Laurie Sandell

An Audience with Ray Bradbury at Comic-Con

Now that I’ve experienced my first ever Comic-Con, I understand the hype. First, there’s the sheer scale of the convention: More than 125,000 people flood San Diego to dress up in costume, check out the latest movie releases  and—yes!—buy books. The convention center itself is huge—615,701 square feet of exhibit space in a building that covers 2.6 million gross square feet. But it’s really all about people-watching: I saw guys dressed as Storm Troopers, women wearing fem-bot costumes, a zombie parade, people dressed as animals, women wearing nothing but body paint, Trekkies, and of course, thousands of Con-goers wearing enormous plastic bags on their backs to carry around their swag.

It was intensely nerdy, but everyone I talked to was genuinely sweet and in love with comics. They were true fans; something I’m not used to seeing in the jaded world of publishing. I spent most of the day walking around to the various booths and talking to publishers; shamelessly promoting my book; and meeting fans (I have a couple, as it turns out!) I ran into a guy I met hiking on a trail in LA—he is the “deaditor-in-chief” of a magazine called Girls and Corpses—as well as the lovely Sarah Grace McCandless and Sierra Hahn, a Dark Horse editor who dates my friend Craig Thompson. I had one wistful moment when I stopped by the Drawn & Quarterly booth to check out Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s A Drifting Life and saw my Eisner sitting behind glass with his name on it: The horror! I didn’t make a scene or anything, but I did run my fingers longingly over the glass, leaving behind a few accusatory prints.

Panel with Ray Bradbury and Sam Keller

Everything was forgotten a few hours later when I attended one of the best panels I’ve ever been to: A conversation between the almost-90-year-old Ray Bradbury and his biographer, Sam Keller. Bradbury was brought out in a wheelchair to a standing ovation. Though he couldn’t hear well—Keller had to lean in and repeat every question—he was sharp as a tack, lively and so thoughtful. He talked about his magnum opus, the novel Farenheit 451, his lifelong support of the library system (he believes a college education is worthless), his view that the Internet is “goddamn boring waste of time,” and how he stays so young at heart (“What you see in front of you is a 12-year-old boy. Boys keep running and running and they never look back; they don’t worry about the past or the future or their duties, they just keep running. You stay in touch with your inner child by exploding every day.”)

What struck me most was his joie de vivre and absolute lack of cynicism. His biographer asked who he considered to be the true love of his life, and Bradbury paused for a long moment before responding, “I’m the world’s best lover: I’ve always loved to write short stories, so I wrote short stories. I love to direct, so I directed a movie [1983’s Something Wicked This Way Comes.] I love poetry, so I wrote poems. I love novels, so I wrote novels. I love to paint, so I painted pictures. Anything I’ve ever wanted to do, I’ve done—and I’ve loved every minute of it.” He talked about his belief that NASA should do more in terms of space travel; he hopes humans will move to Mars and ultimately move “out and up into the universe [here he lifted his arms above his head] so we can become immortal.”

Zombie Parade

When asked if he had any regrets about his life, he said, “Just one: That I didn’t get to spend more time with Bo Derek.” Apparently, she approached him in a train station in Paris thirty years ago. “You’re Ray Bradbury,” she said. “I love you!” He responded, “Who are you?” She said, “I’m Bo Derek. Can I please travel on the train with you? Please?” Bradbury broke into a mischievous smile as he recalled his answer: “Yup.” Keller leaned into the mike and added, “And the rest of the story is censored.” At the end of the discussion, we gave him another standing ovation and sang “Happy Birthday” as he faux-conducted! I was so, so impressed with this man (and his sensitive, empathic biographer). So honored to have had an audience with him a few weeks before he turns the big 9-0. It was just magical.

The 2010 Eisner Award Ceremony

On the way to the awards

Well, let’s first get to the obvious: I didn’t win in my category (”Best Reality-Based Work.”) But neither did the guy who I was sure was a lock (David Small, author of Stitches.) The award went to Yoshihiro Tatsumi, author of A Drifting Life, a book that took him more than 10 years to complete and looks pretty amazing. Going into the awards I was so convinced I didn’t have the slightest chance to win, I was able to kick back and really enjoy myself. But late in the evening, when my category was finally announced, I started to think, hey, maybe…you never know. I’d already gotten to hold a few trophies in my hand as I’d presented them onstage to other winners–they were heavy!–and so I had a moment where I allowed myself to fantasize about hearing my name called and taking one home.

With my date, Karen Ramos

Alas, it was not to be. But maybe if my book ever sees a second printing, we will be able to put something on the cover that says that it was nominated.

