There are places that feel like vacations. And then there are places that feel like time machines. For me, San Diego Comic-Con is definitely the second one.
This year, I went back after a ten year break. And I brought a debut novel with me. That sentence still feels surreal. Because when I first started going to San Diego Comic-Con, I wasn't an author, I was a blogger.
I was The Nerdy Girlie. I was blogging. I was taking photos. I was making lists and guides and playlists. I was obsessed with fandoms and pop culture and finding the little things that made Comic-Con feel magical. I had no idea that, years later, I'd return with my own book in my survival bag.
I was a very different person 10 years ago
My relationship with Comic-Con goes back years, 2009 to be exact!
I wrote about the convention starting in 2012: badge sales, survival tips, food, coffee, cosplay, photography, panels, swag, and all the little things you learn after doing something enough times to make every possible mistake.
Eventually, those experiences became an entire Comic-Con guide on this blog.
Seven years of going to SDCC gave me plenty of stories. I've stood in the lines. I've camped out for the panels (Firefly 10th Anniversary). I've figured out what is worth rushing for and what absolutely isn't. I've learned that coffee is non-negotiable. And I've learned that sometimes the best part of Comic-Con is what happens when you aren't trying to see everything, but just making friends with the person in line next to you!
My blog even had a San Diego Comic-Con playlist back in 2013 because I couldn't experience anything without giving it a soundtrack (Thanks to my real life Music Maven). Some things really don't change.
Then I disappeared for a while...
Life happened. The blog changed. I changed. My priorities changed. And eventually, I stepped away from Comic-Con. For 10 years. Then 2026 happened. And suddenly I was going back. But this time, I wasn't just returning as the person I used to be. I was returning as the person I'd become and brining my husband along for the ride (it was his first time!). And that was surprisingly emotional.
So I decided to do something very Megan...
If you've been around here for a while, you know I love a photography.
Back in the day, I created photo challenges around Comic-Con and spent my convention days wandering around San Diego looking for very specific moments, people, costumes, details, and pieces of nerd culture.
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But this time, there was a book in my bag
And this is where the whole thing gets a little surreal. I didn't just return to Comic-Con as a former blogger. I returned as an author. Musical Awakening had come out just weeks earlier. I had signed copies with me. Bookmarks. Buttons. And one very specific little piece of the fictional world I'd spent years creating: Richmond Adams.
If you happened to find one of my buttons at Comic-Con, you might have seen his name on it. That's because Richmond isn't just a character in my book. He's part of the imaginary music world I've been carrying around in my head for years. And suddenly I was standing in the middle of San Diego Comic-Con handing people pieces of that world.
Which was so amazing.
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The strangest part was realizing how much had changed
Walking around Comic-Con in 2026, I kept having these little moments where past Megan and current Megan seemed to overlap. I remembered the blogger who used to obsessively document everything. The photographer who wanted to capture every moment. The girl who could spend hours wandering around San Diego with a camera. The woman who was figuring out what she wanted her life to look like.
And then there was me. Standing there with a published novel. I kept thinking:
How did I get here?!
Not just to Comic-Con. Here. To this version of my life.
The blog is still here!
That's maybe the thing that makes the whole experience feel the most meaningful.
This blog started years ago. Some of the posts are silly. Some are deeply personal. Some are extremely specific to whatever fandom I was obsessed with that week. Some are concert photos. Some are travel stories. Some are about rebuilding my life. Some are about figuring out adulthood.
And now there are posts about publishing a novel.
It's all the same person. Just different chapters.
That's something I didn't understand when I was younger. You don't necessarily leave your old life behind. Sometimes you carry pieces of it forward. The concert photographer became the novelist. The blogger became the author.The girl who made Comic-Con checklists now writes stories about, travel, love, and starting over. And she still really likes making photo challenges and stuffed animals.
Ten years later, I still looked for the magic aka friends!
I think that's what going back taught me. You can change your life completely and still love the things that made you who you were. You can grow up without growing out of everything. You can become a different version of yourself without abandoning the earlier versions.
And sometimes you can return to a place that knew an older version of you and realize:
Oh. I actually like who I am now and the relationships you built are important, grounding and still there.
That might be my favorite thing about going back. Not proving that I hadn't changed. Realizing how much I had. And getting to bring all of it with me. The old blog. The photos. The fandoms. The music. The memories. The ridiculous amount of Comic-Con knowledge. The friends...
And now…A book.
If you've been following me for a while, thank you for being here through all the versions of me.
And if you're new here because you found Musical Awakening at Comic-Con, welcome.
You've arrived at a particularly fun chapter!
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