Tuesday, March 16, 2010

ANAHEIMLICH MANEUVER

Advance warning:  This time next month, I'll be in Southern California (yes, my keepers are letting me out of the tower again) for the Anaheim Comic Con.  I'm looking forward to meeting my readers and signing as many comic books as humanly possible.  I'll also have some Imaginalis post cards (provided by the good folks at HarperCollins) to give away—so if you're in the area, please stop by and say hello.  It's shaping up to be an interesting show:  Where else can you find William Shatner, Ed Asner, Micky Dolenz and me under the same roof?  (Y'know, aside from our weekly poker games.)

See you there, I hope.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, that sounds awesome. I see Stan Lee will be joining, too!

    David

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  2. Yeah, it's an odd and interesting mix of folks. I'm looking forward to it.

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  3. I have only been to one comic-con in my life, and it was NOTHING on that scale. We had two guests of note: Peter David and Vampirella.

    Funny story: Well, kind of. My mom doesn't think so. I was young and I'd just gotten a job. So basically I had two hundred dollars in hand and no clue what money actually IS. My mom decided that she'd just go shopping or something instead of paying $10 to see a show she cared nothing for. This was the height of the speculator days, and you can imagine her surprise when she came back and discovered that I had shelled out every dime buying not one, but TWO copies of ASM #149. Worst $10 she never spent, she says.

    Being the typical smug genius that all teenagers are, I knew my mom would feel really stupid when my $100 comics jumped to thousands within the year. They actually fell to around $20.

    Sometimes Mom does know what she's talking about!

    I'm actually kind of happy with the purchase now. I mean sure, I bought the comic at its highest possible value, but I'd have long since blown it on video games anyway. It was also a nice lesson in the true value of stories--they're important because of what they are, not because you can put a price tag on them.

    And I'm not concerned with the monetary value anyway. I have Ben Reilly's first appearance!

    That's my one comic-con story. Hope it wasn't too boring!

    So do you get to interact with a lot of the folks there, or are you guys generally too busy? I hear comic-cons are super-busy from the creative side. At any rate, just being under the same roof's got to be awesome (as long you don't owe Ed or Bill any money from the poker game)!

    Best,

    David

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  4. Great story, David. And your thought about the importance of story is right on the money.

    For me, the whole point of going to these conventions is to "interact with a lot of the folks there." As I've often noted, I spend most of my time alone in a room playing with my imaginary friends. (Which is why I don't do many cons: I have a really hard time with crowds.) The chance to meet the people reading my stories, hear what they have to say, share a moment...that's what makes going to these things worthwhile.

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  5. Reminds me of the Emily Dickinson poem:

    "IF I can stop one heart from breaking,
    I shall not live in vain;
    If I can ease one life the aching,
    Or cool one pain,
    Or help one fainting robin
    Unto his nest again,
    I shall not live in vain."

    Stories matter.

    David

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  6. They do indeed, David: especially when you consider that we're all walking around inside our own stories right now.

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  7. What an awesome, encouraging, and wondrous thing to ponder.

    Kind of puts it all in perspective.

    David

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