The Thing That Matters Most

This wasn’t the blog I expected to write.

I was all set to give you a full report on StokerCon, the annual meeting of the Horror Writer’s Association.

Rest assured, there were no travel snafus or other complications. I made the 10th annual meeting of the group. I went to panels, met old friends, made new ones, did a reading from my books (and even sold a few copies).

But for some reason, I wasn’t feeling it as much as past meetings. It’s grown since I first started going, ballooning to almost 1,000 attendees. It’s certainly not a ComicCon (which is 150,00 people) or a WorldCon (which I will be going to in August), but the convention was experiencing some growing pains.

I was feeling a little down.

Then I met a woman named Robin.

She was a waitress working at the hotel restaurant. I sat down at her table for a quick bite before moving on to the evening’s activities. When I told her I was with the convention, she made me an offer. “I’ll take your book as my tip.”  She told me that she had been doing that all weekend and was thrilled to be getting so much reading material.

You don’t need to guess what happened next.

I added my book to her growing collection.

As I finished dinner, she asked if she could introduce me to a co-worker. “She would really love to meet a real writer,” Robin explained. Out came a shy young woman whose hand trembled when I greeted her. I made some small talk with her before she fled back to the kitchen.

That’s when it hit me. How fortunate I am to be a “real” writer. To have achieved a dream that so many people have but never realize.

Suddenly, the sadness I felt melted. For the rest of StokerCon, I made a point of focusing on how glad I was to be there, especially after everything I’ve been through (for more on that read my blog Brain Daze).

And you know what?

After that, the conference was a much better experience.

So, thank you, Robin, for the much-needed reminder.

Hope you enjoy your tip.