Books, Con Fluff 1, CONS, Eduardo Soliz, FURRY, FURRY FIESTA, MUSIC, ORIGINAL-GAMER.COM, RANDOM REVIEW, RANDOM STOPS, Video, WHATS GOING ON, WHISKEY-TANGO-FOXTROT

92 Things I Noticed at Texas Furry Fiesta 2015

Don’t spill the Chemical X!

Texas’ only furcon, Furry Fiesta, took place last weekend from Feb 20-22 and I had a ball. So, without fur-ther ado:

PRE-TRIP/THURSDAY: Never been on a 4-day trip that didn’t involve a tent before, time to upgrade my luggage.
Nothing like that ‘did I forget to pack anything’ feeling, luckily there’s a Wally Martinez (Wal-Mart) near the hotel.
Weight on Thursday morning: 267 Hope I don’t spend half the event pulling up my pants like at PAX South.
Then again, that wouldn’t be so terrible 😉
Thing I almost forgot #1-Nintendo 3DS, Thanks, Oscar!
Thing I almost forgot #2-Cologne. Insert joke about ‘no female furries’ here
Thing I almost forgot #3- Apparently my insurance card expired last October. Oops!
Thing I did forget #1: Ballcap for my Soos cosplay. Doh!
Didn’t drink caffeine in purpose on the way up, finally had to succumb and stop at the Czech Stop for a soda.
And some kolaches. Mmm, good!
New duffel bag has wheels…I feel so WHITE rolling it around.
I was recognized by someone in the reg line and couldn’t figure out who it was until I heard his furry name.
Felt honored to call Nuka “Doctor” for the first time. Congrats!
Room is on the 9th floor. Well, I did say I needed exercise XP
Full-color conbook! Is niiiice!
A friend said the conbook was in color last year but I didn’t care because I didn’t have a story in it
Yay, a fridge in the room…already stocked with overpriced items…BOO
Karma FTL: Joked about the first guy in reg line being their guinea pig, then I ended up being the guinea pig when I upgraded to Super Sponsor.
Prediction: Lots of angel dragons this year.
Private joke: Wolfboy was denied chocolate chip waffles at Waffle House, dude just has bad luck with chocolate.
Waffle House was great! Now I have another place to stop at when I’m in Austin.
Bad timing though, we bought a total of 15 people there and there were only 2 workers.
They did an admirable job, though!
FRIDAY: Had to get the genuine Waffle House experience the next morning after we swamped them on Thursday night.
Bought a clip-on tie for a cosplay thinking it would be quicker, but it’s more trouble than a real one >.<
Cap or ears with cosplay? Ears, of course. Ignore #8
It says something when Wally Martinez runs out of bags!
Dafuzz is up with no trash cans on the first floor of the hotel?
The magic is routinely being broken here. I has a sad.
Feel funny hanging my ears on my rear view mirror like they’re fuzzy dice or something.
Semi-retired my ears until I figure out a better way to wear them.
“I’m sleepy” “Drink some coffee” “I don’t drink coffee” “There’s no better time to start!”
Took a quick peek in the adult section of the art auction, funny how the quality of the art dropped a little.
The Corral sends to be much improved this year.
I gave away paper copies of one of my books to a few folks and it felt good, I hope the recipients enjoy them.
Had to abandon my lanyard because my badge was blocking my shirt…oh no, I’ve become one of THOSE cosplayers
Two researchers at the con means two surveys to do. I haven’t had this much homework to do since college!
Obligatory work-related item: Saw a tech-sounding name on a building and the first thought that popped in my head was “Are they hiring?”
Got bumped in the head by a fursuiter at the Bucktown Tiger performance but it was okay, he was padded.
I kinda want to knee people that carry speakers playing music in the nards.
Learned some photography stuff from a ‘fur-tographer’ 😀
#41
Heard someone use the phrase “home grown country boy.” Is there any other kind?
What is a fursuiter without a fursuit at a furry con? Very very sad. Dude got better, though.
Thing I could have gone the rest of my life without seeing: Tingle-styled zentai suit. MY EYES
Elevator-con didn’t happen for me, there were a few waits, but they were reasonable. Kudos!
SATURDAY: “I’m gonna dress as Professor Utonium” “Will you have three girls?” “No, but this is a con, they’ll be around” “Yeah but they won’t be girls” /facepaw
