blog.robinparrish.com

I actually took notes so I’d remember all this stuff for my blog. That’s right, I love my readers that much. And also, I may not officially be a reporter at the moment, but I just can’t seem to shake the habit.

In no particular order:

• Everyone seems to be commenting on what a “weird year” it is at ICRS this year. Attendance feels down somewhat. Tough economic times appear to be catching up with the industry.
• This morning people kept forcing flyers and postcards into my hands. And I kept dropping them in the trash. No offense to struggling writers out there (cause I are one too), but the last thing anyone at ICRS needs is something else to carry around or take home.
• You wouldn’t believe how many guys are wearing shorts and girls are wearing capris. Probably because we’re in Florida and the air here is 80% water. But I kinda dig “the dressing down of ICRS.” It’s refreshing. Why shouldn’t we all be comfortable?
• The different sections of the show floor are separated and color coded this year. It’s very neatly done. All of the book vendors, for example, are on blue carpet. All of the gift vendors are on green carpet. Personally, I give the green carpet a wide berth. Something about the gifts just creeps me out. Though I did pop inside this “New Product Showcase” thing that was right in the middle of the book section, and found some indescribable stuff (which you can see in my Facebook photo album). I think my favorite was the leather pillow with a Bible verse inscribed in it. You have to see it to believe it.
• I keep running into people I know while wandering the show floor. It’s fun. Invariably, they ask: “So what are you up to?” And my stock answer: “I’m trolling for books. I’m not going to lie. It’s all about the free stuff.”
• Speaking of freebies, I tried to score a brand new NLT Study Bible, which looks exceedingly cool (I’ve always liked the New Living Translation) and just hit the market, but a very nice Tyndale rep apologized and said they only had 100 of them, and they were for retailers only. I totally respect that, but hey, you can’t blame a guy for trying.
• If you’ve ever been to ICRS, you know the following is true. And if you plan on going in the future, here’s an important survival tip. In conversation, you will hear so many names that you don’t know, constantly being tossed around by people you do know. Just pretend you know who these mystery people are. “So I was talking to John Smith the other day, and he mentioned how commercial ICRS is becoming…” I just nod and say something like, “Oh yeah, he’s great.”
• I saw Relentless in a few different places on the show floor. Once in the International Pavilion, on the bookshelf there. Also spotted it at a discount book seller. Hrm.
• Ran into the irrepressable Sharon Hinck, and was so glad to see her here. We had several occasions to hang out and talk, and it was just a blast. She was a little down in the dumps but I think I managed to cheer her up a tad, and then later in the day she met her #1 fan, which cheered her up a LOT, methinks. I also learned that she worries about the feelings of inanimate objects. Seriously. She said that she worries about her sweaters. Like, if she wears one for too long, the others might feel neglected. I could add a punchline here, but frankly Sharon’s just so sweet I can’t bring myself to do it (and it doesn’t really need a punchline, does it?). Check out her books. She’s an excellent writer. I loved hanging out with her today. Great fun.
• Finally got to meet mister Michael Snyder in person. That was a special treat, because his short story, “My Name Is Russell Fink,” was originally published at INFUZE a couple of years ago, and it even won the contest we ran to determine entry in the short story & poems compilation book we put out. Since then, Mike’s gone on to sign a publishing deal with Zondervan, and he’s turned the “Russell Fink” short story into a novel by the same name. I read the first chapter this afternoon during a little downtime and was laughing out loud all by myself. Mike has a natural talent for writing witty, off-kilter comedy, and I highly recommend checking it out.
• My book signing this morning went GREAT. We never had long lines, but the line was steady and constantly replenished itself, and by the end of the hour, we’d run completely out of books. Woohoo! That’s 3 for 3. Nicole C. Mullen even showed up and picked up copies of all three books for her husband David. David, if you read this, I’d love to hear what you think of them! Email me.
• I did an interview this afternoon with WBMI Radio from Chicago, which is part of the Moody Broadcasting network. Very cool. I wasn’t expecting it, but the interviewer really gave me a chance to hop onto my soapbox about the design flaws in the various “Christian” industries, and I totally took the bait. Couldn’t resist. (Once you get fired up, it’s hard to stop.) She seemed to love it, so I think it went quite well. No idea how people will react when they hear it. Hopefully I won’t offend anyone. I’d love to tell you when it will air, but she didn’t know yet. Oh, and we also talked about Merciless. :)
• Jesus is at ICRS. Seriously. There’s a guy wandering the show floor dressed as Jesus. He’s super groomed, too, kind of metrosexual-like. His hair is no stranger to the product. I couldn’t figure out what company he was there representing, because every time I saw him, he was either on the move, or standing in a different part of the convention center. But I saw him repeatedly. Got a picture, too. (It’s on Facebook with the rest.) Also spotted a couple of gladiators, and a few Berenstain Bears. I understand that Po, the main character from Kung Fu Panda, put in an appearance at the Word booth, but I wasn’t there.
• I’m not sure, and I have no proof, but I think Karen Kingsbury did signings today at every single booth in the exhibit hall. That woman gets around like nobody’s business.
• The Baker Publishing annual dinner was tonight at EPCOT. (Bethany House, my publisher, is a subsidiary of Baker Books.) Very nice, very fun. Good food, fun company. Afterwards we went outside and watched the 9:PM fireworks and light show. (Yep, you guessed it: pictures are on Facebook.) It was so humid I was little more than a dress shirt in a puddle by the end.
• Tonight at the Baker dinner I met a very cool guy I’ve met a few times in the past, but this was my first opportunity to really get to talk to him at length. His name is Paul Higdon, and he is the graphic design artist who created the covers to all three of my novels. He told me that the process used to create the shiny, metallic cover for Merciless was actually a first for the publishing industry! I was so jazzed to hear this — I knew it was cool, but I had no idea it was a first! I can’t do justice to his description of how it was done, but basically there were various color passes done overtop of this foil cover, and no one even knew if it would work until they tried it. Apparently it cost a fair bit of money to do it, but Paul took the initiative to do it all on his own, simply because it was the last book in the trilogy and he wanted it to have a special look to it. I cannot put into words how grateful I am to him for putting his special touch on this book cover. It’s a fantastic cover and I LOVE him for going out of his way to do something really unprecedented to signify the “grand finale” of the trilogy. (If you haven’t seen the cover in person, photos don’t do it justice.) I’m in awe of Paul and his talents!

