Okay. ComicCon was cool this year, and people have been asking for details.
So here they are.
* * *
As I mentioned earlier, my trip to comic-con had a pretty rocky start.
This seems to be a theme of ComicCon for me. My first trip to ComicCon was fraught with peril, as mentioned in this comic by Greg Dean. While my second trip had a delayed flight that left me stranded in Chicago for a night.
Luckily, this year I had Valerie to help me out, so I made it to the con without too much stress. Though I did only get about an hour and a half of sleep Tuesday night.
Wednesday:
- 11:00 – Nap.
I arrive in San Diego, find my hotel, and promptly fall asleep. The people at the hotel seem a little confused when I ask them for a 3:00 wake up call.
“You want us to wake you up at 3:00 AM tomorrow morning?” they say.
“No.” I say. “3:00 this afternoon. Four hours from now.”
Eventually they catch on, but I feel like they’re judging me. And I guess that’s fair. When the first thing I do at the convention is take a nap, I am officially old.
The fact remains that it was a delicious nap. I wake up refreshed and ready to get my geek on.
- 4:00 – Blog.
Because I didn’t have the chance the night before, I decide to post a blog telling everyone about the talent pipes Badali Jewelry is making based on my books.
(This one is shown with black antiquing)
I’ve been approached by various people over these last couple years who want to do merchandising. Most of the time I’ve replied with a polite, “Thank you, no.”
The biggest reason is that I don’t want to feel like a great big whore. I don’t want to churn out a bunch of gimmicky merch just to make some extra money. That sort of thing has always struck me as being tacky, if not downright unethical. It seems like a betrayal of trust, like taking advantage of my readers.
But Badali Jewelry does wonderful work. They hold the jewelry licenses for several big-name geek properties (LOTR and Wheel of Time, just to name a few.) What’s more, they’re actually fans of my books. They’re proper geeks, and their love for what they do shows in their work. I trusted them enough to let them beta read The Wise Man’s Fear, and that says a lot right there.
Anyway, the pipes turned out great. That’s the moral of the story here. You’ll be seeing some more stuff from them before too long.
- 5:00 – Crash.
After banging out quick blog on the computer in the hotel lobby, I head to the convention center. I end up standing next to Seth Green while waiting for a stoplight to change. I try to think of a way to say, “Your stuff is awesome” that doesn’t sound gushy and fanboy, but I can’t think of anything. So I settle on a companionable silence instead.
Despite the long line, getting my badge is a remarkably painless process. I’m just putting the program book in my backpack when my phone rings.
I open it up. “Hello?”
“Hey,” Valerie says. “It’s Valerie.”
“I know,” I say. “Your text is green. What’s up?”
“Badali’s website is down. A bunch of people posted comments about it.”
“Really?” I say. “When did it go down?”
“About twenty minutes after you posted the link on your blog.”
My first reaction was to feel pretty cool. My second reaction was terrible guilt. I thank Valerie and give my contact at Badali a call. They’re only a couple hundred feet away, but I don’t have an exhibitor badge, so I can’t go into the hall until 6:00.
“Janelle?” I say as soon as she picks up. “I’m sorry. I think I broke your stuff.”
“What?”
“I posted up a link to the talent pipes on my blog. But I think the traffic crashed your website.”
“Wow,” she says. A pause. “That’s kinda awesome!”
A wave of relief fills me, and I’m no longer overwhelmed with guilt. “I know!” I say. “I feel like Neil Gaiman!”
- 5:30 – First contact.
I get off the phone and finish putting some stuff away into my backpack. I sling it over one shoulder and look around, wondering how I’m going to kill half an hour until the hall opens up for preview night.
A pretty young Asian woman makes eye contact with me. She cocks her head to one side. “Are you Patrick Rothfuss?” she asks.
“I am,” I say.
She looks hesitant, then says, “Can I have a hug?”
“Absolutely,” I say.
And we hug.
I decide that this is probably going to be a pretty good convention.
- 6:00 – On the Floor.
For those of you that don’t know much about San Diego ComicCon, let me explain. Wednesday night from 6:00-9:00 is preview night. Only people with 4-day passes can get in.
