Comic Con Adventures: Being Rainbow Brite

Okay, I'm finally at a more clear headed place to give you guys a proper Comic Con update--but I don't want this to be an insanely long post, so I'm splitting it into the posts for the rest of the week. And even though I didn't actually wear the costume until the Saturday of the Con, I know you guys well enough to know the Shannon Shame is the part you're most interested in. Le sigh.

So fine. Here's the big costume reveal:

*sighs*

You can't really tell from the picture, but I totally had the side ponytail going (which took like 20 minutes to create--my hair was like 'Nooooo! We did this in the 80's--we're not doing it again!!!) and bright blue eye shadow and that weird white thing under my eye is a jeweled star. And I'm posing that way because it kinda helped hide how freaking short that darn skirt was.

But here's the thing about being in costume at Comic Con. Not only is it uncomfortable, and a lot harder to squat on the floor in a super short skirt--but it's like being a small time celebrity. One of the big things people do at Comic Con is take pictures of the various costumes, and apparently Rainbow Brite was a big hit. No really, I had a ton of people pull me aside to tell me I was their favorite costume of the Con.

So I'm not kidding when I say that shouts of "Rainbow Brite! Over here!" haunted me everywhere I went. I couldn't go more than five minutes without someone stopping me to ask for my picture (and you KNOW how much I love having my picture taken). I posed solo. I posed with kids. I posed with nerds. I posed with sweaty old guys. And I got hit on--a lot. Um...yeah. It was arguably the longest day of my life.

I tried seeking solace at the Random House booth--because people were less prone to pester me if I was busy talking--but it still meant about every fifteen minutes I had to pose for a picture, a fact the Random House publicity people seemed to find hilarious. But they let me stay (and gave me some awesome ARCs while I was there) because, well, frankly I wasn't leaving. Also because I was drawing attention to their booth. And at least I made some cool friends at Random House.

Oh, and the cherry on top of the experience? Saturday was the day of the Rick Riordan signing.

Thaaaaaaaaaaaat's right.

I got to meet my favorite author--the man whose books are one of the primary reasons I write MG--dressed up as Rainbow Brite. It wasn't exactly the way I'd hoped to meet such an icon. But such is life. At least he'll probably remember me--though I can't quite decide if that's a good thing.

Anyway, yeah. It was definitely an experience, and I can't promise I'm ever going to do it again. But I did it! I got my rainbow on and lived to tell the tale. Now I'm just praying the photos won't end up on too many websites. It's already on one--and no, I'm not telling you which--so who knows how many more will add it. *cringes at the thought* *hides*