What an incredible Shore Leave 45 hanging with friends, making new, immediate bonds, sharing stories, ideas and laughs with plenty of shenanigans. The long-running Star Trek, Star Wars and science fiction convention now held at the Wyndham Hotel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was a total blast with our table neighbors all around us including the hilarious horror and fantasy Novel Guys table (thanks to Christina for keeping me company in line for the complimentary autographs from Starship Troopers’ Casper Van Dien and Dina Meyer) and chatting with Star Trek: Prodigy’s Bonnie Gordon, a total sweetheart and renegade of the con trenches.

We’re grateful the time spent and knowledge gained from all the famed Star Trek, sci-fi, fantasy and mystery writers whom TJ and I are fortunate to call friends. We’re especially thankful to the bookstores we met who agreed to carry both of our books and anyone inadvertently missed. TJ rocked her panels, and I’m pleased to learn I will be a part of Shore Leave’s future panel programming. Also thank you to the vendor passing out free Godzilla 70th anniversary posters courtesy of IDW. Also, mad fun at the Godzilla panel geeking out with tons of King Green contributions from me and many others.

As you can see, the cosplayers came to play!

Art by Star Trek comic artist, JK Woodward

Art by Star Trek comic artist, JK Woodward

–Photos by Ray Van Horn, Jr. and TJ Perkins