Matt Youngmark's Blog, page 12

Seattle Retro Game Expo

If you’re in Seattle this weekend, and a large to medium-sized nerd, come by the Seattle Center and check out the Seattle Retro Game Expo. It’ll have all the old school video game goodness you can handle, plus me in the dealer’s room selling books and giving away free buttons and Conspiracy Friends promo comics and doing my whole convention schtick.

There will be a massive freeplay room with every single SNES and N64 game ever released in the US, and over 1,000 games for various other systems as well (I’m definitely going to log some time on a Vectrex myself). Plus panels and stuff, and people selling soap that looks like pokemon balls and what have you. It will be awesome! You should totally come!

Paizocon this weekend!

If you’re one of the lucky souls getting your Pathfinder on at Paizocon in Seattle this weekend (July 5-7), Come see me in the dealer’s room for a free Conspiracy Friends promo comic (the secret password is “HEY, ARE THOSE FREE”). You can also purchase copies of the Chooseomatics, or a tiny storybook about a bitchin’ princess, or just talk to me about what a giant nerd I am. It’s okay! You’re at Paizocon! You’re a nerd too!

Surprise! Olympia Comics Festival!

It came together kind of last minute, but I’ll be at the Olympia Comics Festival at the Olympia Center today, in the dealer’s room selling books and stuff. If you want a free promo for my secret webcomic, the secret password is “Hey are these free.”

I’ve never been to this con before, but Carol Lay and Roberta Gregory will be there, so I’m pretty excited. It’s $6 for a ticket to the stage show at 11am, and the dealers room is open from 1:30 – 6:30 for free! Woo comics!

Spokane Comicon June 1st

Spokane bros! I’ll be at Spokane Comicon on Saturday, June 1st, meeting folks, signing books, and giving away promo comics for my secret webcomic to people who give the ULTRA SECRET MYSTERIOUS PASSCODE, which is: “potater gator.”

I repeat: POTATER GATOR. This blog post will self destruct in five seconds.

Stumptown Comics Fest!

I’ll be at Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland this weekend, sharing table D-03 with my friend Mark Monlux. Here is a convenient map Mark made that will lead you to our table and/or the ladies’ room!

If you see me there, give the secret password “EMO EMU” for a free Conspiracy Friends promo comic!

I repeat: “EMO EMU.”

The Siren’s Call

I did the Strip Search play at home challenge! Check out my attempt at a 90-minute mermaid/ukulele masterpiece over at secretwebcomic.com.

Fan Expo pix?

Click on the thumbnails to embiggen.

Vancouver peeps:

I’ll be at Fan Expo Vancouver this weekend, April 20-21, so if you’re going to the con come say hi! You can find me in booth 230, promoting Chooseomatic Books as well as my new webcomic, along with a bunch of amazing writers like A.M. Dellamonica and D.D. Barrant.

If you do manage to find me (hint: look for the chainsaw-wielding pink bunny), give the secret password “rhinoceroni” to get a free Conspiracy Friends promo comic.

I repeat: “RHINOCERONI.” This blog post will self-destruct in five seconds.

Hello Sarasota

In case you heard me on the radio this morning on WTMY in Sarasota, here’s where you can check out my books and stuff:

Zombocalypse Now

Read the sample online

Thanks to Evan and the Wrecking Crew fro having me on! It’s still like 6 am here on the west coast (seriously people, WTF) so I’m going back to bed now.

Norwescon wrapup!

Norwescon is a weird, wonderful convention, people. It’s four days long (which is insane), and they’ve been doing it for 36 years, so at it’s foundation it’s one of these old-school science fiction cons. But over the years it has continued to blossom, attracting new generations of fans from all over the geek spectrum, so it’s bursting with all this sci-fi / fantasy / comics / LGBT / gaming / furry / science / etc / etc / etc energy that never fails to blow me away. I’m not even going to try to summarize my Norwescon experience this year, but instead will leave you with a hodgepodge of some of the amazing creators I met and got to hang out with. (And I’m DEFINITELY forgetting a whole bunch of you, so all I can do is plead overall debauchery and sleep deprivation, and beg your collective forgiveness for the omission).

