Comic Con Recap: Sat & Sun

Thanks for stopping by again. I am going to do a (hopefully) quick recap of my last two days at Comic Con. I can't believe it was only a week ago and it seems like it was soooo long ago. I am just getting over a bad cough and cold which I think I may have caught just from being around all those people. Alright, let's get down to it!

Saturday

My first panel on Saturday was the Faeries in the City urban fantasy panel which included authors  Benjamin Tate (Leaves of Flame), Kevin Hearne (The Iron Druid Chronicles), Kat Richardson (Seawitch), Jennifer Bosworth (Struck), Anton Strout (Simon Canderous series), Seanan McGuire (Discount Armaggedon), Jeanne Stein (Anna Strong Vampire Novels), J.F. Lewis (Burned: A Void City Novel), and S. G. Browne (Lucky Bastard). This was a really fun panel with a really good mix of authors. The authors spoke about how important a role location is in their books. Anton Stout wanted to take a city he loved (NYC) and twist it around. Kat Richardson's Greywalker series was inspired by the Seattle fog. Seanan McGuire has a different approach and she writes about cities that she despises and, in the process, usually develops an appreciation for them.

anton strout, kevin hearne, jen bosworth, jeanne stein

s.g. browne, j.f. lewis, seanan mcguire, kat richardson

After the urban fantasy panel I hightailed it to get in line for the Gail Carriger spotlight panel. I've never seen Gail before so I wasn't sure what to expect. But she's as sweet and charming as you'd imagine and it s fabulous dresser. She and her agent, Kristen, talked about how she got her start with the Parasol Protectorate series and also talked about her new YA series, Espionage & Etiquette. She share some big news with the audience and that news is that the Parasol Protectorate series has been optioned as a television series! This doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to happen but it is a first step. We stopped by the signing afterwards to get some books signed by Gail, who was super nice and chatted with everyone.

gail carriger

After Gail I wandered around for awhile until the Harper panel later that night. This was a fun panel with reps from Harper and HarperTeen. They also had Tahereh Mafi, Kiersten White and Dan Wells in attendance. It's always fun hearing about the new releases from publishers, and at the end, we all got a book (I got Insignia by SJ Kincaid). 

harper teen rep along with white, mafi and wells

new kim harrison cover

Sunday

On Sunday the only panel I went to was the What's Hot in YA Panel which was moderated by Nathan Bransford (Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe) and featuring Leigh Bardugo (Shadow and Bone), James Dashner (The Maze Runner series), Kami Garcia (co-author of the Beautiful Creatures novels),Tahereh Mafi (Unravel Me), Melina Marchetta (Froi of the Exiles), Lish McBride (Hold Me Closer, Necromancer), Myra McEntire (Hourglass trilogy), and Scott Westerfeld (Uglies). 

One of the questions was why have superpowers? Kami Garcia said that they were a safe to explore the idea of what you would do if you were more than normal. Dashner said that he was a super nerdy kid and always daydreamed about having super powers and writing about them is a way of living those fantasies. Westerfeld said that super powers, to him, were always more about the teamwork involved and how those with super powers worked together. 

After that panel, I mostly putzed around the exhibit hall, catching the booths that I may have missed during the crazy weekend. Below are some photos of my Sunday afternoon.

OMG this woman had on the most amazing Ursula costume. How great does she look? Seriously I was totally jealous.

And look what I found at the Quirk Books booth. Her makeup was really good and this gave me some ideas for next Halloween.

Next up is Lish McBride who was signing copies of her book Hold Me Closer, Necromancer and ARCs of its sequel, Necromancing the Stone, at the Macmillan booth. I really loved Hold Me Closer and am looking forward to reading the sequel soon.

I ran into a whole bevy of superheroes over at the DC booth, which shouldn't be a surprise. 

I am a total Fables fangirl. The line for the Bill Willingham signing was insane but I did manage a quick drive by to snag some pics. There's Bill with Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha. Unfortunately I did not make it to the Fables panel this year I really want to make it next year.

Cornelia Funke was signing ARCs of her new book Reckless at Little Brown. She had on this awesome dress that her friend, who is a costume designer, made. Isn't it gorgeous?

I also got to meet Marjorie Liu, super talented writer of the Dirk & Steele and Hunter Kiss series, as well as a writer for Marvel Comics. My friend Nasya introduced me to Marjorie's work awhile ago and I was super excited to finally meet her. 

And look who else I ran into? It's Archer and Katya! I am kind of obsessed with the Archer cartoon series. I totally missed the Archer panel at Comic Con. It was just too far away at the Hilton and I knew I would not make it in time. But I was so stoked to run into some Archer cosplayers while wandering outside by the Batmobiles. Don't they look great?