Overall, the night was a blast: I’ve been to a number of awards ceremonies but I’ve never been there as a presenter or a nominee, and I really enjoyed the special treatment we got. We were seated at large round tables at the front of the room, which were roped off from a huge crowd that was viewing the presentation.

On stage presenting

There was a Mexican food buffet, and some star power (Jason Schwartzman, Michael Cera, Anna Kendrick and the cast of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World were the first presenters of the night), as well as a cocktail party after the ceremony. I got to present in three categories; Carol and I took turns mangling the names and opening the envelopes. One of the guys who came up on stage said, “My wife loves your dress” as he took his trophy! After the ceremony, we all filed into the lobby for a small after-party. I met a few of the winners, talked to the evening’s M.C., Bill Morrison, co-founder of Bongo Comics with Matt Groening, for a long time about the comic book series he just created with The Go-Go’s Jane Wiedlin. And I have to admit it, the highlight of the evening was having one of the judges come up to me and say, “Your book should have won. It was one of my favorites of the year. I read it twice, and I don’t usually read chick books.” So I walked away feeling like a winner. OK, need to get my energy up for today’s task: The convention center. Camera out, camera ready.

With my co-presenter, Carol Tyler

Eisner Winners

Carol Tyler, James Hudnall and me

Tonight’s Eisner Awards

I’m about to hit the road for Comic-Con, where I plan to walk around the convention center for a few hours, then get ready for the Eisner Awards. It has just been announced that the cast of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, starring Michael Cera, Jason Schwartzman and  Anna Kendrick, will be the first presenters of the evening! I did a really stupid thing yesterday and am paying for it today: A workout called P90X. It’s an intense 90-day regimen that my friends here in Santa Monica do every morning in their yard. One of them convinced me to try it, so there I was, doing squats and lunges and jumps for about 1/2 hour until I fell to the grass, gasping for air. Later that day, a friend asked if I wanted to go for a hike; I said yes, unaware that what she had in mind was a series of vertical hills (her 11-year-old daughter was with us so I figured it couldn’t be too hard.) Today I am moving like Lurch from The Addams Family. Which I suppose is appropriate for Comic-Con.

Calling all music geeks

I just got a message from the woman running the Eisner Awards; I am supposed to give her ideas for a “theme song” that they will play whenever I and my co-presenter, Carol Tyler, come up onstage. Carol’s graphic memoir is also about her dad and his life during WWII, which he rarely spoke about. She is an amazing and well-respected underground comics creator whom I met at The Miami Book Fair last year; Robert Crumb said of her, “Hers are the only comics that ever brought me to the verge of tears.”

Which is all very cool, but how do you come up with a song that properly represents two books with titles like “The Impostor’s Daughter” and “You’ll Never Know: A Good and Decent Man”? Any ideas? Accepting all suggestions!

New Yorker Cartoonist Night at Happy Ending

For the past five years, I’ve been attending the Happy Ending Music & Reading Series on a monthly basis. It features three writers (or in this case, cartoonists) and a musician, each of whom is required to take a risk onstage. Yes, its founder and host Amanda Stern is one of my closest friends, but I wouldn’t attend so faithfully if I didn’t love it so much. Last night was “New Yorker Cartoonist Night,” featuring slideshow presentations by Liza Donnelly, Carolita Johnson and Drew Dernavich (who is a close friend of my friend Paul’s and has been very supportive of my cartooning career.)

What I learned: Carolita Johnson gets her best ideas in the middle of the night, so she keeps a notepad by her bed. She said that half the time an idea will come to her that she knows is the “best idea she ever had,” then she’ll wake up to find that her handwriting is illegible. Drew, who engraves headstones for a living (really), took the best risk of the night: He played air guitar. He must practice at home a lot, because he did it to perfection: Every time he took the “guitar” off to kick and smash it, he would mime putting the strap back on when he started to play again. At one point he was down on his knees, leaning all the way back, just shredding the thing. My favorite cartoon of the night was one that was never published, by Liza Donnelly. It depicted a dog walking into a filthy room and saying, “Mmm, smells like ass in here!” Here’s a photo from the after-party at Indochine (with Amanda), and photos from the night. It rocked.

