Thus far I’ve seen virtually nothing of Dragon*Con. I’ve either been doing panels or been at my table, autographing stuff and meeting fans. But that’s okay. That’s pretty much what I’m here for, and certainly the fact that it’s been busy for me is far bettr than just sitting there with nothing to do.
Aside from the initial panel I had Friday which was a solo reading, everything else I’ve been doing has been well attended. The major misfire was during my spotlight panel on Friday when I was doing a dramatic reading of an upcoming FNSM story…and discovered to my horror that the last several pages of the script were missing. Apparently my computer never printed them out for some reason. So that kinda sucked. I did my best to summarize the remaining pages, but it certainly wasn’t anywhere near as effective.
The CBLDF raffle for breakfast with myself and Jewel Staite raised around $500 and the winner was, thank God, a nice normal guy. Understand, I love fans, but there are some folks that, y’know, can kind of creep you out a little. But that wasn’t remotely this fellow, so there was serious relief there.
Kath and Ariel are out at the moment, Kath to the con suite and Ariel to go hear the Boogie Knights sing. Caroline needs something. Gotta go.
PAD
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geez PAD you make it sound like asking for a lock of hair, vile of blood, or an unwashed pair of undies from someone famous is “Weird”. I suppose next your’ll object to fans rooting through your garbage too!
😉
JAC
Understand, I love fans, but there are some folks that, y’know, can kind of creep you out a little.
Yeah, like when a fan shows up to all your events one year, now that’s creepy 😉
I think he’s talking about me. (see yesterday’s comments)
You and Jewel Staite together? That might just be one of the best crossing of scifi loves I could manage to pair! I’m immensely jealous of the winner. 🙂
-Kelly
The major misfire was during my spotlight panel on Friday when I was doing a dramatic reading of an upcoming FNSM story…and discovered to my horror that the last several pages of the script were missing.
Yeah, but look at it this way — when you get back to NY, you can declare yourself a candidate for Hillary’s Senate seat. Script misfires seem to be a prerequisite for that. 🙂
TWL
TJack-
I’m betting he is not. You are an articulate fan with a sense of humor. I don’t want this threat to turn into Peter has a problem with fans. He doesn’t.
A majority of fans are just fine and a lot of fun to meet and interact with. I have spent time with Jewel at coventions and she doesn’t make herself scarce after she steps away from her table. She has been out there with the fans every evening this week at DragonCon. But there are a few people who can’t seems to draw the line between meeting and intruding. Those are the people who can’t take the hint to move on and let Jewel have some time for the next fan or to herself.
Understand, I love fans, but there are some folks that, y’know, can kind of creep you out a little.
Hey, I had a *perfectly* valid reason for jumping out at you from behind those bushes, okay?
While most fans are pretty cool and supportive, there is always that tiny minority that display a stunning lack of social graces. The first time a well-known genre actor told me about the time he was approached while doing his business in the mens’ room, I thought it was a bad joke. After I’d heard similar experiences over the years from literally dozens of people over the years, I realized that there were in fact people who thought that was acceptable social behavior!
I saw both PAD and Jewel at DreamCon in Jacksonville last year – both were easily accessible, apparently endlessly hospitable, and a lot of fun (although the con itself had some serious problems). Jewel and her husband both reportedly ended up at the hotel bar that night karoaking with delighted fans.
In my experience, PAD has always been accessible – I’ve never seen him turn anyone away. At one con, I was even fortunate enough to be his “host”. Right after I brought him in from the airport to check in, about 4-5 dressed out fans surrounded him and broke into song. I didn’t recognize it, but he joined in graciously. I asked him afterwards how much I should stop stuff like that, and he said that he was there to interact with fans and that I didn’t need to do anything about it.
I am the lucky “nice normal guy” that won the breakfast with Peter and Jewel. It was an absolute blast. Thank you Peter.
Dear Kathleen, I was just joking,and that’s how I took the response. I was Security for a large convention for a number of years, so I know the good & bad about fans.
