S1: Hey there , San Diego , it's time for KPBS roundtable. I'm Jade Hindman. Ice is rapidly expanding across the US , San Diego included. We'll tell you about a new investigation into what the agency has been doing in the dark. Also on the show , the city's recent push to ticket people living in their cars is met with opposition. Plus , a Valentine's Day preview of Love Lit Con. That's ahead on KPBS roundtable. So much to talk about on this Friday. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was at the Otay Mesa Federal Building yesterday to talk about drug seizures and drum support for immigration enforcement. Nome spoke in front of what she said were evidence boxes full of drugs and over the sound of sirens , which seemed to be turned on in an attempt to drown out nearby protesters.
S2: Now , the men and women here at Otay Mesa are heroes who work around the clock to make sure that they're keeping Americans safe. Fentanyl has killed countless Americans who still should be here with us today. In fact , I've met with many parents who've lost children to fentanyl poisoning.
S1: U.S. fentanyl deaths dropped under President Biden in 2023. Experts point to the growing availability of Narcan. Meanwhile , nomes Department of Homeland Security is expected to shut down this weekend after lawmakers were unable to come to a funding agreement. Democrats are demanding Ice reforms like the elimination of masks. A white House counter-proposal was rejected. Democrats say the offer fell short of what they wanted. So as negotiations continue. DHS funding is out for at least ten days. Immigration enforcement , though , is expected to stay busy during the shutdown. And busy. They have been. Which brings us to our top segment. New reporting by wired magazine reveals a secret campaign by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to expand their physical presence across the country. Federal records show more than 150 leases on office spaces for new facilities in nearly every state. That includes one here in San Diego , and many of these facilities will be open near communal spaces like elementary schools and places of worship. Joining me to talk about her reporting is Leah Fieger. She's senior politics editor with wired. Leah , welcome to the roundtable.
S3: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: Glad to have you here. So listen , there's a lot to unpack here , but first , I want to ask you , how did the story get on your radar ? Yeah.
S3: So I think the way that so many of our stories at Wired Start is really with a very technical , almost mechanical question , which is where were all of these Ice employees going to literally sit and be based ? And to back up a little bit , since President Donald Trump took office , Ice has more than doubled in size. DHS claims that the agency now has over 22,000 officers and agents stationed around the country. They've received nearly $80 billion from the big beautiful bill. So with all of this , quite literally , where were people going to go ? So that was the guiding question that I used going into this to really try and figure out , okay , are we talking like just only expanded offices ? Are we talking a couple of cities where where should we be looking here ? And that's when we found out that it was everywhere. Wow.
S1: Wow. So when we here ice facility , a lot of people might think of detention facilities , which are also expanding across the country and also known as black sites due to their clandestine nature. But to be clear , that's not necessarily what we're talking about here.
S3: Right , exactly. So , yeah , our reporting doesn't necessarily refer to where these warehouse detention facilities. There's been so much great reporting on them , from Bloomberg to the Washington Post to a lot of great local papers. These offices that we reported on really appear to be leasing spaces or plans for leasing leasing spaces for ICE's enforcement and removal operations , which is known as the Ero , and the Office of Principal Legal Advisor , which is known as Apla. And these are Ice divisions and they're located across the country. So Ero is tasked with immigration enforcement. That includes the arrests , the detention and removal of immigrants. These are agents that you are seeing on the news , and Apla is the legal arm of Ice. So these are the lawyers that litigate all sorts of removal cases , including those against terrorists , human rights abusers , quote unquote criminal aliens. Um , all for DHS. So for some of these facilities that we've been reporting on , these rental , the plans for rentals and expansions , we could also just be talking about offices full of lawyers. Um , but that's still really , really important because these lawyers need to be , for example , nearby these warehouse detention facilities that you mentioned in order to quite literally process the legal paperwork about the people situated inside. This is a really important arm of ice. Wow.
S1: Wow. You label this months long operation to expand Ice offices a secret campaign. Why is that ? Yeah.
