On my way to SDCC!
Comic Con? Comicon? Comic-Con? Whatever it is--Yay!
On my way to SD ComicCon!
Right about now, I am on a train to San Diego for ComicCon! I have one panel:
“In Our Villain Era: Tor's Version
Saturday July 27, 2024 10:30am - 11:30am PDT
Everyone has their favorite era, and Tor is here to tell you why their Villain Era is fiercer than the rest. Jenn Lyons (The Sky On Fire), Moses Ose Utomi (The Truth of the Aleke), and Ken Bebelle (Blood Jade) dive into the villains—and maybe even some heroes—of their stories. Moderated by Ryka Aoki (Light from Uncommon Stars).”
And there will be a signing right after:
“12pm-1pm – In Our Villain Era: Tor’s Version – Table AA06
Jenn Lyons, author (The Sky On Fire), Moses Ose Utomi, author (The Truth of the Aleke), Ken Bebelle, author (Blood Jade), Ryka Aoki, author (Light From Uncommon Stars)”
So please come visit if you can!
**
But other than that, and some writer meetings and stuff, I am going to just enjoy the Con. :)
I have spent the last couple of years tending to, then grieving my mother…thinking about love and family and loss and rebirth.
And all that went into my next book. I went places—not always easy places—but necessary and possibly even wondrous places. Finally, the rough draft is done…and now I wait for my agent and editor to tell me how to make it even better!
But for now, I am super happy.
And I am also quite drained.
Whenever I finish a book, I get emotional—but the emotions are never quite the same. With this new book, I feel empty. Probably because now, I have written perhaps the most honest book I’ve ever written, but my mother is still gone, and now there is no art to process the loss. That part is done, and here I go with the rest of my life, trying to find out who to ask for the spareribs recipe.
Things weren’t always the best between me and my mother…but she was my mother, you know?
Anyway…we talk a lot of chosen family. Found family. And I think that I might not be ready to say “I lost my mother, but I have found family now.” Maybe one day.
Maybe.
BUT… I can talk about community. About a gaggle of people who have no pretense of being family—yet intersect through shared interests and experiences and creations.
A community will not take the place of family—but it does not have to. It is something different.
Here are a bunch of people who have no familial obligation to welcome or bond with each other. And so, they gather because they like the same things—perhaps even things their families do not understand.
And, as I careen down the Pacific Surfliner from LA to San Diego the train fills with more and more of this community we share. A sticker here. A t-shirt there. A wave.
And I begin to feel my soul begin to fill.
I am going to spend most of my time wandering at SDCC—and yes, it can sometimes feel a little “alone-in-a-crowd” like. But I have been blessed to discover friends here…comrades, colleagues—students and mentors, people who have read my work, and and so many amazeballs folks whom I admire from afar.
In the past, I thought I liked places like this because I got to watch interesting people and see spectacular things. Then, I thought that being around so much creativity meant I could just be a fan.
And none of this is untrue. But after losing my mother—and now being away from the novel that has been my companion throughout her illness and passing and all the after—I am realizing something else about why I love this SF/F community.
In the cacophony of costumes and comics and creations—I am free to grieve when I want, cheer when I want. I can listen to people speak breathlessly about Robotech or Demon Slayer and join in if I want. If I want I can paint a figurine, learn about what’s happening with the Star Trek franchise, or visit the Tor table and say hi to my friends.
In other words, I am free to want. I am free to drift. I am free to engage and disengage. And the funny thing is, no matter what things I might want to do—there I am. Amongst thousand of people who are doing their own things, as well.
And somehow, it all works. Spectacularly.
So, anyway, if you see me wandering around at Comic Con, come and say hi!
That is, if that is what you feel like doing at the time.
Much love!
✨Ryka