Comic Book fans! (And who isn't one???) FREE Comic Book Day is THIS Saturday! Comic books will be given away in the lobby of the Athens Public Library this Saturday, May 4, soon after we open 'til the pillage is gone. ;) 

Then, next weekend is RathaCon, featuring special guest, Joanne Padgett, author of "Vampires of Camelot"! 

We will have RPG games going on all day at this year's event. Here are the 2 people running them:

John Pare is 49 and studying to be an LPN. He lives in Albany Ohio.
His hobbies include Roleplaying games, Flight Simulator, and scale models.

Castles & Crusades is a roleplaying game by Troll Lord Games, it is a combination of various editions of Dungeons and Dragons. You will enjoy the day more after gaming with John in a 4 hour session.

TJ Johnston is a freelance article editor and founder of TheCoolShip.com.
When he isn't writing or editing, he generally kills time by playing games
or trying to keep up with his two children. He lives in Albany, Ohio with
his wife.

Mutants and Masterminds is an easy-to-learn, d20-system-based superhero
RPG. Want to throw cars at bad guys? Want to save the world from
galactic-level threats? This is the game you want to play.

There will be a sign-up sheet at the door.

The con is coming together..............
There will be 4 panel discussions - 
Comic Artists @ 10 am
Tom Fiocchi - costume design @ 12 noon
Joanne Padgett author of "Vampires of Camelot" @
2 pm
OU Professors discussing using graphic novels and
comics in academia @ 4 pm
During the whole day there will be..........
Artist Alley
Gaming (PRG, Board, & Card) - sign up at door
Collections Displays
Artisan Vendors
Vendors/Sellers
Kid's activities
Food from Not Guilty Food Cart
Raffles
and much more...........

"Build a Superhero" contest @ 1:30 - sign up at door
Raffle Drawing @ 5 pm
Costume Contest @ 5:30 pm - sign up at door

Costume Dance Party with DJ Barticus and The Geek Girls
goes from 6 pm - 10 pm (the band plays @ 7 pm).

The main con costs $5 for everyone 11 years and up and is FREE to kids under 11. The Dance Party is FREE for those with a Ratha Con hand stamp and $2 for others.

We are sad to report that our special guests, costume designers Nicole Marie Jean and Spence Doe, are unable to make it this year after all.  We will still have our other special guest, Joanne Padgett, author of the popular "Vampires of Camelot".

A bit of information about our very special guest, Joanne Padgett.......

Joanne Padgett is the author creator of the acclaimed novel series Vampires of Camelot Camelot’s True Story Part One. Joanne is a respected author. As a writer she is very expressive and thought provoking; getting people interested in her cliffhanger drama style. After leaving Central New York, she joined the workforce and found it was not her fit. Joanne found her passion was writing but, how to make that a career was another issue all together. Joanne dabbled in banking, sales, and other things but, she was always drawn back to writing.

Joanne on her 30th birthday was looking back at her first thirty years and did not like what she had become. Joanne was looking back on her life and was reminded of her first memory of mortality. Joannewas in the 8th grade where each student was given an assignment to write to their favorite author and ask them to come speak at an event. Joanne loved the works of Roald Dahl and wrote to him. Joanne waited for a response and two weeks later she received it.

Joanne was so excited she waited to read her response letter to the class. Joanne went to school with letter in hand and ran to the front of the class and opened the letter she began to read the letter aloud. It stated that they appreciated the fact that she loved Roald’s work and regretted to inform her that he had been deceased.  Joanne was devastated and ran out of the room crying so upset her teacher Mrs. Bassett calmed her down and told her that was okay because his words would live on forever he had left his legacy and that is when Joanne decided to write her first novel The Vampires of Camelot Camelot's True Story Part One.

 Joanne came up with idea for the novel when watching Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable.Joanne contemplated what if Camelot had Vampires in it? Joanne studied the Arthur legends and within two years she had written her first novel.  Joanne has launched the first book in the series.  Joanne hopes everyone will enjoy her new epic novel series Vampires of Camelot Camelot’s True Story Part One.