The time we went to Comic-Con 2012

Last year, we got up at 3am and waited in line for 6 hours to buy our 2012 CC passes when they were still doing onsite ticketing. I can't complain because we ended up meeting Matt Smith in the middle of the road and he was super nice and took pictures with us.

Anyhoo.

We weren't super excited about it right away. We've been every year for 16 years or so and while it's been interesting watching the growth and popularity, it's also been a downer at how commercial and assholey it's gotten.  For the first time, I actually looked through the schedule and made a note of the panels I wanted to see.

Thursday

I knew Heather Brewer was going to be signing on Thursday. We went to Penguin YR right away to ask about when Heather would be there and just happened to get there right before Marie Lu was signing the special edition copy of Legend. I also *finally* met Christine and Caitlin who were both in line for Marie Lu as well.

From Marie, we headed to the BBC America booth to get the CC edition Doctor Who shirt. The line ran all across the wall and they had to walk people over 20 at a time. It took us about 20 minutes to get up to the booth, but I was able to get my hands on a couple of shirts. And the best lanyard ever.

From there, we had nothing but time. The panel I wanted to go to was at 1:15, but due to the Walking Dead being right after it, the hall it was being held in was already full.

We walked around a bit and then went to scope out where the after-panel-autograph area would be.  There was still a panel signing going on [the topic was "Books in Hollywood"] and Margaret Stohl was there.  I was given a Beautiful Creatures shirt that she signed.

I bought a copy of When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle.  I'm a total sucker for anything Romeo and Juliet related.  She was adorable.  And just so so so nice.  Her marker started to run out when she went to sign my book, so I asked her if she wanted a new one.  She said yes, because she didn't want to "sign it in Fifty Shades of Grey." She started laughing and remarked that she knew it was a bad joke, but couldn't resist. 

We chatted about how the author of Fifty Shades was going to be signing later and how we were all just amazed by it.  Rebecca was lovely enough to take a picture with me... And then asked Hubs to take another one with her camera.

I was handed a few other free books as I walked down the panel line, but only one other one was signed.  The author, Mark Frost, was really friendly.  The Paladin Prophecy sounds amazing too.  Apparently, there's going to be a movie coming out in 2014 based on the book...

After getting through that panel, we sat around for a while and just watched people.  Eventually, I noticed that people were getting in line for the signing from the "Not With a Bang, but a Bite" panel, so I went to get in line. 

And then this happened.

Yes.  You're looking at that right.  The Disney Princesses had an impromptu photo shoot right where the signing was going to take place.  And apparently, I was the photographer, using Rapunzel's camera, and the phones of Ariel and Merida.

At 2:30, the authors from the panel came over. 

Max Brooks was first for me.  Basically, just a hi, nice to see you, thank you, bye type of situation. He was smiley and nice, though.

Stephen Blackmoore is a riot on Twitter.  We've been having an ongoing conversation about CC involving tasers, matching Sailor Moon costumes and our mutual awkwardness in real life.  He made me promise that I would identify myself when I got to him... And I sort of did, in the form of my name on a post-it note in the book.

We chatted for a few minutes before he signed my book and took a picture with me.  Seriously, go follow him now.  Now.  Now.  NOW.

Last, but certainly not least, was Susan Dennard.  I just happened to see that she was going to be on the panel as well and I almost died when I saw that Something Strange and Deadly was going to be available to buy before the signing [and before the release date].

Susan is super friendly on Twitter and in person.  She had a bunch of trading cards of the characters in front of her, along with a sticker that said "aim for the knees".  When I commented on it, Susan said that one of her characters uses her parasol to knock down zombies.  LOVE IT.  She was also more than willing to take pictures!

As I was walking out of the signature line, Sarah J Maas was there. [squee!!] Because I've repeatedly flailed over her, I was going to try and play it cool. Again. Well, that didn't work out.

She said hi to me and I actually did the I'm-shielding-myself-from-you-because-if-I-can't-see-you-then-you-can't-see-me-and-I-won't-make-an-ass-of-myself. Did that work?

No.

