San Diego Comic Con: July 24-27

[Priscellie]

Jim will attend San Diego Comic Con, at the San Diego Convention Center!  Schedule TBA.
http://www.comic-con.org/cci/

[Amber]

*squeal* *bounce* i already knew this, but YAY!

[Emilio]

  yayyyy!!!
im gonna be in San Diego that day!!! :D:D:D:D:D:D

its actually oin to be the first convention i go to!
omg, sweet!!!!

[sftv]

If you are planning on going to the San Diego Comic Con it would be good to get your membership now.  They have sold out their four day memberships and have one-day memberships left.  Also, if you do not live in the area, hotel options are few and far between. 

Lee Whiteside

[Wraith151]

Some things that Lee forgot to mention... Parking:  If you wait till the last minute to get there, you are gonna either be walking several blocks (or riding the bus if you get one of the places right by the free shuttles) or paying the little bikes to take you down.  Just an FYI, I showed up one year at 6 am, and got a spot at the parking structure right next to the convention center.  By 7:30 it was almost full.  Food:  There is a Safeway that sells fresh sandwiches and soup, as well as a variety of other deli items.  Great place to eat, but they close early.  Get there around 11 if you want to eat there.  For good Italian food, there is a Buca Di Beppo a short way from the convention center, but bring a friend if your going there.  Another good place is Dick's Last Resort (off the wall place, as the waiters and waitresses get to be a jerk to you, but the food is decent).  Water: Yes you can suffer heat stroke in San Diego.  Especially during the summer, so make sure you carry a bottle of water around.  Keep hydrated.  As for the hotels, if your not booked by January, your probably not gonna get anything close.  My suggestion, try Escondido, Temecula, El Cajon.  If your lucky you might find something out in Fashion Valley, but this is doubtful due to the rising gas prices.  If your military, 32nd street is just a trolly ride away from the Center.  You might wanna think about parking either on-base, or at the Navy Exchange, as these places tend to be monitored better than the rest of the San Diego area combined, and are pretty much safe from people messing with your vehicle.

You know what?  if I dont post this soon, I am gonna just give everybody a San Diego Comic Con survival guide, and spoil everyone's fun.  I am gonna shut up now.

Just some friendly tips from someone that has gone for the last several years.

See ya in San Dog.

[Priscellie]

Thanks for the great tips, Wraith!

[Amber]

Wraith's got some great ones-

Also, there are places to refill your water bottle.  So bring the kind that you can clip to your bag.

You might be waiting in line outside to get into some of the panels that you want to go to.  Bring sunscreen (or an umbrella).  Yes, not only can you get heatstroke, but you can burn before 7am.  (We're geeks.  It's not like we see the sun all that often!)

Hall H:  You'll understand what I mean when you get there, but:  You cannot leave this room and come back.  There are bathrooms inside.  You can bring food and water, though there is a snack cart that you can access.  The line is long.  And I mean, get there more than an hour before the panel you think you're going to long.  (See above note about waiting outside--- The parking structure Wraith was talking about?  The Hall H line end is probably somewhere around there.)  So if you're dead set on the Heroes panel?  Line up for Hall H that morning and don't plan on anything else for the rest of the day.

[Amber]

Wow.

From: http://mysteriousgalaxy.booksense.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=378456

Mysterious Galaxy will be in the Exhibitor's Hall in Booth 1119. Authors signing in Booth 1119 include: Charlaine Harris (From Dead to Worse), (Chris Marie Green (Midnight Reign), David Steinberg (Mac Attack!), Jim Butcher (Small Favor), William Dietz (When All Seems Lost), Justine Musk (Lord of Bones and Uninvited), Jeff Mariotte (30 Days of Night: Eternal Damnation), Rob Thurman (Madhouse), Michael Reisman (Simon Bloom, Gravity Keeper),Michael Carroll (The Gathering), Marjorie Liu (The Iron Hunt), Adam Nimoy (My Incredibly Wonderful, Miserable Life), James Owen (The Search for the Red Dragon and Charles Stross (Saturn's Children).

The veritable cornucopia of attending authors also includes: Special Guests Frank Beddor, Connie Willis, Robert J. Sawyer, Joe Hill, Dean Koontz and Max Brooks, as well as genre authors like b>Tobias Buckell, Jacqueline Carey, Alan Dean Foster, D.J. MacHale, Brad Meltzer, Christopher Moore, C.E. Murphy, Naomi Novik, Vicki Pettersson, Jenna Rhodes, Natasha Rhodes, Lilith Saintcrow, Tom Sniegoski, Eldon Thompson, Karen Traviss, and John Zakour.

And there are sure to be more! Plus 100,000 odd fans and more pop culture than you can imagine!

Check this page closer to the event date for a printable version of our booth flier, or come by Booth 1119 and pick up a copy, along with special goodies from Penguin Group, and much much much more!

