Hal-Con 2011 Special Report
(11/16/2011)

Engen Books was out in full force at this year's Hal Con November 12-13th, with three of our authors in attendance to help make the con as special as possible for writers and readers alike. Guests from Engen Books included Compendium and Infinity author Ellen Curtis, Black Womb and Inner Child author Matthew LeDrew, and Sci-Fi from the Rock contributor Darren Hann. Old fans and new ones crowded into packed hallways in the Dealer's Room and the Workshop Rooms for writing panels, as attendance with the con more than doubled from last year.

“All the convention staff are amazing,” said Matthew LeDrew via his blog. “Special praise [goes] to our PA Val Gent and her husband Larry of 42 Webs. These guys are phenomenal. A big part of [what makes Hal-Con so great] is the organizers and the volunteers. Jen Lambe… Amanda Schreiber… these people are the real stars of this convention, not the actors or authors. and I think everyone kind of knows that.”

Hal-Con 2011 saw the release of one new Engen Book, the much-anticipated eighth book in the Black Womb series: Inner Child. Starting off the third (and perhaps final) story-arc of the series, Xander and his friends are confronted with a sinister new evil stalking the halls of a local children's ward while dealing with the major events of the last book, Becoming . Always engaging and exciting, Inner Child brings something new to Black Womb and to the Engen Universe as a whole.

In addition to Inner Child , the first of the Generation One books was released internationally at Hal-Con, with Ellen Curtis's Compendium being the first to retrieve its upgrade. The book is now available on Amazon and Chapters/Indigo, as well as in various media outlets and bookstores across the globe.

But Engen Books weren't the only things LeDrew and Curtis were featured in this weekend: they also both took part in What the Wild Things Read , a new charity book from Ink'd Well Comics featuring a variety of contributes, with proceeds going to Free the Children.

“There was lots of fun to be had with Jay and Heidi of Ink'd Well Comics,” commented author Ellen Curtis. “For the What the Wild Things Read launch one of the highlights of the weekend being able to give back through charity! Kudos to them for getting the ball rolling and putting out such a lovely finished piece!”

Other guests included Conor McCreery of Kill Shakespeare, model and muse Drakaina Muse, renowned author Kelly Armstrong, Marvel Comics artist Nick Bradshaw, and fan-favorite actor Nicolas Brendan ( Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Criminal Minds ).

“There was no part of the convention that wasn't amazing,” LeDrew said. “Hal-Con gets bigger and better every year. It's quickly becoming the greatest convention in Canada and we are always honored to have been a part of it. If there was a poem to describe how great Hal-Con is, I wouldn't have the vocabulary to write it.”

We couldn't have said it better ourselves.