Saturday, October 20, 2007

What Dreams May Come. . .

Last week, On saturday, I quietly sent off a query to a literary agency, and as expected, I guess they're not interested in my work either. At least they were up front about their contact policy on their web site, and they provided a query form to use. I have a few other submission policies bookmarked, I'll go at one of those next week since I'm too tired to do it before the camping trip. When I get back, I'll sit down and plan some strategy on submitting, and even look more deeply into alternative publishing methods for a workable solution for me. I've only had two rejections so far, so I'm not giving up on traditional publishing methods, but I am being realistic about getting the book out there. I'll be offline from tomorrow afternoon till Wednesday, I'm heading back into the cabins at the state park again. That kind of get-away does me a lot of good. I have most of the reference material I need to do the sketches for the burn project. I didn't anticipate some of the difficulties I ran into with the search efforts, but I'll come up with something. I'm taking the ref material I do have with me on the camping trip to have something to do while I'm there, and to get at least that much done so I can start burning next week as planned. Comments whtdragon: I suppose that's one of them cycles. I'll be glad to get all the work I have piling up done though, I'm almost a whole year behind in my artwork! AngelBest Dream: Gentle mist, thick and lazy drifts across cool damp grass, hanging among a stretch of trees in thin spiderweb wisps. Pale, dim morning light reaches it's fingers through barren, twisted and bleached gray brown branches, touching damp earth and stone lost below thick silvery white. A weak chorus of distant moring songbirds tunes their pipes for a serenade as a low shuffle and grumble rolls through the blanket of fog. The shuffle grows louder as a form begins to materialize out of the pallid nothingness of this autumn morning, the shape, still shrouded by shadow and mist halts, taking in the serenity of the moment. A low rumble escapes from the form, replaced suddenly by a thunderous hissing roar and bright burst of yellow flame. The dragon has returned. It never ceases to amaze me where I'll find an inspiration. That passage came from your dragon roar greeting. Imagine it being narrated by Patrick Stewart, Sean Connery, or Basil Rathbone and it'll sound right in your head. Thank you for saying so. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I don't really try to be a great dragon, I'm just a dragon who's passionate about his topics. As for ignorance, it's only a hinderance if you let it be one. There's no harm in seeking knowledge where it's lacking, I do that all the time (I just hide it well). It's an honor for me to be able to post here in this community and be received with such warmth and insight to my posts. I write well, I think, as a mechanism of self-assurance. Aside from not having the paper diploma from my high school (I do have my 21 credits, the story behind that is a long one I care not to tell), I have been unemployed for seven years, and I have been through so many hardships in job hunting, with nothing to show for them, that my mind seeks some outlet to prove to myself that it's doing something productive with my existence. I may not earn a cent for it, but at least I provide something valuable to someone other than myself. Right now TheOtaku has Cosplay, Fan Manga, Greetings, Wallpapers, and Quizzes as active sites, with Articles, and Reviews being closed to new submissions, and not being linked on TheOtaku anymore, aside from the links in portfolios of people who have content posted in those areas. There is a lot of attention being focused on visual art, but not the full scope of the term "art". A simple haiku that paints a picture in your mind, or a complex story that has you reading from start to finish in one sitting is as much art as pictures of chibi Ed ranting about being called short, Naruto and sasuke (or any pairing of characters) making out, scantily clad busty anime babes, or half-naked hot anime guys. Art is about expression not the media used. Whether it be with a computer program, a pencil and paper, a hot iron on wood, or words being spoken around a campfire in style of Homer, being delivered on stage in the style of Shakespeare, or put to paper and bound in the styles of too many great word artists to name, they are artists as much as Warhol, or Dali, Da Vinci, or Van Gogh. They're media are different, but they are all artists at heart. It saddens me to see the focus on one art form while blinding itself to the other artforms that are just as important to the community. The thing of it is though, Adam repeatedly states or implies that he's trying to out-deviant DeviantArt. That will never happen if he doesn't do like DeviantArt, and provide for written content submissions. Even TokyoPop's community has space for written content by way of fan fiction and user articles. If I were at war with Tor, you'd certainly know it by the tone of my posting. That was just a Public Service to people who consider submitting their work to Tor. Prospecting authors have the right to know that they'll get an impersonal reply that contradicts every author I've ever seen doing a TV interview where they say the rejection letters they got from publishers offer some form of advice to help authors improve their marketability. The rejection itself doesn't bother me one bit, but having learned in theatre how to properly give and take good critique, I'm easily annoyed by a lack of information when it comes to feedback responses. It's hard to fix a problem if I don't know what's broken. I can't polish the manuscript if I don't know what's turning off the editors and agents about it. Nothing in life that's really worth doing is going to ever be easy, if it were, it wouldn't be as fulfilling. Getting someone to believe in the story, and have them willing to take the risk to put it out to the masses is a complex process. Publishers don't want to deal with authors who don't have agents, agents don't always want to deal with authors who don't have publications to their name, it's a vicious circular trap that has to open up at some point. Even while this manuscript is in limbo, I'm already working on my next one, and I'll keep on writing novels and submitting them all until at least one of them is accepted somewhere. I can be very stubborn that way. Mamma Vash: Being rejected itself wasn't unexpected. I'm a first timer seeking entry into the publishing world, so it's going to be harder for me to get that foot in the door. The lack of anything useful at all by way of information in the rejection letter, and the swiftness of it coming to me, leave more questions than answers about the whole thing. The lack of a signature or a name associated with the letter shows the impersonal nature of the company, the absence of specific information in the response hints at a less than thorough review of the material, and it does reflect poorly upon them. That was a lucky break for you then. Not being publishes was better for you. Odd I know, but like my luck with job applications, having a source credit that went under doesn't appeal to others. I hope I get that break myself too. Yensid: For me, I'm trained to take feedback if it's given the right way. I can't wrap my mind around two sentences that tell me none of the things I need to know about the rejection or how to make my story appeal to editors. Being rejected itself is a little disheartening, but it wasn't unexpected, so it's not a devestating blow by itself. I expect to be rejected many times before I'm accepted, if I haven't hit my self-imposed deadline and self-published first. Okay, if I understand you correctly, published authors are not truthful about the rejection process they went/go through. In almost every interview I've seen on TV, heard on the radio, or read online or in print somewhere, published authors go into how the rejection letters provide the feedback that helps them make their manuscripts better. There's something rotten in the state of Denmark, and I'll end my thought right there. If the letter wasn't worthless, I probably would take it to heart, but since it gave me nothing, I'll give it nothing in return. I owe you guys for promising a lot of pictures of the convention, I got a total of 7 pictures from the convention, that's unacceptable to me, so I want to make it up to you all by doing a special art piece. I asked the question should I do the art piece on wood (as in have 5 wood burn projects instead of the four) or should I do it on paper like a regular art piece. I'm giving everyone till the end of the month to offer their opinon on the matter, that's when I'll do the piece. If I get no input, I'll decide on my own. It's not really my place to bring this up, but encouraging that kind of behavior isn't exactly a good thing for the whole family. Pets, like people, do like to get attention, but maybe she should be taught to seek it in a less aggressive manner. One of the pieces in my backlog is a dragn yin/yang piece for a friend (I will post it here when it's done). I've got to get that done soon. I believe in the concept of universal balance, but it's not a symbol I'd want a permanent part of me (I wear a yin/yang post earring to keep the hole in my ear open anyway). I do however like the idea of incorporating an ankh into a tattoo design with a dragon. I can see some possibilities there and I'll work out a rough sketch this weekend on the camping trip. Yeah, Microsoft doesn't do tech support for 98 anymore so it's a good idea to upgrade. Beauty of Vista being out, machines with XP on them will be bargains. Outlaw Melfina: The