Read the real life stories and experiences of freelance writer Mike Gagnon.

Weekend Mega Blog

You know, I hate to keep doing this folks, but our weekends have gotten so busy here that I rarely have time to get to a computer. Oh well, I'm sure I can make it up with a massive entry.

Lookit the hits!...

WOW! Check out the counter on the left side of the page under the links! We're over 13,000 hits! Woohoo! You guys are loyal. Hey while you're down there looking click the red and grey button and subscribe to this here blog. You know you wanna.

The new main page and studios!...

Tommorow at roughly 1pm Eastern Standard Time the new main page for SMASH! Comics will be online. It's going to reveal all of the new studios that will be involved with and publishing with SMASH!. Digital Webbing has already run a press release about it which can be found at: http://digitalwebbing.com/news/052804-9.html 

Friday...

Well, I didn't do much on Friday...except work like a dog! I've been steadily busy sending out a stream of sponsorship packages, advertising packages, and business letters and correspondence to well known corporations and fellow comics pros alike. I've also been reviewing art again, our feature artist for Captain Canuck isn't going to work out, so I'm reviewing for the position again while I keep everything else running smoothly for all of the back-up stories.

I walked Scooter several times just to clear my head and get a break. The tension and stress are mounting. I've been very stressed out the last couple of days. At least I'm not losing sleep anymore. That fixed itself after I took care of some bizness on Tuesday. I honestly don't think I've ever been more stressed than I am now, but I'm doing good at repressing it. All I have to do is not explode. All I have to do is hang in there and I'll make it through and won't have any more resons to stress.

Friday night we went to Pam's parents, dropped off Scooter, and stayed over at my parents.

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Saturday...

The big day! We headed on over to Dana & Jeremy's place early. Well We didn't get there untill 9am, but everyone else got there early. We had 7 vehicles and 2 traliers all in Jeremy's driveway. Basically all of our family, Jeremy's Parents, and some more close family and friends. The entire caravan loaded up with stuff from the house they were renting and brought it to the new house that they just bought in town. Quite a change form their usual surroundings of sheep and lamas. Anyway, some more folks showed up to help at the new place. Jeremy and I cleared out all the junk the old owners left and took it to the dump before everyone else arrived. Navigating their street was hazardous at best because the neighbours were just moving in too. They had 3 or 4 vehicles and a full size moving truck. We managed to complete the move in with out too much incident. Most of the guys went back out to the old place to get one last load of big items out of Jeremy's garage, but we car pooled that time because there was no need for all of the vehicles. We got the 4 wheeler and snowmobiles loaded up and we were off again.

We finished filing up Jeremy's new (to him) 2-Story Garage and kicked back with beer and pizza. Pretty much all of the hard work was done by 1pm. Around 3 o'clock Dad, Pam and I straggled off. We headed back out and I helped Dad load some stuff in his truck that he's going to take out to his bush property today. His old lawnmower that Jeremy had, Jeremy's old canoe, and a good tire rim for fires.

After that Pam and I headed back to her parents to pick up Scooter. We had a short visit and then headed home. On the way we stopped at Movie Gallery and rented The Order and Brother Bear. Neither of which we have watched yet.

The WB's Superstar USA...

The reason we didn't watch a movie was because the WB's Superstar USA was on. We've never seen it and decided to give the show a try. Man this show is bad, but it's ahilarious. I feel so bad for the contestants though. Man how humiliating. When someone finds out that they won because they are actually the worst singer in America. Man if that ever happened to me I'd change my name and get plastic surgery. It is a truly horrible batch of singers. I was ready to pop the movie in half way through, but Pam wanted to see the whole thing. Now sure, I can understand the person getting the $100,000 prize for winning, but I don't agree with the recording contract. Why on Earth do we want to give a recording contract to someone who can't sing? That's just wrong. I also think there's a slight possability that this whole show is a crock and that the contestants are actually hired actors. But maybe that's my paranoia talking....

Sunday...

Yeehaw! Today! So anyway, I got up because I couldn't sleep anymore.  I checked my e-mails and did some other stuff. Read some more Grendel: War Child. Now I'm writing this blog.

