2018

            Another year has come and gone. Can you believe that I started this blog back in 2013, and it’s still here six years later? Six whole years of a new blog every week – plus the bonus stories of my D&D games, for those who read them. I never thought I could keep it going this long.

            While 2018 may not have been the best year globally, it was a pretty good one for me. I mean, for starters, we didn’t have any rats in the house, which was fantastic. Aside from that, though, it seemed to be a year of growth and change.

            One of the biggest changes is that this was the first year since it started Ringcrafts, my chainmaille business, didn’t attend any conventions or festivals. While we were sad to miss out on the events and seeing the friends we made there, we stand by the decision we made – with the increased success of Colleen’s Green Door Life Coaching, there was no way she could commit to the shows, and the set-up and tear-down of the shows couldn’t be done by me alone. Apart from freeing up a great deal of time, the lack of shows has also greatly reduced stress, making for a more relaxed year.

            For me, that extra time has been divided between a number of enterprises. The first, and by far most obvious of those, is Dungeons & Dragons. Last November, I switched from playing D&D weekly at the Devil’s Bench to running it, and I’m keeping a record of the ongoing adventure. That campaign has been running for over a year now, and has also led to me being invited to several other games. Not only that, but come the New Year, I’ll be starting a second campaign at the Bench! Crazy, I know.

            Apart from that, I’m still teaching myself computer programming and steadily advancing my skills. It’s both fun and useful, and I’m slowly understanding more about how these machines work (they could have run by magic, for all I knew). The stories I could tell you... but I won’t, because I know that if you’re as interested in the subject as I am, you’ll go and learn for yourself! (It’s easier than you think!)

            My writing projects, on the other hand, have slowed down drastically. I’m still working on them, of course, but the pace has slowed to a crawl. Why is that, you ask? I really don’t know. My best guess is that with all the creative energy I’m pouring into D&D (and the time spent recording the story) and the brainpower being absorbed by coding, my mind just doesn’t have enough juice left for my previous writing productivity. That’s alright with me, though, because I’m still quite happy with my other projects.

            Over the summer, I discovered what promises to be an amazing game, and got involved with a community awaiting its arrival. I could talk your ear off about it, but I’ll spare you by simply saying go check out Chronicles of Elyria – you won’t regret it. Your wallet might, if you get obsessed with the game, but you won’t.

            Right now, the most interesting thing is to look back over the year and see what I can best describe as a steady improvement in life. I couldn’t point at specific things and say, “That! That is better now!” but, when viewed as a whole, the world (at least my little corner of it) is just a little better than it was before, with promises of a continuing trend.

            Now it’s time to look forwards into 2019. As with all years, it’s certain to have its ups and downs, but I have high hopes for it.

            To you and yours, I wish a happy New Year. May it be full of joy and wonder, empty of sorrow, and an experience worth remembering.

Check out my YouTube channel where I tell the stories of my D&D campaigns.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

2016

            I feel like the end of 2016 was a combination of “Woah, it’s over already?” and “Finally, it’s over!” On a global scale, the year has been quite the circus with rather a lot of tragedy – but hey, why talk about that? We’re going into the new year with plenty of hope and motivation to make it better than the last.

            For myself, I find that 2016 was measured in my wife’s achievements. Any time someone asked me what was happening in my life, my response went something like this:

            Well, you know. I’ve been writing – I’m quite happy with my latest book and I have very high hopes for it. And I’ve made some chainmaille, that too. Oh, but Colleen...!

            Colleen got her driver’s licence. She finished her coach training and started her own business! She’s got clients! She’s going off to talk at events. Colleen’s working hard to build her business while still working with me on Ringcrafts and helping me edit, isn’t she amazing!? Oh, and we just hired this marketing company and....

            Yes, this was definitely Colleen’s year. It’s been thrilling to take a backseat (‘cause she can drive now so I don’t have to) and watch her rocket towards her dream, helping others all along the way.

            Overall, I feel like 2016 was a transitional year, laying a lot of groundwork for the future. Now it’s time for us to step out into 2017 and see what we can achieve during this trip around the sun.

            Happy New Year!

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Ebb and Flow

            Something that I find amazing about working an art-related job is that there’s no telling what items will sell, or when. Selling chainmaille this past weekend at ConBravo! was mind-boggling – I never could have predicted the way our sales went.

            First, some background. When Colleen and I first started attending shows with Ringcrafts, we had no idea what to expect. We didn’t know what would sell – or how much. As a result, we managed to over-prepare by quite a bit. We made five of each chainmaille design we had on hand, only to learn that at any given event we would rarely sell more than one or two of any given item.

            Well, we learned. We cut back to three of each item, and when something proved popular we would up the number to five. Alas, as soon as we had plenty of said item, it completely stopped selling. Plus, we discovered that we were having trouble finding space to store and transport everything as our variety steadily grew larger.

