I don’t think it’s a secret how much I love SDCC. I spend allllllll year waiting for it and things go in stages: pre-reg, open reg, press reg, and parking. Once all of those are completed, it’s only a few months that seem to take forever before the convention is actually here.
Preview night
We got downtown around 4pm, met up with Michelle and her husband, and carried on with our yearly preview night tradition: carne asada fries at Lolita’s. We got onto the floor just after 6 and wandered around to see publishing and bookstore friends. We ran into Nolan Gould {Luke Dunphy from Modern Family} who was insanely nice and took photos with us.
We made our way to Fierce Reads where they let me take a complete set of The Language of Thorns pins {which was extra awesome because really, how do you choose?} I also got the set of new Grisha paperbacks because they were on sale and I couldn’t resist.
We wandered a bit more. Hubs bought some things and then we called it a night.
Thursday
We woke up early-ish, hit a local Starbucks {because the one at the convention center was more expensive} and got to the Hard Rock hotel around 7:30. This year, the lobby was set up for something, so we weren’t able to get a couch and people watch.
We picked up Michelle and headed to the door to get into the crowd waiting. The doors were supposed to be opening at 9:30, but at they came out and told us it was going to be another 30 minutes. Thankfully it was only about 15. Straight off the bat, we headed to Penguin and Dark Horse for signing tickets. We got Stephanie Perkins and Marie Lu. When we went to Dark Horse, I won a wristband for Felicia Day. {I was hoping for Gerard Way.}
After that, hubs and I just wandered around. We stopped at the Walking Dead booth and the Warner Brothers Booth. We found some mega large Funkos and some amazing cosplayers.
We ended up going over to the Hilton and on the way there found even more cosplayers.
After lunch and some phone charging time, we ended up in the Sails pavilion…right when a panel signing was getting ready to start. Hubs went to walk around and I got in line for Stephanie Perkins and Christina Lauren.
Lo and C were first. Lauren hugged me and said hi and Christina waved. We chatted for a minute while they signed. Christina told me how she mentioned Twilight in the panel they just had. Lauren said it all comes back to Twilight.
From there I went to Stephanie. I had a full arc of her upcoming book and I was irrationally excited to see her. She stood up and hugged me and we gushed a little over each other. She commented on my press badge and how it was cool that SDCC recognized the blog as press.
As she signed, I started talking to one of the Penguin ladies, who was there to help pass out TSIYH samplers. Stephanie then handed me my book, we gushed a little more and I was off.
I got done with that signing right around 2pm. Michelle was in line for our Marie Lu signing, so I met her and we waited.
As we were walking, a loud alarm started going off from the convention center ceiling. It went off for about 30 seconds and then stopped. There was an announcement made that SDCC security would be looking into the cause of the alarm, that everyone needed to remain calm. About 2 minutes later, another announcement went off and said that it had been checked out and cleared. This was interesting because it has never happened before.
We waited about 15 minutes before we got to Marie {thank you Penguin for having amazing signage and direction!!} I said hi to Marie and we talked about the amazing Warcross light that was on the table. Because it really was amazing and I should have gotten a photo.
After Marie, we walked the floor a bit more. I went over to Tor to get the Shades of Magic pin they had. The woman working the booth had to dig it out because they were out of it on the table. When she handed it to me, I asked if it was possible to have another one. She hesitated and then she saw my Lila Bard tattoo. I told her Lila was my favorite and I needed everything with her on in. She laughed and grabbed another.
We wandered just a bit more before calling it an early day.
Friday
Friday morning found me extraordinarily tired, but ready to go at the same time. Which is pretty much how it goes the entire weekend. We got down to the convention center and were directed to the Hilton to use the bathroom. As we headed back, we were forced into the general entrance line.
We eventually made our way into the Sails pavilion as we were trying to find the ticket draw line for Duck Tales aka David Tennant. We asked probably 10 people before someone finally directed us to the information booth. Hubs was told that the schedule was just confirmed and the signing panel was not ticketed.
She told Hubs to come back later in the afternoon to confirm, but that she didn’t expect it to become ticketed. So, we settled into the artist’s submission area and hung out in the a/c.
We spent the morning wandering around. We went over to S&S to confirm the arc drop time. We had gone over on preview night and they told us that there was going to be a giveaway for The Becoming of Noah Shaw. But when we checked back with them, the ladies in the booth said they had gotten the titles wrong and it was actually a giveaway for The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer.
After my entire morning was ruined, we wandered around more. Michelle and I had a photo shoot at the Tor booth.
And we did some people watching.
We ended up walking by Mysterious Galaxy when Greg Grunberg and Lucas Turnbloom were signing arcs of the second book of their graphic novel series. They were both super nice and chatty. Somehow I forgot to take a photo of the book.
We wandered around more and at the Harper booth. I saw that they had the Night Vale books and one of the ladies told me that if we pre-ordered the new Night Vale book and showed the receipt, we could get a limited edition poster.
So of course we did.
We headed to the ticketed signing we had with Gerard Way. When Hubs picked up the tickets {when I was in line for Marie}, they told us there were only 50 tickets and we got 44 and 45. The booth told us to get there about 10 minutes before.
And when we got there…the line was enormous. Turns it they actually gave out 200 tickets and there were varying accounts of if having a ticket meant it was guaranteed.
As we got closer, one of the booth employees came by to let us know that photos with Gerard weren’t allowed and that he was signing a poster and one other item. It took about 35 minutes to get up to him.
We went up one by one and when it was my turn, he said hi and asked how I was doing. I answered and asked how he was. He said that he was having fun and loved being at the con.
Annnnnd then it was over.
