Hey Kids! :) It sure takes a lot of prep for a 4 day event, but I think half of what I’ve accomplished are things that will apply well to future events (and Dark Victorian fun). Clockwork Alchemy 2012 in San Jose, CA, this coming Memorial Day weekend (beginning Friday and ending Monday), is really shaping up. Find out details and how to get your tickets if you’re local, HERE.

There will be such exciting pastimes as airship racing, mechanical fox hunting (this fox will shoot lasers back at you), dance lessons, 19th C. martial arts, AND (among many other fun things requiring music and frolicking) ARTISTS EXHIBITING IN A MAGICAL, MYTHICAL, TIME TRAVELING BAZAAR.

Therefore, this artist/writer/whatchamacallit is bringing Stuff.

Dark Victorian ART!!!

MOAR DArk Victorian ART!!11!

BUTTONS.

MOAR Dark Victorian BUTToNS GAAAhhh.

Oh, and some leather & steel flash drives, loaded with all three e-book files of THE DARK VICTORIAN: RISEN. Namely, epub, mobi, and an Illustrated PDF (plus free goodies).

The DARK VICTORIAN: RISEN e-books on disc, of course!

And I made myself this (blurry) paper fan. DID YOU know that during Victorian times, there was a ‘fan language’ as well as ‘flower language’ and whatnot? I won’t be signaling anything, especially since this isn’t a folding fan. But there will be lots of bosoms, corsets, and bustles, so … *fans self*.

All pertinent papers, rental car, inventory, outfits (hidden cache of foods and waters), complimentary freebies and candies for customers, etc, are accounted for and now I’m really happy to get back to my BONES manuscript. I look forward to having a venue to share Dark Victorian with more new readers—-and again, I WELCOME and appreciate those reviews, mentions, and Likes (and Pins, and tweets), so Thank You! But all in all, you know it, I especially will be happy to get back on track and Writing again. Clockwork Alchemy was good motivation for getting a few RISEN illustrations done. 1 of Helia Skycourt, 2 of Art (and Jim), and the 4th will be Helene Skycourt; the 5th should be Manon. Of the black and white work for the Risen story itself, I think I’m up to illo 4.

Like so.

Looking good, yeah? If I go to ten … well, I’ll share later what going to ten illustrations, mean.

HEY! I learned how to tie a dressage cravat.

The cravat tied and worn for Clockwork Alchemy is not guaranteed to look like this picture. :D

I will see you there! Everyone take care, and if time-traveling, safe journey and wishing you much fun upon reaching the destination! :)

All the best,

~~eeeee

The link! : http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1110145826?ean=2940014513043

Hooray! So there it is for Nook users. I will have a DRM-Free .epub file eventually uploaded to Google Books, now known as Google Play, for those who like their .epubs and music non-proprietary. That is in the queue. Eventually I’ll figure out Apple’s iBookstore (that has an extensive approval time, so that could take a month from now), and also Smashwords for those who buy from Sony for their Kobe.

As I’ll usually claim, I am new at this and the Google Books angle is especially new; they’ve sales territories in Spain, Italy, France, as well as the English-speaking countries (Australia, Britain, Canada). I activated for the English speaking ones but just wonder about the sales tax in the others. *more perplexity*. This business stuff, I really should know more about it. :P

But right now, I am inking illo #2 for the possible illustrated RISEN and must work on manuscript 2 of Dark Victorian, BONES. And laundry.

BUT what excitement on a Saturday night!! I’m on B&N! :)

I guess it can grow from here, whether I’m ready or not, and thanks to all of you who’ve been on this for the past many years, with me!

Love, ~~eee

My first steampunk / steamgoth novella, “The Dark Victorian: RISEN” has just published to Kindle :

Amazon Link to Dark Victorian: RISEN

Nook, etc in the queue. “In 1880, criminals are resurrected to fight the supernatural evils that threaten a mechanical and supernatural London.” Strong heroine, fun dialogue, horror, and mystery! Hope you enjoy! :)

Having a bit of posting trouble here, or I’d show you the cover pic (again). Thank you all, for your great support! :)

best,

~~eeee

Will you look at that! :

As you can see, here at Dark Victorian central, we are full of the beautifuls. Thank you to Tom Orzechowski for the incredible (hand done!) logo and lettering. Thanks must be given to me (bwa ha) for finally nailing a decent composition of the background illustration in order to show off the title and the main character. Win/win! Presently, the doc is now with the e-book formatter, awaiting a quote (which I will prolly agree to, because sheesh, we want a book!).

