WonderCon 2022

Had a great time at WonderCon 2022. I moderated a KidLit author panel and sold my books at a small press booth for the first time. Cosplayers were out in full force.

With fellow children’s authors (l to r): Tim McCanna, Ernesto Cisneros, Sam Subity, and Salina Yoon.

Stunning artwork inspired by Avatar: The Last Airbender

Chainsaw Man. Note the safety tags on the chainsaws.

Not sure who this guy is, but he’s summoning a purple fireball, so…

This is Goat Vs. Fish. He literally walks around interviewing people, asking which animal they prefer. Hilarious.

Grogu from The Mandalorian

Jinx from Netflix’s amazing Arcane series

Another Jinx!

Kim Possible – an oldie but a goodie

Krampus is always a pleasant surprise

Kuiil (and Grogu!) from The Mandalorian

Lady Thor

Lara Croft from Tomb Raider

Merida from Brave

Daenerys Targaryen on a dragon from Game of Thrones

Oscar the Grouch and the Mysterious Galaxy devil puppet

Pickle Rick, my favorite character from the Rick and Morty series

Planet of the Apes ape. Get your damn, dirty hands off me.

Remote-controlled R2-D2 from Star Wars

Rick and Morty-inspired artwork

A rider of Rohan from The Lord of the Rings

Hilarious Saint X artwork

An awesome Sister of Battle from Warhammer 40K

Family of superheroes

Is this what Joe Satriani meant by “Surfing with the Alien”?

Tetris Man

Thor

Vi from Arcane

Jinx and Vi from Arcane

Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher

A bashful young Wonder Woman

Stunning Callisto and Xena from Xena: Warrior Princess

WonderCon 2021 Panels – Norsemen, Middle Grade Authors

I was thrilled to organize and moderate two panels for #WonderConAtHome 2021. The first features the cast of the hilarious Netflix historical comedy series, #Norsemen. You can learn more about the show from my essay at Interstellar Flight Press and my Norsemen fan site. Then do yourself a favor and go watch it on Netflix.

The 45-minute WonderCon Norsemen panel online premieres at 5pm PST on March 27. It features actors Kåre Conradi (Orm), Øystein Martinsen (Kark), Nils Jørgen Kaalstad (Arvid), Marian Ottesen (Hildur), Trond Fausa (Rufus), Bjørn Myrene (Torstein), Silje Torp (Frøya), and Jon Øigarden (Jarl Varg). Learn about who was the biggest prankster, what it’s like working on set with a spouse, and what big thoughts Arvid thinks.

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The second WonderCon panel featured successful Middle Grade novel authors Bruce Coville (Aliens Ate My Homework), NY Times bestseller Stacia Deutsch (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Jr. movie novel), NY Times bestseller Nancy Holder (Wonder Woman movie novel), Rajani Larocca (Red, White and Whole), and Henry Neff (Tapestry series).

The 39-minute panel online premieres at 10am PST on March 26. It features the authors sharing their insights into the publishing industry, how to get started, and lessons learned on the journey to publication. Good times.

How to Write a Query Letter

You’re a writer the moment you write. But if you want to be a published author, one route is to obtain representation. That means researching which literary agent(s) seem like a good fit for your writing and sending them query letters. Literary agents are extremely helpful to a writing career because they can submit to publishers that are closed to unsolicited submissions, negotiate better contracts on your behalf, and some provide editorial guidance. The following post by Mary Kole can be read in full at Writer’s Digest.