            So, we fine-tuned our system. When we make something new, we now only make one. If it sells, we make two for our next show. After that, every time we sell out of a particular item, we add one more to the total that we keep on hand – the idea being that we’ll always have one available for display. This is working remarkably well, and in part helps predict what is most popular and what will sell well.

            This year, though, has been very strange. Items that have never sold before are suddenly our most popular items – alongside things that were popular in our first year selling, but that have received little interest for three years.

            This weekend continued that trend, but in a new and unexpected way. Usually, most of what we sell are our low-to-mid priced items – keychains, bracelets, necklaces, earrings and such. We usually sell a tie or two per show and a few dragons, those being items that are getting into a higher price range.

            At ConBravo! this weekend, we were astounded by the number of large items we sold – not only did we sell a beanie, belt and coif (higher priced items that rarely sell), but someone bought the chainmaille Spiderman mask that we’ve had on display for over two years. We were blown away – with the track record, we’d thought it would never sell.

            We’ve talked to other vendors and artists, and they all say the same thing: you carry items around and have them on display for years without selling one. Then, suddenly, they’ll become the most popular product you have.

            The ebb and flow of what is popular really is an inscrutable thing. I’m very interested to see in what direction this latest trend will carry us – and what will happen next.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Magic of Shiny Objects

            I spent this last weekend selling chainmaille at the Oxford Renaissance Festival and there were a few things I simply had to share. Namely, the magic of shiny objects.

            Friday was the first day of the festival, at least for school kids. It was Education Day, so a bunch of schools came out on trips to have some fun, watch some jousting and maybe learn something. Only a few of the vendors were present for the show – in fact, we were the only ones in the indoor location (our tent is annoying to transport – plus it is still broken from last year).

            Now, it should be mentioned that the festival was at a new location this year, which means that there is a lot of trial and error in figuring out what will and won’t work. For example, having a barn with only one vendor off to the side of where the majority of the festival’s activities take place doesn’t work.

            Because we were the only ones there, Colleen and I moved our whole setup right into the doorway of the barn, where we could be seen from outside. There were plenty of kids there, but because there was nothing else where we were, no one even looked in our direction (except one bus driver, who dropped by to chat for a bit).

            Until the end of the day. The sun had shifted enough to shine into the barn, glinting off the armour shirts at the front of our display. Finally, a few groups spotted us and came over. They didn’t buy anything, but that’s okay – the rest of the weekend made op for that with the normal festival days.

            Ah, yes. The rest of the weekend. The first thing that needs to be said about it is that it was hot. Outside, the sun was beating down – though a nice breeze kept the heat from being unbearable.

            Inside, there was no breeze. The barn we were in wasn’t one of those wooden barns, no. It was a metal barn, with metal roofing that the sun was beating down upon. Inside, it was an oven – even with doors open at both ends in an attempt to catch some of the breeze.

            A number of the events attendees commented on the heat in the barn, but there was one couple that went a step farther. After noticing we had an electrical outlet behind our table, they actually went home and brought a fan back for us. Isn’t that amazing? They left it with us for the whole weekend and came back to pick it up at the end of the show the next day. Needless to say, we were enormously grateful.

            Anyway, back to the magic of shiny objects. Along with the event’s move, the festival got some new partners – namely the local(ish) Boys and Girls Club. One of the new people involved came up with a wonderful idea. He’d grown up in an underprivileged household and he remembered loving events like these, but being sad that he never had any money to spend with the vendors. So he made “Coins of the Realm” that were given to underprivileged families along with special festival packages.

            All the vendors were asked to accept these “Coins of the Realm” at a value of $5 – which we’d be reimbursed for at the end of the festival. From the moment I heard the idea, I thought it was an incredible way to bring a little joy to people who have difficult lives. I can’t express how happy I was when they were used to make a purchase from me. Not only was I proud to be able to help these people, but the gratitude I could see in the eyes of the parents who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to buy something for their child – it was truly the best part of my weekend.

            Shiny objects really do have a magic all of their own.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

Also, make sure you check out my wife's blog and her life coaching website.


If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Making the Best of It

            Today brought a relaxing end to a busy weekend that could have been a lot worse. Looking back at it, it’s really hard to believe that – in spite of unexpected problems – Colleen and I took everything that happened in stride.

            Saturday was the day of the Royal Medieval Faire, one of the events we’ve been selling our chainmaille at since we started Ringcrafts. For me, it was a 16 hour work day, starting with a 5am alarm so we could get to the park in time to set up our tent, table and wares.

            The weather was looking rather iffy, and we fully expected it to be raining when we arrived. To our delight, it wasn’t (two years ago we had to set up in the rain – it was awful). In fact, the day was looking far better than we expected.