S3: So we call this secret. Because the numerous memos and documents that I viewed , uh , DHS asked GSA , which is the General Services Administration , which is where , you know , a lot of our reporting is about because they are the branch of the government that handles internal IT and also government leasing. But anyway , DHS asked GSA explicitly to disregard usual government lease procurement procedures and actually even hide listings due to , quote unquote , national security concerns. Um , we have so many different memos to this effect , and it really paints kind of a wild picture from the fall of 2025 through through. Starting in September , we have a memo from September 10th from Okla , Issa's legal division , where a representative asks GSA to look past the usual leasing procedures and use the unusual and compelling urgency justification , which is basically this government statute that states that if they were not to get their leases done quickly , quietly and swiftly , then there was going to be a whole issue. Um , we viewed other memos of this nature sent by different branches of ice. We also viewed a memo that was sent on September 24th from a DHS official to GSA , asking that the agency not publicize leasing information. That might sound kind of random , like , well , why does it matter that they're publicizing this ? That's that's quite literally what this agency does. They seek contracts. They seek leases. It's supposed to be this entirely fair and very transparent process. So the fact that they sent this email and they recognized in this request that it was outside of the normal process , and then said that it was due to national security concerns and recent attacks against Ice , that they didn't want these lease locations to be publicized. To be clear , while Ice locations have attracted protests , there haven't actually been any known attacks on Ice offices. So this was this was just yet another thing of like , okay , they're really trying to keep this really quiet. And that's that was really to aid just the the fast expansion across the country. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Sounds like a solution. Looking for a problem there. Um , and you know , but again you really emphasize , you know , this rapid speed at which these leases are being acquired. I mean , talk to me a bit about that. Yeah.
S3: Yeah. You know , government work doesn't usually happen this quickly , for better or for worse. And that's partially because of bureaucracy. But it's also in order to have the public and relevant stakeholders weigh in. Like there is a very serious part of government process that is actively slow in order to allow for that , in order to allow for this outside input. That just clearly didn't happen here. And as the Trump administration continues supporting ICE's rapid expansion and growth , the checks and balances for its power and spread are appearing virtually nonexistent. So we can't talk about the secrecy without talking about the speed. It's just too much for your average American resident , lawyer or journalist anyone to keep up with. But people really should know that if they go to the dentist , drop their kids off at preschool , go to church , wherever they're trying to go , that they're within walking distance of ice facilities.
S1: So let's put this growth into perspective here.
S3: We don't have exact numbers on all Ice offices. You know , and we mentioned in our reporting that some of these that some of these locations we're talking about , the plans are actually with regards to expansion. So expansion of different offices. But while we don't have the exact numbers on all of these , I can say that Eero , the division that I mentioned earlier that's tasked with immigration enforcement , including the arrest , detention and removal. They previously operated out of only 25 field offices in the US. So we're looking at an entirely different ballgame now. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. I want to talk about where these offices will be. You report that these facilities will be placed near sensitive locations , communal spaces , you know , like elementary schools and places of worship.
S3: This is I mean , like how how long do you have ? Can I just read my entire list ? I It was shocking. It was shocking. I'm looking at these addresses and I'm like , wait , what are you talking about ? Can you. Can you actually do that ? Can you put an office next to a preschool without telling everyone you know ? In Irvine , California , Ices appears to be moving into offices next to a child care agency in New York. Ice is moving into offices on Long Island that that's near an expedited passport center in a really wealthy community near Houston. I was honestly kind of surprised to see I was surprised to see all of these , but this one stood out as well. Ice appears poised to move into an office building that blocks away from a preschool , a really toney area. Um , in Philadelphia , for example , Ice is going to be sharing office space with the DMV. So where anyone is going to get their driver's license , they might be encountering Ice officers of some kind. These are all places that regular people go to on a day to day basis , with no expectation that they'll be interacting with Ice agents , officers , lawyers , no expectation that they should be carrying any sort of paperwork that designates their status in this country , or no expectation that. Like they might not be going home after going on this walk. It's it's mind boggling to me that the government is trying to keep this secret. Hmm.