This makes it a great time to meet people in the exhibit hall. Not only is the place relatively uncrowded, but all the exhibitors are bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. (Both literally and/or figuratively, depending on the booth.)
I wander around pretty aimlessly at first. But luck takes me past Donato’s booth, and I get to say howdy to him. He’s a hell of a nice guy, to say nothing of the fact that he’s amazing artist. We chat for a bit, and I thank him for the donation of some prints he made to Worldbuilders this year. (You’ll be seeing those in the Tinker’s Packs before too long.)
I swing by Jason Palmer’s booth too, but he’s not at the con yet. I shrug it off, knowing that I’ll have plenty of time to stop back later in the con.
Next I stumble onto a booth where the cast of the Guild is doing a signing. The con is barely half an hour old, and they already have a huge line. I consider stopping to say hello to Felicia and Sandeep, but even though they’re not signing yet, I can tell the cast is kinda hanging out together. Besides, Felicia and Sandeep are chatting with some guy and I don’t want to barge into their conversation.
I’m also vaguely anxious that if I run into them 30 minutes into the convention, I’ll look like I’m stalking them. Which I’m not. Not at the current moment, that is.
I decide to leave them to their throng of adoring fans and see what else the floor has to offer.
I swing by the Penny Arcade booth, where I say howdy to Mike and Jerry. I wrote an intro for their most recent anthology, and hadn’t had a chance to see it in the real world yet.
Jerry comes out from the booth and gives me a hug. “We said terrible things,” he says.
At first, I have no idea what he’s talking about. Then I realize he’s probably referring to the comic they did a while back, and the podcast where they talked about the book in frank terms, and, well… mocked me.
Honestly, I’m a little flabbergasted. “I don’t know what it’s like where you live,” I say. “But where I come from, mocking is how we express love.”
And it’s true. There’s a world of difference between snarkery, loving satire, and full-blown vitriolic excoriation. Penny Arcade does all of these things, and does them well, but I can tell the difference.
After establishing that we’re all still best friends, I wander by Mysterious Galaxy’s booth, where it turns out they’re selling copies of Ghost Story even though the book technically wasn’t going to be released for days yet.
Needless to say, I bought a copy and clutched it lovingly.
“Is Butcher going to be here at the con?” I ask the people at the booth.
They tell me he is.
This is good news. I’ve read all the Dresden Files books at least twice, many of them three or four times. I’m a huge fan and I’ve been hoping to meet Butcher for years.
So Wednesday was full of win. A great way to start the convention. Best of all, I’d managed to make it through the whole thing without committing any huge social gaffs and making an ass of myself.
But it was only Wednesday, I still had four days of convention left….
* * *
This is part of the San Diego Diary: Wednesday, Thursday Part I, Thursday Part II (Wootstock), and Friday Ad Infinitum.
56 Comments
“I know, your text is green.”
*sigh*
HAHAHAHAHA, I was going to post about the exact same thing, because although there were many things in this post that made me smile, that one made me laugh out loud.
“The biggest reason is that I don’t want to turn into a great big whore. I don’t want to churn out a bunch of gimmicky merch just to make some extra money. That sort of thing has always struck me as being tacky, if not downright unethical. It seems like a betrayal of trust, like taking advantage of my readers.”
In that case, you must not think very highly of George R. R. Martin (hordes of ridiculous miniatures, late calendars, and water-logged rpg books, anyone?). I mean, I think the guy can take as long as he wants to finish his books, but the fact that he’s constantly pushing merchandise on a blog that most people only visit for updates on aSoIaF is a bit disgruntling.
Anyway, sounds like Comic-Con was a lot of fun. If only I didn’t live thousands of mile from San Francisco. We Canadians never get nice things.
Wow, why did I type San Francisco? I meant San Diego, of course. *doh*
Yeah, but you get to live in Canada. And that’s a bonus right there. :o)
I agree, but still, it would be nice if this wasn’t the Montreal Comiccon wasn’t the only thing we had. I wanted to go to the New York Comic Con, but even by bus, it would have cost me about 1500$ plus the food for the 4 days at the convention. Add to that a minimal 10 hours drive to get there (I live in Quebec City), and the fun of it just went away.
