Donna Barr's Blog, page 5

FIRST Opttacon - 2018

The show floor - and me earning printing cashfrom K-Blam.com - where you want to go forhigh-quality POD comics floppies at only about$1 more than 1980's prices.
What a great show! Held in a convention hall in a beautiful park in Sequim, Washinton.
Even though I've been going to entertainment conventions for decades, I never really looked in on the gaming track. Gamers were always quietly concentrating in their own room, I was working my table in the Artists Alley, and Never The Twain. 
I had no idea what fun, happy people gamers were (and minority swab groups like those that caused Gamergate didn't make me eager to know them. Another black mark against those schmucks).
The hall was packed!What an eye-opening. The gamers were totally welcoming to Roberta Gregoryand me, the only comics people at the show. Two of them eagerly listened to how to turn their game into a comic book while avoiding pitfalls and keeping the costs down. of course I recommended Ka-Blam.com for printing!
I even played a game called Conspire - originally attracted to it because all the players were wearing homemade tinfoil hats. Did we ever have fun! We were the noisiest game in the room because it's a very simple roll-playing game. We started with "Who broke the coffee shop blender?" and ended up involving a stolen meth shipment and the FBI. We were laughing so hard!
Horses who wanted carrots.I learned that only the figure-makers in gaming seemed to be able to do horses well. NEXT year - if we're very lucky and all parties are pro-active - there MAY be an actual horse at a horse-drawing class. There are hints the horse will arrive carrying a cosplayer. We shall see!
Congratulations to Port Angeles's own AnimeKat and Jeff Tingelstad for organizing and filling up a bang-up first year gaming convention. 
As a comics person, I advise us all to get in on the action. Roberta made most of the sales, but I was there to connect our two nerd worlds. And I think I was quite successful. 
View across the fields.So be on the lookout for next year, and all our nerdcons on the Olympic Peninsula, including the Forks Raincon and my own Clallam Bay Comicon.
Roberta and I stayed at a very cool AirBnB just west of Sequim. It's a horse-and-dog rescue farm! And all the animals are spoiled and happy. As usual, the rest of this report is a photo essay. Just to give you a taste!

Roberta on a stroll from the house.



Park grounds - viewing pavilion
Park pool
Park pool

The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

The 2018 Comicon Report

Winter Summer's Inn's Sandy Tsiang, our wonderful
BNB host, with Amy Thomson, Edd Vick,
and Guest Creative Carla Speed McNeil. Carla and her art and me in my Ka-Blam tshirt -
Ka-blam is BEST for POD floppies1This must have been our best year ever, at the Clallam Bay Comicon. 7th year, and the 6th in the Clallam Bay Lion's Club. 

Guest Creative Carla Speed McNeil got jump-started for her art and career - the girl just had cabin fever and needed a vacation! Everybody really enjoyed her talk about how to get started in comics and stay in comics. It was a riveting talk. Girl has been BUSY!

Jake Richmond, the creator of the webcomic Modest Medusa, showed how easy and fun it is to start making webcomics, as well as facing the challenges of finding time to create, build an audience, and make a living.
Saturday concluded with the costume and cosplay contest. The only particants were the Curtis family, but they put on a lively show. Carla judged them and they got lots of prizes, donated by the Clallam Bay Visitor's Center, the Sunsets West Co-op, and all the tabling creatives.
Sandy as the Red Hat's Night Lady. Yes, the RH's threw
heavy-duty vodka shooters again.Of course, the evening ended with dinner at the Clallam Bay Inn, whose waiters were kinda shocked how well we tip. We have friends. After that, it was fireworks in Sekiu, watched from the Clallam Bay Beach.
On Sunday, Larry Lewis reprised and expanded on his original demonstrations of making and selling minicomics. Minis and zines are the ground zero for getting started in the comics world, and everybody from Robert Crumb to Neil Gailman has done some form of small, inexpensive self-published booklet or pamphlet. Larry's form is almost like origami, covered with tiny, intricate images and lettering.
Carla, me, Edd and Amy at the Clallam Bay/Seiku
Fundays parade, Saturday. We're just watching.Clallam Bay's Dennis Hondorp, who recently retired as the production coordinator/buyer for independent set building, shared his life in the film industry. His talk began as an historical overview, and he seemed a  to feel a bit left out - until he began to tell backstage stories about well-known actors and got a shock - not only did the audience KNOW about the "Seven Degrees to Kevin Bacon Game," but considered him a coupe in making points in the game.  The Ribbon Sisters! We couldn't resist buying
parade pretties from an enterprising
costumer crowner selling her wares.
With the input of the audience and other creatives, he ended up sparkling and excited as anybody newly in the industry. He volunteers at the Clallam Bay Visitor's center - and says to come down and ask him anything about working in film!
Kalen Knowles offered a crazy new game at his table - a form of exquisite corpse, the body parts chosen by rolling dice. It looks like crazy fun.
The next day, I took Carla and Roberta Gregory all over Neah Bay. Photos below!
Carla giving her talk Saturday.The Stranger ad, funded by a grant from the Olympic Peninsula Visitor's Bureau, brought in three times as many guests. So - money well spent, guys!
With the success of RainCon (Forks) and Optaccon (Sequim), I was GOING to stop running the comicons, but with the Curtis family volunteering to take over costume contests, and everybody all excited about NEXT YEAR - well, I guess you all better start watching for 2019. I'll rev up right after New Year's - but get your rooms fast if you intend to come. We're STILL TINY.