S1: Hmm. Wow. Well , some of these facilities will actually be sharing , again , office space with other entities. You mentioned the DMV. Any other offices ? Yeah.
S3: I mean , there's we have a couple of one. There's we reported about , you know , places sharing with drug enforcement agencies. Um , and in San Diego , uh , your city that ISIS planned location at the Edward J. Schwartz courthouse building. Um , it's this is this this is happening all over the country. We kept coming across where it was like , maybe ice would have already been there , for example , the Rosa Parks , um , federal Building in Detroit. But like , now , they're that they appear to be expanding. So it's it's every single , every single location we had , there was either a presence or , or appeared to be plans for further presents. There had already been protests in communities with regards to ice and ice treatment. Um. It's just so widespread. Wow.
S1: Wow. And that's that San Diego building , the Edward J. Schwarz courthouse and federal building. It's it's the same place where we've seen reports of people being held in the basement. Um , and , you know , our legislators can't seem to get in there to tour the place to see what's happening.
S3: Um , what it means for California could be something that wired has actually reported before , a few weeks ago. My colleague McKenna Kelley and I reported that the Trump administration was eyeing New York and California as follow up locations post Minnesota for fraud investigations. Um , and just as a reminder for anyone listening , fraud investigations were really what precipitated ICE's incursion into Minneapolis in Saint Paul. Um , and so over the last few weeks , we've been watching as more and more right wing influencers have been coming to California and alleging fraud. And it's not just been right wing influencers. It's been like Mehmet Oz , the , you know , the reality TV star turned head of CMS within the within HHS , in charge of America's health systems , along with RFK. So we don't know exactly what's coming , especially with regards to California. But the fact that there have been so many expansions of Ice offices in the state , which is something we put in our article , is something that I'm keeping a really , really close eye on. Wow.
S1: Wow. There's also some 100 planned ice locations that are actually not included on your list.
S3: This is the first and hopefully a few pieces we're going to do on this. Um , and all of this information is really happening in real time. That's something that I very much want to get across , you know , as. As we mentioned in our story , it was plans as of January and that's that's changing constantly. And with this administration in the way that DHS is spreading across across the country , it's it's hard to say what like from now till next week , how many more leases will they have ? I don't know. Wow.
S1: Wow. Well , what's been the reaction to this reporting ? Um , in spite of that. Like what motivates you to continue this work ? Yeah.
S3: Well , I've gotten a lot of very fun emails. And by that , I mean people very angry at me , um , for doing this reporting. But I have loved every single one printing them out. Um , but the the better part of that has actually been a lot of local journalists reaching out to me to try and figure out how to keep an eye on these new plans for Ice facilities and offices in their towns and cities. I can't reveal too much about how I got all of my information , but I have been working with and talking to a number of local journalists about how they can be going about it themselves as well. Um , so I'm , I'm just happy that there are more eyes on this. There need to be more eyes on this. Which that's that's my entire motivation here. Our contract with the government is that we pay our taxes , and they tell us what they're up to , and that step is missing. It is so missing right now. There is no transparency. There is no accountability. And if I'm able to help fill in that gap , just to tell people that if they're going to , like I said , if they're going to go to the dentist , if they're going to drop their kids off at school , if they're going to be driving down a certain street , they need to know who their neighbors are. That's it. That's the social contract. Um , and that's why so many people have moved here and want to live here and vice versa. But that's not the situation on the ground right now. So send those fun emails , my readers who really hate what we're doing. But I'm not going anywhere , and neither is wired.
S1: It is certainly important work , you know , since that social contract has been broken.
S3: There's been a lot of really excited , breathless coverage of this statement. But our reporting has shown that even if they leave Minneapolis , even if that actually happens , that doesn't mean that they're leaving the US , according to our reporting. Ice is looking at locations virtually everywhere in this country , in virtually every single state , outside of pretty much every single metropolitan area. This this all tells us that the nature of ISIS expansion and future plans is that they're they're ongoing. They are so aggressively ongoing and something that we can't look away from for even a moment.
