BrooksBlog: My SLC Comic Con Memories

Just taking a moment to let everyone who I had a chance to visit with at SLC know that it was a terrific experience and so much fun. I wish I could have spent a little more time with each of you but it just wasn’t possible. You were there. You saw the lines. You saw the crowds. You saw how pressed I was for time. But I do appreciate the effort and time you expended on coming out, standing in line and telling me how much my books have meant to you. That never grows old, and I never take it for granted.

Each time I do another appearance, I think it might be my last. It takes time away from my writing and my family. It takes an effort to make the trip. It takes energy to be cheerful and carry on conversations and sign books and pose for pictures, and I think I should just let it all go away. But how can I do that to people like you? To the readers Judine keeps telling me are by far the nicest in the world. To young and old alike, for whom the books have meant so much in so many ways. I can’t. I can’t begrudge a single thing it requires of me to let people know how much their kind words and support means to me.

And, oh, the great stories! You would not believe. I just love them. Everyone has one. Almost everyone has one that begins with either Sword or Elfstones. But wherever they begin, they are heart-lifting and real, and they leave me feeling humbled. That anyone would love my books so much. That so many would think them so important. How fortunate am I? All those years ago when I decided I wanted to be a writer, I couldn’t have imagined any of this. I just wanted someone to read my books. I just wanted to be able to live this life. And now this life is so much more than I would have thought possible.

So know how much it means to me that you were there. From The Shannara Chronicles spotlight with Manu Bennett and the young woman named Shannara and the boy who wanted to know why Manu decided to play a “good guy” to being on stage with, variously: Bob Salvatore, Mike Stockpole, Kevin Anderson, Kevin Hearne, Jim Butcher, Larry Correa and so many others. To having a friend and web druid like Shawn Speakman. To meeting new writers and finding new books each time I go out. To meeting for the first time and for the umpteenth time the readers who keep me honest.

Thanks. It never gets old.

—Terry