So how the writing is going

Fairly well, despite it all.

“Space B!tch” is with the final editor. I have a cover artist. We’re looking at a September-ish release for 2014.

I have submitted a few short stories.

I have been promoting “Trolley,” here and there, like at RavenCon and Balticon, with a brisk sales increase. Oddly enough, sales of my old “Punk Walrus Saga” book have been doing well as well, despite being out of print.

I’ll be hosting the Cosplay at Anime Mid Atlantic June 13-15, then taking a break in July for Camp NaNoWriMo. Then I’ll be back at Otakon, Intervention, and TCEP in August.

Balticon 46 has invited me back!

Somehow I managed not to offend the wrong people, and I have been invited back as a panelist and general resident wise-guy. I’ll let you know what panels and signings I shall have in a later post… probably in late April.

Meanwhile, “Space Bitch” is almost done. Right now, we’re at about 90%. I have to work on the ending a little, and then the first alpha edit will start. I don’t know if this will make it by Balticon, I have to talk with my publisher (who is out touring in Texas). I am still working on the title, and I will start working on getting some cover art after Katsucon. A sequel is already partially diagrammed out.

Everything is “after Katsucon” at this point because it’s less than 6 weeks away. That process is going smoothly. Last night Christine (my bride of almost 23 years and other co-chair) told me we’re ahead of schedule. I was at Magfest this weekend, working the table a little, Katsucon a lot, and finalizing deals and last minute updates with the Gaylord. A big crash meeting in a little over 2 weeks away! Yikes! But thankfully, I HAVE THE BEST STAFF ON THE DAMN PLANET and I am humbled and grateful to have therm work with me.

Anime Mid Atlantic 2011 Wrap-up

So, this Saturday I was down at AMA and did my usual emcee stint. Tiki, as always, runs a great show, and even though we were low on contestants this year (like FanTek low: 11 entrants), she managed to make it all work and none of them were “duds.” It’s true sometimes you get “duds,” like real bad acts and costumes. And you can’t say anything because, well, that’s rude. Some people work very, very hard to make stuff that is very, very awful and you can’t gamble on whether they are self aware of their lack of skill. But this last weekend, some of these skits were fucking impressive for “amateur.” One did an entire video game, complete with props and “special effects” using creative Japanese shadow play. Another did an Monty Python homage with a Pikachu keyboard and mallets. Epic. And almost everyone used a pre-made skit soundtrack which makes it easier on the audience to hear.

Sadly, mere hours before I went onstage, I found out Storm, my 13 year old cat, had suddenly and unexpectedly died. That’s what I would have classified as the exact opposite of a “pick me up.” So I didn’t think I had my A-game up there on stage, because I was trying to mange my shock and denial to deal with it AFTER the Cosplay awards, which dulled my deeper sense of humor and timing. But I was told I was really funny and multiple people not only thanked and congratulated me afterwards, but a few wanted photo ops. That’s weird, my “fame wings” are still rather new, and I am not sure how to fly. I try and take up what Danny T does, who used to me on my “Whose Katsu” Improv halftime show. Tiki later came up to me with sincere thanks and “you’re coming back next year, right?” and my thoughts have to stop thinking, “You… you actually want me BACK?” I keep feeling like it’s some big charade, and one day, someone is going to realize, “this guy SUCKS.” But until then, I am really having a lot of fun. I REALLY like the AMA attendees, they really are responsive, sweet, and like to laugh. And like Rocky Horror.

My opening number for Opening Ceremonies, “There’s Life Outside Your Hotel Room,” (a spoof on Avenue Q’s “There’s Life Outside Your Apartment”) was performed by Danny T and his crew. I took a video of it, but my iPhone won’t let me save it anywhere. I’ll work on that.

I got to hang out with fellow author, Robert Aldrich, who did Katsucon 17 opening ceremonies (and I’d like him back for 18). I also put out some bookmarks, and ALL of them disappeared pretty quickly which either means everyone likes bookmarks or someone was throwing them away in bulk as some kind of dick move. I can’t imagine the latter being likely, so I’ll assume my bookmarks are sticking hanging out in a lot of random fan’s manga. I didn’t sell any books, but I didn’t try very hard, either.

I will be at Anime Mid Atlantic this weekend

On Saturday, I will be Cosplay emcee again. I am not sure when I am arriving Friday night, but if you’re into anime and love costumes, AMA is a great convention down in Chesapeake. They usually have a few thousand people there. I won’t be at a table with my books, but I will have some with me!

http://www.animemidatlantic.com/

No, the Kindle version is not out yet. We had to send the second edition back to the editor with formatting corrections… deja vu. Why is e-book stuff so hard?

No promises yet, but I might be making an appearance at Baltimore Comic con. I have also been tapped to be a freelance writer for a humor website. I haven’t been accepted yet, but I am in the process of talking with people and soliciting work around. It’s a big website, too, one you will have heard of.

“Mothership” outline is done. I have a beginning, middle, and ending with about 40% actually written, written. My target is still Christmas of this year.