S1: I've been speaking with Leah Fieger. She's senior politics editor with wired. Leah , thank you so much. And congratulations on this important reporting.
S3: Thank you so much for having me.
S1: And I should note that while legislators had trouble getting into the Edward J. Schwartz Courthouse and federal buildings , some were eventually let in. When we come back here about opposition as the city tickets people living in their cars. You are listening to KPBS roundtable. Welcome back to KPBS roundtable. I'm Jade Hindman in for Andrew Bracken. San Diegans living in RVs have been surprised to recently find tickets on their vehicles. Now , some of them are organizing to fight back. Earlier this week , protesters gathered to demand support from city council members. Frances Yasmeen Mody was at the protest.
S4: These are hard working San Diegans who are trying to put food on into their kids bellies , just like all of us , and right now they're getting penalized nightly , sometimes twice in the same night. They've gotten ticketed , and all the money that they're making , trying to survive is then going into these parking tickets.
S1: Local leaders say safe parking sites are a viable alternative , but not everyone agrees. Joining me to talk about his recent reporting is Blake Nelson. He covers homelessness for the San Diego Union Union-Tribune. Blake , welcome to the roundtable.
S5: Hey , thanks for having me.
S1: Glad to have you on here. So earlier this week , about a dozen people gathered to protest the city's recent push to ticket people living out of their vehicles. So , first , can you tell me about this push ? Yeah.
S5: So there's been mounting frustration since police resumed ticketing folks for sleeping in their vehicles , especially oversized vehicles , last summer. Um , and the tickets themselves , they started at about $112 per violation. That's since been raised to about $173. But where folks are really getting hit hard is when when a lot of these families say they can't afford any sort of housing. And so they're living in these RVs. The tickets have started accumulating and some now , oh , 1000 , 2000 , $4,000. So a group of them have organized what they're calling an RV tenant's union to try to push back. Wow.
S1: Wow. So that really kind of puts people in a bad cycle there. Um , yeah. Well , you know , I mean , just curious to know their living situation.
S5: They're working night shifts at tow companies. One woman works at a yacht club. A lot of irony there , and they are doing their absolute best to make ends meet. In some cases , like one woman is in drug recovery right now. She had just gotten out of a halfway house when the program ended. The only thing she could afford was her RV , and so she's staying there trying to save up money in order to afford something more permanent. But after years of neighbors , especially in the mission Bay area , complaining about people staying in their RVs , uh , being parked for long stretches of time on public streets , um , the city council , city leaders and police have started issuing some of these tickets to try to move people to the designated safe parking sites. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. And , you know , I think in the case of people living in RVs , some people may think , you know , hey , why not stay in some of those safe parking parking spaces ? Uh , in parking lots. But but there are limiting factors there as well , right ? Yes.
S5: So there's there are several safe parking , what are called safe parking lots all over the city. And I should say I have been on many of them. And I've talked to many folks , uh , where these sites work great for them. They are able to have a safe place to sleep at night , and then they go to work. They take their kids to school. It's going fine. So there's there's absolutely a segment of the population where this is working , where this is working great. There are other folks who are saying that these sites are not viable options for them , in particular , uh , disabled , older and very , very low income individuals who in particular are frustrated about the requirement at some of these lots that that they have to move out every morning. Um , the main one we're talking about here is called H Barrett H barracks. It's a very large parking lot , essentially between the Liberty Station shopping area and the airport. There's 190 spaces there. Most of those are for RVs , but the permit that the city got from the state only allows overnight parking. And so some people who have very limited incomes are saying , I can't pay the gas to move on and off every single day. Yeah.
S1: Yeah.
S5: In some of these cases , you have families that have an RV and they have like a traditional sedan. They live in the RV. They use the sedan to get to work , to get to doctor's appointments , to take their kids to school. And it's some of these sites will allow the RV , but they don't allow the the other car to. And so that can be another another issue.
S1: Um , you just to get like a sense of these fines , it sounds like they can really rack up. Obviously you spoke with Andre Parish.
