I attended Philcon, the annual convention sponsored by the Philadelphia Science Fiction Society, the weekend before Thanksgiving. I’ve attended Philcon off and on fro about eighteen years, first as a game designer (for Ravaged Earth, an rpg I had published in 2008 and 2012) and more recently as a fiction author.
Though sparsely attended, I had fun seeing familiar faces, meeting new people, and interacting with readers. I had a reading and an autograph session, and participated in three panels. Conventions are great for publicizing your work and forming connections within the publishing industry.
I read a chapter from THE OCEAN HUGS HARD, signed a copy of my short story “Never Meet Your Heroes” and offered my expertise on the “Why Join a Cthulhu Cult?” panel and “I’ll Write Horror But I Won’t Write THAT” panel.
Though it was great seeing folks, my wife and I got Covid and missed our Thanksgiving dinner with family. Going forward, I’m going to mask up when I attend conventions in the future. I dodged the thing for nearly five years only to contract the nasty bug at my regular convention. How’s that for irony?
My first autograph session.
“I’ll Write Any Horror Story, But I Won’t Write THAT!” panel: Amy Grech, David Simms, Phil Giunta, Carol Gyzander, and me.
“Who Wants to Join a Cthulhu Cult?” panel: Stephanie Burke, Vikki Ciaffone, me, and F.R. Michaels.
My reading with Anne E.G. Nydam and Sally Wiener Grotta.
Blood Family hits shelves next week
A reminder that Blood Family, the third book in The Martyr’s Vow series, drops late next week! If you like books that feature Armenian vampires, I’ve got you covered.
Eric Avedissian 