Sorry for not getting this up yesterday, the site was backing up and I didn't want to do anything that might interfere with the process.
I'll start off with the bad news to make the good news all the better. A couple days ago, I got the response from Tor on my manuscript. Remember when I said getting the response sooner rather than later was a bad thing? Well, given that this one came three months earlier than it was supposed to, I think that speaks for itself. I was expecting a rejection, but not of the caliber Tor dealt. They shouldn't accept unsolicited proposals if they're not interested in reading them at all. That's the tone I got from their impersonal, photocopy reply (I can see the toner spots and other indicators it's a photocopy document). Here's the letter, my notes follow.
Dear Author:
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your submission. We are sorry to say that it's not right for us at this time.
Due to the volume of material we receive, we are unable to reply individually to each author. However, please be assured your work was given a careful evaluation.
We wish you the best of luck with this work; thank you again for thinking of Tor/Forge.
Sincerely,
The Editors
- Not even a personal salutation on the letter, and I'm supposed to believe they read my proposal if they can't even address me by name? When I was six I learned that the proper way to address a letter is to use the person's name if it's available, in this case it most certainly was, on 50 pages of cover letter, story synopsis and novel excerpt.
- Reiterating a point of contention only draws more suspicion to it in my eyes. The proof is in the pudding so to speak, they need to make it look like they actually read the work by not sending a photocopied two sentence. uninformative. form letter.
- They go out of their way to not ID themselves either, that just plays off the paranoia in my mind.
I'll be retiring the calendar project on December 15 as well. It's not really going anywhere so there's no point in laboring to keep it in the public eye if the public isn't interested in it. Maybe I'll do a 2009 calendar featuring my artwork instead, I don't really know at this point.
Now, on to the good news. The final results for the commemorative project are in, and here's what I got. Given that the popular choice was to send the piece to the person inspiring it, that's what I'll be doing unless requested to do otherwise by the person who inspired it. We'll work out the details in getting the pieces where they need to be privately when the pieces are done. I'll be taking this week to look up reference pictures for the characters, and do the drawing so I can get to the burning hopefully before Saturday. Clear-coating the works after they're burned on will take the most time since with the cold they won't dry as fast betwen coats, and that may not get done till late next week.
After reading over all the submissions, here are the three I'm going to do this time around:
- Pikachu (Pokémon) - Suggested by beyblader
- Ichigo Kurosaki (Bleach) - Suggested by twilight samurai
- Hokuto (B'T X) - Suggested by Shireisho
Those three struck me in the readings, and I did go over all the submissions a couple times to get a feel for all the submissions. I'm also doing another woodburn piece, that's the original lizardman suggested by Magnus Lensherr, and I'm doing a piece who's medium hasn't been decided yet, don't forget to weigh in on wood or paper for the surprise piece I'm doing to make up for having few convention photos. Weigh in on that by Oct 31.
Other than that all that, things are going well, it's cooler here at night, but still hot during the day sometimes, kind of wish the temp would even out, the fluctuations kind of give me headaches at times.
Comments
Entry for September 30, 2007.
scorchbird12:
You come by when you can, that's all that's important to me. I don't get by your page as often as I should these days, I'm working on getting the energy up to do that. Hard to believe just this time last year I was doing daily updates and getting to everyone on time.
I had some help to get me there, and yeah, it was a good experience. Now I have a point of comparison to reference when people talk about conventions. I can finally wrap my head around the subject a little better.
This one is sort of a test the waters deal for something bigger I plan to do later this year, into next year, I have to see what I'm capable of doing so to speak, and how to organize things on the web end. You'll get a chance to provide your input for the next one, cause I'll let you when that one's starting so you can come by.
Actually much of that color washout is the result of a close range flash strobe going off, digital cameras are all sensitive to light one way or another, this one (takes excellent pictures, even in the dark), happens to wash things out if the light's too bright.
That's all right, I'd probably be lost myself at this point.
Yensid:
The convention was an adventure, that's for sure. Wish I could have gotten more pictures though.
That group does sound fascinating, I'd like to take a look at it. I'd be curious to see if anyone's tried to delve into what Exile is, or could be. I stay away from MySpace completely, it's way too easy to dig oneself into a hole over there.
