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Category: Conventions

ARIA goes to RICC 2022

ARIA goes to RICC 2022

The Association of Rhode Island Authors returns to the Rhode Island Comic Con 2022!

If you’re looking to get a preview of Rhode Island Author Expo then going to Comic Con finding the ARIA isle is your best bet.

14 local authors who dabble in science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, young adult, horror and even children’s books.

Two Writing Panels

World Building 101 on Friday

A Hero, an Anti-hero, and a Villain Walk into a Bar on Saturday!

Authors in attendance

Each photo is a link to the author’s website or Amazon page.

 

[Appearances] Going to RICC 2021

ARIA goes to RICC!

The Association of Rhode Island Authors will selling books at Rhode Island Comic Con 2021.

Our Location:

We’ll be at tables: 613, 615, 617, 619, 621, 716, 718, 720.

Panels:

There will be two panels featuring our authors.

World Building – Mind Your Myths and Backstory

Rhode Island Convention Center 552

Saturday November 6, 2021 – 11:00 am to 11:45 am

There’s much to consider when constructing a mythical, magical, or futuristic world, and one important factor is the foundation myth or backstory. What does the writer need to know? What does the reader need to know? When do they need to know it? How does the backstory impact the characters and the current events on their world? Join us for a discussion on how to effectively craft a backstory and weave it into your tale. Panel hosted by the Association of RI Authors.

Writing the Other – Creating Characters Outside Your Comfort Zone

Rhode Island Convention Center 552

Sunday November 7, 2021 – 12:15 pm to 1:00 pm

Writing characters from different backgrounds than our own is both a challenge and an opportunity for authors. In this panel, we will explore the tools needed to write outside our own experiences to create three-dimensional characters. Topics will include the importance of research, the role of sensitive readers, and avoiding harmful stereotypes. Panel hosted by the Association of RI Authors.

Attending Authors

[Appearances] Boskone 57

Boskone, Feb 14-16, 2020

Association of Rhode Island Authors will once again be at Boskone 2020 this weekend in Boston.

Several authors like Mike Squatrito, Chris Paniccia and Tabitha Lord will be on several panels.

ARIA will also be in the dealer’s room selling sci-fi/fantasy books written by local authors, mine included.

Boskone has become favorite of mine because the con is still geared towards authors, it’s still a small con and it has a great deal of panels for everyone.

Check out the panels schedule here.

[Appearances] Rhode Island Comic Con 2019

Myself and members of the Association of Rhode Island Authors NecronARIA group a.k.a. the Fantasy and Sci-Fi troupe will be at Rhode Island Comic Con on November 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Table 613 – Tabitha Lord, Heather Rigney
Table 615 – Mike Squatrito, Jr. (Saturday & Sunday only), Christa Carmen (Friday & Saturday only), Paul Magnan (Sunday only)
Table 617 – Association of Rhode Island Authors
Table 619 – R. K. Bentley, Angelina Singer
Table 621- Christopher Paniccia
Table 716 – Emily Tallman, Deb Zannelli
Table 718 – A. Keith Carreiro, Coral Isabella Aurora
Table 720 – Russ Chevalier
RSVP on our Facebook Event Page

[Appearance] Author Meet & Greet at #RICC

3rd Annual ARIA Meet & Greet at Rhode Island Comic Con!

The Association of Rhode Island Authors is pleased to announce a contingent of science fiction, fantasy and horror writers will be attending Rhode Island Comic-Con on November 2nd, 3rd & 4th 2018 at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
Their tables will be:
Artist Alley 544: Christopher Paniccia
Artist Alley 339: Tim Jones
Table 811: Bolivar Beato & Emily Tallman
Table 813: Keith Carreiro & R. J. Castiglione
Table 910: Russ Chevalier & John Raposa
Table 912: D. R. Perry & Angelina Singer
Table 914: Association of Rhode Island Authors – Anthology Books
Table 916: J. Michael Squatrito, Jr. & Tabitha Lord
Table 918: R. K. Bentley & Christa Carmen
A map of the Convention Center Floor layout with table highlights is below.
Our Facebook Event Page can be found here.
ARIA Writer’s Panel Time & Date: TBA.