S5: Yes. Are one of these families that they have an RV that they live in. They also have a car that he uses to get to work. They are hoping to move into a retirement complex soon. Uh , he's 57. His wife is 67. Um , but they at their most recent count , they have about $4,000 in parking fines between the two vehicles. They were staying at a safe sleeping site several months ago. Uh , one of their dogs , they have two. Akira's got into a tussle with another dog , and and they were basically told you we can't have the dogs here. And they decided to leave in order to keep the dogs. So there's I mean , the issues can just sort of compound as far as what can keep people from some of the resources that are available.
S1: That do exist. Wow. Well , the city maintains that if there's space in safe parking sites like H barracks , people shouldn't be in those other areas where they're being ticketed.
S5: It's not close to their work. And again , the overnight thing is , is a deal breaker for some of these folks. And a lot of this comes back to a court case that we thought was all settled in 2024. A local attorney named Yamanashi had sued on behalf of several people who were being ticketed for sleeping in their vehicles , and the city said , all right , fine , we'll stop ticketing as long as there is no other place to put these folks. But once the H barracks site by the airport opened up last year , around May or so , the city resumed tickets. And so now those two sides are back in court arguing over whether H barracks is a viable alternative under the terms of that settlement.
S1: And the barracks are not open around the clock. Correct.
S5: Correct. The H barracks site , you would have to be out by 7 a.m. every morning.
S1: So what's stopping them from making them round the clock ? It seems like that would be a good solution.
S5: I think there are two issues. One is the permit that the City of San Diego got from the California Coastal Commission limits it to overnight parking. Potentially you could go back and try to amend that permit. But also the city is not exactly rolling in cash right now. And these sites cost money to operate. And it's been clear for a long time that the number of the amount of homeless services that are available right now is probably what San Diego is going to be stuck with , at least for the foreseeable future , because we are in a cash crunch.
S1: All right. So I'd ask , you know , if they considered going to the state to see if they can change the permits , but it sounds like even if they could , it might not be something they can afford to do that.
S5: Yeah , that may be at play here.
S1: All right.
S5: I think the bigger thing that could happen in the short term is if a judge weighs in and agrees with with Minnesota's law firm , excuse me , that H barracks is not a viable alternative. There's been no ruling yet. Uh , the city attorney's office and some of these RV dwellers are still going back and forth in court. So that's what we're waiting on right now.
S1: Well , I've got you here. I also want to zoom out and look at more of your recent reporting on homelessness , because you wrote a piece about how the city is weighing a new approach for shelter requests. Tell me about that. Yeah.
S5: Yeah. So for a long time now , there has been nowhere near enough traditional shelter beds for everybody asking , Uh , that has been the case for years. Things have gotten particularly bad since last July , which is when the city of San Diego got permission from the state to start clearing encampments on state owned land , which primarily means freeway on and off ramps. The the area's right by right by highways. Uh , there are so for just just for example , between July and November of last year , people asked for shelter 12,275 times , but only about 1200 of those succeeded. So about nine out of every ten requests for shelter fail. So the current system for asking for shelter doesn't really take into take someone's vulnerability into account. The idea is everyone deserves a safe place to sleep. If you go and ask an outreach worker police officer for shelter , you should be able to get in line. And what where some city leaders , especially at the Housing Commission , are in the early stages of ah , discussing. Do we need to create a vulnerability list , some sort of algorithm to take into account ? You know , are we looking at someone who's pregnant , who's elderly ? Uh , to try to to try to give them a higher priority in getting a shelter bed. Can I add one more thing on that , please ? I would say privately shelter , privately funded shelter beds can do this differently. So Father Joe's for example , the shelter beds it has that it pays with , that it pays with private dollars to donors. They have vulnerability lists. And other organizations do the same thing , but it is just traditional shelter beds that are funded directly through the city.