Mark Monlux was my boothmate (who was kind enough to sell my books in addition to his own for the huge stretches of time that I was on panels or just trying to enjoy the convention outside the dealers room). Mark does movie reviews in comic strip format, and hustles like crazy at these things, so he was the best possible sales buddy!

I also got to meet Tiger Gray and Vivian Weaver, the authors at the table next to us. They write urban fantasy in a shared universe over at Hard Limits Press, and I’m pretty sure they said this was their first con selling in the dealers room, so it was awesome to watch them blow through pretty much their entire inventory over the weekend. I totally bought both of the their books, and you should too (plus Mark posted this picture of them on his facebook page, which is like the most adorable photo EVER.)

Also camped out with the dealers was Muffy Morrigan — when I introduce her to people as “my good friend Muffy,” it’s not like one of those things where I’ve met her a few times and had a drink with her once. Muffy and I worked together for years at a newspaper in Tacoma, and have spent at least hundreds of hours in rambling conversations about our books, or whatever movie we just saw, or just geekery in general. Muffy is one of my best friends IN THE WORLD, and is also a force of nature at cons — if you ever get the chance to attend her panel about Victorian medicine at a steampunk convention, do not hesitate! Her latest is the Tall-Ships-and-Dragons-in-Space epic The Sail Weaver, which you should also pick up if for some reason I have not previously talked you into doing so.

I got to catch up with Clinton Boomer, plus hear him read from an upcoming novel, share a seat on a couple of panels with him, and sell some copies of his metaphysical/noir/insane/profane masterpiece, The Hole Behind Midnight, at my table. Plus, the drinking (OH LORD THE DRINKING) with Clinton and his publisher Scott Gable. Scott is also a writer in his own right (he runs the gaming company Zombie Sky Press as well as Broken Eye Books, where he puts out novels from Clinton and other gaming luminaries). The truth is, he lives like four blocks from me so I get to drink with Scott all the time. But it’s still nice to see him.

I also remember a lot of drinks with author Katie Cord (particularly at that vodka thing Thursday night — thanks Pearl and Felice!). Katie and I met at Norwescon a couple of years back, and have since tabled together at several cons and shared many delicious sushi lunches. She’s currently expanding her publishing company, Evil Girlfriend Media, with a series of short story collections which I’m pretty sure I am contributing to (I’m slow, Katie, but I AM writing my story, I swear).

I did two comics panels with blogger, media critic and marketing guru Lola Colleen. I had never met Lola before, but she proved insightful and charming, and showed remarkable restraint by not punching a fellow panelist in the neck when he was repeatedly dismissive about the idea that a significant number of women read comics. And I caught up a bit with urban fantasy author J.A. Pitts (his third Sarah Beauhall novel, Forged in Fire, came out from Tor in June, plus his daughter is my facebook friend!) I spent some time with author and mad scientist Jeremy Zimmerman, who is a friend and member of a writing group that I attend super half-assedly. We discussed the challenges of marketing a novella of an original superhero property, published bundled together with novellas from two other writers in a shared universe (my contribution to this discussion can be roughly boiled down to “sucks, buddy.”) Jeremy also introduced me to Norwescon artist guest of honor Lee Moyer, who is as delightful as his artwork is gorgeous (I’m not just blowing smoke here, Lee is one charming son of a bitch).

Who else? Northwest Press publisher Zan Christensen had a conflict on Saturday so he couldn’t make our panel together, but I did manage to corner him Friday night at a party and pick his spectacular brain about Kickstarter and stuff. His Kickstarter for Anything That Loves, a comics anthology about non-binary sexuality, is going on right now! I am a proud supporter! I also got the chance to meet comics luminary and Bitchy Bitch creator Roberta Gregory (she’s contributing to Anything That Loves, btw), who I’ve been a fan of for DECADES. Mostly we talked about WordPress, I guess?

In conclusion: Norwescon is spectacular, all these people are awesome, and I maybe need to take a hard look at my drinking habits? (Ooh, on that note, if any Vancouverites or Portlanders will be at Fan Expo or Stumptown, TELL ME WHERE THE PARTIES ARE).