Enjoy the rest of the photos! I usually just continue the blog in the captions.


Jake Richmond, Modest Mouse
Carla sits in judgement of cosplay.
The Curtis family takes the cake!
Dinner at the Clallam Bay Inn, with
new owners who are our new friends. We tip GOOD.
Carla and I after the fireworks,
frazzled but happy. Larry and his minicomics expertise.
Kalen Knowles and his crazy new Exquisite Corpse dice game.
Roll for body parts and he'll drawn them!
Folks attracted by our Stranger ad!
Everybody wants to hear what Dennis says
about the film industry.
Folding our tents.
Carla and the white King I bought from
Jack Mackerel Fish Company. NOM. Carla - with her gift shop finds - and Roberta
at the Neah Bay Museum.
Roberta, a Frank Smith totem pole,
and Carla at Washburn's mercantile.
The Crab Shack - Neah Bay's newest restaurant.
The site of the Spanish fort, and the vet's memorial.
Wydaah Island
Traditional Makah style
totem at Hobuck beach.
The Hobuck ceremonial center.
Our girls at the center.
Hobuck beach.
Take Home Fish Company
They can ship fish - but out now.
Carla at Seal and Sail Rocks. Edd Vick and Aeon/MU Press
The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

2018 RainCon - A Great First Show

What a great first convention! Forks, Washington, is definitely on the comicon circuit now. Evan Sveum of Home Slice Pizza and Comics - how fitting - did a wonderful job on his new RainCon.
As usual, I have my posting of me wearing my Ka-Blam Tshirt, with my very first RainCon customer. If you need quality Print-On-Demand that will let retailers buy at nearly-'80's prices, it's the place to go. And readers can do the same at their store front at Indyplanet.

And here are many more Raincon photos!

Fascinating Archeology lecture.I wanted to listen to the lecture, but there were so many interested people I had to pay attention to, at my table. Friday was definitely rocking.

Yummy Italian sodas.The Italian sodas were on sale at the table to raise funds for the LaPush Hallowe'en haunted house. The milk in the sodas came in handy for a calcium boost, and they added sugar-free options.

I've heard the haunted house is in its third year, and will scare the teeth out of your head. The monsters practice all year - and are very professional. No, I don't want to go. No, I will not miss it. I hate and love haunted houses dearly. 

All sorts of gaming going on - and the full-on tournaments started after the nightly movies, and ran until 1:00 am, Friday and Saturday.

Gaming!I don't game myself, but I used to do gaming illustrations, especially for Steve Jackson, and have some fun stories, including my "Pirates of the Caribbean stole my dialog!" story, involving Steve's Lego Pirates games at a long-ago Miscon. Oddly enough, Alice Ryan, who ran the great Steampunk table, says that was her very first con! Serendipity.

Of course we had cosplay. Did I get good photos of the contest? No, I was helping judge it. Look around Facebook for Raincon photos. Quite the good turnout for a very first convention.
Trek fans!

Friday evening, the movie was Rocketeer, which I missed to head back to Clallam Bay to get some sleep. Since my sleep was choppy, and I had to end up napping in a back storage room on Saturday anyway, I might as well have stayed.

