Before the DragonCon report …
New chapters of Good Ghouls Do! are up at the podcast! Click the link, or visit Kenner-cast to learn more!
I’ve also included a video tutorial so that anyone who’s been avoiding listening to the podcasts because you’re just not sure how to do that can have a quick lesson in accessing Kenner-cast (and it works for any podcast, too!). Check it out.
And now, the Saturday Dragon Con Report:
Saturday was a full day, all the more so since I woke up late!
I’d planned to meet Aaron and Blythe and Scott at a quarter to ten to go see the parade. I was running late (not too late, but I had a coffee/Tom Felton dilemma!) I guess he (Draco — see yesterday’s post!) was staying in the Hilton well, because he was up on the Concierge Floor when I was up there administering coffee intravenously. Or trying to. They ran out of coffee, so I was there hovering (and talking to a guy who walked up to me and said, “you’ll have to be careful with that coffee today.” Um, huh? Turns out he was sitting near me on the plane to Atlanta! Poor guy wasn’t even a Dragon Conner … must be interesting to be a civilian in the midst of the craziness!)
Anyway, while I was waiting for my caffeine fix, I saw Tom on the other side with someone who was most likely a manager. Looked like a biz meeting. Obviously I’m not going to interrupt, but I figure a photo’s fair on the floor. So I’m trying desperately to find the zoom app on my iPhone, but before I do, he’s gone.
Sigh.
Getting a picture of Draco Malfoy became my mission
Alas, though, hadn’t seen him since!
Anyway, after that, I made my way over the skybridge to the Hyatt lobby to meet Aaron and Scott and Blythe, and we headed out to see the parade. I promised Isabella Star Wars photos (which I got, but they’re not very good. I love my iPhone, and I love the macro lens for inserting receipts into Evernote, but other that that the camera is basically my old Instamatic (dang, I’m dating myself!). The zoom app is great, except that the focus isn’t very good. And the built in camera doesn’t have a zoom. Which it really, really needs. A flash would be nice, too). Here’s a couple:


But it was still fun. And the absolute funnest (yes, if Steve Jobs can use “funnest” then so can I) was an incident with a totally nice fan. We were standing waiting for the parade to start, and she saw the yellow ribbon on my name tag, and said, “Oh, you’re a guest! Who are you?” And when I told her, she said that she’d read and loved my books! How much fun is that? (Answer: Oodles of fun!). So after the parade, Aaron took our picture together for her. Very cool!
The parade itself was a trip. I’m not crazy about crowds (I’ve managed to put that aside at DragonCon. It was either that or hide under tables), and the parade is WAY crowded. But such fun to see all the truly awesome costumes and the 501st and the whole shebang.
After the parade, we submitted to the push of the crowd and headed back into the hotel. It’s all kind of a blur, actually, and I’m trying to remember what I did next! Oh! Yes! I began the important process of fulfilling my duty as a mom: I went to the dealer rooms to scope out Star Wars stuff for Thing Two. At first, I found none, and there was much sadness in the land (never fear; turns out I was just in the wrong place; there was tons!). I didn’t get to search too much, though, as my editor at Ace, Ginjer Buchanan, called and said that she’d misread her schedule, and if I was free than we could meet earlier than we’d planned.
Worked for me, so I hightailed it over and met her and we talked a little business and then also just about the con and trends (in case you hadn’t noticed, vampires are hot ), and True Blood, and the difference between ComicCon and DragonCon, and just lots of stuff. All in all a nice breakfast/lunch.
After that, my plan was to go see The Guild and hear Felicia Day, but it’s a dangerous thing walking through a con with a goal of being somewhere. I bumped into people I know (including Liz Maverick and my Dorchester editor, Chris Keeslar), as well as a ton of other folks. I also made a mandatory and (trust me) truly necessary stop at Starbucks. And I ended up on the phone with my critique partner Kathleen O’Reilly and then somehow ended back up in the Green Room. The moral: never plan to be anywhere
Must go attend to my kiddoes! Saturday P.M. Report coming later today!