ECC Con Report: Preview

From Booth #141 in Artist's Alley, I'll be peddling my wares, shaking hands, and who knows what else?

We went in to get our table assignment and set as much up as I was comfortable doing. Most everything got stored below until tomorrow morning, but I brought all of the "merchandise" (comic, stickers, books) home with us. I just didn't feel comfortable setting out the stuff I came to sell. It isn't much compared to those huge dealer booths, but it's all I came with, and it'll be a fast set-up come Saturday A.M., anyway. Kelly and her Mom came down to help out, so we checked out some of our favorite Pike Street haunts beforehand.

Being in there was pretty cool as things were coming together. I'm a behind-the-scenes kind of guy, anyway, so I dug getting a lay of the land before the masses sweep in. It was cool to be able to see where everyone was set to be at. For instance, I found it funny that Chewbacca and Lois Lane will be sharing a table. Margot (Ms. Kidder?) will only be with us for one day, though. That's got to be sad for the fans...

Feelin' Good on a Good Lookin' Friday

3 years ago I was at my worst. Life was at a complete standstill. I was in a marriage that was going nowhere but apart. We both knew it. I was just the one with the gumption enough to call it like it was. It was seven years without growth, without progressive changes, without inspiration.

Flash forward to today and I'm a completely different person. I've got a new job. A new love. A dog. A new life. I've got a comic that fills my hobby time with twisted levels of pure joy. My freelance opportunities are starting to pick up again, including something pretty cool for one of the major networks. (Here's a hint: It's got a "C" in it's name.)

If I were a religious man, I'd be handing over a lot of thanks to a deity right now. As it is, I'm very appreciative of the luck I've made for myself. I've learned that you can't just sit idly by and wait for good things to happen. You have to go out and discover, and even invent. Tons of bad stuff might happen, but that's the stuff you'll learn from and then forget. The good stuff will stick with you. That's the stuff you keep.

If Brinkerhoff goes nowhere, I'll be okay with that. I'm no longer the kind of guy that will continue beating something into the ground without any payoff. I do have a deadline for it, based on a lot of criteria, but all of that will be evaluated when that time comes. For now, I just keep making myself laugh and feel glad that I can do the same for others, as well.

I'm inspired every day. It doesn't come easily all the time, but it's there. I used to have to prod for it, but now it just... happens.

Sometimes I wonder if my life is interesting enough to be made into a book or a movie or a movie based on a book, or adapted from a screenplay, or maybe an informational brochure. I think it might. I just have to come up with the right ending.

A banner day

The excitement is startng to build for my first forray into the world of comic conventions. The big comic order on the way, as are the stickers and a few other things.

But, ohhhh the banner. It was finished last week and I can say without hyperbooe that it's one of the coolest things I've seen in the entirety of my existance. The sight of my cartoon character printed 2 feet high with his name as long as a newborn elephant made me joyous in bizarre, unexplained ways. I was beaming like a new father at this vinyl monstrosity. It was ready on the same day as the delivery of the proof copy of the comic book, but somehow stole the headlines in my heart. It adds some weird sense of legitimacy to this big, stupid project. It looks, what's the word? Official.

The Emerald City Con might be my first and last comic convention I ever attend, but the banner will live on. As I move forward in time, spending my nights pounding on the keys and churning out future Brinkerhoff stories, he will be looking down upon me. His gaze will be fixed: scowling, disapproving, and passive all at once.

How friggen' cool is that?

Little victories

Sometimes life is all about the little victories. The small, easy things that make you feel good, even if only for a few extra days.

When you're an artist or a writer, those moments probably happen a little more than normal. Most everyone I know is just happy to get through the day without some major catastrophe happening. Creative people, though, need some kind of inner reassurance that they've made something valuable with their time. It doesn't have to be a lot, but there has to be something. Without it, that's the catastrophe.

When Brinkerhoff began, I had a great head start because I had already assembled a syndicate submission packet, which consisted of 6 weeks worth of weekday strips. It felt tremendous to have such a buffer. It was empowering and even a little sexy to feel that prolific. I kept it up for quite a while, but then Life interjected. Life told me I had to spend my time doing other things. I had an instructor in college once tell me, "There are 30 hours in a day and somewhere I lost track of 6 of them." I've carried that statement because I think it's true for most creative people and deep thinkers. It's our constant struggle. Life gets in the way of our craft and the first loser is us. (Somewhere in there is a They Might Be Giants, song, I'm sure.)

Wednesday I felt really good. My buffer is down to a week out, where it's been for a few months now. I felt good though, because I was done with the next week's strips on Wednesday, and not Thursday or Friday (or, God forbid, the weekend!) I love creating the comic and it felt so great that I had gotten the work done that early, even if it was only by a day. It allowed me to take a breath and, dare I say, admire the work for a moment. It allowed me to start writing on Thursday for the strips that would come in the next week. It allowed me to continue working on preparations for the comic con. Best of all, it allowed me to step away from my desk and schedule other things into my Personal Life.

Wednesday I scored a victory. I got to live a little bit of Life.