Bear with me–we’re almost done!
Saturday at GenCon:
No plans to workout or take a walk or hit the breakfast buffet. I was much more the wiser today. However, I did order a nice room service and ate a relaxing breakfast of French toast and coffee while watching HBO. HBO! Yes!
Today was book-signing day. Nervous, yes, but I was already prepared to spend two 1/2 hour blocks of time pretending to look busy and not notice no one was waiting to get a book signed. And that’s okay! Book-signings aren’t exactly the big draw at GenCon. So imagine my surprise when I showed up at the WotC booth at 10:20 and saw actual people—people I’ve never met—standing around with copies of “Confessions” in their hot, little hands. Huh? I was so surprised I’m fairly certain I spelled my name wrong. Or their name wrong. Or D&D wrong. I just got flustered! But I also got to meet some really nice people, including the very sweet Lady Trek who was first in line. You rule, Lady Trek!
After the first signing, I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Sara Girard who ripped the microphone out of Gamer_Zer0’s hands. Felt very Good Morning America. Someone said it wasn’t so much an “interview” as two girls chatting—like that’s a bad thing? What did they expect? Sara and I are friends. She asks me questions all the time, none of which, I answer with “Well, Sara, that’s a fine question. Let me ponder if we’ve got any letterhead around here.”
It was also around this time I inadvertently blew off a co-worker who wanted me to sign a book for his daughter. I only know I blew him off because he ambushed me in the hall today and thanked me, loudly, in front of a lot of people, for “blowing him off at GenCon.” Wow. What a bitch I am.
After the Gamer_Zer0 interview I was whisked back to the Marriot for the Spin a Yarn with Ed Greenwood event. I was fully prepared to leave this event emotionally scarred due to the heavy mature subject matter being flung at my unadulterated eardrums. I’ve heard stories about Ed and his fans. Perhaps they were on their best behavior? Maybe I’m just a jaded old hussy? It wasn’t scary at all. It was fun! And yes, borderline raunchy at times but I could handle it. You should see my girlfriends on a typical Saturday night.
THEN, I was taken back to the WotC booth for another signing! How freakin’ “real author” do I sound? I’m impressing myself! This was a fantastic signing. There was a line of people waiting before I got there all holding copies of Confessions. It was like Astrid cast Mirror Image on my mom and dad or something! People were so nice! So nice, I can’t stop using exclamation points! ! !
Seven times that day I heard “I met my husband/wife while playing D&D.” a couple of times I heard “I’m being forced to learn this game so this book better be good.” Um…okay. Too late now if it’s not, I guess. It was also a general consensus from the guys that they were grateful there was something out there that could at the very least explain to their significant others what they’ve been doing once a week for the past 23 years. And several women were also buying copies for the same reason. Cool huh? I also go to meet several of the wondrous Gamer Wenches who were cool enough to drop off little rubber pirate duckies for me! I’ve got one on my desk at work and one on my desk at home. Thank you, Gamer Wenches! I heart my rubber pirate duckies.
After the second signing I walked around in a daze for a bit. I even wandered through a door marked “Emergency Exit Only.” No alarms went off thank goodness. My friend found me and made me realize I had missed lunch! Oh no! Determined to get in all my main meals plus snacks, we went to the food court to dine on bagels and salad. Two things I found amusing: My friend is from Italy and for some reason never had Ranch salad dressing before and fell in love with it. And I saw a baby dressed up like a dragon. He was conked out in his stroller and one of his chubby paws was propped up on the stroller tray in such a position it looked like he was giving his parents the finger. Very cute. And very likely when he’s old enough to realize what his parents did to him.
After lunch we went to the ballroom to visit the giant beholder and giant troll and talked to my mom for about 45 minutes. Then Italian friend and I went back to the hotel and actually used the gym! Finished just in time for my next meal.
We took it easy this night because, well, I’m old and can’t handle 3 nights in a row of debauchery. At least that’s what I told everyone. Truth is I wanted to crawl into my freshly made bed, watch some HBO and eat a bag of Chex Mix, which is exactly what I did. Woke up fully refreshed for my four-hour flight back to Seattle where I slept for three and half more hours.
There were about 30 Wizards on this flight, including 2 fancy pants from R&D which made me think there should be rules about those two traveling on the same flight together.
Back in Seattle, I realized it actually cheaper to park at the airport than to take a taxi to and from. When I got home I immediately took a nap, waking up just in time to eat a large vat of Thai food and watch Big Brother. Then I feel asleep again until Monday afternoon. What a big baby, I am.
All this reminiscing is making me sad. And tired. I think I’ll drink a Bud Light and take a nap. Hope to see you next year!
