|
|
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
| |
9:04 pm - Photo from CCS
|
|
| Monday, July 26th, 2010
| |
12:29 pm - New directions, new blog
|
After an amazing TEN-PLUS YEARS on LiveJournal, I have decided to move this blog and start fresh.
You can find the new Platt Stuff blog over here. Come on over and follow me.
Don't worry, I won't abandon LJ completely. But from now on, the main focus of my blogging will be elsewhere.
(Of course, it still won't be frequent blogging. But it will be somewhat different, and that's why I'm making the break.)
Be seeing you!
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
| |
9:56 am - Wildlife trafficking, primates, border problems and Nicolas Cage
|
|
| Wednesday, July 14th, 2010
| |
10:50 am - Harvey Pekar, Alfred Hitchcock and other stuff
|
|
| Thursday, July 8th, 2010
| |
9:50 am - Big Announcement: Die Laughing Redux!
|
Ready for some awesome news? My 2002 short-story collection DIE LAUGHING is available once again, this time in e-book format for the Kindle!
http://www.amazon.com/Die-Laughing-ebook/dp/B003UV98L8/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3
I'm still really proud of this book, and I think it holds up pretty well. There are some great stories and poems inside, if I do say so myself.
I have modest hopes for the e-book edition. If I sell a few copies, I'll be happy. But this is a tentative first step back into the fiction world. We'll see if this inspires me to start writing again.
In any case, I hope you'll check it out and let me know what you think!
Oh, and let me know what you think of the cover! I think it's a vast improvement over the zombie clown of the first edition.
|
|
(5 comments | comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
| |
10:48 am - 16th Annual GSHW Short Story Contest now open
|
|
| Tuesday, July 6th, 2010
| |
9:56 am - Carp, cartoons, charity and more linkage
|
|
| Sunday, July 4th, 2010
| |
11:04 am - The Sweet Smell of Success - Now available for the Kindle!
|
A few years ago, Amazon.com accepted my short story "The Sweet Smell of Success" for their Amazon Shorts program. Well, Shorts has been discontinued, but the tale is now available for the Kindle (meaning it can be read on an actual Kindle, a PC, a phone, or just about any other device). Check it out here.
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Monday, June 28th, 2010
| |
1:18 pm - Catching up on the linkage
|
Whooo-boy am I running behind! I have lots and lots of new writing to do, but for those of you paying attention, here are links to the last two of three weeks worth of articles.
Enjoy!
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
| |
3:21 pm - NASA, charity, oil spill, dead stuff & drawing - another big week for articles
|
Whoo boy, have I been writing a lot lately. Even beyond the big list of article links coming your way in a few seconds, I've also been busy with press releases, corporate newsletters, and a whole lot more.
But man, it's fun. Freelancing is a constant source of stress and good times. I never know what the next day is going to bring. (Oh, sure, I have a slight idea, but getting there is a journey in and of itself.)
Here are this week's article links. There are some doozies -- and a few stories about the stories besides.
NASA Seeks to INSPIRE Teens to Study Science and Technology [Neat program. If you have teenagers, or teach them, read this.]
Delisted and in danger: Gulf oil spill threatens pelicans months after they are dropped from endangered species list
Green Tech: Which Airline Lets You Fly the Greenest Skies? [This was a popular one.]
Humane Society Donates 12 Tons of Pet Food to Gulf-Stricken Louisiana - [Holy cow, I did not expect the reaction to this one. Apparently, the right wing *hates* the Humane Society of the United States. I got tons of abusive, vitriolic email after this story appeared. Go figure!]
The Top 10 Spin-Off Characters of All Time - [Man, this was a lot of fun to research and write.]
Extinction Countdown: Threatened tortoises become tempting targets for thieves [Very sad one. You'll cry.]
Pick Up Your Pencil for Drawing Day this Saturday - [Oops, you missed it. But it was fun.]
Green Tech: HP Introduces Its Greenest Computer Yet
Green Tech: 43 Percent of Workers Expected to Telecommute by 2016
Irene Goodman: Literary Agent With an Ear for Words (and Charity)
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010
| |
11:35 am - Lots and lots of article links
|
I normally post these for you on Wednesdays, but last week was crazy-busy, and then it was Memorial Day, so now you get two weeks of article links all at once. Don't say I never did nothing for ya!