Off to bed now, at last… More tomorrow.

It’s my third ICRS. Can you believe it?

So I got here thinking that this would be my big year, you know? The grand finale of the Dominion Trilogy, the big ending, the Trilogy is completed. Quite an accomplishment. I figured I had reason to feel kinda special this year.

Turns out, I’m not so much. As it was explained to me, the third book in a series is “a hard sell,” because the audience for the series is “pretty much defined at this point.” What about people new to the series who could be enticed to start at the beginning and buy/read all three, you ask? I guess we don’t care that much about reaching them.

I was only requested for one interview this year (though it’s with Moody Radio, which is pretty cool), and Bethany House didn’t even bother to put up a poster for the cover of Merciless anywhere on their booth, as they have the last two years, with Relentless and Fearless. And it might make me petty, but I’m a little nonplussed at that.

However, all this leads me to believe that next year, Offworld will be a much bigger deal. I mean, I guess it will. Because it’s something entirely new, it’s more easily accessible to new readers, and therefore it’s easier for salesmen and bookstore buyers to take hold of. It all makes sense, I guess, but I sure wish I’d known beforehand that the industry hype for the Trilogy would dwindle for the last book. It seems like such a shame, doesn’t it? Fearless got a lot more attention when it came out, but Merciless is unquestionably the superior book.

In other news, I found out today that my next three novels with Bethany House (including Offworld) will release only in trade paperback. The time of the hardbacks at BHP has ended! I was kinda shocked at this. Apparently, bookstores hate hard cover books from BHP… something to do with displaying in stores and store sales and all that wonderful red tape. Basically, the stores don’t like ‘em, so BHP ain’t makin’ ‘em anymore.

I suppose that’s a good thing. I imagine most readers will think it is; it’ll be a lot easier on their wallets. But there’s a certain level of prestige that only comes with hardback releases, which I’ll miss. (That’s my ego talking… Just ignore it and it’ll go away.)

