I LIVE!!
To my own surprise, it feels like. marthawells has epic posts here and here about the events and such. I hid out a fair bit with Martha throughout because I was in complete overload and she was one of (many, actually) friendly faces there. I've been very clingy the last few days and everyone has been amazingly patient with me (especially Todd, OMG, poor guy).
Okay, so, we knew Deeper Than Swords was gonna be a big deal, and we planned for it and everything, but holy cow it's another thing when you actually are there and SEEING it. When we went to pick George up at the airport he was stopped twice for photos in the twenty feet from luggage pick-up to exit. (Also, he's incredibly nice and patient with fans, I mean, wow.) So we dropped him off at his hotel to chill and then to go prepare for the exhibit opening, which as usual, it's opening at 6, it's 5:59, we're tossing the cleaning rag and the glue bottle. And then the hundred VIPS start to head up.
Now, for context, most exhibits we do are considered a success if there's like 80 people there. We broke records a little bit when Todd and I did 100 Years Hence a few years ago, because 300 people came to that. For George's event, we had three hundred people lining up for autographs alone; I have no idea what the numbers of people coming in for the opening Friday actually were. But the building was always busy, and we had the signing lines and the Texas Ren Faire actors and the food truck outside and Barnes & Nobles selling books and Anise Press displaying posters.
And so opening night. When people go to our exhibits, there's typically a consistent buzz of conversation as people talk. For 100 Years Hence, it was pretty loud. For this, I swear, NO ONE talked for the first half hour. I was pretty freaked, then Hal said they were all READING everything we'd written. OH. Well. Um. George didn't actually make it up to see his exhibit opening night--too many fans--an then before we knew it it was time for the feast. Which, YES. The Uni president came so they were going to bump Todd from the head table, which I thought was unfair, so I exchanged places with my boss so he could sit with George instead and then Todd and I sat together with Martha and Troyce and Dan and Scott, and the Uni Marketing head who was there just to see WTF and made small talk and was pretty lost. (Poor guy.) And that all went great and I actually got to relax for the first time in weeks maybe.
Then Friday. Dude. Let me add here that I had to wear a suit three times this week and it's a pain to not have pockets, which is why I always wear cargo pants otherwise; also, Carla commandeered me to make me look grown-up which everyone kept commenting on and so forth. (Not that they said I looked grown-up, just that I looked really good...you know what I mean.) Anyway so the morning began with meeting a reporter, doing our thing, then going to have lunch with George and Ty Franck and Martha Wells and Dianne Kraft (who is a friend to Cushing and to George) where we all got to chat about tv and writing and such. Then back to Cushing, running around doing prep, then secreting George into the building so he wouldn't be mobbed prior to his booksigning. Amazingly everyone in the lines got something signed. Then it was time to go to the Auditorium for his talk and the HBO screening.
NGL I don't remember that much there. I was intro'ing George and had somehow put off the terror of talking to 2500 people until I actually saw them all. I do know that everyone laughed at my jokes and several people said they thought it was a great speech. Ty said he didn't know I was nervous, but Scott did because apparently I didn't breathe for all five minutes. Okay, well, yes.
Then George spoke, and Todd and I collected audience questions and sorted them so that Todd could do the Q&A. We ditched the obnoxious ones ("when's the next book coming out" "My plot theory is .... [ten lines later] Amirite?" etc) and Todd asked the good ones plus some conversation starters we got going. Then there was the screening of the HBO S3 opener.
We actually missed that, because we spirited George away to see his exhibit. Which he liked. We could tell he liked it, and then he said he liked it, and it was clear he was impressed, and if I hadn't been so exhausted from everything I probably would have cried in relief. Ty wanted to know who wrote all the text (I wrote, Todd edited/made it all better) and was amazed that he saw stuff he'd never seen before because he thought that would never happen. (He's George's Senior Minion, apparently he's seen it all, and refused to be a Dothraki extra because he didn't want to take his shirt off and be cold for three hours. Also, he's hilarious and awesome.) And it was great and it made the pain of the last six months totally worth it.
So then we went back for the HBO after-party. Scott saw the episode--I was bummed my prediction was inaccurate--and a number of people came up to me to thank me for making everything happen, which was also touching and a balm to my soul. (NGL, I was really hurt when, during all of the speeches Thursday night, no one said anything about me or Todd, except for Hal who made a joke that was a bit of a non sequitor if you didn't know the context. 'Who's Cait and why should we care her office is messy?' I mentioned it to my boss, who realized that maybe saying something about who did everything was maybe a good idea, which was why he thanked Todd and I on Friday night.)
And then we went to the concluding dinner with George. That was maybe the best part because everything was done and we could all chill out. So we talked about comic books and Avengers (his favorite is Ant Man, who Ty hates), why Prometheus sucked, what it's like shooting Game of Thrones, and I don't remember what all else. And then we dropped him off at his hotel, and he said we did a good job, and he hugged me bye.
AND THAT WAS HOW I SURVIVED DEEPER THAN SWORDS.
Now I've gotta go catch-up on homework. I don't have any excuses now. Hoo boy.