S1:
S5: When I've called leaders at Alpha Project Father Joe's , when I've talked to folks who are living outside , I think in theory , people are open to it. But there's also widespread a widespread acknowledgement that we need more places for people to go. Certainly housing nowhere near enough shelter beds. But we're also facing some tight budgets. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , you report that one factor really driving a surge in shelter demand is San Diego's decision to expand encampment sweeps. Talk to me about that. Yeah.
S5: Yeah. So the high I think all of us have noticed just anecdotally , that a lot more tense were visible by highway on and off ramps. Um , basically when the city of San Diego passed its , its camping ban , its unsafe camping ordinance a few years ago , some people moved to that state managed property generally managed by the California Department of Transportation or Caltrans , because that was beyond police's jurisdiction. So the city of San Diego now has an agreement with Caltrans that I believe the mayor would like to expand. This came up during his state of the city address that gives local cleaning crews and local outreach workers , who can offer services , more authority to go on on this state managed property. But when this shift happened , when these encampment sweeps expanded in July , that also corresponded with a surge in shelter requests.
S1: Earlier this week , San Diego County leaders also announced interactive dashboards to track the region's progress on homelessness. What are your thoughts on that effort ? Yes.
S5: So without going down an hour long rabbit hole , there's a lot of different ways to quantify homelessness , and there's a lot of different groups doing it. And they all have different methods and it can be very confusing. So the thing that just came out is the County of San Diego has published an interactive dashboard that you can find on the county's website that just gives you numbers for unincorporated communities , which is nice because we we get some data on unincorporated areas like alpine , Fallbrook , Lakeside , we get some of that in the annual point in time count , but it's limited. It's only once a year. So now we should be getting some numbers once a month going forward , which is nice.
S1: It is.
S5: The I mean , the the most recent population count as far as unsheltered people who are living outside are in vehicles. Uh , this new dashboard has the number at a little more than 200 people. Again , just for unincorporated areas. And that's about in line with what we've been seeing with other tallies. I think where this dashboard could really be helpful is they also give some program specific specific statistics. So there's this one voucher program that helps people pay rent. And the dashboard lets you see that actually there's X number of vouchers still available that haven't been used. And so that should be helpful both for journalists tracking how money is being spent and also residents who could benefit from vouchers like these.
S1: Does it give us an idea of of what's more helpful and what's less helpful ? No.
S5: Well , at least not in a super easy way. Um , the obviously the thing that you sort of immediately look for is , is this program getting people into housing. But where that starts to get a little tricky is different programs can be serving vastly different populations and vastly different types of people. So , you know , you wouldn't want to compare health rates in an emergency room with health rates. And like a healthy mom baby room in a hospital. So it can be a little it can be a little tricky in comparing program to program just with that staff.
S1: Well , I always appreciate your reporting. I've been speaking with Blake Nelson. He covers homelessness for the San Diego Union Tribune. Blake , thank you so much.
S5: Thank you for having me.
S1: Stay tuned. We've got a Valentine's Day preview of Love Lit Con when KPBS roundtable returns. Welcome back. You're listening to KPBS roundtable. I'm Jade Hindman in for Andrew Bracken. So love is in the air this Valentine's Day weekend. Romance readers in particular are in for a treat. Starting today , a big romance author convention will be in town , and it's called Love Lit Con. Joining me to talk more about it is KPBS web producer Leslie Gonzalez. Leslie , welcome.
S6: Thank you. Jade , I'm happy to be here. Happy to have you here.
S1: So , um. Some people might be surprised to hear about a convention that focuses just on romance , but it is a huge genre. Uh , it's $1 billion industry , as a matter of fact.
S6: I mean , as an avid reader , both fantasy and romance , I can safely say that I think what draws a lot of readers attention is a lot of the time , the protagonists are often seen as a strong focal point of perseverance. And a lot of times , especially in romances. A lot of I want to see women gravitate towards it because it's being seen in characters who are often unseen in that genre. So you have a character who encounters a romantic interest , and consent is such a huge part of it. And , you know , them finding their way in the world and actually overcome the trials , tribulations , and actually finding empowerment from that is also just as encapsulating for them. So it's an adventure that's meant to , I guess , rouse the reader and also just fall in love with them at the same time as they're falling in love. And it just invokes so much beautiful emotion along the way , too.
