Table of Contents
Welcome Back (0:00)
Newsletter Updates
Bonus Update Coming Saturday (1:03)
Project Updates
Event Updates
Vancouver Fan Expo Denied (3:16)
Main Story
Release Info & Updates
Upcoming on Substack (10:31)
Upcoming Conventions (10:54)
Pesto Comics Release Calendar (11:15)
Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast (11:59)
Secret Bonus Epilogue (12:42)
Welcome Back
I’m late and I’m not happy about it.
Jetlag has won the day as my plans to get this entry done at the airport - or yesterday while I was trying to recover - clearly didn’t happen. The little bit of energy I did have, I used to get the latest episode of the Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast posted:
We’ve got episodes recorded through February at this point, so I won’t have that excuse going forward. Sometimes, things just don’t align as well as you’d hope.
It was for good reason though. Not to spoil the plot, but I had a pretty good time at Thought Bubble over the weekend. Ideally, I would have stayed longer and made a real trip of things, but travelling solo, I wasn’t feeling up to it.
I’m happy to be home and ready to look back at the weekend that was - even if it’s a bit behind schedule.
But first, let’s look at some developments that occurred while I as away!
Newsletter Updates
Bonus Update Coming Saturday
You’ll notice that I reference in the main story that I did a workshop at Thought Bubble about Crowdfunding Indie Comics. It’s an updated version of what I did at TCAF last May, so rather than make a regularly scheduled post dedicated to that, I’ll be adding a bonus update this Saturday for anyone who is interested.
I didn’t record a video of my mug like last time, but I’ll include a video talking through the slides - and an audio version as usual.
Project Updates
Big Smoke Pulp Vol. 1 Going Gangbusters!
We’re blowing through these stretch goals. With 9 days left, I’d honestly be shocked if we don’t hit them all.
If we manage to get to these too soon, I’ll add even more stories to this book. It’s already a thick paperback and as we keep flying past these goals, it’ll be a real heavy one. I’m excited to see this all come together.
If you'd like to help us hit all the goals, you can find it on Kickstarter until November 29th.
Archetypes 2 Funded with Hours To Go
Archetypes 2 has less than a day to go - but it’s happening! That means I’ll be able to continue my Writing Tools articles within, thanks to the 64 backers who have contributed thus far. It’s a cool project and I’m excited to get the new edition in my hands.
This campaign ends tomorrow.
Prelaunch Coming Soon for NKW
I’m nearly ready to get the proper Kickstarter prelaunch up for Naked Kaiju Woman. Prelaunch is key for a big launch day, so I’m prioritizing this where I can.
But, I’m not just working on things for the first issue…
Rafael is champing at the bit to get started on Naked Kaiju Woman 2. Between From Parts Unknown and Naked Kaiju Woman, we’ll have two series running through the first half of 2025.
The whole series is outlined and scripts are drafted. I’m fine-tuning it, but it’s going to be a lot of fun playing with the characters within. I’ll have more to share as we get closer to the day and you’ll be the first to know here.
Naked Kaiju Woman launches on January 8th.
Event Updates
Christmas Market in Newmarket
I’ve been invited to Wayside Comics & Cocktails for their Christmas Market. I’ll be in the shop, likely having a Market Brewing Beer or three, with all my usual wares.
As a newsletter subscriber, I’ll have a special gift for you too! If you haven’t subscribed yet, that's easily fixed:
If you’re in the area, come by and visit on December 7th!
Fan Expo Vancouver Denied
I was on the waitlist for Fan Expo Vancouver, but no longer. Instead, I’ve been denied a table.
My application to host a panel is still pending. If that happens, I’ll likely be there for the day of the panel only, but we’ll see if that goes through or is also denied. I’ll let you know as more develops.
For now, lets talk about my weekend at a con where I was table-worthy, Thought Bubble…
Main Story
Day Zero - Getting There
If the process of getting to Harrogate was, in any way, prophetic of how the weekend was going to go, I would have left immediately.
The first flight of my connecting journey through Amsterdam to Harrogate wasn’t horrible. In fact, we landed half an hour early. The problem with that was, being an overnight flight, it took away my opportunity to sleep. Not that it was the greatest sleep anyway as my neighbour had no quams using me as a body pillow, now matter how often I tried to shift or slink away.
Now, early to my second flight, I had some time to kill with minimal energy. I didn’t get much of anything done aside from fighting to stay upright. I happily got on the next flight and as the doors closed, we were told we would not be taking off for at least another half-hour due to fog in Manchester. Fine by me. More time to catch some z’s, with yet another neighbour not respecting my personal space.
My hope was we would arrive on time and I’d get to meet some folks in Harrogate during the early setup window. That was seeming less and less likely.
By the time I got to Manchester, I was already spent. I also didn’t feel like I made it very far as one of the first things to greet me when I stepped off the tram was a large maple leaf on the front of a Tim Hortons.
Needless to say, things didn’t get better. My train out of Manchester arrived with only 3 sardine-esque packed cars. I didn’t make it onto that one, blisters on my feet starting to form quickly, as I had to carry my luggage back up another flight of stairs to catch the next train a half hour later.
Roughly 20 hours later, I made it to my hotel — with my lopsided bed that’s was begging me to roll off the side. I give up and crashed on it anyway, hoping for a better day to greet me in the morning.
Day One - Jetlag Makes a Grumpy Gus
Harrogate is actually quite beautiful in the morning, even though the pictures I took while wobbling downhill don’t do it justice.