Extinction Countdown: Epidemic kills 12,000 critically endangered antelopes
Green Tech - Travel Greener: Stay at an Energy Star Hotel
5 Ways to Green Your Memorial Day [okay, Memorial Day is passed, but this is still worth reading.]
Extinction Countdown - The loris: Another primate at risk from traditional Asian medicine
Green Tech: How Green Is Your Commute? Find Out Now
Madagascar bird driven to extinction by invasive fish
"Udderly weird yam" and "killer sponge" among top 10 new species of 2010
Rikers Island Program Teaches Cons to Cook
Green Tech: New iPhone App Helps Save Endangered Gorillas
7-Year-Old Raises $8,500 for Alzheimer's Research Through Comics
Polar bear/grizzly hybrid found in Canada
Experts Honored for Work to Save Endangered Florida Panthers
Green Tech: New LED Lights Coming from Sylvania and Philips
World's smallest water lily saved from extinction
Green Tech: Home Depot Introduces 20-dollar, 22-year LED Light Bulb
And finally, here's a "new" graphic novel review for Joe Bob Briggs (turned in years ago, now finally published) - H-E-R-O: Powers and Abilities
|
|
(2 comments | comment on this)
|
| Thursday, May 27th, 2010
| |
3:01 pm - Coming in June: Maine's Summer Book Fair
|
|
| Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
| |
1:33 pm - The Great Pylon Graveyard
|
|
| Monday, May 24th, 2010
| |
5:51 pm - BTW, here's the new mini-comic
|
|
| |
3:57 pm - MECAF Memories
|
So this weekend was the 2nd annual Maine Comics Arts Festival, my first comics show behind the table as a cartoonist.
And it rocked.
I drove down to Portland on Saturday and spent the day wandering around that fine city. MECAF panels were going on all day, but I just poked my head in briefly and looked at the art show. I really wanted to be outdoors, stretching my legs, eating city food, and moving. And so I did. I had some truly amazing gourmet pizza (I forget the name of the place, but the pizza had butternut squash on it); I went into every bookstore in town, including the Green Hand bookstore, which also hosts the International Cryptozoology Museum (to which I just had to return); I shopped at MECAF sponsor Casablanca Comics (they kindly gave their exhibitors a 25%-off coupon, which I proudly spent); and I hit a few other cool places.
Saturday night was the artists' reception at the Inn on Peaks Island. A 20-minute ferry ride across the waters brought us there in style, and the event sponsors plied us all with free booze and food. I met a bunch of cool folks that night, which was great, since I didn't know anyone there going in.
Later that night, back in my hotel room, I crashed hard upon hearing of the murder of comics and animation writer Steve Perry. But that will need to be discussed another time.
Sunday I was up with the sun... or what little of it we had. The fog never lifted the entire day! I've never seen a day like that. I got some cool photos, which I'll share with you soon.
I think I was one of the first artists to arrive and set up Sunday morning. The Casablanca Comics crew (especially co-owner Rick Lowell) was on top of everything and never seemed to stop moving. I met a few more cool folks who were set up around me, and then the doors opened at 10am sharp.
People never stopped streaming into the show the entire day, which was pretty cool. Lots and lots of families, since it was advertised as free admission for kids.
The show was split into two rooms: one major room with all of the slightly bigger-named artists and a smaller room near the entrance where folks like me where stationed. This made sure there was a lot of traffic through our room at all times, but it also kept people from spending too much money because they wanted to see what lay beyond the first room.
Sales were steady, and I'm happy with the amount of mini-comics I sold and the number of free sketches I gave away. One mini-comic -- My Beard in Alternate Dimensions -- almost sold out, which was awesome.
I saw a bunch of people that I knew, but had no real time to stop and chat with them. I only wandered the main floor one time, and missed half of the folks I wanted to see. Plus I in the middle of the mid-afternoon energy ebb when I was walking around, so the conversations I could have were pretty brief and lackluster. Sigh. Oh well, That's the price you pay when you're behind the table instead of walking around as a customer, I guess.
I'll probably report on a few of the cool items I picked up or which people generously gave me. But right now, I'm behind on a dozen deadlines, so it's back to the old keyboard.
Thanks to the MECAF organizers, staff, volunteers, artists and attendees for a great time!
|
|
(1 comment | comment on this)
|
| Friday, May 21st, 2010
| |
9:49 am - Maine + Comics = MECAF
|
This weekend is the 2nd annual Maine Comics Arts Festival (MECAF), and I'll be on hand selling books, mini-comics, original art and whatever else will fit on my table.
It's my first book signing in 8 years (since the release of Die Laughing, copies of which I'll have on hand). I'll also a have the two mini-comics I drew at the Center for Cartoon Studies last summer, as well as a brand-new mini-comic I just finished assembling last night. I'll probably also have a few copies of other anthologies I've appeared in, although my stocks on all of those books are running low.
I take my creative writing less seriously these days -- I no long feel the need to make it the reason I live and breathe -- but I plan on having fun at this show, selling a few books, and meeting some comics-oriented people.
Hope to see some old friends and meet some new ones. Yay comics in Maine!
|
|
(comment on this)
|
| Wednesday, May 19th, 2010
| |
2:14 pm - A few new article links for you + other updates
|
|
| Wednesday, May 12th, 2010
| |
9:18 am - It's...
|
|
| Wednesday, May 5th, 2010
| |
2:57 pm - Giant worms, the oil spill, dolphins, snails, free comic books, free books
|
|
| Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
| |
10:01 am - My most popular article ever?
|
|
|
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.7){kind=small}
plattcave's journal
