McDowell: Pflugerville’s Library Con goes virtual Sept. 26

For the first time, Pflugerville’s Library Con will be held virtually!

While we will miss seeing all of you in person, we have scheduled a full day of online activities, including drawing and writing classes, Q&A panels with artists, authors, cosplayers, performers, a cosplay contest and book giveaways. The event will be hosted on the library’s Facebook page on Sept. 26 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, and the videos will be archived on the library’s YouTube channel.

Fan favorites Saber Guild-Jakku Temple will lead a lightsaber craft for the little ones, as well as an Interactive Jedi Experience. Register to pick up supplies for the lightsaber and join us on the day of the convention to follow along.

We have several comic artists in attendance who will be participating in interviews and will be providing drawing lessons. Illustrator and cartoonist Chad Thomas has worked on “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Star Wars Adventures,” and “Mega Man.” He also illustrates a number of activity books with a variety of children's publishers.

Sam Lotfi is a comic book artist and co-creator of the mystery horror miniseries “Last Stop on the Red Line” from Dark Horse Comics, and he has worked as an animator, character designer, and storyboard artist on titles such as “DC Universe Online” from Sony Online Entertainment.

Molly Warner is a 3D Environment Artist in the games industry and illustrator who loves telling stories, creating worlds and bringing characters to life. She currently works at Certain Affinity as an environment artist.

Pathway Comics is the self-publishing company of married couple Bryan and Selah Douglas, creators of the all-girl kid superhero team, “The Dimensionals.”

Stephanie Rattanachane and Eddie Betancourt are animators and character designers. Stephanie has recently released two comics: “Rebel Rouser,” created with her husband Eddie Betancourt, and “Prince of Spades,” a collaborative comic project with Krystal Arnold and Kiwi Sherman. Eddie has worked professionally in television, mobile, and console games with clients such as Riot, Volition, Fox and Nickelodeon.

Our comic author panel will include Sean McKeever, Paul Benjamin, Janet Harvey and Shannon Brewer. Sean McKeever is an Eisner Award winner for his comics writing, which includes “Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane,” “Teen Titans,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Mystique” and “Outpost Zero.”

Paul is a New York Times bestselling author who has written and produced comics and video games for diverse properties including many Marvel characters such as Hulk, Spider-Man, Wolverine, and many DC characters in DC Universe Online. Janet Harvey has written for Oni Press, Image Comics and DC Comics, including the first full length adventure of Cassandra Cain. Shannon Brewer is co-owner of Hops + Heroes Comics and the author of “Evolution Revolutionaries.”

We are also excited to have several young adult authors in attendance. Kalynn Bayron will discuss her recently released title, “Cinderella Is Dead.” Natalia Sylvester is the author of two novels for adults. “Running,” her debut novel for young adults, is a 2020 Junior Library Guild Selection. Sara Saedi writes novels for teens and TV for everyone. Credits for books include “Never Ever,” “The Lost Kids” and the memoir “Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card.” Her screen work includes the ABC Daytime web series “What If …,” the hit drama “iZombie,” the ABC drama “Grand Hotel,” and “Katy Keene” on the CW. Raquel Vasquez Gilliland is a Mexican-American poet, novelist and painter. Her new novel, “Sia Martinez and the Moonlit Beginning of Everything,” has received rave reviews.

Take a writing class with Tracey Lander-Garrett, the author of the “Madison Roberts” urban fantasy series. She’ll teach you how to name characters, places and objects in your own novels.

Join transmasculine cosplayer Geisha Couture for Out of the Closet: Gender Identity and Cosplay, as Geisha shares on how cosplaying helped him unpack the gender issues that plagued him most of his life, eventually leading to coming out as transgender.

We’ll conclude the event with a performance by Jen Rose ft. Wedge and Sirenstar, who will be performing music from video games, anime and pop culture.

For those who were looking forward to our cosplay contest, don’t worry: We’re accepting contest entries via our website through Sunday, Sept. 6. Anyone 13 and up may enter, and the winners will be announced on Sept. 26 at 5:30 p.m. Thanks to the Friends of the Library for donating this year’s prizes.

We’ll also be giving away prize packs with books by our guest authors and artists! Enter to win on our website from Sept. 1 through Sept. 26.

For a full schedule and more information on our guests, visit pflugervilletx.gov/librarycon.

Bette McDowell is the adult services librarian for the Pflugerville Public Library.