I woke up, probably too early, and walked over to the show, ready to start a new day feeling only slightly refreshed. I found my table pretty quickly and it didn't take much to set up given I only had what I was able to carry in my luggage. Unlike most of my shows, the real goal of this trip was to meet the friends that I have only spoken to online in the flesh.
In that way, Day One was a success.
Not only did I get to connect with folks that I already knew in some way, or in the case of Emilia - people I’ve already met in person, but I got to meet a whole bunch of new people sharing the exhibit hall in Redshirt Alley.
Just after the lunch hour, I really felt my energy levels drop off. Starting my day at what, to me, still felt like 2:00 AM was difficult. I did what I could, loading up on caffeine, trying to move around going for the odd walk to meet up with the people I mentioned earlier, but by the end of the day I was totally burnt out.
I still tried to power through to make an apperrance at the all important Bar-Con, but in the end, I didn't spend very long at the Tiny Onion Mid-Con party. I made an appearance, looking for anyone that I knew from earlier in the day. I didn't find anyone and made a quick exit.
Normally, when I’m away from home, I try to get something that I couldn’t get in Toronto. It’s usually a bit of a challenge as Toronto has everything you could imagine. I failed to get very far from home at all, yet again, but it kind of worked out.
As far as takeaway went, unless I wanted pizza, there weren’t too many options to choose from. I landed on the familiar in getting a doner. It was actually an excellent choice. It was absolutely great!
If you're in Harrogate, I recommend going to I Am Doner and grabbing the house special. I followed that up with a trip to Tesco to grab a Fresca - always a must when I'm in Europe because it's nothing like what we have at home.
I made it back to the hotel much earlier than I'm willing to admit and called it a night yet again.
Day Two - Low Expectations, High Rewards
I don't know if it was the rough trip paired with jetlag, but coming into the second day of Thought Bubble - I wasn't feeling so up to it.
When I first sat down, I really felt like I was back at my retail job in my 20s, ready to put in another 8 hours. Maybe setting that low bar made the difference, as Day Two made the entire trip worthwhile.
My workshop was early in the morning, just an hour after arriving, so I was able to start the day off with some high energy.
I was really excited to see a packed house in the workshop room with a lot of creators looking to launch their first or their next Kickstarter. (Hi to all of you who signed up for the newsletter!).
I said it in the room, but I'll say it again. It was a little worried that I was going to be speaking in front of an empty room, so it meant a lot to have everyone show up. (To those of you that came up and said thanks for the presentation afterward, I really do appreciate it.) I’m always glad to hear that my help is valuable to folks - and, in that regard, don’t be a stranger. Shoot me an email, chat with me in the comments or on any of the socials. I’m always happy to help or just chat.
Getting to talk to folks more in depth after the presentation at my table was a joy. Not having the ticking clock and being able to actually get to know everyone honestly made the day special.
I was barely at my table in the afternoon, making a point to visit all of the creators that I came all this way for - and there were still a whole bunch more I didn’t get to catch up with.
What was also great was getting to know my neighbours. On the first day, I was very out of energy and may not put my best foot forward, but feeling a lot better on Day Two, I had a lot of fun talking with Ace, Baz and Sylvia on either side of me - and traded books with them too!
As I left the Harrogate Convention Center, I really felt a buzz similar to what I felt at Wayside Creator Con, just a couple weeks ago. Being able to connect with people at the same level and really learn from them or just to joke around is always wonderful. You really feel like you’re on a team - even if we’re technically competition. We all want each other to succeed.
Day Two turned things around and made it a wonderful weekend.
Apples and Oranges: San Diego and Harrogate
When I was in San Diego, I really felt like I got to connect with a lot of people and had a pretty good time at the show. Thought Bubble was special in a different way.
It feels a lot more like TCAF than it does any of the bigger shows. We're all in it together at Thought Bubble or TCAF, where in San Diego or Fan Expo, you can really feel the clear divide between Indie and Pro.
That said, as much as I loved Harrogate and everything it offered, you don’t get the buzz of a town being taken over like in San Diego. It almost felt like Fan Expo Canada in that way, where you can walk a block in any direction and you’d have no idea that thousands of people are in town for the show.
It doesn’t help that most of the town shuts down before the show ends, so aside from the handful of pubs, there isn’t much opportunity to create an atmosphere outside of the convention centre.
Coming Back to Thought Bubble?
I had a great time at the show. If I were closer to it, I’d go every single year.
But, after a decent budget spent and 43 hours of travel round-trip, between the trains, buses and planes, I think it’ll be a while before I return to Harrogate.
When I do come back, I'll likely skip tabling - though I’d love to host a workshop or join a panel again. Maybe even figure out a way to do a live, transatlantic edition of the Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast.
To make it worthwhile I'll probably have to make it part of a larger trip and make it a stop. I love catching up with everybody, especially folks that I wouldn't see in North America, and I'd love to do so again.
In other words, I'll be back. Eventually.
Until then…
Release Info & Updates
Upcoming on Substack
November 27
Fun with Fulfillment: From Parts Unknown #1
The second part of the From Parts Unknown #1 post-mortem
December 4
Getting the Reps In
Reviewing NaNoWriMo - or whatever we're calling it now
December 11
An Ode to My Cat, Oliver
He's the most handsome
Upcoming Appearances
Pesto Comics Release Calendar
Instant Ink Comic Book Podcast
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