Daily Journal 1/14/26

Three boxes of books, one glass hightop table, and one cash register left in the Vortex space. Otherwise, it’s empty. Will be loading those up this morning (after I unload what I loaded up last night). Am turning the keys to the building and the remote controls for the alarm system over to the next tenant today. He intends to open a Pokemon and Magic the Gathering store, and I wish him all the luck in the world. Technically, my lease doesn’t run out until January 31 and his doesn’t start until February 1st, but I wanted to get everything out early so he and his contractor could get a head start on converting the space.

Like I said… luck. Because, in this economy and with Columbia’s rapid decline, I suspect he will need it.

~

Met up with Robert Swartwood for lunch yesterday, and talked shop. It’s nice to be able to do things like that again, and not have to worry about getting the store open on time. Speaking of Rob, his stuff is now on the online store, and all of them are signed.

Rest of the day was spent working on AuthorCon VI programming, packing up Vortex online orders (which will all ship today), and phone conversations with Chris Golden, Paul Tremblay, and Laurel Hightower. And also a bunch of stuff involving my youingest son’s impending college education.

Saw on Facebook that some folks missed the deadline to apply for AuthorCon VI programming. Don’t despair. Just hold off until the preliminary schedule is released later this week, and then follow the directions released with that, and we’ll get you taken care of.