This was Barb’s only day at the con, and she did very well, appearing on the crime/mystery panel with me (and seven other mystery writers, including such good pals as Gary Phillips and Jeff Marriote). A really good panel, despite 10 participants (including the moderator, Maryelizabeth Hart. Concise, smart answers, and good questions from the audience, too.

An autographing sessions followed, with a nice turnout. Also fun to meet and greet readers, and an Australian fan told us he was in the middle of our thriller REGENERATION, and loving it (as Maxwell Smart would say).

We also had the Scribe awards, which was a panel largely focusing on Peter David, our recipient of the Grand Master “Faust” award. Peter was lively, opinionated and funny, and that’s just on the first answer. We were joined by Scribe winners Nathan Long and Nancy Holder (whose BUFFY fans were in evidence). Despite not having many of the nominees present, we had what may have been our best panel, thanks largely to Peter, whose popularity got us a filled room.

Nathan and his girl friend Abby and Barb and I visited the South Park exhibit across the street from the convention center, and that was a blast — a great art show mingling material from the show itself and interpretations of the great characters by various gifted, quirky artists. I may not have mentioned it here before, but SOUTH PARK is probably my favorite current series (and has been for as long as it’s been on the air) (rivaled only by CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM — no sign of Larry David at the con).

M.A.C.

Tags: Barbara Allan, Comic, Comic-Con 2011, Regeneration, Scribes