New York Comic Con 2014 - Thursday, October 9
This post has to start off with the total mess that happened back on June 26th when purchasing tickets for NYCC. In past years I could purchase my 4 day ticket when I got home in the evening, or even wait till the weekend. I think last year 4 day tickets sold out in 8 weeks. Well this year they had a Special Edition Comic-Con in June that was for comic books only. At this SE they gave attendees the opportunity to buy 4 day, and I think 3 day too, NYCC tickets before the general public. Also, they could buy up to 6 tickets. Christmas for scalpers, as evident buy the sale of tickets on various online sites for insane prices.
Well, I should have known better, because when it came time for the 4 day ticket sale to the general public, they sold out FAST. When I went on to buy them that evening - I was too late. For the 3 day ticket sale date, I made sure I was online, at the site, and refreshing until they went on sale at noon. After being in a virtual queue for 25 minutes I got through. First they asked a dumb questionnaire to make us more anxious and nauseous. They couldn't save that for after the purchasing portion? After I answered whatever the survey asked I got to the page I wanted and it says 3 day tickets are sold out. UGH! So I buy the single day tickets. Then the page refreshed itself and 3 day was available. Phew. So, I got a 3 day for me and one for my sister. I also bought a Thursday ticket for myself.
They have to do something about this mess. Either don't sell tickets for NYCC at Special Edition Comic-Con (which there will be another one in June) or limit to 2 per person. Not 6 for Pete's sake.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
This was the first time I decided to split a hotel room with some friends rather than commute back and forth each night and day. Saved me a lot of time and exhaustion. Why had I never done this before?
So after checking in and casually making our way to the Javits Center, I just roamed the exhibit hall. I didn't have a panel to see till the evening so I just took my time. I picked up some free books, bought some books, took pictures of Hallmark ornaments. Bought some things from The Colorful Geek. I'll show you some photos below.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
The fact that they even need a sign for this makes me sad. Shouldn't this be common sense? Shouldn't it not matter if someone is wearing a costume or not, just don't harass and assault people.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
I stopped by the ReedPop store many times during the con looking for Ashley. Our paths didn't cross this time. :(
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
How awesome are these Hobbit figures by WETA? Great details. The eye of Smaug opens and closes.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
E.T. at NECA
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
I saw this ad in the program for a book call Silent Echo by Elisa Freilich. So I went to the booth and Elisa was there. She was very nice and was enthusiastic about her book. Which is good because it got me excited to read it. The story is inspired by Homer's Odyssey, which I plan to read before reading Silent Echo. Here is an synopsis. For $25 I got the book, the graphic novel and a necklace.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
Then I made my way to The Colorful Geek to see what new products Elena had.
I spent the most of my budgeted money of the day at her booth. :D I bought these t-shirts, bookmarks, and a Deathly Hollows laser-cut necklace.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
Back to publishing, I went to the Del Rey booth. I was hoping for an ARC of Golden Sun, but no :( My friend, Sana, picked up a free paperback copy of Red Rising for me. I gave it to my sister. I have Red Rising on my nook and I bought the hardcover later that day for Pierce to sign.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
Already calling the old EU "Legends".
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
How to Survive in a Dystopian World
Thu. October 9| 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM | 1A18
The world as we know it is gone. The government has collapsed, the environment is in ruin, and there is no cell phone service! What makes dystopian societies so popular? And would you survive the new world order? James Dashner (The Maze Runner), Margaret Stohl (Idols), Pierce Brown (Golden Son), Rachel Cohn (Emergent), Alex London (Proxy series), Maya Rock (Scripted) and Joshua David Bellin (Survival Colony 9) converse with Scott Westerfeld (Afterworlds) about surviving the Post-Apocalypse.
I really enjoyed this panel. It was funny and insightful. Scott did a round table of questions asking the authors to describe the dystopian world of their books as either with too much control (1984) or too little (Mad Max).
Another question was if it were to really happen what would you miss the most: freedom of speech, toilet paper, or something else? LOL.
How do you like your zombies: fast, slow or medium? Pierce and Alex had the funniest answers. Pierce said slower than him. Alex answered fast, but only on dates. (This may be one of those "you had to be there moments".)
I can't remember all their answers but there was a funny moment when the authors were talking about how there have always been dystopia novels and it is just commercialized now. When talking about how dystopia is not dead the room next to us cheered loudly. It was perfect timing, but we were also wondering what got them all riled up. Then we tried to compete with them.
Somehow the conversation turned to how high school is like a dystopian world because teens have more responsibilities but there are still strict rules enforced; and that teens are aware of the problems we have in the world, which was how we got onto ebola. So then the room next door cheered again and (I think it was) Scott who wanted us to cheer louder than them. (I think it was) Alex said it's hard to cheer when we're talking about ebola.
