Comic-con International 2013 recap
or
“you’re just one of those guys interesting stuff happens to”
So, let’s see…day one I sliced my left palm open with a box cutter two hours before the show…before the booth was fully set up…so that was fun. Several people got blood stained books that day and I imagine Jose will be putting the jeans upon ebay that got sprayed with blood when it happened. We slapped a rag on it and duct tapped it shut and proceeded as normal. After the show was over that day I went to the first aid station and the EMT yelled at me to go to the emergency room…I got 8 stitches so I guess the lady was right to scold me. (it took only 5 more stitches than that to reattach my entire ring finger when I sliced that off so…yeah, I should have gone right to the emergency room)
The people who printed up the banners sent me two of the same banner instead of the two different banners I asked for. Apparently they thought that our booth saying “LULLABY LULLABY” instead of “ARSENIC LULLABY” would attract people concerned they were having a stroke or something. Jose had to spray paint over the left “lullaby” and I did what I could to paint “ARSENIC” over it by hand.
Other than that we did well at the con, we always do. When it is just Arsenic Lullaby and it’s stories VS the stories of the other hacks side by side we always end up holding the clean end of the stick.
Running low on help this year…and seeing as how my Dad is recently retired and probably driving my mom nuts I brought him along to help. To be honest I was worried it might be weird…like…considering what I write probably most people would be disappointed to learn he wasn’t an alcoholic or I wasn’t hatched from an egg, but no one really put two and two together that they guy on my right was my dad…there is no family resemblance really as he is always smiling and friendly.
I posted a whole bunch of pictures of the behind the scenes stuff you don’t get to see. The building up of all the colossal displays. From monday to wensday an entire seven city blocks of empty convention hall is turned into a shopping mall/ carnival/ movie set. It always impresses me to see all the set up , thought you might like to see too…
and a few pics of our own slice of the madness (I always mean to get more pics, but it’s so damn busy I forget)
There are other stories but what happens on the road stays on the road, and I never rat out famous people who read my books. Some publishers get pics of celebrities holding their book up, which seems bush league to me…maybe it’s not I dunno, but I allow readers plausible dependability about enjoying Arsenic Lullaby…specially if they are famous and could have their reputation ruined. Needless to say if you read Arsenic Lullaby you are in good company…very good company.
There was a pretty good argument between me and an editor for a magazine I used to do work for, you can blame the dozen or so onlookers for not having the presence of mind to record it for youtube. Allot of writers are shy and introverted, I’m not, I’m loud, merciless and I think fast. If you read my blogs or listen to my podcasts you know arguing with me can be like running straight into a brickwall…I am guessing the editor didn’t read my blogs or hear my podcasts.. Ever have an argument where a few hours later you think “I should have said…” well, a few hours later I couldn’t think of one thing I left out of my salvo so…I think that bridge is officially burned, but at least everyone watching was entertained and that’s my job-entertain the masses.
I saved the thanks yous for last because I know that bores the crap out of everyone but the people being thanked, but here they are.
Thanks to Jose for giving me the box cutter and then the rag and duct tape. Thanks to my dad for not wearing any of his t-shirts with “funny” sayings on them, Thanks to Emma and John for taking me to the only emergency room with the 3 year old getting stitches in his face and screaming at the top of his lungs for 25 straight minutes, thanks to Josh for encouraging my Dad’s shlocky brand of humor that makes my shoulders tense up. Thanks to Alex for talking non stop even when the show was over and all I wanted was a brief moment of silence, thanks to Christine for being a constant reminder of how disorganized I am and thanks to Raven Gergory for making sure this brand lasted long enough for me to ruin 6 months of my life preparing for this show. OH and thanks to everyone who can to the booth and asked what I did to my hand and never asking if I was okay or if it hurt…nothing makes you feel loved like people wanting a funny story instead of being concerned for your well being.
seriously though, thanks guys..we do well every year because I have the best team in the building, and the best readers.