I am home and recovering from a lovely Necronomicon 2025! Happily, this year was much busier than last, which got rained out by the hurricane three days prior. The scene in the halls was lively, and the panels actually had attendees! But it kept its cozy vibe, which meant I had plenty of time to do what I love best, which is talk to people.
This year I had both a writer’s alley table and art in the art show, and I volunteered for panels (and ended up on five of them!), so I was busy! Basically eight or nine hour days every day! By Saturday I was so hoarse I was putting honey in everything I was drinking. Never have I had more ample a demonstration that in my daily life I spend more time listening than talking than seeing how fast I ran out of voice when I had to talk.
My marketing thrust this year was getting people to take the quiz! I had a QR code and then I gave out colored dots that corresponded to the eight archetypes, and I had a leaderboard tracking what archetype was dominating. My biggest problems with this were 1. Some people have trouble with QR codes and the URL is a long thing to type; and 2. The quiz takes a few minutes to complete, which was a big ask. But people enjoyed receiving their dot, and the delight in their eyes when I whipped out their specific book was wonderful. I felt like a magician: “This is your book! Ta-da!”
One woman, who took the quiz and received Rosary as a result, read the back and kept saying, “Oooh! OOH! This IS interesting!” I laughed a lot. (She bought the ebook). And another guy, who bought Mindtouch, took the quiz afterwards and… Mindtouch was one of this top three results. Which was my cue to do a triumphant dance. (Which I did, like the derp that I am.) The quiz went on to sell several other books, including Claws & Starships, Heir, and To Discover and Preserve, which are not books that usually move at conventions. And more than one person realized that the leaderboard was changing, and stopped by to see what was going on.
I had twenty-seven takers in total (that I know of), and the con probably had 200ish people, so, not bad! The winner for the weekend was Cheerful Neighbor, with Interstellar Empaths and Lucid Sojourners tied as the two runners-up. Cosmic Observer was the least represented, the only archetype with zero people! I ran into one of the only three Scarred Titans again on Sunday, who looked at the leaderboard and said, “Cheerful Neighbors, huh.”
“Yeah, you’re one of only three Scarred Titans! You’re surrounded in people who want to drink cocoa and pet cats.”
He paused a moment, then said, “Honestly, doesn’t sound too bad.” XD
I am thinking that if I want to continue marketing around the quiz, I need a bigger banner for it, maybe swag, and I definitely need to carry copies of all the 20ish books in the bookrec database. Something to plan out after I do the bookrec kickstarter next year, maybe.
I did well at the art show, selling three of the 12 pieces I hung – Ocalacorn (one of my scrubby Florida unicorn pieces), He Is On the Move (of Aslan), and Think, Think (the elf engineer in the canyon, with chicken). The remaining pieces are available if anyone wants to take them home!
The con vibe continues to be relaxed, which is great. This year I noticed a distinct sense of going back in time, a little. Both to a time before megaconventions (we call them ‘popup nerd shopping malls’ here), and to a time before the culture shift started happening. It is weird to be on the blazing edge of a culture shift, and I find myself wondering how I can help people with the transition, and not knowing at all how. The scifi/fantasy cultural hegemony has been so complete that I worry that it allows for no metaphor other than ‘conquered and conqueror.’ But I don’t look around me and see enemies. I see fellow enthusiasts who happen to have different beliefs.
I’m hoping it won’t be took rocky, but I guess we’ll see.
Also, Timothy Zahn signed my drawing of a manta ray, and that was cool. And my last sale of the day was to a violinist who loved both Thief of Songs and Even the Wingless, and wrapping up the con knowing that two of my hardest-to-recommend books had a fan was wonderful.
So yes! Necro! We’ll be back next year!
In the meantime, here are the remaining art pieces! If you’d like one, let me know and I’ll invoice you.
1. Anna Maria Unicorn, matted in sandy beige ($50, plus shipping)
2. Everglades Unicorn, matted in sandy beige ($40, plus shipping)
3. Priest and Mount, matted in honey yellow ($30, plus shipping)
4. Never Give Up, matted in ice blue ($50, plus shipping)
5. Playdate, matted in sienna brown ($40, plus shipping)
6. Magnolia Mother, matted in purple ($40, plus shipping)
7. Blue Willow, matted in gold ($50, plus shipping)
8. Dragon-Beloved, matted in black ($50, plus shipping)
9. Just Because (I Love You), matted in gold ($50, plus shipping)
Photobombing Orange Cat (not for sale)
I’ll calculate shipping individually when you ping me, and get you a finalized total before invoicing so you can decide whether you want to jump on them.