When doing a panel, make it more about the topic, and less about you.
Hell, at least have an outline. The last time I went to a panel that was that bad it was held by teenagers.
Heard a bird cawing outside, not sure if actual bird or attendee
It says something when I sneeze in the hotel room and someone walking in the hall says “Bless you”
New thing I’m not sure about: Someone had a friend do a badge of their ‘fruitsona.’
Two people have referred to me as Uncle Kage. Not sure it’s complimentary
After my camera battery conked out last year, I used my iPad mini to record the fursuit parade.
…in landscape. I didn’t want to be THAT guy again.
Got to portray a not-very-nice executive during the voice over panel. That was easy.
Nothing like that NOOOO moment when you realize your 3DS wifi has been off for the last few hours >.<
Next time I think I’ll try a room at the hotel next door because reasons.
Parking Idea: Paint one side of the parking barriers red so people know not to park next to them.
Parking Idea #2: Take the back way through the overflow parking onto Quorum, much faster to get to Belt Line Road or the shopping center across the freeway
Got fur-tobombed while getting my picture taken with a friend, lol
Thing I forgot #2: Small ice chest to store/chill drinks
Wore a lab coat for a costume on Saturday (see above) and kinda liked it, especially the pockets!
SUNDAY: Still no bags at Wal-Mart? Get it together, people!
Awesome idea: Use cardboard priority mail envelopes from USPS for prints to keep them fresh and un-bent
Boston Market’s 3-person meal could have easily fed 4 but SO GOOOD
Whispered “I don’t read Gold Digger” to the Antarctic Press guy because Fred Perry was right there.
I did buy (and enjoyed) two of his other comics and Furry Tales, though!
Eyeball con: Some wag went around sticking googly eyes onto random things and apparently having pupils on fursuits is not cool anymore.
I was right about the angel dragons, but the ‘no pupils for fursuits’ thing is a mite weird.
Van Morrison’s “Moondance” got stuck in my head after hearing it during the jazz performance Saturday night
That’s not a bad thing, BUT I DON’T KNOW THE WORDS >.<
Whenever I see musicians play live, it makes me miss being in a band *sigh*
Had an impromptu “Be Prepared” singing session in the car and realized I’d forgotten most of the words
From Sunday afternoon afterwards the con was pretty cool, seemed like most of the hyperactive kids had left.
MONDAY / POST-TRIP: Woke up Monday to see a layer of snow outside…CRAP
Okay, ice. I’ve spent 99.999% of my life south of San Antonio and know not of such things 😛
Got some neat “furries in the ice” pictures though!
You don’t know which shoes are good for ice until you actualy have ICE
Well at least I wasn’t wearing sandals.
#79
For being a small con, I didn’t see some folks on some days. Odd.
Found a phone, how do we find the owner? Fursuit picture on the home screen of course!
Drive home had a few harrowing moments at the start, but once we left Dallas things were fine.
Still fuzzing cold, though; the Excelsior (my CR-V) still had ice on it when I got home.
Took over 200 pictures during the con, holy cats!
Bye bye, backpack, hello super-sponsor messenger bag.
Not looking forward to seeing how many FA notifications I have pending.
Or work emails for that matter.
Aww #1: No calendar this year.
Aww #2: Didn’t get to wear my “Do not feed the bears” shirt.
Realization upon cleaning out backpack: I have way too many chargers and cables
Weight on Tuesday morning: 268…so why are my pants so bleeping baggy?
Saw a Krystal cosplayer and thought: “Hey, a place where Krystal CAN enjoy her sandwich!“

Eduardo Soliz, FURRY, WORDS, Writing

Rewriting History

writing I previously mused about the universes my stories take place in. There, I mentioned that the majority of my stories did not take place in ‘the real world’ (Earth-Prime). Instead, I have a parallel world (Earth-F) that is inhabited by furries but is otherwise similar to our reality, but for the problems that possessing fur, claws, and sharp pointy teeth might introduce.