            Little did we know, the rain had adjusted its schedule to visit us later. The festival was going very well and was in full swing when the deluge hit. The rain poured down. Luckily, our tent held out – as it has in the rain before – with only one spot dripping inside. Thankfully not on top of anything (or anyone – since people came in to get out of the rain). The bad weather didn’t last too long and we were able to relax a stop fretting about how long the tent could withstand the onslaught.

            Next came the wind. Not too bad, at first, but getting worse. It got to a point where we had to take down parts of our display that kept blowing over. It was frustrating, but that’s just part of outdoor shows (one of the reasons we do so few of them). Besides, it was close to the end of the day.

            Then came the clean-up. We’re fairly efficient at packing up usually, but being outside always throws in snags to slow us down. Firstly, there’s taking down the tent added to everything else and this time around it was a disheartening task – because of when the rain came, it was still wet, meaning we’d have to set up the tent again (soon) so it could dry out properly. Next, there was the wind that started blowing over displays the moment the chainmaille wasn’t weighing it down. Then we had our newest problem – the wind flipped our tent right over, breaking one of its joints.

            Well, there wasn’t anything we could do about it, so we just kept packing up – although it slowed us down even more. It ended up being a day where we the first to arrive to set up and the last to leave. Still, it could have been worse. We could have had to set up in the rain and had it falling and windy all day. The tent could have flipped during the festival instead of after. The day’s sales were good, in spite of the weather, and we even traded some products with another vendor.

            So, we went home in high spirits without fretting about all the problems that had happened. After all, there was nothing we could do about them.

And today turned out to be a sunny day, so in spite of how tired and sore we were, we put up the tent first thing in the morning to dry – using a bandage to hold together the broken part. Then, since it just happened to be there and with the weather so nice, we decided to spend the afternoon just relaxing and hanging out in the tent with my sister-in-law, all of us working on various writing and art projects (there was also this orange fuzzy caterpillar climbing all over the tent that provided ample entertainment). It felt like a mini vacation.

            So, in spite of all the troubles, we went with the flow and everything turned out fine in the end. It makes me wonder why anyone ever bothers getting upset by anything. The past can’t be changed, after all, so all you can do is make the best of it.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Amazing Children

            Every now and then, usually while selling my wares at shows, I encounter children who amaze me with how smart and mature they are for their age. This weekend at ConBravo! I actually met two separate ones, each somewhere between the ages of seven and ten.

            The first came into my booth with one of her friends and they were admiring my various chainmaille products. The friend picked up a bracelet and exclaimed upon the price. This girl turned to her friend and admonished, “Don’t say that; they put a lot of hard work into what they make.” The friend then promptly assured me that she had only been expressing disappointment that she didn’t have enough money for the bracelet.

            This exchange astounded me, because I often get people (adults) who comment on how much various items cost – simply because they don’t understand the difference between something handmade and something mass produced in a factory. Yet, here was a child, obviously quite capable of making that distinction and aware enough to notice it.

            After this, it was incredible to have something similar happen a second time. Another girl, younger than the first, came to my booth, exclaiming on how beautiful everything was. The chainmaille shirt I had on display (it would be a full length dress on her) particularly caught her eye. She said it must have taken a lot of work and asked how much time it had taken and how many rings were in it. Then she started guessing at the price, saying “150, no, 200 dollars!” (obviously a large amount, especially to someone so young.) When I corrected her to $650, she, without hesitation, looked me in the eye and said, “It’s worth it.”

            To come across two children in the same show who are so aware of such things was something I thought impossible. It got me thinking, though, about how adults view children. We tend to assume that since they are smaller and younger than us, they still have a lot to learn. Following that thought, we often underestimate their knowledge and their ability to understand things.

            It makes me wonder how much our society holds children back from their potential. Not all of them, of course – everyone learns at different speeds – but it seems to me we group them into little boxes based on their ages and decide how much they are ready to know. It’s possible that, exposed to more information, they could learn far more. That’s what children are, after all – learning machines. The more information we give them, the more they absorb. Too often, I think, we decide they aren’t ready for things because they’re so young. Yet, there are eight-year-olds out there smarter and more mature than many people who have been deemed “adults”.

            I think it’s time to stop underestimating and talking down to children. If we allow them all the information they want and help them to learn at their own speed (rather than pushing them too hard in directions they aren’t interested or slowing them down because they “aren’t ready”), treating them as equals rather than inferiors, imagine what they could grow up to be.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Enthusiasts are Awesome

            I just got through a rainy weekend vending at Oxford Renaissance Festival and, I have to say, the event attendees were incredible. Saturday it rained all day, making for a particularly miserable outdoor event, with much of the entertainment needing to be cancelled (such as the international jousting tournament). Still, there was a good turnout. Not amazing, but good.

            Sunday was less rainy and the joust was back on, along with the rest of the outdoor entertainment. The weather still wasn't great, but a slightly larger crowd was still drawn, with some crossover from the previous day.

