Guest Blogger From NY's Comic Con
We have a treat today—a guest blogger fresh from ComicCon New York. You’ll enjoy her adventures—I know I did. Thanks to Krystn for submitting.
Before we begin, though, a word from our sponsor—
Got the cover for the German Edition of the Watcher—Only in German, the title is Dark Kiss. It will be released in April. Also, Droemer just bought the fourth, fifth and sixth books in the series, too!
And Anna will also be published in Norway. They bought the first four books with an option for the fifth. Can’t wait to see those covers!
Mark your calendars: Dollhouse starts its run on Friday following the Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fox. Check your local listings for times. We’ll definitely be discussing this next week. In the meantime,
here’s a video of Joss discussing Dollhouse at ComicCon.
I’m running a contest on the League of Reluctant Adults— (on which this blog entry will be cross-posted, btw. Many Leaguers were in attendance at Comic Con)
I think this
link will take you to it, but in case it doesn’t scroll down to (Still Another) New Member Intro. After you enter the contest, look around a little. It’s a good site.
Okay—now, for today’s feature presentation: The Comic Con Adventures of a Domestic Diva:
Last weekend, I ventured into NYC to check out NY Comic Con. I went bravely off into an alternate universe and had a great time while I was there. For me it was all about the authors and books, and being a huge fan of urban fantasy, this was my weekend hit list:
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Kim Harrison
Jeaniene Frost
Vicki Pettersson
Jocelyn Drake
Caitlin Kittredge
Jackie Kessler
Anton Strout
Carrie Vaughn
Being a mom, I was stalking these guys too:
Mo Willems (The Pigeon Wants a Puppy!)
Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid)
Late Friday morning, I made a quick trip into NY to get the lay of the land (a.k.a. the Jacob K. Javits Center). I was only able to stay an hour or so, but it was time well spent. I figured out where to park, stash my stuff and take a break. I found the autographing and panel areas. I got registered and had some time to gawk. I was obviously a newbie since I got the "this your first con?" question. Perhaps the dazed and confused expression on my face gave me away?
There were some great costumes (picture Jabba-the-Hut slave girls posing for pictures with Spiderman). An impressive number of people already there (in and out of costume), and I was bummed that I’d have to miss the Anton Strout signing of Deader Still and “NY and Its Authors” panel that evening. But overall, I felt prepared for Saturday and Sunday.
Yeah, right. Let me just say that quick hit on Friday was one of the smartest thing I've every done. Friday was crowded, but Saturday was insane. In the best way! I accomplished all the things on my list and even got in a few bonus items. Of course, I also managed to make an idiot of myself several times (general fangirl dorkiness).
First up was the Kim Harrison signing. I was a completely inarticulate idiot when I talked with her, but I think I seemed normal during my brief discussion with the guy in the leather jacket.
There was a little time before the next signing, so I wandered around a bit. I was ecstatic to find a Deader Still ARC at the Penguin booth. As I reached for a copy, I heard someone say, "I can sign that for you." Yep, it was Mr. Strout. I started babbling at him so fast I could barely understand myself and was beyond geeky. But he was gracious and still signed a copy of the book for me.
Up next, the Sherrilyn Kenyon signing. Thank you, God, for Sherrilyn Kenyon. This is the 2nd time I've been to one of her signings and she always makes you feel like you are her best friend. She is made of all kinds of awesomey goodness. My brief conversation with her was quite possibly the only time I sounded sane during the whole weekend.
Still basking in my post-Kenyon glow, I headed over to the “Sci-Fi, Supernatural and Fantasy Authors” panel discussion with Tamora Pierce, Kim Harrison, Carrie Vaughn, Vicki Pettersson, Jackie Kessler, Alex Irvine, Jeff Somers, John Birmingham, Peter V. Brett and S. C. Butler. Very fun and lots of laughs all in a jam packed room of course.
The next highlight was the Caitlin Kittredge and Jackie Kessler signing of Black and White. I also picked up Mirrored Heavens (signed by David J. Williams) while I was waiting. (Did you know that they give books away FREE at these things?) I managed to appear only slightly "goofy" for this signing. And let me weigh in here on the competition for “Nicest Author in UF,” (NAUF). I think Jeanne and Jackie are just going to have to duke it out in Thunderdome. Jeanne is permanently lodged in my “good people” camp. But I watched Jackie Kessler in action and she was impressive. Picture her trying to quickly set up for the Black and White ARC signing/give away and fend questions from a would-be writer at the same time. Not an impatient word or look to be seen or heard while she rattled off resources and websites for this guy. All this while appearing calm, cool, collected, and interested.
And somehow I managed to pick up a few more goodies.
I inadvertently wandered into a signing of Patient Zero by Jonathon Maberry. I was still basking in Kenyon-y goodness, so I think I was coherent for this one. Patient Zero is a zombie book (yum); one more for the TBR “pile.”
101 Ways to Kill Your Boss by Graham Roumieu. You can open it up to any page and just laugh. Unless of course you’ve never had a boss you wanted to kill. Anyone? Hello?
I snagged a copy of “Take a Chance” # 1 from CE Murphy et al. Very sexy.
And if you have children, you must get Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex. It is a parody of Goodnight Moon and priceless. I would have bought it even if I didn’t have children.
Sunday began a little earlier, with more comfortable shoes and with an ICED coffee (it was 50 F people; in February, in NY)! Sadly, I didn’t get there early enough to get a Joss Whedon signing ticket (Sorry, Jeanne). I did manage to get Vicki Pettersson to sign A Touch of Twilight for me. And if you were wondering, yes, Vicki is as smart, friendly and funny as she is gorgeous
Then it was back into mommy mode for the Jeff Kinney, Mo Willems and Lane Smith signings. What a great bunch of guys. And no children were harmed in obtaining those autographs.
Finally, it was time for the panel I was really looking forward to, “Kick Ass-Urban Fantasy Authors and Their Killer Heroines.” Kim Harrison, Vicki Pettersson, Jeaniene Frost, Jocelyn Drake and Margaret Ronald were, in fact, kicking ass and taking names. The author of The Youngest Templar, Michael P. Spradlin (or the “token male” male as he was christened by Vicki) was the moderator and tried to maintain order. But he was outnumbered by women 5 to 1 and four of them were redheads. The next time you have the urge to curse in front of Jeaniene Frost, say “shucky darn.” She did.
Then it was back-to-back signings from Jeri Smith-Ready, Jeaniene Frost, Jocelyn Drake, Margaret Ronald, and Marjorie Liu. And Jeaniene and Jocelyn were giving away chocolates too.
All this, plus assorted superhero and Sci-Fi goodness.
I finally dragged myself home along with a ton of goodies. It was so much better than I expected. And a big thank you to all the authors for their kindness and to all the other vendors, exhibitors, staff, and volunteers (especially Erin in the lounge) who worked so hard on this. You’re all amazing. Now if I could just figure out what I’m going to read first.
Thank you, Krystn!!! Wish I'd been there--