KillerCon 4 - Las Vegas 2012

This was my third KillerCon and by far one of the most attended and busiest. It started off with the t-shirt printing company spelling Jack Ketchum's name wrong. In the craziness that ensued to fix this error, a lot of sleep was lost and I spent the rest of the time trying to catch up, and it never happened. Then YAY! They were able to fix it. Then BOO, one of the other volunteers, (Mason Bundschuh, thanks a lot Mason ;) mentioned that Kelley Armstrong's name was also spelled wrong, and then I was done after that, but apologized to her for the error. She was very cool about it too. The GOH's at KillerCon are so awesome! Needless to say, next year's t-shirts will be done by a different company and at least one or two weeks in advance. The proofs will also go around to several volunteers for approval.

 

KillerCon kicked off on my birthday this year! And I could think of no better way to make up for the for the t-shirt debacle than having a cake rolled out for me, and Dallas, (Jack Ketchum,) front and center, singing happy birthday. It was all kinds of awesome! I'd like to thank everybody that was involved behind the sneaky maneuver. It was a great surprise I'll always remember and cherish. Then it was off to zipline down Fremont Street! I gathered up a small group including Christie White, Mark Scioneaux (co-owner of Nightscape Press,) and his lovely wife, Jessica. My childhood bestie, Mindy Morgan, and her wife, Stacy Scranton, the official KillerCon photographer, also came along. And we had a BLAST! It was great flying down the street with old and new friends. I was ready for a drink after that.

 

The next few days were spent in the dirty martini hangover haze that I associate with KillerCon. However, compounded with my lack of sleep, I only became more exhausted and would end the nights early.

Friday evening was an important dinner I had set up in advance at the famous Golden Steer Steakhouse. It is a nostalgic Las Vegas restaurant frequented by many famous and infamous celebrities and mobsters. For those of you who like to see "old" Vegas, it's a must. After making several changes to the reservations and trying to "herd cats" as R.J. Cavender would say, it turned out to be a fabulous dining experience with many great people. Deals go down in Vegas. This city makes things happen, and one of the things that happened for me was a publishing contract. I will post this information when it is officially released. What I can say is that a dear friend and colleague is also a part of the deal, and gave me a thumbs up when someone had asked about my writing. Yeah - KillerCon - don't miss out. After dinner, I had to apologize for having to eat and run, but I was planning on entering the erotica contest that was only an hour away, and it was worth it because I won 3rd place. I don't usually like to read at conventions, but I wanted opinions on an excerpt from my next novel and the win gave me the thumbs up I needed.

 

Saturday was a busy day. Zombie make-up artists Michael McCarty and Emmy winner, Carey Jones dolled up two brave volunteers.  Patricia MacEwen did an alien autopsy, and I attended a self-editing workshop hosted by editor, R.J. Cavender. There were also a bunch of great readings and panels I wanted to attend. Gene O'Neill gave up his reading time to let everyone make announcements about their own up and coming work. What a class act! When he got to me, I wasn't prepared and couldn't think of my one sentence pitch for The Evolutionist, due out January 2013 by Nightscape Press, so I kind of rambled on about it and felt like an idiot later. It was a run around day for sure, but I was able to grab a quick bite to eat at Roxy's Diner in the late afternoon with R.J. Cavender, Jason Reinhardt, (who walked away with first prize at the Gross-Out Contest later that night,) my childhood bestie, Mindy, and we were later joined by author and all-around great guy, Eric Jackson. It was great, but we were all tired and decided we would try and nap before the later events and parties.

 

The Gross-Out contest was awesome and congratulations to Jason. Cutting Block Press's party was a huge success and I'm glad I volunteered to help out. I thought my table decorations turned out great and the sandwiches were yummy. It was great chatting with Sunni Brock and to later see that she used one of the vampire fang cocktail napkins in her Facebook photo.

 

I left early Sunday morning and was unable to say goodbye to so many people, but I promise to make up for it next year. It was a wonderful time and so good to see old friends and make new acquaintances. I also had the pleasure of meeting fellow Nightscape Press authors, Peter Dudar and L.L. Soares. Great guys and awesome authors. I picked up several books that are on the Stoker® reading list and will review them in the upcoming months. Best wishes to everyone. Nice to see John Palisano, Benjamin Kane Ethridge and his lovely wife, Irma. Brad C. Hodson, Eric Guignard, Robert and Jennifer Wilson (other half of Nightscape Press.) Jen is recovering from seizures after a bout of exhaustion, so please, let's keep her in our thoughts. Eunice Magill, Angel McCoy, Chris Marrs, Shane Mackenzie and his lovely wife, Melinda. Adam Cesare, Taylor Grant, Christopher Payne, Fran Friel, Aaron French, Theresa Dillon, Cynthia Vespia, Monica O'Rourke, Darryl Dawson Brown, Scott Magner, Edmund Colell, Tim Marquitz, Damien Grintalis, and so many, many more. All of the volunteers, and a special shout out to Wrath, Christie, Bailey, Boyd, and R.J. I apologize for leaving anyone out. I will post a more complete photo album on my website renamasonwrites.com in the next week or so.