Poking my head in to say hello. The classes I mentioned in my last post are almost over, which is great because I have so much writing I need/want to do! Some assignment revising, a project, and an exam and I’ll be through. Major stuff going down in my non-writing career, too, which I won’t talk about, but things seem to be working out, so it’s all good. I love teaching, it’s like writing in that it’s creative but it’s not like writing in that it’s not egotistical. It is for some teachers, I suppose, but when I’m Mr. Gauthier, it’s about the kids. That’s why Bill Gauthier has this website on those books you should be buying for Christmas gifts! Click on the Published Works button at the top of this page to order my books from websites selling them.

I did, indeed, go to Rock ‘N Shock in October. Met the writer Lee Thompson, who was a helluva nice guy. I did not get to meet Robert Englund, though, because of some crappy communication on the part of the convention. Gary Busey walked by me and he’s fuckin’ scary. Also met writer John McIlveen, who shares the Table of Contents page with me on Borderlands 5. Nice guy, though I was so nervous meeting people, I think I came off strange.

I could’ve met more people except that I didn’t find people that friendly. Let me put it this way: I’ve mentioned I have a difficult time in social settings. My only trip (so far) to NECON was a failure because I spoke to almost nobody and then left. I sat through three interesting panels but freaked and ran. My fault, no one else’s. For Rock ‘N Shock, I intended to change that. Lee had reached out via Facebook, so I was emboldened. So I approached a different booth, one that I wish I’d known was there earlier but didn’t, and found a lot of writers I’m friends with on FB standing and sitting around talking…to each other. Several of them even glanced at me but resumed their conversations. No one said anything to me. They didn’t know (I think) I was a writer, I could’ve been a horror fan wanting to buy their merchandise, but I was pretty much ignored.

Seriously, folks, if you want fans to buy your stuff, be available to them. Yes, going to the convention is partly to have fun and meet colleagues and friends, but it’s also work. The fans are the ultimate reason those conventions exist. Be friendlier to them.

Anyway, the day was fun. I got a reproduction poster from A Nightmare on Elm Street and a signed copy of Nursery Rhymes 4 Dead Children by Lee Thompson.