They had a bag of rubber bands at the edge of the table and I screamed “rubber bands!” at the woman who was working the booth and she started laughing.
Gerard was our last thing planned until trying for the David Tennant signing, so we grabbed some pretzels and did some people watching.
Meanwhile, Michelle was actually in the Duck Tales panel and she said it was amazing. These next three photos are hers.
As it got closer to the Duck Tales signing, more and more people starting hovering. No one would give any information about the line or where it was supposed to start. Everyone started walking in circles and staying close to the blocked off line entrance.
Security said that the lines wouldn’t be started until 4, but as people wouldn’t leave the area, they wouldn’t open anything up. Eventually they put us in a corral.
Annnnnnd then they decided to make it a ticket draw.
Everyone in line started freaking the fuck out. When it came time to draw, we watched the few people in front of us draw yellow tickets when red was needed.
THEN HUBS DREW A RED TICKET.
It was my turn.
I DREW A RED TICKET AND I SCREAMED.
They took us to a line up area outside and we settled in. At 4:50 or so, they brought us in and right at 5pm, the cast got there. Almost immediately, the line started moving. When I got up to the table, the actors were already signing posters and sliding them down to the next person.
I had been taking photos of David the entire time. When I got in front of him, there was a woman there who told me I couldn’t take photos. I asked if I could take one of him signing my poster. She said no. I asked if he could sign my TARDIS bag and she said no.
Then David looked up at me.
David: “Hi. How are you?”
Me as I tried not to shriek: “I’m good. How are you?”
David: “I’m good. Thanks. I’m so happy to see you.”
And after that, we left. I mean, how do you top that? We made our way to a rooftop bar and I ate all of the cupcakes.
Saturday
Saturday morning was a struggle. We had been out late Friday night and didn’t get home until 1:30am. Needless to say, waking up to get ready to fight crowds was difficult. We got down to the convention center around 8:45 and found a short line for entrance that wasn’t the “everything but hall H” line.
We of course found some cosplay while waiting…
They let us in right at 9:30 and it was pretty easy to get through the scanners. Right off the bat, we ran into David Lloyd and I almost died. We ended up spending a good 25 minutes with him, talking about comics and football and various other things. And then he drew V for me.
We made a small circuit around the floor and shopped some of the smaller booths that we hadn’t had a chance to get to yet. Annnnnnd then we called it a day. We ended up leaving around 11am so we could catch up on sleep and do some adulting.
Sunday
Sunday morning had us starting late again and what a difference a full night of sleep with do. We got down to the convention center around 8:30 and headed over to the Hard Rock Hotel to grab a quick breakfast and do some people watching.
We got inside right at 9:30 and just started wandering.
We finally caught up with Michelle and we made the publishing rounds. Eventually we ended up in the press room and had some snacks. This is probably going to become our go-to place if we keep getting approved for press. The a/c was amazing, there was all sorts of food and drinks and sweets and it wasn’t crowded at all.
And then I crashed Mary Pearson’s signing before it started and said hi to her. We chatted for a minute and she asked about my new tattoos. Then we did more wandering…
And finally ended up in line for the What’s Hot in YA. I was here to see Lish McBride. She’s a favorite and it’s been years since I’ve seen her. The line started moving pretty fast and I was able to get up to Lish relatively quickly. We chatted for a moment, talking about con and the things she had purchased.
From there, they had already staged the line for Leigh, so I left Lish {and Lo & C} and got into that line. I needed to see one of my favorite women from Macmillan as well as Leigh.
The signing start time came and went and we were still in the wrong area. Eventually one of the workers came by and explained that the line staging had gotten confused and they were finally moving us to where we were supposed to go. When I got up to Leigh, we chatted for a minute about my choice of post it’s, life, her lack of grocery list, and her launch for Wonder Woman.
After holding up the line, I went around to the other side of the table to spend a moment with Molly. I was with Molly for about 10 minutes before we said our goodbyes, gave final hugs, and left.
It’s always bittersweet when it’s over. We wait and wait and wait for SDCC to get here and then it just feels like time speeds up and the 5 days are over in a flash.
Until next year…
OMG! It seems so much fun! I wish I could go there too. Thank you for sharing! I love the new Grisha cover too
Those covers are insanely gorgeous.
Thanks for reading and commenting!!
This looks like it was epic! Thanks for sharing the awesome pictures. I have SDCC on my bucket list, so maybe someday…..
This was actually a relaxed year!!
Thanks for reading and commenting!!
I love the cos-players!
Nice con!
It was a lot of fun!
Thanks for reading and commenting!!
That weeping angle cosplay is amazing!! And I’m still so glad you got to see Tennant again :)
Oh, she was amazing. She would ask if you were ready and then start moving every 5 seconds until she was right up to the camera.
Thanks for reading and commenting!!
Great pics! thanks for sharing!! My daughter loves Doctor Who and I told her i never want to see an angel statue again. Ever!
Haha!! After seeing those episodes, it’s definitely creepier to see the statues people have.
Thanks for reading and commenting!!
It sounds like this was super fun!! Except for the Noah Shaw disappointment, which is too bad :'(.
Great post!
It was a lot of fun! And the Noah Shaw disappointment didn’t last because my local indie texted me Sunday night to tell me they had an arc of it for me. :D
Thanks for reading and commenting!!
Ahh, you are killing me with jealousy. <3 LOVE that you had such an amazing time Stacee :D Eeee. Comic Con sounds like SO MUCH FUN. And ahh, I loved seeing all your pictures and reading about what you did :D So much amazing. So many authors. And signed books :D And eee, you had such an awesome time. <3 I'm thrilled for you :) And oh, Leigh. SO JEALOUS. And buttons :D And ahh. You are the luckiest :)