It's not Escapade, but it was fun
Mar. 10th, 2006 05:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chickwriterMy con report - only 1 week later...
Friday:
Wake up at 4-bloody-o'clock, get dressed, call taxi.
National airport is still closed when I arrived - at least the security portion. I've got plenty of time, so I grab a coffee and sit down to read. (Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden)
I'm one of the last to board, since I'm sitting in seat 4A - with no one next to me...or so I think. At the last minute, an African couple board, the woman is obviously suffering from some form of MS or other debilitating mobility issue. She's dressed in white, from her turban to her shoes. She sits in the aisle seat, with some difficulty. She then spends the entire flight to Chicago leaning forward, hacking and sneezing into a hanky. I'd prepped by taking Airborne for several days prior to the flight. This was not a good sign.
Two hour layover at Chicago Midway. I browsed through a couple of stores, picked up some purple Chicago socks, a copy of Esquire because Viggo was on the cover and watched the snow flurries outside, glad I was indoors and heading towards a warmer climate. Finished Myth Hunters and started Queen of the Slayers by Nancy Holder.
Flight to San Diego was on Southwest and completely booked. I ended up in the middle of the plane, with two young boys beside me (ages 14-15 or so). They were part of a Christian Youth group of some sort. I was tickled, because I was probably the LAST person their parents would want to have them associate with. I did refrain from breaking out anything gay - except for the series of ads inside Esquire that were so very much for the gay male market. The boys behaved beautifully throughout the flight, even making sure I got my snack box and drink passed to me when the flight attendant had trouble reaching.
Got to San Diego at 12:45ish - on time and ready to get to the hotel. My cab driver was a hoot - serenading me in Arabic the whole way, plus telling me about how he goes to Point Loma to write poetry.
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allaboutm_e was already there and on here way with PH to the store to pick up more books for the MG booth. I checked in, dropped my stuff on in the room and went to the hotel restaurant to eat something other than airplane snacks. I was starving. By now, I'd been up for nearly 12 hours and had very little to eat. The hotel was a typical small SF/F con hotel, similar to the Hunt Valley Inn in Maryland. The restaurant, however, was fabulous! Had a spinach salad with chicken that was out of this world.
Hooked up withallaboutm_e shortly thereafter and helped them set up the dealer's table. I had no obligations on Friday, so I hung out there and met a bunch of people. untamed_sylph was on her way down from her home town, and didn't arrive until later. We ended up eating at the hotel restaurant and then crashing fairly early.
Of note: When I checked in, the hotel re-keyed the room, so neitherallaboutm_e nor PH could access the room. We found out b/c M'e went with CH to drop off a lamppost. Something to do with the masquerade? In any case, after a bit of running back and forth, the situation was rectified.
Saturday:
Early, early wake up, but not if you count my home town time zone. Six thirtyish San Diego time, but not so bad East Coast time. Wonderful excursion to brekkie at a lovely lovely local cafe/bakery place which name totally escapes me. We all bought baked goods to bring back with us. I had a homemade cinnamon roll and a latte, bought a slice of Jamaican Ginger Cake and a ginger cookie for laters. The cake made it back to DC with me (was shrink wrapped) and was divine.
My first panel was at 10:00 - " The Obligatory Kick-Ass Female: Hyper-competent women characters", I co-paneled with Nancy Holder and a couple of other folks. Great panel, even fairly well-attended for an early morning panel. Early being relative to SF/F con time. Got great mentions in about females in recent books, media and tie-ins, including my obligatory mention of Chris Golden as Buffy writer and original fiction writer. (As part of Chris' Street Team, must pimp books whenever I can!). It was a most excellent discussion. Wish we'd had more time.
Lunch followed, with Nancy,allaboutm_e and a few other authorly types. (again in the hotel restaurant - they were doing a killer business with us)
Post lunch was more hanging out in the dealer's room at the MG table - it was the best place EVAH. The signing table was right next to us, so I got to meet several authors, plus one of the media guests - Tucker Smallwood - who played in several SF shows, including Space:Above and Beyond. Surprisingly, there were very few folks lining up, so I wandered over there and bought a photo of him in S:AAB. We had a lovely chat - mostly sparked by my "I write dead people" button. It's a heck of a conversation starter. He was figuring zombies, I explained it was vampires.
My 5:00 p.m. panel was "Crossing Over: Blurring the lines between genres" - a topic that I'd suggested. Again, a great discussion with a whole bunch of folks. One thing I like about small cons like this, and SF/F cons, is that you *can* get into a discussion on a panel, without having to do the boring "moderator asks question of each panelist" schtick. I like this format better.
Dinner, once again at the con hotel. This time yummy pork chops and dessert, brownie with ice cream. Whee!!
Sunday:
Once again, we wake up bright and tres early - which, considering there are 3 women sharing a room, is pretty necessary. Although none of us are into over-primping, there was one shower.
