The Georgia Literary Fest (Statesboro, GA)

This picture was taken from the corner of my table. Today it represents a lot of things right now but we'll leave it that it's a home decorating statement that will sweep the nation soon.

This weekend was The Georgia Literary Fest in Statesboro, GA. Quite the haul for me really. It was a good show but sadly sparsely attended, which is a surprise since the speakers were Pulitzer prise winners and Georgia Author of the year recipients. This festival apparently moves from city to city every year and this was the mot remote and Southern location to date.

Despite the thin crowds, I had a great time and as always met some wonderful people. It's amazing that even in a town like Statesboro probably half the attendees knew what Steampunk is... I can't tell you how drastically that has changed in the last year. Seriously, I've noticed all around the country a drastic increase in people that know what the genre is compared to the first half of 2010... and it's everywhere... From Statesboro GA to Elizabethtown KY to Baltimore MD. It's really a great thing to see unfold.

So I was really bad about taking pictures this time. I took one. And that was of one of my insulators on my table. I took it because I'm laying claim to spreading the wonders of lighted insulators across the country. Yep, you heard it here. Sure it's probably been done before but no one has ever toured across the country with it. It's amazing how many people say they are going to copy this idea. So when you see it in Martha Stewart Magazine, or in Opra's house as some kind of Green lighting, you will know that it started here... with steampunk and with the Thomas Riley Tour.I'm not kidding... everyone talks about them... Probably ten people at each event say they are going to steal the idea. Don't know what I'm talking about? The lone picture is at the top.

Next up:
I actually have this weekend off! Can you believe it? Yep, I'll be spending Halloween in Nashville. Honestly it couldn't have come at a better time. Things are crazy with me right now and I need some serious time to recover and gather myself. This will be the saddest Halloween of my life but I'm trying to focus on the positives and there is a ton of stuff in the hopper that I'm really excited about... One includes a new steampunk anthology that I don't think I can talk about yet. Trust me, you'll be the first to know.

Next Next Up
So, next next weekend (Nov 7th)I'll be in New Orleans, LA for the New Orleans Book Fair. Come down to Frenchman Street in the French Quarter and join us! You'll get double your steampunk pleasure, I promise.

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The Texas Book Festival

Stardate October 16 & 17 2010 - Austin Texas.



Austin loves their books and I love them for it. Arriving in Austin I discovered that the fest was quite a walk from the hotel room. (Will have to check on that in the future.) Anyway the tables were set up in longhouse styled tents which was a nice change to being totally out in the sun. I shared a table with amazing Steampunk authors O.M. Grey and Elizabeth Darvill. Yes we caused quite the scene. Muhahahaha! As an added bonus, Scott Westerfeld stopped by the table as well as D.B. Grady which was super cool of him.

The crowds were great and Austin is a super cool town. Tons of music, bars and really awesome cab drivers! Yeah, when did you ever think I would say that?
Sadly we were so busy, I managed only one photo the entire time, although there are several others of the table floating around so if you took one, we'd love to see them.

Next Up
I'll be signing Thomas Riley at The Georgia Literary Festival in Stateboro, GA this weekend Oct 23rd at the Georgia Southern University.

Can't be in Georgia? Get your copy of Thomas Riley here.

The Southern Festival of Books

I've been on the road practically all year. From Victoria, BC to Baltimore, MD and nope... it's not even close to being over. In that time, I've never had a big signing in my home town (Nashville, TN). The Southern Festival of Books was the perfect opportunity to make a big splash for a homecoming.


I was nestled in booth number 8 in beautiful Legislative Plaza with Echelon Press and amazing new author Gale Borger who wrote the funny murder mystery, "Totally Buzzed". The hometown crowd was awesome! It's especially nice to have all your friends and family come out even if they just stopped by to say hello. Ok I don;t know this child but he was really into the steampunk weaponry.


The fest was amazing as expected. It's funny, the more I travel the more people know about steampunk. In fact I've seen a huge difference in the last six months of people that are aware and curious about it.

On Saturday night we went out and celebrated with the first hockey game of the season!



Also, many thanks to model, dancer and actress Karina Beck for her help with promotions! Here she is on the lookout for enemy airships.


Things are busy, exciting and amazing but oh so busy. December is going to mainly be a tour of Tennessee bookstores but in the meantime I'll be going to Austin, TX, Statesboro, GA, New Orleans, LA, Frankfort, KY, Seattle, WA and Atlanta, GA.

Next up:
I'll be at the Texas Bookfest this weekend. (October 16 & 17) in Austin, TX with author O.M. Grey and her paranormal steampunk novel Avalon Revisited.

Come see us for all your steampunk literary needs.


Don't forget if you're not around any of these cities you can always get Thomas Riley here at Amazon.

And the kindle version here.

Memphis TN & Southaven MS

This weekend was a rare weekend that I was able to go to dedicated bookstores for signings. It's been at least 3 months since I've been to one. Everything is always bookfests and cons. I'm not complaining, it's just kind of a weird feeling to have your own table at a store when you're used to going to events with thousands of people.

So Saturday was Hastings in Memphis TN. It was great! I think I was 2 books away from selling out of copies but again, I can't ask for much more. I trekked to Beale Street and had a few pints and had some BBQ from Pig and got to run through that weird store on Beal that has well... everything from Masonic merch to voodoo spell casting artifacts. Oh and tasers... Let's not forget the tasers. The let's just say the ehem, cough cough, "wired" employee that approached me really wanted me to buy a taser... or a sword. His selling point was that a sword would really come in handy if I was getting mugged. Needless to say I didn't buy a sword. Here's my picture of The New Daisy where I paused nostalgically in memory of playing there several times with Fall With Me.


Sunday I was off to Southaven MS where I met up with my new good buddy Tyler Smith (who orchestrated the signings by the way) (Many many thank yous Tyler!)at Books-A-Million. Now I've never signed at a Books-A-Million before but this was awesome! People came out specifically for the signing and that pretty much made my day. Everyine in the store was amazing. Really, I've had some really great experiences with people at book stores but this has to take the cake. With their help, we sold out of all the copies in the store. Anyway, it was definitely one of the most incredible bookstore experiences all year and the best part is I've made some really awesome new friends.


While I'm at it, let me introduce the awesome Tony Perry. Tony is an amazing artist that I seriously met yesterday. He drew this first and I had to ask him to do a sketch for the super secret project I'm working on. So... I'm giving you a hint here. The first drawing is unrelated to me but I loved it so here is the steampunk mechanic he did.


Tony was kind enough to do his take on something I'm working on so... Ok here's your first look at Eliza Bell... And that's pretty much all I can tell you right now.


Next Up
This weekend. Oct 8, 9, 10 I'll be signing at the Southern Festival of Books in yes... wait for it... no kidding... Nashville TN. I've never done a real signing in my home town, so this is a big deal for me. (Yes, I signed at Divergence II in Nashville but that wasn't really a public signing)So, I'll be at Booth #8 all weekend with Echelon Press and debut Author of Totally Buzzed, Gale Borger. If you're in or around Nashville, this is a big weekend for me and I'd love to see all my home town friends.