Before
We had about six weeks to prepare for the big event–LA COMIC CON 2022.
I was so excited. Attending a comic con has been a dream of mine ever since I first put pen to paper, writing the beginning of the Last Lumenian saga.
We ordered posters, banners, and other swag to bring with us, storing all these items in the living room. It was truly magical to see how an otherwise spacious room shrank in no time under the foldable tables (one 6’ long and one 4’ wide bar height); boxes of purple tote bags, books, and all the other swag items. Soon it became a game of “Can you enter this dungeon and survive without something crushing you?” whenever we tried to go into the room. I had a sword fight (true story!) friends and family when they saw all the goodies we had. Many perished, but a few succeeded and left with their hard-earned treasure.
Then came the day of packing up. We filled up two cars to the brim and hit the road on Thursday 12/01/2022, bursting with excitement and ready to tackle LA Comic Con.
During
Friday (12/02/2022), the convention center opened around 4pm, so we had most of the day to relax. Except we were too excited to be here and were counting the minutes till it was time to head to the floor.
We decided to arrive thirty minutes early, just to be sure everything was ready, and in tip-top shape. There was something special about walking around, seeing all the other exhibitors getting ready for the big event.
Then it was showtime!
I could not have imagined the fun I’d have during those three days. So many people stopped by when they saw the character illustrations or the book trailer, even asking, “When is the movie going to be out?”(Can you believe it?)
I signed 400 hundred books, talked with thousands of people. There were a lot of winners (spoiler alert: everyone won something!) at the Spin the Wheel game. Many asked to take a picture with the author (that’s me! ;-)). Others asked for an autograph on the mini posters or magnetic mini-mini posters. There were a few who came back multiple times, or brought a friend the next day. It was absolutely magical!
I felt so happy to introduce the series to many new readers, and energized to keep working on the series. Already working on book 4!
It was such a pleasure and honor to meet and talk to all of you. I hope you all had at least as much fun as I did during this comic con, if not more!
Aftermath
Breaking down the decorations didn’t take long–only 15 minutes. We were one of the first in the queue to get to the loading dock and managed to pack up the car, leaving shortly after.
I was still in that state of disbelief, excitement and a bit of exhaustion when we entered the highway heading back to San Diego. It was only a two-hour drive (give or take half an hour depending on traffic conditions) and I was looking forward to sharing my experience with the rest of my family.
About half an hour into the trip, I realized I had to, well how to say this politely, pee. Since it was past 9pm, I wasn’t sure what was open. My husband, who was driving the car, took this as a personal challenge and he drove at *exactly the speed limit* all the way home, where I managed to stumble inside right in time. Phew!