From the Writing Desk to the Highway

As much as I love the solitude of the writing desk, there’s something electric about packing up the books, loading the car, and heading out across Southern Ontario.

This year’s calendar is filling up nicely, with stops at various Indigo, Chapters, and Coles locations from March straight through October. Each store has its own personality. Some are tucked into busy malls humming with weekend shoppers. Others feel like small community hubs where staff know regulars by name and can recommend a novel based on a two-sentence description and a raised eyebrow.

If you’d like to see the full list of dates and locations — and figure out when I’ll be closest to you — you can always check the updated schedule at tobinelliotthorror.com. I keep it current, because half the fun is knowing who I might run into next.

So, there's all those bookstores...and then, of course, there’s dReadCon in October — two full days of horror, readers, writers, panels, and the kind of gleeful weirdness that makes me feel right at home. It’s always a highlight of the year. There’s something about being surrounded by people who willingly wander into the darker corners of fiction that feels less like a professional obligation and more like a reunion.

Because that’s what these events really are for me: reunions.

Over the past few years of doing signings and conventions, I’ve met readers who have followed my work from book to book. Some show up with dog-eared copies. Some bring friends. Some just swing by to say hello and tell me what they’ve been reading lately. Seeing familiar faces in different cities reminds me that stories travel farther than we think they do. A book written in a quiet room can end up sparking conversations in Barrie, Oshawa, Peterborough, Markham, Brampton, Ajax, Milton — places that start to feel less like dots on a map and more like connected outposts in a growing community.

But just as important are the new faces.

There’s a particular thrill in watching someone pick up one of my books for the first time. They flip it over. Read the back. Raise an eyebrow. Maybe ask, “So what’s this one about?” That’s the moment. That’s the hook-setting moment. Not in a manipulative sense — more like an invitation. Let me tell you about this strange idea that wouldn’t leave me alone until I wrote it down. Let me see if it might haunt you too.

Some of the best parts of these events aren’t even about my books.

They’re the conversations.

I love when someone leans in and says, “Have you read…?” and suddenly we’re off on a five-minute deep dive about an author we both admire — or one we both can’t quite get into. There’s a camaraderie in shared literary loves, and even in shared dislikes. Tastes are personal, but they’re also connective. You can learn a lot about someone by the stories they gravitate toward.

And the discussions wander. Horror leads to sci-fi. Sci-fi leads to AI. AI leads to a surprisingly passionate debate about whether it belongs anywhere near the creative process. Or we’ll veer into format wars: print books versus ebooks versus audiobooks. I’ve had thoughtful, funny, and occasionally intense conversations about what “counts” as reading (my stance: if you’re engaging with story, it counts). I’ve heard from readers who swear by the smell of paper and others who read exclusively on their phones during lunch breaks. The medium shifts, but the hunger for story remains constant.

That’s what excites me most about this upcoming stretch of travel: the reminder that reading is not a solitary act, even if it often happens alone.

When I’m sitting behind a table stacked with books, I’m not just there to sell copies — though yes, I very much hope to hook a few new readers along the way. I’m there to participate in a living, breathing conversation about stories. About what scares us. What moves us. What we can’t stop thinking about after we turn the final page.

So as the months unfold and the kilometres stack up, I’m looking forward to the highways, the coffee stops, the mall corridors, the convention halls. I’m looking forward to shaking hands with old friends and introducing myself to new ones. I’m looking forward to the skeptics, the enthusiasts, the casual browsers who become readers.

Mostly, I’m looking forward to being reminded — again and again — that stories don’t end when they’re published.

They begin when someone walks up to the table and says, “Tell me about this one.”

So tell me this: will I see you somewhere along the road this year — and if you do stop by the table, what conversation are we going to have?

Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay

Image by Johanna Nikolaus from Pixabay

Image by Foundry Co from Pixabay

Southern Ontario author events

Indigo book signing Ontario

Chapters bookstore signing

Coles bookstore event

dReadCon 2026

Ontario horror author

Meet the author Ontario

Horror book signings Canada

Author events Barrie Oshawa Peterborough

Ontario book conventions

Indie horror author tour

Books vs ebooks vs audiobooks discussion

Horror author Tobin Elliott shares his 2026 Southern Ontario bookstore tour schedule, including Indigo, Chapters, Coles, and dReadCon — and why meeting readers face to face matters.