Sunday. The last day of the con. Things are winding down. The crowd is smaller, maybe even a little more mellow.
Sure. As mellow as
80,000 people in a contained space can be.
Our first activity of the day was our book signing on behalf of the
California Browncoats, a
Firefly/Serenity fan organization hosting a charity fundraiser, with proceeds from the book sales going to the
Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation. This is a fantastic group of folks, and the plethora of Browncoats coming past the table were generous with their donations as well as their tolerance for a couple of
Trek hacks encroaching on their turf.
Highlight of the Day: None other than
Kevin J. Anderson hanging out at the table for a few minutes, pimping us to passers by. Yeah, that's right...
that Kevin J. Anderson. You know what? Run out and buy one of everything he's ever written. Go on, do it right now. I'll wait.
The signing was followed by a panel about Pocket Books'
Star Trek publishing program. Moderated by
Andy Mangels and featuring Pocket editors Marco Palmieri and Margaret Clark as well as fellow authors Jeff Ayers, Kirsten Beyer,
Peter David,
Mike Sussman, Kevin and me, and David R. George III, the panel was well attended and the audience lively. Lots of great questions and interaction made for a fun hour that passed all too quickly.
Last panel of the day was "How to Break Into Sci-Fi Writing." Moderated by Dr. Joseph Di Lella, I sat alongside fellow
Strange New Worlds alums Cathy Pike, Frederick Kim,
Geoff Thorne and David Schibi, we hosted a packed room and spent the hour answering all manner of questions from folks looking to make that first pro sale. I have to admit that I'm always a bit nervous during panels like this, as I'm still rather gun shy about my status as a "professional" writer. The last thing I want to do is offer a piece of bum advice, or present myself as some sort of expert on this stuff. I just try to offer the best info that's been passed to me by more-experienced writers who took the time to answer my questions. Otherwise, my outlook on this whole thing is pretty simple: If I can sell a story, anybody should be able to do so, as well. Just takes the necessary amount of time and work to do it, is all.
That, along with far too much money spent on stuff and far too much swag stuffed into my suitcase for the trip home, ended my first Comic-con. What a friggin' blast.