a good feeling.  Think of this when you aspire to be a writer, not what they have and what you don’t.

So, I guess, the message of this is that if you are in Arizona and you are not at Phoenix Comicon, you are a vagrant and I hate you until you come.  Then we can be besties.

See you all next year!