So the Adelaide ComicCon is now over, and I’m home recuperating. And I can now happily say that I’ve been to every Australian capital city at least once – and I admit that’s actually why I chose to go to the Adelaide ComicCon; because I’d never been to Adelaide before.
I had a really good time. I liked Adelaide, and I enjoyed my time at the con despite a few setbacks. I was assigned to a signing table on both days, but unfortunately there were no books provided for me to sign. And on the second day I was told I wasn’t allowed to have lunch in the green room, because William Shatner needed some quiet time. But. At. What. Cost? (OK, OK, I’m sorry).
Other than that, everything went great. Several people came to see me, including Fan Creation Contest winner Jade, who even gave me a gift! It’s an adorable tiny Arenadd plushie, which I’ve fallen head over heels in love with. I bought some art prints from some of the artists who were there, to decorate my new home which I’m currently building, and got to hang out with my pal Doug Holgate again. I also saw Jason Momoa of Game of Thrones fame up close, and noticed something interesting: normally when you see a famous person in real life they’re smaller than you expect, but Mr Momoa is just as imposing in real life as he is on screen. And on the first day I sat down for lunch with Richard Dean Anderson , aka. MacGuyver, which was pretty neat. He seemed nice enough, but I never really try and talk to my fellow guests at these things unless they’re fellow authors, because frankly, what would I have to talk about with an actor?
Jade looking nice and me looking awkwardly self-satisfied at the Adelaide ComicCon (I swear it wasn’t on purpose; I just can’t do a natural smile on camera!)
As I mentioned in my previous post, I was scheduled to do two panels with author Sean Williams, but he unfortunately cancelled at the last minute. So, on the first day I had a panel with Doug instead – we talked about how to get published, which went down well. On the second day I used the slot to read one of my short stories, which also went well. I adore reading aloud; I’ll take any excuse to do it.
Unfortunately my ComicCon adventure finished on a bittersweet note; when I got home, I found that my rat Goliath had gotten so sick that he clearly only had days to live. Not wanting him to suffer unnecessarily, I had him put down the next day. I’m going to adopt a pair of new rats in May, but until then my shoulder is vacant, and it’s left me feeling low. People who hate rats probably wouldn’t really understand, but you can get just as attached to a rat as you can to a dog or any other pet, and Goliath was my special buddy.
On a lighter note, when I buried him I used a bottle of Goliath beer as a tombstone. I think he would have approved of that; he liked beer.
RIP, Goliath
