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New Orleans Comic Con 2016

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : January 14, 2016
2

Category: Author Events

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Me and Chris Evans aka Captain America

Your friendly neighborhood fantasy author just had an excursion to the land of awesome jazz, rich heritage, and the best damn Southern cuisine imaginable. It was basically Treat Yourself 2016 for me, and when I treat myself, I treat myself. Hence, Captain America snuggling and languishing in my arms.

New Orleans Comic Con is a younger con, but they apparently worked out something pretty incredible to snag not only Captain America himself, Chris Evans, but half of the cast of Civil War, including Frank Grillo (Rumlo aka Crossbones), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Falcon), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), Jeremy Renner (aka Clint Barton/Hawkeye) and the Russo brothers who are directing the film. I had been on Wizard World’s mailing list for some reason and as soon as they sent word that Chris Evans would be in the South (seriously, look it up, A list celebrities avoid the South like the freaking plague, man, and I’d know) I scrambled for a ticket and a photo op. It was the opportunity of a life time to meet an actual superhero (my second one, actually, as I met Kevin Conroy, the voice of Batman, in 2013) in the flesh. Plus, I’d never been to New Orleans and I was dying to get a chance to soak in some of the great things I’ve heard about Crescent City.

I flew down Thursday afternoon and stayed with a friend of mine. On Friday, we got up and had breakfast here, at The Ruby Slipper.

I had cheesecake-stuffed French toast with fresh blueberry compote and it was so delicious I’m drooling as I think about it all over again. Heavenly stuff, man.

And here’s my first street car ride!

We headed to the con to grab our badges and check out the dealer’s room, which was huge and awesome. Here are the goodies I managed to swipe for myself:

This fancy lithograph came with the hilariously expensive Chris Evans silver VIP pass. It’s basically just a glossy 11×17 photo of Captain Hotness, but hey, why not? Who doesn’t love a little smolder?

This awesomeness is a fake movie poster made by one of the artists in the dealer’s room. His concept was taking nerd culture things and turning them into the 1940’s, 50’s, and 60’s style movie posters, and this one is so gorgeous that I had to snag it to decorate my room. It’s just plain lovely.

Below is another one by the same artist, except it’s from Fallout 3 & 4.

Saturday morning at 10am, I attended the Civil War panel, which includes all the guests I mentioned above. Because I’m a huge nerd and this was a lifetime opportunity, I sat by one of the mics and was lucky enough to ask a question. Yes. I spoke to half the cast of Captain America: Civil War. That high-pitched sound you’re hearing is me screaming internally for hours.

https://youtu.be/hDngKCGvOzQ

Unfortunately, the audio is a bit janky, but here’s the whole panel. I got to ask a question at around the 26 minute mark, and their answers were priceless. I really encourage you to watch the entire video, and if one with better quality pops up, I’ll add it. It was a phenomenal panel, even with some fans asking weird questions, and the cast was beyond entertaining to experience live.

After the panel, I had the two most awesome experiences as a fangirl ever. First, was meeting Hayley Atwell, Agent Carter herself, for an autograph. I managed to hold it together and I told her that I was so grateful for her portrayal of Peggy as this powerful, amazing three dimensional female character and how it’s so important to have this awesome woman on a major network television show. I also told her that I truly hope she enjoys all the wonderful things that have happened and will happen for her as a result of portraying this character, and Ms. Atwell told me she was so humbled by my words. We shook hands and I was able to take this precious piece of personal history home with me to be framed on my wall.

After that, the main event happened. I waited in line in a freezing cold auditorium for around an hour, dressed to the nines and in full makeup, and then it happened. I walked up to Captain America, Chris Evans, for a photograph.

Now, the funny thing is…I’ve met celebrities before. Not any A-list celebrities, mind you, but celebrities like Maggie Q, Shane West, Bill Corbett, James Urbaniak, who are mostly nerd icons. Each time, I’ve managed to hold in the fangirl squeeing and ask them questions, even hold entire conversations.

But not with Chris Evans.

He was the first celebrity to ever make me 100% starstruck and tongue-tied.

Before the hug, I walked over and said hi and asked him if it would be alright for me to give him a hug for the photo. Mr. Evans smiled and said it wasn’t a problem at all, and then he wrapped his arms around me and I basically lost all mental faculties. I actually had a comment prepared–something about how proud I was of what he’s done with the character of Steve Rogers–but after that hug…yep, I was mush. I just mumbled thank you and tottered away on my heels, blinded by how utterly handsome he was. The hug was that good, but then there’s also the fact that before he let me go, he rubbed the small of my back and that’s what precipitated me turning into a pile of goo. My God. What a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.

Oh, and here’s his autograph as well (sadly not personalized, because you had to pay an extra $200 for that and as much as I ADORE Chris Evans, paying over $600 for a photo op and personalized autograph was outside of my comfort zone.)

The rest of the trip wound down after I met Cap. I swung past the famous Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee, which were yummy. We had dinner at this cool seafood place called Mr. Ed’s Seafood Bar and then on Sunday we just walked around town to sight-see and eat at Deannie’s before I headed home. Honestly, the city was beautiful and stuffed with all kinds of feasts for the eyes (and stomach). I’m so happy that Treat Yo-self 2016 went as smoothly as it did, and I will never forget meeting my favorite Avenger in the flesh. It was Item Number Four on my Bucket List, and I’m so giddy I managed it before I turned 30. It was unforgettable.

