New York Comic Con—AWOL
The New York Comic Con is this weekend. And, for the first time ever, I’m not attending. So don’t look for me. If you do find me…it’s someone else. Accept no substitutes!
My Weekend: The Good, the Bad and the Damp!
Authors Brian Herbert (the Dune saga) on left and Bruce Taylor ("Mr. Magic Realism") during one of the sunnier moments of Northwest Bookfest 2011.
I needed to be cloned–at least twice–to do everything I wanted to do and be everywhere that I needed to be this last weekend:
- 40th high school reunion — Friday night.
- More reunion festivities where everyone walks around saying, “Who are all these old folks?” — Saturday until everyone gets bored or dies of old age.
- Sell Last Kiss goodies in Kirkland at a booth at Northwest Bookfest — Saturday & Sunday 10 .am. to 6 p.m.
- Be back in Seattle BEFORE 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday to take care of my sick mother.
- Stay home all weekend and kill some deadlines before they kill me.
How’d I do? Well, numerous fans kindly volunteered to take over for me at Bookfest. But I needed to at least set up my booth and be there for at least a few hours. So this is what happened…
- Made it to the reunion Friday night and had a great time pretending I remembered people.
- Skipped the reunion events Saturday so that I could be at Bookfest. Too bad. I was actually looking forward to more people going, “Oh, my God! Are you still alive?”
- Saturday morning I set up at Bookfest and waited for the crowds to arrive. Four hours later I decided they weren’t coming. Frankly, I don’t blame them. Having the vendors for a literary festival outside in October (especially in the Seattle area) is asking for trouble. It was kinda cold. And kinda wet. No sides to the tents of most booths. So it was hard to keep merchandise (and ourselves) dry. A friend was coming later in the day to take over for me. But having a friend be miserable and cold in my place didn’t seem fair. Plus security was going to be a problem when the show closed for the night. So leaving stuff overnight was out. So I just packed up and left around 2 p.m. Saturday. I didn’t come back the next day. Oddly enough, though, I’m glad I attended Bookfest. I enjoyed talking to my booth mates–old pals Bruce Taylor and Roberta Gregory and new pals Carl & Lida Sloan, and Brian Herbert. I especially enjoyed meeting Brian. I knew his dad Frank and it was fun reminiscing and finding out what’s going on with the Dune series.
- Took care of my mom Saturday night. Shelagh filled in for me Sunday night so I could write.
- And, yes, I made all my deadlines. Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this!
New Last Kisses for Video Game TV Series
Last Kiss posters and comics are appearing as prominent props in the upcoming web TV series, Up Up Down Down. I’ve created several new, faux Last Kiss comic book covers just for the series.
The adorable tyke holding the Last Kiss poster is series creator/star R.a. Rayne’s four-year-old daughter Ariebella. The series is now filming it’s first episodes. I’ll post a link as soon as the Up Up Down Down goes live on the web.
The sitcom is set in the fictional Up Up Down Down video game store where Owner Jack Cooper “and his short-fused…Assistant Manager…are being constantly bombarded with threats from the bank (and)…angry customers…
“In a desperate attempt to turn the store’s sales around Jack has hired Alex, a very attractive female ‘gamer’ who would much rather play a video game or read a comic book than Twitter about her latest shopping spree. Alex’s presence alone is drumming up new business and sending the store into a hormonal frenzy.”
What the Well-Dressed Person is Wearing to Burning Man This Year
And that well-dressed person is…Tom Dimock.
Tom asked me to make up this shirt for him in time for this year’s Burning Man festival (Aug. 29-Sept. 5.)
I feel sorry for all the other people at Burning Man who won’t be wearing this shirt—or even clothing.
Hmm. Got a photo of yourself with a Last Kiss product? Send it to me and (if it’s not too raunchy), I’ll post it. Extra points if it’s funny!
Serious Stuff: Life, Death & My Mom
I generally don’t talk about my private life here—unless it’s something upbeat or I can get a gag out of it. But I’m about to go all dark and dramatic. So if you’re expecting some jokes, I suggest you don’t read this.
My mom is dying.
She’s been dying for years actually, but recently she’s gotten really good at it. No more chemo. Let the Grim Reaper come knocking. She’s ready.
Thanks to hospice, the pain is mostly manageable.
But Mom wants to die in her own home. So family members have been giving her 24-7 care for the last few months. By family members I mean mostly my sister Lisa and me.
(The week Lisa and I took off to attend last month’s San Diego Comic Con was an obvious exception. It was hard on my mom. And it was probably even harder on the family members who filled in for us.)
I’m spending about three days and nights a week taking care of Mom. And that’s fine. (Lots of good talks and bad TV.) But…I’m falling behind in my life.
Free time is scarce. Mostly, I just meet my deadlines and collapse.
So why talk about this now? Well, I guess I want to let friends and fans (many of you are both) know why I’m so hard to reach. So busy. And so very, very far behind in responding to e-mails.
Okay, that’s it. Monday, I’ll be back without the drama. I’m always happy to concentrate on the gags. We’re all here for the laughs. After all, laughter heals. (And pays my bills.)
In the meantime, though, thanks for letting me get this off my chest.
Get a Last Kiss in San Diego
I should be a lot easier to find this year at Comic-Con International. Most of the time I’ll be at the Last Kiss Entertainment booth (#2302.)
I’m excited because Booth 2302 is near the middle of that long, long convention hall–just a few yards away from one of the main entrances. Last year I was in a corner of the convention so far from the center of comics civilization that I may have actually been in another dimension!
Sharing the booth with me will be the insanely funny Kevin Boze and wildly talented Stasia Kato of The Virgin Project.
I’ll also be putting in daily appearances and selling cool stuff at Justin Chung’s World Famous Comics booth (#5560) which is just inside one of the entrances near the Illustrators and Fantasy Illustrators area. Beautiful models (Miracole Burns, Brieanna Brock and Dana Braziel-Solovy) and fantastic artists (Justin, Chung; Hi-Fi’s Brian and Kristy Miller; and Joe Corroney) will be there too.
Here’s my schedule for appearances at World Famous Comics:
Thu, July 21, 5:30pm – 6:30pm
Fri, July 22, 10:30am – 12:30pm
Sat, July 23, 12pm – 2pm
Sat, July 23, 12pm – 2pm
Schedule for all WFC artist and models here. Drop by and chat–or I’ll get lonely and depressed!
