ETERNALCON - June 10th - 12th 2016 in Garden City, Long Island NY

Since the demise of ICON at Stony Brook University, I haven’t booked tables at any local cons. Last year I attended Eternal Con located at the Cradle of Aviation Museum in Garden City, Long Island NY and was impressed with the location. There are exhibits of all forms of air travel including outer space which appeals to the little kid in me. So I decided to book a table for 2016 without any expectations. Usually when I sign up for cons I use them as an opportunity for exposure. EternalCon surprised me.

Right out of the gate my World War 2 series THE MOSES MILITIA (art by the amazing BILL WYLIE) started selling. Usually it was the pitch descriptions on post-it notes that I placed on the covers that caught their eye. “Jewish heroes kicking Nazi ass!” did more to sell the book than anything I said.

I think I’ll stick that tagline onto the trade collection in the future! MOSES MILITIA did so well that by Saturday afternoon the book had completely sold out. At the time I couldn’t enjoy the success because I was panicking that I wouldn’t have anything for Sunday. Luckily I managed to find more copies in a closet at home. Those sold out as well the next day.

My other book GOLDENGIRL about a female hero forced into an early retirement at the age of thirty also did well.

There are a lot of topical themes I tried to cover in that story but it’s hard to list them on a post-it note! But as I described them to people, my sales pitch succeeded, especially with women who are my target audience for GG.

Comic fans in general were the highlight of the convention. There was a positive energy that filled the hall with enthusiasm for the funny books we were pitching, for art sketches, or just to discuss comics. Can’t think of one negative incident with the attendees. The only complaint I had was the lack of air conditioning. Being on the second floor under a wide expanse of  windows and bathed in sunshine didn’t help. Felt like I should’ve basted in butter while I was baking. Ugh!

The cosplayers were out in full force with every level of craftmanship from suits made of paper, to store bought, to professional quality but all with a love for the activity.

Everyone posed joyfully for pictures. Had a odd moment where I ran into a cosplayer from Instagram who I thought was from Italy due to her pseudonym but was actually local. Italian profile names are a thing apparently! 

That joy extended to my fellow vendors. Ran into a bunch of old friends (including Ken Knudtsen, Chris Sotomayor, Todd Matthy, Dominic Sparano, etc) and made a bunch of new ones, artist Jamal Jones and writer James Schumacher (get his horror book! https://twitter.com/inheritnovel). Sunday I brought in a crate of munchkins for all of us because donuts bring the world together. I'm convinced we could solve border conflicts if we air-dropped donuts on armies instead of bombs!

Didn’t really get a chance to walk around and meet any celebrities although it would’ve been a thrill to meet Brent (Data) Spiner. The lovely Chase (Deep Space Nine) Masterson did pass by. She signed my friend (& artist) Andrew Rodriguez' t-shirt and left an adorable note on his shoulder. Guess that’s not going in the wash!

So EternalCon was a lot of fun. There was talk that it may move to a larger venue but the museum location does provide a unique perspective where there are other interests all around for the attendees. Most likely I will sign up for a table again next year.

Now to call my printer for more MOSES MILITIA books!

Cheers!