thing about a company being impersonal like that is it's a two way street. They obviously don't care about me as a person, so why should I care about them as a company? That's a lot of books in the genre I read that I might think twice about buying after seeing the Tor/Forge logos on them. It's getting cooler at night now here too, I don't expect the heat to hang around too much longer in the day either, but it likes to spite me by proving me wrong regularly. NekoMimi16: It's their loss when they make it painfully obvious that they don't pay attention to details. As I mentioned in the previous comment, when it's apparent a company thinks little of me, I think little of that company right back. Respect is earned, and Tor lost mine. Always hit 'em with a cream pie. It's far more embarrassing to a mean spirited snit(Yes, I spelled that correctly) to be slapped in the face with a sticky, goopy, cream pie. twilight samurai: Oh my family has all manner of colorful metaphors for situations like that, none of which are clean enough to post here so I won't go into those. It's unfortunate for me only because I really needed the time to rest up from geting to the submission point, since publishers and agents don't like when you submit to multiple sources at the same time, I was expecting to have to wait longer before putting it out to someone else. That's time I don't have now because I want this book out. I doubt it's fear that motivates their impersonal nature. Given that the letter was a photocopy, I think it qualifies laziness to be the key motivator. But see, where they mess up is in being lazy that way, it raises the question: Did they actually look at my work at all, or did they dispose of it without even a glance? They lose their credibility when they don't provide details. Sure it saves their editing department time, but at what cost to the company? I already have the wood plaques to burn, I got them last week. The nice thing about having a big art supply store in town, it has good prices on lots of stuff. Now if on'y they'd get the toning sheets to go with the manga art boards, manga paper, and Sakura micron pens, they'd be doing something. Shipping the plaques isn't going to be all that costly, even through the USPS it won't be more than a few bucks if I go with the right delivery method. My biggest concern is letting the pieces dry (I clearcoat my wood burned pieces) enough so that sending them thorugh the mail won't set off flammable chemical alarms at whatever checkpoints the package may go through. While these aren't commercial pieces, keep that offer in mind because I'm going to have a small survey for you and the others who'll be getting the pieces, and I need to know if it'll be better to send you that survey with the piece and have you mail it back (I'd cover the postage), or find a way to do it online. I may experiement with updating on other days to see if I like something else a little better than the Saturday schedule I'm on now. I kind of like doing the update on Tuesday, so I may shift to that for a while, just to see how it goes. That won't be till after my camping trip, so next week will be on Wed or Thursday, then after that it'll be Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll update my other blogs on Saturday though since I get few readers on one, and no readers on the other two. Magnus Lensherr: I think any malice is unintentional, but the blatant lack of personality in the letter shows a lack of interest, and their overly quick reply indicates that they either don't get the number of submission that they'd have people believe, or they don't read unsolicited submissions while making the claim that they do. Either way it looks bad on them, not me. At least in my cover letter I apologized for not being able to address the appropriate editor by name since I couldn't find the information anywhere online to properly address my letter. I'm sure a publisher will take the risk with my book, but right now, I'm going at the angle of getting a literary agent, since more publishers are thumbing their nose at unsolicited work these days, I figure it wouldn't hurt to tap an agent to sell my work to publishers for me. They do after all know how to do that part right. The idea was sound, but the application needs work. I'd sell my photos online if I had the place to do it. but that's going to have to wait till something starts some income flowing for me somewhere. I was expecting to have an easier time finding the reference material to work from, so the final pieces have been delayed longer than I originally thought. They'll be done as soon as I can put them out though, so no worries. On that note, would it be easier on you to answer a short survey online, or mail-in (I'll cover the postage). The idea was (according to authors whom I'm increasing believing are being told to lie about rejection letter contents) that the letter would tell me why the manuscript wasn't right for the publisher (in this case Tor), and have some suggested improvements to make the story more marketable to someone else. They didn't do me that courtesy, so I have no idea where I need to focus my polishing efforts. Tor is one of many publishers in the Sci-fi genre here, the problem being a lot of them won't take stuff from just anybody (unsolicited material), they want to get their material through an agent, which is the angle I'm currently working right now, though I'm having about as much luck with it as I did with Tor. Dragons are my thing, not spiders, but I have an idea, it's a surprise though, can't say anything more for now. Cheshire Madness: I'll drink to that, Corporate America royally sucks, blows, and many other more vulgar things. Yeah, that's what I'm doing, I'm taking the agent angle now since more places don't want unsolicited stuff. I hope I'll have good news on that front soon, but if I don't, I'm prepared to go my own way with it. Actually, I already have a sample piece I did a while back. I do intend to post the others here when they're done as well. I'm in Hillbilly Hell, oops, I mean West Virginia. The farthest I'd be willing to talk my family into taking me for a convention would be to Columbus OH to the West, Probably up as far as Youngstown OH or Pittsburgh PA to the north, give or take a little, but kept within reason. That convention does look to be a good one, but it's out of my travel range. BASH: Well, I think that's the point, that it's a standard "one size fits all" response that doesn't actually fit anyone. You know, my story actually hedges at least three different genres easily, so it kind of rewuires a specialized response. They didn't even offer me a simple "you might want to consider using _______ as the primary genre of your work instead of Sci-fi" if genre was an issue for them. Oh, count on me not giving up on the book, I'll keep pushing till someone decides to put it out, or I put it out through self-publishing methods myself. That's not the ideal solution, but if I have to take it, I certainly will. Sleeping isn't hard for me, I taught myself a self-hypnosis trick to cure that. Putting together a project to use what I am good at as a source of income, even in tiny amounts, is the challenge I have trouble with. Naturally. I coudln't do the things then not show them off. The weather's playing games with me right now, it was warm early this week, now it's getting cold again. I wish it would make up it's mind so I know what to pack for the camping trip in a couple days. Shireishou: That is not a surprise to me, I think it's kind of an American thing for companies to be big, soulless, and out of touch with the people they supposedly want to hear from. I look at it this way, when the book is out, it's Tor's loss and I'll make sure they know it, within appropriate context to avoid being called libelous. All in all, the whole thing goes against even the basics of good feedback (see here and here for "in a nutshell" common sense critiquing). I wish I could say I learned something from the submission to Tor, as well as one I made last week to a Literary Agency, but neither of those taught me anything. The character interests me in a deeply mental way, that's why I have to do him for this project. I've never seen that anime, but I think it might be one I'd like if I ever did get to see it. I know Illumitoon (A company that came about from former FUNimation employees, I think) has it licensed in the US, so that shouldn't be too hard to find (Volume 1 of the DVD is out already, I'll have to try to find it). I will need a favor from you though. In a rare case of US based search engine ignorance, I can't find a whole lot of reference material for Hokuto, if you could point me in the right direction for some images, I'd really appreciate it. Also, while I'm on the subject, I'm putting together a small survey for the people who will be receiving the finished pieces, and I'd like to know which would be easier on you, a mail-in survey (postage paid by me), or online (if I can find a way to do it)? LOL There certainly is truth to that. What better place to see cosplay at it's finest than the country which inspired it around the world? Seeing the photos is one thing, but I gained a whole new respect for the art after seeing it in person. Photos only capture so much of the details, but there's far more depth to the experience first hand. Anyone who takes the time and effort to make such elaborate costumes certainly gets high marks from me. That's okay, not too many people know a whole lot about my novel, I kind of keep a tight lid on it so it'll be all the better when it does come out. Thanks for the well wishes, Every little bit of support I get means the world to me, and it keeps me stiving to get the work out there so it can be enjoyed by others. Animé Dreams!

