New Authors share Stories and dreams at Salt Lake Comic Con 2014
One of the best things about Salt Lake Comic Con is the opportunity to meet brave, creative people in any area of the arts. There are comic book artists, storyboarders, sculptors, jewelers, fez makers… Personally, I tend to gravitate toward the writers, specifically those who write books and are at the smaller booths.
Darren Lamb I met Darren Lamb on free comic book day when I was visiting Night Flight Comics in Salt Lake City. While my friend was deciding which free comic he wanted, I decided to talk to the author with the books. I picked up his novel Transubstantiation, a story that combines love, the martial arts and philosophy. Transubstantiation is a beautiful story with well written fight scenes and enough philosophy to keep a reader happily entertained. Plus, we took the best selfie ever. Seeing Darren at Salt Lake Comic Con was like meeting with an old friend. It was good to catch up with him and talk about his new book, Rebirth: A Zombie Tale. It was great to see him putting out stories that are worth reading, and I was also able to treat myself to one of his older books that I had missed – The Book of Benjamin. We also took the next best selfie ever. Many authors have learned that they can offer eBooks for free to the guests that go to their panels or show up at their booths. This is an awesome idea for any author trying to get people interested in a book or book series. Often readers, who are asked to pay what they think the story is worth, can be very generous. Shannen Crane Camp However, few authors give away hard copies of their books, so when Shannen Crane Camp offered one hard copy of a book to the first two people who came up to her after the “Structuring Life to Support Creativity” panel, I had a hard time waiting until after the panel was over. When it was, I jetted to the front and picked up Sugar Coated, book one in the Sugar Coated Trilogy. C.N. Haynes I didn’t actually meet C.N. Hayes. I met her family as I was walking back to the hotel on Thursday. They had on promotional T-shirts asking if you are one thing or the other. (I can’t remember the choices, though I think one of them is Sleithen.) When I asked what the Ts were promoting, the two family members told me about the book. One hadn’t read it, but the other thought it was pretty good. That was enough for me to look for the Haynes booth and pick up the book. Rachel E. Kelly As I wandered around looking for the Hayes booth, I ran into Rachel E. Kelly at her booth. Rachel was dressed up as old-school rogue complete with gloves and hair streak. I actually breezed by her booth without a second thought until I saw the book. The cover is like this beautiful rainbow bubble that is reflecting, or possibly encompassing a tree. The title “Colorworld” and the rest of the booth set up was interesting enough to drag me back around the corner and to ask her what it is about. Kelly says that the book is like a Rogue story, but instead of taking powers she gives them. Kelly has a 7-book series planned and an inspirational, slightly frightening kickstarter to help get all of the books published. She has plans for audiobooks and graphic novels as well. An ambitious goal deserves to be supported, and the story sounds like it will be awesome. Read my review of Colorworld Other Authors Salt Lake Comic Con has an “A” list of authors when it comes to creativity and storytelling: Natalie Whipple, Bree Despain, Heather Ostler, J.R. Johansson, Sarah E. Seeley, Will Cohen, Adam Sidwell, Gerald Elias, the list is long. Sure, the big names are there, too, but Utah sees a great collection of writers who come to live the dream at Salt Lake Comic Con, an event where dreams come true. However, it is up to us to help that dream to come true. The reader gets a great story with new characters to love, and the writer gets to keep bringing those stories to the people. Be sure to let me know who your favorite writers are. Now I have to go read some books. |
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