Over the past five years, I have traveled to dozens of different conventions across the entire country, from New York to San Diego, and all points in between. While I haven’t hit them all yet, it’s been a pretty good run. I’ve averaged between ten and twenty different conventions each year, and while I’m doing my best to reduce that number to about six a year, there are three that I will always do my best to attend.
The first and easiest is ConCarolinas, which is now my home convention. I love the folks there, with many of them becoming fast friends, like John Hartness and Misty Massey, and Gail Martin, and a slew of others. They’re great people who all love the scene here in Charlotte, which is my new (and in some respects, first) home. Despite some its recent challenges, I will be going back to ConCarolinas year after year for as long as they’ll let me.
The second, because it is still my favorite convention, is Pensacon, run by Mike Ensley. That guy really knows how to run a show, take care of his attendees, and truly make each and every guest feel like they’re a superstar, from the biggest name in Hollywood to the least-known author or comic book artist. It’s another con that I’ll keep going to, for as long as they’ll invite me.
This year, however, I discovered what I will always consider to be my home-away-from-home convention. It’s no secret that my writing leans towards guns, violence, adventure, all mixed together with a little bit of weird. It’s usually bad-ass good guys and gals kicking the crap out of sleezy villains, usually with a sense of vengeance or retribution tossed in for good measure.
I’ve also made no secret of the desire to one day be a full-time Baen author. I got my toe in the door with my MHI short story “Sons of the Father,” and all thanks to Bryan Thomas Schmidt (a solid editor) and Larry Correia (dubbed the International Lord of Hate) and arguably one of the most misunderstood guys in the business.
I mention this, because the biggest personal highlight of my first LibertyCon was Larry’s formal announcement during the Baen Road Show that there will be another Monster Hunter: Files and that a short list of authors will be contributing a novella-length story reprising their short stories included in the first volume. They are: Jim Butcher, Jody Lynn Nye, Larry Correia, Steve Diamond, and…. Quincy J. Allen. Yes, I actually squeed, and no, I didn’t let anyone hear me. I do have a mohawk to uphold. So, special thanks to Larry Correia, Toni Weisskopf, and ALL of the Monster Hunter authors and fans who have made that IP such a marvelous success. Y’all ROCK. Now, if I got a toe in the door at Baen with “Sons of the Father,” this new novella will help me get a foot in it. And my current WIP novel Rise of the Thermopylae, is what I hope will let me kick the door in, grab a beer, and sit down on a couch somewhere.
However, the amazing didn’t stop with that announcement. Thanks to my buddies Kevin Ikenberry and Mark Stallings, I’ve been given an opportunity to submit a short story to Chris Kennedy, publisher of the Four Horsemen Universe. I’ve already got the guidelines in hand, three of their novels in my Kindle to review, and the latest bible incoming so that I can wrap my head around a HUGE sandbox to play in, and the kernel of an idea for a story. I’ll be bouncing between writing Rise and this new short story for the next month or so. I can’t tell you how stoked I am to get back to writing, now that I’ve cleared my calendar of all other projects. “Yay! I’m a writer again!” I wanted to send special and heartfelt thanks to Kevin Ikenberry, Mark Stallings, Chris Kennedy, Mark Wandrey, and all of the folks who write for and have made 4HU the great playground it is. Here’s to hoping I make the cut.
I also wanted to thank to Diamond Dave Butler, one of my best friends, the finest human I know, and one of the people who has been incredibly supportive of my ongoing journey towards becoming a full-time author. Dave has always been there for me, with wisdom and encouragement, and kindness. I wish I’d been able to play one of the tabletop games during the con, but I was bouncing around so much, I didn’t have enough time to sit down and roll some dice with you.
Also, some special thanks go out to John G. Hartness, who continues to prove himself as a lover of fiction and a supporter of all authors everywhere. He’s a pillar here in the Charlotte writing community, and it is my sincere hope that he’s one of those people I know for decades to come. I do want to write a novella for him at some point. I just have to figure out where to fit it in. Also, thanks to David Coe. We didn’t get to raise that glass, but our time will come, sir.
Thanks to Michael Z. Williamson, for always being friendly at every show, for the deal on the Damascus blade, and for sharing some of his collection with me and James Young on Saturday night.
I need to say thank you to all of the Baen authors I’ve met over the past few years who have always been kind and encouraging. Folks like Jody Lynn Nye, Eric Flint, and Chuck Ganon, There are others, but It would take a while to list them all.
The biggest thanks, however, goes out to each and every author, vendor, and attendee at LibertyCon 2018. I knew a lot of you before getting to Chattanooga, and now I know more of you. Y’all are a great bunch of people who share my love of high-action fiction, military sci-fi, and all the other sorts of story-telling full of explosions and heroes and victory and honor and duty and the noble pursuit of protecting the innocent.
If anyone reading this wants to find a great list of authors who know how to tell great stories full of stuff blowing up, you need look no further than the list of Author Guests at LibertyCon found HERE. LibertyCon truly is a special convention in a league of its own. From the shoot Friday morning to the opening ceremonies, to every great panel they had, to the Baen Road Show, and finally, the closing ceremonies, the environment there made me feel right at home.
I saw a few old fans, picked up a few new ones, and did my very best to actually enjoy a convention rather than just working one as I have been doing for the past six years or so. This was more about me participating as an author than is was me just standing in a booth trying to sell my books and those of the other authors around me.
I have to admit, I’ve been missing out, and I hope to do more shows like this, where I can sit and chat and share and enjoy. Cons like this aren’t about me going to work. They’re about spending time sharing my love of genre fiction with people who have a lot of the same interests.
Finally, I want to thank every single person, from the con chair to the last volunteer of LibertyCon. Y’all did a fantastic job making me and everyone else feel at home. Keep doing what you’re doing, and I’ll see you all next year.
CHEERS!
~ Q
