I was at Sferakon this past weekend, and let me tell you, it was a delight to once again attend a proper con in real life, meeting people face to face, listening to lectures, going to quizzes, hanging out.

(We’d had a few online cons in these past three years and there were a few live ones as well but those were to various degress somewhat subdued and/or limited in scope due to Covid-related restrictions)

Some of those people I literally haven’t seen live in years and it made me so very happy not just to see them but to see that they’re doing well. 2020 and 2021 were shitshows, together and each on its own – and 2022 is keeping them good company – and while some of us had it way easier than others, this weekend none of us were those people we’d hung out with in 2019. New normal, sure, but even with all that, still the same crazy, wonderful, weird in the best way possible guys, gals and non-binary pals.

It was a little therapeutic, I won’t lie.

(Just to rub it in retrospectively, 2019 was a great year for cons in Croatia. But we’ll get back to that level, I have no doubts about that)

Sferakon was also my first real life presentation of A Town Called River at a convention! We’d done a couple presentations at various events, but this was ATCR’s first con appearance.

How was it?

Good. Great, actually! We did the clever thing and camouflaged the presentation as a “talk” about urban fantasy, just to rope in some unsuspecting vict – potential readers. And the ruse worked, because there were people listening to me and Vesna, my amazing editor, talk about urban fantasy for a full hour and then they bought copies of ATCR without being pressured or threatened. They all asked for my signature, some even asked for a dedication because they were gifting the book to a friend!

I’ve had people buy ATCR before, online and live, but this was the first time *total strangers* bought it *in front of me*. People I don’t even tangentially know, people who I can’t tell myself bought it just because they know me, like me, want to support me. Dear self-doubt goblin, these people are proof positive you’re wrong, so back into your little cave you go, shooo.

So, what next? Well, A Town Called River will be doing the rounds at various other cons this year, that’s the general plan myself and my intrepid publishers made. And I’m elbows-deep in the guts of the first draft of the sequel, still with a tentative release date of Autumn 2022.

Until next time, stay cool and sassy 🙂