And for your viewing pleasure, here’s my informal account of meeting Chris Evans, for poops and giggles.

Year in Review: 2015

Posted by :letitia.carelock@gmail.com On : January 2, 2016
0

Category: Author Events, Inspiration

Tags:, , , , , , , ,

Kyoko M, summed up in one image.

Yep, that’s my year, basically. Me, deliriously happy and trying to cling to my dream.

2015 has been a year of drastic change for me, as cliche as it sounds. I know people say that a lot during these yearly recap posts, but for once, it’s based on fact. I’ve been afforded opportunities in 2015 that I never imagined were possible, and in some ways, it still hasn’t sunk in that I’ve managed to achieve some pretty big goals.

Formally, my 2015 New Years Resolutions went as follows:

  1. Reread and write reviews for The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
  2. Finish writing and publish my upcoming YA high fantasy novel
  3. Publish The Holy Dark as well as a box set for The Black Parade series
  4. Sell 500 paid copies of my books
  5. Try to get to 500 Facebook likes
  6. Read at least ten novels

See what I mean about change? I only accomplished three of three, and only one of them I couldn’t pull off due to my own shortcomings (sorry, Harry Dresden, I got kind of busy…and lazy…) because my situations all changed. The YA high fantasy novel I had intended to finish and publish in 2016 has been shelved because I had a beta reader read it and she found so many complex, deep-settled issues in the unfinished manuscript that I decided it wouldn’t be ready in time for summer 2016. Instead, I’ve decided to shelve it for a year and then come back to see if I can more clearly identify what went wrong and how to dig out all the problems. I didn’t get to 500 Facebook likes, but that’s because I didn’t run any ads or push for it hard enough over the course of the year. We’re clocked in at 469 likes, and since my page activity is pretty much in single digits, I’m not even going to add it as a goal for 2016.

“So,” you ask. “What has changed for you in 2015, Kyo?”

Well, for one, my work started to take off. Most indie authors describe the discovery process as a boulder that you push and push and push uphill like Sisyphus until at long last, you reach the top and it starts to roll downhill. It starts at a slight incline, slowly, and then hopefully gathers speed and momentum until it’s rolling. 2015, for me, was my first incline. Thanks to the Secret Worlds boxed set and curious readers who grabbed The Black Parade as a permafree title, I’ve begun to see sell-through on the series. I wish I could give you an actual number, but Amazon for some reason refuses to put together a comprehensive Excel spreadsheet of both copies sold and money made for the whole year. Instead, it’s broken down by the month, and then by the title itself, and then by 35%/70% royalty, so it would take me at least a couple of hours to read every single spreadsheet and total it up with any sort of accuracy. Instead, I’ll try and go by monthly sales.

My bestseller of the year is estimated to be She Who Fights Monsters. The Holy Dark is right behind it in terms of sales, and it’s actually ahead of it in KU pages read. I typically sold between 35 and 50 copies of SWFM per month, and 30 to 45 copies of The Holy Dark per month after its launch in late April. The Black Parade came in third place since I took it off of its free status during the summer and fall months, so it probably sold 15 to 30 copies as a paid title, and 100 to 200 copies as a free title. My poor short story collection The Deadly Seven is straggling in last place with 20 to 26 copies. (Apparently, I love it more than the readers do. *sob sob*)

I’ve got a Bachelors in English Literature, so forgive me if my math is janky, but here’s a rough estimate of books sold in 2015, according to those rough numbers:

She Who Fights Monsters: 35 x 12 =420 minimum or 50 x 12 = 600 copies sold

The Holy Dark: 30 x 8 (it was published in April, so 12 months minus 4 months = 8 months) = 240 minimum or 45 x 8 = 360 copies sold

The Black Parade: 15 x 7 (it was removed from permafree May 1st, so 12 months minus 5 months = 7 months) = 105 minimum or 30 x 7 = 210 free copies sold; 100 x 5 = 500 minimum or 200 x 5 =1000 free copies sold

The Deadly Seven: 20 x 12 = 240 copies minimum or 312 copies sold

Summary:

The Black Parade: 105/210 copies and 500/1000 free copies sold in 2015

The Deadly Seven: 240/312 copies sold in 2015

She Who Fights Monsters: 420/600 copies sold in 2015

The Holy Dark: 240/360 copies sold in 2015

Total copies of The Black Parade series sold in 2015: 1005/1482

Man, this is why I’m a writer. Math is horrible.

My point beyond all that is that these numbers were not even a bare possibility in 2014. I’ve seen a tremendous up-rise in interest from readers. I’ve also found that I can dig deep and do something that I’d consider completely out of character for myself, like cosplaying as Lana Kane at Atlanta’s second largest convention, and hosting a panel at a convention on the total opposite side of the country. I’ve seen that even if it sounds ludicrous on paper and in my head, apparently I am capable of way more than I give myself credit for sometimes. And that’s a wonderful thing in and of itself.

2015 started off very difficult for me, but as I continued putting in the work and doing the best I could, I finally started to see desired results. That is all that I hope to continue to do for 2016. I want my boulder to keep rolling and gathering momentum. Thanks for tagging along for the ride. I am beyond grateful for all of you who have been there with me. Here’s hoping for a good year for all of us.