“First Fridays” in LA

This weekend I met up with my friend Karen Ramos and her friend Bayne Gibby (who acted in one of my favorite shows, The Comeback) to attend “First Fridays” at The Museum of Natural History in LA. The first Friday of every month, they open the museum to the public for lectures, bands, food and drink. We tried to get in to see a new hot band called Yeasayer, but by the time we arrived, the fire marshal was turning people away. So instead we hung out in the diorama room, listening to a DJ spin tunes, watching kids dance, and fleeing stampeding elephants! Then we explored the museum with a bunch of a drunk hipsters. And learned about birds.

The full report from InStyle’s Golden Globes party

On the shuttle bus to the affair

Still buzzing from last night’s extravaganza, which was one of the most fun nights I’ve had in recent memory. My friend Amy Spencer and I watched the show and got ready at my house, stuffing our faces with so much Chinese food I, at least, was unable to fasten my dress until we arrived at The Beverly Hilton. Thanks to C., I was wearing a Leila Rose gown and carrying a Naeem Khan clutch. The jewels–a pair of cubic zirconia “shmimonds” from Bloomingdale’s–were mine.

The night began with a walk down the red carpet shamefully holding our coats as the paparazzi yelled, “Get out of the way!” so they could shoot Diane Kruger. We entered the party via The Godiva Room, a Willy-Wonka-like creation featuring plexiglass cubes filled with truffles and doubling as coffee tables; cascading chocolate towers; stations overflowing with chocolate-covered strawberries, truffles, nuts, and every imaginable Godiva product. After adding to my tight dress discomfort by sampling a few truffles, we headed inside to mingle.

Those legs belong to Stacy Keibler!

The first people I saw were Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy, who win the cutest Hollywood couple award (mainly because they’re one of the only married Hollywood couples left), and Courteney Cox, who was seated on a couch with her hubby, David Arquette. Amy and I made a few circles around the room, where we spotted Evangeline Lilly, Heidi Klum and Seal, Morgan Freeman sitting with Jeremy Irons, the entire cast of Glee, and Lindsay Lohan–though I didn’t realize it was her until the next day, when I saw photos of her in that crazy getup. Then Amy saw The Edge. Her sister toured with U2 for a year-and-a-half as their masseuse, so we got to sit with him and his wife for a while as every boldfaced name, manager, publicist, and random partygoer stopped by to pay homage.

Sampling a Godiva chocolate-covered strawberry

It was crazy the way people approached him: squatting down at his feet, bowing and putting their hands into prayer position, or bending at the waist as though approaching the Dalai Lama! Eventually we tired of The Edge (that’s a joke) and went out onto the smoking patio–second only to the bathroom for star-spotting. The first person we talked to was Bradley Cooper, whom Amy had interviewed.

We ran into Amy's friend Diego

He was polite but not über-friendly; the experience reminded me of talking to that random hot guy in college who looks over your shoulder the whole time he’s talking to you. We ended up in a little circle of guys that included Chris Kattan, who was talking on hyper-speed and being very funny. Christina Hendricks was draped over a nearby couch with her fiancee, Geoffrey Arend. We went to the bar to refill our drinks and saw the adorable Zac Efron with Vanessa Hudgens, and flirted with Topher Grace. Then Amy saw Chris Harrison, host of my all-time favorite show, The Bachelor, and brokered an introduction. He was in game-show-host mode, all smiles and a million miles away.

When we went to the bathroom we discovered stations manned by professional makeup artists, ready to touch us up, along with baskets of L’Oréal goodies. Back in the main room, I spotted Anna Lynn McCord–from behind, mind you, but I knew it was her–wearing a white, drapey, Grecian gown, and Neil Patrick Harris.

Hanging with Julie Benz from Dexter

Headed back out to the smoking patio and fell into a very long conversation with Julie Benz, who played Rita on Dexter. Turns out she’s obsessed with cooking, to the point that she wants to have her own cooking show.

At the end of the night we exited via The Godiva Room and ended up in conversation with an adorable, doe-eyed woman and her cute blonde boyfriend. Talked to her for a half-hour before we realized she plays Trudy Vogel, Pete Campbell’s wife on Mad Men. The four of us literally shut down the party and exited at around two in the morning, where Amy and I took our requisite photo in front of the InStyle step-and-repeat, then boarded the shuttle bus back to the parking garage. What can I say? It was a stellar, A+ night. THANK YOU, ARIEL FOXMAN!

Guess where I’m going tonight?

