LA WORLDCON

Planet Mertz made a good showing at the 84^th World Science Fiction Convention in Anaheim, California, selling a five-day total of 102 books and five Poetic Licenses.  

Team Planet Mertz hard at work (mostly) at LAcon V, selling books and meeting celebs (David Gerrold!)

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It was the dedicated members of the Planet Mertz crew that made it all work: Mike Mayhew, best friend for decades, his lovely sister Kathy, her son Noah (we’ll get to his twin brother in a second), my nephew Dustin Markey, and a guest appearance by the never-squashable Ben Gorman. A noble group that Mike describes as a Team of Knuckleheads, but that I call Heroes.  

Noah’s twin brother Cash did the fabulous artwork for Planet Mertz’s two bestselling books, Eight Arms To Hold Me and Death In Springtime. Big prints of Cash’s two covers were entered in the art show, along with five smaller art pieces. The cover art for Death In Springtime sold, along with a really cool character study of a suspender-wearing, cigarette-smoking crow called Old Nick. Cash was over the moon. He is about to finish his degree at The Ringling College of Art and Design, and then… look out, world! Talented artist with a bright future.  

At last year’s WorldCon in Seattle, Mike wore a sandwich board (if you don’t know what it is, stop now and Google it) of Cash’s glorious Eight Arms To Hold Me cover and roamed the convention, gathering much attention and admiration. This year we went for the trifecta and had sandwich boards for all three books: Eight Arms To Hold Me; Death In Springtime; and Machine Dreams, and the response was fabulous. Sandwich boarders were stationed where people checked in to the convention, as well as near the entrance to the Dealers Room where the wonderment of Planet Mertz awaited.

I brought way too many books to sell (either foolish or hopeful; I lean toward the latter) and, for an author that most people had never heard of before last Thursday, did quite well. Made sales to and chatted with some impressive people. David Gerrold (Hugo and Nebula Award winning writer of many, many things, including for the original Star Trek, The Martian Child, and The War Against the Chtorr), came by, remembered the sandwich board for Eight Arms To Hold Me from last year’s WorldCon and bought a copy, as well as a copy of Death In Springtime. A delightful, charming man. Kareem Badaruddin, the mission director for the Voyager One spacecraft, picked up a copy of our Halloween anthology, Harvest Tales & Midnight Revels. A very cool and easygoing guy. We all expressed our deep love for that brave little craft on its way outward into the Big Nothingness. Alan Roberts, one of the founding members of Wordos, the Eugene SF writer’s group that I’m part of, bought a book and regaled me with a delightful stream of anecdotes.

Mike and I also sat down to record a podcast with Brian of Small Publishing in a Big Universe. It was a delightful half-hour conversation, and with luck will introduce my stories to a whole new audience.

Aside from all that, I had time for only a couple of panels, what with being ensconced behind the Planet Mertz table for many hours. But I had a good time: I sold a lot of books, met a great many cool people, and best of all got to spend four days with my cool tribe of Knuckleheads and Heroes who supported Planet Mertz and its endeavors at the 84^th World Science Fiction Convention.

It was a blast, it was a breakthrough, it was beautiful.  Love and thanks to all.