Sunday brekkie was at The Original Pancake House - yummy bowl of strawberries with real whipped cream, followed by bacon pancakes. A quick visit to MG to pick up items for the table - and my first trip. Too bad it was so quick!
Some Sunday highlights:
* going to pick up water at the con suite and being stuck (and gladly!) behind two very nice boys in SG1 gear. There I was, waiting ever so patiently for my turn to rummage in the tub for cold drinks, facing two pert behinds, just asking for a pinch. I restrained myself. Both guys were teh cute - one Asian, one Anglo, both v.handsome.
* A trip through the art show, where I picked up a Japanese print, and some cartoon-y prints (Bunny the Vampire Slayer...as in Bugs; a silhouette of a deer head in front of a hunter: "My name is Bambi. You killed my mother. Prepare to die." and the final one, two hobbits in a tree, yelling "Run, forest, run". They all cracked me up.
* My fab dealer's room purchase, a battle-scarred Angel puppet, that's now gracing my office, guarding it from harm.
* Lots of lots of new books, rec'd by the book pushers, enablers, friendly MG sales staff...including Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell, Covenants by Lorna Freeman and many more.
* Meeting a new fan - who'd read my bio in the program book and discovered that we were both born in the same small town in Cuba - what're the odds?
Sunday night was our silly Oscar watching night, complete with In-and-Out burgers, cheesecake and M&M ballots. PH,allaboutm_e, untamed_sylph, friend M and I sat around and made fools of ourselves as we battled to complete the M&M Bingo cards. I think we ate more M&Ms than we used on the cards.
Monday:
Again with the wee hours plane flight. WTF was I thinking? Plane took off for Chicago at 6:30. I sat next to a guy from NYC, who was headed home after visiting his best friend and new godson. I wasn't quite sure if this guy was a skinhead (he was shaven-headed, had 8 earrings in his left ear - all rings). He was utterly polite and very caring. I slept for a couple of hours and he made sure the flight attendatn left me a snack box, just like the little boys on the flight over. In any case, both he and I had hellaciously long layovers at Midway - 2-3 hours. I wandered around the airport for a while, but since I'd just done this on Friday, there wasn't anything new to see. I ate lunch in the food court (Chicago pizza, of course!), then bought ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and spent the rest of my time reading.
Was home by 7:00 p.m., really jetlagged, but very happy to have gone. It was a blast.
Next month: Malice Domestic - which, at least, is less than 2 miles from my office, so no travel time involved.
Friday:
Wake up at 4-bloody-o'clock, get dressed, call taxi.
National airport is still closed when I arrived - at least the security portion. I've got plenty of time, so I grab a coffee and sit down to read. (Myth Hunters by Christopher Golden)
I'm one of the last to board, since I'm sitting in seat 4A - with no one next to me...or so I think. At the last minute, an African couple board, the woman is obviously suffering from some form of MS or other debilitating mobility issue. She's dressed in white, from her turban to her shoes. She sits in the aisle seat, with some difficulty. She then spends the entire flight to Chicago leaning forward, hacking and sneezing into a hanky. I'd prepped by taking Airborne for several days prior to the flight. This was not a good sign.
Two hour layover at Chicago Midway. I browsed through a couple of stores, picked up some purple Chicago socks, a copy of Esquire because Viggo was on the cover and watched the snow flurries outside, glad I was indoors and heading towards a warmer climate. Finished Myth Hunters and started Queen of the Slayers by Nancy Holder.
Flight to San Diego was on Southwest and completely booked. I ended up in the middle of the plane, with two young boys beside me (ages 14-15 or so). They were part of a Christian Youth group of some sort. I was tickled, because I was probably the LAST person their parents would want to have them associate with. I did refrain from breaking out anything gay - except for the series of ads inside Esquire that were so very much for the gay male market. The boys behaved beautifully throughout the flight, even making sure I got my snack box and drink passed to me when the flight attendant had trouble reaching.
Got to San Diego at 12:45ish - on time and ready to get to the hotel. My cab driver was a hoot - serenading me in Arabic the whole way, plus telling me about how he goes to Point Loma to write poetry.
allaboutm_e was already there and on here way with PH to the store to pick up more books for the MG booth. I checked in, dropped my stuff on in the room and went to the hotel restaurant to eat something other than airplane snacks. I was starving. By now, I'd been up for nearly 12 hours and had very little to eat. The hotel was a typical small SF/F con hotel, similar to the Hunt Valley Inn in Maryland. The restaurant, however, was fabulous! Had a spinach salad with chicken that was out of this world.Hooked up with
allaboutm_e shortly thereafter and helped them set up the dealer's table. I had no obligations on Friday, so I hung out there and met a bunch of people. untamed_sylph was on her way down from her home town, and didn't arrive until later. We ended up eating at the hotel restaurant and then crashing fairly early.Of note: When I checked in, the hotel re-keyed the room, so neither
allaboutm_e nor PH could access the room. We found out b/c M'e went with CH to drop off a lamppost. Something to do with the masquerade? In any case, after a bit of running back and forth, the situation was rectified.Saturday:
Early, early wake up, but not if you count my home town time zone. Six thirtyish San Diego time, but not so bad East Coast time. Wonderful excursion to brekkie at a lovely lovely local cafe/bakery place which name totally escapes me. We all bought baked goods to bring back with us. I had a homemade cinnamon roll and a latte, bought a slice of Jamaican Ginger Cake and a ginger cookie for laters. The cake made it back to DC with me (was shrink wrapped) and was divine.
