(Photo credit: Leah Jones. See more of her work on Instagram: @leahjonesin.)
The Spiderweb Salon, a local writer/artist collective, invited Revenge of the Star Survivors to take part in their "Spidercon" event in June. I was not really prepared for what I found when I beamed up to the city of Denton, though.
The event was billed as "D&D meets comic-con meets star wars meets meets your strange cousin's weird alien abduction stories." Which, in an alternate universe, could actually be a terrific blurb for Revenge of the Star Survivors.
Spidercon was much, much more than that, though. The not-necessarily-for-the-kids event had, not necessarily in this order:
-- A host dressed as a giant spider.
-- A Spider-man reading space poetry.
-- Creepy arts and crafts.
-- A man dressed as a priest giving instructions for what I think was cake-and-computer communion.
-- A burlesque dancer. (Like I said, not for the kids.)
-- A really well done re-enactment of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.
-- Ethereal singing and snapping.
-- Nationally respected science-fiction writers reading from their work.
-- One of whom was dressed as Wonder Woman.
You can see a bunch of great photos over on the Spiderweb Salon Facebook page. You can also a sense of it from this report on KERA.
(Blurry iPhone photos should not be confused with the work of the professional photographer mentioned below.)
Where did I fit in to this Mos Eisely-like gathering?
Well, aside from having what surely was the oldest con-themed lapel button in the room (see below), as I told the crowd – it was incredibly meaningful to me. This was the first Revenge event squarely aimed at people who would understand a theme at the heart of the book: that being a sci-fi loving book nerd might mark you as an outcast, a weirdo, a freak. But it also can give you a welcoming cohort of kindred souls who are willing to embrace you with open arms. Or even tentacles.
That's a trade I will make any day. Thanks for having me, Spider-people.
(Photos used with the kind permission of Leah Jones. See more of her work on Instagram: @leahjonesin.)
By the way, the event took place in the city of Denton. Actual readers of Revenge of the Star Survivors might ask – any relation? To which I would say – yes. And to the city of Denton – it's nothing personal.
And one final note: If you have been reading this blog awaiting some kind of actual book news, please stay tuned. I promise to post some.