But still, we do have the Village Vacances Valcartier, which is really nice.
And we don’t have a lot of traffic. Or murders, or crimes for that matter.
And we have a lot of green, and are the only city in North America which is protected by the UNESCO.
In the end, I consider myself pretty lucky.
Nah. Don’t assume. You’ve obviously got a beef with Martin, but that doesn’t mean I feel the same way.
When you say you’re disgruntled that “he’s constantly pushing merchandise on a blog that most people only visit for updates on aSoIaF” you’re implying that he should only write stuff on his blog that pleases you.
Some authors post constant updates on their writing because that’s what they want to do with their blog. But Martin obviously doesn’t want to deal with the grief, mostly because whenever he used to bring up the book on his blog, his fans would make a noise like a horde of whiny third-graders with Tourette’s.
Hell, the same thing just happened on facebook when I posted up a link to this blog. Some asshat started screeling, telling me to get off facebook and write his next book.
Yeah. “His” book.
That shit isn’t cool. I get to do what I want with my free time. I get to write what I want on my blog. I’m going to post up pictures of my baby if I feel like it, or cuss, or ramble.
Martin has the same freedom. Seriously, is he *not* supposed to mention when he has new merchandise coming out?
Martin Poopies on his fans by taking lots of years to make books
Holy Jeneveras!!! did anyone see the new fanart on Pats facebook page!?!??!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!
it was deleted ya moron
…aaaand there. That should do it. You’re in the penalty box for being a troll and posting up MS paint porno bullshit on my facebook page. Congrats.
From now on all your comments will go directly into the “needs moderation” folder. They won’t appear automatically on the blog. That means if you have something worthwhile to add to the conversation, it will eventually be approved. But otherwise you can sit there, alone in the outer darkness, crying quietly to yourself.
Even in the corner of shame, there might be some optimism for him: “Wow, Patrick Rothfuss is going to personally review every one of my posts!!”
Unless you employ moderators. In which case, el oh el.
I think it’s a privilege to be able to read the works of masterful writers like Rothfuss and Martin. If you don’t want to read their books or blogs, no one is forcing you to. A writer should write for him or herself. A writer who writes to please fans will probably wind up writing something weak that will ultimately be totally unsatisfying for both the writer and the reader. I just discovered Martin this summer and I couldn’t care less how much merchandise he sells. More power to him. Great writers should be able to make some decent money for a change!
Love the picture with you and Ghost Story. I’m going to go ahead and assume you finished, so how was it?
I am so amused my photo of Pat with Ghost Story is making the rounds. I sent it to Jim, explaining that Pat was petting his copy of GS with his beard. “Let me order brain bleach from room service. :)” he quipped.
Yeah, my con got off to a pretty awesome start. :D
Heh. Can you post a link to your website here? I want to mention it in the next blog….
Sure thing! My personal website is here and the Books for Boobs site is here.
Holy shamoley, do I have a lot of auctions to run. :D
I read parts of this to my girlfriend while taking breakfast, because well, I’m a geek and she just acts a geek now and then to channel my enthousiasm, and this started off our day great; I was smiling through the whole blog. And we both had to snicker geekishly about the green text part. xD
When one of my favorite authors geeks out over meeting another of my favorite authors, I know I’m on the right path!
From the Jim Butcher book signing in Atlanta, GA (as transcribed by Jim Butcher Forum member “sapph”)
Q: Aside from Sanderson, what are you playing and/or reading?
Jim Butcher: I just started [The] Wise Man’s Fear [acclaim from audience] because I’ve been promising myself that for the longest time. ‘You can go read it on your tour, if you get all your stuff done!’ It’s my carrot. [Laughter] And I picked up the book to take with me on my tour, its my low tech book, and I went ‘Oh my god, this thing weighs like 50 pounds!” [Laughter] ‘Where’s my iPad, I’ll put it on there and take it on there.’
:)
Meanwhile, I know (or think that I know) that we aren’t supposed to talk much about the books here, but speaking of “full of win” (you did bring it up),
“The months had changed her. Where before she had been pretty, now she was lovely as well”
So simple, so easily overlooked, and yet, *yay*
That’s one of my favorite lines. Right along with Bast’s whole “she is not seen as beautiful, now she is beautiful, seen” line.