Today has been counted down all week here in the "office". Today has been dubbed "Psychedlic Sunday". Why might you ask? Because this afternoon I'm heading to Hanover to meet up with the guys from Dark Delicacy Press and company at Kevin Clorey's place. We'll be talking art, comics, contracts, Captain Canuck, and there shall be beer and enjoyment for all. Pam doesn't really want to go, so unless she changes her mind I'll be leaving here at 1pm, arriving at Kevers at 2. Leaving Kev's around 4 so I get home for 5 and Pam and I can have a nice Sunday dinner. Aren't I thoughtful? BTW if you didn't read the article about Kevin and Tom's interview that I lined up at 91.3 Bluewater Radio, it was a SMASH!ing success. The press release was carried by Digital Webbing and can be found at: http://digitalwebbing.com/news/052504-8.html

It's also being carried by Comicon.Com's the Pulse at: http://www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/pulse.cgi?http%3A//www.comicon.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi%3Fubb%3Dnext_topic%26f%3D37%26t%3D002669%26go%3Dnewer

Anyway I've gotta get going, get work done, get ready, and get prepared for all the work that needs doing tommorow!

Later...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 08:42 | link | comments

Perserverance...

Although I've been very busy lately, dog tired, exhausted, had a ton of work, things are looking up. I'm happy and positive and I think things are only going to get better. I know the hard work is just starting and things won't keep going well unless I keep working hard. Looking forward to visiting Tom and Kevin this weekend and getting to relax. So busy, It's good though.

I feel bad. I pretty much said everything I had to say earlier. I feel like I'm wasting readers time because I don't have anything meaning full to say.

I discovered Grendel. It's one of those books on that short list of titles that I've always heard where good, but was never able to check out. Pretty damn good stuff. I'm reading the Warchild trade. Is it just me or am I the only one who sees similarities with Star Wars. I mean come on, he's got a light sabre! Still a good book though.

BTW everyone should go to www.comicbookclassifieds.com check out the postings. I know you wanna buy the comics and toys I'm selling. Do it now!

Need sleep...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 20:00 | link | comments

Penance Blog...

Well, I missed yesterdays entry. Sorry guys. I'm just way too damn busy. Things are finally speeding up I managed to get a lot of work done yesterday and today. That's a good thing. It only took slightly more than half a week to get in gear. The biggest thing was that I let myself get side tracked with a book that I'm writing that should really be a side project. I've also made myself available to anyone who might be hiring a writer. I think I have a couple of very good non-comic writing jobs coming my way.

So I've also had some additional stress that's been making me lose sleep. I ran into a problem with a future project and I finally resolved it yesterday and tied up all loose ends today. Thank god. You'll all get more details on that another day.

Kev and Tom's interview on Bluewater Radio 91.3 went SMASH!ingly well. You can see the press release that was posted on Digital Webbing here: http://www.digitalwebbing.com/news/052504-8.html

So I'm dry for now, I'll be back later with today's entry.

Mike

 

Posted by: lightning at 18:43 | link | comments

Long Weekend Mega Blog

Sorry for falling behind folks. This blog will explain all and make-up for the missed days.

Movie Review

Gothika - Well this weekend we rented two movies from the local movie gallery. The only one we've watched so far is Halle Berry's thriller Gothika. I have to admit that I was actually quite surprised and impressed with this movie. I avoided it because I read so many horrible reviews on it, basically calling it a piece of crap. There must be a lot of movie reviewers on crack. Halle Berry's acting was excellent in this movie, and the supporting cast pulled off all of their parts to perfection. Many reviewers said this movie wasn't scary. Let me tell you, any scarier and I'd need a change of shorts.

In Gothika Halle Berry plays and psychiatrist who works an endless job in a mental sanitarium. She also just happens to be married to her boss. Robert Downey Jr. also plays the role of Halley's co-worker who also has a tremendous attraction to Berry's character. One night on the way home from work  Berry's character is forced to take a detour on the way home. On the way she is forced off of the road when she mistakenly belives that she has run over a young woman. The next thing the head doctor knows she wakes up in the sanitarium. She is locked in one of the cells where she used to treat patients, treated like she is crazy, and is told she will soon be standing trial for the murder of her own husband.