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Sunday, October 14, 2007

Long Awaited

Sorry for not getting this up yesterday, the site was backing up and I didn't want to do anything that might interfere with the process. I'll start off with the bad news to make the good news all the better. A couple days ago, I got the response from Tor on my manuscript. Remember when I said getting the response sooner rather than later was a bad thing? Well, given that this one came three months earlier than it was supposed to, I think that speaks for itself. I was expecting a rejection, but not of the caliber Tor dealt. They shouldn't accept unsolicited proposals if they're not interested in reading them at all. That's the tone I got from their impersonal, photocopy reply (I can see the toner spots and other indicators it's a photocopy document). Here's the letter, my notes follow. Dear Author: Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your submission. We are sorry to say that it's not right for us at this time. Due to the volume of material we receive, we are unable to reply individually to each author. However, please be assured your work was given a careful evaluation. We wish you the best of luck with this work; thank you again for thinking of Tor/Forge. Sincerely, The Editors Not even a personal salutation on the letter, and I'm supposed to believe they read my proposal if they can't even address me by name? When I was six I learned that the proper way to address a letter is to use the person's name if it's available, in this case it most certainly was, on 50 pages of cover letter, story synopsis and novel excerpt. Reiterating a point of contention only draws more suspicion to it in my eyes. The proof is in the pudding so to speak, they need to make it look like they actually read the work by not sending a photocopied two sentence. uninformative. form letter. They go out of their way to not ID themselves either, that just plays off the paranoia in my mind. I'll be retiring the calendar project on December 15 as well. It's not really going anywhere so there's no point in laboring to keep it in the public eye if the public isn't interested in it. Maybe I'll do a 2009 calendar featuring my artwork instead, I don't really know at this point. Now, on to the good news. The final results for the commemorative project are in, and here's what I got. Given that the popular choice was to send the piece to the person inspiring it, that's what I'll be doing unless requested to do otherwise by the person who inspired it. We'll work out the details in getting the pieces where they need to be privately when the pieces are done. I'll be taking this week to look up reference pictures for the characters, and do the drawing so I can get to the burning hopefully before Saturday. Clear-coating the works after they're burned on will take the most time since with the cold they won't dry as fast betwen coats, and that may not get done till late next week. After reading over all the submissions, here are the three I'm going to do this time around: Pikachu (Pokémon) - Suggested by beyblader Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach) - Suggested by twilight samurai Hokuto (B'T X) - Suggested by Shireisho Those three struck me in the readings, and I did go over all the submissions a couple times to get a feel for all the submissions. I'm also doing another woodburn piece, that's the original lizardman suggested by Magnus Lensherr, and I'm doing a piece who's medium hasn't been decided yet, don't forget to weigh in on wood or paper for the surprise piece I'm doing to make up for having few convention photos. Weigh in on that by Oct 31. Other than that all that, things are going well, it's cooler here at night, but still hot during the day sometimes, kind of wish the temp would even out, the fluctuations kind of give me headaches at times. Comments Entry for September 30, 2007. scorchbird12: You come by when you can, that's all that's important to me. I don't get by your page as often as I should these days, I'm working on getting the energy up to do that. Hard to believe just this time last year I was doing daily updates and getting to everyone on time. I had some help to get me there, and yeah, it was a good experience. Now I have a point of comparison to reference when people talk about conventions. I can finally wrap my head around the subject a little better. This one is sort of a test the waters deal for something bigger I plan to do later this year, into next year, I have to see what I'm capable of doing so to speak, and how to organize things on the web end. You'll get a chance to provide your input for the next one, cause I'll let you when that one's starting so you can come by. Actually much of that color washout is the result of a close range flash strobe going off, digital cameras are all sensitive to light one way or another, this one (takes excellent pictures, even in the dark), happens to wash things out if the light's too bright. That's all right, I'd probably be lost myself at this point. Yensid: The convention was an adventure, that's for sure. Wish I could have gotten more pictures though. That group does sound fascinating, I'd like to take a look at it. I'd be curious to see if anyone's tried to delve into what Exile is, or could be. I stay away from MySpace completely, it's way too easy to dig oneself into a hole over there. I get the Otaku Dispatch myself, I kind of like getting that. Wish it would come regularly, like monthly or so, but getting it at all helps out a lot. Even officially site sponsored contests have a somewhat bittersweet air to them. Lately all the site's been offering is art contests, I think half if not more of the people I interact with on the site here are not artists. That's why I promised, and I'll reiterate the promise that when my book does get published, I will donate several signed copies to TheO as prizes for a Writing contest. That will be the stipulation to the donation. I believe a site this big shouldn't focus on one section of the community, it should focus on the community as a whole, do things that will appeal to more diverse groups within the community, not just the mainstream group. The guy used a "liner" needle to do the outline, those are narrower needles, this one having one point (some of the fill needles have 5, 6 or more points on them) which probably contributed to the nice look it got. I don't know how other tattoo artists do their work, but the "heavier" looking ones probably use a fill needle when they should be using a liner. He's also a good artist, and experienced with the tattoo gun, so that's a plus as well. I hope I can get my dragon to look really nice too, since I'm doing the artwork for that myself, I really want it to be great. The ones you sent me are all great reference pieces, the size doesn't really matter too much cause I'm using them as reference for my own work. I have to bear in mind the final size on my piece though, can't have it too big or too small for where it's going on the body. In terms of anime fans, friends, or groupies, no one. My Mom was interested in seeing I get to the convention, so she got me down there and hung out among the oddballs for three days. Check out the links in the response below. GIDRA: I know the feeling, it was something I'd go through with other people's mentions of conventions. It was actually dumb luck I found Tsubasacon. I wish I could have taken more pictures while at the convention, I got a total of seven I think. Oddly enough, there weren't a whole lot of people taking pictures there other than the staff. I can direct you to the Gallery of photos taken by the convention staff which paints a good picture of the weekend. This picture in particular strike me, it was taken before the closing ceremonies on Sunday (October 7). In the back, away from everyone else, just left of center in the picture, there's a guy with a dark green hat and a woman in a pale orange, that's me and my Mom. I think we're looking over the Graphic Novel she got, or we're figuring out something on the schedule. Thanks for the luck, I'll need it, and thanks for the sentiment about the blog. I try to keep it up as best I can. Really? I haven't said where the tattoo is? Wow, that's kind of a basic thing for me to forget isn't it? It's high on my right shoulder so I can cover it up with a sleeve if I need to. I'll get a picture so you can see where. As for recoloring, you can't really see in that photo, but the color is a little uneven, which kind of gives it some personality (I like it to have that somewhat faded look), so I may just leave it as is after all. I have some good reference pictures for the dragon, but I haven't finished drawing him yet. When I get the lineart done, I'll post it here so you can see that, and I'll have a picture of the tattoo when it's done as well. That's good to hear, sometimes when people ask that question they expect to get a synopsis of the story and everything else, so I tend to