Another convention is in the books. This time it was the Rhode Island Comic Con.

I’m not sure on the exact numbers, but I can assure you it is by far the largest convention I’ve had the privilege of attending to date. It was huge. I had a table in the arena section, right beside the door to the celebrity autograph section (not to be confused with my personal autograph table) that housed a dozen or so celebrities over the weekend.

This convention definitely showcased an interesting variety of attendees. From cosplayers to wrestling fans, families to autograph hunters, curiosity seekers to fellow vendors, this comic-con had everything.

With the exception of one afternoon the rest of the time was rather busy. I was able to do one of my favorite things, chat. The best part of the conventions is the chance to talk to people about so much more than my books. Over the course of the weekend I spoke to people about Dune, about how space-westerns actually constitute a large portion of sci-fi, about the celebrities in attendance and their personalities, one gentleman even spoke to me about … covid.

All that to say, I spent a great deal of time talking and learning about people.

One lovely couple humored my chattiness for a solid twenty minutes at the end of which they took a picture with me. They said, “for when you become famous.”

That got me thinking.

What does famous look like for authors?

I can say, this convention had a different feel than any previous con. There was an energy and a furor that caught me off guard. Several people were excited to buy my book. At other conventions I had interested people on the story, but this weekend several people rushed over to the table to buy my books.

That probably isn’t what fame for an author really is, but it felt wonderful to have people excited about something I created.

But as I’m sitting here now, I wonder what fame really looks like for authors. Outside of Stephen King, I don’t know that I would recognize a famous author if they sat next to me on the subway. We hide behind our words and the covers of our books. To be honest, if anyone I didn’t know recognized me, I would probably run away thinking someone was after me.

All this to say, thank you to everyone who came out to support an indie author at a comic-con.

In the meantime keep on reading, keep on getting excited about art, and keep on flying the Black.