We recently connected with Chris Ringler and have shared our conversation below.

Chris, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Over the years I have been involved in a lot of different projects, both personally, and with groups, but the most meaningful one I was ever involved in was the creation of the Flint Horror Convention.

Back in the early 1990s I was able to attend the two Fangoria Weekend of Horrors conventions that came to Michigan and immediately fell in love with conventions. After those shows I was able to attend a comic con as a guest for a ‘zine a friend and I put together that went national for an issue and then as an author later on.

I loved the sense of community that conventions had in them and the connection to other fans and creatives. In 2011 I found I had a little bit of money from my tax return and had the thought – do I invest in doing an out of state convention for my writing or do I try to create a convention in the city I loved and lived in, Flint, Michigan. With the support of friends I chose to pursue a local convention. We had so much go wrong that it took a lot of faith and luck to make it happen, and it did.

We held a handful of local conventions, small, regional shows, but I met some amazing people who have become friends and allies and we created something that I will always hold dear.

Chris, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Of the many things I am involved in, I am primarily an author. I have been writing seriously since 1999, when my first book, Back from Nothing was published. After that book I pursued putting out chapbooks and doing comic conventions and art shows to promote my work.

I learned of self-publishing, and that it was a viable option, in 2009 at a convention when I had a table next to an author that had taken that path and was seeming to do pretty well. I put my second book out that same year, This Beautiful Darkness, and have not slowed down since.

Self-publishing is a difficult, and imperfect way to get work out but it’s allowed me to put out several novels, a fantasy trilogy, some children’s books, a cozy mystery, and many other books. The thing to remember with anyone doing something like this is that you have to trust your guts and yourself. You have to believe in what you’re doing because no one else will. There are so many resources out there now, and people who want to help that this is the perfect time to pursue our creative passions. It may not always make you a living but it can absolutely make you happy.

From writing I have made connections, friendships, and learned about myself and my passions. I have pursued podcasting, making short films, and art because all of these are ways to tell the stories I have in me and that’s what it’s all about in the end – sharing the passion with the world.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When we were first putting that first convention together we lost the venue and it seemed like everything we’d been working for was falling apart. After that I had some of my partners pull out but on the precipice of having it all crumble I leaned on the people I could depend on and we got creative and adapted our approach. We took that lesson and kept it as part of who we were as an organization and when it wasn’t economically viable to do conventions we did smaller shows, film festivals, and other events. We learned to evolve who we were to keep what we were doing alive.

As long as we were doing fun, low-cost events for the area and to help support creatives we were on the right path.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Something I think people miss out on is that EVERYONE is creative. We just don’t see it that way. If you scrapbook, you are creative. If you do woodworking, you are creative. If you are a welder, you are creative.

Creativity is all around us, and so are the arts.
We all have art in us but we allow art to get wrapped up in so many different packages and at times weaponized when it is meant to free us, and to join us.

Being an artist is emotionally taxing as you question your vision, your method, your talent, and whether you are doing the right thing or not. and whether anyone even cares. We need to support one another and to understand that we are all connected by art. People think of art as a dividing factor, as something you can either do or can’t, when we’re all born with art in us, waiting to get out. We just don’t always respect the things we create as on the same level as a Van Gogh or Bach when art isn’t meant to be equal. It’s meant to connect us and inspire us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.spookychris.com
• Instagram: @thespookychris

Image Credits

All images are by me, outside of the one of me reading, which was taken by my wife.