answer with that in mind. I like to be tight lipped about such things because with a project in limbo (as mine is now), talking too much about it kind of jinxes the project. Basic stuff is okay to disseminate though. I hear that though, patience is a virtue I lost a long time ago. Magnus Lensherr: Yeah, I've been getting a little lax in posting and commenting lately. I'll be back in the game soon I hope. I can't really say much about the novel that I haven't already said, I don't like to discuss the details of a pending project. What I'm telling agents (I've exhausted my short list of publishers, now I'm trying to land a literary agent) is that it's a a blend of science and realistic fiction (it's only really sci-fi because of one non-human character) leaning toward the young adult market. Other than that, I don't want to divulge anything specific till it's published. According to published authors and industry information, that's what an editor does upon rejecting a work. I don't know how many times I heard authors say "All those rejection letters helped me improve my work." As you can see from my main post today, they're not even doing that anymore, so it was a waste of my time. I can't polish my work to make it marketable if I don't know why it's not appealing to editors. Yeah, it was insane there at times, but the whole thing was fun. I also got some ideas on my own convention (I haven't scrapped that idea, just put it on hold), on what to and not to do in that regard. The ideas are flowing, now if I could only get the money to make it happen. I think I'm going to have fun with this project, at any rate, it's giving me some practice in the drawing field because I'll have to draw the characters first, then trace those drawing onto the wood to burn. Believe it or not, burning is the easy part. Yeah, adding color would darken it somewhat, It looks light in the photo cause of how I took the picture, and the flash and all. In person the color is quite nice now, and I think I'll go with it as is for a while. At least till after I get my dragon done. That would be a cool looking tattoo, and evil spider with that sly demonic smirk villains always seem to have on. JD Person Thank beyblader for the term "corporate", it really fits qute well. Funny thing though, he keeps saying how he's competing with TokyoPop and DeviantArt, both those sites have hubs for written work as well as art. If he wants to compete with them in the truest sense of the concept, he's going to have to bring back written content submissions. Right now, he's talking a more full integration of TheO and MyO, which could be good, it could be bad, we'll have to wait and see. Best case scenario on having the MyO blog and a TheO equivalent, the TheO blog could possibly be used for written content like articles, fan fiction, and so on, whether or not that's the intended purpose of that addition, that's probably what it'll see happening to it, and I'm all for that. As far as news goes, Gia, the former FUNimation animeOnline writer, has been doing a good job keeping serious news on the main page. A novelty story once in a while is okay, but I like serious anime news most of the time. I wouldn't go as far as saying that, but I do think he's lost site of his vision from 2004 or 2005 where he wanted to make TheO the #1 anime web portal site. Maybe his vision for the site has changed, I don't know he hasn't really said anything on that. Part of the game is figuring out what the site needs to grow, but also what the site's users, the member base, wants to have. So what if something doesn't get a million hits a day, the members who support that section are as important to the site as the ones who post ridiculous amounts of drawings every other day. Adam needs to be reminded of that sometimes. July 11, 2007, First Mention of the Cosplay site's future. July 26, 2007, Second and more direct implication that Cosplay is on the chopping block/ July 27, 2007, Third mention of the cosplay site, and the final shot at those who mention the articles hub. I didn't mention those because right now that's in limbo, we won't know the final decision on that till it happens, I'm afraid. If he worries about a backlash like the outcry he gets from the articles hub being shut down, he may just wait till it's too late to do anything (like the day after he closes it down) to make the announcement that it's closed. Best thing we can hope for though is that Panda, one of the admins on site here, and an avid cosplayer, would step in and set him straight about closing that one. As much as I disagree with current union tactics, I have to say the initial model was a sound one. Workers came together to make employers (coal mine companies) take notice and improve the safety of their mines. Unions have advantages, and maybe we should get together with as many members as we can to form a TheO/MyO members union to represent what the members would like to see on the site. There is a lot more to that "anti offender" thing that meets the eye, I have no doubts about that based on what I saw. I watched that for a while as the really heated stuff was going down, and it was more than just e-cards when I happened to stumble on it, it was wallpapers too. I'm from a vanishing breed of people that sees no place for vigilante justice online. I mean trolls used to get reamed royally for spamming with accusations like that, what ever happened to those days? I support reporting suspected plagiarism through the proper channels, otherwise the act is harassment, plain and simple. Anti offender doesn't seem to have been active lately, but there's a copycat or reincarnation abomination by the name of thethiefreporter who's only recently taken up the same cause, but doesn't appear to have as much influence, yet. All I'll say to the possibility of staff involvement with condoned persecution of any kind is: may whatever gods they believe in have mercy on their souls should I find out those sacks of crap are masquerading staff members, or are acting under anyone on the staff's direction. This is a community, not some grade school soap-opera, the staff needs to act in a professional manner, and demonstrate that harassment of any kind will not be tolerated (so what if the intention of exposing plagiarism is good? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, it doesn't make it right). What seems to be happening to me are personal vendettas against certain users being carried out, under the cover of reported plagiarism. Only a coward hides behind someone else, or another identity, to bash another person when they don't agree about something, or don't like that person. If a staffer can't objectively assess a particular user's submissions for one reason or another, they need to have someone else evaluate that work's submission potential. If it's Adam himself that doesn't agree with a particular user, he needs to be up front about it and not create more chaos with subterfuge, and he should know better than that anyway with as long as he's been online. I would hate to see the site go under, but I suppose it's bound to happen someday. If I'm here to see it happen, it'll be a sad day for me AngelBest Dream: Yeah, I try to keep myself on top of what the staff is doing, cause they sometimes give away little bits about the site, and upcoming events and so on. It's good for them too cause I give them honest feedback about things I like, don't like, about the site. When I started out here, I was in love with the art, I still like to browse it, but I see more than just the art now. There really isn't a whole lot of culture in WV which is what makes it hard on me. I can't really be my true self among others who don't share that same interests. Why would I promote a clannish, self-absorbed, willfully ignorant and blame the victim culture, or try to fit in with that same culture? It goes against my principles, my sense of honor to do that. Can't promise anything on the art right now, but soon. I've been saying that all year, but soon. Mamma Vash: Here in WV, they put on the show of the "do you own thing" attitude, but it's a front, they're self-absorbed here, and when someone does have a legitimate problem, they blame the victim. It's not a place I'm proud to say I live, and I know I say it a lot, but I don't think of West Virginia as my home. Corporate culture is everywhere, it's hard to avoid it anymore, but there are places that it hurts rather than helps. The geckos are back? Try to get a picture if you can. Iruka Sensei: I didn't really get a good full body shot at the convention, but this should do in that regard. For the record, I stand 6' tall, just to give you an idea on perspective. I will get a picture that places the tattoo in perspective soon, you can't see it on my right shoulder in that picture, but it's there. I suppose there are fantasy elements to my work, it just depends on your perspective really. At any rate, I hope to get somewhere before next year, because I will self-publish if the industry