If you read wishweaver's blog, you are probably familiar with the fact that she and the daughter-unit are big fans of NUMB3RS. I am enjoying the show, but like many things, I find some moderation is good, so I'm way behind where they are.

Still, the episode we watched today was a lot of fun. Called Graphic, it dealt with an "ashcan" comic book that would be worth millions, a really obnoxious comic artist turned businessman (hmm, wonder who that could have been), a former comic legend who's trying to get the book returned to him (sounds damn familiar) and it's set in what could have passed as the San Diego ComiCon. Story aside, I loved the detail they invested in making it really feel like the scenes were taking place at a convention. Also, the fact that Wil Wheaton and Christopher Lloyd were the two main guest stars just capped the enjoyibliity. (Plus, getting to watch Christopher Lloyd and Judd Hirsch at the end of the episode was a nice touch.) If you haven't checked it out and are a comic geek, (like me), I recommend catching it on "On Demand" or downloading it from some place like iTunes.

Went out again this afternoon to write. Spent some quality time on Shattered Mirror, finally making some of the changes April and I had discussed for this chapter. I was really getting into the story and I hope to devote some extra time to it over the next few weekends. Wasn't able to spend as much time on it as I had hoped, but still knocked out 2,837 words. After dinner tonight, I returned to the Endless and worked on Chronicles, adding another 1,483 words to Chapter Twenty. All in all, I wrote 4,320 words today and 10,490 words for the weekend.

Go me! *grin*

Who knows, maybe some of them will even survive the first set of edits.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Words for Today

4320 / 1000 words. 432%

Progress on Shattered Mirror

2837 / 1000 words. 284%

Progress on CSD: Dragon Couchant

86582 / 100000 words. 87%

Words for 2008

105983 / 366000 words. 29%

Wow.

I was skimming through Bill Hollbrook's Kevin and Kell site and found an old link to the Compuserve Comics and Anime forum. That brought back some great memories.

Back in 1994, I was just getting started in comics (not that I ever got very far in comics, but that's a different story), and I was just migrating from Prodigy to Compuserve because that's where anyone who was anyone in comics hung out. Damn, looking back on that now, I can say I used to hobnob with Peter David, Warren Ellis, John Byrne, Bob Ingersoll, Tony Isabella, Rob Davis, Jim Valentino, Joe Monks, Bernie Wrightson, Dave Olbrich and a host of others I'm certain I'll remember as soon as I finish this entry. I got to see a number of people get started in the industry too like Sean McKeever and Paul Storie. Good guys and gals.

Plus, I had the opportunity to meet and visit with a number of retailers like Gib Bickel of the Laughing Ogre in Columbus OH, the late Lee Tenant of Chicago, and Brian Hibbs in San Francisco. There was a lot of wisdom available for a new comic writer/publisher available if you were willing to listen.

The Wednesday Evening Chat was fast, furious and a hell of a lot of fun. I made a lot of good friends and it was fun to have the Compuserve get-togethers at ChicagoCon and Dragon*Con.

I also got introduced into the wonderful world of Anime and Manga there. I remember the people who got the Japanese versions of Pokemon and such and played the games, giving us a walk through while they translated from the Japanese. It was fun to get to see what a game would be like long before it ever reached America. Plus, this was the height of fan-subs and getting copies of anime videos direct from Japan . . . series that still to this day have never been translated into English.

Then, things changed. DC began requiring their people to post on AOL more, then people began setting up their own web sites with their own message boards and the group began to scatter. There are places out on the net where writers hang out now, there was something about the dynamics of the Comics Forum that is almost impossible to replicate these days.

Well, after seeing the link on Bill's site, I decided to see what was going on back in my old stomping grounds. I really wish I hadn't. AOL (who bought out Compuserve) dumped the forums out onto the web, cutting out a lot of the old users who did most of their stuff off-line using readers. There are about six people keeping the forum alive these days.

It's true, you can never go home again. But, still, tonight, I'll raise a glass to Doug Pratt, Chris Swett and the Comics and Anime Forums. Gentlemen, you fought the good fight and gave this old guy a whole lot of entertainment. I can't thank you enough for that.

Well . . . I didn't get as much work done on my college papers as I probably should have today. It was just hard to get into the mood to write. I'm about halfway through though and if I can finish one paper today (since it's well past midnight) and then finish my reading and typing at the airport on Sunday, I should be good to go.

The two panels I had today I think went pretty successfully. At 9:00pm, I moderated the "State of Comics" panel. We had six panelists, myself and about twenty in the audience. We had two artists, three writers and a gentleman who works for CCG and is a long time comic fan. We discussed Infinite Crisis/Civil War, Where are all these non-comic writers coming from and why?, Are independents pulling back on edgy stuff? Web comics - passing fad or wave of the future?, and various other topics. The audience was energetic and we had two comic retailers in the audience who chimed in with good information from time to time.

The 10:00pm panel was a LOT of fun. It was "Arming Your Characters" and the skill set of the panelist was amazing. Now, realizing we only had four panelist there's going to be some overlap here, we had - 3 SCA fighters (two heavies and one fencer), two Army veterans, a current police officer, a kendoka, three marksmen, a semi-pro football player and a wrestler. We discussed where to find information about weapons (both past and present), how to choreograph a fight scene, why left-handed swordsmen were such a pain to run into, what the "kill zone" was when trying to face a knife-fighter with a pistol, the effects of adrenaline on accuracy and fighting technique, realistic wounds, and the ultimate rule of dealing with combat . . . don't bore the reader. We had some very good questions from the audience (probably 15 people which isn't bad considering the number of parties going on at the Holiday Inn at 10pm on a Friday night).

