So, Dover Comic Con was kind of amazing. And by “kind of” I obviously mean indisputedly amazing. Oh my GOSH, you guys!!! What a great weekend! If you will permit me some newbie gushing moments…
When I got to Artist’s Alley, the beyond-wonderful volunteers at the Library told me to find my name on one of the tables. (I may have reverted back to grade school Olivia and got really excited about seeing my name on a desk…) On my table, I also found this badge, and did my little “Eeeee someone called me an Artist” dance.
And eventually I calmed down enough to set up. (Many, many thanks to my supportive family for helping me!) Here’s what my table looked like when I found a configuration that I liked:
My next-table neighbor was the delightfully energetic L. S. King. Funny story: I’ve been following her blog for a while now, but didn’t make the connection until I got home. 5% of our conversations were informative and professional discussions about the writing business. The other 95% involved us geeking out together about various cosplays and fandoms. I feel this was an acceptable balance.
And then the con-goers started arriving. 😀 Eternal love to everyone who visited my table. I’m always in the mood to chatter about my writing in the real world, so having person after person ask me, “So, what are your books about?” was like Christmas.
Then, I had this Moment (capital M). Whenever someone bought a book, I signed it for them. I might have even spelled everything correctly, which is a big deal for me, though not the reason for my Moment. In one of these books, I had just finished the happy little note, and was signing my name with the big swirly “O”, and it just kind of hit me that I was actually signing my name in a book that contained my words, and that a complete stranger was going to go home and read those words.
I can’t even tell you how many times I scrawled that very same swirly-O signature in the margins of notebooks and on the backs of envelopes and on steamy windows and scrap paper and notecards: always dreaming of the day I’d be able to write my name in a book. And in that Moment, it was actually happening.
Granted, I know I’m still just beginning as a writer, and I have a long way to travel on this particular mountain, but moments like this motivate me to push myself harder and continue growing and improving as a writer.
Here’s to enjoying every step of the journey! And this, beloved blog friends, was a step well-worth enjoying. Much love to everyone who made the weekend such a great experience!