I had some ridiculous word vomit about how I wasn't really stalking her, it was just a coincidence and not to be afraid. She said words back, but I have no fucking clue what they were. It could have been any combination of:

"Nice to see you" to "Okay, I'm scared now" to "Get the fuck away from me" to "I'm calling the cops"

After making a complete ass of myself with Sarah, we decided to call it a day.  And what a first day it was...

Friday

I had been bugging Heather Brewer on Twitter about her CC schedule for about a week before.  She was signing ARCs of Second Chance at Penguin on Thursday at 5 and having gotten First Kill last year, I really really really wanted it.  However, Hubs couldn't miss school, so I was unable to go.

Thankfully, Caitlin and Michelle were available to get to Penguin for me.  And apparently, Heather recognized my name and told them I was a liar since I didn't show up.  After Michelle text me to tell me about it, I tweeted Heather again and thanked her for signing the book for me, even though I wasn't there.  I also said that I'd be seeing her on Friday. Her answer? "You better be".

So. That brings us to Friday morning.

The line across from Hall H, for Hall H

We were walking down the sidewalk in front of the convention center, trying to get down to the section that we wanted to enter at.  As we were walking in, Heather Brewer and her son were walking out.  Hubs noticed her and we spun around to talk to her.  Hubs told her who I was [namely, that I was the one who didn't show up Thursday].  She started laughing, telling me the story of what happened and how she called me a liar. 

Afterwards, she was awesome and took a picture, but not before jumping up and down with me. I promised her that I would see her at the Penguin booth at 10.

We got right into the convention center and headed to Penguin.  I wanted to confirm that they didn't mind that I had my own books for Heather to sign.  The ladies they had working were so nice.  I told them I wasn't going to take the copy of Legacy of Tril they were giving away and they had no problem with my request.

Heather got there just after 10.  When we got up to her, she said "YAY!!!" I was able to get my ARC of Legacy of Tril signed as well as my Dear Bully and four of the Vlad Tod books.  Heather was thrilled to see that I had Dear Bully and we had a discussion about how I was trying to get everyone to sign their entries.

We thanked Heather for taking the time to sign all of the books and Penguin for letting me do it and went on our way down the aisles, just to wander around...

And then we ran into the some of the cast members of season 2 of The Glee Project.  Aylin, Charlie, Blake and Abraham were walking around with Samuel [who was one of the winners from season 1] and Robert [the mentor/Glee casting director].  They were all super friendly and willing to take pictures with me. 

After walking around for a couple of hours, we headed upstairs to where Heather's panel was being held.  It was scheduled to start at 3:30 and by 2pm, they had already cut off the line and we were unable to get into the room.

Walking through the autograph area, we saw Kiersten White interviewing Rae Carson for Epic Reads.  I told her the secret phrase she posted on her blog ["So, how are you preparing for the unicorn apocalypse?"] and was given some signed bookmarks.

Bookmarks and bumper stickers

As we walked out, I saw Stephanie Perkins on her panel, but I didn't have my Nook for her to sign and didn't want to buy more books [or wait in line], so we decided to call it a day.

Saturday

Saturday morning had us sleeping in.  On the drive home Friday, we had discussed attending at all on Saturday.  The conclusion we came to was no.  After waking up late and having breakfast, we decided to head down to the convention center.  We got there around 1 [after having to make a stop at my work to print the parking pass because I forgot it] and just headed into the exhibit hall.

Earlier, Lish McBride had tweeted that she was going to be signing at 3:00.  After telling her that I would try to come by, she said she would save me a shirt... We went to find the booth and Leigh Bardugo was there signing!

I stopped to say hi and finally get a bottle of the super cool Shadow and Bone nail polish she has.  She said that I needed to paint everything in the house.  I said I would paint the dog and Hubs' nails. Leigh signed my badge and ever so nicely signed some bookmarks for Jennifer.

Now.  As I said at the beginning of the post, we met Matt Smith and Karen Gillan last year.  The two of them and Arthur Darvill were going to be on panels over the weekend, so we were hoping to run into them again.  Knowing that Matt was on a specific panel that was about to be over, we took a chance and ran over to the side of the Hilton to see if we could catch any of them.

After about 20 minutes, Matt came out of the hotel without security and signed.