I get the Otaku Dispatch myself, I kind of like getting that. Wish it would come regularly, like monthly or so, but getting it at all helps out a lot. Even officially site sponsored contests have a somewhat bittersweet air to them. Lately all the site's been offering is art contests, I think half if not more of the people I interact with on the site here are not artists. That's why I promised, and I'll reiterate the promise that when my book does get published, I will donate several signed copies to TheO as prizes for a Writing contest. That will be the stipulation to the donation. I believe a site this big shouldn't focus on one section of the community, it should focus on the community as a whole, do things that will appeal to more diverse groups within the community, not just the mainstream group.
The guy used a "liner" needle to do the outline, those are narrower needles, this one having one point (some of the fill needles have 5, 6 or more points on them) which probably contributed to the nice look it got. I don't know how other tattoo artists do their work, but the "heavier" looking ones probably use a fill needle when they should be using a liner. He's also a good artist, and experienced with the tattoo gun, so that's a plus as well. I hope I can get my dragon to look really nice too, since I'm doing the artwork for that myself, I really want it to be great.
The ones you sent me are all great reference pieces, the size doesn't really matter too much cause I'm using them as reference for my own work. I have to bear in mind the final size on my piece though, can't have it too big or too small for where it's going on the body.
In terms of anime fans, friends, or groupies, no one. My Mom was interested in seeing I get to the convention, so she got me down there and hung out among the oddballs for three days. Check out the links in the response below.
GIDRA:
I know the feeling, it was something I'd go through with other people's mentions of conventions. It was actually dumb luck I found Tsubasacon. I wish I could have taken more pictures while at the convention, I got a total of seven I think. Oddly enough, there weren't a whole lot of people taking pictures there other than the staff. I can direct you to the Gallery of photos taken by the convention staff which paints a good picture of the weekend. This picture in particular strike me, it was taken before the closing ceremonies on Sunday (October 7). In the back, away from everyone else, just left of center in the picture, there's a guy with a dark green hat and a woman in a pale orange, that's me and my Mom. I think we're looking over the Graphic Novel she got, or we're figuring out something on the schedule.
Thanks for the luck, I'll need it, and thanks for the sentiment about the blog. I try to keep it up as best I can.
Really? I haven't said where the tattoo is? Wow, that's kind of a basic thing for me to forget isn't it? It's high on my right shoulder so I can cover it up with a sleeve if I need to. I'll get a picture so you can see where. As for recoloring, you can't really see in that photo, but the color is a little uneven, which kind of gives it some personality (I like it to have that somewhat faded look), so I may just leave it as is after all. I have some good reference pictures for the dragon, but I haven't finished drawing him yet. When I get the lineart done, I'll post it here so you can see that, and I'll have a picture of the tattoo when it's done as well.
That's good to hear, sometimes when people ask that question they expect to get a synopsis of the story and everything else, so I tend to answer with that in mind. I like to be tight lipped about such things because with a project in limbo (as mine is now), talking too much about it kind of jinxes the project. Basic stuff is okay to disseminate though. I hear that though, patience is a virtue I lost a long time ago.
Magnus Lensherr:
Yeah, I've been getting a little lax in posting and commenting lately. I'll be back in the game soon I hope. I can't really say much about the novel that I haven't already said, I don't like to discuss the details of a pending project. What I'm telling agents (I've exhausted my short list of publishers, now I'm trying to land a literary agent) is that it's a a blend of science and realistic fiction (it's only really sci-fi because of one non-human character) leaning toward the young adult market. Other than that, I don't want to divulge anything specific till it's published.
According to published authors and industry information, that's what an editor does upon rejecting a work. I don't know how many times I heard authors say "All those rejection letters helped me improve my work." As you can see from my main post today, they're not even doing that anymore, so it was a waste of my time. I can't polish my work to make it marketable if I don't know why it's not appealing to editors.
Yeah, it was insane there at times, but the whole thing was fun. I also got some ideas on my own convention (I haven't scrapped that idea, just put it on hold), on what to and not to do in that regard. The ideas are flowing, now if I could only get the money to make it happen.
I think I'm going to have fun with this project, at any rate, it's giving me some practice in the drawing field because I'll have to draw the characters first, then trace those drawing onto the wood to burn. Believe it or not, burning is the easy part.