Be glad you’ve got relatively normal fans, PAD. 🙂 I happened across the blog of one Rosearik Rikki Simons the other day (the author of Ranklechick and His Three-Legged Cat, and the voice of GIR on Invader Zim, among other things), and read of the treatment Jhonen Vasquez (Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee!, I Feel Sick, The Bad Art Collection) received whenever he tried to leave the Slave Labor Graphics booth at the San Diego ComicCon to go look at the rest of the place. Keep in mind the sort of person who might pick up a title like JTHM in the first place…
…and be glad you’re mostly saddled with Trekkies and comic-book geeks… 🙂
In my experience, PAD has always been accessible – I’ve never seen him turn anyone away.
Oh, I’ve to agree about this. Once, many years ago in Oakland, I had a chance to approach PAD about a BID column that he’d written (about Image folks being idiots and causing stampedes, understanding that this is my summation of a much more graceful article) and how it really affected me. PAD ended up signing an Imzadi book for me, and inviting me to the hotel bar, which overlooked the area the Image folks were set up in. We ended up chatting for quite some time, while watching Image pull the same dumb stunts and endanger kids in the proecss.
It was a very eye opening conversation and experience to someone who, at the time, was relatively new to comics and had, until that BID article, also been caught up in the fever of collecting.
I don’t think I’ll ever forget how kind and funny PAD was to this sorta quivering late teens fan. To this day, I’ve always been impressed at how open and accessible he (and most of the other comic and TV/movie folk I’ve met) had been.
-K
Re: some fans are weird…
True story. I was at a con in Dublin, Ireland, where Andrea Thompson was one of the guests. I was talking with some Irish people who were having a B5 related conversation one of the corridors, when lo and behold Andrea Thompson walks by.
She says “Hi” in passing, and a little further down the corridor, entered the ladies room.
The conversation continues, and a few minutes later, Andrea walks by us again. One of the Irish guys says at this point, loudly enough to be heard (I swear to god, I’m not making this up)
“Let’s go in and *lick* the bowl”
As long as we’re telling stories,I’ve got one about and a question for our fearless leader.
About a million years ago when PAD and Lee Weeks were doing comic book store tours trying to get people to check out The Hulk, they came to the place my buddy was managing in Norwood Ma. (a suburb of Boston) And after a lackluster autograph session we spent the next couple of hours telling jokes. At one point I told an off color story I won’t repeat hear except to say the punch line was “Hello, Mom?”. You liked the joke so much that you said you were going to do a setup in Justice (that New Universe book, did I get the name right?) that he was going to walk into a room only in time to hear the punch line.
Did you ever do it? Oh well, thanks for the nicest time I ever had with a comics pro.
I got my single annual dose of Mr. David at his “Trek Writers” panel. He was spectacular. Funny, friendly, and generous in sharing attention with his fellow panelists.
Would have loved to see him more, but I had my own panels to run, plus helping The Great Luke Ski, who premiered his great comedy piece “Grease Wars” before a cheering audience. If you’d like a copy of the CD with it (“unCONVENTIONal”), Mr. D., let me know and I’ll send you one of the ones I bought. (You being a musical fan, you’ll get a kick out of it.)
Really wish I could have seen you at DragonCon this year, but the ramifications of hurricane Katrina made it impossible for me (I nor my family suffered no personal injury/loss, but there was much devistation about town [many trees and power lines down). The long gas lines insured that I probably wouldn’t be able to find the gas to make it to the con, even though I did have a place to stay and was pre-registered.
I realize, however, that my ‘hardships’ are a VERY minor complaint compared to the suffering of others, espically all those in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of Mississippi.
For me, there is always next years Dragoncon; hope you will be there as well, PAD (and here’s hoping there is not another Katrina, for all our sakes ^_^).
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for talking to me for a bit at DC. I was working over at the Shiver in the Dark booth across the aisle in artist alley. Definitely a high point.
I tried **really** hard not to act like a rabid fanboy upon meeting PAD at D*C, and I didn’t entirely succeed. Fortunately, my girlfriend was there to shut me down and move me along when it happened. Thanks again for your time and your autograph, PAD!
I would like to know Peter.
Are you going back, to write the Incredible Hulk?
Why I am asking for.
I read some where, that you and Bryan Hitch are going to do something togeter.
Am I right about that?
Your sincerley
Lee Gracie