I had a fantastic time at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle and wanted to share the highlights with you.
First off, can I say how nice it is to have the publisher present at the con? All my books were available but it was nice to have them there as backup in case of SNAFUs. This is the amazing Liza from HarperCollins. She was talking up my books and LUMINOUS DEAD from Caitlin Starling.
My panel and signing buddy this year was AJ Hackwith (aka Ada Harper when she writes SFR). We had a great panel talking about how to write books, do research, and get what you want from publishing.
From right to left… Me, AJ, Mario Acevedo (writes vampire detective novels), Louisa Morgan (A Secret History of Witches) and Richard Kadrey (Sandman Slim).
I took notes while we were up there (in my ever-present green notebook) and here’s the highlights.
Louisa says… it’s fun to chase ideas and facts but don’t let that slow you down. Find what you love and write a book that empowers what you love.
Mario says… if you want to write, write. And never forget the mood. How do you want readers to feel?
AJ says … “The world exists for your characters to change.” Remember your stakes, believe in your ideas, and “… the history of libraries are histories of war and power. Libraries are weapons.” (her book LIBRARY OF THE UNWRITTEN is about a library in hell and comes out in October).
Richard says… Don’t ask all the questions, or have all the answers, before you write. Don’t let the research slow you down, travel, explore, live your life, but then get back and write it down.
If you get a chance, don’t forget to ask Richard about walking in an ocean of rats.
One thing we discussed during the panel was what non-fiction we read that informed our writing and I talked about my collection of histories of women during times of war. From officer’s wives to women who fought to the women who were victims during the war there’s a lot of uncovered history there. Richard asked me to make a bibliography of my collection, and I will later this week, but we also talked about these two books (conveniently on display at the con).
REJECTED PRINCESSES is a book about strong women from history who will probably never get a Disney movie because they kicked butt and never apologized (there’s a thought to unpack) and TOUGH MOTHERS is about mighty matriarchs of history.
These are well-researched, illustrated editions of the posts you can find online. I encourage you to read them because your history book probably skipped most these women.
Later this week… notes from other panels, more cosplay, and other fun things!