George R R Martin LoneStarCon 3

A little over a year ago I wrote about getting George R RMartin's autograph and I didn’t even know who he was. I did it for a friend.  This time I knew who he was and I did it for myself.

While he wasn’t the first autograph I picked up at WorldCon, George R R Martin is probably the biggest name I got while there.  I think people came to WorldCon just to see George Martin. Hours before the signing people were circling to see if a line had started.

Because I did ‘a solid’ for other James Gunn collector, he saved me a place in line for George.  When I joined him, the line was about 50 people deep and still 30 minutes to before the signing. That’s impressive for WorldCon.

I chatted idly with my new friend.  We were very different collectors. But we had a lot of common ground and it was good conversation.  After a bit I noticed some of my sci fi geek friends. There are people I’ve known for over a decade.  I excused myself and waved them down.

As we chatted they eyed the Martin line which had grown to 100 people or so.  They mentioned the line was too long.  I tried not to smile.  A 100 people is cake walk to this SDCC veteran.

After chatting for 10 minutes, they went their way and I rejoined the line with my new friend.  Once George RR Martin got there the line went fast.  Martin is a signing machine. He knows how to process people.

This time I knew who he was.  This time he wasn’t making idle chit chat either - because everyone knew who he was.  As I got 2 books signed, I said I just found out he was from Jersey.  Being a fellow Jerseyite, I was proud of that.  He nodded and said he lives in New Mexico now.

And that was that. I left with my 2 signed books. 

AH

George R R Martin – The Game of Thrones SDCC

A few years back, before the Games of Thrones series came out, George R R Martin was at SDCC for a signing.

While I knew who he was I never read any of his work. For the most part he writes fantasy and I read science fiction almost exclusively. If you don’t read either genre, then you must be thinking it’s all the same.  It’s not.  They are very different and there is enough material in both genres to have sub-categories. I’m one of those readers that enjoys sci fi and particularly hard sci fi; meaning its more ‘science’ based than ‘fiction’ based.

When I heard that Martin was going to be at SDCC I figure this was a great gift opportunity.  I often get a book signed and just give it to a friend. Sometimes I wait for Christmas or a birthday but I usually just send it unannounced in the mail.