This campaign is on fire! There’s been a flurry of activity and things just keep heating up!
Within only a small span of time, I have ten new backers to welcome. Everyone who has backed the project will, of course, get a special mention in the book.
And, earlier today, I got a ReTweet from author Hugh Howey! I cherish those ReTweets even if some people might think they don’t actually bring about interest in pledging to a Kickstarter project. You just never know.
Nope, it wasn’t a ReTweet that inspired my recent support. It was just me and my project. Which is how it should be, right? Absolutely! However, ReTweets are still nice. You gotta love ’em. A Kickstarter campaign is made up of many, many components so you’re best to go with the flow, make your own opportunities, and be very grateful. Always be grateful!
Perhaps a ReTweet from Hugh Howey will lead to more people considering my project. You can’t beat that, right? Well, sure, I keep it perspective, no doubt. As they say, those who have ridden the mighty Kickstarter wave, it’s all about the project. At the end of the day, people are interested in whatever the project is, whether film, book, what have you. Ah, but the campaign is just as much about connecting with your prospective backers and getting them to consider your project in the first place. It’s truly fascinating. If Hugh Howey chooses to lend a hand, yes, I’m very grateful.
That said, I welcome you to consider my project, a quirky collection of comics in the spirit of the original television series, “The Twilight Zone,” to put it in a nutshell description. Check it out HERE.
I love Kickstarter. The ride has been exhilarating. You learn so much when you do a Kickstarter campaign. It really does come down to basics. You learn about yourself, what you’re trying to communicate, how you communicate. This video is interesting to me. I like it. And I know it could be improved upon, believe me. But, overall, I like it. I even love it. And I love my campaign that you can view HERE.
I like myself. Wait, check that, I lOVE myself. That’s important because you have to have a thick skin and accept whatever happens during a campaign. You need to keep perspective. You need to be able to step back and ask yourself if you’ve reached as many people as you’re going to reach during a campaign. I’m still gauging that. Maybe there are some people that I reached but wasn’t able to get them to that last step, the actual pledge. Maybe I missed a whole lot of people somehow. Well, so it goes. That’s the healthy approach. But, yes, there’s plenty of people still to reach. Big hint here to WordPress to make this a Freshly Pressed post! I will state here, without a doubt, I also love WordPress!
And I love all my readers: Hey, go for it! Support this campaign as best you can! Repost this. Give it an official LIKE. Spread the word in any which way you can. Maybe I just had to ask.
You learn, in a pretty significant way, what really matters in goal setting. You set out to achieve a compelling goal that is within your grasp and is in need of funds. Sounds pretty simple. And it can be. For me, my project came naturally to me. And, with only hours left in this campaign, I am so glad I did it, even if I don’t reach my goal. However, who wouldn’t like to reach their goal, especially one that has been carefully thought out and nurtured as mine has? Well, you’re right, I do dearly want to see my comics project make it.
This is a work years in the making and something that will attract readers from many directions: horror, sci-fi, humor, even romance. It will attract readers who love good quirky and offbeat stories. You know who you are! It will attract readers of good solid alternative comics with attention to slice-of-life details. If you love the more artful and literary comics, then this is for you. Each of the short works is an unusual story of self-discovery. One involves a man who must come to grips with killing a bear. Another, the title work, is about a luxury hotel with charming ghosts who are disturbed my a couple of guests with way too much emotional baggage. This story, set in the Sorrento Hotel, refers back to a lot of Seattle history and has a steampunk quality to it. There are a total of four short works that originated from 24-Hour Comics Day experiments. The long story is a coming-of-age piece about a young man’s first adventure in New York City. You can interpret that story in more than one way. So, I’ll keep fighting the good fight. I will. Because it’s so worth it.
You need to carry yourself like you’ve already won, even if it seems like there’s a certain level of indifference. You do this because you trust in yourself the most.
And I’ll definitely keep you posted after this campaign comes to a close on May 6. I’d love to read your feedback and share more of what I’ve learned. But, for now, there’s a campaign still under way! How bad do I want this thing? Pretty bad! You’ve got all the rest of this weekend and all the way through Monday. After that, we’ll talk and see how it goes. Just go to Kickstarter, A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES on Kickstarter thru May 6, and head over HERE.
There’s a new video introducing the Kickstarter campaign for A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES and you will definitely want to see it. The video takes place at Comics Dungeon, the leading comics shop in Seattle and beyond. The campaign ends May 6 and your support is greatly appreciated. Visit the campaign here.
Oh, yes, we are at the final days of the campaign for the graphic novel, A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES. This is a book with quirky and offbeat stories that follow various characters on journeys of self-discovery. Think of the original television series, “The Twilight Zone,” and that’s the sort of spirit and quality to this work.
