*ED. note- I got tired all over again just writing this.
7/ 22
Wednesday morning I caught a flight to San Diego with Matt Sturges because we sometimes catch the same Southwest trip. So, we caught a cab to the hotel and checked in. I was carrying a bag that weighed the size of Willingham’s regrets and I was staggering like I had started drinking early.
After a long elevator ride, Sturges slid his electronic key in the lock and turned the handle and stopped dead in his tracks. “Are those sandals?” He looked at me and I looked in and confirmed that they were in fact sandals. About then a man in shorts stepped out of the bathroom, drying himself with a towel. “What are you doing in my room?” We cleverly turned the tables and asked… ‘What are you doing in our room?” Realizing that both sets of keys worked we decided to head for the front desk. We left our heavy bags in the room and the three of us headed for the lobby. I remember thinking in narration, “And that is how Matt & Bill lost their luggage.” But after many, many jokes about spooning and making new friends, the people at the Hyatt took care of us. We got a room upgrade and breakfast vouchers for the length of the stay.
And that is how Matt Sturges saw a half-naked man and got me a free breakfast.
We went out for lunch and stopped at the Hilton for a quick bite. As we were sitting in the sun so Sturges could have a smoke, Alan Porter wander over and we had tea for a bit. Then I made the annual pilgrimmage to Ralph’s for some snacks for the room and water that was less than $5 a bottle. After a change I was ready for the world again.
Struggling under the weight of those books again, I shambled over to the convention center and put a few trades out on the table of my good friend and occasional collaborator Thom Zahler. The parade of old friends and new customers wandered by the table and we hung out there until it was time to get ready for dinner.
Back in the day, I took Willingham to dinner at the Ruth Chris steakhouse on Harbor Drive on the Wednesday night after the show. We have kept that tradition alive in the years since and this time the line up was my own bad self, Bill Willingham, Brad Thomte, Thom Zahler and the agent to the comic stars Ken Levin.
7/ 23
Thursday morning, I went to the DC Talent Search panel dragging Paul Storrie kicking and screaming into the room. He rightly finds the process a bit demeaning if you have worked for the publisher before. But my desire to work for them easily surpasses any temporary discomfort that comes from a trip to that panel. For some dark reason, the people that ask the questions at the end of the panel presentation just make me feel better about myself.
I lost Paul and headed over to the Longbox Digital Comics presentation. I love the interface. The viewer is very much a Viewer 2.0 kind of upgrade, but the content is not quite there yet. They need more books for the September-ish launch. I pressed a card into Rantz Hoseley’s hand and hope to get some books onto that site, but I have the feeling that LSP is too small a publisher for them to have immediate interest.
I caught up to Keith Wilson and Kerry Gammil who are doing a new horror anthology under the Monsterverse banner. Keith is going to adapt one of my short stories from The Clockwork Bride for the thing. I am supposed to script it from the breakdowns. They might even need me to ink the thing. Who knows?
There were a couple of parties on Thursday night. I settled on the one I could get into and went to the BOOM Studios party at the Hyatt. I hung with Martin Thomas and a few others before calling it a night at 1AM.
7/ 24
Friday I went to a panel on selling more comics that was put on by ComicsPro. David Wheeler was manning the booth out front. Chip Mosher from BOOM and Phil Foglio were inside as well. It was very simple advice, but useful.
Went to dinner in the little tourist village behind the hotel with Paul Storrie and Thom Zahler. We met Amy Wolfram who writes for animation and comics there too. She used to be in the Whedon orbit and the evil law firm in ANGEL is partially named after her.
More drinking at the Hyatt. Willingham won another ‘Best Writer’ Eisner Award. I heard about it in the bar later. Had to cut it a little short for a big meeting the next day.
7/ 25
Saturday morning I had my long-awaited meeting for the ANGEL project with Willingham, my charming editor Mariah Huehner and her boss Chris Ryall. We had the buffet because that was the only choice. The talk went well and a good time was had by all. I think the ANGEL book will be a big deal when it hits. Another project I was working on got stepped on a bit, but it still has a slim chance of success.
Then we went to the panel. Juliet Landau was entertaining. I had bought a still from the BUFFY series in the hope of getting a moment where I could get her to sign it for Katrina. Bill and I got caught up in a bit of bad theatre. And we talked about the new direction of the ANGEL book. I actually got asked a question by a fan and my answer seemed to make him a little happy. All went well. Security was there to get us to the booth for the signing and that was comically bad. We just ditched them and walked over to the IDW booth. I never got a chance to get something signed.
I was planning to go to the Pop Candy meet up, but since Whitney was rumored to come to the suite party on Sunday night, I skipped it. I helped out Paul at the Toon Tumbler booth for a stretch. Late that night I caught up to my old boss Keith Wilson at the Hyatt bar.
It turns out that the healthy benefits of cranberry juice do not offset the bad juju of vodka.
7/ 26
It was the last day of the show and I still had nothing for Katrina. Juliet Landau was not signing at the IDW booth again. So, I waited for the inevitable tweets from Felicia Day. She was the one person on twitter whose tweets went right to my iPhone. In the back of my head, I was still planning to get her to sign something to bring back for Katrina. The phone chirped and I was off across the hall battered on the sea of fans. As I drew closer to her booth, my heart sank.
Felicia Day is the Homecoming Queen of the Nerd Prom.
There was a very long line capped by a guy with a sign. So I asked him if the sign was accurate. He said. “Yes. I am the end of the indoor line. The line continues outside in Section E.” And that was the last time I considered getting something signed at the show. My time is limited.
I spent the rest of the time at the show helping Paul at the Toon Tumblers booth. There was a last minute rush of people who didn’t want to carry glasses around all day. Seth Green came through and bought some. There was a little crowd while he was there.
I packed it in and helped Paul load up his glasses and drifted back to the hotel. I wanted to sleep, but I went to dinner with Thom and Paul. Martin Thomas and Shannon Wheeler wandered over from the direction of the bay. We chattered until Martin came over and got us. Chuck McCann from the Far Out Space Nuts was at Martin’s table in the outdoor food court area. We all walked over and chatted with him until Martin ran us off.
Then we went to the suite party. Brad did not want to tend bar all night like last year, so we were to take turns. I took the first shift which ran from 8:30PM to 1AM when I went back to the room. In tending the bar all night, I got to talk to everyone and I had an excuse to stay sober. I met Paul Tobin who writes excellent stuff for the Marvel Adventures line. Mike Carlin came over and chatted for a bit. I felt like I owed a bartending shift to Willingham to make sure he threw an excellent party. He had been kind enough to help me get my foot in the door with the ANGEL gig. When I was on the way out, people lined up to shake my hand. A good time was had by all.
7/ 27
If I sleep more than six hours, I get restless, so I was wide awake at 7 in the morning. I called aound and Willingham was out cold. Ditto for Brad. I had hurt him the night before with some White Russians. Sturges was trying to get some sleep before his wife and kids arrived on Monday morning. It felt like a walk of shame as I slinked out of the hotel and to the airport a couple of hours early. A plane got delayed in El Paso where I bought a little internet service and whittled down the stack of email. Ten hours after checking baggage, I was back in Austin. Katrina picked me up at the airport. And I finally slept in my own bed for the first time in a while.
7/ 28
I dump out a bag of business cards and start writing new pitches.
I’m home for a while, but not at rest.
I recently gave the following advice to an artist who started drawing before he had a script…
It is always easier to move words around on the page than drawings.
.