Wonders of Wondercon 2014

One of the fun things about attending Wondercon, besides seeing all folks dressed up to Cosplay as their favorite characters, is seeing some of the fun ideas that artists and writers have developed.

What’s more, because there is more space for the artists and small press, there are more of them, something I very much welcome.

One of the first I saw is a gentleman I first met at San Diego’s Comic-Con a few years ago, Chris Ayers. He was at Wondercon with several of his books, including his first entitled, “The Daily Zoo.”

The story is a series of cartoons that Chris drew a year after being diagnosed with Leukemia. One year after being diagnosed, Ayers realized he needed to do something to keep from getting too depressed, so he started drawing, making a commitment to himself to draw a cartoon animal a day.

Subtitled, “Keeping the Doctor at Bay With a Drawing a Day,” the book contains all the cartoons he drew from that year and are a reflection of what he was going through, and was published in 2008. Ayers has been in remission for many years now, but continues to celebrate every day by drawing constantly.

He has published several more books, including succeeding years of “The Daily Zoo.” I recommend his books; they are filled with images of joy, as a terrific escape for anyone suffering from long-term illness.

Another terrific author at Wondercon 2014 was Jeff Tucker. By day, Jeff is a Creative Director for Entertainment at Knott’s Berry Farm, where he works on coming up with new scary things for its annual Halloween Haunt and more. In his off hours, when not being a loving husband and father to his children, Jeff writes.

He’s written three books now, part of a six-book series he tells me, the first of which was “The Sixth Key: From the Secret Files of the Magic Castle.” Now I’ve been teasing Jeff since the publication of that first book in 2012 about wanting to know where the other five keys are located. All he will say is read the rest of the novels when they come out.

He’s since published the second in the series, “The Lost Station: From the Secret Files of Engine 17.” He also has the third novel in the series coming out this year. Now Jeff won’t tell me anything more, nor will he tell me what I might see in “Trapped” at the Haunt or other devious plans he has for the Haunt, such as who will be hung at the annual tradition of “The Hanging.”

But I can tell you Jeff has the right spirit of fun, mystery and mischievousness that I like.

You can click here to read more at Inside the Magic of my overall take on Wondercon 2014.

If you like looking at this year’s Cosplay, check out the photos I took at Outside the Magic.