I have a ton of respect for artists who travel to conventions all over the country year round. Here I am, wrapping up my fourth con this fall(three of them were where I live), and I'm completely exhausted. For those out there who are dedicated enough to fly across the country for these events month after month, I salute you.

More often than not, I tend to drain my energy reserves quicker than usual thanks to my penchant for fretting over the tiniest of things. For instance, I'll worry that I'm talking too much. I'll worry that I'm talking too little. I'll worry that I'm rambling about nonsense no one cares about. I'll worry that I'm coming off as awkward and making people uncomfortable. Chances are, if you have visited me at my table, any/all of these things were floating around in my brain. I constantly fear that the hours I've spent alone working from home have rendered me socially inept. As a result, cons can be very stressful for me.

Last weekend, at Nekocon, I was stressed. and I had an overnight trip in the car, and we didn't arrive until 5:30ish Friday morning. As we parked, we discovered and our hotel roomies had made a wrong turn on their way up and were just entering North Carolina. We attempted to sleep in the car until called us offering a bed for a couple hours. When the rest of the group finally arrived, our room wasn't ready. At around 1:30pm, I was finally able to shower and change out of my clothes from the day before. From there, we rushed straight to my panel to make sure we were set up properly. Turns out bringing a Mac wasn't the best idea, but the con staffers were very diligent in our quest to find a solution. Thanks to Brandon's fantastic efforts leading the panel, it went off without a hitch(I also must thank Dana and Shadra for their moral support and for contributing their questions ). Despite its success(and by “success” I mean I managed to get through it without panicking), I was still flustered by the time I returned to the Artist Alley. At the end of the day, we all passed out pretty hard.

Friday was crazy.

...However, throughout all the insanity, there was one thing at every convention that remained consistent: the people. I've met some wonderful people this fall, and each of them have left their own special marks on me. I cannot begin to express how much it meant to hear the encouraging words said to me. It blew my mind. Sometimes life behind the desk can be hard and lonely, and you forget why you're doing it in the first place. At Nekocon this weekend, I received my reminder.

Right now I can't really articulate what that feels like. All I know is that I never want to lose sight of my love for art... and our ability to connect to others through it.

All I can say is thank you. Thank you so much for being genuine and kind... and for saying things that inspire me to keep going. And thank you for your excitement! I'm going to feed off of that when I inevitably find myself in the midst of a deadline crunch.

The same goes for Atlanta Comic-Con, AWA and Dragon*con as well! I focused on Neko because it's still fresh.

While I'm on that bandwagon, I'd like to do a DeeAay shoutout(I feel like such a tool when I say that) to everyone from this past weekend:

You helped me so much.. more than you know. Thank you.
Thanks for letting us stay with you, Ricky!
You were so sweet to give us a place to sleep. It was great seeing you, as always. X3
It rocked having you as a table neighbor! Your fish is hanging from my desk lamp. It is now a happier place.
& Our adorable AA neighbors on the other side. Your crochet snake also has a special place on my desk.
Great to see you again! Thanks for helping me get set up in the alley. I never took advantage of the staff/green room. >_<
Awesome meeting you and chatting for a while!
Aja(I don't know if you have a dA! ;_; ) You ladies rock!
Donnie and James, I don't know if you read this, but I'm so glad I got to catch up with you. It had been too long. Please come visit sometime pretty please.

I greatly appreciate the support from the folks who have picked up books, prints or commissioned me. You guys help me make sure my pudgy bunnies stay pudgy. You're awesome. I know there are more, and there are plenty from the other three cons as well. For those I had the pleasure of meeting, thanks for everything!

I also would like to apologize for any kind of social weirdness people may have experienced when they talked to me. I was nervous...but I meant well!

Okay, I've typed up a wall of text, so I think it's time to go for now. I wish you all nothing but the very best!

-Heidi

P.S. This morning I cut my foot open on my table pricing sign while I was unpacking. I think it resents me for putting it away until next year.

Also, we have a mouse loose in our house. He's already taken out his hungry vengeance on my bread.

Legends of the Dark Crystal:[link]
Star Trek Uchu:[link]