I've really enjoyed my fellow panelist so far. Very intelligent people and very articulate. If you're close enough to come to Archon next year (esp. since it's the NASFIC site for 2007), I highly, highly recommend the show.

Oh, and the dance tonight was a Logan's Run theme with the ballroom mocked up to look like Carousel and the Con Suite across the hall designated as Sanctuary. They had several Carousel riders hanging from the ceiling in a circle overhead. It was close enough to the movie to be impressive if not just a tad unnerving. Sandmen, anyone?

Now, time for bed. 4 panels and a signing tomorrow - to include my two new panels. I have Star Trek at 40 at 10:00am; Autograph session at noon; Collecting Anime Cels at 5:00pm; Old Wives Tales and Urban Legends at 7:00pm; and Breathing New Life into Vampires at 11:00pm. (Italics indicate new panels.) I have a feeling it's going to be a LONG day tomorrow.

I'm not going to try and cover everything that's happened since my last post. I'll just give you the high points:

1) College

Started college on the 28th of August. I wound up having to scramble to get into The Short Story, which is showing signs of being a very interesting class. We've covered The Fox and the Grapes, The Creation Story from Genesis, The Story of an Hour and The Lottery the past two weeks. (Wound up doing this weeks homework assignment in the Hartsfield International Airport . . . more on that later.) It looks like my Ethics in Literature class is going to be a lot of fun also.

2) Dragon*Con was a blast.

The good: Had a great time at my table in Artist's Alley. Met a lot of really cool people who were either sitting with me throughout the show or else were stopping by to visit. Picked up some GREAT sketches for my con sketch book to include an absolutely wonderful Donald Duck sketch by Don Rosa. Had a chance to visit with Bill Hollbrook of Kevin and Kell fame again as well as another sketch. I'm going to have all of his characters in my book eventually. Sold several copies of Troubleshooters Incorporated and Chronicles of the Sea Dragon, my two comics, and the Ultimate Hulk anthology. If I'd have had any paperback copies of SCE #63 Echoes of Coventry, I could have sold a ton of them. The Trek fans sounded very interested when I told them about the story idea.

I had a great deal of fun watching Tee Morris trying to absorb his first Dragon*Con. Well worth the price of admission right there.

Great panels. I thought Anime 101 went well and the two Sunday night panels were well-attended and well-received (I think). Most of the feedback I got was positive, anyway. I'm hoping they'll invite me to do my panels again next year. The comic panel went well, although not quite as many attended it and the Star Trek panel was good, but suffered from Monday afternoon blues (tired panelists and small crowds). Still, my hat's off to the track coordinators . . . Great job, every one of you.

Having a blast in the Draco Vista party suite. It was a ball getting to meet all the various podcasters to include the Raving Scotsman. (Ian, you magnificent bastard, you!)

The bad: Not getting to meet relevantpink or Tracy Hickman like I had hoped. Just too much to do with the table in Artist's Alley and too much ground to cover. I still managed to pick up a picture she'd put in the Art Auction and have it here beside my computer.

Waiting an hour at the baggage carousel in Atlanta waiting for my luggage to appear, then finding out they managed to blow up one of the drinks I'd brought in my suitcase all over my white shirts. Got to spend a couple of hours in the lovely laundry rooms in the basement of the Amerisuites hotel rather than seeing Dragon*Con (it was almost 6pm by the time I got my badge on Friday . . . a tad too late to set up in Artist's Alley that day).

Going to the Art Show Reception only to find out most of the artists had skipped out. While it was fun looking at the art, I love visiting with the artists . . . which is hard to do if they're not there!

The bag with all my stuff for sale disappearing on the flight from Atlanta to Baltimore. Considering I arrived at the airport almost five hours before my flight, you'd think they could get it on my plane, no? It finally arrived sometime Tuesday evening.

3) The Big News
Opened my e-mail at work on Tuesday to find a letter from an agent I pitched Harbinger to back in July. She liked the pitch and has asked for the first three and a synopsis (which I'm feverishly revising one last time).

I had to walk around the halls of where I work three times to calm down enough to get back to work. :D

I realize this isn't a done deal by any stretch of the imagination, but it's hard not to be excited. As I told someone, all this means is my tee shot hit the fairway. There's still a water hazard (synopsis and chapters) and a sand trap (full manuscript) to surmount before I hit the green (contract). But, as they say, I'm at least in the game and not standing outside the clubhouse door looking in.

OK, it's been three days and I'm still officially geeked. So, sue me. ;D

I think I've bored you all enough now. Go do something creative!

Had a pretty productive day today. Imported 16 CDs into my iTunes (9 rock albums and 7 soundtracks). Next time I take a trip, the iPod is going to be pretty well set up.

Finished Chapter Nine this afternoon, and got about halfway through Chapter Ten of Harbinger. Chapter Nine wasn't really long compared to the two in front of it and therefore I didn't trim quite as much from it. It went from 2644 words to 2516, just 128 words. This chapter was longer in the original, but most of Chapter Six came from this chapter when I did the first re-write of the story.

Had a good talk with Steve Roman this evening. Steve's been my writing mentor and friend since 1992. Steve published my first small-press comic and has worked with me on other comic projects since (most recently with the Chronicles of the Sea Dragon comic that debuted at San Diego last year. He's got several projects in the fire and we discussed our current writing plans. I'm hoping to announce some good news for him here soon, but until then, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for him.

Wow, where the heck did the weekend go?

Current Harbinger final draft status:

31,005 / 100,000 (31.0%)