            We were one of the lucky vendors with an indoor location – one of the luckiest, because I also wasn't in the area with the leaky roof. I was really disappointed when the forecast changed from sunny to rainy for the weekend because this is the best show of the year for us to sell our chainmaille at, but rain and outdoors don’t mix. With the crowd that was drawn, though, we still did quite well, pulling in a third of the business we did last year.

            It just goes to show that the people who are truly enthusiastic about things won’t let a little think like rain get in their way of enjoying an event. Those people astound me and deserve recognition. Here’s to all you enthusiasts and fans out there who don’t let anything get in their way! A lot of hard work and time goes into these events and you’re the ones who make it worth the effort.

            ... And in other news... Celebrate!:)

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

In Praise of The Ring Lord

            You know, I really must take a moment to praise the unsung heroes of Ringcrafts: the wonderful staff of The Ring Lord.

            When I first started making chainmaille, way back in 2005, I started off by making a shirt for the LARP I was in. For that first tedious shirt, my friends and I made our own rings by coiling wire and cutting each individual ring with tin snips. Needless to say, this was an exhausting and painful process.

            Then I was told about The Ring Lord – a company specializing in providing chainmaille materials. I've never made my own rings since. Thanks to them, I can focus on creating and I get to use a much larger variety of rings than I otherwise would. On top of that, my products are cheaper because I don’t need to charge for the time it would take me to make my own rings.

            The company also has great customer service. There were a few times when there were items missing from my order (possibly lost in transit) and not only did they sort it out promptly – they upped the quality of the packaging for future shipments. I haven’t had anything missing since. On top of that, they recently moved to Toronto, which is awesome because it’s far closer to home (a couple of my friends even work there now). I placed an order on Monday, it shipped out on Wednesday and arrived on Thursday. It was wonderful!

            So, anyway, The Ring Lord deserves a lot of credit. Without them, Ringcrafts would never have started and it would never have come as far as it has. Thank you, Ring Lord staff!

            (Oh, and they also made armour for The Hobbit. And some NASA project. So that’s cool.)

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Last Blog of the Year

            And so, another year passes, as they do. They just keep flying by, don’t they? It was a decent year, as years go.

            Business went well for Ringcrafts, although we’re currently pouring time into improving it more – we've realized we’re spending too high a percentage of our income on materials and booking shows, so we’re looking to streamline everything. Unfortunately, this probably means our prices will be going up throughout the year (although we still have a lot of numbers to crunch before we know for sure).

            On the writing front, while I didn't get published this year, I got something nearly as valuable – actual feedback from a number of agents. This means that I'm getting to understand the query process well enough to get my foot in the door. The downside is that I learned my first book straddles the middle grade and young adult target audiences and, as such, is unlikely to be picked up in the publishing industry (which wants everything to fit neatly into a category).

            Since I did the silly thing that writers aren't supposed to do and wrote a full trilogy as my first books, this means I can’t query for any of my first three books until I rewrite the first one so that it’ll appeal to publishers. On the bright side, my fourth book is ready for querying in the new year and I have very high hopes for it. Meanwhile, my fifth book is nearing completion – although I'm cutting it awfully close on the book a year thing.

            I could summarize the rest of the year, but if you’re interested, all you have to do is read the previous blog posts. So, I’ll finish by wishing you all a happy New Year. I hope it brings much joy and chocolate. I mean happiness.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Thank You for Supporting Artists

            Oooh, I'm actually writing this blog on Monday for once! Of course, that’s because it’s after midnight and I just recently got home from a weekend of vending at the Oxford Renaissance Festival. That means, sadly (or happily, depending on how you feel about it), another short blog.

            This weekend’s show went spectacularly for Ringcrafts. We made over three times as much as we did at the same show last year and twice as much as we thought possible. We were completely blown away by how successful we were.

            For this reason, I’d like to thank everyone out there who goes to these events and supports artists. After a weekend like this one, we feel so incredibly appreciated that our will to push forward and make a living through our art is redoubled. I’d particularly like to thank our customers who remembered us from last year and saved their money so they could buy from us (it made us feel really special when you told us that), as well as the delightful lady that bought our scale shirt – making armour is where I started and I never get to make as much as I’d like to.

            Above all, I’d like to thank whoever it was who decided to give us the first booth inside the gates. You’re my hero. Please do it again.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Short Blog, Long Scarf

            Following Toronto ComiCon, I really am far too tired to write a blog. My wife, however, say’s it’s okay as long as I write at least three sentences. There, that’s three.

            So I leave you today with a picture of Colleen in our booth, dressed as the fourth Doctor, featuring the 15 foot long, 3.5lb chainmaille scarf she made. In the background, you can also see the nifty chainmaille Spiderman mask I made and many of our other products.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Farewell to Con-G

            I know I write about conventions a lot, but that’s because they’re so awesome! Besides, this one was special.

