Can-Con

Can*Con Report 2019

Hello My Imaginary Friends,

This past weekend the entire JenEric family went to one of our favourite conventions; Can*Con. The people were lovely and the event was wonderful, but boy am I glad it’s over.

It’s definitely the most stressful convention for me. Most conventions, my job is to stand there, look pretty, and sell coffee. At Can*Con, I’m also an author and need to talk about my books and my experience. Often times, with people I respect and am in awe of.

This year I had a panel about multiple point of view narratives with Tanya Huff and Kevin Hearn. Both amazing writers and extremely intelligent panelists. I think, to my surprise, I didn’t come off as a complete fool, so yay. (A personal fanboy moment was when Tanya chided me for not mentioning my Aurora nomination.)

I also had a signing with Charles De Lint. I spent half the time chatting with people in line to talk with him and half the time chatting with him. He’s a really nice person and we chatted about book formatting and support structures.

Now all that was stressful but awesome. Unfortunately, all 4 of us came down with a cold just before the convention. So doing a convention with a 3 year old and a baby while being sick was… exhausting.

Despite all of us being exhausted, we decided we needed to go to the Aurora awards banquet (we were both nominated but didn’t expect to win). Keladry wanted to dress up and we were just too darn tired so we didn’t. We were the schlumps in t-shirts and jeans but we had a great time.

On the Sunday I had a reading and took Keladry to ensure I had an audience. To my surprise, there were three other people. At least one of which was there to hear me read. Yay, I have a fan! Thanks S!

Doing conventions with kids is hard but totally worth it. Adrien mostly slept, but Keladry was as good as possible. She listened, didn’t touch things, and only melted down a few times. I’m really proud of them.

Doing conventions with kids isn’t easy, but what makes it infinitely better is doing it with people who love them and like to entertain them. S. M. Carrière being the godmother spends a lot of time helping us at almost every con. Nathan of Renaissance was amazing despite being busy 99% of the con. Heather Chambers was absolutely fantastic with Keladry. She drew with her, played, and spent lots of time laughing.

There are more people that helped then I can name.

Thank You!

To everyone who helped, chatted, bought something, listened to me read or rant, or just made this convention amazing. Thank you so much!

I’m exhausted but happy.

Thank you again,

Éric

Can*Con 2019!

Hello book lovers,

Can*Con is this weekend and it’s easily our favourite convention.

We will be selling coffee (including limited amounts of advent calendars) and crochet in the dealers room.

I also have a few panels and events I’ll be at:

Opening Ceremonies and Aurora Pin Ceremony

Friday, October 18 • 6:00pm – 6:50pm

I’m getting pinned for my novel A Sign of Faust, which was nominated in the YA category for the Auroras.

Panel – Who’s Our Hero, Anyway

Saturday, October 19 • 10:00am – 10:50am

Why have one protagonist when you can have a dozen – or none? These days, SFF with loads of characters and no designated hero have a certain appeal. Series like Malazan, A Song of Ice and Fire, and The Walking Dead comics offer fans plenty of options to love, and real danger for your faves. But they also run the risk of a meandering plot and a death-weary audience. What are the benefits of having so much choice in who to root for? Does having tons of characters set us up for disappointment, or is it ultimately the reason we keep turning the page?

Signing

Saturday, October 19 • 12:00pm – 12:25pm

I’ll sign any books you like (Hopefully the ones I wrote).

2019 Aurora Award Ceremony

Saturday, October 19 • 6:00pm – 9:50pm

The Can*Con co-chairs and organizing committee are pleased to invite you to join them for the Aurora Award ceremony, which will take place off-site, at the Christchurch Cathedral’s Great Hall. A reception will be hosted there, with paid bar and appetizers served round. There is no entry fee, and all Can*Con attendees are welcome to join.

Reading

Sunday, October 20 • 12:00pm – 12:50pm

I’ll be reading from Everdome.

Hope to see you there!

Éric

Can-Con 2019

Can-Con 2019 is happening NEXT WEEKEND and I am ridiculously excited about it.

What is Can-Con, you ask?

Only my favourite convention of the year!

Can-Con is short for The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature, and the guests include Canadian authors, editors, publishers, agents, scientists, artists, and more!

Can-Con logo. Image from can-con.org.

Even better, to my mind, is that these people aren’t hidden away in a green room – they walk the floor with the other attendees, go to panels to broaden their knowledge base just like everyone else, and are generally available for geeking out with.

