Oh. My. Gawd…!!!!!

ComicCon… whew! What can I say that the media already hasn’t? The event took over the entire region. There were literally 125,000 people per day bombarding the San Diego Convention Center and yours truly was in the mix! YES! LOL! Moi

Okay, okay, now that I’ve semi recovered, where to begin?

I got on a plane early Wednesday morning, over-packed, but wanting to be sure I had EVERY conceivable thing I could need while out on the west coast. Normal flight, blah, blah, blah… delays and layovers, standard fare… so at that point when I finally arrived and it wasn’t mobbed in the airport, I’m thinking, how bad can it be? That was until I saw the cab line. Okaaaay. The line there made the one at NYC’s Madison Square Garden during rush hour look like the express lane!

Every hotel in the area was sold out—luckily I had some friends at the Devil’s Candy Store who’d booked a year in advance and gave my publisher a room for me. Madness. Just think Mardis Gras times ten.

So I connect with the very cool crew of folks at The Devil’s Candy Store the next morning, as the flight, the layover in Phoenix, etc., and then the hotel commute and jetlag left me fried that first night I got in. In the morning we all met in the lobby of The Westgate Hotel and then walked a block to the mass transit line. (Forgedabout driving or taking a cab in the gridlock by the Convention Center.) Reducing our carbon footprint, we load onto a trolley that looks like a small Amtrak train, and we ride in a sardine-packed car to the Convention Center. Cool. I’m still thinking, so what’s the big deal, right?

But I’ve gotta tell you—there is NOTHING to prepare your mind to see the new age, ultra modern Convention Center structure with WB, Marvel, DC posters wrapping its four stories as the trolley careens up to a mobbed station. You literally could not see the ground for the pedestrians. Train trestle lights flashed as folks casually ignored the fact that a locomotive could squish them like a bug—they were in “the ComicCon daze,” so police were hustling people past the RR red & white barriers that were lowering.

Once on the sidewalk, the challenge was to just swim with the body current… it was linebacker time, namely, keep your shoulder low, protect your breasts from backpack wielding geeks, and be sure not to trip over small children. Moms with baby strollers were wicked NASCAR drivers, bulldozing folks out of the way like mini Mad Max and the Thunderdome. Some were dressed like ‘em too, go figure. I ain’t hating – smile, every so often a character would appear to be so much like the one in the movie that, all you could do was flash them a smile with a thumbs up. They eagerly responded to that and would nod back with pride. Sort of the ComicCon code of appreciation thing, I suppose–good manners in a foriegn land. Did I mention it was like Mardis Gras? Yeah, folks came dressed as their fav characters, which was eye candy in and unto itself!

Then… once making it inside—a process of unbelievable proportions; then came the time to look up in awe for a moment and gape (not too long though, because you’d be mowed down, LOL.) The teenagers were swift and moved like Jurassic Park Raptors, snagging giveaways before you could blink. They also knew the lay of the land, so if you followed them, a slower moving entity could feed off of their leave-behinds, lol!

But the awe was real. We’re talking 10 foot replicas of The Hulk with actual actors from the flick making appearances. Star wars, Battle Star Galactica, Wookies, Ewoks, Storm troopers, EVERYTHING with fangs, canines, and a few sub-species I didn’t recognize in between. The big boys of Hollywood were out—WB, FOX, Marvel, DC, all things anime and manga, then there were the various new summer hits, movie previews, the “sleep on the ground outside all night to get tickets to the Twilight trailer” contingent… as I staggered to my booth, I arrived speechless. Charlie and Aly just laughed at me in good nature—I was indeed a newbie.

Here’s a pic below of the booth with me, Charlie Athanas (head chef in charge of the store), and Alex Wold, one of the fabulous artists whose work is featured among other in the illustration book.

Then they uncovered the books… the VHL, limited edition illustration books and showed me the booth banners where my Vampire Huntress came to life. I screamed right there in the middle of the floor. Oh, yeah, it was soooo cool! Then they pulled a black drape off The Madame Isis and I had a screaming-jumping-hysteria fit, LOL!

IT IS GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!! Tony Swatton, who is the most loveable, HUGE (like 6’8” Viking dude) you ever wanna meet created a masterpiece.

Four blood gutters run into a single 36” steel forged blade with a gold-plated handle studded with semi-precious stones and hand etched cobra snakes and hieroglyphics… y’all… no words! He promises to make smaller letter opener versions so we can all get one, but dang!

They are going to auction the mother sword off on EBay for charoty, but the other limited edition items that are left over from the show will be available at: The Devil’s Candy Store for as long as supplies last.