Yeah, adding color would darken it somewhat, It looks light in the photo cause of how I took the picture, and the flash and all. In person the color is quite nice now, and I think I'll go with it as is for a while. At least till after I get my dragon done. That would be a cool looking tattoo, and evil spider with that sly demonic smirk villains always seem to have on.
JD Person
Thank beyblader for the term "corporate", it really fits qute well.
Funny thing though, he keeps saying how he's competing with TokyoPop and DeviantArt, both those sites have hubs for written work as well as art. If he wants to compete with them in the truest sense of the concept, he's going to have to bring back written content submissions. Right now, he's talking a more full integration of TheO and MyO, which could be good, it could be bad, we'll have to wait and see. Best case scenario on having the MyO blog and a TheO equivalent, the TheO blog could possibly be used for written content like articles, fan fiction, and so on, whether or not that's the intended purpose of that addition, that's probably what it'll see happening to it, and I'm all for that. As far as news goes, Gia, the former FUNimation animeOnline writer, has been doing a good job keeping serious news on the main page. A novelty story once in a while is okay, but I like serious anime news most of the time.
I wouldn't go as far as saying that, but I do think he's lost site of his vision from 2004 or 2005 where he wanted to make TheO the #1 anime web portal site. Maybe his vision for the site has changed, I don't know he hasn't really said anything on that. Part of the game is figuring out what the site needs to grow, but also what the site's users, the member base, wants to have. So what if something doesn't get a million hits a day, the members who support that section are as important to the site as the ones who post ridiculous amounts of drawings every other day. Adam needs to be reminded of that sometimes.
- July 11, 2007, First Mention of the Cosplay site's future.
- July 26, 2007, Second and more direct implication that Cosplay is on the chopping block/
- July 27, 2007, Third mention of the cosplay site, and the final shot at those who mention the articles hub.
I didn't mention those because right now that's in limbo, we won't know the final decision on that till it happens, I'm afraid. If he worries about a backlash like the outcry he gets from the articles hub being shut down, he may just wait till it's too late to do anything (like the day after he closes it down) to make the announcement that it's closed. Best thing we can hope for though is that Panda, one of the admins on site here, and an avid cosplayer, would step in and set him straight about closing that one. As much as I disagree with current union tactics, I have to say the initial model was a sound one. Workers came together to make employers (coal mine companies) take notice and improve the safety of their mines. Unions have advantages, and maybe we should get together with as many members as we can to form a TheO/MyO members union to represent what the members would like to see on the site.
There is a lot more to that "anti offender" thing that meets the eye, I have no doubts about that based on what I saw. I watched that for a while as the really heated stuff was going down, and it was more than just e-cards when I happened to stumble on it, it was wallpapers too. I'm from a vanishing breed of people that sees no place for vigilante justice online. I mean trolls used to get reamed royally for spamming with accusations like that, what ever happened to those days? I support reporting suspected plagiarism through the proper channels, otherwise the act is harassment, plain and simple. Anti offender doesn't seem to have been active lately, but there's a copycat or reincarnation abomination by the name of thethiefreporter who's only recently taken up the same cause, but doesn't appear to have as much influence, yet.
All I'll say to the possibility of staff involvement with condoned persecution of any kind is: may whatever gods they believe in have mercy on their souls should I find out those sacks of crap are masquerading staff members, or are acting under anyone on the staff's direction. This is a community, not some grade school soap-opera, the staff needs to act in a professional manner, and demonstrate that harassment of any kind will not be tolerated (so what if the intention of exposing plagiarism is good? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, it doesn't make it right). What seems to be happening to me are personal vendettas against certain users being carried out, under the cover of reported plagiarism. Only a coward hides behind someone else, or another identity, to bash another person when they don't agree about something, or don't like that person. If a staffer can't objectively assess a particular user's submissions for one reason or another, they need to have someone else evaluate that work's submission potential. If it's Adam himself that doesn't agree with a particular user, he needs to be up front about it and not create more chaos with subterfuge, and he should know better than that anyway with as long as he's been online.
I would hate to see the site go under, but I suppose it's bound to happen someday. If I'm here to see it happen, it'll be a sad day for me
AngelBest Dream:
Yeah, I try to keep myself on top of what the staff is doing, cause they sometimes give away little bits about the site, and upcoming events and so on. It's good for them too cause I give them honest feedback about things I like, don't like, about the site. When I started out here, I was in love with the art, I still like to browse it, but I see more than just the art now.
