For me, though, it was nothing new. I had been doing KISS conventions with friends since 1986. Plus, it was my second KISS convention for the book, the first being the New York KISS Expo in April. Oddly enough, it was also the second KISS convention I had been to in Cleveland. The first was nearly ten years previously when the guys behind the New York conventions decided to have one in Ohio back in 1987. That one had received only adequate ticket sales and they dropped the idea of ever coming back to Cleveland after that.

As for this con, it sounded that it was going to be a good one from the reports I had heard about it; although I had always doubted the rumors about the band showing up, or that of Pamela Lee arriving for some odd reason. (Okay, the rumors about Sebastian Bach being there, I could believe. . .maybe -- after all, he's a KISS fan -- but why the rumor about Pamela Lee?). I also knew that Rob, the man running the convention, was a fan who just wanted to try to put together the best convention he could. Hearing that tickets sold had reached close to 900 was also a good sign. At least I thought so at the time, but more about that later.

Kevin, Haley and I (my wife, Jill, couldn't make it) arrived in Cleveland the day before the con so we could meet up with Brian and check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, it was a big disappointment for the most part (the Hall of Fame, I mean, not Brian). We arrived very late in the day, but we still managed to breeze through the entire museum within two hours.

After dinner and some other sightseeing (okay, we saw the K-Mart up the road from the hotel; we didn't get a chance to see anything else in Cleveland while we were there, and with the rain pounding away like it was it probably was a good thing), we got back to the hotel and spent the rest of the evening talking in the lounge area of the bar. And after Kevin and Haley headed off to their room, Brian and I stayed off for a while longer talking about the old days of the fanzine KISS FIRE (which he used to write for) and other topic. During that time, the place had become packed with KISS fans, mostly dealers, who were also staying at the hotel and spending time in the bar. However, I really did not sight anyone I knew, so I kept pretty much to our own little group.

* * *

About 8:00 the next morning I went down to the area where the convention was to be held, only to see that a line was already forming in the lobby of the building. I went up to the registration table and got my dealer's pass and so I could go on in and scout out the room.

At that time, only about three dealers were setting up (dealers had until 9:30 to get set up and normally a dealer can get things arranged on their table within 20-30 minutes, so it made sense that no one was there yet). The room did seem slightly small, but not smaller than many other conventions I had been to in the past few years. As to the stage -- well, it was the tiniest stage I have ever seen for one of these cons, but even then it was still within the boundaries of what had come before. Still couldn't figure out how they were going to get so many fans into the room, however.

While looking around, I saw someone well-known in fandom who I had corresponded with a few times about the book, but who never took much interest in it. When last we had e-mailed each other, the person had mentioned that the convention would be the perfect time to discuss some things about the book. I went over to say hi, and our conversation went something like this:

"Hi, [person's name]. I'm Dale Sherman. We've talked a few times about BLACK DIAMOND. You had mentioned that we could maybe get together today and talk a bit about it."

The person looked up from their table. "Oh, hi."
The person then turned around and kept working on their table.
Minutes passed.
The person continued to work on their table.
I coughed.
Time rolled on. Crows cried in the distance. Tumbleweeds blew by.
"So. . ." I said, starting to back away, "I'll, um, I'll talk to you later. Good, um, good chatting with you."

* * *

Went back out to the lobby to see that the line had already reach the bar in the hotel and was continuing to grow. I ran into Brian, who was already up, and we went to breakfast. It was at the McDonald's that Brian told me that he believed they probably oversold the place. Evidently, he had heard a couple of people working for the convention having an argument outside his room on the fourth floor about the number of tickets sold. The clincher for Brian was when one of the two said something to the effect of, "Well, I'm not going to be the one to tell the Fire Marshall that we've sold twelve hundred tickets!"

Hoo, boy. I had heard about conventions selling more tickets than space available, but that was years ago and it was related to Star Trek cons. Fairly peaceful Trekkers. I had no idea what the Fire Marshal would think about a over-crowded room of KISS fans. Began hoping that the show would not be terminated before the convention was at least half-over.

* * *

Arrived back at the hotel to see that the line had curved around the bar and was heading back into the lobby. It was now about 9:15 and Kevin was now down to help Brian and I bring the books in for the show.

* * *

By 9:35 we had the table set up, books out and my pens ready as Brian starting checking out the other tables, while Kevin went up to the room to get Haley. Didn't have a single visitor to the table with the exception of Joe Fortunato of the KISSIN' TIME radio show, of whom I had been corresponding with about the book. Good talking with him, but he could only stay a few minutes. After that, it was pretty quiet.

Until Haley showed up. Then, suddenly, there were a steady stream of guys who just happen to be walking by the table and checking out the huge standee of the cover. Hhhmmmmm. Must be dealers who had finally got their tables set up and wanted to check out the competition. Yeah, that's it.

* * *

10:00 -- the doors were to open soon. Brian was still looking around and Kevin had gone off to check out some of the videos being sold that day at the show., leaving just Haley and I sitting at the table.

I had put up some color flyers about the book on the table, and a couple of signs that said, "Meet the Cover Girl!" A boy about seven years old came up, hypnotized by the book cover. Since no one else was at the table yet, both Haley and I just sat there watching him. Finally, he noticed the sign announcing the cover girl was there. He looked up to see Haley looking at him. Turning bright red, he immediately took off like a shot.

Haley and I turned and looked at each other, then began to laugh.

"Great, Haley," I said. "You've traumatized that kid for life!"