            One year ago, we of Ringcrafts were vendors at our first ever convention, Con-G. It was a wonderful show for us and gave us great hopes for the future of our business. We were welcomed with open arms by the other vendors and artists and we even became friends with a number of them.

            Most of those friends we ran into again at other shows we attended throughout the year, at the same time as meeting new friends. As I've mentioned before, there’s a truly wonderful community of people on the selling side of the tables – although some of the friends are regular convention attendees as well (my wife and I seem to have accidentally acquired a daughter who is, somehow, around the same age as us).

            So, the year went by and we've just come full circle, this past weekend being Con-G once again. Since was our first second year vending at a show, I was astonished by how many attendees I recognised! Some were even wearing jewellery or carrying dragons that they bought from us last year (I got to meet the person who ordered the first custom dragon I sold online and one of the people who won a dragon in one of my Facebook draws). Even though I’d only seen most of them once before, it was like getting back together with old friends.

            Part of what made this show so great for us was that the convention’s mascot was a dragon that I’d been able to design a chainmaille version of. Last year, I’d only made one – since I had no idea how well any of the dragons would sell. It sold on the first day. This time I wanted to have five along, but there was a mistake made on my materials shipment and I could only make three. Luckily, after the first three sold, I was able to modify other dragons to make two more. Even that wasn't enough – I even have one ordered for the next show I'm at.

            Of course, part of the reason those dragons sold so well is the sad news that this was Con-G’s last year. The same people have been running it every year and they don’t have the time to continue with it any more. Everyone’s very sad, but it helped make this an event to remember. With any luck, someone will pick up the torch in the future and resurrect this wonderful show.

            So here’s to Con-G, the first show, the first second year show, and the first last show I (and Ringcrafts) have sold chainmaille at. Thanks, Con-G team, for six great years (well, okay, so I can only say two great years, but I'm sure the first four were just as good).

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

And so it Begins

            This weekend was spent behind the Ringcrafts table at Tri-Con, an anime, comics and gaming convention. Not only was this show the first one of the year for us, this was the first year for this particular show – and I must say, wow! What a great start. If this show was an indicator of how well we’re going to do at shows this year, my wife and I may find ourselves with more chainmaille to make than we can keep up with.

            For a first year show, Tri-Con drew in an enormous crowd. So much so that it will most likely become an annual event – especially with all the press that showed up! It was wonderful to see a small event getting so much attention. This articledescribes it perfectly (and happens to mention yours truly). I can’t wait to see how this event grows over the years and I look forward to a time when I can say I was there from the beginning.

            As always, the fun of a show is followed by exhaustion, and heralds the time to look towards the next events coming up – the most exciting of which is Toronto ComiCon in March, which we were just accepted as vendors for. This is a show so big that I'm expecting the dealer’s room to be packed shoulder-to-shoulder, which is terrifying from my side of the table. With all the ideas I have and extra stock I’ll need, I expect to be very busy for a while.

            My brain tells me that I should be writing more, but I'm too tired. It’s time to go sleep off the effects that large groups of people have on introverts.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

2013

            Woohoo! I actually managed to make it through a whole year of blogging every week. I didn't think I could do it – just goes to show what you can accomplish when you try.

            It’s been a good year, too, on all fronts. In the writing world, I finished writing my fourth book (my best one yet) and, while I didn't break into the publishing industry I managed to do something (almost) better – I learned how the industry works. Now I can enter the new year armed with the tools and knowledge I gained this year and, with any luck, I’ll be landing an agent fairly early in the year.

            As for the chainmaille business, Ringcrafts, this was the year that was to determine if we should bother continuing with it – and the answer was yes! It’s supposed to take a new business five years to overcome their initial start-up expenses and start making a profit and we managed it in two. This means we can go into next year with far more confidence.

            In addition, we now know a lot more about shows – we know where our products sell the best, we’re better at finding shows to go to and we have a good idea of how well we can keep our products in stock. This means more shows and an even better year than this one was.

            I hope your year was as good as ours was and hope next year is even better! Thank you all for your support (be it of writing, chainmaille or both) and see you (well, type to you) in 2014. Happy New Year!

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Life as an Artist

            It is a common misconception that people who are selling things have money. It usually isn't even a conscious thought – it is just something that is assumed. The result is that shoppers are frequently looking for a better deal on things.

            This idea stems from the existence of huge companies that have CEOs spending millions on summer homes. Unfortunately, it is extended to include everyone who owns a business and, by extension, anyone selling something. This makes life much harder on everyone running a business who isn't a rich CEO – and even harder for an artist.

            So, I’d like to share with the world (at least the portion of it that reads my blog) a bit of what life is like for an artist sitting behind the wheel of a small business.

            The first thing I should mention is that my wife and I work seven days a week. To be fair, we don’t always work the typical eight hour days (sometimes it’s three hours and sometimes it’s fourteen), we set our own hours and we’re usually doing something we enjoy – but work is work and, no matter how much you love doing something, there are times when you just don’t want to do it.

