Originally I was going to just write about my trip to NYCC, but one of my fans went and gave me some awesome artwork, so I’d best show that off before going any further. (I’ve also got some figurine updates to show off, but I’ve deviously decided to wait until it is done before showing it off here.)
Okay, on to the original topic.
I love conventions. I don’t know why. Generally speaking I hate crowds, I hate getting up early, and I hate being crammed into a hot building during a cool day. Despite all of this, I love conventions. NYCC and PAX East are the two I make a real effort to get to each year, and this time around I had to jump through an extra hoop to make it happen. Unlike previous years, I was sporting a “Pro” tag rather than my usual “Press” tag, since they snubbed BrainLazy. This caused the downside of me having to go alone, since neither of the guys who usually join me on these trips are also authors, and without a website obligation they couldn’t justify the cost or time to make the trip. There was also a wedding to attend somewhere in there too. The positive was that since I was attending as an author and flying solo, I was free to experience the convention in the way I prefer, which is simply to absorb and observe. It also meant I was able to, for only the second time ever, meet a fan. I almost met two, but the cell phone reception on the busiest days made coordination impossible. Next year I’ll have to set aside a few hours to linger in a predetermined spot each day, so I can be found without having to communicate directly with interested parties during the event. You live, you learn.
So, what did I see and do? Well, there was a lot of great art to be seen. I love Artist’s Alley, so I spent a lot of time there. Perhaps inevitably, I encountered something that I think might be cool to commission for The Book of Deacon. Check this out (http://www.squiresword.com/). These people make two-sided, handmade cutouts of a wide variety of characters in a super cute style, then stand them up. They do indeed take commissions, and I’ve already sent an email with a few questions. Any thoughts on what characters might be well suited for the standee treatment? Also, a friend works for a company called Comixology, and through his team he gave me the hard-sell on creating a companion comic for The Book of Deacon. For that I’d need to find an artist with the proper style, an interest in my books, and an open enough schedule to create the comic. Then I’d have to completely rewrite the book so that it would be a few dozen pages of pictures rather than a few hundred pages of words. My plate is shamefully full already, so we’ll put a pin in that for now.
I was tempted to stop by some of the autograph sessions to awkwardly fail to speak to a celebrity or two, but I’m not much for standing on lines, and I knew the people I’d like to meet would have massive waits. Case in point, Neil deGrasse Tyson had his autograph line closed due to capacity TWO HOURS BEFORE HE ARRIVED. That is a triumph for the world, as far as I’m concerned. One of the biggest draws at this convention was a guy who is legitimately intelligent, fascinating, and a real-life scientist. I also narrowly missed a chance to speak to Mick Foley again.
There were some great costumes. A functional Inspector Gadget was impressive. I’m pretty sure I spotted a Jedi Rapunzel, which is awesome. The simplest but most brilliant costume I saw was a 6′ 9” guy in a black half-shirt and shorts with the Stretch Armstrong logo. It was extremely effective.
I’m a gamer, so I swung by the Nintendo booth to check out the new Donkey Kong Country, the new Zelda, and the New Pokemon. I also played the remastered Duck Tales from Capcom and the new Strider game. You’ll learn more about that stuff when I write a BrainLazy article in a day or two.
By far, meeting the fan was the coolest part of the weekend, and it was literally the first thing I did. I’m not going to post her picture here without permission, but I got permission to post her picture.
She’s a regular over at the Fan Page, so if you dig a bit through recent posts you’ll see the picture she took. She was really nice, and she made me feel like a celebrity despite the fact I took a bus and a train to get there that day. I gave her an autograph and she gave me a hug (I totally got the better end of that deal), we talked for a bit, and then we went our separate ways to go geek out for the rest of the convention, as is appropriate.
I’m lousy about taking pictures, but here’s a gallery of choice shots. Pardon the quality. I used my phone, since I’ve perpetually ignored the advice of my friends and have yet to buy a decent camera.
That’s all for this year. Thanks for reading!