BURY Con 26

As we're up in the North West, we head further north after MaccPow and stay in a hotel in Bury so we're refreshed for the Bury Con.

It's our second and I love that we've already scoped out our favourite Indian Restaurant and know the local pubs.

We had a great curry, I have the mildest and Steve has the hottest on offer, and I ask them to the sure not to confuse them. After that we found two nice armchairs on the first floor of a busy pub and sat, with few beers, to eat h the England game. 

Hmmmm... the first half was pretty boring so we headed back the hotel at half time and watched a better half in the hotel bar.

It was a game of two halves.

The Con itself had moved venues and wasn't as busy as last year, but we did well enough.

Again it's great chatting to new readers and old alike, and to people who wondered just what on earth was going on 😆.

After the event we headed back south, I dropped Steve back at his and was home by about 8pm.

All in all a really enjoyable weekend, and hope to do the same next year.

MacPOW 26

We really enjoy the convention in the centre of Macclesfield.

I bought my first house in the outskirts of Macc many years ago and it's great to have an excuse to visit every year, I still love the town. 

Setting off around 6am, I pick up Steve Tanner on the way, and we arrived in Macc at around 9am. It has changed a bit over the years and I did get lost a little, I knew roughly where I was but didn't recognise the road I was looking for. I found it in the end and we arrived at the Town Hall, with comics, at 9.30am. 

Not idea as I do like to be early at events but it only takes me about 10 mins to set up the table.

This year I was sandwiched between Steve and Kev Sutherland, and as I had only a half table, focussed on the WesterNoir books.

It was great to meet up with old friends and meet new fellow creators. 

It's never a very busy event but it's great fun. 

We had enough sales to make it worth it financially too, which always helps.

We'll certainly be back in 2027, if they'll have us 😊.

A Banner Advert for the Thought Bubble event

As I seem to change my company name every other year I decided to have an advert for this year's Thought Bubble Convention.

To let people know that they an still get their latest WesterNoir at the event, and to look for us as 4D Comics.

Andy Bloor pulled it together and I think it does the job very nicely.

Portsmouth Comic Con

So, last weekend was Portsmouth's Annual Comic Con.

I've done this for a few years now, and as it's only 1.5 hours away I tend to drive back and forth each day to save money that would be spent on a hotel room. Had I been travelling on my own then the current cost of petrol may have challenged this approach but this year I was bringing Gary Crutchley and his wife Karen (who were staying over at my place for the weekend) with me so it was definitely cheaper.

But, would we all be able to get up, out of the house and on the road, in time?

It all went very smoothly. We arrived in plenty of time and after two short trips between the car and my table we had sent up with plenty of time for a nice breakfast.

As always there were queues forming, which is nice to see.

Once again my table was in its usually position in the marquee and it's great when people look happy to find you.

We had a lot of people coming back to buy more, having bought our WesterNoir books over the last few years. In a couple of cases we even had people coming back to buy more having only just bought a book or two an hour earlier.

You get to see some great cosplays at this event and my favourite this year had to be the Planet of the Apes couple, with baby Ceasar.

It was great to catch up with a couple of fellow Dungeon and Dragons enthusiasts and continue to talk about our plans with regards a WesterNoir RPG. More on that in the future, but for now it's early days.

Sunday was much like Saturday. Yes it was a little quieter, as is usually the way of Comic Cons, but there were still lots of people to chat to about our books and sales weren't bad at all.

Portsmouth Comic Con really is a family affair. 

It has something for everyone.

Yes, it has a mostly comic theme to it but there are also computer games, authors with their books, role playing games, lessons on how to paint miniatures and of course a special area for TV and film celebrities. 

The Guildhall has something of of interest on every floor.

There were even said to be dinosaurs about the place..

..but I didn't see any.

It's great to be part of this event.

I'm already looking forward to next year.

Dave's Comics

Took a trip to Brighton this week, I've never really explored the city before and I must say, I'm a fan.

The Lanes were really fun to explore with their mix of art, antiques and cafes (amongst other stuff) and I found Dave's Comics.

Which is a fabulous comic shop.

It has such a good range of books (and comics) and all placed in appropriate sections. 

Great fun to explore, and I could have spent a lot longer there.

Spoke to Stephen about hopefully stocking WesterNoir in the store sometime in the future, which would be great as we really don't sod any Cons anywhere near Brighton.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Brighton itself reminded me Brooklyn in the USA, it felt very arty and fun. Lots of great murals too.

Banbury Comic Con

Another well run comic con from the Bolt Events people. 

First outing for my new banner 😊

Yes, I should have put the table cloth lower to hide the boxes under the table but there you go.

I didn't do quite as well at this one as the families seemed to be there for the kids more than at Maidenhead, where the parents were also interested in stuff, but an enjoyable day.

The banners have arrived.

Both versions look fabulous and are ready for the next Convention.

I'll be taking mine to Banbury Comic Con next Saturday...

And also, for the first time in a while, I'll also have business cards.

Once again a big thank you to Andy Bloor for pulling this together. 

I wanted it to be similar to the banner, so that people remembered the table when they got home from the Convention.

Double sided and printed through Moo, but this time I've printed one design. 

Last time I had a few variations and found people collecting them at conventions.. these things aren't cheap 😆