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Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics

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On Thursday night, I am moderating this panel for the Writers’ League of Texas:

Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics, Manga, & Graphic Novels

One of the hottest areas in publishing is comics, graphic novels, and manga. Paul Benjamin heads up a panel of writers and artists in the field to offer an insider’s look at the popular art form and the creative process. Panelists include Scott Kolins, Alan Porter, Tony Salvaggio, and Matt Sturges, and "Geeks With Books" columnist Rick Klaw will moderate.

August 21, 2008 7:30PM
Spiderhouse
2908 Fruth, Austin, TX

Hope to see everyone in the Austin area there!

Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics

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On Thursday night, I am moderating this panel for the Writers’ League of Texas:

Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics, Manga, & Graphic Novels

One of the hottest areas in publishing is comics, graphic novels, and manga. Paul Benjamin heads up a panel of writers and artists in the field to offer an insider’s look at the popular art form and the creative process. Panelists include Scott Kolins, Alan Porter, Tony Salvaggio, and Matt Sturges, and “Geeks With Books” columnist Rick Klaw will moderate.

August 21, 2008 7:30PM
Spiderhouse
2908 Fruth, Austin, TX

Hope to see everyone in the Austin area there!

Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Speaking of Armadillocon…

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Armadillocon XXX with Guest of Honor John Scalzi and Special Guest Joe Haldeman starts today. As usual I’m on several panels.

    Interstitial Fiction
    Fri 9:00 PM-10:00 PM deZavala
    Denton, Klaw, Person, Richerson, Trimm*
    A lot of recent fiction falls between the cracks of genre. There have been anthologies devoted to it, and now there is the Interstitial Arts Foundation. The most recent Nebula-winning novel falls into this category. What are the essential works and authors, and is this a full-fledged literary movement?

    What You Should Have Read
    Sat 2:00 PM-3:00 PM deWitt
    Dimond*, Hevelin, Klaw, Marin, W. Siros, S. Williams
    Our distinguished panel of writers, editors, and book-sellers discuss their take on the most important, influential, and enjoyable books and stories of the year.

    Reading
    Sat 6:30 PM-7:00 PM Robertson
    Rick Klaw

    Metafiction in Comics
    Sat 9:00 PM-10:00 PM deZavala
    Benjamin, Blaschke, Klaw*, Porter, Potter
    Metafiction has a long and rich history in comic books and graphic novels. Recent works such as Dr. 13, Nextwave, Scott Pilgrim and Ambush Bug have ushered in a new era for this insightful and entertaining storytelling method. What are some of the best examples, why do writers & artists use this method, and why has it become so popular?

    Movies
    Sun Noon-1:00 PM deWitt
    Klaw, Leicht, Miles, Scalzi, Person, M. Williams*
    This has been a booming year for science fiction, comic book, and fantasy movies. Our panelists tell us which ones you should have seen, and which you can safely avoid. Of course, they’ll probably talk about movies of the past as well.

    Autographing
    Sun 2:00 PM-3:00 PM Dealers’ Room
    Anderson, Klaw

RevSF editors (past and present) Matthew Bey, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Mark Finn, Alan Porter and Steve Wilson will also be there. Stop by and say howdy!

Speaking of Armadillocon…

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Armadillocon XXX with Guest of Honor John Scalzi and Special Guest Joe Haldeman starts today. As usual I’m on several panels.

    Interstitial Fiction
    Fri 9:00 PM-10:00 PM deZavala
    Denton, Klaw, Person, Richerson, Trimm*
    A lot of recent fiction falls between the cracks of genre. There have been anthologies devoted to it, and now there is the Interstitial Arts Foundation. The most recent Nebula-winning novel falls into this category. What are the essential works and authors, and is this a full-fledged literary movement?
    What You Should Have Read
    Sat 2:00 PM-3:00 PM deWitt
    Dimond*, Hevelin, Klaw, Marin, W. Siros, S. Williams
    Our distinguished panel of writers, editors, and book-sellers discuss their take on the most important, influential, and enjoyable books and stories of the year.

    Reading
    Sat 6:30 PM-7:00 PM Robertson
    Rick Klaw
    Metafiction in Comics
    Sat 9:00 PM-10:00 PM deZavala
    Benjamin, Blaschke, Klaw*, Porter, Potter
    Metafiction has a long and rich history in comic books and graphic novels. Recent works such as Dr. 13, Nextwave, Scott Pilgrim and Ambush Bug have ushered in a new era for this insightful and entertaining storytelling method. What are some of the best examples, why do writers & artists use this method, and why has it become so popular?

    Movies
    Sun Noon-1:00 PM deWitt
    Klaw, Leicht, Miles, Scalzi, Person, M. Williams*
    This has been a booming year for science fiction, comic book, and fantasy movies. Our panelists tell us which ones you should have seen, and which you can safely avoid. Of course, they’ll probably talk about movies of the past as well.
    Autographing
    Sun 2:00 PM-3:00 PM Dealers’ Room
    Anderson, Klaw

RevSF editors (past and present) Matthew Bey, Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Mark Finn, Alan Porter and Steve Wilson will also be there. Stop by and say howdy!