I recently found myself writing two stories that inched a bit closer to the real world than usual and went through the trouble of making sure they didn’t get too far away from their real-life influences.

The first, “Rules of the Game,” was based on the invention of basketball by James Naismith but transposed on to a world where a furry basketball league exists (FBA). While I had the basic outline for the story down, I took it upon myself to research both the real-life events that led to the creation of the game as well as what limited information I could find on the fictional history of the Furry Basketball Association. While I didn’t have to do so, I did the research in the interest of accuracy and I’d like to think the story came out better for it.

Another as-of-yet-unpublished story (“Epiphany”) gives a fictional account of what may have influenced the creation of some well-known characters. I could have simply written the story with no regards for the real events or individuals involved, but I wanted it to make real-world sense even though it doesn’t exactly take place in the real world. Once again, I did my research and I hope that the story stands up to scrutiny.

I might be the only one that cares about such things, but such is the price of having an anal-retentive computer guy brain!

Books, Con Fluff 1, Con Fluff 2, CREATIVE, FlipSide Stories, FURRY, JUST SAYING, Nine to Five Lives, One Sheet Stories, Seven Super-Short Sci-Fi Stories, WORDS, Writing

Earth-Mine

writing
When I started writing fiction, I didn’t give much thought into linking my short stories together or having them take place in a shared universe. As time went on, I did find myself putting some of them into a few distinct worlds:

“Earth Prime” is our home-sweet-dimension, and given that the majority of my stories involve some combination of furries, super-science, and fantasy, I don’t know that many of them actually take place here. I do have a few sci-fi stories that take place ‘twenty minutes into the future,’ that is, near enough for us to relate to them (I hope!).

“Earth-F” is a parallel version of our world inhabited by furries. These stories tend to be humorous and I like to ‘Hanna-Barbera’ the names in those stories. For example, in a story that took place in a television studio, an older character referred to old-time TV stars such as “Mewcille Ball” and “Droopy Sales.” I know, I know!

On “Earth H-minus” mankind has destroyed itself in what becomes known as the “Final War” and after their intelligence has been increased due to increased mutations, the furries eventually inherit the Earth. One as-yet unpublished story takes places in a period where humans and furries coexist, though not harmoniously. Society is eventually rebuilt by the furries but I haven’t quite hammered out the predator/prey relationship rules yet or if the humans were completely eradicated. Yeah, its not exactly a happy place.

The ‘Enchanted Forest’ stories obviously happen in a fantasy world, but I haven’t done much there (like come up with a clever name) though it has been established that magic does have limits. For now, anyway.

I should probably sit down and figure out just where all my stories fit, because inevitably some reader out there is going to try to ‘connect the dots’ and completely screw it up. Well, assuming I haven’t already! 😀

Click here if you’d like to read some of those stories!

ANIME, CONS, FURRY, JUST SAYING, RANDOM STOPS, REALMSCON, WHATS GOING ON

35 Things I Noticed During RealmsCon 2014

Cosplay? Why not Zoidberg?