While that’s happening, thanks to peer discussion whilst at Wondercon 2012, I will also work on a print book. With illustration plates (am working on that now). And me, working with a typesetter, requesting fleurons and pretty things, and then me, working with a printer (Lightning Source, ftw), wondering how this is all going to work. So eventually, I will GET this, and there will be a print version.

And then—-until then! I will put my dressage hat on and exhibit at the illustrious CLOCKWORK ALCHEMY event, May 25-28 (yes, *4* days!!) in San Jose, CA, at the Doubletree hotel, near the SJ airport. It is Memorial Day weekend and also presented by Fanimecon (also happening that weekend), the biggest, oldest anime con of Northern California. Clockwork Alchemy promises to be quite a treat, with film festivals, airship events, dancing, a Ball, and so forth. Check it all out at the site. If you are local to the area, I very much encourage you to come. If you know me, remind me, and let’s say ‘hi’!

Myself, I will be in the Artist Bazaar, wistfully wishing I was airship racing. Thus is the life of a working artist/writer!

OH, but I’ll be bringing stuff, most notably what couldn’t be brought to Wondercon: E-book DVDs and flash drives of The Dark Victorian: RISEN. And original art, hopefully, and more art prints. And me, in a dressage hat. No horse. :D

More Steam’y news: A big BON JOUR to Mlle. MAD V, otherwise known as Veronique Chevalier, who stopped by during Wondercon—-merci beaucoup!—-and let me know how much she enjoyed The Dark Victorian: RISEN preview! A big thank you to all those who have enjoyed the preview, too! :) MAD V does dark cabaret, comedy, gothic polka, and steampunk. Listen to her musique, HERE.

Have fun! :)

What am I thinking? Oh yes, EMERALD CITY COMICON in Seattle, WA, is happening RIGHT NOW! So I want to give a few friends a signal boost. Are you going? Are you not? Well, check out my friends who do the BAND comic, table in the ‘J’ section. Site, HERE. Christine (writer) is an old Action Girl Comics comrade (hearts) and Erin (artist), he’s an animation colleague. So go say “HI”!

And Roberta Gregory (please check out her latest, TRUE CAT TOONS, which I very much enjoy, at her site) may still be there, a few tables down with Larry Lewis, and Donna Barr is at the Prism Comics booth.

OH, and remember my friend Carolyn (Watson-Dubisch), creator of THE PEOPLE THAT MELT IN THE RAIN? You can keep up with what’s current with her, HERE.

And to swing everything back to The Dark Victorian, made some stuff over at Zazzle with variations on Tom’s logo and my DV art. MORE to come, but please take a look. Fave’ing or Liking or even Wishlisting will also boost my store’s signal. :)

Thanks everyone, and now back to it. Besides drawing more Art (Artifice) for the new print book, I have to figure out if my new hat will go with that new skirt. :P

All the best,

~eeee

WONDERCON, 2012, in Anaheim! I braved torrential rain and cold to do my exhibitor thing for 3 days, traveling to and fro from Burbank. No drunk leprechans tried to race me, I didn’t collapse under the weight of stuff I carried in and out, didn’t have to use my AK; it was a good day! ;)

The table set-up, pre-opening on Friday! On SAT and SUN, the gracious Carolyn Watson Dubisch sat with me and brought her children’s books and graphic novel, THE PEOPLE THAT MELT IN THE RAIN. (check out the links to her Amazon Author page and to the digital version of PEOPLE at Amazon!).

My aim for this con, since The Dark Victorian: RISEN, is still in the process of becoming an e-book, was to spread the word on DV. Made 60 preview booklets with about 90% of them going into the hands of people genuinely attracted to the cover. IF they are going to be so curious and pleased as to pick up something like the Dark Victorian and take a look inside, that person gets the preview booklet. And a free Dark Victorian button. AND I just remembered, I’ve a heck of a lot emails to enter into the mailing list (yes, I know I’ve been neglecting the mailing list members!).

Another remembrance!!: My total apologies to the young lady wanting to buy a pendant necklace, I think? On Sunday. I had to run off with another young woman’s CC in order to get a clear wireless signal for my iPod’s SQUARE. I super apologize for running off, though Carolyn assures me that all was fine. I hope you enjoy your purchase. :) I hope everyone enjoys their purchases! BTW, to all who are planning to vend at events, the Square is awesome, it’s so simple to use and now I can process credit cards. It’s like the miracle of indy creator selling. :D

Here’s Carolyn with a dragon from the DRAGONS OF BLIZZARD ISLAND franchise, as promoted by the fine fellows behind Carolyn. They had a giveaway and Carolyn’s eldest daughter won this dragon! His name is Strudel. The Dragons team were our table neighbors and were just the best kind of neighbors a girl could want, because, y’know, they had Twizzlers and stuff. Here’s Rick Van Velsor, the Man behind the Dragons of Blizzard Island!:

And his toy sculpts, at least three of his characters:

There’s a comic just launched and you can check it out, HERE. As well as browse around for the wonderful toys and apparel. Written by Jim Krueger and Rick Van Velsor, art by Matt “Macho Mustache” Brundage, and colored by Tyler Champion. There’s a coloring book in the works and it looks fab too. It’s an epic storyline with much weight and wonder, and the art and coloring is really pleasing too.

