T'was the Swap Meet Before Christmas...

(Image from: Boardgame & Miniature Quarterly Swap Meet #13) 

A few days before Christmas I ventured up to the Angel of the Winds Arena for the 13th Boardgame & Miniature Swap Meet hosted by OOP Games & Hobby.

The venue was nice, large enough to accommodate all the vendors and easy to get to once off I-5.

Since I left 30 minutes later than I planned, I rushed off without my cameras, so I don't have any "man on the street" pictures to post.

My usual quest at these affairs is purchasing items I don't have to cut-out, paste together or paint.

For the most part I was successful in this endeavor.

One vendor, I'm afraid I didn't get his name, was selling off spare items from the several Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader Kill Team Starter Set.

 For a mere $10, I obtained the rulebook...

...the supplement guides...

...the double-sided, mounted playing board...

...and the status counter sheets.

Okay, that's one item I have to punch out and trim, but there's less than 50 counters, unlike many boardgames which contain hundreds of them. Even over a thousand if you consider monster games.

I've never been good at haggling.  But when I asked another vendor about these near-future, pre-painted figurs, he said it was $25...

...But then added prices could be negotiable.

When I offered him $20, he accepted.  Upon my return I conducted  a quick Google search an extensive on-line research and found these figures sell for about $20-$33.

So I got another deal.

The most expensive item I bought turned out to be this WH40K-ish looking dice tray made by Carrie Emmerich, artist and proprietor of Omnibusy.

She also runs a Tumblr blog called Iris of Ether.  The dice tray cost me $30.  But as we concluded my purchase, some of the furniture figures on her display table caught my eye.

Specifically, these wine/beer casks:

Carrie originally wasn't planning on sell them, but offered them to me for $5 each.

Unlike previous swap meets there were a number of non-gaming vendors, specifically artists and authors.

While I spent some time chatting with these folks, along with other game vendors, I didn't spend any more of my money.

I always feel rather bad when I don't help out small/at-home business owners.  My late mom was an artist and attended art & craft shows throughout her life.  Plus I'm a wannabe writer myself.  So I know how hard it can be to make a profit at various shows, conferences and conventions.

However, I couldn't bring myself to buy anything else I was interested in, or something I have no room for, like this:

(Image found on eBay, not from the vendor I spoke with)

One vendor did have this Star_Wars_Miniatures AT-AT but I had to pass it up due to lack of shelf & storage space.

Here's a list of the game vendors, artists and authors I talked with and picked up business cards from before departing:

Authors 4 Authors Publishing

Almost Critical

Moon Dragon Games

Arcanum Miniatures

Ink Gasket

Ford 3D Printing

This has been the second swap meet I managed to attend. The last one two years ago, which I didn't even get a chance to write about. What keeps me away is my rotating work shift.

Hopefully it won't be another two years before I can attend the next one.

Happy New Year everyone!

PNWA 2015 Workshop Review #2: Secrets to Turning Your Dreams into a Reality

(Image found on inactive link to Frontierless)

It often seems like my writing projects are moving at glacial speed.  If that.

 

With this feeling in mind, I thought I needed dual dose of inspiration and motivation.

 

Thankfully, William Kenower and Ingrid Hicks were on-hand to provide the necessary medicine.

 

Both spent several minutes discussing what spurred them to write.

 

Ingrid's Backstory

 

This wife and mother of two was struggling financially, found herself going blind.

She started out as a journalist, but took a memoir writing class.

With the onset of her illness she felt her life was slipping away.

Her epiphany occurred when her children did a birthday skit of her lamenting about never writing her novel.

Her financial and parenting responsibilities didn't change--her mindset did.

Began waking up 1.5 hours earlier I order to write.

 

Bill's Backstory

 

Worked as a waiter for 17 years in order to write books.  Left waiting tables in 07.

His epiphany moment came while visiting a friend in California, who suggested he become a motivational speaker and blogger.

His first gig was in Spokane, WA with the Society of Children's Writers & Illustrators.  He felt he was in over his head, but managed to pull off and impromptu speech.

Met PNWA President Pam Binder and started Author Magazine.

 

Now I'm not sure who exactly said what during this workshop, but what follows are some snippets of advice for struggling writers.

 

First, a note about dreams:

 

If you have a dream, a sleeping dream, no one knows about it unless you tell them about it.

 

It doesn't exist in the physical world.

 

But what are the stumbling blocks that are keeping your from fulfilling your dream (in this case being a successful writer)?

 

The biggest block is money.  People feel trapped in their careers.

 

Ask yourself:  Is it possible to make a living as a writer?

Writing, however, doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing deal.

 

Some steps to whittle-down the stumbling block include:

 

Believe in yourself.

Make writing a priority.

Writing is a job that you can get paid for automatically while doing it.

Create an environment that pleases you and is conducive to writing.

Writing should be a friendly and pleasing experience.

Look at writing to be a journey of discovery.

Keep in mind the creative process doesn't care exactly what it is you're doing, as long as you're creating something.

Allow yourself enough time to write each scene.

Pay attention to how you feel.

 

Your job is to feel good!

