Honies, I'm Ho-ome!

Happy Monday! I know, I know, it's been ages. But hey, Comic-Con takes a lot of time and focus because it's hard to get all the swag without a plan. And, as my Hook Me Up! subscribers already know, boy, did I come home with swag. Loads of swag, bags of swag, cascades of swag. So much swag that I can't launch the Comic-Con Swag Packs contest today...because I'm still trying to figure out how many packs, what's going where, and how much awesome in one box will cause bodacious combustion.

So, until later this week (and yes, my Swag Hounds, the contest WILL launch this week - for Hook Me Up! only, so if you're not on, now's the time!), let's get caught up on all that's been missed while I was in San Diego.

First up, this went live while I was in the midst of the Comic-Con madness, so it's too late to enter for the Birthday Bash giveaway, but still, check out the interview with Kitty over at On a Book Bender. Be sure and wish OaBB a happy belated birthday while you're there!

Next, see what Vampire Book Club thinks of "Touched by an Alien". Then check out what Mama Kitty Reviews has to say about "Alien in the Family". Last but in no way least, check out the which covers Bibliognome deems Swoon-Worthy.

I'm sure I missed a plethora of other things going on these past two weeks, but here's why. Comic-Con. 'Nuff said, right? No? You want more? Okay, here goes...

First, if you haven't checked out the majority of my pics from the event, hit the Alien Collective Virtual HQ. If you're not a member of the official fan site yet, well, why not sign up and start yapping on the Forum?

In brief, this was my schedule:

Wednesday: We hit Preview Night and scored some cool stuff from Penguin. Got more stuff from and cased the Exhibit Hall.

Thursday: We made it into the Covert Affairs, Psych and Ringer panels in Room 20, and scored some cool swag. Hit more of the exhibit floor, and got much in the way of swag, including signed things. Lunch with excellent authors S.G. Browne and Savannah Kline (buy their awesome books!) and the rest of what I've dubbed The Cool Crew (*waves to Dan, Tim, Antonio, Casey & Rose*). Toured Conan O'Brien's art show dedicated to...himself. (This was essentially for Coco fans only. Those of us who swing Leno, Letterman, Kimmel, Fallon, McHale, Handler, or Tosh 2.0 were left a little, um, nauseated.) Back to the exhibit hall for, yes, more swag.

Friday: Screwed up and missed Blue Blazes, which I'd been looking forward to seeing; but did make it into Kung Fu Panda where James "Lo Pan" Hong stole the show and the entire audience's hearts. Then saw the launch episodes of the new Thundercats which was, in a word, AWESOME and which had, hands down THE most excited, invested audience of anything we saw. More exhibit hall then off to the Penguin party which was very cool. Then Ghiradelli's with The Cool Crew.

Saturday: We scored Hall H! Which was awesome, but derailed any plans to see anything else, in part because, thanks to AC Member in VERY Good Standing Shelly, we got 2nd row seats, front and center. So we saw Francis Ford Coppola and Val Kilmer showing Twixt; gazed upon the full gorgeous cast of The Immortals (Kellan Lutz should never speak his own lines, seriously, and it really seemed that Stephen Dorff was on very close terms with a lot of pot, but Freida Pinto was lovely, Luke Evans was both hot and bright, and Henry Cavill will make an awesome Superman as long as he can manage an American accent) and, yes, it's true -- for some reason, I took no pics during this panel, and I can't tell you why, but they were all picture-worthy, so you'll have to see The Immortals to make up for my lack. We then saw the awesome cast of The Knights of Badassdom which included Ryan Kwanten, Summer Glau, and (my fave!) Peter Dinklage -- this movie is my "must see" from the Con, because it looks hilarious and speaks to my D&D, LARP, fangirl soul. We also saw the full cast of Snow White and the Huntsmen which included Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth (who, sadly, kept his shirt on), and Sam Claflin; Charlize is hilarious and this movie looks very interesting. Next was Dorothy of Oz which boasted Patrick "Capt. Picard" Stewart's first visit to Comic-Con AND we got to sing Happy Birthday to him, led by Megan "Wicked" Hilty (this panel also featured the most inappropriate "question" of the Con, which I won't repeat, but I guarantee the asker was bodily removed and potentially beaten). Last, but not least, we got to end our Hall H time with Kevin Smith, who is hilarious and thoughtful and incredibly, undeniably cool without trying to be cool (and yes, I was, and still am, in total fangirl mode).

Sunday: We visited the exhibit hall because we didn't have enough swag to choke a herd of elephants yet; caught the Allen Gregory panel that included Jonah Hill and French Stewart (everyone was hilarious so I recommend giving the show a try); then it was time for my panel, and I got to sit in between Vernor Vinge and Timothy Zahn -- our panel was packed, and it was great fun, PLUS I got to sit between Greg Bear and Michael Cassutt for the signing! (All of them are lovely, awesome gentlemen and I heartily recommend their books.) Major love to all who came by to say hi and/or get books signed, including Sasha, Kai, and Dan, with a special shout-out to Corey, whose luggage was lost and who not only bought new clothes, but a new set of my books to be signed (Corey -- you...complete me :-D). Then it was back to the exhibit hall yet again. And then...it was over, done, kaput, so long until next year.

I realize upon reading this over that it seems like we were nonstop. We were. But the sad part is, I KNOW I'm forgetting things we did, stuff we saw, and people we ran into. But that's how it goes when you're hanging with 125-160K of your nearest and dearest. Was it awesome? It was. Is it nice to be home? It is. Can I hardly wait for next year? You even have to ask?

So, until I can get the Swag Packs of Awesomeness in order, peace out, my li'l gangstas and remember, let's be readers out there!

Love,
Gini