New York Comic Con

As seen in a previous post: I was invited to speak at New York City Comic Con 2013.

Honestly, I didn’t think that my panel appearance would be such a good one. That’s not a judgment on the panel’s excellent moderator and panel members; it’s a statement on the absolute insane level of fear that I experienced in the hours leading up to the 6:30 p.m. kick off. I couldn’t sleep. I imagined every possible nightmare scenario, which included stuttering through rehearsed lines, tripping on my way up the stage, tripping on my way down the stage, and being laughed back to the hotel for saying something absolutely nonsensical.

I feel like an idiot now.

The crowd was warm and welcoming, and it connected with the panelists’ tales of hardships/challenges as creators and fans within the geek circle. Yet, it was incredibly positive and acted as a source of strength and camaraderie among the Black, Asian, Hispanic, Muslim, female, and other maligned attendee groups. I knew only a handful of the audience members—big ups to Samara, Max, Patrick, Tony, Isaac, and Johnathan—but there was also a shared connection that I never before felt with a group of strangers. I met a lot of cool audience members and exchanged tons of cards.

It would be incredibly easy to let those potential relationships die, but I’ve connected via e-mail or social media with all the people I met. Change is needed in the sci-fi, comic book, cosplay, and video game industries.

Let’s make it happen together.

It’s not every day—or every lifetime if you believe in such things—that a person gets to live a dream.

I’ve had several dreams over my 39 years, many of which that have become reality. I’ve had the opportunity to write professionally, travel the globe, interview artistic visionaries, and even help those with dreams of their own to put one foot in front of the next and begin the march to achieving them.

I won’t say that achieving one dream is more important than achieving the others; in fact, chasing one (becoming a professional writer) opened the door to pursuing other dreams. It’s kind of a snowball effect.

That said, some dreams are slightly more exciting than others.

I’m going to be at New York Comic Con, but not as an attendee. I’ll be a speaker on the Geeks of Color Assemble: Minorities in Fandom at NYCC panel. What’s it about? Here’s a quick synopsis:

“From Community’s Abed and Troy to Miles Morales as Spiderman to Rinko Kikuchi and Idris Elba starring in Pacific Rim, this is obvious: people of color are impacting geek media. What challenges, however, do minorities still face? Discuss being a geek of color in comics, cosplay, videos games, steampunk, and more.”

If you’re not on the Facebooks or can’t view the page for whatever reason, here’s the pertinent information:
Date: 10/12/2013
Time: 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Location: 1A17

Swing by and we’ll chat.

Special shout outs to Diana Pho and K.T. Bradford for making this happening!

Speaking on the ‘Geeks of Color Assemble: Minorities In Fandom’ NYCC panel was an incredible experience

I’m Speaking at New York Comic Con in October