OMG the Corpus Christi humidity kills me, yet another reason I need to lose weight
The line for pre-registration was zero so I got my badges quickly. Always preregister, folks!
Both aisles of the Artist’s Alley hallway were being used, which made it little crowded
The bigger dealer area was nice, but they really need to put AA in a better spot
A few empty tables here and there in AA, sadly typical
The artists I knew that weren’t coming back to Realms after poor sales in the past, didn’t.
Sighted in AA: body-sized “Hug pillows?” YEAH, STILL NOT CREEPY AT ALL
Filling out paper form in the reg line always holds it up
No multi-arcade game machine in the game room? FAIL
GoPro cameras seem to be everywhere now for better or for worse
The Zoidberg cosplayer at right was probably my favorite one of the con
Note to self: leave the laptop in the CAR if you aren’t going to use it *huff*
I am sorry, Jena, but a sandwich and a hamburger are most definitely NOT the same thing. Guess it’s a “guy thing”
123456? Yeah, they’ll never guess *that* hotel WiFi password
Want to turn a decent hotel room into OMG BEST ROOM EVAR? Add a fridge and a microwave!
Gave my niece a ride to the con, she bought a tail while she was there…ONE OF US ONE OF US
Construction on Shoreline? Dammit Corpus!
I always see cases of water on the cheap at Stripes convenience stores except THE ONE TIME I ACTUALLY WANT TO BUY ONE >.<
You know you’re bushed when you don’t want to go up the stairs to eat on the second floor of Whataburger by the Bay
Apparently VIP passes allow one to skip lines, here, what a concept!
The actor playing Kirk in “Star Trek Continues” had a celebrity table and McCoy was in Artist’s Alley…typical
Holy cats, we managed to fill up a panel room and then some for the “Furry 101” panel
There are even a few furries present, which might have been cheating 😉
According to Wolfboy adding “-ies” to the end of an animal name makes it furry “insect-ies” “shark-ies”
I can’t argue against his logic, though.
MASSIVE con fail for not having projectors for either one of my panels even though I had requested them
Projectors were found but I had no screen so I had to project my presentations onto the wall at an angle and figure out how to darken the lights. -_-
Luckily I think I could do my e-book panel without one, but still!
What the fuzz was up with that guy that wanted to take a picture of all the furries jumping up in the air?
I was tickled that the schedule part of the conbook was titled ”Celebrity Schedules’ and my name was on it. Oh, you!
I don’t get the point of having someone watching the door at the end of Artist’s Alley, can’t they just, I don’t know, LOCK THE DOOR?
Seafood restaurant, why is your salad bar backwards?
There were only 8 people at my e-book panel, but those three very interested folks made it worth it
Since nothing was scheduled after e-books the panel room became an improvised fursuit lounge.
I lost two pounds over the weekend, perhaps I need to attend more cons!

FURRY, JUST SAYING

Lost Stripes

Miss ya, buddy

The weekend after Christmas last year, I adopted a cat from a local shelter. His ‘given name’ at the shelter was Reese, but I called him Stripe. He is a huge 10-plus pound brown furball with black stripes (hence the name) and a few patches of white here and there. I remember when I first took him out of his ‘catbox’ he freaked and tried to escape through the fireplace, and took to hiding behind the clothes dryer for a week or two.

After that adjustment period, we got along fairly well. Stripe loved attention and would happily sit on my lap and sleep while I sat on the sofa playing games or watching movies, taking time out ever so often to pet him. If he wasn’t on my lap he was usually napping nearby (see picture). He had a tendency to beg for food and would even hop on the back of my chair as I sat at the dining room table and try to see what I was eating. I would usually cave in and toss him a piece of meat, which he would often bat around for a few minutes before eating. He would also lie down on the floor and mew until I petted him or rubbed his belly.

The only issue I had with him was that he wanted attention all the time and often at the most inopportune times, like when I was cooking or trying to do work on the computer. For all his pining for attention, though, he was shy around new people, going as far as to retreat to his familiar clothes dryer hiding spot whenever guests would visit. Most of my friends said he was an odd cat, and I was hardly one to disagree. He snubbed the scratching post and cat tunnel I bought for him, but would bat plastic bottle caps around the floor all day long.

As is often the case with pets, our relationship had its rocky parts. I quickly learned that the combination of me being a wiggler and him being just a little bit bitey made it a bad idea to have him sleeping in the bed. He eventually developed a habit of clawing the sofas which resulted in several squirts of water from a spray bottle, which he despised. Seriously, if I even reached for the bottle, he would dash away in a heartbeat. There were more good times than bad, though. I started letting him outside in the afternoons and he seemed to enjoy exploring the yard and going about the neighborhood. As there aren’t many stray dogs around, I felt safe in letting him go out, but never after dark. When he’d had his fun, he would sit outside the side door and mew until I let him back in.

I let him out last Tuesday. He never came back.

I’ve gone out walking around the neighborhood, but Stripe has been nowhere to be found. Every morning after I wake up and every evening when I got home from work, I check the side door, but he’s never there. It’s been almost a week, and I’m already missing the little things, like how he’d wait outside my bedroom door in the mornings or when he would stand up and paw on my thigh while I sat working on the computer.