Ran into Brad Whittington, the hilariously witty author of “the Fred books,” as they’re called. We hung out at a special event for authors represented by Alive Communications, where the special speaker was Anne Graham Lotz. She was fantastic. She spoke about the seven churches of Revelation, and told about actually visiting the ruins of all seven recently on a special trip she took, and taught on what she learned from each church and what the Bible had to say about them. It wasn’t a big scholarly thing; she explained the insights God revealed to her about her own life through studying these ancient churches. It was really awesome stuff about God’s sufficiency and how he only uses the weak and the small and the unworthy — because they’re the ones that let him lead the way. One of my favorite things she said was that if God opens a door in front of you, he doesn’t do it so you can poke your head inside and see what it looks like in there. He means for you to walk through it — right then, when the door opens.

Oh, and every time I see someone I know, they immediately want to know what happened at Infuze. Why did it close down? What really happened? (Our funding was pulled, it’s just that simple.)

Insider dirt is big at ICRS.

Ran into a few other people I know, like the super-sweet Brandilyn Collins. Here I thought most of the authors I know wouldn’t even be here this year, since so many of them are signed to Thomas Nelson, and TN (creating quite the stir) pulled out of ICRS this year.

So that’s my first day. Good fellowship and networking so far. Met some really nice people. Got a little discouraged that Merciless isn’t going to be the hot tamale I’d hoped it might be. And I’m really worn out at seeing some of the horribly cliched and silly books and gifts and whatnot that this industry puts out; it’s such a silly cliche it’s hard to believe it still happens, but not only does it happen, they celebrate it with big, giant banners all over the place. It’s surreal.

But while the industry may be kind of a strange animal, the people are, by and large, good, kind, warm, friendly folks.

Big, big day tomorrow. That one interview I mentioned is in the afternoon. My book signing is at 11:30 in the morning (which makes me a bit nervous that no one I know will show up, since they might not have been there long enough to find out what time my signing is). Then there’s the annual Baker/Bethany Dinner, which is taking place at Epcot this year. (Oh, did I mention I’ve never been to Florida before? So this is my first time at everything.) Anyway, I gotta get to bed. It’s gonna be crazy tomorrow.

Check out my pictures from my first day. I posted ‘em on Facebook.

These are the first two reviews I’ve seen anywhere:

A Peek At My Bookshelf

What Robin Parrish has done with the Dominion Trilogy is take the best aspects of comic books and combined them with the best aspects of regular fiction (i.e., novels). And then he has the audacity to link it all into something… Biblical. Wow.

Christianfictionreview.com

Robin Parrish’s talent is creative genius. How his mind could contain a trilogy of this magnitude is astounding to me, and I read a lot of books in all genres of fiction…

So… So far, so good.

Book signings are strange events.

As priorities go, they tend to fall pretty low on everyone’s lists. People are busy, things come up, and it’s just not the kind of thing that most of us circle the date on our calendar to try and remember. If you’re not Steven King or J.K. Rowling, it’s more along the lines of an, “If I’m out and I happen to remember, I’ll drop by” kind of thing. (And very few people do remember.)

This bookstore always sets up authors at a little table facing the front door, so you can see everyone who comes in, and they can see you. Karen and I noticed a funny phenomenon associated with this arrangement. Whenever someone new would walk in — a regular customer, not there for the signing — they almost immediately look in my direction to see what’s going on. But as soon as they see me staring at them, they quickly avert their eyes, and then rush off towards another part of the store.

I told Karen it was like I was an Amway salesman. “Don’t make eye contact! They suck out your soul through the eyes! Run! Run!!”

The store also announced that I was there no less than three times over their P.A. system. In the past it’s only been once. They were nothing but great to me, and it was very sweet of them to try and draw so much attention my way. But I still couldn’t get past how it felt to me very much like the old “Attention, K-Mart shoppers!” ploy. I was today’s blue light special.

Still, we had a perfectly respectable turnout of folks who were terribly excited to read the end of this trilogy. My little boy Evan (6 months old) was unquestionably the star of the show, as you can see from the photos below.

Big love and gratitude to everyone who came!!