We've finally reached the end of this really long post. Thanks for sticking with me if you've actually been reading this whole time. I always have so much fun at Comic Con and can't wait for next year. I should have a fun SDCC swag giveaway coming soon. I just need to organize myself a bit before I put it up. Hope you guys are all having a great week!

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Stacked (13): Top Ten from Comic Con

Hi, everyone! Welcome to another week of Stacked, my weekly post where I share what I've bought, borrowed and received for the week. As you know, last weekend I was at Comic Con. I picked up a lot of great stuff there (both purchased and giveaways). I am going to share with you my top ten books that I got from Comic Con this week. Let's get the show going!

Top Ten Books from Comic Con

YA

The Friday Society by Adrienne Kress - Totally love this cover and have been wanting to read this one.

Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger - So excited about this Gail Carriger book!

Second Chance (The Slayer Chronicles #2) by Heather Brewer - I heart Heather Brewer and can't wait to read book 2 in her new Slayer Chronicles series.

172 Hours on the Moon by Johan Harstad - I checked this out from the library a couple of times but never got around to it. Very happy I was able to get a copy signed by the author.

Black City by Elizabeth Richards - I was on the fence with this one but kept seeing it in the blogosphere, which made me want to read it. 

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes - Dying to read this high fantasy novel.  Looks like a lot of fun.

Every Day by David Levithan - Sad I didn't pick this up at ALA as I keep hearing amazing things about it. Luckily I was able to snag a copy at Comic Con. 

Adult

A Blood Seduction by Pamela Palmer - I have heard positive things about this new series and was excited to see that they were giving out copies last weekend.

Wayne of Gotham by Tracy Hickman - I didn't know much about this one except it's about Batman. But the cover sold me. 

Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost - I actually bought this on my Kindle already but they were giving out physical copies and I could not resist. I love Jeaniene Frost and I have a feeling that Vlad's story is going to be great.

Non SDCC books

Stormdancer by Jay Kristoff - I am excited that I got this one from NetGalley! Another one that has great buzz and an awesome cover. I will be reading this soon.
The Vincent Boys by Abbi Glines - Recommended by my friend Crystal at Elegantly Bound Reviews. It has a hot bad boy in it. Sold!
A Night To Surrender by Tessa Dare - Only $0.99 on Kindle. I've been meaning to read some of her books and you can't beat the price.

Going to Far by Jennifer Echols - $3.99 on Kindle right now. Can you believe I've never read a Jennifer Echols book? For shame! I hear this one is excellent.

Thanks for putting up with me for this long. As you can see, I have a lot of great books on my shelf to be read. Now all I have to do is decide which one to read first. :)

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Comic Con Recap: Friday

Hello again and welcome to my Day 2 Comic Con recap. Friday was the big day of the Firefly 10th anniversary panel. We knew it was a long shot but my friends and I were going to get in line to see if we might get in. We're not the types to spend the night so we just got there somewhat early. Unfortunately, as suspected, the line was crazy insane so we gave up.

Instead, I went to the panel Art of the Thrill Kill which featured authors Barry Lyga (I Hunt Killers), Michelle Gagnon (Don't Turn Around), Johan Harstad (172 Hours on the Moon), Dan Wells (I Am Not a Serial Killer), James Rollins (SIGMA Force novels), Mark Z. Danielewski (The Fifty Year Sword, House of Leaves), and Chase Novak (Breed). I was pretty excited about this since I, like a lot of people, have a fascination with serial killers. There's just something so creepy and compelling about them. 

It as a really interesting panel and the authors talked about why serial killers are so interesting to people. I think Dan Wells was right when he said that serial killers are America's monsters, our version of the boogeyman. Barry Lyga said that serial killers are very, very real and that America leads the world in the number of serial killers (not sure if this is true but that's scary). All in all a really cool panel. I went to the signing afterwards and got a copy of 172 Hours on the Moon signed by Johan Harstad (which I have been dying to read) and an ARC of Michelle Gagnon's Don't Turn Around. 

mark z. danielewski, jordan harstard, michelle gagnon

barry lyga & dan wells

Next Up was the Remixed Fairy Tales and Superhero Lore panel. There was a bit of a line for this one (fairy tales are popular) but we ran into Cindy Pon (The Silver Phoenix) and Marie Lu (Legend) in line and had a nice chat with them while waiting. The panel included Sarah Maas (Throne of Glass), Marissa Meyer (Cinder), Rae Carson (The Girl of Fire and Thorns), Paul Tobin (Prepare to Die), Tom King (A Once Crowded Sky), Michael Scott (The Enchantress), Tracy Hickman (Wayne of Gotham), and Cecil Castellucci (The Year of the Beasts).