Berry begins to look deeper into what rerally happened, all the while making herself look crazier and crazier to her former co-workers. Berry is forced to turn to a former patient, played by Penelope Cruz, whom she herself believed was crazy and may hold a key to unravelling a supernatural web of lies and deceit. The plot twists and turns in this super natural thriller and includes more than one vistation of the aparition that Halley saw the night she was forced off of the road.

By the end of the movie your opinion of every opening character will change drastically from your first impression.

Although some plot points were slightly predictable, and the conclusion is starting to border on a new cliche in the horror film biz, this is still a movie worth your $4 rental fee.

Halle Berry in Gothika!

 

 

 

 

 

Monday...

Crazy crazy day. I got a call from a radio show on 91.3 FM in Hanover to appear as a guest on Tuesday night. As it turned out with the late notice and all  there was just no way I could make it, however I was able to swing it so that Kevin Clorey and Tom Muzzell of Dreams in Texture will be on the show to promote the book which will be in the July Previews, as well as pump up SMASH! Comics too! The show is called The Grey Bruce Line and airs from 7 to 8 pm on 91.3 Bluewater Radio in Hanover, Ontario.

I also was able to get a lot of good editing done on some of the pencils for this falls new Captain Canuck comic. Things are moving fast with Monkeys and Midgets and I should be able to release some promo info any day now. Things still went really slow today though on account of it being a holiday so Pam was home and we were both tired from a busy weekend. Hopefully tommorow will be better.

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Tuesday...

Got a lot of really important work done today, but it was all really slow time consuming stuff. I did a lot of layout for my own regular book that is coming out this summer called "Easy Business Ideas" The book should be available in stores no later than August of 2004 and is being distributed by Booksurge. I should have a draft copy to pass to my new editor by the end of the week.

I also sent out some important packages, but I still don't feel that I'm getting material turned out as fast as I should. I'm really hoping to get really far ahead this week. I'll leep my fingers crossed. I shouldn't even be taking a break long enough to write this blog!

TTFN...

Mike 

Posted by: lightning at 19:52 | link | comments

Well it's super crappy out today. We might go out for diner, we might not. Pam kept trying to get me to come back to bed. So we woke up long enough to eat lunch and watch 2 episodes of the new Transformers cartoon. Then we went back to bed until almost 3pm! I freaked when I woke up. Pam says I should relax, but I can't. Too much work! We spent most of this afternoon cleaning the apartment, I just need to do this room. Maybe I won't. It needs it though. Now I'm doing work while I write this blog. Trying to get a head start on Monday.

 

 

The Skinny on Booksurge - Alright, the new distro system I mentioned yesterday, it isn't super new, thay have been around a couple years. Anyway they are called Booksurge. I checked them out after hearing alot about them from Ron Gravelle at Landwaster. I spoke with a rep myself over the phone, and got the skinny. I was skeptical at first, but these guys really do seem to be as good as they sound. I'd say that this is the way to go for indie publishers. This is a beautiful system.

What Booksurge does is PRINT AND DISTRIBUTE your book. It's all done digitally with. Print-On-Demand. That means that the publisher doesn't have to pay $1000's for expensive printing. Books are printed from their server as they are ordered in the number that is ordered. Plus they have parnerships with every major book distributor, book stores, and online retail as well. Plus you can sell your books on your site. They aren't even exclusive, so if you're doing a graphic novel you can even continue to solicit to Diamond and FM and order the books for them through Booksurge with a wholesaler discount.

It's really affordable. Not including your marketing and promotion, that's always your responsibility. But it only costs $99 U.S. to set up each book you do. Another $50 gets you listed in amazon. That's it! A published, distributed book on Amazon and available worldwide for only $150! Another $50 will get them to do your barcode as well, but you can do this cheaper yourself.

They may even try to break into the comic store market too! They will even print comics, but for me personally the prices for cover and wholesale discount are still a little too high for doing regular comics.

They have printing facilities in countries worldwide so shipping is as low as possible. There's more than I can remeber to put here, so I suggest all you authorspublisher's and self-publishers check out www.booksurge.com for yourselves.

Posted by: lightning at 16:21 | link | comments

Today...

