Anime Detour

So I was at Anime Detour this weekend in Minnesota, and I had a blast, even had a pre-launch party for the comic I’m writing and having finally seen the art I am stoked.

But there is one thing that I realized, it is very hard to let the people who inspired you to write know that they have.

You have to open up, and say thank you, and it’s not always easy, and it’s hard to bring it up. Especially at a convention.

But that is where it happened.

Years ago, 2010, I graduated with a film degree, and had no idea where to go.

I knew I wanted to create, but finding an outlet was hard, and I also was dealing with some very strong negative emotions.

It wasn’t the greatest cocktail, and it really would have probably ended somewhere not good.

2013, and I go to Anime Detour, and I go to panels hosted by Chris Ayres and J. Michael Tatum.

And something clicks.

The wheels start grinding forwards again, I remember what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. I wanted to write, I wanted to be an author.

And I started to work at it.

Which is the thing you have to do.

I went home and wrote Jewel Princess and the Shadow Lord.

I started to write The Last Sunlord. (Which I still have to edit.)

The following year, 2014, I meet Jeff, and I start working on Canvas Skies.

And after last year Detour, 2015, I published, Blades of Sorrow and Paper Prison.

And soon I will finish editing The Last Sunlord and The Mermaid’s Tear; editing not being my favorite thing to do, and will finish writing a couple of pulp books.

And all of it steaming from, going to Anime Detour in 2013, going to the panels hosted by Chris Ayres and J. Michael Tatum, and reconnecting to a part of me, that had been smothered by life.

Which is really hard to say face to face, and I wanted to this year, just it’s not easy to work up the courage to say it in person.

But something that I believe should be said, because, well people usually will always get criticized in life, sometimes, I know in my case, can be deserved, and sometimes, I know in my case, not.

And the times when you effect a person, one whose trying to figure things out, who feels hopelessly lost and confused, and who may be slipping downwards emotionally.

When you give that person the direction they seek; even by just attending a convention and going to panels and talking, it can really create something good in their lives and they may want to say thank you.

And I may have missed my chance to say it in person this year, though I did try and pass it on through others, but I do want it out there.

Because, Thank You.

There is a reason that Anime Detour holds a special place in my heart, I’m an extroverted introvert; and outside of conventions, I am quietish, and I am aware that at conventions I am not. This can led to me placing my foot very far into my mouth, though I try and remove it quickly when I do. Seriously I try not to say stupid things. It was the first convention I went to, back in 2005, and though I missed a couple years, I don’t ever plan on it again. It allows me to be me, and that is not something you get to do in life that often.

And it pointed me in the direction I wanted to go, and it gives me the feels every year. Even if I’m not so keen on showing it or talking about it.

Edit : When I linked this with my facebook I added this; and I realized that this afterthought was also kind of on the same level, and also expressed my love for Anime Detour, so I wanted to thumbtack it on here too.

I would like to say though, that every guest; all of them; make Detour special. Because it really is more than a convention when you’re there. Every guest I’ve met at Detour, has made a positive impact. I go home and find a new determination to, keep writing, keep striving forward. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am not just using that to keep moving, I have plenty of reasons to keep striving forward, but, it’s nice to attend a convention that is so positive, from the staff, guest, and attendees.It’s fantastic to be around that energy. And to be fair to other cons, they have that as well, it’s hard to be negative at conventions. But this was the first convention that I went to, and from it’s humble roots, to now; for me high school, through college, to now. I may be on the outside, it took me a while to go from an introvert to an extroverted introvert, and I may be a noisy background character, but even to me Detour has become family.