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I attended New York Comic Con (#NYCC) for the first time in 2022. It was a huge highlight of my year, in which I also published Chaos Calling.

New York City is a place I’ll visit visit for any reason. Flying there to hang out with fellow comics, movie, TV and book fans was an experience I won’t forget.

I arrived on Thursday morning and left Saturday morning. In retrospect, flying out late Friday would have been a good option, too, but I didn’t want to be rushed.

Marvel's booth on the show floor had Miss Marvel and Moon Knight costumes on display.
Marvel’s booth on the show floor had Miss Marvel and Moon Knight costumes on display.

Watch my New York Comic Con journey on TikTok

I made three Tiktoks about my trip (I tried embedding them, but WordPress is being difficult. You’ll have to click through the links).

Day 1 highlights included the Owl House Panel and checking out publisher’s row in the merch hall.

On Day 2, I took the long route to the convention center through New York City. If I’m visiting a city for a conference, seeing a few things outside the actual gathering is always a plus and I’m glad I took this little detour.

Day 2 also brought a range of speculative fiction authors out for panels. Highlights for me included Neil Gaiman, Tochi Onyebuchi, Naomi Novik, and Leigh Bardugo.

Neil Gaiman attends New York Comic Con 2022 with the Good Omens cast.
Neil Gaiman (center) on stage with the cast of Good Omens.

In the evening, I had a wristband for Bardugo’s launch of Demon in the Wood, her graphic novel collaboration with Dani Pendergast. I enjoyed their discussion and met some great book people while we waited in line for the photo op

Leigh Bardugo, E. M. Williams and Dani Pendergast at New York Comic Con in 2022. #NYCC
Leigh Bardugo (left) of Grishaverse fame, me, and Dani Pendergast, the illustrator for Demon In the Wood.

Hats off to the events team. They were super organized to get 600+ people photographed with the creative team in under an hour!

After two years of pandemic lockdowns, attending in-person book events was a lot of fun. People at the convention were sensible about masking when indoors and I didn’t get sick on my trip.

I look forward to more bookish travel in 2023.