I had a wonderful time. Truly, how could you not? The energy at the show was high. You could call it hype, but there’s a real genuineness about the fans that no amount of hype can tarnish. I was thrilled to see Ray Bradbury. I met Jim Butcher, author of the Dresden Files. Very open and gracious with his fans. On Saturday I had lunch with my friend, senior editor Chris Schluep of Del Rey and one of his authors, Alan Dean Foster, creator of Pip and Flinx and, of course, writer of the Star Wars classic Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. Alan is a really fascinating guy. I think he’s been licked yet not eaten by more large predator cats than anyone else I know! We took a cab over to Coronado Island for lunch and ate by the water. It was a nice break from the show.
I also caught up with my Clarion 2000 classmate and good friend Karen Traviss. She was doing a lot of signing at the Del Rey booth and at times couldn’t be seen for all the storm troopers and clone warriors. I’m not positive, but I think she’s amassing an army.
I was also pleasantly surprised to meet some fans. I think I mentioned this in my previous blog, but it surprised me. I’m still getting used to the idea of people having read the book. Talking with them was a real treat. I met Jen and Sagitt (I know I spelled that wrong – sorry – but I do remember Jen is a project manager and Sagitt a cancer researcher for Pfizer) and had a great chat. I had another nice talk with David who is an aspiring writer himself working on a very interesting concept with superheroes, but I won’t reveal more than that.
Friday night was the Star Wars party at the Westgate on a roof patio. Cool breeze, open bar and a lot of interesting people made for a fun night…then beer bottles started going over the edge to the sidewalk below. Oh, and someone walked off with our Star Wars swag 🙁
I did manage to get in a couple of nice runs along the bay. The weather was just about perfect and it was refreshing to see aircraft carriers instead of the trees of Central Park for a change.
All in all a great trip and one I would do again.
A Darkness Forged in Fire
I bought this book last week while at Books-A-Million. I don’t get to buy books a lot and I must say that I am so happy to have added this book to my collection. I really enjoyed it and I am eager to read more. Have you started on the next book yet, and if so, do you have any idea of when it’s going to be out?
Your newest fan,
~Jen~
Re: A Darkness Forged in Fire
Hi, Jen:
That’s wonderful to hear, thanks! I have started the next book, The Light of Burning Shadows, and it will hit stores in North America July 2009.
Cheers,
Chris
comic-con
Howdy Mr Evans,
I heard you speak at Comic-con. Well, actually, I only heard a tiny bit of the panel, as I had to run to meet some pals. I was bummed as it looked to be an interesting group of folks. I had scrawled some notes and I think you said you were born in Canada and by law took up hockey at the age of three! Heh.
Anyway, I’m just going over my notes and had written the title of your book as, “A Darkness…” Yep, mighty helpful. I was able to discover the actual title, “A Darkness Forged in Fire”. So, I’ll be taking a gander at it. You’ll be pleased to know that it is currently unavailable through interlibrary loan, which means that it’s popular enough that other libraries are not lending it outside their own doors. Oh, I work in a library.
-fg
Re: comic-con
That is nice to hear, thanks. I know the libraries have taken a healthy amount so if the book is still hard to get that is good news.
The panel was interesting and it felt like we were just getting warmed up when we had to end it. As the lone atheist up there I was looking forward to discussing the idea of gods in greater detail with the other authors. Maybe the next con.
Oh, and yes, I was indeed born in Canada and some of my first memories are of skating (actually, my first memory is of watching one of the moon landings on television.)
Cheers,
Chris
Re: comic-con
Ahh… the Lone Atheist… sounds like a super-hero! I sometimes attend a unitarian universalist church. My friend was surprised, “But you’re an atheist!” Yeah and it’s tough finding a church that welcomes atheists! 🙂
Comic-con was certainly packed this year. Many of the lines were dazzlingly long. I’d approach someone in line thinking I was near the end, “Nope, the end of the line is down there near Seaport Village.” Yikes!
One of my favorite panels is the Starship Smackdown, loaded with a pile of Spaceshipologists. It’s a truly hilarious panel and I wished I’d blogged about it… maybe next year.