Destination GenCon

The morning air was like a wet blanket as we saw to it Matt’s little “Cwobalt” (our nickname for his car) was fully jammed with all manner of luggage, navigation material, and boxes of books to be sold. We even had bags wedged next to my feet on the floor of the front seat. We fired up the Magellan navigator and its sing-song voice and pulled out of our drive.

Indianapolis was our destination, and we did not know what awaited us there. For weeks we had been building in anticipation of the “un-vacation” getaway to the convention known as GenCon. The flocking ground of gamers of all sorts, the 4-day dream of Sci-fi and Fantasy fans alike, GenCon was to be our moment of stepping out into the sunshine. Matt and I have not “escaped” on such an adventure since our honeymoon. All we knew was that this was to be our crowd—people who enjoyed a retreat from reality and into another world.

Would they look our way? Would our book draw attention? Would someone be willing to buy it and share in our creation? Success, for us, has many meanings. Business cards disappearing, conversations held with fellow writers, and of course, a novel walking away in the hands of an enthusiastic customer. It’s not really about sales. We discounted the books enough to show that. It’s about that step into the sunshine. Entering the convention as faceless vendors behind a table; ultimately leaving as acknowledged authors.

We rocked it out on the 5-hour drive there, chitchatting and daydreaming about our destination. At 2:30 we pulled up to the hotel and unloaded some of the car for what we would stash in the hotel. An overeager but helpful attendant carted our belongings away, and Matt’s wallet got a little lighter. The Westin was a modest hotel, but not nearly the palace it wanted itself to be. Certainly not worth the extra charges built into our bill. No thanks, but we won’t be needing valet parking. Direct us to the self-park garage so we can walk the town, as we love our exercise. But what—? It costs $25 a day to leave our car in an unattended garage? Maybe we should have ridden our bicycles. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Once the hotel room was secured, we headed for the convention center across the street. I’d say we were poorly directed as to which line to stand in to receive our pre-paid badges for the event, but the truth is that we weren’t directed at all. Four lines and two hours later, we figured out what we needed to do and where we needed to go. You would think that was the hard part except that we had yet to transport our books and display items from Matt’s car to the center and our table. Thank goodness the weather was nice! Seven boxes of books, a couple posters, an electric glowing rock, a plastic raven, handouts…plenty of décor to assure the crowd that we were authentic in every way.

We were bordering exhaustion, but there was a surprise waiting for us to carry us through. Upon our table had been left a mysterious and large cardboard box. Our friend C.S. Marks had arrived before us and left us a gift. Inside the box was a raven. The 3-D replica of a black bird with welcoming wings spread wide was the perfect touch to our backdrop. And best of all, we had a friend in Indiana.

The evening unraveled in a slow, chaotic way that was familiar to our lifestyle. We found a beacon of golden light shining down upon a Wetzel’s Pretzels stand inside the nearby mall, and my dinner was complete. For Matt we located the city Steak N’ Shake to conclude our elaborate dining experience. Good ol’ reliable restaurant, that Steak N’ Shake. With a welcomed lack of excitement, we headed back for our hotel room and some much-needed rest. Tomorrow would undoubtedly have its share of surprises….

-Stefanie