 And I even got him to sign my Tardis bag...

After being out for about 5 minutes, security told Matt he had to leave and escorted him to the limo across the street.  Security got really thick and then all of a sudden, Karen and Arthur were whisked by us right into the limo.

We hung out by the side of the Hilton for a little longer and ended up seeing Joel McHale, Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Naya Rivera, Darren Criss, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, Lea Michelle, Cory Monteith, William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, Don Cheadle, Robert Downey Jr, Ian McKellen, Peter Jackson, Martin Freeman, Sean Hayes, Nina Dobrev, Ian Somerhalder, Paul Wesley and Robert Downey Jr [again!!].  There were tons of other people, but I had no idea who they were. 

We left just around 3 [much to Hubs' dismay, he was happy to stay there] and headed to Lish.  I introduced myself to her [per our Twitter conversation] as the person who would avenge her if she didn't show up after going with the crazy cab/shuttle drivers. 

Lish signed my badge and I told her that I would have her books on Sunday.  We took a picture and she gave me an awesome shirt. We also all compared our Doctor Who phone cases...

Hubs wanted to go back to the hotel to see who else would be walking out, but once we saw the crowd, we decided to leave.

Sunday

We got to the convention center around 6:30 because Hubs wanted to try and get a wristband for the Sons of Anarchy autograph panel.  When we got to where the line was, it really wasn't bad.  Hubs got in line, I went to a table across the way and contemplated if the table top was clean enough for me to sleep on.

After about 2 hours of waiting and snacking, the line started moving.  We had thought that it was just a let's-go-up-to-the-table-and-tell-them-what-we-want sort of thing, but it was a drawing.  Hubs went first, they only allowed one person at the table at a time.  He pulled a ticket out and while it was a white one that didn't count for the signing, there were also several other white ones and one green one stuck to the palm of his hand.  According to him, the girl told him to take it.

I was at the door and started teasing him, saying he was a cheater.  Then I went to pull a ticket.  I had one in between my fingers and shook off the others.  Or so I thought.  I had a white one between my fingers and a green one stuck to my palm.  The girl told me to take it.  I think they were all just so tired of being there and dealing with it...

After we had our tickets, we went to the room where the YA panel was going to be held.  It started filling up quickly and I debated whether or not I was going to even stay for it.  After my girl, Ava, got there, Hubs left to go wander around the exhibition floor.  I started getting pictures of the cast of  Criminal Minds. They were doing a signing and security let him stand there and take pictures.

Love love love Matthew Gray Gubler

After the first panel was finished, Ava and I got up to the front row.  And with about 20 minutes before the YA panel started, Ava left to go to the restroom.  She came back into the room all giddy, happily whispering to me how all of the authors were outside and she met Myra McEntire and hugged her eleventy billion times.  She encouraged me to go out into the hallway as well.

I left to also use the restroom before the panel and as I walked back to the room, I wasn't going to say anything.  I had no intention to jump into any conversations... And then Lauren spotted me.  After some of the best hugs from her and Christina, Lauren brought over Myra.  I'm pretty sure she said, "I hope you're a hugger" before she latched on.  It was perfection.

Now.  Of course there's a backstory.  Lauren had confirmed that Myra was coming to Comic-Con when I saw her in April at the Spring Into the Future event.  Since it was super secret news, I couldn't say anything, but I did take to bugging Myra on Twitter about it.  It started out as a general question and then became a game.  Her answer every time was to use shouty caps and say "DAVID TENNANT".  Sometimes, it was "MATT SMITH".  And on one very rare occasion, I got a "DAVID TENNANT. MATT SMITH. EXTERMINATE. AMYRIVERRORY"

When the panel started and the authors were introduced, Ava and I shouted "DAVID TENNANT", to which Myra leaned forward and into the microphone answered with a "Matt Smith".

The panel was phenomenal.  Of course I didn't take any sort of notes, so I won't even attempt to recap.  Just know that all of the authors were amazing and thoughtful with their answers.  They had excellent rapport with each other and all were equal in their awesome.

I ended up leaving the panel after about 30 minutes.  The room was filled with people and I wanted to be sure I was going to be able to get into the signing line.  Turns out, Hubs was already there. And at the front of the line.