Well I cut the lawn today. I also finished Monkeys & Midgets #2 script. Kevin and I sent multiple messages back and forth and it looks like we may have some new collaborations in the future. That would be cool. I also had a very good phone chat with a rep for a new distro system. I'll post more about that in tommorow's blog. I'm up to my ass in scripts and other business stuff. This week has had a lot of business meeting, talks, schmoozing etc. All those things are important, but they've slowed me down on actual work a great deal! I am getting behind. Next week it's gonna be pure, hardcore work!

I need a shower...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 18:46 | link | comments

Hey I should mention, Tuesdays blog. At the end it says this is for Jay and Andrew. I didn't mean the blog about distro, I meant the word following that statement. It was "squish" which is an inside joke. I certainly wasn't trying to send any hidden messages or anything like that. Just wanted to avoid any potential confusion.

Monkeys and Midgets...

2 pages away from finishing the final version of the script for Monkeys & Midgets issue #2. This one is going to be full of a barrel of laughs let me tell you. A barrel of monkeys too. And midgets for that mater. I can't even get through writing the script without laughing out loud. I hope the book does good because I'll miss these characters after the 3 issue series is done.

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Pam tried to kill me last night...

I had a really weird dream last night. In it Pam and I were laying in bed awake. It was during the day and it was sunny out. We were talking and I was laying sideways. Suddenly Pam rolled over and squished my face against the pillow with her back. Somehow I couldn't breath but I was still talking fine. I was yelling that I couldn't breath and struggling to get free, but she just said that it was my fault for laying there. Then I woke up and get this. I wasn't breathing. Pam had flopped over in her sleep and her arm was accross my face. I scrambled away and took the deepest breath of my life. She stirred just enough to wake, realize what happened, and "allegedly" fall back to sleep. I'm taking my bat to bed tonight...if I can sleep.

Glimpse...

The new rack is up and running and looks like it will do some good business. The owner there is excited too. It has even got me more future work. The place the rack is in is involved in several businesses. I'll be designing and laying out their mail order catalog, and as it turn out I may be doing a comic for Head Magazine, the Canadian version of High Times. 

Me, known?...

I got a call from a sci-fi convention today, no, not to be a guest, but to offer me a cross promotional deal involving their con. Weird eh? Of course I said yes.  

More tommorow...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 20:04 | link | comments (2)

A weird ass day...

If you had told me that the day I had today would have happened when I woke up this morning, I'd have told you you were nuts.

Student Loans...

So awhile ago for some reason the government quit taking out my student loan payments from my bank account. I've been meaning to find out why, but I've been busy. Low and behold I get a call this morning from a collection agency representing the crown. As it turns out, the system of having your payments taken from your account means that the government defers the debt to your banking institution who esentially carry the burden of the loan. At any time your bank can decide that they don't want to carry the loan any more and sell it back to the government. And they don't have to inform you at all! When the government takes back the loan management they automatically send it to a crown collection agency. So suddenly I have to refinance my student loans from 2001. So, I have to make a down payment ASAP and then set up a new payment plan for the balance. Holy crap! How complicated does the government have to make things? Why not keep taking moey out automatically from my account, then again that was the banks call. Sheisters every last one. I swear it's just a scheme to screw people into paying more interest!

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Scooter Vs. The Snake...

So I got back from town this morning, took Scooter for a walk, and then we went out to the shed. Before I could get to the door of the shed Scooter ran up to it as he usually does. Suddenly he jumped back and was staring at something in the bush in front of the door. It took a full minute for me to figure out what the hell it was and why he was staring at it. There in front of my studio door was a big angry snake. I kept calling Scooter because he kept staring at it. It looked pissed and like it was getting ready to bite. He started backing away and I grabbed him. This was the hugest friggin' snake I've even seen not behind glass. Had it been stretched out it would have been around 2 and a half feet long, and it's diameter was well larger than the size of a toonie. At least two inches. And unlike most lone snakes that run away it looked angry.

