Put-N-Play-Con: A Vlog with Some Swearing (Just FYI)

Ho dang, this one took a while to edit.

I don’t know why my creativity demanded I make this a video, but I did it. I hope you enjoy it.

In it, I talk about Put-N-Play (the last show I was at), the way conventions tend to promote their shows, and other behind-the-scenes convention secrets.

Here was my set up at Put-N-Play this year:

put n play con artist alley table layout

Sadly, as mentioned in the video, I barely made sales this last weekend. Which is a shame.

My next convention appearance is Kennywood Comicon on June 17th. Wear a nerdy shirt to get a discount on your admission ticket!

After that, I have quite a few more appearances: June 23rd I’ll be at The Big Idea Bookstore in Pittsburgh for Punk, Comics, and Feminism (a discussion group) at 5 pm. Then at 7 pm I’ll be at The Feminist Zine Fest Pittsburgh Zine Reading at the Irma Freeman Center. After that, on June 24th, is Feminist Zine Fest Pittsburgh!

That’s all for now. Thank you for watching and reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

This Week Has Been Crappy

Yo!

This week started pretty rocky – I didn’t announce it except to my personal friend groups, but I had a colonoscopy on Tuesday. My doctor wanted to make sure that, given my symptoms, I wasn’t having any internal bleeding or experiencing symptoms of a more chronic illness like Chron’s disease. The test came back saying there were no signs of anything bad, which is…weird. And also a bit of a letdown. If you know ANYTHING about the prep work needed for a colonoscopy, you know it’s a lot of misery, and to go through all of that just for a test to come back negative has me a bit miffed. Happy that there’s no debilitating issues, but miffed that I went through a lot of metaphorical crap for a lot of nothing.

On the more positive side, there are some great gigs getting lined up, both online and offline. This is REALLY good news because mom and her boyfriend have moved out of the house. Not fully – their RV campsite hasn’t turned the water on yet because Ohio keeps snowing in April. However, the extra gigs will come in handy to help cover the raised rent when they DO fully move out.

So that’s what’s been happening this week. What’s coming up?

Well, I’m making a separate Patreon post about that. Don’t worry – when it posts, it’ll be public viewing.

Thank you for your patience with me.

You. Are. Awesome.

My Next Appearance is At NDC’s Anniversary

witches the sketchbook

Get hyped – my first appearance of the year is at the New Dimension Comics 2-year anniversary event at the Ohio Valley Mall!

That’s right, New Dimension Comics has been in business at the Ohio Valley Mall in Saint Clairsville, OH for 2 years. They’re having all kinds of sales that day, plus a special prize giveaway. Double plus, they’re letting me set up a table to sell my wares!

So if you’re a local, and you haven’t picked up a copy of my new book, Witches: The Sketchbook, come on over February 3rd from 11 am to 6 pm.

If you can’t make it for whatever reason, I’ve got ya’ covered: Witches: The Sketchbook is also available on Storenvy.

As an added bonus, I’m offering free sketch cards to folks who make an appearance at the shop. Here’s the rules to get a sketch card of your very own:

  1. You have to make it to the New Dimension Comics at the Ohio Valley Mall in Saint Clairsville, OH February 3rd between 11 am and 6 pm.
  2. Leave a comment below to let me know what you would like me to draw.
  3. Keep in mind these sketch cards are wee – 2.5 inches wide and 3.5 inches tall.
  4. Please keep it safe-for-work: this is a public venue and kids will be around.

And that’s it!

Depending on how it times out, I may even have some information about the KickStarter campaign for The Case of the Wendigo.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading!

You. Are. Awesome.

Genghis Con 2017

Genghis Con happened last Sunday, November 26th in Lakewood, a suburb of Cleveland.

This was actually my first time in Cleveland, and I had no idea that the city was so FREAKING HUGE.

Genghis Con happened in a building that was once a former warehouse – as such, the elevator the exhibitors used was a cargo elevator.

At least attendees could take the stairs if they were able. I didn’t see a people elevator when I was there.

Anyway! I originally requested only a half table, and I was set to be seated next to my buddy Carlos Rivera, who runs Youngstown Indie Creator Expo (he was going to promote Yo-ICE at Genghis Con). However, he had to cancel at the last minute because of bronchitis. Carlos, if you’re reading this, for the love of Pete, take it easy and take care of yourself.

So yeah, I ended up having a full table.

genghis con 2017 artist alley table

I have this layout down to a SCIENCE.

I would like to tweak the table layout again, though: there are so many small things that it takes a long-ass time to set up, AND a long-ass time to break down everything.

That’s partially why I have a sale going on Storenvy. More on that in a minute.

In terms of sales (and trades – I’m always up for trading books with peeps), the show went well! It wasn’t as successful as the YWCA Mini-Con, but it was more of a success than RathaCon. Still, people got to discover my work and sign up for the email newsletter. Plus I got some cool stuff.

To top it all off, I came across my old caricature buddy, Clarence, from my days drawing caricatures at Cedar Point back in 2012. He invited me over to another caricature buddy’s house for Burger Fest – an annual-ish tradition where caricature buddies get together and eat burgers.

To which I was like “HECK YEAH.”

There’s something to be said about saying “Yes,” to the right things. Don’t say yes to everything (otherwise you’d have some weird experiences, if Yes Man is any indication). It also helps to know what your focus, or as Neil Gaiman put it once, “your mountain,” is. Anything that pulls you away from your mountain does not deserve a Yes.

To me, being in one place with people I hadn’t seen in years just after a good indie comic convention was a good reason to say Yes.

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

P.S. Yes, I’m running a sale on Storenvy – from now until December 18th, you can check out the new Clearance section, where things like mini-prints, mini-comics, and posters are anywhere between 20-50% off. Once these are gone, they’re GONE. So be sure to get them before December 18th.