S1:
S6: It's the feels. I love the I just like the the built up of it all. The , um , the way that you can relate to the characters , I think is my personal connection to them , because as you're reading them , you kind of see that relatability between them , and you can't help but to think that you're you're rooting for them along the ways. And for me , that connection has always been like a comfort for me when I'm reading , because then you kind of one you you believe in love as twisted and fantastical. It could be. But at the same time , it it makes you , I don't know , it gives you a positive feel to it , even if you're sobbing at two in the morning.
S1:
S6: Absolutely. We believe in happily ever after. To Jane. Yes.
S1: Yes. All right , well , let's talk more about the convention itself , because this is actually the inaugural year of Love lecon.
S6: And they both had experience and event coordination. And they were they're both avid readers. They love reading and romance in general. So they would go visit book conventions throughout the country. And primarily they would a lot of those conventions were focusing more towards the East Coast. Um , and they conveyed how they would sit in these conventions and they would go , oh , you know what ? We can tweak this. If only they had this. And , um , they eventually created their own company called flock and decided , you know what ? We can absolutely do something like this. And why not bring it to the West Coast ? And all of a sudden , love lik con was. Was born.
S1:
S6: They're they're both from the West Coast , both from California. And I believe Kim Bowman lives here in San Diego. And they just they said they love the environment. They love that it's such a scenic place to be. And they just have a a fondness for the area in general. Yeah.
S1: Yeah. Well , and aside from that , they got a lot of interest from authors , vendors , artists. Talk to me about that. Okay.
S6: Okay. So they told me that I think over a thousand authors applied to be a part of this event , and they were just overwhelmed and shocked and in the most , in the best way possible. Um , they had authors from , you know , Europe to Canada to , you know , here at home in the United States , asking to be a to participate. And they had to narrow it down to , I think , about 100 authors to come to the convention and to them , the just the feedback they got from people in general who wanted this , and the authors and the vendors and people who wanted to celebrate in the same space , has been such a positive experience for them.
S1:
S6: They said this would be the first of what they assumed to be many more conventions down the road. When asking them if there if it's more of a moveable convention. Oh no , they're rooted in San Diego , for sure. Um , and who knows how much bigger it could get over the years. But for now , they're just wanting to see what it looks like this weekend and , you know , start planning ahead to see what's to come after.
S1: And actually , we've got a clip from Amelia Sarah Silver Celera , she's co-founder of Love Lit Con , and this is what she had to say.
S7: Our big goal in what our line is , what we keep saying in our team meetings is it's happily ever after for everyone. Like , we want everyone , no matter what your walk of life is , no matter where you live , that there's a happily ever after for everyone in romance novels , provide that.
S1: Well , like any convention , there will be a lot of panels and signings to check out.
S6: I mean , they do have the panels and how to get involved in the publishing world , and that's what interests me. But really what interests me was that they have such a diverse vendors list anywhere from , you know , purchasing books to T-shirts. And but one in particular that I thought was really unique was a tattoo artist that's going to be there. And she'll be doing specifically romance type tattoos. That's that's her niche. That's what she does. So I'm really.
S1: Sometimes that can be a mistake. Yes.
S6: A passionate mistake. That's perfectly on theme.
S1: Very much. Well , you also did a story on a tattoo artist who'll be tattooing people right here at the convention , as you mentioned. Tell me about that artist.
S6: Yes , her name is bird. She goes by bird and she is not new to convention site. She does pop ups too , but she primarily does tattoos with a Renaissance style. Um , and it wasn't until I want to say a few years ago she did like a fan art of one of the characters from a popular series , The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maus. And she posted it online and she received , um , you know , an instant message asking , hey , I would love that tattoo. And she never thought they would want to have this tattoo. And all of a sudden it became popular for her and it became something lucrative for her personally. And it kind of just went forward from there. And she thought , you know , going to conventions later on that people who sell their prints or sell just art , she goes , you know what ? I think I could do better , and I can actually do the tattoos at the convention centers. So she kind of had these two spaces , these two ideas , and they collided. And she just took off with that. Wow.