There really isn't a whole lot of culture in WV which is what makes it hard on me. I can't really be my true self among others who don't share that same interests. Why would I promote a clannish, self-absorbed, willfully ignorant and blame the victim culture, or try to fit in with that same culture? It goes against my principles, my sense of honor to do that.
Can't promise anything on the art right now, but soon. I've been saying that all year, but soon.
Mamma Vash:
Here in WV, they put on the show of the "do you own thing" attitude, but it's a front, they're self-absorbed here, and when someone does have a legitimate problem, they blame the victim. It's not a place I'm proud to say I live, and I know I say it a lot, but I don't think of West Virginia as my home. Corporate culture is everywhere, it's hard to avoid it anymore, but there are places that it hurts rather than helps.
The geckos are back? Try to get a picture if you can.
Iruka Sensei:
I didn't really get a good full body shot at the convention, but this should do in that regard. For the record, I stand 6' tall, just to give you an idea on perspective. I will get a picture that places the tattoo in perspective soon, you can't see it on my right shoulder in that picture, but it's there.
I suppose there are fantasy elements to my work, it just depends on your perspective really. At any rate, I hope to get somewhere before next year, because I will self-publish if the industry doesn't help me out.
twilight samurai:
I'll be 27 in January, three years away from the 30 mark. Funny I don't feel all that old myself.
I did try, but didn't really get much. Being my first convention, there was a lot I didn't know about the approach to taking pictures there. Normally I shoot stuff that doesn't have to grant permission to take, or use the picture, with people involved, photography becomes a whole different animal, one that'll bite if your not careful.
Yeah, I'll be glad to get the project done so I can polish up the details for the next one I'll be kicking into gear probably in November. I'm kind of curious to see how the end product will turn out myself.
I'm not sure the official color name, but the ink bottle calls it "blue balls", I like it for it's kind of rich royal blue shade. Funny, I thought I'd be chicken too, but after the initial stinging, the skin goes numb so you don't really feel the needle at all. There are temp tattoo options out there now too. They don't last that long, but they look just as good sometimes. The Kanji reads "kaze", wind.
Shireishou:
That's okay, you get in when you can.
Yeah, I managed to get to a convention with some help, I hope I did a good job on the report. That kind of writing is new to me, I'm not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination. Best of luck to you at your next one, have fun.
Thank you, I need all the luck I can get, being a dragon isn't enough sometimes.
Entry for Comment Responses October 8, 2007.
Tenshihoshino:
Yeah, that's a nice piece of work the pocket watch is. I've always been fascinated by pocket watches, so I'd been wanting to get something like that since I saw FMA the first time. I haven't been around to sites a lot lately myself, but all we can do is try.
Yensid:
I can't really say for sure, being my first one, I'd got nothing to compare it with in my mind. I realize it's impossible to run something of that size and format completely smooth, but there were times it seemed the lack of organization wasn't accidental. After I get a few more conventions under my belt, I'll probably see the whole thing differently, with more understanding of how things work. Overall, I'd say it was a positive experience, and I'd do it all again the same way if I was given the chance.
Yeah, it was a great find, accidental on my part too. I'd been by the vendor several times before I saw that.
I know that feeling too, don't worry about it.
NekoMimi16:
Actually, I did plan out some down time during events/panels that didn't strike my fancy, so while it seems like I was bouncing off the walls, I had some time to sit back and watch the cosplayers stroll up and down the hallways. For my first one, I'm glad it was a small convention, I don't think I could have handled a big one first time in.
DarkFaerie88:
Keep an eye out for something that may be close by, and make a plan to get there. Figure out a budget for travel, hotel, food, admission (bear in mind pre-registering is easier on the budget), convention expenses (vendor's room, artists alley, and other stuff), and save toward that goal, but keep in mind you might want to add a little financial cushion just in case something comes up you don't expect. If you have good friends in the right position to help you, they might be willing to help out too.
If I haven't said it already, a belated Happy Birthday to you.