            The last time we took time off and had a vacation was our honeymoon – a year and a half ago.

            If you go to an event we’re at (or our website), you can see some of what that work produces – our various products that we have for sale. You may even notice how much work we've put into displaying our work, or building and maintaining our website.

            As for the having money part, well... we've been officially in business for nearly two years and technically haven’t made a penny. I say technically because it depends on how you count the numbers – as in, if you don’t count all the materials we have to keep in stock so we can keep our products in stock, we've made a little money. If you do count them, we still have significantly less than we started with (this is normal – someone starting a business usually doesn't actually make money for the first five years).

            When we go to shows, we get a variety of responses to our products and prices. A very small handful of people tell us that our prices are far too low and we should raise them (we like those people). A lot of people comment on how reasonable our prices are (these are frequently people who have seen a lot of chainmaille, have made it themselves or truly understand the work that goes into something handmade). Most people seem happy with our prices. Many people think they’re a bit too high (though some of them like what they see so much that they buy it anyway). Others take one look at our prices and run away.

            Every once in a while, someone will ask me for a deal on something. Sometimes I’ll say yes – especially if they’re buying several items, they’re really nice and/or they’re coming to me with the last of their money and really want something that they don’t have quite enough for.

            On the other hand, there are people who make it perfectly clear that they think our prices are gouging them (thinking we are either deaf or blind), then ask for a discount. Needless to say, they don’t get it. At that point, I don’t care if I'm losing the sale – if they can’t see the value of an item, they shouldn't be buying it in the first place, let alone from an artist and/or small business owner.

            To these people, I want to say: Look at what you are holding. It is made by hand. When you buy that item, you are paying for the time spent making it and the materials it is made with. What you are not paying for is the time it took to design it or the years it took to learn the skills and become fast enough to get the price that low. You are not paying for the time we spend standing behind the table serving customers nor the time it takes to set up and take down the display at the beginning and end of the event – you’re not even paying for the space we’re renting to set up our display in. Do you have any idea how much has been invested in this display you aren't paying for? You’re also not paying for the time, gas or vehicle maintenance involved in getting to and from the event (you won’t be paying for our hotel room when the event is too far from home). You don’t pay for the time it takes to clean and polish our products. You don’t pay for the hours upon hours we spend taking pictures and editing them as professionally as we are able so we can keep an up-to-date website. You don’t pay for the web hosting that allows us to have a website. You don’t pay for our marketing. Not only do you not pay for the materials we keep on hand, you don’t even pay for them to be shipped to us.

            All we’re asking you to pay for are the materials in what you are holding and the time it took us to make it. Is that really too much to ask?

            Sadly, saying such things is a bad business practice and frequently a waste of breath. It won’t likely win a sale and it won’t make them understand how hard artists (the not-famous ones) struggle to make a living. I just wish more people knew and understood how much of a good deal they are already getting and complaining about.

            The worst part is that the example of my business is a fortunate one for artists. Most artists don’t even get paid for the time that goes into their art because there just aren't enough people who will pay what it’s worth.

            On the other hand, I would like to thank all of you wonderful people out there who do recognise what artwork is worth – especially the ones who insist on paying more than what we artists ask for our work. Thank you to everyone who supports a small business, even if it means paying a little more, because you are the people who keep us up and running, doing what we love.

            Above all, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this long and rantish blog post to better understand what it’s like to eke a living by chasing a dream. I hope it was enlightening to those of you who don’t know what it’s like and, for those of you who do, I hope it is encouraging to know that other people do know what you’re going through – and that we care.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Of Music and Maille

            Oooh, this is new! I'm actually writing my blog while still at an event. Hopefully I won’t get interrupted too often, but if I wander off I hope you don’t mind.

            Festival of Friends is a music festival, rather than the usual medieval fairs or geek conventions we go to. We were uncertain of how well we’d do here, but we've done quite well for ourselves. People love our stuff! And because this isn't the sort of event people usually find chainmaille at we drew a lot of attention.

            We've even continued the pattern of selling a tie at every show we've been to. Just before I sat down to write this, one of the vendors across the aisle from us could no longer resist the ties he’d been admiring all weekend.

            Oh! We also have someone who wants to stock our products in her shop! That’s exciting news.

            I haven’t wandered around the festival that much – I'm a little afraid of being disappointed. Festival of Friends was an annual event for my family to attend, but a lot has changed. Instead of being out in a park, it’s moved to a fairground and that has changed the entire feel. It feels... well, like a fair. Not that it’s a bad thing; it’s just different.

            The music has changed a lot, too, but that’s a good thing. There’s a very good variety, ranging from folk to rock (the later it gets, the younger the music gets). And the crowds attracted? All ages. It’s not often I see such a diverse crowd. We've even encountered a number of fellow geeks! (One of the security guards was at ConBravo! Where we had a table two weeks ago.)

