ATLANTA — From record-breaking blood drives to gatherings, games and fun for fans of all ages, Dragon Con’s 40th anniversary brought professionals and hobbyists together for a massive Labor Day meet up.
Not only did the convention raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for a local charity, get thousands of donations for a blood drive and bring 5,000 books to local libraries in honor of Dolly Parton, it’s also a place where professionals can launch their careers.
Channel 2 Action News spoke with Georgia-based industry professionals about how Dragon Con was something that helped them live their dreams, including helping make their careers.
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From sewing costumes for neighbors to Bad Bunny Super Bowl show
Another Georgia-based professional said without Dragon Con, she wouldn’t have the business she has now.
Catherine Jones, a costume designer and crafter based in Doraville, said when she first started working on costumes in 2007, a career with Hollywood wasn’t on her radar.
But going to Dragon Con and networking with fellow fans, crafters and industry professionals helped her grow her business, and got her work onto one of the largest stages in America: The Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Jones said her work at Jones Specialty Soft Goods was on full display during this year’s halftime show with Bad Bunny.
“We worked with a designed who’s based in Atlanta named Monique Loren-Peters,” Jones said. “And she came to our shop to have us make all these grass bunnies.”
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Actress, SCAD grad, tabletop media master
Channel 2 Action News spoke with Chelsea “Dot” Steverson at Kobold Press. She is the company’s marketing manager and a SCAD graduate. Working in Atlanta, Steverson’s daily routine is remote.
It was Steverson’s SCAD degree and can-do attitude that took her from Twitch streaming on her own to running marketing and communications for Kobold Press.
“I actually started as an actor. That’s what brought me to Atlanta, and I ended up going back and getting my master’s degree in business,” at SCAD, Steverson said. “After many years of working in the arts and nonprofit, I found my way to Twitch and Kobold found me there.”
Steverson said business for tabletops is booming, but it’s not without its difficulties when it comes to bringing items to market.
The last couple of years were more of a challenge, Steverson said, due to changes in the economy and market.
“You can tell thousands of stories within the 200 pages of a book, so it never dates itself, but books require paper, dice require manufacturing, and those things are not really set up here in the states,” Steverson said. “And so, with a lot of the changes of tariffs and a lot of the financial problems that we’ve seen over the last few years, we have seen a dip in what people can afford and what companies can afford to do in terms of production of goods as well.”
As far as how a work-life balance between job and fun works out, including Dragon Con, Steverson said working remote lets her meet deadlines while still having time to experience things that only happen in Atlanta. Her two favorites are the Shaky Knees Festival and, of course, Dragon Con.
“Shout out to Dragon Con, nothing like these four days,” Steverson said. “But, I do love Shaky Knees. It’s my favorite music festival we have in Atlanta, I have a tattoo, I’m that obsessed with it.”
Roswell roots, fantasy world impacts
Delilah S. Dawson is a science fiction, fantasy and middle-grade author living in metro Atlanta.
Dawson, who calls Roswell home, has been writing bestsellers for years.
At this year’s Dragon Con, she spoke with Channel 2 Action News about her latest work, including taking over a much-loved, long-running fantasy series “Shannara,” by Terry Brooks, now 81.
The most recent novel brought the friends, who have known each other for at least a decade, together for a changing of the guard. Publisher Del Rey Books, which represents both authors, announced Brooks’ semi-retirement in March 2025, with Dawson taking over as the series’ main writer.
At the convention, Dawson was also awarded this year’s Dragon Award for Best Young Adult - Middle Grade fantasy novel for her “Ride or Die” amusement park horror novel.
Dawson said what got her started writing was being in Georgia, being home with two young children and being encouraged by her husband to put her University of Georgia creative brain to use.
“I’m an artist by trade. I went to University of Georgia, and I wasn’t doing arts. He’s like, if you wrote a book, it’d be like doing art, but you don’t have to, you know, leave the kids or leave the house. And so my brain was so broken. I was like, if you’ll watch the kids, I’ll write a book. And so that’s how I started writing,” Dawson said.
Dawson said different parts of Georgia inspire her writing, from settings to characters.
From Birmingham to Atlanta, science fiction starts flying
Science fiction and LitRPG author J. Fitzpatrick Maudlin isn’t originally a Georgia man, but over the past few years, he’s grown into it.
Originally from Alabama, Mauldin told Channel 2 Action News that living in Atlanta, there are so many things to do and see, he’s always got new ways to get inspired for his writing.
He said the metro Atlanta area also presents a special opportunity to get connected with fans, fellow authors, publishers and other professionals to learn, network and share their passions for creativity.
“Most of the Atlanta writers I’ve met with have been like doing events. Like I did a Conyers book show not too long ago, and I got to connect with a lot of my my table buddies, kind of around me,” Mauldin said. “We got to talk about the scene here. Decatur Book Festival has also been on my list. One of the ones to do, and I’ve heard a lot of a lot of great things on that.”
Like Dawson, Mauldin said locations around the metro area have inspired his writing.
“I would say that I will pull inspiration from anywhere, so I can actually talk about it since I don’t work in the building anymore,” Mauldin said. “There’s actually a book I wrote a few years ago that was a space heist and there is ap articular scene that takes place in the book that is on a real estate development on the moon and it was inspired by Ravinia Park,” near Ravinia Towers on the perimeter.
Another spot he’s been to that was inspiring was the Museum of Illusion on 19th Street. He said its visuals ended up in his most recent book, “Enter the Cosmic Spiral.”
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