ETA: Here's a link to a video of the TV spot Todd and I did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-SmkvEJd9s&feature=youtu.be
(Todd points out that I got scolded for calling George a SF writer instead of a Fantasy writer. Pssht!)
Okay, so, we knew Deeper Than Swords was gonna be a big deal, and we planned for it and everything, but holy cow it's another thing when you actually are there and SEEING it. When we went to pick George up at the airport he was stopped twice for photos in the twenty feet from luggage pick-up to exit. (Also, he's incredibly nice and patient with fans, I mean, wow.) So we dropped him off at his hotel to chill and then to go prepare for the exhibit opening, which as usual, it's opening at 6, it's 5:59, we're tossing the cleaning rag and the glue bottle. And then the hundred VIPS start to head up.
Now, for context, most exhibits we do are considered a success if there's like 80 people there. We broke records a little bit when Todd and I did 100 Years Hence a few years ago, because 300 people came to that. For George's event, we had three hundred people lining up for autographs alone; I have no idea what the numbers of people coming in for the opening Friday actually were. But the building was always busy, and we had the signing lines and the Texas Ren Faire actors and the food truck outside and Barnes & Nobles selling books and Anise Press displaying posters.
And so opening night. When people go to our exhibits, there's typically a consistent buzz of conversation as people talk. For 100 Years Hence, it was pretty loud. For this, I swear, NO ONE talked for the first half hour. I was pretty freaked, then Hal said they were all READING everything we'd written. OH. Well. Um. George didn't actually make it up to see his exhibit opening night--too many fans--an then before we knew it it was time for the feast. Which, YES. The Uni president came so they were going to bump Todd from the head table, which I thought was unfair, so I exchanged places with my boss so he could sit with George instead and then Todd and I sat together with Martha and Troyce and Dan and Scott, and the Uni Marketing head who was there just to see WTF and made small talk and was pretty lost. (Poor guy.) And that all went great and I actually got to relax for the first time in weeks maybe.
Then Friday. Dude. Let me add here that I had to wear a suit three times this week and it's a pain to not have pockets, which is why I always wear cargo pants otherwise; also, Carla commandeered me to make me look grown-up which everyone kept commenting on and so forth. (Not that they said I looked grown-up, just that I looked really good...you know what I mean.) Anyway so the morning began with meeting a reporter, doing our thing, then going to have lunch with George and Ty Franck and Martha Wells and Dianne Kraft (who is a friend to Cushing and to George) where we all got to chat about tv and writing and such. Then back to Cushing, running around doing prep, then secreting George into the building so he wouldn't be mobbed prior to his booksigning. Amazingly everyone in the lines got something signed. Then it was time to go to the Auditorium for his talk and the HBO screening.
NGL I don't remember that much there. I was intro'ing George and had somehow put off the terror of talking to 2500 people until I actually saw them all. I do know that everyone laughed at my jokes and several people said they thought it was a great speech. Ty said he didn't know I was nervous, but Scott did because apparently I didn't breathe for all five minutes. Okay, well, yes.
Then George spoke, and Todd and I collected audience questions and sorted them so that Todd could do the Q&A. We ditched the obnoxious ones ("when's the next book coming out" "My plot theory is .... [ten lines later] Amirite?" etc) and Todd asked the good ones plus some conversation starters we got going. Then there was the screening of the HBO S3 opener.
We actually missed that, because we spirited George away to see his exhibit. Which he liked. We could tell he liked it, and then he said he liked it, and it was clear he was impressed, and if I hadn't been so exhausted from everything I probably would have cried in relief. Ty wanted to know who wrote all the text (I wrote, Todd edited/made it all better) and was amazed that he saw stuff he'd never seen before because he thought that would never happen. (He's George's Senior Minion, apparently he's seen it all, and refused to be a Dothraki extra because he didn't want to take his shirt off and be cold for three hours. Also, he's hilarious and awesome.) And it was great and it made the pain of the last six months totally worth it.
So then we went back for the HBO after-party. Scott saw the episode--I was bummed my prediction was inaccurate--and a number of people came up to me to thank me for making everything happen, which was also touching and a balm to my soul. (NGL, I was really hurt when, during all of the speeches Thursday night, no one said anything about me or Todd, except for Hal who made a joke that was a bit of a non sequitor if you didn't know the context. 'Who's Cait and why should we care her office is messy?' I mentioned it to my boss, who realized that maybe saying something about who did everything was maybe a good idea, which was why he thanked Todd and I on Friday night.)
And then we went to the concluding dinner with George. That was maybe the best part because everything was done and we could all chill out. So we talked about comic books and Avengers (his favorite is Ant Man, who Ty hates), why Prometheus sucked, what it's like shooting Game of Thrones, and I don't remember what all else. And then we dropped him off at his hotel, and he said we did a good job, and he hugged me bye.
AND THAT WAS HOW I SURVIVED DEEPER THAN SWORDS.
Now I've gotta go catch-up on homework. I don't have any excuses now. Hoo boy.
ETA: Here's a link to a video of the TV spot Todd and I did:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-SmkvEJd9s&feature=youtu.be
(Todd points out that I got scolded for calling George a SF writer instead of a Fantasy writer. Pssht!)