May Director-y (2014 edition)

Okay, it is May already.

I hope everyone enjoyed last month’s guest Mark Everett Stone. I seem to run into him at every convention I go to. I talked with him at Starfest and he said he enjoyed his experience with our little group.

This was the first Starfest I had made it to in about a decade. It was only my youngest boy and me who were able to attend, but we had a fun time of it, even if he spent most of the con playing video games. There were lots of great costumes as expected. I also got to see my ‘con’ friends, a group that continues to grow with each convention I make it to.

There were a few highlights to the convention, like getting to meet Billy Dee Williams. For me the most enjoyable part and the main reason we ended up going, was participating in the Dr. Horrible Sing-along blog Shadowcast. That was a lot of fun for me and Hayden. I was an extra doing any role that was needed of me, mostly just background characters. Hayden however got to play the role of Capt. Hammer, which he nailed. It was a fun group to work with and most likely we will be involved in future Shadowcasts with them. So keep an eye out at the next in town convention you end up at, as it is something worth experiencing.

This month started off with ‘May the Forth’, which I celebrating by watching the original Star Wars trilogy as I recovered from my day at Starfest. Every year since someone decided to link the date to Star Wars, it has been getting more and more attention with bigger and bigger events getting planned. This year The Big Bang Theory even had an episode about this geek holiday.

Free Comicbook Day also was the same weekend. A great way to get some good comics on a tight budget. My family went to a special midnight event at the Mile High Comics warehouse store. There we got to meet Henry Winkler. A nice guy. Had to explain to my boys who he was and why I found it interesting that one of the pictures he had available to get signed was him waterskiing in his most infamous episode. I’ll have to get them to watch an episode of Happy Days when we get the chance.

One thing I would love to see start happening more is that any of our members who have projects coming out to get that information to me or e-mail them to DASFAEditor@hotmail.com so that we can include them in the DASFAX. Most of the time it seems when someone has something coming out that announce it at our meeting right as it is hitting the shelves. Not all members make it to every meeting. As a writer myself, I like the idea of knowing I am getting the word out as much as possible when I have something hitting the market. DASFAX is a great tool that can be used by all DASFA members to help spread the word. I will gladly include a blurb about any such projects here, although I will admit I have no idea is anyone actually reads this column, but you never know. You can also do you own write up on just what your project is and submit it, as we are always looking for pieces to include in DASFAX.

In that spirit I will now promote my upcoming publication. My short story ‘A Night at the Club’ will be in Tales of the Talisman Vol 9 Issue 4 which is now available on Amazon.com, although Nina and Ron will most likely be willing get a hold of a few copies for anyone looking for it. I think everyone knows that our own talented Laura Givens is art director for Tales of the Talisman, so here is one thing you can buy that will show support for two members of our club. I already know that later this year there will be another project coming out that we are both part of, but that announcement has to wait for the time being.

I do not have an announcement for our next guest as of yet, but I am working on a few of what I hope will be interesting programs. I’m just waiting for responses right now. I will put the information up on our Facebook page as soon as I have confirmed the guest. I am always looking for something different for our meetings and hope I am keeping good with having something you all find enjoyable. I am always open to suggestions, just understand that there are limits to what can be done and that people actually have lives outside of being guests for DASFA.