So I was kinda freaked. I never knew I was scared of snakes untill today. So I called around some anuimal controll places to see if it was safe to let Scooter run around free outside and what kind of snake it could be. I knew it wasn't a garter or milk snake, I've seen lots of those. In the end the concensus seems to be that it must be a very large adult ribbon snake. They are not poisionous, but their bite can become seriously infected, so we're supposed to not let Scooter run free in the yard for a couple of days. They say it is probably here to eat the moles in the garden and then leave. They also say if it doesn't leave and becomes a nuisance that it is my responsibility to re-locate it. Yeah right! I'm supposed to wrangle it into a bag and take it somewhere else. However, I'm not supposed to kill it and the law says that I can't move it more than 1 kilometer from where I found it. They also say that because it can only be moved 1 KM that if I do have to move it it will probably come back anyway. Yeah right, what a bunch of shit. If that sonofabitch isn't gone by Friday I'm borrowig the neighbours gun and shooting the thing!

The new job, sort of...

So I started handing out resumes again today even though the comic biz is realy picking up. just lookin' fer a temporary job for extra cash. I got hired at the first place i went to. Sort of. I'll be working for a furniture and art store in Kincardine, I'm essentially thier new maintenacne man. However, I have no set schedule, I'll just be called in when I'm needed. Which could be a lot, or very little. Oh well, extra cash is good. Plus I get paid after every day.

Being a whore...

Well when I got serious about doing comics it happened. I became a media whore. Which really worked out for me. Then I became a marketing whore. Which also turned out okay. Now I'm a full blown comics whore. As of today, since I have so much money going out plus this whole student loan thing I'm already taking absolutely every writting and comics related job I can get. That pays that is. Basically if it involves me getting paid I'll do it. Anyone need a writer? E-mail me!

Areevadercie...

Mike

 

Posted by: lightning at 19:09 | link | comments

Dark day...

It's been crappy and overcast all day. It's been raining for like 24 hours. I was gonna go out to the studio shed today, but it's too crappy out there. I always leave the doors open when out there, and if I do that today my shit will get wet. SO I've been doing lots of work indoors today and now I gotta get this weblog done before Pam gets home.

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Comic Tip

Pricing and Distribution - Over the weekend I chatted with several comic publishers about business and the industry. One publisher said that they refused to use a distributor and would always do self distribution. When I asked why they said that by the time they mailed the books they were actually loosing money. Well folks let me tell you, if this is your situation you're doing something wrong. The money you make is dictated in large part by the cover price and your distributor.

When selling your comics to a distributor everything is based on the cover price. When a customer buys your comic in the store they pay full cover price. The store that sells that comic has to make money right? Because of this they'll demand a discount from their distributor off of the cover price, This discount can range anywhere form 35-50%. Now the distributor also wants to take a bite and get it's fair share too. If they have to give the stores a discount of up to 50% off of cover price then they're going to want a discount form you, usually 60% off of the cover price. That leaves you, the publisher, with no more than 40% of the cover price.

With this 40% of the cover price you've got to cover mailing, expenses, paying artists, printing, and also make a profit. So 40% of your cover price must be more than what it costs you to make that comic per copy.

Let's assume that your comic that just sold in a store has a cover price of $4.

The reader paid $4, the store selling it paid the distributor $2 for that book, the distributor that bought that comic paid you, the publisher $1.60 for that book.

So, your expenes for that book better be less than $1.60 per copy. If not then you're in trouble. If you have this problem then you can solve it one of two ways. Printing more copies will lower your cost per copy, but make sure the extra copies are pre-ordered. If you print more copies that don't sell you'll lose even more money. The easier way to make sure you don't lose money is to increase your cover price untill 40% of it is more than your costs.

Some of you may say "Only $1.60 for a $4 Comic!" "Friggin' ditributors!". Yes, that's right, that's how the industry works, but before we start blaming and cursing the distributors let's take a closer look at the price break down.

Comic cover Price $4

The Store makes $2 Profit

The Publisher makes $1.60 Profit/expenses.

What does the distributor get?

The Distributor makes $0.40 Profit. That's all! 40 cents! And most comics are less than $4. So, they'd make even less. It's actually the stores that get the biggest piece of the pie! The publisher gets the second biggest and can make more than the distributor in profit if they make sure that their own costs and expenss are as low as possible.

Let this be something to think about to all you would-be small presses before you get into a money losing situation with a distributor!

This is for Jay and Andrew...

Squish!

Mike   

Posted by: lightning at 17:01 | link | comments (4)

Slow news day...