OK, not to the Golden Globes itself, but to the InStyle after-party! Which, in my opinion, is even better, since I’ll be nicely well-rested after watching the Globes at home. Yesterday, I went to pick up my ticket at the Beverly Hilton, where the show and after-parties are held; that’s when I snapped this photo. There was security everywhere, and the set and red carpet was bigger and more eye-popping than I’d ever imagined. Not sure, yet, what I’m wearing–I’ll be borrowing something from my roommate–but I’m spending today tearing around town getting a mani-pedi, blowout, and other assorted beauty treatments. I realize I’ve been a horribly delinquent blogger while settling into my life in LA, but I’ll post a full update tomorrow. Unless, of course, I’m still kicking it at an after-after party at Brad Pitt’s house.

A three-party night, and the National Book Awards

Last night was one of those breakout, insanely fun nights you never expect to happen–so much fun. Started with a party at my great friend Neal Decker’s new store, Arthur & Co. Neal is a talented bag designer who has been featured in every top fashion magazine; he’s finally selling his gorgeous bags on 63rd St. And he decided to sell my book at his store last night as well! Here are a few photos from that event. By 8:00 PM, I was on my way downtown to Housing Works Bookstore for their annual Gin Mingle. I knew lots of people there, like hostess with the mostess Alison Brower, and the writer Said Sayrafiezadeh, who is basically my co-worker since we write together every day, and of course the indefatigable Amanda Stern. By 9:00 PM or so, the DJ started to spin, and I tell you, this was the best party DJ I’ve heard in, maybe ever. He mixed 80s tunes with the rockingest modern beats, and we tore up the dance floor for hours. At one point, this dude I’ll just call “Gin,” cause he was drinking lots of it, grabbed me and started swinging me all over the floor.

"Gin" dude

Now, I like to dance, but I also like my personal space, of which this guy had no concept whatsoever. I was rescued by Amanda and her friend Beth.

At 10:30 or so, we decided to head down to Cipriani for the National Book Awards after-party. Was I invited? No. It was a black-tie event with a list at the door, too. But I was with Amanda Stern, and Julie Barer, and Heidi Julavitz, and so I sailed into the party on their collective star power. Then I proceeded to have one of the best nights ever. Talked for a while to the sweet and fascinating Jon Jon Goulian, who is working on a memoir I will be first in line to buy. Annoyingly, I cannot figure out how to rotate the photo so you can see it upright. Said hello to Dave Eggers, who I profiled for Shift Magazine years ago; he told me he was on the verge of writing a graphic novel himself–he started his career as a painter–but realized it was going to take him ten years, so he abandoned the project. Met New York Times writer Allen Salkin, who’d read my book and pulled me aside to tell me how much he liked it. Hey, someone read my book! Hung out with Sean Howe, who’s writing a book on the history of Marvel Comics; how cool is that? Amanda and I left at 2:00 AM, and drove our new friend Sean home. An A+ night I’m sure I’ll be trying to replicate for a while.

Sean Howe

with Jon Jon Goulian

Confessional Comics by Jewish Women

This is so cool–I’ve been invited to participate in a traveling art show called Graphic Details: Jewish Womens’ Autobiographical Comics, which will showcase “diaristic, confessional, and true-life comics by Jewish artists from around the world.” Other participating artists include Vanessa Davis, Sarah Glidden, Miss Lasko-Gross–”Miss” is her first name–Miriam Katin, Miriam Libicki, Sarah Lightman, Corinne Perlman, Sharon Rudahl, Ariel Schrag, and Lauren Weinstein to name a few. So last night Miss Lasko-Gross (that’s one of her comics, at right), Lauren Weinstein and I met with co-curators Sarah Lightman and Michael Kaminer at a Williamsburg bar. Miss told me about her graphic novel, Escape From Special, about her early life in Special Ed (she was placed there because she couldn’t read until third grade.) Her work, she said, is non-linear and non-narrated, because she feels you shouldn’t have to explain your visual storytelling. So I told her, “Please don’t read my book–you’ll hate it.” But she was very nice and said she wanted to read it anyway, and that she likes techniques in other peoples’ work that she wouldn’t employ in her own. Lauren was cool, too; she’s written two completely different graphic novels–one about adolescent girlhood, the other about the great granddaughter of Thor, who lives on an island populated by vampires, volcanoes and werewolves. And she’s the lead singer of a rock band called Flaming Fire, and just had a baby girl named Ramona–how cute is that? The curators told us we could include anything we wanted in the show, so I’m inclined to send them my childhood cartoons. But I have a while to think about it; the show doesn’t go up until late next year.

Now I’m sitting at the airport, heading to the Miami Book Fair. So excited to see my friend Ed Falco, who I met at Yaddo, and Fiona Maazel, author of Last Last Chance (she edited my book before I sold it), and my college friend Raquel. And maybe J. Lo, or Gloria Estefan?