My @Balticon 45 review is up

Balticon 45 review

The good, the bad, the fantastic. All in all, GOOD SHOW GUYS! Yes, some stuff went wrong, and there were sleeping problems I had. But best Balticon for me in a long, long time (and the previous ones were pretty good as well).

Now, onto fixing the Kindle version of my book and LET’S GET PROMOTING!

@Balticon was a great success

I am not sure what to day except thanks to Soylent Publications, Rogue, Scarlet, Chris and Barb of Unseen LLC, Moria at Balticon Ops, and the rest of the staff at Balticon for making this convention a smashing success. I sold a lot of books, and got to meet a lot of heavies in the industry. I should have a review up shortly.

My Amazon.com Author page is up

http://www.amazon.com/Grig-Larson/e/B0051JNV9C/

Dear sweet Shub-Niggurath, this is going fast. I have many appearances which, truth be told, are the SAME appearances I was going to make anyway, but there you go. Not that the book is out and published, people are already buying copies. I still don’t have a Kindle version up, but that’s being worked on.

Of course, my BIGGEST thing coming up is Balticon, where I will be with Chris and Barb with their Fragile Gravity/Sledgebunny promotion. That’s in a week! YIKES! I have books, bookmarks, and all my links are working. So far, I am in 5 panels, but the Balticon schedule has not been finalized yet. Here’s a tentative (as in, may change any day) schedule:

Fri 7:00pm – Maryland Foyer – Book signing with Bud Sparhawk, Grig Larson, and Eric Schulman
Sat 9:00am – Pimlico – “Sleeping while you pretend to listen to Punkie Read” panel. 9:00am on a Saturday? Gees… 😛
Sun 6:00pm – Chesapeake – Improv Comedy Jam (with Alex White, Mark L Van Name, Roch Sigfrit, and Eric Kimball)
Mon 12:00pm – Derby – Zombie Survival Plan: Have You Got Yours?

How you’ll get my book

Some people have been chomping at the bit for this. Release date is still a little sketchy, but it will be around May 25th of 2011 (in less than 2 weeks). Don’t worry, I’ll post like crazy when it’s released. So here’s three ways to get my book once that occurs:

• In person, the book will be $15.00, plus you’ll probably get a free bookmark as supplies last. I’ll sign it for free, too, if you want. First available date is Balticon 45, at the Hunt Valley Inn in Baltimore, Maryland.
  
• Hard copy from Amazon.com will be distributed thought Lightning Source, Soylet Publication’s provider for on-demand printing. I believe this will be $15.95.
  
• Kindle version from Amazon.com will be distributed from Amazon.com for $7.99
  
• Those of my friends overseas will get it shipped by hand. Yes, that means you, Thomy. 😛 And my relatives in Sweden.
  

Currently we have no plans to distribute the book other ways unless we get a heavy demand. The hard copy is a fine, quality trade paperback with artwork by Christine Larson.

At Balticon, either we have a table, or we’re sharing it with Chris Impink and Barb Fischer of Unseen Productions, who also publish Fragile Gravity and Sledgebunny. >> PLUG << We’ll have special bookmarks, some candy, my publisher with be there with other titles of the Soylent line, and my assistant Scarlet will be manning the tentacle.

Almost done with editing

Home stretch here. I am halfway done on edit number 3 of 5, where 3 was a BIG one. The last two are final cleanup and then off to the publisher, who is away this week. The 4th edit is where I read it aloud to myself. I found when I did book readings before, I *always* found mistakes. Even plot problems, like I’d be in mid-read and think, “Wait… didn’t I say that character was from Pittsburgh? Why is she from New Jersey now?” It might be a small detail, and no one else might find it, but *I* care. This should all be done in a couple of days.

I have a room at Balticon, thanks to Moria, and unless my assistant has some school issues, she’s coming as well (yay!). Scarlet is good luck; it’s always beneficial to have her around. She also works hard, and will probably help me sell more books. I was going to say “help us,” but my book is the only one being released by Soylent Publications at Balticon. There was supposed to be anthology, “Rush of Wings,” (which had my short story, “Stone Ice Raven,” in it) but various work and life issues trapped the people in charge, and we didn’t get as many submissions as we needed. It may still be released this year.

New episode of Fireside Meanderings up

Alright… here Rogue and I talk about previous jobs we had. Punkie and Rogue – Fireside Meanderings:Oh, the Jobs You’ll Work. You also get to hear about Intercon, a compnay many friends of mine worked for, and I so desperately wanted to.

New power supply still en route so I can start editing Trolley as early as the end of this week, but I built a lot of buffer time, so I am still on schedule. In other news, Katsucon still winds down as my wife and I get ready for a YEAR of convention running. Probably 2 years, but we have to be approved by the board for K19, so we better do a damn good job with K18.

No new Balticon Podcasts, but they have me as a guest or staff, not sure which, for Balticon 45. My first Balticon was 18, so I feel old.

Things are looking up…