S1: Wow. And bird actually talks about why she thinks bookish tattoos are resonating with people. Take a listen to this clip.
S8: People who get bookish tattoos aren't just getting like a book because they like reading anymore. It really is like symbolism within the book that they relate so heavily with and like with those characters. And I think that's why I really enjoy doing it. Wow.
S1: Wow. So are you considering , uh , a tattoo for yourself ? Oh.
S6: In another , another world. Maybe. My mother has avidly said that she chased me with a potato peeler if I went by. Ouch.
S1: Ouch.
S6: But honestly , if I were to partake. There's actually a phrase that I really wanted to have and it's called you do not yield. And it's a phrase , an empowering phrase to the main character of the Throne of Glass series. And she's in this place of torture , and it's hard for her. But the phrase over and over in that moment of just pain is you do not yield. Um , and it just gives you chills for those who know , they know. Yeah. But that's that's the primary tattoo I probably would have , would have gone for.
S1: I approve of that. Yeah. There'll be no potato peeler.
S6: With no potato.
S1: Well , San Diego has become this hub for romance. I mean , we've got Meet Cute , which is a romance focused bookstore. There are also plenty of authors here.
S6: I think that it's such a cool , blossoming community. I am a big fan of Meet Cute , the bookstore. I think I've been there a couple times and actually did a couple stories The events that they did there. My hot take is that it's a growing place. It's a growing community. And I think anyone who you meet , who is a part of that , um , has always just been so kind and has always been so inclusive. And the beautiful thing about romance is that romance can touch anybody. It doesn't matter. You know what walk of life you're from. It encompasses all. And that just makes it so much better. And then when you meet these people who are not ashamed to admit you know what they prefer or what they want to read , it just seems like a a breath of fresh air. Wow.
S1: Wow. One thing that is really cool about these conventions is that just the passion that drives it , you know , from both the creators and the fans.
S6: You go there and you know you're timid because you don't. You don't quite know what to expect and how people will take you specifically with your with your specific taste in reading. You know. Or are they are they going to have a what are they going to say to me ? You know , it's all in your head. But when you get there , you see people dressed up like , you know , whether they're wearing elf ears and ball gowns or if they're wearing , you know , some sort of , you know , intricate leather garb or something , and you go , these are my people.
S1:
S6:
S1: I understand. So you will be at home. You'll be there today and tomorrow.
S6: I mean , that's , that's my main focus for that particular event. And also wanting to see the book merchandise too. I'm probably going to go home with a cartoonish , you know , stack of books. Um , that's my main goal is to see what's out there. And I'm hoping to find , you know , previews of something new and up and coming , maybe taking home a couple of of arks or , you know , galleys of , you know , previews of books that are to come out. Um , so I'm just kind of there to get my appetite going on. What's the next read ? Yeah.
S1: Well , in the last few seconds , what do people need to know if they want to go check out ? Lovely con.
S6: Just go in with an open mind and open heart. And you too , can have a happily ever after this Valentine's Day weekend.
S1: All right then. I've been speaking with KPBS web producer Leslie Gonzalez. Love lecon will kick off today and run through Sunday at the Sheraton San Diego Resort on Harbor Island. You can find a link and more coverage at KPBS. Leslie , thanks.
S6: Thank you. Jade.
S1: That'll do it for this week's roundtable. Thanks for listening. You can listen to the show anytime as a podcast if you want to support the show. You can also leave us a review as well. KPBS roundtable airs on KPBS FM at noon on Fridays and again Sundays at 6 a.m.. If you have any thoughts on today's show , you can email us at roundtable at KPBS. You can also leave us a message at (619) 452-0228. Roundtables technical producer is Brandon Truffaut. The show was produced by Ashley Rush and Giuliana Domingo. Brooke Ruth is roundtable senior producer and I'm Jade Hindman in for Andrew Bracken. Have a great weekend , everyone.