I’m curious about your opinion of Ghost Story. Perhaps you could share your thoughts here or on Goodreads.
I’m pretty sure I already reviewed it on goodreads.
But I’ll repeat it here:
I thought it was fucking aweseome.
That does it. I´m ordering the first Dresden Files book.
Fair warning. They start a little bit shaky. (By Butcher’s own admission) But they get better and better every book.
Seriously, they’re really worth your time….
Gotcha. Thanks for the warning.
I´m still looking forward to reading it. I like to now and then read a book without knowing any story details beforehand. You (and other people) mentioned these books so frequently that I´m giving them a shot.
See? I can wait for the next novel, so long as I have Pat’s reviews and book recommendations to keep me entertained.
ahhh Ghost Story :D I would say its my new second favorite Dresden Files, because nothing he has written so far can top Changes for me, but it comes pretty darn close. and the only other thing I’ll say is that I want to read the next book even more than I wanted to read Ghost story after that ending in Changes…
He did comment on it on goodreads. “So. Good. ” :)
Yeah, I saw that after I posted… Of course, I was hoping for a little more detail, but we can’t have everything.
When are you going to update your books section of the web site? You have two now :)
Three, technically….
Four if you count the College Survival Guide, right?
Heh. Good point. I don’t count that one so much because people can’t buy it unless they’re willing to blow hundreds of dollars on a collector’s copy….
Speaking of which, have there been any plans to re-produce that book?
I’ve posted a picture of Jim Butcher signing the ‘Patrick Rothfuss Loves Jim Butcher’ postercard. It was made up for the Joseph-Beth, Lexington signings of Pat and Jim. Pretty amusing :)
Link: https://picasaweb.google.com/kmwalt2/20110801?authuser=0&feat=directlink
I have yet to complete my Rothfuss/Butcher postercard, the JB book signing was really enjoyable but I couldn’t make it to get Butcher’s. I have to agree it was amusing!
I sat next to one of the employees of Mysterious Galaxy and we almost immediately started talking about you. She asked if I saw the two guys who wore the beards to your signing and I laughed and said “Yeah, I was one of ’em.” I am still annoyed, though, that I didn’t get to the panel you were on. Bah. Maybe next year!
Walking down 4th avenue in San Diego on a nice Friday evening. Who is this I see striding towards me? Why that is Patrick Rothfuss, one of my favorite authors! I have this all planned out. I’ll casually walk by and say “Hi Pat, love your books” and keep going to not disturb his evening. However as he gets closer my brain freezes and I point and blurt loudly PATRICK ROTHFUSS!!! Pat, of course, looks freaked out and says “Hey” and runs past.
Sorry Pat.
Heh. No worries. You didn’t freak me out.
I love hearing about ComicCon fun and I really like the Butcher plug but I’m curious with (yet another con) Gencon right around the corner what else are you planning to attend?
“He sleeps during the day.”
“…Like an owl?”
Those guys have you down pat, Pat. Looking forward to more Adventures from Beyond the Con.
I LOVE that you’re posting longer blogs!! Tell everyone whining about book 3 to stfu. Seriously. Your blog is really the only one I read on a regular basis – it’s always interesting and funny and well written. And what do they expect you to do, kill yourself just so they can have instant gratification with the end of your story? In my house we say two words about people like that.
Please please please PLEASE pimp your own merch. As soon as your blog went up about the Badali jewelry my FB page was awash with ‘OMG, Connie, you should get these’ re: the pipes. And all of us were real-time posting about how we wanted the page to load, how we’d Wang’d the site, and how we were going to call our friends in San Diego to snag a set.
Had you NOT pimped the pipes out, we never would have known about them. You have every right to enlighten your readership to products related to your stories, as does GRRM. They bring you joy to see your words made physical, and it brings US joy to get our grubby little mitts on them!
tl;dr version – Pimp that stuff, yo. Haters gonna hate.
Heh. No worries. When I do something like this, the main reason I’m making it is so that readers can have access to it. I’ll always be sure to mention this stuff on the blog when it happens.