I am a big sucker for fairy tales so this type of panel always interests me. It was really cool to hear from all of these authors how fairy tales and folk tales have influenced them. Most of them agreed that one of the benefits of basing your story on a well known fairy tale is that the reader is already familiar with the story and character. But the downside of that is that you need to be really original in finding a way make that story unique and your own.

After wandering around a bit it was time for the Epic Fantasy War Panel. Panel included Brandon Sanderson (Alloy of Law), Raymond E. Feist (A Crown Imperiled), Robin Hobb (City of Dragons), N.K. Jemisin (The Inheritance Trilogy), Christopher Paolini (The Inheritance cycle), Rachel Hartman (Seraphina), Patrick Rothfuss (KingKiller Chronicles), Heather Brewer (The Legacy of Tril), and Lynn Flewelling (Casket of Souls). This panel ended up being more about fantasy than fantasy war I think but was still really cool. The authors talked about their methods of research, which included books, consulting the experts and visiting locales. Heather Brewer said that when she wrote The Legacy of Trill, she bought two wooden swords and beat the crap out of her husband. She wanted to know what it felt like to hold and swing a sword since she was writing about her character who did the same. She needed that visceral experience. And N.K. Jemisin said that she visited Hawaii (lucky!) and visited various volcanoes for research.

couldn't get a good pic of epic fantasy but here you go

My last panel of the day was What's Up with Penguin. I always have fun at the Penguin panel learning about their upcoming releases. There are always drawings for book giveaways, too, but I never win. They showed us the gorgeous new cover to Patricia Briggs's next Mercy Thompson novel, Frost Burned. I am so sad I didn't snag a picture in time but it is so beautiful and I can't wait to get it. A couple of books I am looking forward to after the panel:

A Soldier's Duty by Jean Johnson - military paranormal romance!
Fated by Benedict Jacka - This is the first book in the series which came out this year. It's been compared to Harry Dresden.

I will leave you with some random pics from the day. Recaps for Sat and Sun coming soon. If you want to see all of my pics, I do have a FB album for the whole thing here. Thanks for stopping by!

gennifer album signing crewel

mira grant signing blackout and feed

it ain't comic con without chewie

the awesome cartoon network wall

domo!

i passed by chad michael murray doing a signing

how awesome is this costume?

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Comic Con Recap - Thursday

Hello, everyone! I am back and boy, am I tired. Comic Con was whirlwind of sights and sounds, as usual. I am going to do my best to recap it though you'll have to forgive me if I resort to pictures sometimes.

So we drove down late Wed night and stopped by Chick Fil A on the way down. It's one of our SDCC traditions and we made it in about 10 minutes before they closed.

Thursday we were up bright and early to get our badges. I jumped into the exhibits hall for a bit before my first panel and, thanks to my friend Katie telling me about it, was able to snag an ARC of Gail Carriger's Etiquette & Espionage from the Little Brown booth.

simon & schuster booth

really cool blessed guitar

Our first panel of the day was actually a television panel. I am huge fan of the USA show Psych and got in line early for their panel. Ballroom 20 can be crazy but theirs was the first panel and it started later in the day so we managed to get in line at just the right time to get great seats. If you haven't seen the show, it's basically about a guy who uses deduction to solve crimes but pretends that he's a psychic. It's just super funny and the cast has great chemistry together and always seem like they genuinely like working together. Definitely give it a try if you haven't.

psych: maggie lawson, james roday, dule hill

Next up was Beauty & the Beast. I wasn't super into this one but the Elementary panel was right after it and I did want to see that. The show was what you would expect, cheesy but kinda cute. The showed the whole pilot which was fine but it isn't something I'll be watching on a regular basis.

beauty & the beast

Then came the Elementary panel. I know Sherlock's been done to death by now but really, how can you not love Sherlock? And I kind of love Jonny Le Miller, too. The pilot was fun and Miller and Liu were really good together. I wouldn't mind seeing more of it.

jonny lee miller and lucy liu

And I think that was it for big panels. In between I was on the floor a lot, hitting the pubs and picking up books. My friend was making fun of me because I had the whole weekend schedule printed out and with me at all times. I got to see Marie Lu again as well as Heather Brewer. I was kind of stalking Heather because I love her and really wanted a copy of Slayer Chronicles 2, which I did get. :) We also ran into Tessa Gratton at the Random House booth and chatted for awhile. She is super nice and cool and I ended up buying Blood Magic and had her sign it.

marie lu

heather brewer

tessa gratton and me

I am pretty sure I went home and passed out after this. Seriously I am getting old and all I want to do is sleep after a full day at the con. Tune in later this week to see what happened on Day 2 of Comic Con!

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