Before we get into the body of the email, let me tell you about a fantastic chance to grab books and bookmarks and not pay a cent for shipping! National Book Lovers Day on August 9th harnesses all the excitement bibliophiles feel about books into one celebration and to facilitate that bookish joy, everything on the IIP website ships FREE on that one day!
Here’s the coupon code so mark it in your calendars and use that day to get the book(s) you don’t already have, buy gifts for friends, or swag-up with the gorgeous new stained glass bookmarks
(And no, I didn’t just make this holiday up!)
Readercon was amazing. Here’s a carousel of images and video to prove it:
Instagram post
Gratitude
This past weekend was Archie’s first convention as a service animal. He rocked it like a champ. It’s kinda a big deal…
When I first rescued him, Archie was pretty severely traumatized. I actually took him to an SCA event about a month after he came to me, an indoor event at a hotel with a bunch of people walking around and talking. Archie was terrified. He shook the whole time. Obviously I left early.
Most any trainer would have said he could never be a service animal.
But my trainer worked with me to set up a program to accustom him to being around large groups of people, being noisy and chaotic. We started him with walking in the center of town. He moved up to going to outdoor events. Meanwhile, I put him on CBD to help calm the constant static in his head. And we worked on training at home, and in the woods, and then in town, and then at outdoor events. And then eventually in doctor’s offices and other indoor spaces.
It’s taken two years of consistent work. But Archie made such a good impression at Readercon this past weekend—as usual rising above my expectations and even my hopes.
In the busy vending area, he stayed on his “place” mat like a good boy. He mostly napped. In the busy hallways, he was calmly in his work bag or my arms. No shaking. Totally calm and relaxed, focused on me and his job. He not only did not get in the way of making sales, he actually sold some books by being so damn cute. He impressed everyone who saw him as being well-trained and well-behaved. One of the Readercon conchairs told me that Archie had brought happiness to the whole convention 🥰
If you think I’m patting myself on the back, that’s not it. My amazing trainer and I provided a framework for him to heal and become his full self. But Archie had to choose it. Archie had to put in the work on his end. Archie had to be willing to trust me completely, despite his terrible life before. I give Archie all the credit, because none of the training would have worked if he hadn’t wanted to do it.
Over the past months, I’ve been making sure he knows he has a choice. He can stay home and chill with his buddies Sebastian and Mo, comfy and safe, no stress or pressure. Or he can come with me and be working, actively called upon to stretch his limits and put under the pressure of being a Good Boy in a noisy and chaotic world. Every time, he makes it very clear: “I am your service animal and I choose to be doing the work.”
I am honored by his choice. I do everything I can to make it doable for him, to set him up for success, but the fact of the matter is that he is the one doing the hard part, and he’s doing it out of love for me 🥹
This is the second service animal I’ve had who has defied conventional wisdom that their breed type, size, or background would make them “inferior” service animals. Both Cairngorm and now Archie have risen above all of that to be the best companions and helpers to me, absolutely 100% the dogs I needed them to be. By their own choice (and in Cairngorm’s case, having done things very much his own way 🙄) they could proudly stand beside any German Shepard or Golden Retriever, any dog trained at a fancy service animal organization, and say, “I take the best care of my human and I am a Good Canine Citizen.”
I am beyond lucky. Despite having a lot of hard stuff in my life now and in the past years, the one thing I can say for certain is that I am blessed by my dogs and honored that two of the finest creatures to ever put paw on this planet decided to love me that much.
THIS BOY 💝
Besides my overwhelming gratitude to my beautiful boy, I’d like to shout out a few more people:
My partner Trent, who not only helped with load-in and tear down, but came over on Saturday evening so a very tired Archie could just snuggle with him in the hotel room instead of joining me in my evening networking rounds, which would have been asking a bit much after ten hours of being A Very Good Boy. I know what a great partner I have…but sometimes it still amazes me. 💘
As we fuck around with selfies and ignore the customers 😂
My bestie Lauren of Eclipse Costumes, who gave me three days of her life and worked her fantastic derriere off helping me meet our sales goals, to the point of zombie-like exhaustion for us both by Day Three. Not many friends show up like this, and I am so impossibly lucky! 💖
Meg, of Copper Dog Books, who was the best vending neighbor one could hope for. My Readercon was significantly enhanced by having her to chat with when everyone was in panels and not buying books. What a fantastic way to make a new friend 🥰
I have the month of August off: no conventions, no nothin’! I am planning to finally get a chance to crank forward with Blood Depths with less other stuff getting in my way (so that means less videos and stuff from me on IG and YouTube) and actually reading some books for pleasure!
Yes, we were in Lagos back at the beginning of the month, and we are spending a lot more time in that impressive city because the plot took a turn I wasn’t expecting, and Noosh and Nthanda and Viv are not heading right away to fight the vampire pirates out at sea, but on a Very Important Side Quest (Which Has Really Been The Main Quest All Along). Sound exciting? Honestly, I’m really curious how things are going to work out—and I’m writing the damned thing!
Anyway, that’s all I have to report. I shall be writing and reading all month, and loving every minute of it!
Don’t forget to hit the sale on August 9th (I still have plenty of stock left over from Readercon, because I always buy too much “just in case”) so help me get the books out of my mom’s basement and give me excuses to go chat with the nice USPS staff 😁
See you in two weeks…and as always, be good or be good at it! 😘
💭 I’d love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: drop me a note 📨
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