Matt Youngmark's Blog, page 13
March 27, 2013
Norwescon March 28-31
I’ll be at Norwescon in Sea-Tac all weekend, splitting my time between the dealers room and various panels and festivities. Catch me when I’m at my table and give the secret password “frienemy anemone” (you don’t have to pronounce it correctly) to get a free Conspiracy Friends promo comic!
This is the fourth year I’ve done Norwescon, and it’s become kind of my home base con. It’s a good sized (usually around 3,500 people) science fiction con with a really expansive take on what sci-fi is. And the programming is always phenomenal. They have programming tracks for sci-fi, fantasy, hard science, writing, comics, and various elements of fan culture — there are like a dozen panels going on at any given time so there’s always stuff to do.
Here’s my schedule if you want to watch me talk about stuff:
FRIDAY
Noon, Cascade 8
COMIC ADAPTATIONS
The last decade has seen an explosion of comics being made into movies, T.V., and videogames. Do these live up to the comics they are inspired by? Have we really reached the saturation point, like Spiderman, where comics directors are also using the old story reboot? What are some of the best and worst of these?
I’ll be moderating, and the panel features Lola Colleen, Lee Moyer, and C0splay of Death*Star
5pm, Cascade 12
WONDER WOMAN VS. LOIS LANE
Did Superman and Wonder Woman just make out? What about Lois Lane? I think we know who would win if these two fought, but how do fans feel about this? Is this forever, or will Lois Lane make a comeback? What are the potential repercussions in the JLA and DC universe?
With Ashley Cook, Jenna M. Pittman and me.
SATURDAY
1pm, Cascade 5
DECONSTRUCTING THE SUPERHERO
How has comics’ oldest genre matured? No longer mainly read by 12 year olds, mainstream comics have had to change with their aging fans, not to mention indie comics being affected by the age old stereotypes they encompass. How do newer comics treat the idea of a superhero? How have superheros saturated other media? Are they becoming diluted due to overuse?
With Charles “Zan” Christensen, Lola Colleen, Mark Rahner, and me (moderating).
2pm, Cascade 3&4
SCIENCE FICTION VS. FANTASY: FIGHT!
Who would win in a fight? Captain Picard or Jack Sparrow? Come vote and defend your choices in the battle to end all battles. Two brackets, one for Science Fiction the other for Fantasy until only one character reigns supreme!
With Jesse “fish” Simpson, The Reverend En Fuego, and me.
3pm, Grand 2
AUTOGRAPH SESSION
Come meet me and about half of the Norwescon attending professionals (they split these into two groups, so for the other half show up an hour earlier at 2). Since I’ll also be selling books in the dealer room, there will be plenty of other chances to get books signed by me, so maybe use this time to focus on some of the other authors. I’m just saying.
5:30, Cascade 1
CHOOSE YOUR OWN BOOK READING
I signed up to read from the upcoming Time Travel Dinosaur, but since I haven’t actually written it yet, I’m thinking I’ll read from Zombocalypse Now or Thrusts of Justice instead (sorry).
8pm, Casdcade 7
ARE YOU AFRAID OF SCARY GOOSEBUMPS?
In the 90s horror for children was easy to find but despite the imagery and themes horror for the under 13 crowd seems nonexistent now. Why?
With Alisa Gray, John R. Gray III and me (I’ll be moderating this one too).
March 21, 2013
Conspiracy Friends!
Some of you know that I’ve been planning to launch a regular webcomic for a while. I had an idea for an elaborate, epic, sci-fi/fantasy crossover, and I built a website for it and everything. I was partly inspired by Penny Arcade’s Strip Search web reality show (which I applied to and made the first round of cuts before being passed over for creators who, I don’t know, actually HAD a webcomic or something). Ultimately, I decided that the project was overly ambitious and would take up too much of my time. I love making comics, but I also have this writing career going and I didn’t want to throw Chooseomatic out the window in favor of some crazy new idea.
Then, in the middle of last month (it was Valentine’s day, in fact — happy Valentine’s sweetie, I spent all day doing THIS) I had a brain blast. What about a simple, stripped down comic that I could crank out in like an hour every morning? I could use it as a creative warm-up, so it might even make my writing more productive. I drew a comic, threw together a website, and had it on the web by mid-afternoon. I decided not to tell anyone about it yet — this was going to be a SECRET WEBCOMIC, at least until I gave it a good trial run and made sure it was fun, not cutting into my writing time, and that I could keep up a daily schedule. I figured 30 strips would be a good test.
I’m happy to report that since that since that day I’ve posted a new comic every single weekday (plus the first couple of weekends), and I’m really pleased with how they’re turning out. It wound up being a serialized adventure comic with a conspiracy theme, mostly 3 panel strips but longer whenever the mood strikes. They usually take one to two hours to produce, and on top of that I’ve gotten more writing done in the past month than I did in the three previous month combined.
So, ladies and gentlemen, I give you: CONSPIRACY FRIENDS.
If you like the strip, feel free to spread the word (although kindly keep up the ruse and pretend you don’t know my secret identity — it’s a whole theme). There’s a tumblr mirror too, if you tumbl. I’ll also have Conspiracy Friends promo comics to give away at Gamestorm and Norwescon, but only if you have the secret password (which you can get at the site — see how I rope you in there).
Enjoy!
March 19, 2013
Anybody going to Gamestorm in Portland?