Well I got a lot done today, but nothing too interesting. I have an entry planned about comic pricing and distribution, but I'm not prepared to do that today. So I mowed the lawn again today. After that I came in and worked on a script, I also did some character designs in the studio today. I set up my newstand rack and I just have to make some final tweaks on the placement of all of the comics before I deliver it to the store tommorow. Did up some contracts and I also contacted all the folks I met over the weekend. Had a few calls and e-mails back and forth with The Comics Journal. Also cleared out some more business e-mail. Played ball with Scooter and walked him a few times. Got the barcode for Dreams and did some design work.

It's storming like a mo-fo here. Gotta go!

Mike

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Posted by: lightning at 18:12 | link | comments

Weekend Mega blog!

Foreward -}yes that's right, I said Mega blog. This is going to catch folks up on my entire weekend and tell some many unheard stories. The entries for Friday and Saturday will count towards my Penance Blog quota as well.

Point of interest. Over the weekend I spoke with some friends and readers of my blog. I just want to clear up any possible misconceptions that any readers may have. It is possible that when I'm wrting this little bio-y comic-y journal of mine that events can be misconstrued. Most specifically when I write about my day. I just want to make sure that everyone knows that I abbreviate things because I figure no one is interested in a lot of the details. So when I write I did 2 or 3 little things that's not ALL I did ALL day, just part of it.

From now on I'll try to give more detail to keep you guys interested. The last thing I want is for you readers out there to think that all I do is sit here and type this blog. Or sit on my ass in front of the computer. I just figured no one wants to know all the ins and outs of my daily business life. Go figure.

Friday -

Well, after getting to Pam's parents and getting Scooter all unpacked for his weekend Pam and I decided to just stay there instead on going to Danny's for the night.

In the morning we dragged our tired asses up, got ready in a hurry and headed into Owen Sound. When we got there Danny already had his shop open so we went and visited him. We left the van locked in the parking lot outside his shop and got our tickets to board the bus.

The bus wasn't too bad on the ride there. The 4 hour trip didn't seem so long. Pam and I talked about stuff and enjoyed the scenery. Laughed at the freaks on the bus. And fun was had by all.

When we arrived at the bus terminal I covered myself in the 100 pounds of luggage we had. We crossed the street and quickly found comics pal Andrew Foster. Andrew even had a spiffy new haircut. My hair is getting long. It's funny cause when I lived in the city I always had the short hair and Andrew was always in need of a cut. Anywhore. We jumped of the public favorite subway, good old TTC, and made it down to Union Station.

Why to Union Station you ask? Because I'm too cheap to buy a hotel and Andrew offered to let us stay at his place! Harhoohaha! So since he lives in the 'Shwa we needed to get the GO Train. An hour later we were in sunny Oshawa, now with less crack addicts! So anyway, we walked to Andrews new digs (well not really new to him, but we've never been there) and dropped the bags in his living room.

Let me tell you this guy has an awesome apartment for a single dude. I could live in one of his storage closests. There are 3 of those! Pizza boxes and pop bottles adorned the place and really took me back to my bachelor days. Ahhh..the life..... Anyway Drews place is awesomely decorated with some of the best comic posters mola can buy. Soon we ventured into the suburban wasteland and dined at a local Subway, mmmmm...cheese steak sub.....

We then marched to Icons Comics and Collectibles, the apparent comic shop of choce in the 'Shwa. There Andrew bought many books while I looked at many books that I wished I could buy. Had Pam not been there I probably would have blown every cent I had. Since us boys got to partake in our comics addictions in return we took Pam to the Oshawa Shopping Centre. There me an Andrew enjoyed many different benches while waiting for Pam. She got herself some sexy new clothes, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

We hiked back across town to Andrews pad and hung out, shot the shit. Made some ravioli later and talked comics. Indie superstar Jay Marcy even dropped by after he was able to put Xander, his cute-as-a-button 1 year old to bed. Hearing Andrew telling stories about him when visiting Jay's makes me wish I lived there too. Alas, it seems he shall only know the pleasure of having Unca Andrew. Anyway Jay came over. We talked business, comics, art, comics, comics, other comic creators, graphic novels, good ideas, and more. Oh, we talked about TV and movies too. I rip roaring time was had by all. I consumed a large amount of mudslide as we chatted. I forgot to mention that we stopped at the liquor store before coming home.