* * *

A few weeks before doing the convention, I had done an interview for a website where I had tried to be funny by making a off-color remark. In doing so, I had several people (including Jill) tell me that they were surprised by the comment as it just did not seem like something I would say. In thinking about on it right before doing the con, I decided that they were right and that I was going to be a little more professional and would not go for the cheap laughs.

At 10:03 we had our first sale from a guy who had heard about the book from KISS Asylum. He handed the book to me for my autograph, but Haley and I had never discussed who should sign where on the title page of each book. I didn't know if I should sign at the top of the title page, or if Haley should.

I turned to Haley and, without thinking, shouted to her over the music playing, "Haley, do you want to be on top, or --"

"Forget I said that."

So much for professionalism and not going for the low laughs. It wasn't intentional. Honest.

* * *

For the first few hours, the books were selling incredibly well. By Noon I had sold two boxes of books and was on my third and final box.

More importantly, the fans coming up to the table were all great. Nearly one out of every three had heard about the book from the Internet somewhere and were thrilled to get a chance to buy a copy right there. Some even came up with copies they had bought from other dealers that day and we gladly signed those as well.

Biggest surprise of the day was Bill Starkey coming up and buying a copy. That, and having Lydia Criss come up and congratulate me on getting the book published. It was a surprise, as it had been years since last we had spoken and I had assumed that she wouldn't remember me; but she was very nice and it was sweet of her to come up like that to talk to me. Here's hoping her book does well whenever it appears.

The only problem we had was with a woman wearing a round hat (anybody who went to the con knows who I am talking about). Evidently she had been spending the day making a pest of herself with other fans and other dealers by asking questions that were just insulting. As she stared at the cover of the book, she turned to Haley and asked if she was the cover girl.

Haley said yes. The woman then went into a tirade about Haley degrading herself by doing the photo. Haley handled it like the professional I thought she would be, and basically just talked the woman down. And the woman avoided our table as much as possible for the rest of the day. Our main question afterward was, "She's talking about degradation of women and she's a KISS fan?!" We determined that she probably went home and listened to "Plaster Caster" a few times.

* * *

We were interviewed twice during the early hours -- once from Joe and once from a couple that did a public access show somewhere (and if anyone can get me a copy of the show, or of the radio interview Eric did on the previous Friday in Cleveland, please e-mail me, okay?). Both times were when the crowd around the table had died down, and both times the crowds reformed once the interviews began. I can only hope that they sounded half-way intelligent as I tried to form answers while signing books and taking money.

Many people also wanted photos taken. Some wanted photos of Haley and I; but the crowd soon turned their attentions directly on Haley (okay, it wasn't "the crowds", it was the GUYS) and asked to have their pictures taken with her. Kevin was there the whole time, but he seemed to be pretty cool about all these guys with their arms around Haley.

Can't understand why no one wanted their picture taken with the author. . . .

* * *

About 3:00 and Eric Singer's Q&A session had just ended. Still didn't seem like there were 1,200 people in the room. I mentioned this to Brian, who told me that when he had gone out to get some food earlier, there was a huge crowd of fans who were still waiting to get in. Apparently, if anyone arrived late or had left the convention for one reason or another, they had to wait in line to come back in.

Meanwhile, the Fire Marshall and the Police were talking with Rob about shutting down the convention if they did not get the people out of the lobby soon. At that point, Rob got on the P.A. system and announce that everyone would have to leave while the crowd waiting outside could come in and see a new Q&A with Eric.

With the assurance that they would be let back in after Cold Gin played to see them play a second set just for them, several people left. Not all of them, though. Many went back to the tables to look at items and just ignored the request to leave. After about ten minutes, the Fire Marshall stated that if the people where not out soon, they would shut down the con anyway.

It was what I was worried about. If the people waiting outside were mad now about standing in line, just think what would have happened if they would have been told that they had to leave without even seeing anything.

Rob got on the P.A. again and again asked everyone to leave. No one left.

The police turned on the fire alarm to get people to leave. No one left.

Finally, the police went to each table and escorted the remaining fans to the door.

With a sigh of release from the dealers, the new group of fans were let in soon afterwards.

In retrospect, it was a crummy situation for the fans. It also could have been handled a bit differently to insure that no one felt like they were wasting their time (perhaps having an autograph session with Eric or the tribute band in another part of the building might have loosen up the crowd in the dealers' room). But that's all Monday-morning quarterback stuff. I still feel that they did try their best given the circumstances.

One thing the relocation of the KISS refugees did was kill sales. Not only for me, but for all the dealers. Fans seemed to be less interested in buying once they felt slightly burned by the convention itself. Plus, it has always been a given that, once the tribute band begins to play, dealers might as well start packing up as fans are usually done with their shopping for the day.

This may help explain the lackluster enthusiasm for Cold Gin at the con. Not only were the fans in a bad mood, but the dealers were also. Didn't help that the P.A. kept emitting loud feedback throughout the concert as well, or that "Paul" called the place Detroit on one occasion.

* * *

Still, by 6:30 that night I had sold my last copies of the first edition of BLACK DIAMOND. It was good timing as we had to leave by that time in order to get back to our respective homes so we could be at work the next day. In having to leave in a rush though, I didn't get a chance to say thanks to several of the people there, including Joe of KISSIN' TIME, Rob, and even the guy who came up with an old beat-up copy of STRANGE WAYS for me to sign.

And thanks to you all that came up to chat, take pictures and critique the book. I appreciated meeting everyone who came by and it was really all of you that made the day for us at KISS-A-RAMA. Hope to see you all again soon.