I hadn’t actually planned on writing about specific days, but Sunday was full of awesome.
Like I said before, there’d been tentative plans made Saturday night to meet up with Garrett, Priscilla, and Pam, or at least meet up after the con to go to Big Gay Ice Cream. But we didn’t hear from them until after we were on the train home.
But, that was okay. We expected to spend the day alone, but that actually didn’t happen. And the day was so much the better for it.
We started Sunday in the cattle-herding line, and once we got to the show floor, we stopped briefly at the Monarch booth before looking at vendors. We’d waited until Sunday so that we’d have less to carry around. That mostly worked.
The first booth we stopped at was the Doctor Who booth. Ian McNiece, who played Churchill, was signing, but we didn’t try to get anything from him because of the huge crush of people. We planned to go back, but didn’t make it. I did get an awesome picture of the Ironside Dalek, though. And at the store I bought a plush Adipose. Cause those things are just cute.
There were a couple other booths we stopped at, but we didn’t buy anything. We wandered around, passed the publishers and got a few more books, and headed for the open space by Her Universe.
We were able to get something of a cell signal there, but we hadn’t heard from anyone. I was waiting to hear from Kiera, or waiting until I thought she’d be around to text her, because we had a bag we were told to give back to her.
At that point, Rob reminded me that CE Murphy was at the Harlequin booth and found the location, and we headed over there before she left.
When we got there, we met CE Murphy. Awesome. Even more awesome? Kiera was there, too. And we got to meet her friend Robin. Kiera got the coolest picture of CE Murphy, but I’m not sure where it is that I could link to it. We gave Kiera her bag and it’s contents—OMGdelicious peanut butter chocolate chip bars (there were cookies, but Ben had taken them with him)-and she pulled the tub out and opened it to share.
We talked for a bit, then CE Murphy had to go. She was looking for Anton Strout to meet him, so Rob and I told her what we thought the likeliest places to find him would be, although we weren’t certain he was there.
Isn't it pretty?
We stayed with Kiera and Robin, and we followed them to Artist Alley where, I think, Kiera got a piece of artwork for Robin April. While we were there, Kiera remembered the bracelets she’d made us and helped us put them on—Yay! I never wore bracelets until she made me one, now I wear both every day. Except for Sunday, when I do laundry. She also let us try her Warrior crunch granola—so good. She got me S’mores granola, which I haven’t opened yet. Kiera suggested trying it in strawberry Greek yogurt, and I keep forgetting to get some. Plus I know that as soon as I open that package, it won’t last long.
When it comes to food, I’ll trust whatever Kiera tells me, few questions asked.
We stood talking for a while, then headed back toward the publishers’ booths. We circled them a couple times, picking up free samples and books. Kiera bought a knitting book with some neat stuff in it—a scarf with blood dripping from the ends, a corset—and she discovered the ticket Del Rey gave out for free books. She got her free books and went back to the Del Rey store and bought a couple other books—the Homecoming graphic novel and I forget the other—and got more free books.
After she got those free books, we stood by the booth, and someone, Robin maybe?, suggested Kiera try trading the peanut butter bars for more free books. Kiera told me to try, but I knew I wouldn’t be good at it, so I told Rob to. And he pitched like a pro, pulling out the container and opening it for the woman (George RR Martin’s editor, I believe) to try. She had one and started pulling out books for Kiera before finishing it. We left the entire tub with her, and Kiera put the books in the now empty bag.
From there we went to the audiobook booth and got more free samples, and we found out they would be giving away audiobooks later in the day. We then got in the line for the Patricia Briggs signing. Kiera got cheesy pictures of me and Rob, and I think she purred almost the entire time we were in line because Robin kept massaging her back.
This was the second time Rob and I got a book signed by Patricia, and she remembered us this time. Or at least asked if we’d met before because we looked familiar.
We started back around toward the Del Rey booth, and we ran into Ben. That was when we found out that he’d taken all the cookies with him. Just after he left us, we ran into Myke Cole and two of his friends (both also military). They had stopped by the Del Rey booth because Myke wanted his friends to watch the Old Republic trailer—Del Rey had a TV sets up showing book and game trailers.
Military men watching the TOR trailer
It was fun to watch Myke not in author mode but geek fan mode. Kiera and I got some good pictures of them watching the trailers. He gave Kiera his card and asked her to send him her pics, and, I think, after she complained we didn’t tell her about his ARC signing, I believe I heard him tell her to email him about that to see if his publicist could get one for her.
They watched two trailers, then they headed toward, I think, the Star Wars books booth—I think they were going to see Drew Karpyshan. I could be wrong. All the little details blur together, and I mostly remember the pictures.
By then, it was 4:30—time to go to the audiobook booth. And while we waited in line for that, the HarperCollins booth was giving away one book to a person. Rob and I got some comic books. One a black and white thing, and one called like Clockwork Girl, or something like that. Kiera said it’s actually good.
The line moved, and Rob had wanted to get Ready Player One, but said the guy in front of him picked it up, so he grabbed the Zombie Survival Guide. I got the 20th anniversary edition Heir to the Empire. Kiera had been making grabby hands at the newest Rick Riordan-Son of Neptune-not actually released until the following Tuesday, I think, and she got a copy of that. I’m not sure what Robin got.
And then we had to part ways because the con was coming to an end.
Even though it was kids’ day, and still very crowded, Sunday was actually the more relaxed day. No rushing around to get to panels and being able to hang out and talk with cool people.
Kiera, Myke (good looking writer guy), and Ted Arthur
And I’m amused as hell that one pic on Facebook has Kiera commenting that she’s become one of the geeks, and Pam called Myke a good looking writer guy. He responded that the good looking guy was his friend and not an author, and that friend tagged Myke as “good looking writer guy.”