All day we hung out, watching the crowd, and every now and then I’d sneak away to go collect stuff for the kids back home (my daughter, nieces & nephews would disown me if I’d come back empty-handed!) That’s when I got to run around the floor with crazy author-girlfriend, Anne Elizabeth, who took me to where Sherrilyn Kenyon was–so we could have a threeway screamfest, ha ha ha–that’s MY GIRL! Then we buzzed by The Dabel Brothers booth, the guys who will be doing the VHL in manga… everybody was up in da houze!

Also stepped away to do a book signing at Barnes & Nobles and met another great crew of people—where Ajani won the limited edition book we raffled off (he was there with his whole family of wonderful supporters and the most gorgeous baby boy—hugs to Cairo!)… and got into a fab discussion with Mario and his sister Jen and her friend, plus met 3 Sarahs (one rebel without the “h” – ha ha ha!) Then it was back to the show… because when they told me the B&N was only 15 minutes away, I was thinking a city 15 min, not a Cali 15 min, which involves highways and is NOTHING CLOSE to 15 minutes. LOL! I also did a panel with fab authors to a packed room of 300+ folks–and Kelley Armstrong, my shero in the werewolf genre, and I sat side-by-side signing–how cool was that!!!!

However, one of the greatest highlights was meeting the one and only Captain Cisco (Avery Brooks, in the flesh) from Star Trek The Next Generation! I AM SUCH A GEEK! We were at dinner and Dave Dorman, who is the number one artist for Star Wars (and who did the cover to our illustration book), knows everybody in the industry. He saw the good Captain come in and said, you wanna meet him, after Aly and I fell out. We babbled, and Dave in his inimitable cool style got up and summoned us over with a nod. Aly and I giggled our way over, and got a grand and ebullient welcome by Mr. Brooks… who touched my hand, yes, shook my hand, LOL… AND gave me a HUG! I didn’t scream until we left the restaurant and did it with my hand over my mouth—I do have SOME decorum, ha ha ha.

Ok, then it was off to The Abbey… madman and sword maker, Tony Swatton, was kind enough to get our group VIP tickets to The Abbey. He and his wonderfully sweet and gorgeous girlfriend, Dawn—who looks like Wonder Woman, I swear… yep, he even made her a bronze bustier for her lush figure, which she wears very, very well, I might add, hosted us to an out-of-this-world event at what used to be an old Franciscan Abbey turned Goth club. (I even met the owner, Kevin–nicest guy you ever wanna meet.)

Now, folks, I gotta tell you… the setting SCREAMED “this must go into a book.” So you can take that to the bank. In one of the Crimson Moon Novels, oh yeah—it’s gotta go in there.

Picture this… a bio-hazard Goth Rave (which is what this was) with folks all dressed up like various entities under black lights so their eyes, fangs, and even some of their drinks glowed, are partying up in an old monastery—replete with stained glass windows, et al. I walk in with 21 crosses set in mother of pearl and silver around my neck—so my crosses are glowing and several vampires look up from the bar at the same time—and I’ve got a huge Viking as an escort on my hip… the sword maker, LOL! The imagery was beyond deep.

I met a statuesque vamp beauty with blond dread-locks, who had glow-in-the-dark contacts that worked for Tony… got my picture taken with a 7 foot Wookie (Chewbacca), took a pic with a really tall daemon… it goes on and on… Aly and Charlie, decked out in medical gear, took my pulse and pressure to be sure I didn’t lose any blood while in there!

Here’s Dave and Aly with me in the middle… and below that is the fearless Dave Dorman (note the Ninja outfit; hombre is Jow-cool laid back… I guess you can be that when you are a Zen-chill-Ninja)– BIG GRIN!

And this is Siryn… who we met there…

Crazy, fun, exhausting. There were even three phantom ladies dressed in antebellum white dresses, faces painted midnight blue, and with dark gloves on so the black light made it look like their dresses and big sun hats were floating–kewel creative!

I have some pics here, but more will be sent to me from other sources in the upcoming days. Some of mine didn’t come out due to lighting, but Charlie got a bunch to send my way, and more are incoming from the event. As random bits jump into my head, I’ll add more… just as I’m getting in more pics from the Harlem Book fair still—so it’s all good. Not to mention, my daughter has to teach me how to get the pics from my cell phone off of it and onto my computer (shsssh, I know we aren’t supposed to admit things like that, but she’s my tech coach, LOL!)

Meanwhile, I’m checking to be sure I don’t have any strange aversion to sunlight – it was WILD up in there! But I was still lucky enough to miss the earth quake that rattled LA top San Diego a day after I left, whew!

Hope the summer is treating you all well… BIG HUG, and DEFINITELY stay in The Light!

–Leslie – BIG SMILE!

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