            Backtracking to when Festival of Friends was at the park, I simply must share a story from when I was a kid. This is the story of the time I got lost. Well, actually it’s the story of the time my family got lost. We were at the festival and my parents had been talking about leaving and I was adamant about staying. So, there I was, watching the band playing on stage, and my parents got up to go juggle. I looked around, couldn't find my parents and panicked. I thought they’d left without me!

            So, I did what any kid would do – I tried to catch up with them. I ran all the way to the car which, to my relief, was still there but, to my despair, was devoid of any family members. However, I had been taught very well – I knew that if I got lost, I was to stay in one place until I was found. Plus, if I stayed by the car, there was no way those dastardly abandoning parents of mine could leave without me.

             I waited. And I waited. Crouched down beside the car (probably crying), I waited. During this time, there were announcements I couldn't hear at every stage of the event telling people to look out for me and telling me to report to the missing children’s tent while my parents themselves (and any other relatives still at the event) frantically searched for me. They did eventually find me, but not until their second trip to the car because, with me crouched down, they couldn't see me.

            And that is the story of the time I caught my parents trying to abandon me and I cleverly outwitted them when I was somewhere between the ages of six and eleven.

            Well, I should sign off before the crowds of the last rush show up. Next week I may have something interesting stories as I plan to be attending a free online writer’s conference this week. Write On Con. If you’re an author, you should check it out.

P.S. Be glad that I edited this between the time when I originally wrote this post (surrounded be music, talking and distractions) and the time I posted it. Be very, very glad.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Dancing with Facebook

            Eeep! It’s 9:30 at night on Sunday and I only just remembered I have a blog to write! Okay, so the big question is, what do I write about? Good question. Let’s see, what did I do this week?

            Surprisingly enough, it actually has been a pretty busy week for me. The reason I say this is surprising is because I'm a bit of an introvert (which is something of an understatement) and, as a result, my brain usually shuts down entirely right after a show, making me rather useless for about a week. Luckily it wasn't nearly as bad as usual this time around; I recovered in two days and, even on those two days, I wasn't as comatose as usual. I'm hoping this means I'm getting used to these things so we’ll be able to go them more frequently in the future.

            Among the many things that I surprised myself by accomplishing this week, the most eventful would be my first Facebook giveaway. In fact, it’s still going on right now! Though, it hasn't gone anywhere near the way I planned.

            You see, the whole point of a Facebook giveaway is publicity – it’s a great way to draw extra attention to your page. So, what I had planned was to have people enter the draw by sharing a picture of the rainbow chainmaille dragon I was giving away. In addition, the more shares the picture got, the more dragons I was going to give away. Seems like a good scheme, right? Except it’s illegal.

            That’s right – every time someone runs some sort of free giveaway on Facebook and asks you to “Like” or “Share” something to enter – or use any other Facebook feature – they are risking having Facebook delete their page. Plus Facebook could sue them. Oh, and on top of that, it turns out that if you want to run any sort of free giveaway on Facebook, you need to use a third party application.

            This whole system achieves two things – one, it protects Facebook from any sort of liability (something I completely understand and have no problem with) and two, it makes it far more difficult for page owners to encourage their followers to share their pictures and posts, which means it’s far more difficult to get any publicity without paying Facebook for it. The whole point in a lot of these smaller pages using Facebook in the first place is to get free publicity – we can’t afford to pay for advertising, otherwise we’d be doing it! It was extremely frustrating.

            So, my plans were completely shot down until about half an hour before my usual posting time when my brain finally discovered a way to circumnavigate the rules. I found a free application to run the draw for me and set up a picture that, for half a week before the draw opened for entries, people could share, with more shares meaning more dragons being given away in the draw. That way I got my free publicity, my followers got to increase the number of dragons in the pot and I didn't break any laws.

            I like it when bad situations work out well in the end. Incidentally, the draw opens today, so if you want to enter, hop over to Facebook and find the Ringcrafts page...

            The funniest thing about all of this is that, with my original plan, I was going to pay Facebook to boost the post promoting the draw. With this new method though? I didn't see the point. It turns out that trying to squeeze the little guy for all he’s got only gets the little guy to find more ways to go without feeding the big guy. I wonder how much money Facebook could make if they helped us little guys get big enough that we could afford to pay them.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

Waterproof Ringcrafts

            Today’s blog will likely be short, as I've just gotten home from my second day at the Oxford Renaissance Festival in Woodstock, Ontario, where Colleen and I were selling our chainmaille. We had a fantastic time, but being on my feet for twelve hours straight while wearing chainmaille two days in a row has really worn me out. My legs are threatening to quit, which would make writing on my laptop a bit more difficult.