doesn't help me out. twilight samurai: I'll be 27 in January, three years away from the 30 mark. Funny I don't feel all that old myself. I did try, but didn't really get much. Being my first convention, there was a lot I didn't know about the approach to taking pictures there. Normally I shoot stuff that doesn't have to grant permission to take, or use the picture, with people involved, photography becomes a whole different animal, one that'll bite if your not careful. Yeah, I'll be glad to get the project done so I can polish up the details for the next one I'll be kicking into gear probably in November. I'm kind of curious to see how the end product will turn out myself. I'm not sure the official color name, but the ink bottle calls it "blue balls", I like it for it's kind of rich royal blue shade. Funny, I thought I'd be chicken too, but after the initial stinging, the skin goes numb so you don't really feel the needle at all. There are temp tattoo options out there now too. They don't last that long, but they look just as good sometimes. The Kanji reads "kaze", wind. Shireishou: That's okay, you get in when you can. Yeah, I managed to get to a convention with some help, I hope I did a good job on the report. That kind of writing is new to me, I'm not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination. Best of luck to you at your next one, have fun. Thank you, I need all the luck I can get, being a dragon isn't enough sometimes. Entry for Comment Responses October 8, 2007. Tenshihoshino: Yeah, that's a nice piece of work the pocket watch is. I've always been fascinated by pocket watches, so I'd been wanting to get something like that since I saw FMA the first time. I haven't been around to sites a lot lately myself, but all we can do is try. Yensid: I can't really say for sure, being my first one, I'd got nothing to compare it with in my mind. I realize it's impossible to run something of that size and format completely smooth, but there were times it seemed the lack of organization wasn't accidental. After I get a few more conventions under my belt, I'll probably see the whole thing differently, with more understanding of how things work. Overall, I'd say it was a positive experience, and I'd do it all again the same way if I was given the chance. Yeah, it was a great find, accidental on my part too. I'd been by the vendor several times before I saw that. I know that feeling too, don't worry about it. NekoMimi16: Actually, I did plan out some down time during events/panels that didn't strike my fancy, so while it seems like I was bouncing off the walls, I had some time to sit back and watch the cosplayers stroll up and down the hallways. For my first one, I'm glad it was a small convention, I don't think I could have handled a big one first time in. DarkFaerie88: Keep an eye out for something that may be close by, and make a plan to get there. Figure out a budget for travel, hotel, food, admission (bear in mind pre-registering is easier on the budget), convention expenses (vendor's room, artists alley, and other stuff), and save toward that goal, but keep in mind you might want to add a little financial cushion just in case something comes up you don't expect. If you have good friends in the right position to help you, they might be willing to help out too. If I haven't said it already, a belated Happy Birthday to you. They had a panel at the convention on Pocky, the highlight of which was the tasting. There were flavors there I never knew existed. I know some stores like Wal-Mart and Kroger are carrying the basic chocolate and/or strawberry Pocky, if there's an Asian market near you, you might find other flavors, and they're not that expensive, which is good too. If you ever get the chance to try the green tea, black sesame Pocky, men's (dark chocolate), or honey and milk Pocky, try those, they're good. I don't get enough Pocky myself either, but like the woman heading the panel said, "Pocky is an addiction, once you have one, you can't stop." and she's right. AngelBest Dream: Yeah, I did have a good time, hopefully my report was okay. I used to have a problem with reading myself. I learned to speed-read and that helped a lot, especially with longer web pages. There are books on that kind of thing in libraries, might be worth a try if you need to optimize your online time like that. All that stuff was fun and enlightening. Cheshire Madness: My mom already has me looking at other conventions in the area (Ohio and Pennsylvania) so we can plan to get to another one. I think she's more hooked on the convention experience than I am. If I could get my sister to come along too, that would be quite the experience for all of us, cause my sister's into anime, not like I am, but she's got some favorites, and I think she'd have fun at seeing cosplayers in person too. Iruka Sensei: Oh yeah, it was fun. I hope you can get to something like that someday, it's not an easy thing to describe the whole experience. I paced myself well the whole weekend, and got to some important things, and did snap a few shots in the process. Kiki-tink: Credit where credit is due, I never forget to thank someone who helps me out. The gesture kind of has me thinking though. I'll have to do the leg work to see what can be done about setting up a legitimate non-profit to provide financial assistance for financially limited anime fans to get to conventions. The two biggest inhibitors for fans to get to conventions that I see are location and cost (the third is parent/guardian misinformation about the genre), travel would have to be figured out another way, so would informing parents/guardians truthfully about the genre, but a nonprofit could provide micro-grants to deserving fans for covering admission costs and other convention related expenses. It's just a matter of doing it right by the IRS. Shireishou: You know, that would be interesting. Seeing a convention in another country to see how another culture handles its cosplay would indeed be an enriching experience. I'd like to do that myself some day. CassieR First off, welcome to my little corner of the MyO universe, pull up a chair, have a green tea Pocky, and make yourself comfortable. You have no idea how much those convention articles helped me out, they came at just the right time. I know I've have been a nervous wreck if I had gone in there without having some set of organized thoughts to guide me through my first convention experience. Little things that I wouldn't have thought of ended up being lifesavers at times, like marking up the schedule with highlighters, that tip made the the weekend flow pretty good for me, and my Mom got some things out of the articles too (I printed them out so she could read them before we went down there). Someone in the panel asked about those butter & maple Pretz, but the hosts hadn't heard of them so they didn't know much about them, or how they tasted. They sound good, it's shame they stopped making them. They did have some exotic flavors there, in Pocky, Pretz, and Poare (like a reverse Pocky - the cream is inside the stick). there was a black sesame Pocky, there was a couple Pretz that were good both sweet and savory, and in Poare we tried a milk cream, and banana ones. Of course we also had Caplicos and Happy Burgers, and Koalas too. The honey & milk Pocky is one of my favorite flavors aside from the dark chocolate, or the winter chocolate (it's textured dark chocolate). Yeah, that was one of my favorite panels at the convention. In all fairness the host of the Old School Anime 101 panel was one of three people who was supposed to host it (according to the description in the program). The other two never showed up during the panel at all. I'm guessing from his presentation, he wasn't supposed to be the primary presenter, so he did an okay job covering for the no-shows as best he could. He was also one of the Pocky panel's hosts, and he did a great job in that panel, probably because that was a topic he was well researched and prepared to present. So really, it wasn't his short-coming in the one panel so much as it was that of the two others who bailed on their responsibility. The guy who did the Toonami panel though, he gets no slack. He admitted in the panel itself that he presented that same panel, the same topic, at a convention prior to Tsubasacon, and that he knew he needed to sort the files on his computer so that they would be quick access during the presentation. It was immediately apparent he didn't do that sort job when he fumbled to find the video clips and audio bites throughout the panel. In my book, willful ignorance like that deserves no slack from me. I think if I did a panel on something, that first time would probably be completely insane for me too, but I have at least some sense of presenting to an audience, I learned how to handle that in theatre and Speech/Communications class, so I would hope I'd not be too out of things. I can still project my voice on a stage with no problems at all to boot. Animé Dreams!