Part of me wonders if maybe he just wanted more attention than I could give him. I’d like to think (hope, really) that he ran off to be with someone else who could give him more time than I could. I’ve already cleaned up and put away the litter box and cat toys and will soon be vacuuming up his cat fur for the last time. He may not have been the ideal cat, but I wasn’t the best owner, either. I’m don’t know that I’ll be getting another pet anytime soon. Despite the implications, I’d rather he have run off because I was a lousy owner than to have something bad happen to him.

Good luck, Reese, wherever you are.

Con Fluff 2, FURRY, JUST SAYING, Uncategorized, WORDS, Writing

Second Lives

A real stinker

As a creator, you never know how your works are going to be received. Things done on just a whim can become your Next Big Thing while your Magnum Opus sits next to it unloved despite all of the blood, sweat and tears that have been (metaphorically, I hope) poured into it. You release your art into the wild and it’s up to John and Jane Q. Public to sort it all out.

In the same way that ‘stories write themselves,’ characters can take on a life of their own. “Chris the Watchfur” was intended to be a one-off character in a conbook story titled “The Tell-Tale Tie,” which can be found in the upcoming Con Fluff 2. The story and character were inspired by my friend Chris Holm, who took it upon himself to draw the character. A friend also drew the Watchfur as part of an artist Secret Santa, and when I later needed a villain for another conbook story, he made yet another appearance, this time as a supervillian with time-based superpowers. Oddly enough, other characters I have written for the explicit purpose of writing a series of stories with them have not managed to escape the confines of their first story.

Not bad for a one-off character, and a crook, no less!

FURRY, Oklacon, RANDOM STOPS, TECH, WHATS GOING ON, Wild Nights

34 Things I Noticed During Wild Nights 2014

Robin Hood!

I spent the weekend at Oklahoma’s other outdoor furry convention, Wild Nights, and as is always the case, I noticed a few things…

After two false starts trying to go to this convention, itlooks like the third time’s a charm!
Introduced my co-pilot to slot machines at a gas station casino; many apologies in advance if he becomes a gambling addict!
Cell service is zip at the park, luckily I saved the camp maps to my tablet.
At first, I listened in horror as the only FM stations my radio picked up played country music and then luckily stumbled upon a classic rock station…whew
Looks like they got off to a late start with dinner, I hope everyone had a big lunch.
The park is awesome, and even has real trees!
Feels odd to not be wearing my rings, I keep reaching to take them off before I walk to the restroom…TMI, maybe?
Old tech is better #1: LED lights have come a long way, but I’ll take my trusty 2-mantle Coleman lantern for lighting up camp any day.
I thought I was going to be attached to my backpack for the weekend but I surprisingly did okay without it.
Thing I forgot: a handkerchief, its driving me nuts because I keep reaching for it when I cough, but it isn’t there!
Last year, I wrote a story at Oklacon about my own withdrawal from the Internet. This year, I may scribe a similar story about a friend descending into madness.
The blooping noise the tap makes when getting water is the COOLEST THING EVAR.
I didn’t go to the hat-making panel and spent the rest of the con wishing that I had one!
Idea: Glow in the dark zippers for tents.
Temps were in the fifties outside on Thursday night, WHY were the a/c units on at the cabins?
Robber’s Cave State Park took a little looking for, didn’t help that I took the scenic route. Stupid Apple Maps
The cave itself took some hunting to find, too, but then again, we went off the beaten path.
Apparently the NOAA weather computer saying ‘shitstorm’ on the radio is the funniest thing ever.
Crepes for breakfast, potato soup for lunch; seems like someone in the kitchen knows what they’re doing!
Didn’t bring the car key for passenger, came to regret it after being asked ‘is it locked?’ every hour or so.
We got caught by the grocery stores in the nearby town being closed early twice, once at 9 and then at 8. I wanted to ask if dancing was also forbidden and that’s because I’m from a small town in Texas.
Nothing like hearing a gust of wind come from the trees then seeing a cloud of pollen descend. Crap.
Scheduling seems to be an issue for Wild Nights, and registration also took a little while. Don’t forget to bring some patience along!
Comparing the two OK outdoor cons: Wild Nights has the better venue, but Oklacon seems to be better organized. Balance of the universe and all that.
Also: At Oklacon, I took home red dirt in the Excelsior as a souvenir. This time, it’s POLLEN. POLLEN EVERYWHERE. *cough cough*
Saturday afternoon turned into siesta time at the con, there was very little going on. Works for me.
Wore my bear ears into town for no good reason. Oh yeah, because I felt like it. That’s a good reason.
Had my first s’more ever, yum!
Once the weather forecast started mentioning thunderstorms, hail, and tornadoes, it quickly lost its comedy value.
Old tech is better #2: While most smartphones were useless, my radio worked just fine.
There appeared to be an exodus of people Saturday as word got around about the impending weather. We hung around, but put everything away just in case we had to make a quick exit.
I don’t think I have ever slept in a top bunk, and after spending a restless night in one, I still haven’t.
This felt more like a camping trip at a furry convention than a convention that involved camping.
Drove into some hail after leaving the event, apparently we just missed the bad weather. There but for the grace of God we go.

CONS, FURRY, FURRY FIESTA, RANDOM STOPS, WHATS GOING ON

46 Things I Noticed During Furry Fiesta 2014

I’m bringing my iPad mini along to use as a hotspot and not a tablet, go figure.

Best Furiends! I’m the one in the middle :3
Downloaded the first ten episodes of “Welcome to Night Vale” so I can see what all the hullabaloo is about.
I figure that should at least get me to Waco.
After about two years finally remembered my Buc-ees coffee mug!
Note to self: Get a toll tag
Apparently one taco is not enough to get me from San Antonio to Dallas. Should have known better.
First order of business upon arriving, turn on 3DS!
“Welcome to Night Vale” short review: OMG IT IS AWESOME I MUST COSPLAY AS CARLOS THE SCIENTIST NOW
I had a guide orca-dragon take me to my room, go figure.
It is a HIKE from the overflow parking to the hotel.
No story of mine in the conbook this year, I has a sad 😦
Hopefully that’ll be my one missed conbook deadline for the year.
Still feels weird having my actual name on my badge, oh well.
Good Lord, the hotel is cold as frak, good for the fursuiters but BRRR for us!
Elevator-con, and we’re on the top floor…greaat
Note to self: room share with >4 people, NEVER AGAIN, sucks not having a key
These things get more fun the more people I know at them, yet I somehow end up alone in the con suite at the end of the day at least once. *sigh*
The International Anthropomorphic Research Project survey was fairly short this year, yay
Friday was a wash due to being tired, definitely driving up on Thursday next year
Soda is not readily available at the hotel *twitch*
Saw plenty of furs at the store shopping like it was no big deal on Saturday morning. That’s kind of cool.
One random guy stopped me to chat at the store, I think he wanted a ride because I passed by him on the way back to the hotel. Sorry, dude.
There are never enough blankets. Bring one.
Wandering about without wearing my glasses (due to a mask) should be fun.
Maybe its me but shouldn’t “Buy It Now” mean I get it now?? So I’m new at this…sorry
Is there a superhero whose power is fixing elevators?
I forgot to turn on my 3DS until 1pm on Saturday, nooo!
Maintenance guys and ‘bartender’ at the con lounge had a great “Who’s on First” exchange involving ice. Lucky I was there to break it up.
The fursuit parade took 30 minutes to film, glad my battery held out!
I was more worried about my camera’s battery giving out vs my cell phone, heh.
Aaaand its gone.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the person that advised me to wear my ears with the elastic looping behind my head! Much better!
One downside of bigger hotel is that its harder to find people >.<
Had sushi for the first time ever. As the old beer commercials used to say: “Tastes great, less filling.”
I wasn’t sure what I was eating at the sushi joint, but being of Mexican heritage, I figured it couldn’t be worse than any of the stuff I already eat.
Had some random kid join us for sushi, think I frightened the bejabbers out of him, though. GOOD.
Well-done fries at In-N-Out Burger are still the BEST THING EVAR. Open one in San Antonio, already!
I wonder if it would be easier for FurPlanet to simply mark the books that aren’t ‘adults only.’
Finally got a room key on Sunday and LOST IT *sad face*
Ordered a commission that is going to be drawn ON A PUNCH CARD OMG PAWSOME
Bought my table stuff along in case I wanted to give a stab at selling books in artists alley again. I didn’t.
I heard the Artist’s Alley line started at 4 in the morning, change the system to a random drawing or something, guys!
Biggest problem was probably the elevators. I need the exercise and can deal with the faraway parking.
Glad to have a friend along on the drive home, think I need a partner moreso then, than on the drive up.
Something always seems to happen on I-35 when I drive home for a convention, got held up in New Braunfels for a good twenty minutes because of an accident that shut down the freeway COMPLETELY.
Let’s do it again!

