I went to BookExpo America last weekend, and I had a great time. Probably the best part was when Peter Archer, the managing editor of the novel department at Wizards of the Coast asked me how my Eberron novel was coming along, and I told him I’d turned it in the night before.
I got to the show on Friday and wandered around for a bit before showing up for my first author’s signing as a mass-market novelist. I’ve signed lots of games in the past, but it was still a thrill to sign my first novel for booksellers and librarians of all stripes. I signed a lot of books, and the fine people from Canadian BookTV stopped by and interviewed me for their show too.
While at the show, I bumped into Jordan and Dawne Weisman of WizKids, Ken Hite (currently of Steve Jackson Games, Charlie Krank of Chaosium, Ted Adams and Jeff Mariotte of IDW Publishing, John Nee of DC Comics, and Vince, Mike, and Dan of Games Workshop’s Black Library. I got to catch up with them all and make some new friends too.
On Friday night, the fine people at Wizards invited me to dinner, along with their other author guests, Margaret Weis and Ed Greenwood. I sat across from Mary Kirchoff, Wizards’ director of publishing, and we had a wonderful conversation. I drove home that night so I could get home in time for the big birthday party the next day: four of my kids turned two years old.
The birthday party went fantastically. My wife, the lovely and talented Ann, put together a cake in the shape of a train (several cakes, in fact), that stunned me. The kids all had a blast and ate way too much cake and ice cream. Then my in-laws put them to bed while Ann and I went to see Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which we enjoyed. Ann is a huge Harry Potter fan, and it was a feat for her to be able to wait until the day after the opening night to go see it.
On Sunday, I headed back to the show. I hung around and chatted with friends and tried drumming up some more work. I’ve decided to look for a publisher for a nonfiction book about the pregnancy, birth, and first year of life with my quadruplet kids. There’s a lot of great drama there, and I think it would make a great book. I have some promising leads, although that’s it so far.
Sunday night, I drove out to Ken Hite’s house (with Ken in the passenger seat) for a barbecue. A few other industry people showed up, and I got to finally meet Ken’s wonderful wife Sheila and hang out with his buddies too. Ken and Sheila have possibly the largest book collection I’ve ever seen, which maybe explains how Ken always seems to have so much information cramemd into his cranium. Many thanks to Ken for playing a wonderful host.
Now I’m back at it again, prepping up for Origins, a game convention in Columbus, Ohio. I’ll be there from June 23–27 if I don’t collapse first.