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Monday, October 8, 2007

Tsubasacon 2007 Report

First off, just a reminder that I'll be announcing the three characters I'll be doing for the commemorative project on Saturday, along with the fate of the finished pieces. Don't worry if your character didn't get picked this time around, I'm still working the bugs out of a more thorough, more interactive project to be done at the start of next year. I'm skipping comments today, but I'll answer the ones for last post (and this one) on Saturday. Convention Report Acknowledgments Before I begin this report, I would like to thank Cassie Richoux, who's weekly Otaku Survival Guide articles on Theotaku.com for the month of September covered the convention experience. Without those tips, I would have been completely lost the whole weekend. Also, I owe Kiki-tink a whole lot of gratitude and thanks for helping me get to the convention in the first place. Without her assistance, I never would have gotten there at all. The staff of Tsubasacon deserve kudos for putting together a convention for the state of West Virginia (thank goodness someone beat me to it!). They also made my first convention experience a memorable one. Thanks guys and gals. Thursday, October 4: Before the Convention Actually, the convention doesn't start until tomorrow, but my Mom and I came down to Huntington a day early to find everything so we wouldn't be bogged down in the morning. It was a good thing we did that. The directions to the convention center, and to the hotel (that I got from Google maps) weren't 100% accurate, but we managed to find the hotel, and the convention center all right. We're planning an early start to hopefully get in without too many lengthy delays. The hotel itself is nice, having worked in housekeeping before, I tend to over-analyze every detail of the room, so I won't bore you with all that stuff. Friday, October 5: Tsubasacon 2007, Day One The turnout this morning was surprisingly light as the 9:00AM open time, which made the process of picking up badges easy for preregistered attendees. Things were expectedly slightly unorganized, but flowed smoothly and without problems. A neat piece of swag for preregistered attendees is a t-shirt which I wasn't expecting, but still very cool. After picking up the badge, I sat down with the schedule and program, planning out the whole weekend as best I could. I'm thankful for the recent articles on TheO's main page on conventions for that tip and others which helped me through the whole weekend. It spared a lot of stress and running around doing nothing. With the plan in place for the weekend, I took some time to get acquainted with some anime I've never seen before. Black Cat was playing in one of the video rooms, so I checked it out. It's a good show that I'm interested in following up on later when I have the finances to obtain the DVDs. After Black Cat, I took my first trip through the vendors room, somewhat curious, and wanting to idle some time till the opening ceremonies. That was overwhelming to say the least. There was so much to look at it was mind boggling. There was stuff there I'd never seen before (a solar powered bobble-head being among the unfamiliar), some things I had, and one booth, that of Wizzywig Collectibles had a large selection of Pocky, some Japanese candy, and soda. That was the first of several trips through the vendors room, but it gave me a good grasp of the layout, and what types of items the different vendors had. The opening ceremonies were an experience to say the least. The convention staff lacked organization and bumbled through the whole event. It lacked any sense of order and barely provided any information. I made a note of the issue and plan to bring it up on Sunday at the "convention gripes" after the closing ceremonies. From the opening ceremonies, I went to Artist Alley, which was cool in and of itself. The quality of artwork that was there was absolutely astounding to say the least. Kind of lit a fire under me to maybe work harder to improve my own art skill. I did get a caricature type piece done by an artist there Alex Heberling. I think it looks cool. I don't know about you, but I think the likeness quite remarkable. I did attend a panel on old school anime, and I made some notes in that panel to present to the convention staff on Sunday. The panel presenter came off as ill prepared for the job, though he was not helped by ambient noise from Random Battle Group in the next room and the Spoony Bards (a really good band, don't get me wrong) out in the hallway. The noise drowned out the presentor's voice, so he wasn't at fault for that, he did try to get the PA working, but a short in the mic cord prevented him from using it. He did get some basic old-school anime facts spot on, but his research seemed hurried, and absent of thorough details. It was an entertaining panel for me, I rather enjoyed recalling points that the presenter overlooked to my Mom who came with me. I made another trip to the Vendors room, picking up a couple things so I'd have them. A couple flavors of Pocky, and some things for my nephews, niece, and sister. I found some other things of interest then headed into the ADR Directing Q&A. The ADR Q&A was very informative. I couldn't take notes fast enough to effectively discuss in detail all the questions Patrick Seitz and Caitlin Glass answered, but I did learn that ADR directing is quite a demanding, but not well paying job (VA work itself is apparently not well paying, they don't get residuals at all, they're paid for the hours they work only), but in both cases, the guests indicated that they enjoyed the challenges of the job. They also explained the process of doing ADR, and how complicated it is. Even for the English dub, the Japanese studios still have to approve alterations that are made. I was able to get their autographs after the Q&A session, now that's cool. Unfortunately, I didn't get a lot of pictures today. Taking pictures at a convention is very different than my usual subjects (trees, trails, tunnels etc). There are processes, and courtesies (not to mention laws) that must be taken into account, processes and courtesies that are unfamiliar to me. I saw some very interesting Cosplay today, a lot of very elaborate costumes, many of characters I couldn't identify. I know I promised lots of pictures, hopefully I'll get those tomorrow. Saturday, October 6: Tsubasacon 2007, Day 2 Day two of the convention wasn't as stressful as day one. There were a few little hitches, but nothing as abrasive as what went on yesterday. I still have no photos of cosplayers unfortunately, as I mentioned yesterday, there are things I'm not familiar or comfortable enough with to attempt to shoot yet. At this point, all I can do is promise I will try again tomorrow. I did get some photos today though, I'll get to that in a moment though, I think you'll be surprised, so be patient. First up on the agenda today was a Pocky panel, in which Pocky was discussed and sampled. I learned a few things about Pocky, but more importantly, I got to try a few flavors that were interesting. If you happen to get the chance to try the black sesame Pocky, do it, that one was good. Other flavors of interest were the dark chocolate (men's) Pocky, a winter chocolate Pocky, and a honey and milk Pocky, though we tried others as well. That panel also had us trying other things, like Poare, which in simple terms is a reverse Pocky (the filling is inside the biscuit stick). The banana was good, we also tried a milk Poare which was nice. Other convections we tried included Caplicos, and Happy Burgers which I liked in both cases. And I can't forget Pretz. We had sweet potato, tomato, salad, chocolate, shrimp, and roast, they all had unique flavors that can't really be described off-hand. After the Pocky panel, and a quick trip through the Vendor's room idled time till the Voice acting Q&A which was as fun as the previous night's ADR directing Q&A. The crowds were a little quieter this afternoon, but it had it's high points. Patrick and Caitlin went through an FAQ session covering question's they're asked at every con which was nice. Like many VAs, they get asked by fans "how can I become a VA?" The answer wasn't really surprising. It went along with what other VAs have said on the matter, just watching anime doesn't give a person the qualifications to do voice work, and they suggested that acting, whether it be for community theatre, or in a college or high school class was a good start, that it would help, not only train the voice to emote well, but be a good source to learn how to take direction. Having been in theatre throughout high school myself, I can certainly appreciate that advice. It was a good panel to sit in on, very valuable. Next up, I