My first panel was at 10:00 - " The Obligatory Kick-Ass Female: Hyper-competent women characters", I co-paneled with Nancy Holder and a couple of other folks. Great panel, even fairly well-attended for an early morning panel. Early being relative to SF/F con time. Got great mentions in about females in recent books, media and tie-ins, including my obligatory mention of Chris Golden as Buffy writer and original fiction writer. (As part of Chris' Street Team, must pimp books whenever I can!). It was a most excellent discussion. Wish we'd had more time.
Lunch followed, with Nancy,
allaboutm_e and a few other authorly types. (again in the hotel restaurant - they were doing a killer business with us)Post lunch was more hanging out in the dealer's room at the MG table - it was the best place EVAH. The signing table was right next to us, so I got to meet several authors, plus one of the media guests - Tucker Smallwood - who played in several SF shows, including Space:Above and Beyond. Surprisingly, there were very few folks lining up, so I wandered over there and bought a photo of him in S:AAB. We had a lovely chat - mostly sparked by my "I write dead people" button. It's a heck of a conversation starter. He was figuring zombies, I explained it was vampires.
My 5:00 p.m. panel was "Crossing Over: Blurring the lines between genres" - a topic that I'd suggested. Again, a great discussion with a whole bunch of folks. One thing I like about small cons like this, and SF/F cons, is that you *can* get into a discussion on a panel, without having to do the boring "moderator asks question of each panelist" schtick. I like this format better.
Dinner, once again at the con hotel. This time yummy pork chops and dessert, brownie with ice cream. Whee!!
Sunday:
Once again, we wake up bright and tres early - which, considering there are 3 women sharing a room, is pretty necessary. Although none of us are into over-primping, there was one shower.
Sunday brekkie was at The Original Pancake House - yummy bowl of strawberries with real whipped cream, followed by bacon pancakes. A quick visit to MG to pick up items for the table - and my first trip. Too bad it was so quick!
Some Sunday highlights:
* going to pick up water at the con suite and being stuck (and gladly!) behind two very nice boys in SG1 gear. There I was, waiting ever so patiently for my turn to rummage in the tub for cold drinks, facing two pert behinds, just asking for a pinch. I restrained myself. Both guys were teh cute - one Asian, one Anglo, both v.handsome.
* A trip through the art show, where I picked up a Japanese print, and some cartoon-y prints (Bunny the Vampire Slayer...as in Bugs; a silhouette of a deer head in front of a hunter: "My name is Bambi. You killed my mother. Prepare to die." and the final one, two hobbits in a tree, yelling "Run, forest, run". They all cracked me up.
* My fab dealer's room purchase, a battle-scarred Angel puppet, that's now gracing my office, guarding it from harm.
* Lots of lots of new books, rec'd by the book pushers, enablers, friendly MG sales staff...including Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell, Covenants by Lorna Freeman and many more.
* Meeting a new fan - who'd read my bio in the program book and discovered that we were both born in the same small town in Cuba - what're the odds?
Sunday night was our silly Oscar watching night, complete with In-and-Out burgers, cheesecake and M&M ballots. PH,
allaboutm_e, untamed_sylph, friend M and I sat around and made fools of ourselves as we battled to complete the M&M Bingo cards. I think we ate more M&Ms than we used on the cards.Monday:
Again with the wee hours plane flight. WTF was I thinking? Plane took off for Chicago at 6:30. I sat next to a guy from NYC, who was headed home after visiting his best friend and new godson. I wasn't quite sure if this guy was a skinhead (he was shaven-headed, had 8 earrings in his left ear - all rings). He was utterly polite and very caring. I slept for a couple of hours and he made sure the flight attendatn left me a snack box, just like the little boys on the flight over. In any case, both he and I had hellaciously long layovers at Midway - 2-3 hours. I wandered around the airport for a while, but since I'd just done this on Friday, there wasn't anything new to see. I ate lunch in the food court (Chicago pizza, of course!), then bought ice cream at Ben & Jerry's and spent the rest of my time reading.
Was home by 7:00 p.m., really jetlagged, but very happy to have gone. It was a blast.
Next month: Malice Domestic - which, at least, is less than 2 miles from my office, so no travel time involved.