If you live nearby, we’d love to see you at Barnes & Noble of High Point this Saturday at 3:PM. I’ll be signing copies of Merciless until 5 o’clock or until they run out, whichever comes first!

Is it bad that I slobbered all over myself when I saw this?

Me like. Me want. Me can never ever afford.

INFUZEmag.com may be gone, but its legacy lives on.

Matt Conner, Infuze’s longtime Senior Editor and head of the Music department, continues his coverage of music at the ultra-chic Stereo Subversion. Fans of his music reviews and interviews can get their fix among the tons of great content there.

Sam Gaines, Infuze’s Movies/Film Editor, has started a blog that continues his mission of reviewing the latest cinema with an eye toward issues of faith. It’s called Aspect Ratios, and I highly recommend it.

And Kris Bather, Comics Editor, has started a similar blog called Comic Book Jesus, which looks pretty nifty.

Infuze was special, and I’m glad the dreamers are still dreaming.

Today we’re unveiling PopCultureGeek.com, the new website I mentioned to you a few days ago. Yes, this is the next big thing I’ve been working on for a while now, along with my friend Doug Kline.

PCG takes a look at fandom in all its forms and celebrates being a geek (without the irony). It may not be “cool” to be a geek, but it IS okay, and if there’s a “message” at the heart of PCG (and there really isn’t), then that’s about as deep and meaningful as it gets. It’s a fun look at everything from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings, current films at the box office, hot TV shows like Battlestar Galactica and Lost, big-name video games, and fun looks at some of us fans who make geekdom what it is. And we really hope to generate lots of conversations and debates among readers and fans.

Best of all, this is the first site I’ve ever been involved with where there’s no corporate interference. Doug and I are free to make and do this however we want. Given the way Infuze ended, this is a breath of fresh air for yours truly.

Please stop by, take a look around, and if it’s your cup of tea, we hope to see you regularly.

I hate being sick. At least I have my little buddy here to cheer me up. (Even if he was the one who gave me this cold/throat infection/thing. He’s still 100% lovable!)

Oh well. Better to be sick now than sick in a few weeks at ICRS, or a couple weeks after that, at Comic-Con (yes, I’m going)!

What a great Father’s Day! Best ever! Karen got me a couple of movie soundtracks (I love soundtracks), and my little man got me a personalized mug with photos of him all over it! I can’t imagine anything better.

It’s a strange thing to find yourself without a daily job, without regular income, after almost fifteen years in the working world.

I don’t miss the hassles of Infuze, but I do miss its mission and purpose and what we tried to do there. And I desperately miss having that outlet to talk about interesting things in pop culture, which is my bread & butter. But more than anything, I miss having a steady, reliable income.

I feel like I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing right now. I feel like God has led me down the path that I’m on. To the best of my ability, I’ve been faithful to the doors that he’s opened before me. And I wouldn’t trade the time I get to spend with Evan by being at home every day for anything.

But money is a finite resource. And sooner or later, it’s going to run out. Mortgage companies, banks, and insurance agencies really don’t appreciate it when that happens.

So I feel like I’m floundering a bit, while I wait on God to come to our rescue. And it’s not like I haven’t been here before. He’s proven himself to me so many times, in situations much like this one. I guess I just still harbor that same fantasy that we all hold onto, that eventually, some day, life is going to get all sorted out, and Karen and I won’t have to worry about money and bills any more.

Are we living dangerously for not having mutual funds and gigantic savings and all that jazz? (Nevermind the fact that we’ve never had enough money for any of that stuff.) I know so many people who have such mastery over finances, who have pension plans and 401k’s and stocks and bonds and savings out the wazoo. And hey, if you’re good at that thing, then more power to you.

But there’s something about the mentality of financial security that’s always struck me as maybe dipping a toe across the line from “responsible” to “paranoid.” If your entire life is built around securing your own safety, what room is there for faith? Where are you allowing God to come in and do something miraculous for you? What if he’s desperate to show you just how big he is and what he can do for you, but you’re holding so tightly to the reins of your life that he never gets the chance?

I have no answers today. Only ponderings while I take care of my little boy (who has a cold this week) and wait on God to show me the way.