Whew. What a whirlwind of a weekend.
First up: CONvergence. Biggest highlight for me was meeting my friends Blaze Ward and Leah Cutter in person. Blaze is the most giving author I’ve ever met. He gave me an hour of his time when I didn’t know him at all to give me the rundown on what I needed to do to start self-publishing. And I still had to nearly threaten his life to get him to let me buy him lunch! His wife Leah is also delightful and brilliant and I had a great time hanging out with them at the con.
My panels were all good, despite nobody really knowing what the Rock the Genres panel was about. But get a bunch of musicians on stage and we’re going to put on a show. The Dark YA panel was thought-provoking and I always enjoy getting book recommendations from David Lenander. The Neurodivergent Writing panel was probably my favorite, because it’s a subject so obviously close to my heart. I think I was able to give some of the people who asked questions some good advice drawn from long experience. That’s my hope, anyway. Of course, no matter how wise the rest of my answers may have been, I’m certain I’ll be remembered only for my answer to the person who asked, “When you spend so much time writing, how do you make time to read?”
My reply? “Take long poops.”
On to Irish Fair. Sadly, I ended up with a conflict and had to miss a panel and a signing so I could play my shows. I’d been hoping there wouldn’t be one, but oh well.
Purgatory Creek played on what used to be the main stage. It was super fun to get this little band onto a big space where we weren’t banging into each other while we played. We were a little loose, since half the band had been in Scotland for most of a month, but the performance didn’t really suffer. Great audience, great weather. I had a couple of nice little solos and a rip-roaring vocal performance of my song “You’re My Girl.” (You can hear a recording of that song on my Patreon.)
Later that night, The Tim Malloys rocked the pub tent. It’s a little bit of an odd setup, as we play 8 to 8:30, then wait an hour and a half for the headliner to play their show on the main stage before playing another hour set. However, it also means we get to go balls out and have a nice rest before doing it again. It was a madhouse of a show, punk, drunk, and a little bit of funk. Just the way I like it.