It’s a super fun gaming convention, and I’ll be in the dealers room shaking hands and signing books and eating sandwiches (lunch has to happen at some point I guess). If you happen to be in Portland, Oregon this weekend (or, technically I guess Vancouver, Washington which is right across the river) you should totally go. And if you find me give the password “drunken monkey,” I’ll give you a free promo item to promote a secret project I’m working on! Unless I run out. Which I might, so you know, act fast.
February 28, 2013
Emerald City pix
Click on the thumbnails to embiggen.
ECCC wooooooo
.
Emerald City Comicon starts tomorrow! Here’s a close-up of my table position that might help you find it once you manage to locate Artist Alley. Get your books signed! Pick up a free button! Get a copy of my adorable new mini-book, Tiny Quest!
Also, I’ve got a SECRET PROJECT to promote, secretly! Give the password “MUFFIN BUFFALO” at the booth, and find out what it is.
I repeat: “MUFFIN BUFFALO.”
February 20, 2013
Emerald City Comicon, March 1-3
My 2013 Convention season starts in earnest with Emerald City Comicon in Seattle from March 1st to 3rd! This is BY FAR the biggest con I’ve ever sold books at (seriously, they had 53,000 people last year), so I’m not really sure what to expect, but I’m all giddy and excited about it.
Tickets are sold out online, but I know that comic shops still have them, so check your local store. Patrick Stewart! Gillian Anderson! Carrie Fisher! Adam West AND Burt Ward! So many guests, including like ALL of my favorite comic people!
You can find a map to my table in Artists Alley here, although clicking that link is probably fairly pointless, because if you’ve ever been to ECCC, you know that once you walk into that giant exhibition hall all of space and time warps around you into a giant clusterfuck of AWESOME, and your best bet is just to wander aimlessly until you see my chainsaw bunny banner. Whee!
January 22, 2013
Zombie Apocalypse Day in Ballard!
This Sunday, January 27, is Zombie Apocalypse Day right here in my neighborhood of Ballard (in North Seattle for the non Puget-Sounders among you). It’s a free, family-friendly disaster preparedness expo at the Ballard Community Center from noon to 6 pm, and I’ll be there selling books (and signing them, for any of you who’ve been holding on to your copy just waiting to get my autograph YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE).
The idea is to have some fun learning about ACTUAL DISASTER PREPAREDNESS, since most of the things you’d do to prepare for a zombie apocalypse would be useful for pretty much any natural disaster (weapons and ammunition, obviously, to varying degrees depending on the level of societal breakdown, but the chainsaws would be super handy in dealing with a backyard full of trees toppled during an earthquake, IN ADDITION TO THE REANIMATED DEAD).
On hand will be:
Seattle Office of Emergency Management
SNAP (Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare)
The Red Cross
Seattle Fire Department
Z Ultimate Self Defense Studio (demos and booth)
Cascadia Edible Landscaping
Xfinity Home Security
Parkour Visions
Shelf Reliance dried food storage and emergency kits
Beprepared.com emergency essentials
Puget Sound solar
Me
Some other authors too
So much more!
I’ll also be reading from Zombocalypse Now at 4 pm, and we’ll be doing the choices by audience vote, so come help us navigate our stuffed bunny to safe ground. Seriously, I’m super worried that no one will come to my reading, so I’d be overjoyed to see you there!
November 7, 2012
Coast City Comicon!
Okay, I’m in the OTHER Portland, over in Maine, y’all. It’s kind of awesome, because both Maine and my home state of Washington voted for marriage equality on Tuesday, so all I have to do is swing down to Maryland on the way back (I had a layover in Newark so I guess I was pretty close) and it’ll be perfect trifecta.
Anyway, the moral of this story is that, newly same-sex engaged or not, if if you’re in Portland hopefully you’ll come out to the Doubletree Saturday or Sunday and see me at Coast City Comicon! I’ve got free buttons to give away and new prints to sell, and I donated a couple of books for door prizes, so if you’re incredibly lucky you may eve score a free copy just for showing up. Plus, one of the guys from MST3k will be there, and the guy who does the awesome and hilarious Our Valued Customers! You should totally come!
October 30, 2012
Portland ahoy!
I’ll be in Portland, Oregon this weekend for Orycon, a three-day celebration of all things sci-fi. I love Portland, and get down there as often as I can, so this con is a no-brainer for me. Oh, also: I was totally BORN in Portland! Even though my family moved away almost immediately! So that’s cool!
If you’re heading to the con, come by and see me in the dealer room, and maybe pick up a book or one of the awesome new chainsaw bunny prints I’m debuting this weekend. But if you can’t make it to Orycon proper, you can still swing by Powell’s in Beaverton on Sunday from 4:30 – 6pm for SF Authorfest 6! There will be 23 authors signing books for the event, and I’m one of ‘em. They do it every year in conjunction with Orycon, and it’s a fantastic way to meet and greet most of the amazing writers that Orycon brings out, even if you can’t get to the convention itself.
Oh, and for anyone who got sad because they thought the above headline was referring to that other Portland over in Maine, no worries: I’ll be there too! Coast to coast, baby. The following weekend is Coast City Comicon, and it’ll be the farthest I’ve ever flung to go to one of these things.
More on that next week!
October 23, 2012
Little Con of Horrors in Spokane, Sunday Oct. 28
I just confirmed that I’ll be in Spokane this weekend for Little Con of Horrors, a first-year Halloween horror & comic show at Spokane Community College on Sunday from 10 – 4. Admission is only $3 (or two bucks with a can of food for charity), so come out and say hi! It’s the con that will scare your mom!