Saturday, the movie was Guardians of the Galaxy. I'd never seen it big screen, and caught the moment when Chris Pratt's ship flew up on a column of water - and ran into the camera lens. Too funny.

Ended up eating too much pizza, including Home Slice Pizza - especially their darn wonderful chicken-and-artichoke - and Mexican ice cream from the shop down the block. 

Ready for midnight gaming.Helped a scared local kid to come out as a nerd and a furry: "Wear what you want; nobody's going to point or make fun of you." Alice Ryan's steampunk table provided his first pair of ears and tail. By the end of the show, he was running around with his little fake fox tail, perfectly at home. It was great. Welcome to our family.

And everybody else, too - because tables are selling for 2019, already. If you're on the way to the beach, drop in for an hour or so. We'd all love to see you.
Guardians of the Galaxy!The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

2018 Privacy Policy

I DON'T WANT ANY OF YOUR DATA. THIS IS THE OFFICIAL STATEMENT FOR WHEREVER I AM ON THE INTERNET - AND IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT - IGNORANCE IS NO EXCUSE.
I occasionally send out a BCC email list, asking who wants to be on it. 
Anybody says REMOVE, I remove. 
All these other sites I'm on belong to other organizations, like Blogger and Patreon and GoFundMe and stuff.
As corporate entities, THEY are responsible for the data. And it's corporations that have been ruthlessly and stupidly stealing and sharing data. Yeah, you heard me, Centurylink and Chase Bank. Including MY data, with their cheesy little letters about what I'm NOT allowed to opt out of.
AND THEY HAVE THE DEEP POCKETS.
So be assured I'm not sharing out your data - because I wouldn't even want to touch it. What the hell would I do with it, anyway? I'm not U.S. Bank. Or the FBI. And there's a question - does this law cover THEM sharing data? Inquiring minds.The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

2018 San Diego Comic Fest

Because most of us are indies! We don't
got no stinking comicsgate. The Ka-Blam printing T-shirt - a great
company! I get free printing cash
whenever I post a photo of me wearing
it at a show.
Check them out at Ka-Blam.com
You won't be sorry! Resort Ladies!
Roberta Gregory and me.Just got back from the San Diego Comic Fest, run by the guys who originally ran the San Diego Comicon. 
It's a dear little pure-comics show, full of indies and undergrounds where I fit best, one-of-a-kind isolated self-owned that I am. 
Roberta and the SDSU sign.It's held in the old-style bungalow-and-palms-and pools Town and Country Resort. So many old friends were there, too. 
This all started when San Diego State Special Collections wanted to have Roberta Gregory down for a presentation, and to organize their adding her work to her collections, as they already had done with mine. The convention got involved, and it all snowballed - in a good way - from there.
Yetta Howard interviewing Roberta.This is going to be mostly a photo essay, with captions. I took some photos, but friends - especially Mary Fleener - sent me so many more. 
The resort is done in a cheap-but-pretty Versailles style, mostly white walls, lots of crystal and gold and flowered and blue carpets, loads of pools and a killer whirlpool. 
We had a lot of fun with those mirrors! Roberta and I being Metta
in the resort mirrors.
Mary Fleener's phto.

Roberta and I in the mirror passageway,
and the dance of the Cartoonists of Infinity.

I was on a couple panels, about women's comics and gender. The usual. Tried to make them both as interesting as possible. I really should be on panels about comics as literature. I'll have to stress that in the future.
Pam Jackson, our contact at SDSU
Special Collections, being silly
with her mom, Sharon.

Lady Shadow and me.
7 years corset waist-training. WHOA.The rest of these are Mary's photos - and not all of them. There were a lot. It was hard choosing the best! Roberta and Me
Roberta Gregory and all her cool books
I have no idea what I'm doing. I hope it makes
Ka-Blam happy.
Me and Roberta. I've looked better.
The Frankenstein Cafe entrance.
200 years!



Our end of the artists alley! We have the only shelves.
Us again.
Exhibitor's Hall
Scott looking good!
Trina Robbins in the Exhibitor's Hall.
And again.
Batton Lash!








Batton Lash and Jackie Estrada.
Phil Yeh!






Batton and the robot.

