Good Times at the Scifi Expo

I had the pleasure of working the Scifi Expo by working the HIS Publishing table at booth 230. HIS Publishing group is a relatively new publishing company in Dallas and I have been helping them with their online marketing. I recently met the owner, Larry Luby, through the author Ronald Dunn, who I've also been helping with online marketing. It's cool having an exhibitor badge because you get to see the side of the show that the fans don't. You never realize how big the Irving Convention Center is until you see it empty. An added bonus is the conversations in which you find yourself. Conversations that you would not normally have, if you were a fan. As usual it was a great show and I got to meet a lot of new people, see some great costumes and have a great time in general. If you have any photos or have some great stories you'd like to tell me, be sure and let me know.

ConDFW 2012

Running today through Sunday, ConDFW is the place to be for readers and writers of speculative fiction or genre fiction. With panels on publishing, writing, marketing, world creation, and RPG creation there is a little something for everyone. You can also take part in the 7th Annual ConDFW Sci-fi Spelling Bee!

Author Guest of Honor is Cherie Priest.  Cherie is the award-winning author of ‘The Clockwork Century’ series of steampunk novels starting with “Boneshaker,” which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Artist Guest of Honor is William Stout. Clicking through his gallery, you’ll recognize his work readily if you’ve seen the movie posters for ‘Wizards’ or ‘Life of Brian’. I was even surprised to find some that I didn’t expect!

Check out the website for panel times and guest readings! Who are you looking forward to seeing?

Minor Tech Glitches

It seems that I’ve changed something somewhere and now pictures are missing from some of my posts. I’m in the process of figuring it all out and getting everything back to ship-shape, so please bear with me. Thank you. That is all.

North Texas Irish Festival Celebrates 30 Years

A gathering of clans will take over Fair Park March 2-4, 2012. For 30 years the North Texas Irish Festival has been gathering in a céilí to pay tribute to it’s roots from across the sea. This year’s theme is “Harps & Fiddles” and they are expecting a very large crowd.
With traditional Irish foods and some new dishes served up by top chefs, no one will go hungry. And why would you have an appetite? Because of music and dancing, my friend! Who can resist when Irish bands play and lads and lasses dance reels and jigs.

We will not miss it and this will be our two year old daughters first time. Do they make kilts for toddlers? Any of you going? Sporting a kilt?

‘Breaking Dawn–Part 2’ Sneak Peek Is On Target

Target must be crazy to do this kind of promo . . . crazy like a fox!  According to Fandango.com Target will show a sneak peek of the new film, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 as part of the Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Blu-ray and DVD release Friday February 10th.  This is to raise the hype even further to astronomical levels.  Is that even necessary?  Guest services will begin distributing tickets at 9 p.m. and the show will begin at 11 p.m.  Stores will then close at 1 a.m.  You can find your participating locations here.

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Also in the article from Fandango, Lions Gate has hinted at continuing the franchise beyond the books.

In an interview with the L.A. Times, Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer hinted that Twilight will go on.
"It's hard for me to imagine a movie that does $700 million-plus doesn't have ongoing value. It's an amazing franchise that they have done a great job of maintaining with absolutely no deterioration."

Can you continue a franchise of a best-selling book and not screw it up. Movie and maybe TV.  I don’t even know why I ask that in this day and age when some movie adaptations come out and you find that the only thing close to the book is the title.
Before I go any further, let me say that I reserve judgement on the series because I have not read the books myself. It’s not that I’m not into sparkly vampires, I’m just not that into vampires period.

That being said, from my time working in a book store I’ve heard so many people complain about the quality of the writing and whether it deserves the accolades that it receives.  In an article on whether Rowling should get a Nobel Prize, Meyer’s books were brought up.  If Rowling should be considered for her single-handedly getting kids back into books in the last decade, then what about Meyer.  She has saved teen fantasy lit by getting every emo kid to read. So is she deserving?

Back to my original point. Whether her writing is of Nobel quality, it’s obvious that she has written a very entertaining series of books.  But . . . can it survive past that?  Can Lionsgate continue the money train and entertain countless teens (and pre-teens and moms) with more movies or a TV show?

Last question. What is a movie that you were all excited for and then found that it had nothing to do with the book?  Does not have to be a sci-fi or fantasy movie for you to gripe!

Target Stores to Sneak Peek 'Breaking Dawn – Part 2 | Fandango.com