Tag Archives: Decatur Book Festival

The Long Weekend, Overstimulation, & Frogs With Pointy Teeth

I’m awake, and I’ve been lax of late with the blog, so I figured I’d type at you a bit.

As the last couple of entries indicate, this has been the weekend of both my big convention and my book festival debuts, at DragonCon (largest SF con in the world, I’m told) and the Decatur Book Festival (largest book fest in the US, right here walking distance from my front door).

It has been fun and exciting and stressful and exhausting, and I’ll revisit it in another post once it’s truly over (I still have a DragonCon panel at 4 pm tomorrow…uh, today. Monday.), hopefully with pictures from at least one of my appearances.

I’m not sure if it’s just the over-stimulation of it all, the public speaking, the meeting of cool new people, the armies of amazingly hot women in cool costumes, or lingering full moon energy, but I got maybe two hours of sleep so far tonight. And I have an earworm of Felicia Day’s lovely voice singing “Do you want to date my avatar?” over and over in my head.

Scanning the news as I sat here in my drawers, wishing I was a-slumber, I came across this headline from The Guardian: “Lost World of Fanged Frogs and Giant Rats Discovered in Papua New Guinea.”

Fanged frogs!

I already wrote about the discovery in the Andes of the world’s tiniest frogs a while back, indication that perhaps the evil Frogs of Doom were up to new tricks after their defeat by Spartacus Wilde and his kids (as chronicled in my novel Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom). And now this.

Fanged frogs. In a lost world.

They also discovered a species of rat as big as a cat, kangaroos that live in trees, and a fish that grunts. Among many other new critters.

See? There really is pulp in our world.

UPDATE: For another report on the lost world and its denizens, with several pictures, check out The Daily Mail here.

Reminder: Tim’s Atlanta Activities This Weekend (and where to find me and get a signed copy of my book)

Just a reminder to folks in the Atlanta area that I’m at DragonCon and the Decatur Book Festival this weekend.

In a couple of hours (4:30-5:00 pm Saturday, 9/5/09), I’ll be on stage alongside author David Lubar. After that, I believe for an hour or so, we’ll be having a book signing and I’ll be signing stacks of Doc Wilde and The Frogs of Doom. So if you’re at the festival, or in the area, this is a good chance to get your autographed copy.

If you can’t make it, Little Shop of Stories on Decatur Square will have some signed copies the rest of the weekend, assuming they don’t sell out.

My son and I have been enjoying DragonCon, and are already fairly worn out (so if I’m less than sparkly at the festival appearance, that’s why. That and the very bad case of insomnia I had most of last night).

At the con, I’m carrying a few copies of the book with me in case I run into someone who wants one. You can catch me on Sunday and Monday for sure at the panels I’m scheduled to appear at (details below). Also, The Missing Volume, a very nice book vendor with a table in the Marquis Ballroom (slots 614 & 615) has agreed to stock a few signed copies so if you want one you can get it there, assuming they’re not sold out.

My appearances at DragonCon are:

Writing for the Ya and Childrens’ Market
Sunday, 11:30 am
Location: Hyatt Regency Embassy Level, Manila/Singapore/Hong Kong

The Future of Fantastic Fiction
Monday, 4:00 pm
Location: Hyatt Regency Embassy Level, Manila/Singapore/Hong Kong

As I said, I should have some spare copies if you show up and want one inscribed.

Otherwise, I’ll be just wandering the con at various times. I’m the 6′ guy, with blue eyes and a square jaw, with my name tag on.

Atlanta: Tim Byrd @ DragonCon & Decatur Book Fest

For those in (or coming to) Atlanta, I’ll be making appearances at two big events on Labor Day weekend (Sep. 4-7).

I’ll be hopping back and forth between DragonCon in downtown Atlanta and the Decatur Book Festival in (you guessed it) Decatur all weekend.

At DragonCon, I’ll be on these panels:

Writing for the YA and Children’s Market
Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong – Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: How to write for an audience that’s half your age–or less. Tapping into the minds of today’s young people–what DO they want to read?

The Future of Fantastic Fiction
Time: Mon 04:00 pm Location: Manila / Singapore / Hong Kong – Hyatt (Length: 1)
Description: What lies ahead for the S/F, Fantasy and Horror genres? Can we forecast trends or should we just jump on the bandwagon?

At the Decatur Book Festival, I’ll be appearing along with author David Lubar at 4:30 pm Saturday on the Target Children’s Stage. Signed copies of the book will also be available the whole weekend at Little Shop of Stories on Decatur Square.

And I’ll be wandering both events with no real planning all weekend.

Books will be available at the DBF for signing after the appearance, and I’m going to try to have some on hand for random buyers at DragonCon. I hope to see as many current and potential Doc Wilde fans at both events as I can.