They had a panel at the convention on Pocky, the highlight of which was the tasting. There were flavors there I never knew existed. I know some stores like Wal-Mart and Kroger are carrying the basic chocolate and/or strawberry Pocky, if there's an Asian market near you, you might find other flavors, and they're not that expensive, which is good too. If you ever get the chance to try the green tea, black sesame Pocky, men's (dark chocolate), or honey and milk Pocky, try those, they're good. I don't get enough Pocky myself either, but like the woman heading the panel said, "Pocky is an addiction, once you have one, you can't stop." and she's right.
AngelBest Dream:
Yeah, I did have a good time, hopefully my report was okay. I used to have a problem with reading myself. I learned to speed-read and that helped a lot, especially with longer web pages. There are books on that kind of thing in libraries, might be worth a try if you need to optimize your online time like that.
All that stuff was fun and enlightening.
Cheshire Madness:
My mom already has me looking at other conventions in the area (Ohio and Pennsylvania) so we can plan to get to another one. I think she's more hooked on the convention experience than I am. If I could get my sister to come along too, that would be quite the experience for all of us, cause my sister's into anime, not like I am, but she's got some favorites, and I think she'd have fun at seeing cosplayers in person too.
Iruka Sensei:
Oh yeah, it was fun. I hope you can get to something like that someday, it's not an easy thing to describe the whole experience. I paced myself well the whole weekend, and got to some important things, and did snap a few shots in the process.
Kiki-tink:
Credit where credit is due, I never forget to thank someone who helps me out. The gesture kind of has me thinking though. I'll have to do the leg work to see what can be done about setting up a legitimate non-profit to provide financial assistance for financially limited anime fans to get to conventions. The two biggest inhibitors for fans to get to conventions that I see are location and cost (the third is parent/guardian misinformation about the genre), travel would have to be figured out another way, so would informing parents/guardians truthfully about the genre, but a nonprofit could provide micro-grants to deserving fans for covering admission costs and other convention related expenses. It's just a matter of doing it right by the IRS.
Shireishou:
You know, that would be interesting. Seeing a convention in another country to see how another culture handles its cosplay would indeed be an enriching experience. I'd like to do that myself some day.
CassieR
First off, welcome to my little corner of the MyO universe, pull up a chair, have a green tea Pocky, and make yourself comfortable.
You have no idea how much those convention articles helped me out, they came at just the right time. I know I've have been a nervous wreck if I had gone in there without having some set of organized thoughts to guide me through my first convention experience. Little things that I wouldn't have thought of ended up being lifesavers at times, like marking up the schedule with highlighters, that tip made the the weekend flow pretty good for me, and my Mom got some things out of the articles too (I printed them out so she could read them before we went down there).
Someone in the panel asked about those butter & maple Pretz, but the hosts hadn't heard of them so they didn't know much about them, or how they tasted. They sound good, it's shame they stopped making them. They did have some exotic flavors there, in Pocky, Pretz, and Poare (like a reverse Pocky - the cream is inside the stick). there was a black sesame Pocky, there was a couple Pretz that were good both sweet and savory, and in Poare we tried a milk cream, and banana ones. Of course we also had Caplicos and Happy Burgers, and Koalas too. The honey & milk Pocky is one of my favorite flavors aside from the dark chocolate, or the winter chocolate (it's textured dark chocolate). Yeah, that was one of my favorite panels at the convention.
In all fairness the host of the Old School Anime 101 panel was one of three people who was supposed to host it (according to the description in the program). The other two never showed up during the panel at all. I'm guessing from his presentation, he wasn't supposed to be the primary presenter, so he did an okay job covering for the no-shows as best he could. He was also one of the Pocky panel's hosts, and he did a great job in that panel, probably because that was a topic he was well researched and prepared to present. So really, it wasn't his short-coming in the one panel so much as it was that of the two others who bailed on their responsibility.
The guy who did the Toonami panel though, he gets no slack. He admitted in the panel itself that he presented that same panel, the same topic, at a convention prior to Tsubasacon, and that he knew he needed to sort the files on his computer so that they would be quick access during the presentation. It was immediately apparent he didn't do that sort job when he fumbled to find the video clips and audio bites throughout the panel. In my book, willful ignorance like that deserves no slack from me.
I think if I did a panel on something, that first time would probably be completely insane for me too, but I have at least some sense of presenting to an audience, I learned how to handle that in theatre and Speech/Communications class, so I would hope I'd not be too out of things. I can still project my voice on a stage with no problems at all to boot.