This year, Can-Con is hosting the Aurora Awards, so the convention will be teaming with nominees and past winners. Our very own Éric Desmarais is one of the nominees!

Oh, and me too, I guess, for the Travelling TARDIS blog. I don’t expect to win, though, because the people I’m up against are incredible.

The vendors room is open to the public, (We have a table if you need coffee or crochet) but the convention itself is sold out for 2019.

You can contact Jennifer Desmarais through Orleans Travel. jennifer.desmarais@orleanstravel.ca

The Travelling TARDIS was Pinned

On the Sunday of Can*Con, Jen Desmarais (who writes and runs TravellingTardis.com, Blush, and Fandom Travel) received her Aurora Awards nomination pin from this years winner for short story Liz Westbrook-Trenholm.

Everyone was laughing when Jen mentioned she’d already been felt up that day… by Child Dragon. Pictured in the back is the wonderful Marie Bilodeau.

The excellent Brandon Crilly was pinned at the same time.

Can-Con Post con review 2018

Hello My Imaginary Friends,

I’m still recovering from the awesomness that was Can-Con. I really need to plan taking time off after.

Most of my weekend was spent at the table selling stuff and giving away coffee samples. It’s great to hear and see the joy coffee brings some people. For those that didn’t like coffee I sent them 3 tables down to the fantastic Heart Tea Heart.

I was on one panel about heroism in Star Wars and it was a great discussion. The panelists were inteligent, well spoken, and made great points. (I rambled and agreed a lot.)

Other than that I loved the opportunity to talk coffee and books with all the fantastic attendees. The organizers and venue are always fantastic. Thank you and I look forward to next year!

I’m drained… enjoy these pictures of the Child Dragon.

Later Days,

Éric

Can-Con 2018 – October 12-14

The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature, or just Can-Con, is one of my favourite conventions. It has the best people and panels.

October 12-14, 2018
Sheraton Hotel,  Downtown Ottawa
150 Albert St, Ottawa, ON K1P 5G2

Eric Desmarais Author, JenEric Coffee, JenEric Designs, and toddler Dragon will be there for the entire weekend.

The dealer’s room is free to the public so come say hi, get some books, and coffee.

I, Eric, will be one panel this year: Star Wars, Heroism and Society Friday at 4pm in Salon C. Come by and laugh at a Trekkie trying to talk Star Wars.

Hope to see you there!

Éric

Writing Excuses workshop at Sea

Yesterday, a writer’s cruise was brought to my attention. And wow, did it ever get my attention!

The Writing Excuses Workshop and Retreat 2018! (scroll past the ticket info to get to the event details)

Take a look at the incredible instructors and the amazing seminars being offered!

I have met a couple of these instructors at Can-Con in Ottawa and I was incredibly shy and quiet around them very impressed by them. To have the opportunity to have a one-on-one session with even one of these instructors – where you can cover anything from a critique, worldbuilding, pitching practice (no, not baseball!), or simply get general writing advice – is worth it’s weight in gold.

The seminars themselves are extremely comprehensive and include writing exercises and Q&A time with the professor as well as instructional time.

The cruise allows for a guest to accompany their writer, with a nice discount. Children aged 12-17 can also attend seminars with parental guidance.

Please bear in mind that the prices listed are in USD but they include things like WiFi, gratuities, and transfers to/from the Houston WX hotel, all things that are not normally included in cruise pricing.

There are only a few tickets to the conference left! What are you waiting for?

The Liberty of the Seas from Royal Caribbean. Image from Wikipedia.

Are you interested in cruising? You can contact Jennifer Desmarais through Orleans Travel. jennifer.desmarais@orleanstravel.ca

Renaissance Press is Turning 5

Hello,

I’ve known about Renaissance Press for five years. I met them at Can-Con in 2013 when they only had a handful of books.

I pitched my first novel to them. They liked it, but it needed some serious re-writes that they weren’t able to take care of, so they told me to re-submit. In the end we got A Study in Aether, and its sequel is coming out this year.

If you like my books or any of the other fantastic novels from Renaissance Press, why don’t you let them know and you could win $40 worth of awesome stuff.

With luck my next novel, The Sign of Faust will be ready and launched at the 5 year celebration.

To Renaissance: Thank you for believing in my stories.

Éric