OK, though Carolyn was there to help watch the table, I actually didn’t get away all that much—-well, not at all, to look at other people’s stuff and socialize. And I almost knew, with the huge scattering of Steampunk tables and such (no one was grouped by genre, which I would have preferred just for the sake of efficient browsing), that I might NEVER come back to my table for a good long while, and that would be unfair. But there was lots of cool stuff there. A huge variety of creators, artists, works of art ranging from the illustrative, to painting, to sculpting, to leathercraft, jewelry, and so forth. I never saw anything on the ‘main’ floor, where people or entities had islands, so I’m sure there were even more variety of interests. It did, however, get very packed on SAT and even Sun, so negotiating the huddled crowds could be trying, even for a short trip to the bathroom. I KNOW there was awesome costuming; I’m pretty sure most hung out where they could be more easily photographed or could pose in groups. I got no pics. :(

But that’s what’s interesting about a very large event, it is hard to do everything. Manning the table, making contacts, and socializing with other creators are really the priorities, though as an attendee I would love to wander, see all the cool works, take lots of costuming/cosplay pics, and maybe attend a panel or workshop or two. I want to thank everybody who stopped by to say hi and show support. :) Also super appreciate for every curious reader who’s anticipating Dark Victorian: RISEN and even giving it a little shout-out on their social networks. Glad for all the mailing list sign-ups. Oh! And very grateful for the shoppers. :)

Now a little shout-out to K. MICHAEL CRAWFORD, that wonderful children’s illustrator who touched bases with me again (well, she was a neighbor over, so was easy to do), and included me in her dinners whilst I waited out traffic and Talked Shop. Cuz ‘shop talk’, that’s important in these crappy economic times, lol. You will see K. at San Diego Comic-Con 2012, at various other comic book conventions and also book festivals and children book festivals. Check out her children’s activity books, all self published and totally creator driven, HERE. I dig K.’s work, I love the whimsy of it and the world that’s there. MUSEUM OF RIDICULOUS is on my Wishlist.

I got K.’s coloring book, ONE WHIMSICAL ZOOFARI:

I wonder if this will take watercolour. :D

Also met Jeanie L. S. Galster, who created REVERANCE:

Ate fried calamari whilst querying Jeanie and K. about book festivals and whatnot. Like DARK VICTORIAN, Jeanie has captions, or subtitles giving a theme for each book. Hers for Volume 1 is, “What will you seek?”. Is that not cool, or what? :D Check out her books, HERE.

For The Dark Victorian: RISEN, it’s “I am here”. For the Volume 2, The Dark Victorian: BONES, it’s “I am made of this”. So yeah, I think you’re going to really like it. :)

And looking pixelated and blurry too? And I felt like that! ;) OK, I told everybody I’ll have DV: RISEN out in e-book by mid-April, so got to go crack the Twizzler whip. Now WIT’S WORLD: NEVER WAS, that’s still work-in-progress. I know, I gave it less priority when The Dark Victorian obsessed me. I felt it couldn’t be help, and I’m rather encouraged by the fact that the writer, Melissa Good (longtime Xena fan fiction writer and writer of two of the season six TV episodes), spoke this past January at Xena Con 2012 of how when a good story idea grips you, you really should work on it. I’m glad I didn’t wait. But it does come with the usual realities; in order to promote it properly, I will change the look of the website and shift focus on Dark Victorian, may work on a new Zazzle store, and also change the look of the newsletter. So all good things.

Schnoozer Beetrop Burlybend will be making sure I am tinkering!!

Happy Spring to all, :)

love~~eee

http://a-girlcomics.smackjeeves.com/comics/1273358/photo/

Adventures of A-Girl! #6 and #6 and a half! by Elizabeth Watasin. The olde animation studio issues; A-Girl shows you what it’s like, working for Tooooooon Factory. It’s vaudeville and vodka, 24/7! ;)

And because my Shareit for Posterous is borked, here’s the beginning photo: