We arrived in Toronto and our first contact was an insane cab driver. This guy was nuts. I actually tried to video tape him in the dark cab... those tapes may never be released.
The good Ensign and I settled into the hotel and discovered that we were very close to everything. The Convention center was 2 blocks away and we had enough bars to keep me happy. The next moring we hit it hard... setting up at such a big con was awesome and I have to say the staff was really great. We checked in and got on the floor in no time, which is pretty unreal when you consider that there were hundreds of vendors ranging from local jewelry makers to Marvel Comics. Here's a shot of part of Friday's crowd.
Saturday was unreal. The entire convention center was packed and getting outside to get food or anything was a 30 minute ordeal at the least. Trust me, I'm not complaining. We had innumerable people come by the table and pick the books up. We also had a bunch of fun raffles of homemade steampunk weaponry, which everyone seemed to love. Lot's of good costumes too:
I was a panelist in the steampunk 101 panel and people waited 2 hours to get in. There were so many people in the room the entire floor was covered with people sitting all around us. It's such a cool sight as this is the second time this has happened in the last few months. Steampunk is getting so huge. It's unreal to see it grow so quickly.
On our return home day (Monday) we decided to have a "Canada Day". We went to Tim Hortons, got coffee and Dutchies then we were off to The Hockey Hall of Fame. Ok, this place is so awesome. Besides that it's big and has tons of nifty things to look at, they have the best interactive games ever. My favorite was where you put on goalie gloves and stop real hurling pucks that shoot out of holes in a screen. We have video of that as well. If you like hockey and are in Toronto, this is a must see.
So what do I say? This was a truly amazing con. Like I said, we broke all records. I'm already signed up for next year and I can't wait.
Dragon Con
I leave for Dragon Con on Thursday evening. Yes that has not afforded me much sleep or recovery time from busting my ass in Canada but Dragon Con is always such a blast. I'll be on the "New Voices in Steampunk" panel at 11:30AM in the Westin Hotel. GUESTS: Clay & Susan Griffith, Nick Valentino, Emilie Bush, Kimberly Richardson
On Saturday I'll hop skip and jump over to Decatur GA for the Decatur Book Festival all day where I'll be joining my fellow Echelon authors at booth 107. Then right back to Dragon Con for Saturday night's insanity. So I'm a busy boy... These events are especially great because I get to see all my friends in one place. Well, ok two places. See you all soon!
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