Luckily, the authors got there early, so Hubs was able to stay with me to help me juggling the backpack full of books before going to the SoA autograph panel that was starting at the same time.

Scott Westerfeld and Melina Marchetta were first.  Unfortunately, because we were trying to hurry, there wasn't a lot of time with either author.  We both said hi and thank you to both Melina and Scott, but not much more.

From there, Lish McBride was next.  She laughed when I handed her the books, saying that she had already signed everything for me.  I reminded her that I didn't have the books with me and she started laughing. 

And finally... Myra.

I had brought her a David Tennant action figure. For that I got more hugs and a fantastic picture with her, where she's holding it.  She was the only one I chatted with for a brief minute.  I wanted to make sure she knew just how happy I was that she came out here. 

Pictures courtesy of my girl, Ava.

She told me where she was going to put the DT figure [near her computer!!] and while she was signing my books, her marker ran out.  I had pulled a gold one out [thank you, Michelle] for her to sign my Nook with and told her she could keep it.  Myra said that she would send it back to me with some prizes... I'm probably going to hold her to that.

After saying a quick hi and bye to Tahereh Mafi, Veronica Rossi and Kami Garcia, we ran off to the Fox booth to get in line for the SoA signing. 

Apparently, word had spread that the booth was allowing people to "stand by" for the signing in case there was extra time after the ticketed people went through the line.  Due to that rumor, there was a shitload of people just hovering around.  When security and the Fox booth people finally convinced those people the rumor wasn't true, everyone cleared out.

Hubs had ended up giving away one of our tickets.  I asked the two girls working the line if I would be able to just walk through the line with him if I agreed not to take anything.  They both said yes.  When the ticket was exchanged for a laminated number, we were led 10 at a time over to the booth.  Security initially told me that I wasn't allowed to go through, but once I assured everyone I wasn't going to get anything signed, they all said it wasn't a problem.

We got up to the Fox booth girl who was handing out the posters.  She tried to give me one.  I told her that I promised not to take anything.  She said I could take it if I wanted and I still said no.  Kurt Sutter, the creator of Sons of Anarchy was sitting at the first position and I got a little nod [of respect? agreement?]. 

Hubs went through the line and every one of the 11 cast members was engaging and so so so friendly.  Lots of handshakes, eye contact and smiles.  It was a lot of fun and definitely not what I was expecting.  Somehow, when we got to the end of the line, there was an extra poster and one of the actors handed it to me and said since it was just sitting there, I should take it.

After the autograph panel, we tried getting into Hall H to see if there was room to see the SoA panel.  There was.  We sat through The Cleaveland Show panel [where Seth MacFarlane was eerily quiet] before we were shown 7 minutes of the first episode of Sons and a 45 minute panel. 

The last panel of CC became the last thing we did as well.  We left as the last question was being asked and headed off to the Karen Thompson Walker signing at Warwick's. 

Every year we say it's going to be our last and after 16 years, it hasn't happened yet.  2012 was definitely the best CC I can remember. And I definitely plan on going in 2013.

The time there was cake

I had read a review about The Age of Miracles in a magazine.  I'm going to guess it was Entertainment Weekly, but honestly, we subscribe to about 20 magazines so who knows.  The synopsis was something that interested me and I made a mental note to check it out.  Then ALA came around and I had heard several different people discussing it in various lines...

Checking the tour dates, there was one at Warwick's and one at Vroman's.  Initially, I had planned on Vroman's, but work wasn't being quite so accommodating in taking more time off.  Instead, we ended up leaving Comic-Con a few hours early to hit up Warwick's.

We got to the store just before 6pm, which is just before they reopened.  I had purchased my book the night before, so we headed right up to the front row, directly in front of the signing table.

Karen came out at 6:30.  She talked briefly about the book and how she got the idea [learning that the tsunami in Indonesia was so strong it had shortened our day by microseconds] and then read the first two chapters of the book.

From there, Karen talked about how the story was initially written as a short story and was 14 pages.  Eventually, she expanded on the idea of something bigger happening that would slow the rotation of the Earth and the repercussions that would occur.  At the time, Karen was a full time editor and only had time to write for an hour every morning before working on books by other authors.  It would take her four years to complete. 

