November 5th, 2023
Fall Tour 2023 is… OVER.
I want to give a massive, heartfelt thank you to everyone to came out to the MCE show, the Theia book club, my writing class, and Twin Cities Con; you have been so supportive and have taught me so much this season.
Conventions are a beautiful, brutal time for artists. Over three days, we spend an accumulated 24 hours sitting behind a table, screaming for attention and desperate for connection, trying to sell the most unsellable thing of all: our art, and ourselves.
I could not be more proud of my artist friends. They’re out here doing it, talented and hard-working as hell, living an actual dream instead of just wishing for it. If you have a writer or artist in your life who was at the con, be sure to wrap your hands around their shoulders and tell them how incredible they are and how proud you are of them; they absolutely deserve the praise.
As do all the organizers and locations of the events; it’s not easy to wrangle a menagerie of personalities and tempers, and every stop on the Fall Tour was a delight.
I have so much gratitude to the longtime supporters of my work who showed up, and also a big hello to all you newcomers!
I have friends who are expert businesspeople — Dani Swanson could sell a dead cat to your grandma — but I was reflecting on how I treat my table more like a pet adoption center.
I try to get to know people and hope that the book chooses them, and that the bond between reader and words is made stronger by that mutual, natural choice. Dozens of you adopted my books this weekend (I was down to the display copies on half my books!) and they all went to such good homes.
Did I say thank you? I think I did. I wasn’t sure whether to wait until later to write this but con-crud comas are real, and I feel one coming on like a side quest.
So thank you. Okay, now I definitely said it. See you next year.
The Den 