MidAmeriCon II: My First Worldcon

Over the past four days I attended my first Worldcon Science Fiction conference. This year's Worldcon went by the name of MidAmeriCon II and was held at the Kansas City Convention Center, which is about 30 minutes from my house. Since I am an aspiring Science Fiction author and prodigal SF fan, I decided it would be entirely irresponsible for me NOT to attend this year.

I made sure to find out which of my writer friends were coming in from out of town, took the days off of work and headed up as early as I could Wednesday afternoon, the first day of the conference. But apparently I was a little TOO early (even though I spent the morning seating the toilet in the master bath - but more on that later). Nothing but registration was open, and none of my friends had arrived yet.

But once the conference began, I found it chock-full of amazing and unexpected wonders.

And it got more amazing once my friends started showing up and, better yet, introduced me to THEIR friends.

Although it looks like I'm just sitting around taking a selfie, I actually have my laptop out to write. One of my goals was to capture the inspiration of the convention by making the time to write. And I did! (Just don't ask me how many words I wrote, because I didn't actually keep track.)

I attended a lot of panels, and they were all extremely informative. And decidedly nerdy, even for a Science Fiction conference. For example, this panel is talking about economics vs technology as drivers of the future. Cool stuff for anyone trying to write a realistic society.

By far, however, the most educational panel for me was the one on the Future of Work. This is a topic I have been studying for my worldbuilding in Space Corp General. So when the moderator announced that the original panelists were unable to attend and asked if anyone felt comfortable enough with the subject to fill an ad-hoc panel, I jumped at the chance.

Yes, that means I was a guest on a panel at Worldcon. Feedback from others - and my own gut reaction - says I nailed it. 

One thing I pointed out on the panel is that work is not going away, because even though technology might make some things and services faster, easier, and cheaper, we are still a social species and we crave personal interaction. This is why thousands of people come together at conventions even though all of the information is most likely available online somewhere.

And why I will always value the time I spend with friends old and new above everything else I gain from attending a conference.

I can truly say, without any hesitation, that I had a wonderful time attending this year's Worldcon.

The Big Move

Sometime life gets in the way. This year, life involved a moving truck.

Several moving trucks.

Lots and lots of moving trucks, actually.

Okay, not that many moving trucks. But close.

It also involved renting heavy equipment.

Hiring specialists with their own heavy equipment.

There was paint involved. A lot of it.

Enough to mess with  my sanity, apparently.

But after a lot of hard, hard work, we sold our house in Texas and moved the whole family to the Kansas City area.

We started out in an apartment complex; one that had an occasional balloon flyover.

Now we are in a house. It doesn't need a ton of work, but there are more than enough projects to keep us busy for a long time to come.

Oh, yeah -- and we brought our cat Diesel.

But that's a different blog story for a different blogging day.

Into The Wind Release

It's been an incredibly busy six months here at the Delusion Tree. I'll share a few details below, just in case you're interested. But first, the news I hope you've been waiting for!

I am excited to announce that paper copies of Into The Wind will be available through Amazon starting March 10, 2016. Also on the 10th, the Kindle edition will be marked down to the incredibly low price of FREE! However, if you just can't wait (or have Kindle Unlimited), the Kindle release is available for purchase RIGHT NOW.

In other news, the Carey family is moving to the Kansas City area at the end of March. Getting ready for this move is pretty much all that has happened in the last 6 months -- packing, painting, and having the foundation repaired are just some of the exciting, non-writing tasks that I've been involved with. But the end is in sight!

Finally - A Writing Group!

Back in May, I carpooled to the LDStorymakers conference with these guys. After four days in the car plus three days sharing a room at the conference, we got to know each other pretty well. 

And we decided to start a writing group when we got back to Texas. 

It took us four months, but we finally had our first official group meeting yesterday. We read about firing squads and un-killable prisoners, farts that smell like flowers and flowers that smell like farts, and how cybernetic mermaids are always the worst. 

I think this is going to be a very entertaining group!

Space Corp General Super Ugly Pre-Alpha Draft

The Art of Into The Wind

With Into The Wind, I will have much more control over the entire publication process. That includes decisions on the book's cover.

It became clear very early on that putting together a book cover to represent the mood and spirit of Into The Wind using existing clip art would be difficult if not impossible.

Fortunately, I know a talented young artist named Laynie. Even though she is still in high school, Laynie teaches painting classes at a local craft store and has her own custom painting business called  Laynie's Custom Paints.

I felt like my vision for a cover image matched well with Laynie's abilities, and I was right!

Last week, newsletter readers got a look at the original painting I commissioned from the lovely and talented Laynie. Today I am excited to share the picture with everyone.

Readers will recognize the Waipio Valley Lookout, which played a significant role in both Bumpy Landings and does so again in Into The Wind. Although the image doesn't come from an actual scene in either book, I think it perfectly captures the feeling of the story.

I have this painting in my office. It's also the wallpaper on my phone, and I smile every time I see it!

There is still a lot of work to go from raw artwork - no matter how great - to an actual book cover. But the mock-ups I have seen give me the chills. I can't wait to reveal the final cover design in the December edition of The Delusion Tree news. If you aren't on the mailing list, sign up now.

And thanks again, Laynie!

That Social Media Platform Thing

This past week, in addition to keeping up with the home front, the day job, and my aggressive writing schedule, I put together the premier issue of The Delusion Tree News. (Click here to read a copy!)

And all the time I'm like, What the heck are you thinking?

This is all a part of the whole Building an Author Platform on Social Media thing. As is this blog.

I have a very strong love/hate relationship with this whole process. I think it's because it's easy to lose focus and let things spiral out of control.

For me, the hardest part of this process is Defining My Author Brand. This is because presenting myself to an audience in a consistent, understandable way would mean that I have to at least appear consistent and understandable.

Okay, let's get this out there right now - consistency is not my strongest point. It's not my fatal flaw, by any means. And I know people who are worse. Much worse.

But still, trying to be consistent, or even trying to appear consistent is hard. It's exhausting.

And for the moment I'll ignore the whole thing about being understandable. Yeah, good luck with that.

This is not to say I don't enjoy interacting with my friends and fans on social media. In fact, I love it. Most of the time.

As long as I am able to keep everything in proper perspective and not lose focus on what it is I'm trying to do. Again, not my strongest point.

For example, working on my newsletter this past weekend triggered a mild panic attack. I don't think it was the actual cause of the attack, but certainly the trigger. Not fun.

I'm constantly reminding myself that social media - Twitter, Facebook, this blog, and now The Delusion Tree News - these are not games that I'm playing. Which is good, because I would lose at every single one of them.

Rather, these are ways for me to reach out to my fans; my friends. What's the worst that can happen? That I'll reach out and find nobody there. And that already happens. A lot. Because this whole Author Platform thing is still in the building phase.

But I've also reached people, and had people answer back.

It's easy to be frustrated. It's easy to be weighed down by a feeling of futility. I have to forget these things. Ignore them. Because it doesn't matter if I reach anyone or not. The important thing is that I reach. That I build the platform and generate the content.

I'm deluded enough to believe that one day these efforts will no longer be frustrating and futile. One day I will have a consistent and understandable Author Brand. And the platform must be built long before then.