So back to teens being aware - Alex said that college kids tell him they really understood the world of Proxy because of the debt (student loans) and they are targeted by advertisers.
Alex also brought up how he keeps in touch, electronically, with some of the kids he knew when he was a reporter in refugee camps. Then his computer will show him ads for toothbrushes and camping gear. Advertisers are watching and they target everyone.
Margaret Stohl talked about her 13 year old daughter who has become quite the activist at school. I can't recall much of the details, but an incident happened at the school and the authoritative figures said, "boys will be boys." Margaret's daughter spoke out against that view because it's sexist.
Lastly the authors agreed that the key to writing a dystopia novel is finding a balance between despair and hope. There has to be a ray of hope.
Some photos:
Scott Westerfeld encouraging us to cheer.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
I love that they posed for a group shot :D (L-R) Maya Rock,Joshua David Bellin, Pierce Brown, Alex London, Margaret Stohl, James Dashner, Rachel Cohn, and Scott Westerfeld.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
After the panel my friends and I went over to How to Survive in a Dystopian World Author Autographing.
I already have Proxy and Guardian personally signed by Alex. It was so packed with people lined up that I didn't get the chance to speak to Alex. I wanted to ask about Marie's proxy, Beatrice, and if she was named after Beatrice Prior.
I got an ARC of Scripted. Maya signed it and I took a photo with her. She was very sweet.
I also bought the hardcover of Red Rising. This is the nice signed copy for my shelf. When I reread it I'll do so on my nook.
Pierce is so awesome. He's so friendly and has a good sense of humor. He loves to talk to his fans. He makes eye contact with you (his eyes are gorgeous) and really gets into whatever you're discussing. The first thing I told him was that I was crying within the first 50 pages of Red Rising. I'm going to do my best to explain this and remain spoiler free. So the reason why I was crying, that was not supposed to happen originally. But it's the catalyst for the rest of the story. I can't get into the progression of our conversation without giving it all away, but I did tell Pierce that Mustang is my favorite character.
I also mentioned how I liked his bio on the book jacket. Pierce said they had one written for him that didn't sound right. He wrote his own bio and it's one that connects with the reader. Before I read the book I read his bio and I loved this part "Graduating college in 2010, he fancied the idea of continuing his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body." I loved shout outs to Harry Potter. :)
Then we took a photo. This was so sweet, instead of leaning over the table Pierce came around to take a photo with me, and then with two of my friends. My friend Sana told him how she was texting me that she was crying within the first 50 pages. :) I wasn't the only one.
I'd say that was a good start to NYCC.
Well, I should have known better, because when it came time for the 4 day ticket sale to the general public, they sold out FAST. When I went on to buy them that evening - I was too late. For the 3 day ticket sale date, I made sure I was online, at the site, and refreshing until they went on sale at noon. After being in a virtual queue for 25 minutes I got through. First they asked a dumb questionnaire to make us more anxious and nauseous. They couldn't save that for after the purchasing portion? After I answered whatever the survey asked I got to the page I wanted and it says 3 day tickets are sold out. UGH! So I buy the single day tickets. Then the page refreshed itself and 3 day was available. Phew. So, I got a 3 day for me and one for my sister. I also bought a Thursday ticket for myself.
They have to do something about this mess. Either don't sell tickets for NYCC at Special Edition Comic-Con (which there will be another one in June) or limit to 2 per person. Not 6 for Pete's sake.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
This was the first time I decided to split a hotel room with some friends rather than commute back and forth each night and day. Saved me a lot of time and exhaustion. Why had I never done this before?
So after checking in and casually making our way to the Javits Center, I just roamed the exhibit hall. I didn't have a panel to see till the evening so I just took my time. I picked up some free books, bought some books, took pictures of Hallmark ornaments. Bought some things from The Colorful Geek. I'll show you some photos below.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
The fact that they even need a sign for this makes me sad. Shouldn't this be common sense? Shouldn't it not matter if someone is wearing a costume or not, just don't harass and assault people.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
I stopped by the ReedPop store many times during the con looking for Ashley. Our paths didn't cross this time. :(
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
How awesome are these Hobbit figures by WETA? Great details. The eye of Smaug opens and closes.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
E.T. at NECA
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
I saw this ad in the program for a book call Silent Echo by Elisa Freilich. So I went to the booth and Elisa was there. She was very nice and was enthusiastic about her book. Which is good because it got me excited to read it. The story is inspired by Homer's Odyssey, which I plan to read before reading Silent Echo. Here is an synopsis. For $25 I got the book, the graphic novel and a necklace.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
Then I made my way to The Colorful Geek to see what new products Elena had.