Are they having a conversation? The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

Shadow Gone

On February 27, our last Bremerton cat, Shadow, passed away. He was old, and had long-standing Shadow in the sunkidney failure.
He passed without pain or struggle. 
Here are some photos of our boy.
Shadow once tried to save us from the Nesqually earthquake, jumping up and down and yelling, trying to get us out of bed. We didn't listen, but he tried anyway. No harm done. Brave kitten. And the only cat at the time who came back in to save us! Shadow on the storage chest, when he could
still use the steps I'd made. Asleep on the storage chest Another angle on the storage chestThe Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

My Distribution List - Help Your Favorite Shops

Right now, Anne Bean of Emerald Comics Distribution has made sure my books go into Northwest Shops. Here is a list of the shops ECD serves.

Now for a list of shops that carry my work right now, and others that could be encouraged to pick them up. If you live nearby any of the following stores, and you want my books, check them out first!
The Dreaming is the best place to go - "Loves it, keeps it in stock, buys back issues."
Left Bank "Buys issues, sells slowly," but will be kept stocked.
Push/Pull is "Happy to stock issues," move slowly. So go help them move quickly! Same for Left Bank.
Dreamstrands: "Loves your work, keeps some in stock." Again, doesn't get a lot of stock - so help move up those numbers for these good shops. 
Now here are shops need your support to start sharing my books. If any of them are the shop most convenient to you, do drop in and request my books. If they want to know how to get my books, just refer them to Anne Bean, whose link is at the top of this posting. She is very good at making things happen. If your shop isn't on this list, tell the shop owner about Anne, and me, and we'll make your comics experience even better. 
Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery. Say "hi" to Larry for me! I love this shop whether they carry my work or not. They're family.
Olympic Cards and Comics. Gabi says she LOVES my work, but needs customers who want it. Go give her some for me!
Phoenix Comics doesn't stock back issues. But there's a new Afterdead collection with new stuff that's not even appeared on the website.
Arcane Comics They don't have my work right now, but they love special ordering from Emerald Comics. Tell them what YOU want specially ordered!

Floating World Comics MIGHT sell if customers want. If you live nearby and want my books directly, do drop in.The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

My Panels - 2018 Norwescon

I'm all over the Comics track at the 2018 Norwescon. So be sure to come see me there!

Here's the schedule. And yes, I'm looking forward to attending as man of the receptions as possible. But I warn you - I'm involved in so many things right now, you may get more than you bargained for!

FridayIntersectionality and Comics4:00pm - 5:00pm @ Cascade 11Minim Calibre (M), Marta Murvosh, Donna Barr, Gabriel de los Angeles

SaturdayWriting Comics12:00pm - 1:00pm @ Cascade 7 & 8G. Willow Wilson (M), Donna Barr
Autograph Session 12:00pm - 3:00pm @ Grand 2Chris Pramas, Galen Dara, Ken Liu, Matthew Wedel, Nicole Lindroos, Alexander James Adams, Brenda Cooper, Cat Rambo, Donna Barr, Echo Chernik, Ethan Siegel, Evan J. Peterson, Greg Bear, Jennifer Brozek, Jeremy Zimmerman, John (J.A.) Pitts, Julie McGalliard, Kay Kenyon, Kent Hamilton , Laura Anne Gilman, Lisa Mantchev, Django Wexler, PJ Manney, Spencer Ellsworth, Dr. Vicki Wedel, Lish McBride, Kurt Cagle

SundayWhy So Serious?11:00am - 12:00pm @ Cascade 12G. Willow Wilson (M), Donna Barr, Brenna Clarke Gray, Erik Scott de Bie

Our pros are also invited to attend:
Art Show ReceptionThursday 8:00pm - 10:00pm @ Art Show
Small Press Publisher SocialThursday 9:00pm - Midnight @ Presidential Suite 1360
Seattle Pro SocialFriday 9:00pm - Midnight @ Presidential Suite 1360
Spotlight Publisher Party - in Honor of Green RoninSaturday 9:00pm - Midnight @ Presidential Suite 1360

The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

DON'T PANIC! Clallam Bay Comicon Edition

I just got checked out a DVD set of the BBC TV Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, from the Library. Talk about timing - if there was ever a time when I need to know to DON'T PANIC, it's now. NOTE: Carla has notified me she's not going to San Diego, so we ARE changing the comicon to July 14-15, 2018. Read on for all links and details, to make sure you're in sync. We WILL run the ads in the Stranger for the weekend of 14-15.

