Post Bristol – the weekend of win

First up, a quick apology – my last entry (“I have a dream…“) wasn’t actually what I wrote when I last left Blogger. What was published was actually a draft of my original post, which I re-wrote and saved after, yet somehow Blogger took my old version anyway, which is why some of it probably was a little messy. In any case, sorry for any confusion.

And now, the news.

Despite the injured ankle, knee and toe, despite one printing company screwing me over at the last minute, despite my copies of Magic of Myths nearly not arriving on time… the comic convention in Bristol was incredible. A truly amazing experience. Met so many brilliant, new people, had a great time with my lovely girlfriend and friends and even in the face of my nervousness in selling Magic of Myths, everything went really well.

Jen, my friend and artist partner for Butterflies and Moths, shared a table with me (thanks to the very kind Simon Gurr who offered to share in the first place) and has created a great illustrated write up of the experience here: http://jenspiration-now.blogspot.com/2011/05/bristol-expo-2011-weekend-of-awesome.html

Magic of Myths sold a nice few handfuls of copies, which was relieving (given at the start I was uncertain if anyone was going to buy it and I’d go back home with all the copies I arrived with) and everyone was really friendly and supportive – which was great, as I’m not afraid to say I was bricking it, especially during the first couple hours! A bit of context – this has been a dream of mine for many years. Magic of Myths was a story which had been knocking around my skull since about 2003, and represents the fulfilment of a desire I’ve had since I was about 5/6 years old – to have written a ‘full’ comic book to sell. And all of a sudden, here I was, sitting on a table, trying to sell one. Fear and paranoia are pretty much standard coating for thoughts like: “what if I don’t verbally bring the story across?” “what if they spend the money and hate it?” and so on.

And yet, it all came together. And I’m really grateful for everyone who helped make that such an amazing experience.

What made it all the better was that all my friends with selling stands did really well, the general atmosphere was fantastic and lots of plans were made for the future. Thank you so much if bought a book, had a chat at the table or just came over to say hi. If you’re still looking to buy a copy, please head over to the Magic of Myths site which will tell you where you can buy it from. Any problems or questions, just drop me a line.

Along with Magic of Myths, three other projects I’m working on had a little boost, too. Firstly, Jen and my Bayou Arcana story, Irons in the Fire, got some positive feedback, especially on Jen’s artwork. The whole anthology is looking superb so far, and the man behind it all, James Pearson, has some very clever ideas to make it really sing. Definitely something to look out for.

The second project is Butterflies and Moths. Yes, I know I’ve been banging this drum for a while now, but after a productive chat with Jen things may progress a little quicker than we originally realised. Can’t say more than that right now, but when we finalise something you’ll hear about it.

The third one I can say even less about, but Faceless (think Robert Ludlum meeting Joss Whedon and Guy Ritchie in a dark alley and making a beautiful fiction baby together) got a jolt in the arm as well. Needless to say, I’m very excited if things will develop as it’s very early days and anything can change, but…

Right, this post is long enough! Expect some more bits and pieces soon…