Patrick Rothfuss SDCC 2015

I’ve been to a few events where Patrick Rothfuss was attending. I never got his signature.  This time I was determined.  Even though I was 45 minutes early, the line was a 100 people deep.  One of his handlers announced that Patrick was going to be late.  They also announced Patrick had a hard stop. Not a good combination.

This is when you start looking over the crowd. You start weighing the odds of successfully get the autograph.  How many people are in front of you?  How many people are bouncing up and down in excitement?  How many people have bags of books with them that they want signed? How many people don’t have any book and need to buy some (that included me)?

The bouncers will jabber a long time. The bag people will wanted all 50 books signed. Sometimes they limit themselves to 3 books and then get back in line. Sometimes, they don’t. Sometimes the author limits them. Sometimes the authors don’t.  The buyers, it’s surprising how any people don’t carry any cash anymore and are shocked that credit/debit cards are not accepted or don’t realize the transaction is slow when there isn’t a decided landline used.

Patrick arrived and spoke to the crowd briefly.  He apologized for be late and that he couldn’t stay late. He asked we help get as many people through the line as possible. Okay, this is good. Then third person in line was ‘a cryer’.  She was so moved by his books and so honored that she can only cry.  She mumbled a few words.  He got up. He hugged her.  She cried more.  I overheard something about she was a strong person. She doesn’t know why she is crying.

There is so much to say and not say about the cryer. It is day 5 of the marathon called SDCC. People are exhausted, not eating correctly, not getting sleep, possibly hung over.  People cry.

After this brief stop down, the rest of the line moved fairly quickly.  Patrick talked to everyone.  The fans had a lot to say too. The handlers reminded him about the people waiting. After I bought my book, he asked if I wanted it personalize. I said no but did ask if he could add the event and the year. That’s common at literary cons. He knew the routine.  He got distracted and forgot the year. No biggie.

Then off to the next event.

AH