I spent the most of my budgeted money of the day at her booth. :D I bought these t-shirts, bookmarks, and a Deathly Hollows laser-cut necklace.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
Back to publishing, I went to the Del Rey booth. I was hoping for an ARC of Golden Sun, but no :( My friend, Sana, picked up a free paperback copy of Red Rising for me. I gave it to my sister. I have Red Rising on my nook and I bought the hardcover later that day for Pierce to sign.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
Already calling the old EU "Legends".
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
How to Survive in a Dystopian World
Thu. October 9| 6:00 PM - 6:45 PM | 1A18
The world as we know it is gone. The government has collapsed, the environment is in ruin, and there is no cell phone service! What makes dystopian societies so popular? And would you survive the new world order? James Dashner (The Maze Runner), Margaret Stohl (Idols), Pierce Brown (Golden Son), Rachel Cohn (Emergent), Alex London (Proxy series), Maya Rock (Scripted) and Joshua David Bellin (Survival Colony 9) converse with Scott Westerfeld (Afterworlds) about surviving the Post-Apocalypse.
I really enjoyed this panel. It was funny and insightful. Scott did a round table of questions asking the authors to describe the dystopian world of their books as either with too much control (1984) or too little (Mad Max).
Another question was if it were to really happen what would you miss the most: freedom of speech, toilet paper, or something else? LOL.
How do you like your zombies: fast, slow or medium? Pierce and Alex had the funniest answers. Pierce said slower than him. Alex answered fast, but only on dates. (This may be one of those "you had to be there moments".)
I can't remember all their answers but there was a funny moment when the authors were talking about how there have always been dystopia novels and it is just commercialized now. When talking about how dystopia is not dead the room next to us cheered loudly. It was perfect timing, but we were also wondering what got them all riled up. Then we tried to compete with them.
Somehow the conversation turned to how high school is like a dystopian world because teens have more responsibilities but there are still strict rules enforced; and that teens are aware of the problems we have in the world, which was how we got onto ebola. So then the room next door cheered again and (I think it was) Scott who wanted us to cheer louder than them. (I think it was) Alex said it's hard to cheer when we're talking about ebola.
So back to teens being aware - Alex said that college kids tell him they really understood the world of Proxy because of the debt (student loans) and they are targeted by advertisers.
Alex also brought up how he keeps in touch, electronically, with some of the kids he knew when he was a reporter in refugee camps. Then his computer will show him ads for toothbrushes and camping gear. Advertisers are watching and they target everyone.
Margaret Stohl talked about her 13 year old daughter who has become quite the activist at school. I can't recall much of the details, but an incident happened at the school and the authoritative figures said, "boys will be boys." Margaret's daughter spoke out against that view because it's sexist.
Lastly the authors agreed that the key to writing a dystopia novel is finding a balance between despair and hope. There has to be a ray of hope.
Some photos:
Scott Westerfeld encouraging us to cheer.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
I love that they posed for a group shot :D (L-R) Maya Rock,Joshua David Bellin, Pierce Brown, Alex London, Margaret Stohl, James Dashner, Rachel Cohn, and Scott Westerfeld.
August 2017 ETA: Photobucket took my photos hostage.
After the panel my friends and I went over to How to Survive in a Dystopian World Author Autographing.
I already have Proxy and Guardian personally signed by Alex. It was so packed with people lined up that I didn't get the chance to speak to Alex. I wanted to ask about Marie's proxy, Beatrice, and if she was named after Beatrice Prior.
I got an ARC of Scripted. Maya signed it and I took a photo with her. She was very sweet.
I also bought the hardcover of Red Rising. This is the nice signed copy for my shelf. When I reread it I'll do so on my nook.
Pierce is so awesome. He's so friendly and has a good sense of humor. He loves to talk to his fans. He makes eye contact with you (his eyes are gorgeous) and really gets into whatever you're discussing. The first thing I told him was that I was crying within the first 50 pages of Red Rising. I'm going to do my best to explain this and remain spoiler free. So the reason why I was crying, that was not supposed to happen originally. But it's the catalyst for the rest of the story. I can't get into the progression of our conversation without giving it all away, but I did tell Pierce that Mustang is my favorite character.
I also mentioned how I liked his bio on the book jacket. Pierce said they had one written for him that didn't sound right. He wrote his own bio and it's one that connects with the reader. Before I read the book I read his bio and I loved this part "Graduating college in 2010, he fancied the idea of continuing his studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a magical bone in his body." I loved shout outs to Harry Potter. :)
Then we took a photo. This was so sweet, instead of leaning over the table Pierce came around to take a photo with me, and then with two of my friends. My friend Sana told him how she was texting me that she was crying within the first 50 pages. :) I wasn't the only one.
I'd say that was a good start to NYCC.