[Amber]

Thursday Dresden-related programming:

4:00-5:00 The World of Dabel Brothers Publishing— Find out everything Dabel Brothers Publishing has in store for the rest of 2008 and beyond. From The Dresden Files to The Wheel of Time, to their unannounced licenses and much much more, be there as Dabel Brothers Publishing announces the upcoming creative talent on Wheel of Time and brand new licenses that are sure to make a lot of people shocked and happy, all at the same time. Featuring some of the NY Times bestselling authors working with Dabel Brothers Publishing. Room 7AB

View the full programming guide here:

http://www.comic-con.org/cci/cci08_prog_thu.php

[Amber]

The full programming guide is available:

Friday, July 25
4:15-5:15 Spotlight on Jim Butcher— In a short period of time, Comic-Con special guest Jim Butcher has become one of the most popular names in fantasy fiction. His two series of books, The Dresden Files and Codex Alera, are New York Times bestsellers. Butcher talks about his books and his recent foray into the comic book adaptation world with the Dabel Brothers. Room 6CDEF

6:30-7:30 What's Up with Penguin—  Anne Sowards (senior editor, Ace/Roc), Lisa DeGroff (marketing manager, Penguin Young Readers), and Jessica Wade (associate editor, Ace/Roc) give you the dish on forthcoming books from Penguin's exciting authors, including Jim Butcher, Charlaine Harris, Patricia Briggs, Charles Stross, Kelly Link, Robin McKinley, Allegra Goodman, and many others. Plus, lots of giveaways, including free advance reading copies! Room 10 

Saturday, July 26
6:00-7:00 Playing God— Authors discuss creating the rules and deities of their fantasy worlds. Panelists include Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files), Chris Evans (A Darkness Forged in Fire), Lynn Flewelling (Shadows Return), David Keck (In a Time of Treason), Jenna Rhodes (The Elven Ways), and Eldon Thompson (Asahiel). Moderated by Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy. Room 5AB

[Priscellie]

More than that, Amber!



Coming to San Diego Comic Con?  So is Jim!  Here's a schedule of Butcher-related events!

Thursday, July 24

4:00pm-5:00pm: The World of Dabel Brothers Publishing -- Find out everything Dabel Brothers Publishing has in store for the rest of 2008 and beyond. From The Dresden Files to The Wheel of Time, to their unannounced licenses and much much more, be there as Dabel Brothers Publishing announces the upcoming creative talent on Wheel of Time and brand new licenses that are sure to make a lot of people shocked and happy, all at the same time. Featuring some of the NY Times bestselling authors working with Dabel Brothers Publishing. Room 7AB

5:00pm-6:00pm: Signing, with free copies of FURIES OF CALDERON at PENGUIN Booth #1117

Friday, July 25

4:15pm-5:15pm: Spotlight on Jim Butcher -- In a short period of time, Comic-Con special guest Jim Butcher has become one of the most popular names in fantasy fiction. His two series of books, The Dresden Files and Codex Alera, are New York Times bestsellers. Butcher talks about his books and his recent foray into the comic book adaptation world with the Dabel Brothers. Room 6CDEF

5:30pm-6:30pm: Post-spotlight panel signing, CCI autographing area (AA3)

Saturday, July 26

5:00pm-6:00pm: Pre-panel signing, CCI autographing area

6:00pm-7:00pm: Playing God -- Authors discuss creating the rules and deities of their fantasy worlds. Panelists include Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files), Chris Evans (A Darkness Forged in Fire), Lynn Flewelling (Shadows Return), David Keck (In a Time of Treason), Jenna Rhodes (The Elven Ways), and Eldon Thompson (Asahiel). Moderated by Maryelizabeth Hart of Mysterious Galaxy. Room 5AB

You can also meet the Dabel Brothers, publishers of the Dresden Files comic, at booth # 2206, and you can view the complete San Diego Comic Con schedule here.

[Amber]

I was looking for the signing schedules, but couldn't get to them yet

Thanks!

Jim is a "Spotlight," which is a pretty awesome honor.

[Brian]

That is cool, except I was only able to get tickets for Sunday.... the only day that Jim Butcher has nothing on his schedule.

Still the event should be cool and I can visit the Dabel Brothers booth.

[Amber]

5:00pm-6:00pm: Signing, with free copies of FURIES OF CALDERON at PENGUIN Booth #1117

One of my favorite parts of Comic Con is the free books.  It makes me very happy.  Even if I already have three copies, I can share the wealth.

Brian- that sucks.  SDCC can sell out *months* before you know for sure who is going to be there, unfortunately.  Huge does not even begin to describe the con.

[Brian]

I guess I can't complain too much since this is such sort notice.  I just found out Wednesday that I was going to be in LA for that weekend.  So I planned a quick road trip down there.

I never had been to a major con.  Just a couple of local cons in Oklahoma City years ago.

I am planning on doing the walking ghost tour of the gaslight district of San Diego Saturday night.  Has anyone done this yet?  I really enjoyed the ghost tour of Colonial Williamsburg I did several years back.