Books, BUSINESS, Con Fluff 1, CONS, CREATIVE, FOOD, FURRY, HOUSE, JUST SAYING, RANDOM REVIEW, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH SUPPORT, WHATS GOING ON, WORDS, Writing

RANDOM REVIEW: 2013 A.D.

2013 As the final hours of the year tick away, I have to say that 2013 was a really good one for me.

After years of dealing with apartments and all that malarkey, I broke down and bought a house. Home ownership has been pretty awesome so far: I went from one-bedroom apartments to a two-bedroom house with a garage and a huge backyard and rabbits and I can barbeque and have friends over and I love it. Given the age of the house, home repairs and replacing things will eventually come but for now its been smooth sailing.

On the e-book front, I decided to try to sell printed copies of my work at a few conventions and events and failed spectacularly, at least from a business standpoint. I can count my total sales on my hands. People just don’t read much anymore, or at least not the types of folks that go to anime or furry conventions. On the plus side, I did get to talk to lots of folks, present some panels and if nothing else, hopefully inspire some folks to ‘go it alone’ themselves. I only published one new e-book (should have been two, but life and all that) and definitely need to up my output next year.

2013 was a fun year of conventions, camping, writing, video games, furries, cookies, home maintenance and most importantly, friends and family. I am optimistic that 2014 will be even better; my goal is to compete at least two story collections as well as the follow-up to “The Rules of Tech Support,” which is my best-seller so far. I am also hoping to attend some new conventions, make new friends, and well, get some work done on the house. So without any further ado:

MISSION START!

BUSINESS, CONS, CREATIVE, FURRY, JUST SAYING, Oklacon, RANDOMIZER9.COM, WORDS

Faith In Humanity -1

It would appear that I may have been ripped off again by an artist at Oklacon this year. 😦 Last year I paid for a commission that I never received, and this year I ordered a print that has not yet arrived in the mail even though the seller said they would be sent out ‘as soon as we get home.’ I am holding out hope that it will appear in my mailbox any day now, but my optimism is fading now that its 2-1/2 weeks after the fact.

Part of it is my fault, I suppose: I’m often told that I have too much faith in people, and I don’t deny that’s probably true. I like to think that most people are honest, particularly if they are conducting business, so I didn’t bother getting the names of the folks involved. After all, they have my contact information and they can let me know if something comes up. Unfortunately, that also leaves me no recourse should the seller fail to deliver. (ba-doom tish) I hold out hope that the sellers weren’t being dishonest: maybe life got in the way, or they lost my address or USPS lost the package or their computer crashed or house burned down or something else happened to explain why I didn’t receive that which I paid for.

Like I said, too much faith in humanity.

It sucks that some less-than-honest (or perhaps incompetent) characters that were in the Dealer’s Den have to cast a cloud on what was otherwise an fun time. I plan to going back to Oklacon next year, but I’ll be holding onto my cash a little more tightly.

Naturally, the optimist in me still expects to find that print in the mailbox tomorrow, but he’ll eventually give up after another week…maybe.

Eduardo Soliz

IT Guy, short story author, podcaster, and furry!

Category Archives: FURRY