took an origami lesson, sounds simple right? Well, the piece (pictured) was a three part origami box that took all of the hour panel to make, and the teacher of the panel was Caitlin Glass. It wasn't all that intimidating to learn, Caitlin was a great teacher. As you can see, the final result resembles a box with a lotus decoration on the top. Honestly, I've never done origami as well as I did that piece, I think having someone actually explain the steps makes the process easier than trying to read off a piece of paper with crudely drawn diagrams. It was a challenging, and fun to do, I'd do it again if I had the chance. I may not have gotten a lot of pictures, or really good entertaining ones, but I did manage to snag a gem that I thought you guys and gals would be interested in seeing. I got that one after the origami panel with a free moment. and I think this picture alone is worth the whole trip. Sunday, October 7: Tsubasacon 2007, The Last Day There was a bit of a scheduling snafu (pardon my language) today, apparently no one checked to make sure the times were aligned on the printed schedule, my Mom and I rushed to get to the convention at ten for a panel on the history of Toonami, only to find out it didn't begin till 10:30. Anyway, that panel was interesting since it filled in some of the gaps for me. I came into Toonami late in the game, so there was a lot I didn't know about it's early years. I think I came into Toonami just after Tom v. 2 came onto the scene (if anyone really knows what that means). I learned some things about the origins of the programing block (which always followed the premise of showing action cartoons, not specifically anime). The presenter was a little unprepared, but he did have some nice aids to his presentation, both audio and video which helped him along. One last spin through the vendors room actually landed my a gem of an item. I don't believe I mentioned it before here, but I collect pocket watches. I found a vendor with a replica from Fullmetal Alchemist which I absolutely had to pick up. The neatest thing about it, the vendor took the time to have it set to the correct time before putting it on display which was completely unexpected. At the end of the convention itself, the staff hosted a "gripe" session in which they sought feedback on the convention. As much as I hate to say it, that session, which was the staff's last chance to leave attendees with a good impression, didn't. The staff was very interested in getting the positive comments about the convention, but they pulled a classic West Virginia when it came to the "negative" feedback. There were some issues with Artists Alley being cramped, which I briefly mentioned earlier, the convention staff's response to those statements wasn't really positive. The same happened with concessions (there was no onsite food or drink vending other than two coke bottle dispensing machines), they passed the buck of not having concession onto the arena, which can't entirely be faulted. To make a long story short, Tsubasacon staff welcomed positive feedback, but had excuses to counter any statements that had to deal with issues. As with the other issues that came up for me, I noted that on the back of the exit survey with my other concerns. They can't hope to improve the convention if no one brings up concerns like these to them. All in all, for my first convention experience, it was all right. I certainly did have a good time while I was there, and I learned a bit about anime that I didn't know before, and I got to see interesting people, great artwork, and so much stuff on which English was the secondary language. There were a few hairy moments, like when my Mom had to get the car out of this spot. The red Jetta was not in a legal parking space, there was a support column to the parking garage in spot, look at the paint line on the ground. Good thing my Mom learned to drive in New Jersey. There was also the, well, I don't know what it is sculpture thing in front of the arena. For three days I walked by that thing and still can't figure out what it's supposed to be. I suppose the convention experience could have been better, but I'm chalking up a lot of the negatives of my trip to the fact that it was my first time attending a convention. Since I've never been in that environment, there's a lot of things I don't know, and wasn't expecting. I am more than a little disappointed in myself that I didn't get more photos as pictures do indeed tell a story far better than words alone. I'm going to make up for not having the photos I promised (I really don't like breaking promises I make), so to do that, I'm going to do, I have an image in mind that I'm going to do for you, but I'd like you all to choose the medium: wood, or paper. This is a majority rule system whichever gets the most votes, that'll be the medium I use. I'll give you all a couple weeks to decide, so by the end of October let me know and I'll do the piece in the medium you chose. Now I'm open to questions.

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Sunday, September 30, 2007

Submissions Closed, Now the Fun Begins

Well, next week is Tsubasacon, so I'll be there, and not here. Unfortunately, the nature of the internet service provided in the hotel is through that webTV thing, so I won't be able to update nightly as I had originally intended. If I get the chance to get there again next year, I'll be sure to chekc hotels more thoroughly ahead of time and find one that lets me plug in, or log on to their net directly with my computer. I will post my full report probably on Tuesday or Wednesday following the convention, I'll need time to rest, and it'll also allow me time to get the pictures I hope to take uploaded and such too. Yesterday was the last day to post submissions for the commemorative project, I'll go through all the comments to be sure I didn't miss anyone's submissions, then I'll read through every one I got and decide the three I burn from there. Trust me, the next time around I do this, you're all going to be more involved in the process, I promise that. So I no longer have the need to post the project details in my posts anymore, that will give me more space to work with. I finally got that tattoo picture that I'd been promising for weeks, well months actually now. The new camera is a Canon, and it takes great pictures to say the least. Not too bad a shot given I was working the camera myself. Anyway, it's a little washed out by the flash, but that's pretty much how the thing looks after being recolored. I'm up in the air on having it recolored again, but I think I should at leasst get my dragon's line art put together first before I worry about the kanji anymore. Comments: beyblader: I didn't notice that detail right away myself, but it stuck out in my mind. It's nice to have more accessible interactive features like that on the site, that's for sure. It's a small start, but a step in the right direction none the less. At first I wasn't going to agree with you about the "coporate" site idea, it just didn't seem to fit very well. That changed after I saw something on site here which made me think about it in detail. Theotaku.com started down the corporate road with the podcast. Closing the article and review hubs was another step in that direction, adding a former staffer from one of the big anime licensors further still drives that point. Add to that what I've seen recently, and the point is too clear not to miss. I'm kind of weird this way, but here's a timeline of things for you, just so you see how my mind works on things: May 9, 2006: Adam first mentions the podcast in his blog. May 20, 2006: First podcast episode posted on theOtaku.com. May 21, 2006: Adam's first acknoledgement that the podcasters got negative feedback. July 15: 2006: The infamous Episode 9. My comment to that posting says everything. July 19, 2006: My own blog entry on the infamous Episode 9. July 30, 2006: Adam's first posts about closing the articles and reviews hubs. July 31 2006: Adam follows-up on his previous post after getting some serious feedback. August 15, 2006: Adam's official Articles and Reviews hubs retirement post. Monday, July 29, 2007: Adam promotes the newest news staffer, Gia, the head writer for FUNimation's now defunct animeOnline project. August 21, 2007: Epic fan art contest announced. August 22, 2007: Epic fan manga contest announced. August 31, 2007: Wallpaper contest is announced (not related to the other two in terms of sponsor). September 24, 2007: Adam announces in his blog that a theotaku/myotaku member and contributor to the upcoming Art of Otaku Sessions, spin-off of the original Art of Otaku e-book, will be a guest artist at the New York Anime Festival (NYAF sponsors the fan art and fan manga contests). In a nutshell, putting all that