Speaking of Armadillocon… was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Article about Armadillocon

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I am quoted in Richard Whittaker’s excellent Austin Chronicle article about Armadillocon‘s 30th anniversary.

Quote:
For editor/columnist/publishing polymath Rick Klaw, back as a panelist for his 14th year, it’s the presence of highly literary writers like Haldeman, Lansdale, and Crider that makes this event important. "One of the strengths of ArmadilloCon has always been that it’s three fans to every pro, so the pros feel a lot more comfortable," he said. "You have a chance to sit down and talk about whatever projects you’re working on. As an editor, you can sit down to talk about working with newer writers. As a new writer, you get to meet these people. It enables you to get nearer to the fans." At the bigger conventions, he adds, "it’s all about promoting whatever you’ve done. This, you’re talking about what you’re going to do."

Article about Armadillocon

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I am quoted in Richard Whittaker’s excellent Austin Chronicle article about Armadillocon‘s 30th anniversary.

Quote:
For editor/columnist/publishing polymath Rick Klaw, back as a panelist for his 14th year, it’s the presence of highly literary writers like Haldeman, Lansdale, and Crider that makes this event important. “One of the strengths of ArmadilloCon has always been that it’s three fans to every pro, so the pros feel a lot more comfortable,” he said. “You have a chance to sit down and talk about whatever projects you’re working on. As an editor, you can sit down to talk about working with newer writers. As a new writer, you get to meet these people. It enables you to get nearer to the fans.” At the bigger conventions, he adds, “it’s all about promoting whatever you’ve done. This, you’re talking about what you’re going to do.”

Article about Armadillocon was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Bigfoot Trackers Claim They’ve Found Their Prey

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I’m a little dubious…

Quote:
PALO ALTO, Calif. — It’s more than 7-feet tall. Weighs over 500 pounds and walked upright — three "Bigfoot" seekers, including a Redwood City man, Wednesday claimed they have proof that they have found the body of the elusive creature in the wilds of Georgia.

And on Friday, at a news conference in Palo Alto, they say they will present DNA evidence to prove the carcass of “Rickmat” is that of a bigfoot.

Soon after the publication of my anthology The Big Bigfoot Book, I was flooded with letters, cards, and clippings making much the same claims as described above.

(Thanks to Mark London Williams for sharing this with me.)

Bigfoot Trackers Claim They’ve Found Their Prey

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I’m a little dubious…

Quote:
PALO ALTO, Calif. — It’s more than 7-feet tall. Weighs over 500 pounds and walked upright — three “Bigfoot” seekers, including a Redwood City man, Wednesday claimed they have proof that they have found the body of the elusive creature in the wilds of Georgia.

And on Friday, at a news conference in Palo Alto, they say they will present DNA evidence to prove the carcass of “Rickmat” is that of a bigfoot.

Soon after the publication of my anthology The Big Bigfoot Book, I was flooded with letters, cards, and clippings making much the same claims as described above.

(Thanks to Mark London Williams for sharing this with me.)

Bigfoot Trackers Claim They’ve Found Their Prey was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

How to Get Published and Avoid Alien Bloodsuckers

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Lore Sjöberg in his excellent Alt Text blog offers up some helpful advice to new writers in the internet age.

Quote:
Scammers can smell fear, and to them it smells like the still-living flesh strips that make up most of their diet. A lot of aspiring writers see publishers and agents as bored nobility, offering contracts in a whimsical attempt to inject some entertainment into an otherwise tedious existence. They suspect that even putting too long a delay between "yes" and "please" will cause the contract to be withdrawn and fed to a purebred Saluki.

Quote:
Now, even if the editor initially appears to be a mammal, it’s still possible to get scammed. There’s a wonderful rule of thumb known as Yog’s Law: "Money flows toward the writer."

I know that in a world filled with kickbacks and graft, this seems too good to be true. It seems perfectly logical that you might have to spread around some cash, grease some palms and lubricate the chassis of commerce with some crude currency in order to make publishing run smoothly. Scammers leap on this misapprehension like a cat on cantaloupe.

A cat on cantaloupe?

How to Get Published and Avoid Alien Bloodsuckers

Posted on by
Reply

Lore Sjöberg in his excellent Alt Text blog offers up some helpful advice to new writers in the internet age.

Quote:
Scammers can smell fear, and to them it smells like the still-living flesh strips that make up most of their diet. A lot of aspiring writers see publishers and agents as bored nobility, offering contracts in a whimsical attempt to inject some entertainment into an otherwise tedious existence. They suspect that even putting too long a delay between “yes” and “please” will cause the contract to be withdrawn and fed to a purebred Saluki.

Quote:
Now, even if the editor initially appears to be a mammal, it’s still possible to get scammed. There’s a wonderful rule of thumb known as Yog’s Law: “Money flows toward the writer.”

I know that in a world filled with kickbacks and graft, this seems too good to be true. It seems perfectly logical that you might have to spread around some cash, grease some palms and lubricate the chassis of commerce with some crude currency in order to make publishing run smoothly. Scammers leap on this misapprehension like a cat on cantaloupe.

A cat on cantaloupe?

How to Get Published and Avoid Alien Bloodsuckers was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon