Category Archives: General

Katsucon 20 – 2014

I went to Katsucon 20! Since conventions are the only posts I keep up to date here any more, might as well make a post, right? Right.

Friday

Stood in the pre-registration line for three hours. Great way to start a Convention. The lines were crazy long all weekend this year. o_o

All I had time for was a quick trip in the Dealer’s Room and Artist Alley before heading out.

We had Korean BBQ that night though, and it was amazing. I’m in love with Bulgolgi.

Saturday

Dealer’s Room, Artist Alley and the AMV Competition were the main events. Didn’t do much else aside from getting to see Erin & Kennedy from the Tamuran crew while they waited in line for the Masquerade.

Came out of it with some great figures, but no Misato. Sadness.

Spent the evening watching The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya with friends.

Sunday

One last run through AA and Dealer’s.

Headed home.

It was a good time, but not as exciting as some previous years. So, that’s that.

Katsucon 19 – 2013

It’s that time again! My Convention report! No pictures today ’cause…honestly I didn’t buy any figures this year, and that’s really the only reason I take pictures to show off. So…reading you shall!

Friday

I got to the convention on time this year. XD I only had an hour delay! Go me!

As soon as I got there, we stood in line and registered (The Pre-Reg line was longer than the normal registration when we got there, which is sort of funny, but true…). Followed quickly by a trip to the dealer’s room. A friend showed up while we were there, so we ditched and helped her unpack.

From there, it was the AMV competition! Two of the videos had technical difficulties, which sucked, but overall it was a good show with a lot of great entries. Though one of the filler, pre-show entries: Gaga For Bishies, made me laugh the most.

After AMV’s we went back to the room and crashed watching some Tron: Uprising. Bold because you should watch it. WATCH IT.

Friday night ended with a trip to the VIP Club on the 18 & 19th floors of the Gaylord Hotel…and then bed.

Saturday

We finally hit the Artist’s Alley, where I got some awesome Tsuritama fanart. And you know how much I love Tsuritama. Then it was the Dealer’s room, where I actually behaved myself this year and only bought the Dark Souls Design Works art book, and a grab bag that I ended up giving the contents away to one of my roomies.

Oh! I got a plushie of Wheatley. That probably deserves a pic:

Wheatley Plush

Ain’t he cute? Yeah. He is. Let’s see. After Dealer’s Room, we hit Artist Alley & Ran into some fine folks at Tamuran and Snow by Night. I saw the TechnoAngel Crew’s booth, but didn’t say hi. xD But I saw them!

After that we tried to watch AMV Hell, but due to technological difficulties, we crashed the A Certain Scientific Railgun Video Room instead. Cute show. Might have to check out more later.

Then it was Dinner at the restaurant across from the hotel, and we returned in time for one more trip around Dealer’s and Artist Alley before heading to the showing of Hellsing: Ultimate Abridged. Funny stuff. (We also caught the end of an episode of Blood C. Violent stuff. XD)

Sunday

Apparently a fire alarm went off early in the morning, but we all thought it was someone’s alarm clock and ignored it. When the ‘all clear’ went off an hour or so later, we…realized we’d slept through something. Oops.

Got all our crap in the car, and went one more time around Dealer’s & Artist’s Alley. Though this time, I stopped being blind and actually noticed Naki’s booth. XD I’ve been talking to her online for like 12 years, so it was really cool to put a face to her name and artwork. :D

I also got a Braeburn keychain from her. <3

We ended our con trip by attending the Symphonic Anime Orchestra performance. Good stuff for a group that was pretty much sight reading. XD Nice selection & a great end. :3

And I’m out. :D

Book, Blogs, and New Themes

Hello!

I figured it was about time for a post, because–why not? It’s been forever and a day as is. Let’s face it, Twitter, Deviantart, and all those other places keep a person busy!

So I added another thing to my list of things I don’t keep up with. Hurrah!

That’s right, I have a Tumblr now. What can you find there? Sketches, reblogs of cool stuff, the usual. But I think I’ll keep longer stuff and posts on this blog so it doesn’t get lonely.

Next up, updated my WordPress, so I went ahead and updated my theme. You like it? I kinda do. WordPress always has such nice default themes. XD

Last but not least — a plug for my book.

Children of Hephaestus for $4.99! Buy it! :D Do it now!

Paperback here (Aka a very nice trade paperback copy). Kindle here (For your Amazon Kindle, or accompanying computer/web apps). And EPUB here (Works on iBooks, Nook, Kobo, and well…every other ebook reader)!

You’re awesome. Thanks and goodnight. *bows out*

NekoCon 2011 – 14th Convention!

It’s thattime again! Another year, another Nekocon, another convention rundown~

And just to get this out of the way: if you called out to me (recognizing the Sally costume I told you about) and I kept walking – my bad. I have serious tunnel vision at stuff like this and tend to block out everything but my destination or the person I was talking to–which would likely have been my brother. XD There is a very good chance I did not hear you at all. Heh.

Cosplay

This year I went all out and dressed up as Sally Jupiter, aka The Silk Spectre, from The Watchmen.

I think it turned out pretty well, if you ask me.

And I also think this is the first time I’ve dressed up at a convention that I was stopped for photos like every ten feet. On the one hand – flattering to know I got the look right and that there are other Sally fans out there! (I hope that was the main reason…though at least two got my picture because I was “Liliy of WaM” – which still isn’t completely setting in. XD *almost weirded out has fans*)

The other hand: I sort of have no idea where all those photos are going to end up (yes I know — the internet — but where and for what!). I’m still sort of uncomfortable having my picture on the internet…but either way, too late to worry about it now….

Friday

Friday was fun. Hung out with ArionWind running around the Dealer’s room and bought some figures before watching a panel on character creation. Also made sure to stop by and say hi to Erin and Chez at the Tamuran table. Didn’t stay long though ’cause they were busy at work. :D

Saturday

This was hang out with my brother day~ We went to the AMV competition before running around Artist Alley and the Dealer’s room. We got lunch at Taco Bell & made it back in time to watch The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya which is still an amazing movie. I recommend everyone see it (assuming you’ve seen the anime – watch that first or the movie might not make sense. XD)

And Saturday is where my con time ended. We ended up doing family stuff all day on Sunday so no last minute visit. ^^;

The Haul

Dark Magician

He's adorable. <3

I have always had it really bad for the Dark Magician – you have no idea. XD Loved him. LOVED HIM. So anyway, bought a ton of YuGiOh Coin figures, but am not posting all the photos because I haven’t taken them all out of their boxes yet to display. Need to rearrange some stuff to make them fit…so you just get my fav instead. :3

Misato Katsuragi

She's still the hottest female ever.

And my Misato Katsuragi collection grows! :D This year’s addition is thanks to ArionWind who got it for me as a gift. :D He didn’t have to, but I’ll accept it for now. So Thank you, AW!

But no, seriously, I have it really bad for Misato. >.> It may be unhealthy. This is figure #4 and I have no intention of stopping….this is why I limit myself to one Misato per con. XD

Midori Days

Impulse purchase...not!

Midori Days is one of those titles where I looked at the premise and went “That’s not suggestive…” in all its glorious sarcasm. But it’s one of those series where after I saw the first trailer (years ago) I went “I sort of want to watch that.” but never did anything about it. It was always just sort of there….asking to be watched.

So I finally caved and bought it when I noticed it was a ‘complete collection’ and well, bought it. I hope to watch it soon. XD

Tamuran

Issue #1 was lonely.

I think it should have been obvious I’d be walking out of the con with these. :P Long-form comics are SO much more satisfying in chapters/volumes vs one at a time. XD

Supergirl and Streaky

Supergirl and Streaky

This is probably the true impulse purchase of the evening. I had been admiring (read: Drooling) over the DC/Marvel Bishoujo figures on sale in the dealer’s room, but sort of winced at the price tag. Well…

My bro bought a ‘Cheetah’ AmeComi figure, and the lady said “It’s buy one, get one half off” in which case I went “SUPER GIRL NAOW.”

In that tone of voice.

No, I am not experiencing Supergirl Fangirlisms thanks to the new Supergirl comic from the DC 52 reboot.

So there you have it. :D We got two figures for the price of one! (Well, a slightly more expensive one, but shut up.)

Conclusion

Another fun convention! Now to figure out if I’m going to Katsucon or not. XD

Supergirl close up

She's so pretty.... *sigh*

…I’m done now.

Misleading Advert Blog Posts

Be forewarned: This post may delve into rant territory, but I shall do my best to avoid mentioning names/specific examples. (Granted, if you’ve looked into this subject, I’m sure you’ve seen plenty…)

I hate blog posts that claim to be ‘How-To’s’ or ‘Guides’ in the title that turn out to be nothing more than advertisements for another product.

The novel I’ve been working on is coming ever closer to that fateful moment where it hits the self-published shelves, and as such I’ve been reading a lot of author/book/publishing blogs for advice, tips, etc. A great deal of it’s been really helpful and informative, and I’ve discovered a few authors that have been tacked on my To-Read list.

But every once in a while, you see that blog title that says something along the lines of “How to-” or “Mistakes not to make-” or something comparable–only to discover the blog post is just an advert to send you to a book or podcast that they wrote on the subject.

This has successfully created a new pet-peeve of mine.

Don’t get me wrong, if people want to write self-help books and advertise them: that’s awesome. It is, and I wish them all the luck with making money and getting the word out using their advise and experience in a much more in-depth format.

Just make it clear you’re advertising a book – in the title.

Good blogs, are informative (or entertaining). That’s the point of wanting to read them and some people are doing this very, very well. The content of their posts are what’s stated in the title – yay!

Others, not so much. When your title is (just an example): “How to Publish on Kindle” – I expect some tips and advise on how to publish a book on a Kindle, not an outline summary of the book you’re selling. I feel like I’ve been cheated. Is it a good marketing strategy to get hits? Sure. Does it work? I think no–mostly because I’m so aggravated it’s another internet ad in disguise that I don’t even click the book link on principle. I don’t like feeling aggravated.

How do you fix this? Call it out in the title: “A How To Book On Publishing With Kindle.” Or Even “New Book To Help With Kindle” or something. Make it catchy, but make sure it’s obvious your blog post is advertising a book in some way.

Don’t make me think I’m going to read a blog post with informative content when there is none.

Thank you.

On a side tangent – Authors who blog? Please, please stop mentioning your own books over and over again in your posts. Especially if it’s the same book in every post. I know your’e sharing your personal stories, but it starts to just feel like a name drop after a while. Even if your articles are great and informative, it gets tedious seeing that same book and cover over and over and over. Advertise your books in the side column; I know you wrote them.

Ah, ranting complete.