She talked about giving the book to an astrophysicist to read after selling it.  He became a crucial reader, confirming her research as correct or assisting in changing what was imagined.  The only major thing that was incorrect was that Karen believed a change in gravity would have birds flying faster and baseballs going further; however, it was the opposite.

After another brief reading, the Q&A started.  After about 20 minutes of questions, the signing started.  Since I was right in front of the signing table, I was able to take one step and I was there. 

Karen and I both said hi.  Then she asked if I was from the area, when I said the city I lived in, she was surprised that I had driven so far.  I mentioned that we came from CC and then we started a conversation about how we've watched CC grow, etc.  She is super polite, gracious and has a really infectious giggle.

After getting my book signed and saying thank you, we started to leave.  They had two cakes set up and were offering pieces.  I declined for both of us because I don't allow food in Lucy.  Also, I wanted to get home after being up for so long...

The time I got a history lesson

I had bought tickets to see Deborah Harkness in May.  I then went on a super mega huge hunt for an ARC of Shadow of Night.  I figured that if I could get my hands on a copy, I could get her to sign it at ALA and then I would cancel my ticket with Warwick's and not have to leave Comic-Con early.

And then Kassiah got me a copy while at BEA, but I decided to go to the signing anyways.  I wanted to hear Deborah talk about the series.

I got to Warwick's around 6:45.  I had reserved seating, so I didn't have to worry about fighting anyone for a seat or trying to rush.  They had the table set up off to the side, so I got my book and watched people line up.

They let us in around 7.  The entire store was filled with seats and mine was in the front row.  On the chair there was my seat number and a Shadow of Night bookmark.

Deborah came out right on time.  She had been at Warwick's during her tour for A Discovery of Witches and commented right off the bat how there were so many more people attending this signing than for ADoW. 

She briefly spoke about how she came up with the idea of ADoW: She was in Puerto Vallarta and saw a wall full of books about vampires, werewolves, fallen angels, new angels, fairies, etc and had questions.  Like where did they all live? How did they date? Where did they work? Those questions sparked an interest to the historian side of Deborah and she started thinking about the answers.

One of the questions she gets consistantly is about her character Matthew knowing all sorts of famous people and why she made it happen.  Apparently, Matthew Roydon was a real person who is referenced in the inquiry of Christopher Marlowe's death.  Matthew Roydon the real person was around the same people that Matthew Roydon/de Clermont the character is and Deborah uses that has her explanation.

She did two separate readings from the book and after 30 minutes of talking, Deborah opened up the floor to a Q&A session.  The one answer that I really loved had to do with when book 3 was going to come out [she's still working on it, it's outlined, but needs the time to write].  Before she gave that answer, Deborah talked about how the day before the release of SoN, she called her local bookstore and checked her Kindle download to ensure she could get the book in every format on release day. 

After about 30 minutes of Q&A, she started signing.  It was sort of a free for all and everyone bottlenecked right in front of the table.  Thankfully, everyone was pretty cool and it didn't take long for me to get up to her. 

I had my copy of A Discovery of Witches to have signed, along with a second copy of Shadow of Night.  When I walked up to her, she looked at my name on the post-it and said hello and asked if I was on Facebook.  I said I was, but not under my real name, explaining that I don't use my real name on the internet.  She said it was probably a good idea, but it makes it difficult for her to remember who she talks to online.

I asked how she liked Comic-Con [she had come to the signing straight from CC] and she said that it was unlike anything she'd seen before.  Then she noticed that I had my badge still hanging off my belt loop and commented on how I also just came from there as well.  She even took pictures with everyone.

I was delightfully surprised at Deborah.  Her writing reflects her intellegence and I wasn't expecting someone so much fun.  Not that smart people aren't fun, but she's witty and captivating and really knows her way around a story, fictional or imagined.  I look forward to future books and signings.

The time I had so many books

Veronica Roth was announced as part of the Pitch Dark Days tour and I knew that wherever she was going to end up, I was going to get there. When the tour stop was announced at the BN in Huntington, it was a done deal.