Lev Grossman’s there too; on his blog: “What else? I spent last weekend at Comic-Con. I don’t exactly enjoy Comic-Con as such. When I’m there I’m there to work, and while I’m there, I’m always working. But I do get to see people I don’t see anywhere else. Random House gave a party on Thursday night, and if you stood at the bar — and I did — you could take in, without turning your head, George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, David Anthony Durham, Christopher Paolini, Scott Westerfeld and Charles Yu. Among others. “
long time first time.
Just wanted to say I support merchandise. I have a ridiculous asoif minature. It makes me happy.
I’m not a pin wearing guy but I hope to run into someone who is.
Oh the joy of living vicariously through others! I look forward to the next installment!
One day I’ll experience Comic Con for myself in full. Not just the dealer’s hall like last time way back in 2004…
Wow, the shot with Ghost Story is great. I just read the Dresden books and Codex over the last few months, then I started reading your stuff. I’m a new fan of you both so this is extra spiffy. I noticed right away that you both use the idea of energy conservation to some degree in your magic rules, which I find cool as hell.
In some weird Fanfic universe Harry is explaining his shield bracelet to Kvothe and Kvothe is showing Harry the Bloodless. And neither of them are getting laid.
“And neither of them are getting laid.”
Yeah, their “cluelessness” about women is a commonality and a definite appeal imo. I’ve seen others who disagree, but I like it and it differentiates them from so many other male characters that we watch and read about.
hey… i would like to thank you for writing such awesome books. i haven’t had as much enjoyment reading since i read the riftwar saga by raymond feist. though i must confess i downloaded your books from a torrent so i apologize for not paying for your awesome books. as soon as im able to afford them i will buy them. i support the authors that write so wonderfully and whose books i enjoy so much. again thank you :D
Speaking of missing some sleep…
I am all about personal responsibility, but I don’t exist in a vacuum. You weren’t satisfied casting a spell on me with The Name of the Wind, you had to just had to amp it up with Wise Man’s Fear. So while delightedly mystified, I am sapped to exhaustion and a bit behind on what I once considered priorities.
I blame myself for my weakness. But being adept as you are, I submit you have taken some advantage of a neophyte, but a scrappy one nonetheless. It takes 2 to tussle, so en guard!
I figure I have lost a week of proper night’s sleep. I take blame for half up front. I am not sure how much royalty you command from a library book, but figure I am making out somewhat on that account. I’ll grant you a night and a half on that count. Your stories are beyond my ability to praise, so take another night and a half for my gratitude for what is mostly a delicious delirium.
So I reckon that is a solid half nights sleep give or take that you owe me you masterful rascal. And you can’t escape now that you have unwittingly primed me on the basics of sympathy, and my intuition will surely do the rest.
You’ll know when I’ve figured it out when you wake suddenly one night and find your mind considering this, that, and nothing in particular for a few hours despite your protestations. Unless, that is, you choose to accept the debt before then. If that is the case, a poor showing in the third of the trilogy might help. Otherwise I’ll give you a snail mail you can send a few jots to. Oh, and sending your big friend Tony to brain me over the head doesn’t count as repaying my sleep. NICE TRY.
Come to think of it, I will grant another couple hours in your favor for enduring this envious blog comment. God I’m too soft. Love your work.
Yours in the balance,
Mad mac
Pat
Excuse me if I touch on old subjects. It’s my first time posting here.
The wisdom you display is extraordinary. At 64, I’m a wise old guy but I learned slowly.
Heart of Stone, like my meditation, will keep you alive and your blood pressure under control.
There is so much to say, but I’m traveling today.
The language of the Elves interests me.
When Ambrose broke the lute string, for Kvothe to continue was powerful. But the lutes I know are like mandolins, with double strings for each course. Is that what Kvothe was playing?
Tom Berghan, the famous Lute player, his free music webpage, hosted by Dartmouth, gave me lute lessons many years ago. He also had a Rockabilly band. Now he’s a dad and a famous manufacturing engineer who studied with Toyota. Tom’s music is great and free. Very few make money with music or writing novels.
All the best to you.
Come to Tulsa some time. It is the Center of the Universe. Didn’t you know?
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After some hunting, the link to the podcast should now be this: http://www.penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/wise-man-4th-panel