It’s Tiiiiiiiiiiiime!

It’s that time of year again! The time of the year when I find myself amongst my people once more, where people don’t look at me sideways for being so very enthusiastic about fictional characters and worlds. It’s that time when socialising doesn’t feel like a slog… until afterwards, when I will sleep for a whole day in an effort to recover from socialising all weekend.

Worth it.

Can*Con!

Can*Con is nigh!

Alright, not that nigh, but nigh enough, alright? I’m excited.

This year I will have two titles published by my imprint to sell. The Dying God and Other Stories, and The Timbercreek Incident. I have stock of both books now. There was a while there when I didn’t think I’d get The Timbercreek Incident in time.

I ordered stock at the end of August. It was supposed to ship the middle of September. The estimated dispatch date came and went, and I didn’t get the notification. I got in touch with the company and it all got sorted in just a couple of days.

A note on that: I’m getting all my POD books printed by BookVault for any events I’m attending in person. I didn’t want to be sending my money to Amazon, so their POD services were out. Draft2Digital is another service I’m going with, because their distribution network is fantastic (and it lets me opt out of selling through Amazon). So as soon as I can, I’ll have them distribute the book to their network sans Amazon. Unfortunately, their printers all appear to be in the United States, which become problematic if I want to get the books to me here in Canada; what with all the trade war nonsense happening.

BookVault doesn’t have the same distribution. Their network is entirely Amazon. However, they have printing partners in various countries, including one in Canada. That means I can print books here in Canada and have them sent to me without having to worry about customs holdups or potential import costs and so on. That’s very nice, given how unstable everything is.

I also like that they’re based in the UK AND they have some really gorgeous bespoke publishing offers (prayed edges, foiled covers, hardcovers with jackets and ribbon sewn-in bookmarks, boxed sets…. Some really cool options), so I’ll definitely be using them for all of my special edition publications.

Anyway, the books arrived as of the writing of this (Monday), so I’m really pleased. The trick will be to bring them home (I had them delivered to work so as to avoid porch pirates and long lines at the post office). It’s a heavy box, so taking it on the bus is going to be problematic. Meh. I’ll figure it out.

Anyway, Can*Con is soon and I’m very excited. I’m not really as prepared as I should be. I wanted the painting I’m going to be offering to be done, so I could show it off here. Perhaps next week. We’ll see.

Anyway, I still have to make the graphic for my schedule, but it’s below in case you want to see me on a panel. When I’m not in a panel, you can find me in the vendor’s room, attempting to sell some books. So you can probably find me there. Otherwise I’ll be wandering around looking equal parts overwhelmed and overjoyed. Anyway, my schedule:

Friday 16 October, 2026

• I’m in the vendor’s room. Come find me! I’ll be happy to chat!

Saturday 17 October, 2026

• 10:00-10:50am - History vs Historical Fiction
• 2:00 - 2:30pm - Signing! Come chat and maybe have a book signed.

Sunday 18 October, 2026

• 11:30am - 12:20pm - The Static Protagonist
• 1:00 - 1:50pm - Noble Knight, Courageous Cop

Monday 19 October, 2026

• Passed out the entire day. I cannot be reached. Don’t even try.

If you’re in town, and interested in speculative fiction or trying to break into the scene, I cannot recommend this event enough. I went to my first one fifteen years ago (give or take), and it was the kindest, warmest, most welcoming place. For a person who struggles in crowds and gets seriously stressed in unfamiliar situations, it was about the safest I’ve felt in a new place possible.

I have loved it ever since. No matter where the world takes me, I hope that I will always get to come to Can*Con.

Alright, I’m not going to get overly sappy about it.

Hope to see you in a few weeks!

Slán go foill!