Monday, April 23, 2012

Saturday at C2E2: A Big Gay Sandwich

I don't care that this was in 2010. I'll take any excuse I can to post it over and over.

My C2E2 coverage continues. If you can call this reporting.


SATURDAY

This year was C2E2's third ever. It's a baby convention and still needs to find its feet. The thing about C2E2 that has both delighted and annoyed me is its inclusion of literary authors as bona fide nerds. Two years ago, I got to meet George R.R. Martin. Game of Thrones wasn't on HBO yet, so I walked right up to him, asked him to sign my first edition copy of The Game of Thrones, told him my favorite character was Littlefinger and then he called me creepy. Good times. This year, a few big names were in attendance - most notably Anne Rice (if you don't know who she is, just GTFO) and Charlene Harris (the Sookie Stackhouse books that True Blood is based on). One would think C2E2 would have a hopping publisher's row. Selling books by either of these authors would have been like printing money. But no. There were no sci-fi/fantasy publishers at the con. No Tor, DAW, or DelRey Spectra. They'd had a presence in the past and the last two years, I've come away from C2E2 with a backpack full of ARCs to review for Geektress.

I tried to get Moo to help me review books last year but she's illiterate and kind of an asshole.

Anne Rice and Charlene Harris both only signed for one hour total over the course of three days and their lines were capped off hours before they were scheduled to appear. I didn't really care though because my main mission was to meet F. Paul Wilson, author of the Repairman Jack series. First, he's my brother's favorite author (other than Stephen King) and I would have been an awful sister if I didn't get a book signed for him. I brought my copy of The Tomb and now have at least 10 gold star sister points for getting it signed for Brother TwoMonkeys. Second, I also read the book so I wouldn't look like a complete asshole when I asked Wilson to sign one for my brother. Wilson brought a bunch of copies of The Tomb with him and also signed one for me and didn't charge me for the book. He also let me take a picture with him, which I texted to my brother just for proof of how awesome I am. That experience was one of the highlights of the convention.

I will probably also post this many times over the life of this blog.

The F. Paul Wilson stuff didn't happen until later in the day. I spent my morning drooling over John Barrowman with my awesome friend Kristy. Our husbands and Bossman went off to do their own things that morning. Kristy and I had a blast listening to Barrowman talk about how gay he was, Torchwood, the YA book he wrote with his sister, and his dogs. But sometimes I had a hard time hearing him over how beautiful he was. I mean, there were angels singing in his presence he was so gorgeous.

He is beautiful, and a nerd.

Kristy and I had planned on waiting in line to meet him after his talk, but again, the line had been capped off hours before the talk even started. On Saturday, it was a no-go, even though he sat and signed for 7 freaking hours.

Saturday's line to meet John Barrowman.

Kristy and I wandered around and found a vendor selling necklaces of images of the moon on the day you were born. We found out that Kristy was born on a full moon and I was born on a new moon. We were opposites but we completed each other. Henceforth, I shall refer to Kristy as my Constant. Was this a total scam? Probably. But the necklaces were pretty, so we bought them anyway.

StevieD and CBQScavenger being all smart. I love these guys.

Mr. TwoMonkeys and I went to the Comic Book Queers panel on LGBTQ characters in comics that afternoon and had a great time. We got to see StevieD and CBQSacvenger be all smart and stuff. I realized that I have to get on the ball with Danielle Corsetto's Girls With Slingshots. I was sad that I had to scoot out before I could ask them if they thought the Midnighter/Apollo romance was relevant in the new incarnation of Stormwatch, but I had a date with F. Paul Wilson. And getting that book signed was the one thing I couldn't skip out on all weekend.

I don't think Oscar would have cared for this portrait either, but whatever. Kristy and I do what we want. In a very serious fashion.

The rest of Saturday was kind of a blur. I was getting tired and my feet were hurty. After the floor closed, me and my posse had dinner at the Wilde Bar in Boys Town. The food was excellent - I ate my first bison burger - but the music was atrocious. I kind of felt under-dressed going in there but the music selection was so trashy that I stopped caring. My man Oscar would not have approved of the music. But like I said, the food was good and the atmosphere was decadent. And the prices were totally reasonable, which Oscar would also not have approved of,  but I was grateful for.

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