Category: baycon

Steven D. Brewer at BayCon2023.

I had an exciting summer! I drove cross-country to attend BayCon in July and then visited the tropical island of St. Croix where I did a lot of writing. But soon the fall classes begin and I will be swamped with academic work.

In December, the Better Angels anthology will come out. We’re still nailing down the title, but you can expect sixteen alternately sweet and sanguinary stories featuring everyone’s favorite non-human biological-android magical-girl singing-and-dancing idols.

In January, the compiled Revin’s Heart anthology will come out. It will include revised and extended versions of the novelettes plus three special side-stories, that provide histories for some of the key events leading up to Revin’s Heart. You won’t want to miss it!

I have a whole series of conventions coming up. I have registered to attend WorldCon2024 in Glasgow! I am super excited! I have been hoping to attend LOSCon in November, but with the appearance of new COVID variants, I may not be able to make it. My pulmonologist has given me orders not to attend public events that are not double masked and it is not currently listed as a “masks required” event. I’m hoping to attend both Arisia and Boskone this year. I didn’t make Boskone last year due to my hospitalization. I have my fingers crossed for this year.

I’m starting a new program for Straw Dog Writers’ Guild members: Straw Dog Writes. Members will be able to join a Zoom meeting Wednesday evenings at 7pm to write together. In a survey last year, a number of members were interested in ways to meet other members and write together. And were looking for events that didn’t require driving in the dark. I’m hopeful this will find an audience.

On November 18, I will attending the Mill District Holiday Market to sell books. I will have my own books plus a selection of other books people might want to purchase as gifts. In February, I’m hoping to arrange readings at local bookstores.

As I was writing Revin’s Heart, I had created a map (in Inkscape) to show the relative positions of the islands where the stories are set — mainly for my own use, to keep track of directions and orientations. But I rather liked the map and wondered how I might share it with readers. On the advice of my publisher, as part of the run-up to the release of Rewriting the Rules, I did a series of social media posts with the map and brief descriptions of the islands. Then I had an even better idea…

I made a little ‘zine to hand out at BayCon2023! I created it using Scribus, which is the Right Tool for such things. It turned out really well and was a nice giveaway. My publisher printed 50 copies for me and, whenever I had a few minutes, I would fold them up to hand out. I kept some in a little brochure holder on the dealer table and also tucked one in each bundle of Revin’s Heart that I sold. When it became clear I’d have a few left, I took a few out and tucked them in Filthy Pierre’s rack of freebies. And I came home with 3 or 4.

If you would like one, you can download the PDF, print it out, and fold it up (here’s a guide).

Note that you don’t have to print out the ‘zine to read the content as I posted it as a blog post as well.

BayCon was a thing! My younger son Daniel and I drove about 5000 miles through 14 states over 14 days to get there. It was an amazing road trip. And, at the end, we spent four glorious days at the Santa Clara Marriot enjoying BayCon.

As I’ve written, I’m rather introverted and I find attending conventions exhausting, so I prefer just sitting off in the corner and watching. And that’s what I did here: I spent most of my time in the Dealer Room selling Revin’s Heart. It was great! I got to meet hundreds of people, tell them about my books, and sell a goodly number — I sold all the ones I had anyway. I also sold books by other Water Dragon authors too.

And I finally got to meet a bunch of Water Dragon folks I had only interacted with online! What a nice bunch of people! Everyone was friendly and gracious. And lots of fun. I’m so grateful to have found this little community of charming, delightful, and eccentric people where I feel like I fit in and am accepted.

Daniel appeared to have a great time. He hooked up with Magic the Gathering folks, bid on several items in the art show (one of which he gifted to me!), and attended a bunch of panels. He would stop in to visit me in the dealer room periodically, but seemed to having a lot of fun. He did take one day off to drive down to Monterey to see the aquarium and, on my recommendation, to visit Point Lobos.

After I sold out of Revin’s Heart, I steeled myself and spent a day attending panels and presentations. They were all pretty good. I got to get to know some people I had previously only known by reputation, so it was all positive. And I just did some fun stuff too, like visiting the Art Show and watching the Lux Saber Corp put on a light saber demonstration.

When the convention finally came to an end, and we’d packed everything up, Daniel and I got a good night’s sleep and then headed home. Rather than driving, we abandoned the rental car at the airport and flew home in two legs. (Not very aerodynamic, legs. hur hur hur) We finally got home around 1am. But far better than another 5000 miles of driving.

As the conference wrapped up, someone told our publisher than his authors were conspiring to attend LOSCon. That sounds like a conspiracy I would interested in joining.

BayCon, here I come!

In October, 2022, I registered for BayCon and was super excited to look forward to attending since my publisher, Water Dragon Publishing, and many of the authors I interact with, are from the Bay area. Unfortunately, when the time to put yourself forward as a participant happened, I was hospitalized and it was not at all clear I would actually be able to attend.

Since then, I have made great strides in terms of my recovery and recently made the decision to attend after all. I will not on the program, but will attend and be available to spent as much time as I want at the Dealer Table selling and signing my books.

This is especially exciting because the Revin’s Heart series is finally complete! The seventh and final chapter, Rewriting the Rules, has gone to the printer and is now available for pre-order. At BayCon, we’ll be able to sell complete bundles of all seven parts together for the first time!

So I invite you to come find me at BayCon so I can sell you my books and sign them for you. It should be a lot of fun!

BayCon is July 1-4 at the Santa Clara Marriot.