Free RPG Day 2010 and Grand Reopening of Eclectic Games went quite swimmingly, by all accounts, with local and not-so-local gamers visiting to play introductory games of Dungeons & Dragons, Deathwatch and Exalted, or just passers-by dropping in to see what this new shop has to offer. Good atmosphere and lots of fun. And delicious cake.

Huge thanks to Eclectic Games for inviting me and to everyone who commissioned a character sketch from me. Excellent to meet you all and draw your dudes.

The overwhelmingly positive interest shown today means that I will be opening up for character sketch commissions in the very near future so watch this space.  There’ll be an announcement when I’ve got everything sorted out and ready.

Photo courtesy of John Breakwell.

Meanwhile I must say again that the new shop is really nice, stocked with a gazillion games of all varieties and run by people who know and love games and will happily help you find the ideal game for you. Well worth visiting if you’re at all in the area.

Hello! I am back, having survived an expedition into London to attend the UK Web & Minicomix Thing 2010 as an exhibitor. This was my first ever convention/expo/show thing, and it was pretty exciting.

Under the Flag of Convenience I was sharing a couple of tables with the charming and debonair Pete Vine of Hard Graft, who was as fine a comrade as I could have hoped for.

On my table I had print copies of The Well of Stars, Hearts of Dragons, and The Kobold and the Dragon minicomic, as well as some shiny 1-inch buttons – all of these will be available in the Dark Places store, incidentally. I’ll let you know when they go up.

The morning was very quiet, but things picked up over the course of the day. Lots of people were doing a scouting lap of the hall to see what was there, then a purchase lap in which they’d actually stop and buy the stuff that stood out to them. Quite a few people took a look, then said they’d come back once they’d checked everything else out. Those who actually did come back to buy stuff, you rock.

Sales were pretty good over all, and I got to practice and refine my comic pitch over and over and over. If you were there and stood still long enough to hear it, thank you. If you then bought some of my stuff, THANK YOU. Hope you enjoy it.

By the end of the day I’d juuust about broken even, which for a first-time exhibitor is pretty freakin’ great, I feel. Huge thanks to everyone who contributed to that. I love you guys, and it was great to meet you all.

I’d also like to say a big thank you to Lizz and Timothy who organised the DINO-SAW-US convention passport sticker-collecting game thing. Outstanding idea, and it really encouraged people to stop by the table and get their passport stamped. Bravo!

I didn’t get a chance to take too many photos as I was behind my table for most of the day, so if anyone spots any more on Flickr or Facebook then do let me know. Meanwhile, here’s the view from the Flag of Convenience outpost in the early afternoon: