Christine and I are going to Comic Con! It’ll be our third time! We’re very excited.
There is so much at Comic Con this year for readers and fans of Young Adult Literature to be excited about. Panels, authors, publishers, announcements! I’m jumping for joy (in my computer chair) in excitement ….and sadness because of all the things we have to miss.
It is difficult having more than one nerd-hat. Painful, even.
First off, lets talk about the panels. So many! So many authors that I love and am so excited to meet, or see again. Let’s go in order of days.
Thursday
The Witty Women of Steampunk – 10:00am in Room 5AB:
Who doesn’t love steampunk? Now, most of the people on the panel do not write YA but steampunk, as a genre, has a lot of cross over appeal and Gail Carriger (love her) has a brand new YA series coming out. The first book, Etiquette and Espionage, comes out in February and is a prequel to her Parasol Protectorate series. This one should be a lot of fun and be worth it simply to see everyone dressed up!
Books and Hollywood: Literary Franchises in Television and Film – 10:30am in Room 24ABC:
Featuring a lot of authors, mostly YA and MG authors, who either work in the movie business, are in the process of having their books turned into movies/television, or write books with a heavy influence from other media, this should be a very interesting panel. Most of the bigger movies this year are based on books or comic books and a good portion of those books are YA. I’m very interested in hearing what they think about why YA books are so popular as movies and if we will be seeing more movies based on YA books and when they think this trend might die down.
Hungry For Dystopia – 3:00pm in Room 25ABC:
There are a lot of awesome authors on this panel (Paolo Bacigalupi, Marie Lu) but I am most excited to see and (hopefully) meet Gennifer Albin. The author of the forthcoming Crewel, which I read recently and it was amazing. Also with the trend of Dystopia not seeming to die down any time soon, in both adult and young adult books, it will interesting to hear what they have to say about it and why they think it resonates so well with current culture.
The Scoop at Simon & Schuster – 7:00pm in Room 9:
Last year marked Simon & Schusters first time doing a panel and I thought it went off very well. We all got Clockwork Prince t-shirts, so I’m hoping for more swag and a lot of info about their upcoming catalog. I always come away from these publisher panels with knowledge about books I wasn’t aware of before or new excitement for books I didn’t think I’d like. Should be lot’s of fun.
FRIDAY
Remixed Fairy Tales and Superhero Lore – 11:30am in Room 5AB:
This panel sounds TAILOR MADE for Christine and I. Unfortunately we are (hopefully) going to be ensconced in Ballroom 20 for the Firefly Reunion panel. But, hopefully people will go and being back information/swag for us. This panel is basically full of authors I want to meet or see talk. Rae Carson!!! I love her so much. I’m literally torn in pieces that I will be trapped in Ballroom 20. And Sarah Maas the author of Throne of Glass, which I’ve only heard fantastic things about! And And and Marissa Meyer which, sure I’ve met her but I always enjoy supporting my favourite authors. Also, I just love fairy tale retellings and hearing them speak about it would be fabulous.
I know I’m going to love seeing Joss Whedon and Nathan Fillion and everyone else but if for some reason we miss getting into Ballroom 20, I won’t be sad. Good lord, I love Rae Carson so much.
Paranormal Love Potion – 12:30pm in Room 5AB:
Another one we have to miss because we will be in Ballroom 20. We’re hoping we can make the signing that will probably be happening afterward. Another great line up of authors. Tessa Gratton. Andrea Cremer. Kelley Armstrong. Moderated by Stephanie Perkins! All good, exciting things. And talking about all the different forms of paranormal and why it’s so popular and how much we all love it and how it could evolve and…Why must I love Firefly as much as I do????
What’s Up With Penguin – 7:00pm in Room 9:
Another publisher panel! I love Penguin so much. They always do a really great job with these panels. And I’ve seen people (not me) be just as excited and pushy (again, not me) to get front row seats for this as they are in a Joss Whedon panel. (Really, not me.) The description promises giveaways and fun! What more can one want from a panel. If I am remembering correctly, Penguin likes to make sure everyone at the panel walks away with something, be it a code for an egalley or the complete works of your favourite author. I’ve only ever had fantastic experiences with Penguin at Comic Con, they pretty MADE our first year there, and I can’t wait to see what they do this year.
SATURDAY
A Wrinkle in Time – 3:00pm in Room 23ABC:
Orson Scott Card is on this panel. What more do you need to know? They are talking time travel and science fiction. It isn’t overly YA, but both Card and Deborah Harkness have cross over appeal and the subject matter is just so fascinating. We need more time travel in YA fiction…in my (and Christine’s) opinion.
This is another panel we have to miss because we have plans to be staring adoringly up at Peter Jackson and Martin Freeman and Richard Armitage. But I am getting someone to get my copy of Ender’s Game signed. If it KILLS me.
Spotlight on Gail Carriger – 1:30pm in Room 5AB:
I just love Gail Carriger. Steampunk, vampires, werewolves and tea all in one book? Yes please! On twitter she hinted that she’d be making a special announcement during this panel…So, someone I know has to go and find out what it is for me. The Hobbit is ruining my life!…in the sweetest of ways.
Also, probably more steampunk cosplay. I love steampunk cosplay.
What’s New at Harper Voyager and Harper Teen – 7:00pm in Room 9:
This is just one sign of how last years big YA panel, I think, has shown publishers that we want a bigger YA presence at Comic Con (more on this later). IN the previous two years Harper hasn’t had that much of a YA presence in their booth or at their panel. So, I’m really excited to see that they will this year. I honestly don’t remember much of last years Harper panel, as I was grumpy and falling asleep during it (Because we’d gotten up at 4am that morning and Christine got to meet Joss Whedon while I lost my phone and my badge) but I’m sure it was great.
Really though, I am excited at this proof that publishers are paying attention to who is attending the convention and what they like. Though this Saturday will probably be just as early a morning, it hopefully wont have as many pitfalls.
SUNDAY
What’s Hot in Young Adult Fiction – 12:00pm in Room 25ABC:
Despite the chance to see the cast of Firefly together again, and to see Peter Jackson and a lot of my favourite actors in The Hobbit, I’m probably most excited about this panel. Why? Two words.1
Melina Marchetta.
And, you know, ALL THE OTHER AMAZING AUTHORS!. A lot of whom I will probably never have another chance to see/meet because of where they live. Ugh, I’m disgustingly excited about this.
Last years panel was fantastic. They didn’t shy away from the tough questions, and there were a lot of good questions, they all spoke well and let everyone say something and the whole thing was just very well put together. And the signing afterward was great too. I always feel so rushed through signings but despite the line I didn’t feel rushed in this one. We had a chance to chat and and it was just a really nice experience for a book lover, and I’m crossing my fingers for a repeat. Plus, there were a lot of authors in the audience and I love seeing authors come out and support other authors.
Foes Beyond Fur and Fangs – 1:45pm in Room 5AB
Maggie Stiefvater! And Kiersten White! And Gail Carigger again. More paranormal talk but this time focusing on different types of creatures and beings and fun! Unless I make it to the Steampunk panel on Thursday this might be the only time I see Gail Carigger and I am determined to have some books signed by her. So, YAY!
Though, if last year is anything to go by, after the initial excitement of the YA panel I’m going to crash so hard and be mostly asleep for the rest of the afternoon.
And then race across the entire convention center minutes before we are leaving just to get a copy of a galley of a promising first novel. Should be awesome fun!
Okay, this is just the first post in a, I think, two part series. The next post will be about the Exhibitor’s Hall and autographs, both scheduled and unscheduled.
If you have any questions I can answer in the comments or include in next post. And please keep in mind I haven’t mentioned all of the authors that are going to be there. For full details on the panels, please check out the Comic Con Schedule.
I might do a third post about generally con-going advice for the book-lover. Books are heavy and sometimes, carting them around sucks. But it is also generally worth it.