 

(Image from:  The Odyssey Online, The Beauty of a Bucket List)

 

Sunday Fly-By to the Emerald City Comicon 2015--Obtaining Authors' Autographs

(Image:  Emerald City Comicon 2015 Banner)

Attending any comic book convention provides fans with a great opportunity to meet the artists, writers and celebrities they admire--and obtain their autographs.  

Prior to my one-day attendance, I poured over the Exhibitors and Artist Alley sections of the ECCC website and compared the list with the books I already own.  

Or, I at least tried to.

Anyway; when Alex and I met, I told him my initial goal was to get the five books I had in my backpack autographed by the writers currently attending.  Doing this in a walkabout fashion would also get us familiar with the convention layout.

The ECCC website provides a nice page of the show floor.  However, it's one thing to gaze at cut-away views and maps with numbered boxes and rectangles, and quite another to navigate the actual floor-space crowded with cosplayers and the casually-dressed.

Our recon took over three hours and we only covered the Show Floor (well, most of it on Level 4) and the Gaming Area on Level 2.  If we had three-day passes we'd be able to see the entire convention.  Maybe.

(Image:  One entrance to the Show Floor at the end of the day)

Here are some of the folks I met during our walkabout:

Rebecca Hicks, author of Little Vampires.  

(Image:  Rebecca Hicks, the only author I thought of taking a picture of at the start of a busy day)

I met her during last year's GeekGirlCon, where she advised me to get Brad Guigar's The Webcomics Handbook.  Which I did, along with How to Make Webcomics.

This of course, led me to meeting the "evil genius" behind Evil Inc, and Tales From The Con.  I had an enjoyable chat with Brad, who also gave me some great webcomic advice.  (Now all I have to do is follow it).  Brad was nice enough to sign my copy of How to Make Webcomics and directed us to his co-author pals:  Scott Kurtz, author of Player vs Player (PvP), Dave Kallett, creator of Sheldon and Kris Straub.

I told Scott and Dave how much I appreciated the information they provided in How to Make Webcomics book and have started following their webcomics.

With three out of four authors' autographs obtained, Alex and I set out on a quest to find the last person in the How to Make Webcomics quartet--Kris Straub.

But despite the helpful directions from Brad, Scott and Dave, Kris proved to be an elusive author.  Neither Alex & I aren't expert trackers, but we like to think we're capable of following simple instructions.  However, finding one author among hundreds, struggling through a stream of fellow fanboys and fangirls numbering in the tens of thousands, locating Kris was like searching for one particular Tribble among a pile of Tribbles.

If Alex & I had three-day passes, we could have found Kris.  Maybe.

Greg Rucka proved almost as evasive.  Fortunately, the young lady sitting at his booth assured Alex & I that Greg was present, but had stepped out.  When we returned, I had a nice talk with him about Queen & Country (Vol 1), which he signed.  I told Greg about the plot-twist in one story I really liked (sorry no spoilers!), and found out that a movie is still "in the works."

The last author I was able to meet was kindly Ron Randall, creator of Trekker, who signed my Omnibus Edition and talked about his other projects, like his Sketchbook. 

With three books (mostly) signed...

...I had only two autographs left to get:  Stan Lee's for my copy of How to Write Comics and J. Scott Campbell, artist for Danger Girl.

Oh, and remember my comment about trying to compare the convention exhibitor list with my books?

Well, when we came across Phil & Kaja's Studio Foglio/Girl Genius booth, I realized Myth Adventures at home.  I'm posting about this now so I have a better chance of remembering to bring my book next year.

Now getting back to Campbell and Lee:  These guys, of course, were Celebrity Guests.  This meant strict autograph and photo op schedule--and the corresponding long lines.  By the time Alex & I completed our autograph and shopping missions it was 4:30 PM, a short time after the last autograph session for Campbell & Lee.  Even this late in the day, the Celebrity Guest Area on Level 6 was still packed.  So we decided to call it a day.

However, I'm getting ahead of myself.

After meeting with the authors I wanted to meet and getting their autographs, Alex & I made our way to the parking garage, where I hid my signed books in my car.  We then had lunch at a nearby Jimmy Johns.

This turned out to be a great choice.  Not only did we get our sandwiches fast, but a family finished eating and we were able to take over the booth they vacated.  So we avoided the fate of most convention goers:  Waiting in  long lines and scarffing down food standing up, or sitting on the convention floor.

With our meal done and with less weight in my backpack, it was on to Phase-II of our cunning comicon plan:

Buy more stuff!

Stay tuned!

Author Appearance: Patricia Cornwell

If you're a fan of crime fiction in general, and Patricia Cornwell in particular, and you happen to be in the Seattle area tomorrow (Friday, 14 November), then you're in luck.

She'll be appearing at the University Bookstore to give a reading from her latest book, Flesh and Blood, followed by a book signing afterwards.

RIP Ray Bradbury

(Image:  My sister "Rox of Spazhouse" w/Ray Braybury, circa 1998)

The famous sci-fi author, passed away earlier today. 

I must admit I didn't read too many of his books, only Fahrenheit 451 and the Martian Chronicles.  I must say though, my favorite story was The Fog Horn.

Ray Bradbury will certainly be missed.