together is what made me realize you were right about the "corporate" direction of the site. I don't really know why, but a couple of the comments for that last item rubbed me the wrong way, to the point I'm choosing to withdraw my interest in participation for the fan art contest myself. I'll finish the picture up and post it here as a regular piece, but I won't enter it in the contest. I get that reaction all the time when I associate things with Beethoven's chamber pot. Maybe I should use a cleaner simile/metaphor thing, whichever it is. AngelBest Dream: I do have a few new things in the works, but most of it is old hat. I think I can say this has been my least productive year to date, only because I got hit really hard way back at the start by a lot of stuff at once and I'm still trying to recover from all that in some ways. The project list is quite long too, hopefully I'll start to see some progress in it as I go to work on each piece. Yeah, I've been around limited-minded people since I moved to WV, there are a few good people here, I just seem to end up in contact with the ones who aren't. One step at a time is all I can take to try to see some culture come into this area. Magnus Lensherr: Yeah, I think I should do a lizard man since that's kind of my going theme in both my writing and drawings at the moment. Actually, my lizard man soda jerk will probably be the picture I use (I'm still working on it at the moment) for that, unless I get a better idea along the way. I promised you some numbers regarding my novel a long time back, so here they are now that I have them set pretty well. It has about 31,000 words (the actual word count is 30,641), and in standard manuscript format spans 158, 8.5 by 11 inch pages (very close to A4 size paper). I understand the time lag in the publisher's responding, and I certainly appreciate it for what it's worth. It would be cool to get a "yes" to the project in January, cause that's my birth month, but even a "no" will be helpful to me in terms of polishing the story further to make it more appealing to the next prospect which I have yet to locate. Yeah, I'll be heading out to a convention, my first time at one, so I have no idea what to expect or anything. I couldn't have gotten there without some help along the way, I'll have a really nice formal thank you to post after the convention. Since I don't really feel comfortable in large crowds of people myself, I know I'm going to be more than a little tense down there, but it should be fun all the same. Thanks for the well wishes. The group's admin has gone through and cleaned out a lot of the bots, and I think he's moderating registrations now too to keep them from just signing up and posting their junk. GIDRA: Kind of busy, kind of unlucky at the same time. Usually when I have a moment to get online, I end up fighting with the connection to get it to work. Eventually things will smooth out I hope. Thanks. I promised the admin I'd mention it here (that reminds me I've got one other place to bring it up), and go from there. I never promise anything by way of recruitment, because all of that is subjective and people either want to join or they don't. I'm not releasing any specifcs of the story yet, I'm holding off till I get a green light on publication, then I'll be able to be more open about the contents of the book since the ball will be rolling at that point. I can say that while it's technically defined as "Young Adult" science fiction (only because one of the characters isn't "normal"), the audience age isn't significant, anyone of almost any age could read and probably get something from the story. I will post a short exceprt when the time is right though, but till then, I'll be tight lipped about details. Oddly enough I didn't start out writing, I started out dictating to a tape recorder, then I got bored of that and actually sat down with a typewriter (yes, a typewriter, which I still use on occasion) and tapped out a short. You kind of have to find the right medium for your release of the creative energy, and that changes with time, make no mistake about it. I write on computers now mostly, but I still find some comfort in writing up a short story with pen and paper once in a while. The double-life standard is an old one, but it works for me in terms of characters. I like to see characters who seem to be one thing, but are really something else in the long run. Haku is indicitive of that kind of character. He has multiple levels to his personality that makes him a believable character. It's finally up there! Of course I'll post the pictures I take. That'll be part of the coverage I promised that's getting me to the convention in the first place. Shonigoneyes93: I've ridden 14 miles in four hours straight once, but that was on a flat trail, and I wasn't in a hurry that day. This time of year most people will be busy, even I'm still working on my projects, at least the proposal is out of the way for the time being. Sure it's a beautiful landscape, the state parks are nice, the Rail Trail is nice, and there are a few good people here, but 90% of the people here leave a lot to be desired, no bones about it. When you have people in the state government blame you for one of their bureau's discriminations, you'll understand that to it's fullest. Aside from that, being bullied by arrogant blow-hards who couldn't grasp the concept of home schooling bittered me on the people here quickly. I've brought it up with people before, but have you ever noticed that the John Denver song never once mentions people in it? Almost Heaven, West Virginia, Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River, Life is old there, older than the trees, Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze. Country roads, take me home, To the place, I belong, West Virginia, Mountain Momma, Take me home, Country roads. All my memories, gather 'round her, Miner's lady, stranger to blue water, Dark and dusty, painted on the sky, Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye. Country roads, take me home, To the place, I belong, West Virginia, Mountain Momma, Take me home, Country roads. I hear her voice, in the morning hour she calls to me. The radio reminds me of my home far away. And driving down the road I get the feeling, That I should have been home yesterday . . . yesterday. Country roads, take me home, To the place, I belong, West Virginia, Mountain Momma, Take me home, Country roads. Take me home, Country roads. Take me home, Country roads. Take Me Home, Country Roads By, John Denver, Bill Danoff, Taffy Nivert See what I mean? Back in the 70's he knew something most people don't. Scary thing is, I can sing that song on key(one of very few English songs I can), a capella, without looking up the lyrics. I can also do the Japanese reversion for Whisper of the Heart from memory, and I think the next time I have to sing-along at a function of some kind (they do that song a lot around here), for spite, I'll do the Japanese one to annoy the people around me. There are some nice features of landscape here, but I can't honestly tell you one place I've been where the people are genuinely outgoing and friendly to strangers. There's almost always that air of alterior motive to their saying "hi" and talking to you. They want to know everyone's business is what it is. Things should start to simplify here soon I hope. BASH: Given that more of the problem is Verizon being stupid, I think you're right about that. Yeah, there's a lot of crud on the info superhighway, that's for sure. They say patience is a virtue, but I say I lost that virtue long ago. Waiting really is hard no matter what the outcome is. It's tough, but it has to be done. I just hope I can find other publishers who'll take unsolicited proposals while I'm waiting for the answer to this one. Being my first one, I have the strong suspicion that it will be rejected, but that's part of the process too. Now that I know the proper format to write in, which I didn't before I began my lasst manuscript, I'll do that stuff from the start. It's the reformatting somethign that's already done that's a real headache. My sarcasm should also be noted in the all caps REALLY of the REALLY fun part being editing. Well, it remains to be seen just how much of that is PR and how much of it is serious. I'll be holding them to their word though, and I'll rip into Regal if it's WV theatres choose not to show the stuff after being offered it next time. For the people who've lived their whole lives here, I'm sure it is ideal, but she has not been nearly that welcoming to my spirit in more ways than she has been, so I just don't really feel at home here, I never have, and I never will. Animé Dreams!

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Saturday, September 22, 2007

Late Update