My Adventure at Fandom Fest 2013

Saturday, I embarked to Louisville, Kentucky to attend Fandom Fest and what a day I had. The last time I was there, was two years ago and I had an absolute blast. This year, not so much.

Let's start with the bad stuff. The line to get in, or what I was told was the line to get in. The web site said the doors opened on Saturday at 9:00 am. I arrived at 8:30 am and went to Will Call to get my ticket. The wait there was about 30 minutes. I was okay with that. Once I got my ticket, I had no idea where to go. I finally found a hall with a long line in it, so I got in it. A security guy came by saying it was the line to get in and that the 9 am time was for the VIP tickets only. The door for the General Admission tickets would open at 10:00 am. That was the first thing that made everyone mad. The web site had not said that.

Then, they decided the line needed to be in the room where the tickets were sold, so they moved us all back into that larger room. After the 10:00 came and went and we hadn't moved in the line, frustrations and tempers were beginning to get hot. Then, a different security guy came by and said if anyone had purchased a ticket for a photo op, to follow him. We asked for clarification of what the line was for that we were in. He said, general admission. I asked about the Literary Panels because the first one had just started and I was still in line. He said I was in the correct line.

Between 10:00 and 11:00, our line moved twice and finally I was across the hallway from door to get in. At that point, we could see people going in and out at will. At 11:30, I finally made it into the vendor room on the first floor. It was that point that I realized that the line I was in for autographs from an actor in the Walking Dead TV show. I had already missed the first two sessions of Literary Panels and my legs were going numb from standing for so long. The whole time, I had been in the wrong line, even though we had asked numerous times was our line was for.

I walked through the vendor room on the bottom floor and didn't see any of my friends, so I headed out and up to the second floor where all the action was. Wild looking people in character costumes filled the room. I found my friends at the Hydra Publications booth and was very happy when owner, Frank Hall asked me if I wanted to sit down. (Thank you, Frank!) As result of a surgery I had some time ago, I cannot stand for more than 20 minutes without my legs going numb. Normally, I can sit for a few minutes and then I'm good to go. I had stood in line for 3 1/2 hours, so you can only imagine how my legs felt. After sitting for a few minutes, the numbness did not go away. In fact, when I went to bed Saturday night, they were still numb. These folks that are running Fandom Fest have got to get their act together. They had some wonderful celebrities in attendance, but the attendees were not happy with out things were run. I saw numerous complaints on Twitter and Facebook, not to mention talking with many people in attendance. I also noticed even a few tweets from some of the celebrities about some problems they encountered.

Okay, so now for the good stuff. Besides attending the Literary Panels, the other goals I had was to find my publisher, Sandy Sullivan of Secret Craving Publishing. She was there representing, Grimoire Books, a subsidiary of Secret Cravings. I found Sandy, as you can see below.

My second and main goal was to meet Grant Wilson, formerly of the SyFy network's show, Ghost Hunters. Grant left the show a few seasons ago to pursue some other ventures. So, when I got to Fandom Fest and found my friends, we went in search for Grant. We found his booth, but he wasn't there at the time. We walked a little more looking at the other celebrities there, most of which I didn't know because I didn't watch their shows. I never did see William Shatner, Gillian Anderson, or Stan Lee. After walking around a little more and being able to sit for an hour in one of the Literary Panels, I was back in search. Yes, he was there and the line wasn't too long. I had tweeting Grant the night before asking if he would sign my Ghost Hunters book that he co-wrote and he answered saying he would sign almost anything. Not only was I able to get my book signed, but he also a signed 8x10 photo for me too. Below is "me and Grant." Yes, I know that is not grammatically correct, but if you're a fan of the earlier seasons of Ghost Hunters, you might remember Jason Hawes always saying, "Me and Grant," when referring to them doing something. I think it took two seasons before someone told Jason to say "Grant and I." So, that's always been a little joke in between my husband and I when referring to either of the gentlemen.

One last thing, my trip home was memorable too. The brakes went out on my car as I was leaving Louisville. Not completely, but pretty bad. I was able to make it home with no problem. Luckily, after getting out of Louisville, my drive was by interstate highway all the way home. Will I go back to Fandom Fest next year? Probably not. Unless they can get Nathan Fillion there, I'll just sit at home and watch the local news stories about it.

If you have read this far, I thank you. This is probably the longest blog post I've ever written.

Carol