Soon Jay had to leave. Pam and I read some of 'Drews strips. Wish I had been able to read them all. I hit the shower and we all hit the sacroiliac shortly after. I should mention that Jay and Andrew's collaboration on the next Powerwus mini-series looks truly awesome!

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Saturday -

So we all got up. Andrew had to work his enslaving job so he was unable to come to the show. When we straggled down to the bus station we found out that we had just missed the bus. CRAP! Andrew headed off to work and Pam and I waited around in the bus station for the next bus to Pickering. This is because there are no trains that run to Oshawa on the weekend. So an hour after we were supposed to leave we caught the bus to Pickering and from there we hoped on the train to Toronto. Pam and I talked about stuff as I got more and more antsy about being late for the show. Finally we hopped the Subway and walked to the Trinity St. Paul Centre at 427 Bllor St. West for the Toronto Small Press Book Fair!

The Toronto Small Press Book Fair - This show was rather impressive for the first time attending. The entire main floor of the building was cleared out with doors open between all of the rooms. Aisles upon isles of vendors were there with some of the coolest, most off the wall stuff you can find. Sales were slow in the morning. The early crowd was mostly made up of elderly intellectual types who didn't really dig the comics. It was a damn shame as I started to doubt the decision to even do the show. However I still had hope because I could see that there were lots of other comic folks too. By around 2pm things really picked up. The younger crowd came in and started to snap up books. Suspension of Disbelief sold well, lots of people liked the samples of Dreams in Texture, and people loved the comics I brought as a part of Independent Glimpse. Material from Cocked & Loaded Studios and Peter Conrad sold pretty well. I moved a couple Masons ans a couple GAAK and enjoyed talking with people of all ages who had questions. Some of the best parts of the show were meeting and talking with other comics and small press folks. We made some really good connections and I hope to speak and work with some of these folks again in the future.

Here's a quick break-down of some other folks that I or Pam & I met at the show and that you should look for! Some great stuff!

Leanne Franson - Our neighbour to the right at the show. Leanne is the creator and now publisher of a series of great mini-comics and graphic novels. The main character is Liliane the bi-dyke, and her adventures and stories are fictional accounts of true stories from the creators life. Get it? I'll admit I was a bit skeptical, but when I picked up her newest graphic novel, Don't be a Crotte!, I couldn't put it down! Truly good and entertaining. I wish I could have bought it. Her website is: http://liliane.keenspace.com

James P. McAuliffe - This guy was our left side neighbour and he was a true gentleman and a scholar. Especially when he told that joke about the rookie cop in bed with his wife. Ah..good times. Anyway this guy has the body of one mean mother of a biker, but the heart of a poet. Literally! James self-publishes chap books and other works of his own poetry. Some of it quite good. He also does photography and his most recent sample of "What Next?", His soon to be released book, has some spectacular shots of butterflys and other nature scenes. James also creates collages out of magazine clippings. He fits together items that make a statement , usually about society or politics, when assembled as a whole. A great guy who can't say enough about his wife and kids as well. As if that isn't enough you can also get official THCBO T-Shirts form James and they even come in re-usable re-sealable baggies! You can e-mial big J at: jpm1@rogers.ca

Jeff LeMire - A friggin' comic genius! Jeff is the publisher of Ashtray Press and the Ashray Comics line. He's also a great artist and has some truly amazing covers! You can scope it out at www.ashtraypress.com

Melanie Davis - A.K.A. Valkyria. This woman produces not only amazing and intricate jewellery, but some of the most beautiful art around. Her style is very similar to Kevin Clorey and it looks good. She also produces cover art and chap books and has a graphic novel coming out soon. You can e-mail her at: vaalkyria@hotmail.com

OUTwrites - A really cool and diverse group of Toronto writers. Their new anthology is called "zhush" and they can be found at: http://members.rogers.com/outwrites

Earth Partners Publishing - A real dedicated gang of folks set on spreading the word about our need to save and protect our planet. Visit: http://www3.sympatico.ca/aseverin/earthpartners

Cynthia Gould - A really cool abstract artist. very inspirational. www.cynthiagould.com

