HENRICO COUNTY, Va. βA one-day Pokemon convention drew hundreds of fans to RVA Saturday for trading cards, cosplay contests and celebrity voice actor meet-and-greets.
PokeKon Fest, which was held at the Four Points Hotel by Sheraton Richmond Airport, featured an immersive experience for fans of all ages. The festival included vendors selling trading cards, vintage collectibles and exclusive fan-made merchandise.
Fans also had the chance to meet famous voice actors and participate in a cosplay contest.
Jaleesa, who writes urban fantasy novels under the pseudonym J.S. Living, said conventions play an important role since she is self-published.
"My favorite part about coming to conventions is meeting all the people and talking to them and getting to know them and of course collecting my fellow vendors' business cards," she said. "I have a long-term goal of one day just purchasing something from everybody I've ever collected a business card or a bookmark from."
Among the vendors was author J.S. Living, who was promoting her urban fantasy novel "The Covenant of Blood" about ,Elizabeth Bathory-Tepes, the daughter of Dracula. She also shared her journey from a third-grade writing prompt to becoming a self-published author.
"I had this really amazing teacher named Ms. Weinstein who gave us writing prompts like every day in class, and one day I wrote like this story about this little swamp girl," Living said. "She gave me such high praise for that one little story and told me to keep writing that I just decided that day that I was gonna become an author."
Living shared what she enjoys most about attending conventions.
"My favorite part about coming to conventions is meeting all the people and talking to them and getting to know them and of course collecting my fellow vendors' business cards," Living said. "I have a long-term goal of one day just purchasing something from everybody I've ever collected a business card or a bookmark from."
Living also showcased her short story collection "Blood Ties," which features three stories based on her novel, along with character art and a one-page comic from the series.
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