Fangasm Comes to Comic Con – With Supernatural Giveaways!

We’re so excited to be returning to Comic Con this year – and this time, we’re bringing our books! Our adventures at Comic Con are part of the story of Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls, from the endless hours of waiting in line, the meticulous scheming and the mad dash to get into the hall one year, to feeling like the luckiest fangirls in the world the next, behind the scenes at the WB booth with Eric Kripke, Sera Gamble (and surprise Jensen Ackles).

So it’s especially fitting that we’ll be bringing Fangasm to Comic Con, along with Cinequest. Come by and pick up your copy!

And that’s not all! We’re welcoming Supernatural back to Comic Con (is it really for the tenth time??) with the book launch for our new book, Fan Phenomena: Supernatural! This will be our first time offering Fan Phenomena for sale at a venue instead of online, and we’re ridiculously excited about it. Stop by the Cinequest booth on the Comic Con floor and join our celebration!

And what’s a celebration without some free Supernatural swag?! To celebrate the release of Fan Phenomena, we’re giving away signed copies of our books — autographed by Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Richard Speight Jr. and lots more of your favorite Supernatural actors. You can enter by scanning your badge at the Cinequest booth.

Come by and say hi, and if you like, we’d be honored to sign your copy of Fangasm or Fan Phenomena. This has been a wild ride for us, and it seems fitting to come back to Comic Con to release the newest book. It seems like yesterday when we first met Jensen (and Lynn hyperventilated for the rest of the day). Jensen apparently was not quite as affected, as you can see.

When we wrote Fandom At The Crossroads and Fangasm, we never in our wildest dreams thought that the Supernatural cast and crew would be so supportive, or that they’d actually read the books. We certainly never expected that Misha and Richard would actually write chapters for one! Jared told us the books helped him understand fandom and appreciate fans even more (yes, we cried – who wouldn’t have?) That it was amazing that fans are able to go out and express ourselves, and that he hopes we know how amazing this is and that we continue to maintain the fannish culture. Fandom is the place that we can be ourselves, he said, and we shouldn’t let anyone tell us otherwise.

Well said, Jared. Maybe he can write a chapter for the next one…

SPN fandom can be contentious and argumentative in our passion for what we love, but more often it’s supportive and validating and full of the most awesome people we’ve ever met. Last week I watched fandom come together to raise money for a fan who was down on her luck, with an impromptu fan auction taking off and being a wild success. We were honored to take part. A few months ago, Kim Rhodes told us how blown away she was by the response to a plea for support for her daughter’s school. Misha wrote in his chapter of Fan Phenomena: Supernatural about the amazing potential of the SPN Family and what we can accomplish when we put our minds to it.

We’re really glad we didn’t give up on writing the books, no matter how many obstacles we ran into (or were virtually flattened by…) along the way — because so many fans have let us know that the books resonated with them. Wish we could share all the comments we’ve gotten, but then this post would be far too long. Here are just a few that touched us –

‏@SophieLimbourg: Reading your book is like reading my life. Seriously. Thanks for writing this ;o) #SPNFangirl #TVDFangirl

@FallenAngelEzzy: I’m reading it and I keep saying “it’s true. Omg me too” xD

@Just4Shiggles08 Therapy for one’s inner geek. I’m only on chapter three and I’ve already had countless “yup that’s me. That’s definitely me” situations. I finally feel like my life is understandable and justified. This is me 1000%. In fact…I actually may go curl up in a ball and empty my tear ducts now. Brb

‏@Teleda I’ve had a lot of moments punctuated with hysterical laughter, so much is the relief of relating. my copy has scribbles all over it and lots of !!!! or OMG Yes’s in the margins 🙂

@SPN_MishaLuv: The book definitely makes me feel better about the way i feel 4 the show & 4 Misha. B/c im not a dean or sam girl. Mishamigo lol the first 5 pages make u feel better about ur obsession. Very insightful

‏@Hannah_SheepsyL: just got the book and started reading it- already crying with joy. I’m not alone!:’)Cheers, a psych student w. anxious parents:P

‏@Krilanna: Laughed, sobbed & left awestruck at the emotional honesty of Fangasm. Thank u for bravely sharing ur story..OUR story My eternal gratitude for having the balls to tell our truth !! #SPNFamily

‏@Sally_Mary_SPN: I’ve finished it 🙂 Thank you for writing this book! The little fangirl living in me never felt so understood 🙂 I loved it ♥

@MiniKateMinion: reading fangasm for the 2nd time and I love it, it makes me feel better as a fan, makes me feel normal and not a freak!

‏@niccolyte: finished re-reading @FangasmSPN 20mins ago. even better 2nd X. they really “get” me … whiffle … snuffle … great job my #SPNSisters

@AngieHamilton63: I say this all the time but this book changed my life and validated me as a fangirl!

‏@Nevermore314: started reading #Fangasm Did not know it had pictures in it. Gonna take longer to read now #notcomplaining

@L3naP_SPN: page 215 jared’s interview. don’t know how u guys didn’t lose control,but I wouldve needed a seizure shot to get me to refocus.

‏@suenash19: Fascinating. **thank you for inviting me in to @jarpad’s trailer 😉 xx

(Actually Lynn came very close to losing control several times, but luckily Kathy was always able to rein her in. Mostly)

Our new book, Fan Phenomena: Supernatural, is a celebration of Supernatural and the SPN Family — it has chapters written by fans, by academics, and by Supernatural cast and crew, including Richard Speight Jr. and Misha Collins.

We’ve all had our lives changed by this amazing Show, and each writer expresses just how Supernatural impacted them and why it has inspired so many of us. Richard Speight, Jr. shares his perspective on Supernatural conventions, with as much zinging wit as you’d expect from the guy who played The Trickster and Gabriel. Serge Ladouceur, Supernatural‘s incredibly talented cinematographer, brings us the behind the scenes process that goes into making the Show so darkly beautiful. Vidder ash48 talks about the creative process of making fan vids. Superwiki admin Jules Wilkinson, aka missyjack, shares the evolution of the indispensable SuperWiki. Mary Dominiak, aka Bardicvoice, writes about the SPN Family. Misha Collins writes a chapter about discovering fandom and how that discovery changed his life — for the better (with just as much irreverence as you’d expect, thankfully).

‏@TuesTwoPodcast: I thought I couldn’t love @mishacollins more but after reading his chapter in @FangasmSPN ‘s new book I now know I was wrong

@BarbaraBelikova: I just got my copy!!! #Fanphenomena #Supernatural @FangasmSPN and yeah I’m not licking it like @mishacollins did

Of course not. And we didn’t take that copy back from Misha and give him another so we could keep that one. No way. *ahem*

So who’s coming to Comic Con? If you’ll be there, come by the Cinequest booth to say hi or to check out our books and the awesome fannish stuff that Cinequest carries. If you’re not going to Comic Con, you can order any of our books from the links at the top of this page.

And follow us on twitter @FangasmSPN for live tweets from Comic Con, and on Facebook and Tumblr too!

Hmmmm. It looks like I might have some traveling companions. The boys have staked out my suitcase and are refusing to move until I accede to their demands. Can’t really blame them though. I mean, it’s Comic Con!

Who’s with us??