I had intended to keep posting during the Comic-Con. Guess I was having too much fun. We’re home now—the cats are beginning to forgive us as we decompress by watching Hal Hartley’s latest, No Such Thing.

Friday, August 2nd

After getting a very late start, Kip and I arrived at the Convention Center with only a little time to spare before going to see Will Shetterly and Emma Bull speak about “Story Layers”, a basic guide to stories and writing them. I was not in search of a hard rule to writing, and they did not give one.

They proposed there are three story types, or, really three story aspects: the Relationship, the Plot (or Goal or Quest) and the Tranformation. They proposed that the best stories contained elements of all three or their opposites. Then they gave their five ways a story can begin: with a Question, with a Character, with a Scene, with a snatch of Dialogue or with a simple Story structure. They elaborated nicely on all these points and then reserved the right to change or adjust these points as they see fit.

Much of what they said resonated with me, especially with Emma’s relating being surprised by an exchange of dialogue while playing computer solitaire that caused her to seek out a story. I also liked how they handled questions, half of which either tried to dispute their approach or were a roundabout way for the one called upon to talk about their own latest project.

Scott’s panel with Will Eisner and Robert C. Harvey was happening at the same time in the room next to the one Will and Emma were in. We got to see Scott briefly before, and then after, while waiting for Scott to exit, Kip had the chance to be trounced at Pokémon by Winter (she cheats).

Kip manned the table, allowing Chris and I to walk the floor and bother Eddie Campbell for a bit at the Top Shelf Booth. Chris bought an Alec drawing while I completed my Bacchus collection and drooled over a page from Snakes and Ladders. I returned later and bought this sketch.

After the show, we joined a large dinner party organized by Scott which included Kip, Chris, Daniel Merlin Goodbrey, John Barber, Partrick Farley, Cayetano Garza, Derek Kirk, Lori Matsumoto, Jack Masters, Tracy White and her husband Lak, Heidi De Vires, Brendon Cahill, and, of course, Scott and Ivy. We ate at the Panda Inn and after eating Scott passed aound the Powerbook, showing off people’s work to one another.

We retired the the lobby of the Westin for conversation and a game of Five Card Nancy, a nice way to round off a pleasant evening.

Saturday, August 3rd

Actually managed to leave the house with Chris in the morning, though we parted company some time before the Convention Center as it was only 9:30. When we finally did reach the Con, we were stunned by the line waiting to get in. I heard later they actually ran out of badges.

All those people and costumes made it very difficult for me to make it through the Convention floor as I looked for people I hoped to meet up with and some books I hoped to find. Did all right with the books, absolutely no luck locating people if they had no table. Until after the Con, that is…

It was while Kip and I along with Scott were waiting in front of the Ben and Jerry’s at Horton Plaza for our friend Phil that we finally met up with—or, rather, were overtaken by—Erika Moen, Dylan Meconis, Vera Brogsol and Jen Wang. They were heralded by Gene Yang and accompanied by Bill Mudron and Karen Krajenbrink. As I have been trying to introduce the very busy Scott McCloud to the work of the first four, I was thrilled they showed up to do it themselves. Oh, yeah—that Bill guy is pretty good, too.

After about an hour of enegetic talking, Scott ushered Kip and I to the CBLDF Auction for a bit before abducting us and two Canadians to the bonfire party on Ocean Beach. As I had lost most of my power of conversation a while ago, Scott’s attempts to introduce me to people must have been frustrating. A cider from Cat helped relax me enough to have a bit of conversation with Gene and Jaqueline Yang before deciding it was time to give up the ghost.

As it was a bit past midnight, Scott also decided it was time to go. As Kip, Scott and I walked throught the parking lot to try to discover the the street names so we could call a taxi, we ran into Jim Lee, Heidi McDonald, Peter Milligan and one other whose name I didn’t catch but was caleed every two minutes on his cell phone. Scott explained to Heidi what we were trying to do and Jim insisted all seven of us could squeeze into his car. And we did, barely.

If I had been confused about where we were before, I was thrice more by the time we arrived at downtown. Jim tried to navigate the confusing network of highways surrounding San Diego while dealing with aggressive SUVs and vague signage. At one point I believe we were heading to Tiajuana. As we entered downtown, Jim apologized, explaining it was his wife’s car and he didn’t drive it that often.

We never did end up hooking back up with our friend Phil.

Sunday, August 4th

The day of closure. A short day, but twice as hectic with packing to go and hauling our luggage to the Convention Center—though we were assisted in that by the marvelous Kate. This was the day people finally located Chris and Kip and I thouroughly checked out and bought some of the Museum of Lost Wonder books.

A few last passes through the booths, many long good-byes including our accompanying the McClouds back to their hotel so we could have one last chat before catching a cab to the airport.