First of all, ROOMS:  The Winter Summer Inn - our convention B and B - KNOWS about this, and will hold the rooms for the 14-15th, on Fun Days. I called Sandy, and everything's changed, so be sure to use the new dates. So Engage Your Enthusiasm, and don't worry. It's just Life.

Now for the story of why we had to change weekends.
Last year, I checked and double-checked to make sure that the 2018 Clallam Bay/Sekiu Fun Days was going to be held on the same weekend as the Fourth of July. ie, from July 6-8. Carla Speed McNeil is working with me to make sure she gets all the funding she needs to travel out here and back, and have full accomadations, as our Guest of Honor. 
The festival has been right after the 4th, for several years now. The 4th kept getting closer and closer to the weekend every year, so I knew Fun Days would have to move ahead to the next week. But we were fine for 2018. Right? Stickers printed up and everything.
And then, while working with the Stranger on the ad, I found this: 

Clallam Bay/Sekiu Fun Days. That's right. The weekend of the 13th-15th. 
Now Fun Days is run by one person, really, just like our comicon. Trish has a mass of things to keep track of, and this year she's trying to coordinate an even BIGGER music festival. I absolutely do not blame her for holding the festival  the next weekend. The Fourth is a huge holiday up here, and two festivals so close together were becoming logistically impossible (And I certainly congratulate her and Bob on making the music festival work - I can't wait).
SO - because I knew that one of the reasons that everyone came up here was for Fun Days, which includes a parade, side events and FIREWORKS, I had to think seriously about moving the date to the 14th-15th.
I thought, oh, no, Carla is no doubt going to San Diego Comicon, which runs July 19th to 22nd. Asking her to fly down from our convention without rest in between would have been ridiculous. That show is a MONSTER. It takes full power, for at least a week. I really couldn't ask her to do that; it wouldn't be fair to her, at all.

Carla's solved THAT. Her word about San Diego: "No way am I going near THAT Katrina." So she's coming straight out to us, for the comicon and Fun Days.
So - why would it have been so bad to just hold the Clallam Bay Comicon on its own? Because of the grant that covers the Stranger ad. We won that grant, with the assistance of the Clallam Bay Chamber of Commerce, and the assurance that we would always include mention of Fun Days in any advertising and the website. That was fine. Yay!
BUT - the grant wasn't forthcoming unless we had insurance on our event. You all know what a funky little creative-oriented little show mine is. There's not the money to shell out for insurance. We hold the comicon in the Lion's Club, but their insurance only covers their events. Not that it matters - what's going to happen? Somebody falls off a chair? And Fun Days, knowing we needed to insurance to get the ad grant, graciously took us under their wing, and covered us with THEIR insurance! Is this a great little community, or what?
But - if we're on the earlier weekend, are we covered for insurance, and if we're not, do we get the grant? I doubt it - and nobody can blame them. They have safety considerations, and can't be held responsible because somebody lets their kid walk into the undertow on the beach in the dark to try to retrieve fireworks. Insurance is absolutely necessary for Fun Days, and all the Really Wild Things it entails. I doubt it starts up the weekend before.
So, after typing up all kinds of "I'm changing the Date!" "I'm Not!" "Marvin, pick up that piece of paper!" I am going to accept the Hitchhiker's admonition and NOT panic. We have several months, and in that time, I'll gently lead everyone to agreement and schedule coordination, and it will Be Right. It Will Work. AND it has!
Thanks to the terribly patient and kindly Diana at the Stranger, who has been working so hard to try to help us make this work. There WILL be the comicon. There WILL be Fun Days.
There WILL be small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.
(Note to confused people who don't do sci-fi: these are all Hitchhiker's jokes. Ask the comicon folks when you attend. And afterwards, the Universe will explode for your pleasure.)The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...

GoFundMe Campaign Art

I'm doing art of Carla Speed McNeil's characters to reward those who donate to the GoFundMe campaign to bring her to the Clallam Bay Comicon. I'll be posting the art here, and saying which is still available.
Jaeger Avatar - available
Pretty woman avatar - available
Silly Jaeger on a pony sketch - available
Jaeger in the bath - gone
Jaeger and Pfirsich - gone
The Little Store: http://donnabarr.blogspot.com/2007/04...