I got up to the store around 4:15. I proceeded to wander around, looking for a hardcover copy of Divergent for Michelle. The event already looked like it was going to be huge. People were walking around, carrying copies of the books and there were little clusters of people sitting on the floor. By 4:45, the event area was being set up and everyone who was sitting had been lined up. Ava and Kim got there shortly after I got in line and we were able to get 4th row seats.

The chairs quickly filled up and there was an additional line of people along the banister. 6pm brought the employees going through the chairs of people, writing post-its for inscriptions. And the line got even longer. 

And then this happened....

The authors got there right at 7. There was a brief introduction from each author with a synopsis of their books and then it went right into Q&A. Aprilynne said that they'd only have about 30 minutes due to there being so many people. There were some good questions and some of the standard advice sort of questions. 

But let's get down to business, because we allll know that I didn't take any sort of notes so I could properly recap.

They started the signing going row by row with a line behind every author.  Originally [because I had 13 books with me to get signed], I was going to wait until the very end.  With the crowd control, it was much easier to get everything done...

SJ Kincaid was the first author I went to.  She is adorable.  I gave her my book and congratulated her on her book release day.  And then she put me on the spot by asking what my favorite book was.  Confused, I asked her if she meant for all time.  She said, "Favorite book that think of first." My answer was [of course] Pride and Prejudice.  She countered with, "Favorite movie Mr. Darcy?"

Pfft.  Like there's any real answer other than Colin Firth. 

We chatted about how lovely Colin is in that role and how someone [SJ's cousin? Friend? I don't remember] thinks Colin does the creepy stare.  SJ and I agreed that the creepy stare is the best part of Colin's Mr. Darcy. I will be keeping tabs on SJ for this alone.  *nods*

Aprilynne was next.  I had books for Jennifer to have signed, plus my copy of Dear Bully.  Aprilynne asked which book was for me and I explained how I had books for several people.  She also asked about Dear Bully and if I had been getting other authors.  I told her I was working on getting everyone to sign it and she said she's seen a lot of people doing that.

I quickly slid over to Dan Wells.  I did meet him when he toured with Lauren Oliver and Claudia Grey and he is a lot of fun.  Excellent sarcastic answers, plus he loves Hermoine.

I had gotten a copy of I Am Not A Serial Killer at ALA, so I had that signed. He also asked which book was for me since I had something for Jennifer.  Dan had pins on the table and I asked if I could take one.  He said yes, but for $10.  So, I took 2 and said that I would run and get him some money.  Dan said he would accept pretend money.

Now.

For Veronica, there were a shiton of people there.  One of the B&N events people [who's name I don't know...] said there was 350 people there and every single one of them had books for Veronica.

I had 8.  Plus my Nook.

When I got up to her, I started to apologize for the stack.  Veronica went to grab the first book off the top and somehow managed to knock over her Starbucks.  Thankfully, it missed all of Dan's swag and didn't hit any books or people. 

I was watching her sign her name and noticed that she signs "Rth" and then adds the "o" afterwards.  When I commented on it, Veronica said that she changed it because when she signed it as one word, it looked like "V. Rats".

After the stack was completed, I asked if I could get a picture.  She told me it was no problem and to come around the table.  I went back to the front to thank her and again apologize for the stack.  Her answer was awesome, that she wasn't going to be mad that I had bought so many copies of her books.  And then told me that she once signed 20 copies for one person.

I was tempted to buy more, just to beat the record. 

As we left, we noticed that people were lined up everywhere.  There was one large line, running down the banister and then people were lined up between the bookshelves.  The B&N in Huntington Beach always does a fantastic job of crowd control and everything always seems to run so smoothly.

SJ, Veronica, Dan and Aprilynne were all so much fun to talk with and they definitely made it worthwhile. 

Update 7/12: As of today, I'm suspending the giveaway.  Somehow I lost the damn copy I was going to give out.  I'm hoping that after I clear up all of the shit that has piled up in my office for/from Comic-Con, I'll find it.  However, the ending date was sooner than CC was over. 

As soon as I find the book, I'll put it back up.  Sorry!! =]