One of the best things for me during conventions like StokerCon is hanging out with people who do similar things to you on a multitude of different levels. And by different levels I mean indie writer to award winning author to best selling author.
This happened all weekend.
There are a few examples that I would like to share. I didn’t take pictures of everything because sometimes, the whipping out of a camera would not only be rude but would kill the vibe. A perfect example of this was the very first day when I bumped into Paul Michael Anderson.
Paul and I have always gotten along like a house on fire. He’s funny, smart and swears to an admirable degree. I hadn’t seen him in years, and it was a big hug filled with vulgarity that took place immediately after a panel I’d just finished. Later after that, I ran into him hanging out with Paul Tremblay. Paul, if you weren’t aware is that Paul Tremblay-bestselling author of The Cabin at the End of the World (made into a movie with Dave Batista which may explain his t-shirt which hilariously read THE BOOK WAS BETTER) my favorite, Head Full of Ghosts and Survivor Song.
In between swearing and catching up, there was Paul T, hanging out casually and the three of us just kicking it until we divided off to do author stuff. Paul (the three named devil) and I went to watch the Peter Straub panel which was very cool. The rest of the weekend whenever I’d see Paul T, we’d give the old smile and nod. Not bad, right?
It gets better!
My dear friend Pippa Bailey asked an author friend of hers who flew in from London to find me. His name is C.C. Adams. I got to meet him and say hi. We sat and chatted for a few before us both being invited to have elevenses with the always awesome Gabino Iglesias. (Elevenses is a Lord of The Rings reference also known as ‘second breakfast’ and to be fair, it was technically my lunch, but the restaurant was still serving a breakfast buffet and it was about fifteen minutes before eleven o’clock.)
It was a fabulous festival of food and Gabino and I learned a lesson in absolute efficiency; C.C. ordered his buffet and then immediately paid for it.
“This way, it’s all sorted, and you don’t have to wait; when you need to leave, you can just leave,” he told us. (I am paraphrasing.) The two of us nodded in reverence and paid for our checks as well. We loaded up on calories, talked pleasant shop until Gabino had to split. C.C. and I went for another round of calories and talked some more. A very good time indeed!
The biggest moment was getting to meet my favorite writer, Joe R Lansdale. Such a sweet and kind man and he remembered me from when I had asked him if I could read two of his stories for the podcast I created and hosted in 2012. He’s a nice and generous guy and I’m glad to have gotten to hang with him if only for a few moments. (You better believe I have a picture of that and here ya go!)
I also met the great Owl Goingback and his lovely wife! (picture below.) He’s a very generous and good guy and his wife Nancy was very sweet. She offered to take the picture, but the three of us were having such a great time talking, I couldn’t leave her out. They were great to meet. (Sorry about the top of your head Owl!)
On Friday night there was a mass Author Signing which I was able to be a part of and I was nervous as hell but also excited. My table partner was author Francesca Maria. She was an absolute delight to hang out with and swap books. The next evening, we both got to geek out over meeting Joe Lansdale. We had some chow together and chatted before the awards on Saturday night. Also, her collection of short stories They Hide is fantastic!
Did a book swap with an author named Scott Bradley who is a very cool and fun cat. We bumped into each other all weekend long and it was always a great exchange. If you see him, say hi-you’ll be doing yourself a favor. And his book Screaming for Pleasure is a fantastic study of horror movies and television. Get it when you can!
My friend, the enigmatic Alexandra Cruz from the mighty No Sleep Podcast suggested meeting up with her friend, author LP Hernandez. He’s a nice guy and a fantastic writer to boot.
I walked away from StokerCon with so many recommendations of writers, I will enjoy the effort to find them all (much better than finding Pokémon are horror writers, I say.)
It was a fine weekend of meeting some new friends among meeting the ones I’ve known for years. The cliché thing is to call them family which, of course, would also be very appropriate. Just because something is cliché doesn’t make it wrong. This was time very well spent and I look forward to doing it again in San Diego next year. And I’m hopeful to be there with the Mighty HWA Pittsburgh Chapter! (Which will be the last instalment of StokerCon23!)
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