How to survive Rhode Island Comic Con

How to Survive Rhode Island Comic Con

group
With Rhode Island Comic Con now just hours away, here are some helpful hints on surviving a convention:
1. Park at the Providence Place Mall and walk over. Sure there’s parking at Providence Convention Center but why pay $15 when you can pay less for the same amount of time. The Mall is where the food’s at and it’s linked to the Convention Center by a skybridge.
2. Check ‘n’ charge your electronics now and bring back up batteries/cards/charging wires. There isn’t a Best Buy for miles but there are several wireless carrier stores, an Apple Store and a CVS in the mall. If you’re bringing a DSLR with you bring extra cards and batteries because there probably won’t be charging stations.
3. ATMS: Get the money before you leave the house. There tend to be two long lines at conventions: Starbucks and ATMs. Guess which ATM is gonna run out of money first? Right, the one at the con not at your local Walgreens.
4. Comfortable shoes and clothes. Check the weather forecast before you leave, walking around in bundled up clothes in a tightly packed space with a lot of people things tend to get hot and you really don’t want to be dragging a heavy coat around five minutes after you just walked through the door.
5. Generally this where I’d say to have a back up panel but RICC is only 4 years old and the panels are light.
6. Yes, the food is expensive inside the Convention Center, walk back over to the Mall and buy it there. For the ragging Providence Place Mall gets, the restaurants like Dave & Busters are great places to eat at.
6a. Stay hydrated. Get a 24 oz water bottle at the corner store and just refill it for the entire weekend.
7. Download the Rhode Island Comic Con app. Make sure to spell out the full name. It includes maps and a locations of such important things like the bathrooms.
8. Remember to check out Artist Alley for up and coming artists. You never know what you may find.
9. Twitter hashtags of #ricc #ricc2015 #ricomiccon and #rhodeislandcomiccon are probably best to watch just in case. It’s the only way the dealers found out the fire marshals had closed the doors last year since no announcements were made to the con floor.
10. Remember to ask the cosplayers for their pictures and say thank you. I’d point you to the anti-harmashment policy for RICC but I don’t know if they have one.
11. Otherwise, enjoy yourselves and hopefully Altered Reality Entertainment has learned from last year’s mistakes.

[Con Report] Rhode Island Comic Con 2014

me at booth lighter
(Image taken by Matthew Graves)
The third annual Rhode Island Comic Con happened last weekend at the Rhode Island Convention Center.
I missed the first year, attended the second as a fan and was a dealer at the third and I wish I could recommend it to my friends to make it an annual event. It’s got everything: comic books, movies, artists, authors and tv/movie stars as guests!
Scooby Doos
Nerd Prom in my backyard! And there’s no airline tickets or hotel fees to contend with! You just drive up and walk right in, right?
Not exactly.

[Gaming Ramblin'] Ubisoft's problematic playable women characters glitch.

why
So as the E3 continues to roll on, the Ubisoft fallout over no playable women characters continues on blogs from Bennett North‘s to Chuck Wendig.
I hope James Therien isn’t the biggest whiner in the world because his sound bytes sure sound like he’s biggest whiner, ever.
Did some fact checking via the web*: Aveline de Grandpré from Assassins Creed III and Black Flag was a playable character.
So that means, all the code these whiners are complaining about is already in the computer.
And sure, it may take a while to “update” aka spend time but it’s already been done.
If the code for a playable female character is already in the computer why are we even having this conversation?
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Instead of continuing with the playable female character that had been a plus for Ubisoft like it was for BioWare when female Shepard popularity shot through the roof, instead, we get a speed bump and negative traction on social media.
MMORPGs have been doing player customization for years while console games have struggled to catch up to make sure their On-Line version can be played out of the box. Patches come later.
Personally, I enjoy customizing characters. I’d rather get shot by someone different then just a different tinted Master Chief.
Why isn’t Cortana a playable character? It’d be fun to get killed by a giant blue naked A.I.. She’s a reverse Dr. Manhattan.
Hell, even EVE On-line got into it.
Downloadable Content (DLC), Season Passes and pre-order to play XYZ character is unfortunately the next big thing.
I say unfortunately for several reasons: 1. I want to customize and choose playable characters (like Harley Quinn) out of the box. 2. Oh, right, is this extra feature going to work next year when the iteration of the game drops? Question 3. See question 2.
Question 2 is big problem if like me you play Call of Duty Games.
Call of Duty has become a annual national holiday in upon itself. And none of the DLC’s or levels are portable.
Player customization for sandbox games like GTA, Saint’s Row, Watchdogs and Dead Rising is half the fun of these games. It should be half the fun of any game. Code and time be damned.
Tiger Woods’s golf games have character creation trees that put WOW to shame. **
Ubisoft should be able fix this problem by the time the next game launches. Ask for forgiveness and pledge that playable female characters will be on their to-do list going forward.
Hey, if Microsoft can dump the Kinect out of Xbox One then Ubisoft can do this.
If they can’t and if their upcoming game The Division has no playable female characters then it’s more than time to start a letter writing campaign.
Maybe get Aiysha Tyler to knock some sense into them…
* If I got my facts wrong, I blame the web. Move along.
** Yes, I’m repeating myself with that Tiger Woods line.