Or at least, I intend it to be relaxing. Hopefully it delivers.
4:22 minutes
Materials:
- Pen: Moonman Starry Glass dip pen, Mars: https://www.jetpens.com/Moonman-Starry-Sky-Glass-Dip-Pen-Mars/pd/31536
- Paper: Strathmore Writing Series 500, lined: https://www.jetpens.com/Strathmore-500-Series-Writing-Pad-8.5-x-11-Lined-50-Sheets/pd/15322
- Ink: Robert Oster, Rose Gilt Tynte: https://www.jetpens.com/Robert-Oster-Rose-Gilt-Tynte-Fountain-Pen-Ink-Shake-N-Shimmy-50-ml-Bottle/pd/25170
In which I talk about the paper, the paint, and the experience of oils versus gouache. Fun stuff, will do more.
Thank you Locals supporters! Your contribution to my art war chest here is what's powering these experiments and videos. For now I'm keeping them public but I may start doing some subscriber-only videos if you all are interested.💖
Thanks for your comments yesterday on the business post... all very provocative, in a good way. I'll try to respond to all of them today.
Some Alysha misc now, since I'm gearing up for the results of the Kickstarter!
Petrov is giving away coupon codes for every book in the Alysha series (and has some leftover coupons for Marda and the business book). You can pick those up here (and please do! The books are bought already, someone should use them!) https://twitter.com/PetrovNeutrino/status/1457344535843987461
Our own @JudasComplex sent along a sample of the Faith in the Service audiobook, which I've attached for your delight! I... haven't had a chance to listen to it. Don't ask me about my past week and a half or so. Putting it here will guarantee I get to it.
After hearing the amused comments during the livestream, I went ahead and added all the ship type illustrations I have inked from the 90s to the wiki. Glory in the rampant adorableness of their anthropomorphic stylings! See those ...
A little comedy today, at least in the link. Transcript follows.
Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
A while back I was introduced to a comedy sketch about Cuban coffee by a Mexican comedian, Gabriel Iglesias. ( The sketch begins with him greeting all his fellow Latinos and then backing up to say ‘but we’re all different, aren’t we’ which is a segue into a demonstration of how different Hispanics speak Spanish.
It is hilarious. First, because I am a Spanish speaker and a linguistics hobbyist, and his portrayal of various accents resonated with my experiences in trying to make sense of them myself… Not always easy, since from culture to culture, slang and accent are often totally different (and sometimes grammar! Spaniards use a grammatical construct that has died out in many other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural “you.”)
I also loved it because the Cuban coffee part is real. I grew up with Cubans. I know how we are....
One of the most common things I hear (and say) right now is "the asymmetry is the story." Here's one about how none of us are innocent of the sins we hate in others.
Hi, all. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
It’s been weeks since the Baen’s Bar incident and I’m still thinking about it... because the longer I do, the more I feel, overwhelmingly, that it’s obvious that the problem is deeper than “this forum was saying stuff that offended us.” We have to back up to the glaring fact that people on opposite sides no longer consider each other human. Nothing I say will matter because the people disagreeing with me don’t think I’m human. They have denied my humanity; they have not bothered to listen to my beliefs, or have fake-listened to them in that way that people do when they’re so ready to prove you wrong that they’re only using your speech to provide talking points for their own ideas.
We have forgotten how to listen.
Increasingly, we have also ...
Complete with homemade challah french toast (the challah is homemade). (Also the french toast.)
I guess if you weren't sure about buying a thing or leaving a review or telling a friend about a thing or taking the book quiz, there is no time like the present. Because it would be that, literally, a present. XD
Okay I'm loopy, I'm off to nap, I am so full. XD
I'll be there Friday to Sunday in the writer's alley, selling books, stickers, and magnets... I'll also have art in the show and I'll be on... four? Five? Panels! I guess I'll see when I get my schedule! Regardless, look for the big Earthrise-themed banner. Website, if you want to check it out: https://necrofl.org/
Theme this year is cryptids and GOHs are Timothy Zahn and Seanan McGuire. Should be fun! Come say hi!