Josh Gautreau - This guy makes one of the coolest zines I have ever read. Truly awesome. Lots of introspective, poetry, social analysis, and more. I really can't say enough. Art by Timden Broder is cool too!! E-mail Josh at: j_gautreau@hotmial.com

Reg Stacey - Publisher of Groovy Comics and creator of the Groovy series Jawbreakin' Julie. I was quite surprised at really how well written this series is. I might have to get the rest of the issues, truly amazing. The art is good and gets better and better with every issue as well! A great fun guy with a fun book. I hope we can work together in the future and I already have some ideas!You can check it out at: www.geocities.com/jawbreakin_julie

Daniel Barclay - Reg's cohort in crime and publisher of Brown Paper Bag Comics. Some truly cool and innovative stuff. They have a new book coming out called Dreamer as well! Contact the man at bpbcomics@hotmail.com

The Toronto Special - A great and funny Toronto based tabloid spoof. Published by Can-Open Press.

Mercury Press - It isn't a small press show in Toronto without the Word Newspaper. Published by Mercury Press the Word is a newspaper specifically aimed at the literary arts community. You can e-mail WORD at: word@themercurypress.ca

After the show -

As the afternoon died down we decided to leave early and get something to eat before the 4 hour bus ride home. We hit the Burger King ( I swear to god that's the last fast food burger I will eat. I mean it this time) after that I decided to make an unexpected visit to the Beguiling and give them a sample of the upcoming "Dreams in Texture". Order it in the July Previews! Then we ventured to Sonic Boom where we ran into Brodie Dakin, lead singer of hot Toronto band Sin City Social. I chatted a bit, we caught up. My friend and fomer boss Steve Savage is the guitarist for Sin City Social.

After that Pam and I hit the TTC once more, and finally caught our bus to go home. The ride was excrutiatingly long. I swear, we're going to take the van and drive from now on! With the price they charge for tickets now, if you have more going to the show than just yourself it's cheaper to just drive, even with the huge gas prices! We could have done it for my transportation costs alone!

SO we got back and loaded up. Went to Pam's parents, got Scooter, ate, headed home and went to bed. I don't think I've ever been more tired in my life.

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Sunday - Yay! Today! SO I woke up this morning at 3am not feeling too good. I quickly ran to the washroom suffering from what I can only describe as Burger King Food Poisoning. It was horrible. I've never felt so bad. It felt like I was on the toilet for hours and it was in excrutiating pain. I swear I started having visions of the 7th level of hell. It was nay good. Eventually it subsided and I returned to sleep.

Pam and I got up at 8:30. She has a special class for her course today in Walkerton, so she left at 9. I went out to the shed, pulled out a pile of stuff. Set up the table and had a yard sale. I brought Scooter out around 10 and played fetch with him from my seat at the table. As if I didn't do enough sitting and waiting yesterday! Or trying to sell stuff. Anyway, by 12:30 not a goddamn soul showed up so I packed the crap back up, tossed it into the shed, and came in. I made a lunch of Green Giant vegetables and then I sat down and wrote this blog. Now I gotta go walk Scooter, do some e-mails, and try to get a head start on tommorow's work. Pam's class is untill 3 so she won't be home any sooner than 4.

Blat!...

Mike

Posted by: lightning at 14:20 | link | comments (2)

It is so hot. It is so very hot today. I think I was starting to have a heat stroke. I had to lay down for an hour and a half because my headache was so bad. Thankfully it passed. Before that I spent a lot of time outside, mowing the lawn again already and walking and playing with Scooter. Did some yard work too.

Took care of some business needs and even went and talked to another local business person. It looks like Glimpse may start expanding distribution into newsstand racks, but more on that in the future after the SMASH! updates are done.

Tonight we're heading to Danny's. We'll be staying there tonight and catching a bus tommorow. We'll be meeting up with comics Pal Andrew Foster in TO. Then staying the night at his place and doing the Toronto Small Press Fair of Saturday! Woohoo! 427 Bloor St. West. The Trinity St.Paul Centre. 1 Block west of the Bloor and Spadina subway station! Woohoo!  

Bye...

Mike

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Posted by: lightning at 18:45 | link | comments