2018

Indie Author Day 2018 was great! Met wonderful diverse authors with interesting stories and awesome readers! Readers at a library? Who would have guessed?

This was my first time attending and for the library, I was their first comic book writer. So a few unknowns from both sides. Went in not knowing what to really expect. Luckily people working there and fellow authors were great in letting me know how things were in past Indie Author Days. But being a comic book writer in an event where the norm are book authors, my experience was little different.

As I was setting up, people started to notice that I was not a book author, but a comic book writer. This led to curiosity and the first question all comic book writers get by those who aren't avid comic book readers,

"Do you draw?"

No, I don't. Okay, that a lie. I draw, but horribly bad. Some comic book writers do write and draw, but most of us don't. We mainly just write. I can write and letter; not the greatest letterer, but been told I'm alright. This leads to the next usual question comic book writers get,

"You write the dialogue in the balloons/bubbles?"

They're called word balloons, which honestly kind of look like bubbles. After explaining that comic book writers write scripts explaining to an artist what is happening in each panel and yes, the dialogue as well, people are amazed at the amount of work that goes into making a comic book. Even the authors there mentioned that it was probably easier to write a novel. Your mileage may vary, but I love the collaborative production of comic books, where the artist, colourist, letterer and the writer work together to make an incredible story.

So Indie Author Day helped remind me why I love making comics, which is sometimes lost when you are busy making them. I hope I inspired some to go and make their own comics as well. We can never have enough comics if you ask me.

Before I end this post, I want to mention my most favourite memory. I met a family with young readers and talked about comics and superheroes, which led to how I come up with ideas. One of the comics I wrote was for Threezero and Bandai called FullMetal Ghost. It involved giant samurai and ninja robots. I let the kids there in on my secret in how I came up with a story for that new toyline, which was playing with them, like how they play with their toys at home.

"You get paid for that!?"

I'm guessing the boy who asked me that was about 8 or 9 years old. These are the kind of moments that I love and why I attend events and table at comic book conventions. That was how my first Indie Author Day ended for me, which if you have noticed, was a ton of fun for me!

I think I sold some book throughout as well. Can't wait for the next Indie Author Day!