            This was our first outdoor show, so it was a wonderful and terrifying new experience. It’s very hard to leave core parts of your livelihood outdoors, even when you know security will be on site. For us, our biggest concern was our tent – we bought it for this event and Colleen made a medievalish cover for it.

I’d like to take a moment to elaborate on that; she sewed an entire tent. Out of canvas. Now, think about how big a project that is while I tell you she did it in just three days. The results? We absolutely love it!

            As great as the tent looks, we had no way of knowing how functional it was in regards to, say, rain. The first day of the festival went fantastically with great weather and no problems, but even as we were packing up at night we knew that rain was expected. All we could do was make sure everything we needed to leave in the tent overnight was under the tarp we’d brought and hope that the predicted wind wouldn't tear it free (or blow away out tent, for that matter). Then we closed up our tent and drove away, not knowing what we’d find the next day...

            As a bit of side information, the tent has full walls on all sides that we can put up when we choose, however they are each made of three panels that tie together – this means that each wall has two gaps. These walls, like the roof cover, are made of canvas – not treated to be waterproof. The only waterproof part was the tent’s original cover (hidden under our cover) which we were worried wouldn't function with once our cover was on top.

You can imagine our surprise when we arrived on a rainy morning, after a rainy night, and found the inside of our tent completely dry! Not a blade of grass was wet. The canvas was soaked through, but Colleen’s home made tent had succeeded in keeping out the elements. We were thrilled, even more so when the sun came out in the afternoon and completely dried our tent for us.

            The rest of the event went well, although we had more wind than on the first day and, as a result, we learned important lessons about which of our displays need to be more secure for future outdoor events. All in all this was a wonderful fair (I could watch the live jousting from the back of our tent!) and we had a great time while learning lots and meeting loads of wonderful people (including many friends who dropped by, even some not expecting to see us).

We even managed to pack up and leave right before the thunderstorm hit. Now, that’s what I call a good weekend.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.

The Miracle of Social Networking

            Today I have no choice but to talk about the miracle of social networking. Those of you who know me well will find it astonishing that I have anything positive to say about anything containing the word ‘social’ – it’s true that I’d be perfectly happy living in a cave somewhere were it not for the bugs, lack of food and the absence of internet – but sometimes even I have to point out the merits.

            A couple weeks ago, I discovered the Dragons Fan Page on Facebook through a couple of author friends I met on Authonomy. After clicking the Like button on the page, I discovered that the person running the page sometimes posted links to the artists’ whose work was being displayed and, sometimes, models or figurines were posted as well as pictures. They also had 18000 people following their page and the wheels in by brain started to turn...

            You see, for the past month I've been sitting on a pile of pictures of my chainmaille dragons, waiting for the time to edit them and put them on my website. Well, now that I'm moved I found that I had time, so I prepared the pictures and had the adorable little dragons for sale on my website on Monday morning and announced their arrival on Ringcrafts’ Facebook page in the afternoon. That evening, shortly before going to bed, I sent a message to the Dragons Fan Page, asking if they might share a picture of my chainmaille dragons with a link to my work.

            I woke up Tuesday morning to quite the shock! The number of Likes on my page had gone from 76 to well over 400! Not only that, but I had tons of comments and questions to reply to, as well as several orders. Throughout the day, more questions and orders came in and the Likes on my page steadily rose until there were more than 550. All thanks to the kind person running the Dragon’s Fan Page who was nice enough to help me out and, of course, Lindsey and Sophie who inadvertently led me to the page.

            So, in the span of 24 hours, Ringcrafts went from being known by a few people here and there to being known by a good deal more people, scattered around the world. I'm amazed and delighted to say that the numbers are still climbing.

            This ties into something that I've learned from the authors on Authonomy. If you want to make a living as an artist, you need to turn yourself into a brand. As I am most certainly an artist – the only careers I considered after my childhood whims of being a veterinarian, a spy or a detective were author, musician/singer, music teacher, and chainmailler – I took this advice to heart. That’s why this blog is linked to both Authonomy (where you will find my book) and to my website. Not only that, but Authonomy links to here and my website, my website links to here and my Facebook page and my Facebook page links to my website. Everything is interconnected and it is easy for someone who likes some of my art to find the rest of it. In fact, some of you reading this may have found this blog through the events I've just been talking about!

            I can’t even begin to describe how much it means to an artist to have someone buy and enjoy their products. You see, the thing is that artists don’t create their works to make money, they make money so they can create their works that they hope other people will enjoy. Nothing is more important to an artist than the knowledge that their art has brought joy to someone else and, as such, there is no greater gift you can give an artist than a compliment on what they created or – better yet – buying it so they can continue creating.

            I hope for a world where, someday, all artists can make a living doing what they love. Until that happens, you should buy loads of chainmaille from me and pester publishers to publish my books.

Click here to find the charity anthology containing a couple of my short stories.

If there's any subject you'd like to see me ramble on about, feel free to leave a comment asking me to do so.