We’re coming up on Free Comic Day this Saturday, May 4, and that kind of energy will be most helpful in the final push of the campaign. A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO will be promoted at Comics Dungeon, the leading comics shop in Seattle, and that’s very appreciated.
I begin here with a video of Amanda Palmer giving a talk on the art of “asking.” It’s not begging but that’s the misunderstanding. That said, Amanda Palmer is a good point of departure as I enter the last stages of my own Kickstarter campaign. One by one, individuals chose to help her get to where she wanted to be. More power to her and her group, The Dresden Dolls! In that empowering spirit, I humbly submit to you the Top Ten Reasons why you would want to consider my comics project at Kickstarter, A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES, going on now thru May 6. You can view it HERE.
EDITOR’S NOTE: After compiling this fun list, I started thinking of more reasons. One of the most compelling, to be sure, is a new reward I just added. At the $15 Reward level, you have an opportunity to be interviewed by me in complete Comics Grinder fashion. That means an in-depth and upbeat interview complete with your portrait rendered by yours truly, if you like. Maybe you have a band, or book, or film you’d like to promote. Whatever it is, Comics Grinder has got you covered. Check out my Kickstarter campaign for more details here.
10.I don’t need to succeed but it sure would be great. To see this collection of comics get a nice print edition will make a really big difference and help secure a wider audience.
9.You get something special for your support. This is a collection of short stories plus it includes a full length graphic novel.
8.Consider this a life’s work, phase one. The graphic novel component to this book, ALICE IN NEW YORK, is a significant work in itself, a daringly offbeat coming-of-age tale.
7.The zero to hero angle. There’s something to be said for the “zero to hero” myth. Of course, we’re all heroes, and no one is a zero. Getting this book into print and into the spotlight does count for quite a lot.
6.I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it mattered. Absolutely true. This is all heart-felt and thoughtfully created work. You get a lot of good stuff all in one 200-page book.
5.24-Hour Comics. For fans of the 24-Hour Comic model, all the short works, including the title story, originated with 24-Hour Comics Day challenges. I did not create these completely during these events. Instead, I chose to refine the works over time. Makes for the best results, I believe.
4.The Offbeat and Quirky. If you’re a fan of the original televison series, “The Twilight Zone,” then this book has got you covered. That’s one way of looking at it. This is not your usual boy meets girl stuff.
3.Gen X Autobio. The autobiographical story in alternative comics made great strides with the Gen Xers. It’s just the way it played out. You can look to great leaders of the movement, from Julie Doucet to Charles Burns. The stage was set and the talent came running. I humbly include myself within that world view: authenticity at any price, baby!
2.Steampunk. Now, this term gets thrown around a lot. Part of the appeal for me is going back in time. I love the sensibilty of the Victorian era, as well as the latter Dieselpunk era, and tweaking it in various ways. This appeals to history buffs, fans of fashion and style, and fans of science fiction. You’ll find a healthy dose of steampunk in this work, partly in the graphic novel and especially in the title story. I am bringing in aspects of Seattle history that have yet to be explored by other cartoonists.
1.If Not Now, Then When? The time is now. I’m not afraid to ask. This is me standing before you naked, unfraid of what you might think, and confident in my pursuit.
I look forward to your support in any way you can. It would be something to get as many pledges as possible. Enough micro-pledges would do it. There are various ways to crunch those numbers. Believe me, I’ve been crunching them.
Support A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES right here.
There are crowdfunding gurus analyzing the phenomenal success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign and concluding that it’s okay if you’re a big fish going after the same dollars all the little fish are going after. I don’t see a problem with it. It’s all relative. Zach Braff is considered a big fish by you and me but maybe not so big compared to Hollywood wheeler dealers. In the end, people are going to back whatever they find compelling. If Zach Braff wants to jump in and be the next Veronic Mars success story then so be it. That’s exactly what he’s doing in his Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for his next movie, “Wish I Was Here.”
You should check it out just to marvel over the tote board. I swear, as you settle down in your seat, suddenly Zach just got a couple more backers. As you scratch your nose, three more backers. As your jaw goes a bit slack, five more backers.
What’s the lesson for those of us who are conducting our own Kickstarter campaigns? I think it’s something like: Embrace your pathetic little life and dream big! You too can be Veronic Mars if Zach Braff doesn’t take all the money first! No, wait, that’s not it. No, it’s something like: Veronic Mars for Everyone! There’s room for all creative spirits in the big Kickstarter melting pot! Yeah, something like that.
Well, I invited Zach Braff to do an interview with me. I know, it’s just a big obvious ploy to try to win over some of his fans to my own cause, right? Well, yes and no. Actually, I’ll side more with a really big No! I like Zach Braff and I was a fan of “Garden State.” So, it’s all good. Who isn’t a fan of Zach Braff? He’s a likable guy. I’m a likable guy too. So, it just makes sense to have two likable guys sit down and chat for a bit over a friendly interview. Noting wrong with that.
Yes, you guessed it, as my Kickstarter campaign gets closer to its last stage (it ends May 6), I’m pulling out all the stops: absurd humor and very blatant comparisons to Zach Braff. There’s no end to it. One big difference, however, is that his project is a movie and mine is a book of comics, A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES. In fact, if you love Zach Braff and his sense of humor, well, there’s a really good chance you’ll enjoy my book!
Catch Zach Braff over at Kickstarter here. And catch my Kickstarter campaign over here.
There will be another 24-Hour Comics Day at the Phinney Neighborhood Association in observance of the international event, October 5 thru 6. The PNA (Phinney Neighborhood Association) is one of Seattle’s best known community organizations and has become a model across the nation for building community. More details will follow as we get closer to 24-HCD. As for now, we have a Kickstarter campaign, now thru May 6, that brings together three years worth of 24-Hour Comics Day events, the first two having taken place at the Phinney Neighborhood Association. Stop by and support the campaign for Henry Chamberlain’s print run of A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES right HERE.
A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES is a quirky batch of comics that is steadily gaining ground as the subject of a fundraising campaign at Kickstarter. It launched on April 3 and has reached the 30 percent mark in pledges. The campaign runs through May 6. You can view it HERE.
Now, here’s the thing about this one, it has a raw honesty to it that it shares with other Generation X artists. That’s where this artist, Henry Chamberlain, dates back to. That sort of blunt honesty has been refined over the years although an outsider’s view still remains. Think of Charles Burns, for example: acerbic, alienated, yet very heartfelt and authentic. You can find that in this collection of comics. That’s important to bring out here because this book includes the graphic novel, ALICE IN NEW YORK, which is an older work and very much aligned to that spirit. The other part of the book collects recent work, done in the last three years, that originated with 24-Hour Comics challenges. Altogether, you get one artist’s vision over a span of many years.
So, let’s focus in with a few more words about the graphic novel, “Alice in New York” that is part of this collection. What makes it share a Gen X sensibility has to do with the main character’s feeling of being at a loss. For many of a creative and intellectual bent, it just felt like we were in for a long stretch of lowered expectations. Sure, that’s pretty shortsighted. But, growing up in the ’80s, with Reagan and Thatcher running the show, with the Baby Boomers having hogged the spotlight for so long, with a perpetual rehash of pop culture, it didn’t look so good. Of course, we all knew things would change one way or another but it fostered a healthy sense of cynicism and self-deprecation.
You have the main character, Henry, a young man on his first visit to New York City still holding on to dreams of previous generations, from the myth of the Great American Novel to the lure of fifteen minutes of fame. Is it any wonder the boy is a wreck? But, he stumbles upon just the right circumstances and meets the right people to help him out. Is he too lucky? Well, sometimes you make the most of what you get, create your own luck. Add to that a little magic from Alice in Wonderland, and you have a story that transcends any generation which is what you want to do in the end!
Generation X’s way of life is not for everyone. You basically had to be there. Just saying that is so Gen X. If you’re looking for something to read that is a voice of a generation, while stubbornly refusing to be labeled, and ending up being so much more, then check out this work at Kickstarter HERE.
David Chelsea has a wicked sense of humor and a wicked way of conveying it in his comics. The stuff here in this Dark Horse One-Shot, “David Chelsea’s Snow Angel,” is prime Chelsea, served to droll and surreal perfection. This is a guy who loves to draw comics and can easily whip up a snow angel as he can William Henry Harrison.
In this collection of stories, which first appeared in the mighty monthly anthology, “Dark Horse Presents,” (which you can check out here, next one out April 24) you’ve got as your main character, a little girl who can turn herself into a snow angel whenever she darn pleases. Well, there needs to be some snow around. Then she plops down on said snow and vigorously flaps her arms, all snow angelly, and just like Lynda Carter used to spin herself around silly, poof, the little girl turns into her version of Wonder Woman, a sweet little snow angel…and not all that sweet either since she can get into a lot of mischief. Very odd stuff that, I suspect, required some heavy drugs to inspire. Or maybe not. Maybe not at all. Could be that Chelsea is totally all Steve Ditko when it comes to that. No drugs required. It’s just the power of the mind, right? That, and maybe it has to do with a regular habit of drawing late into the night, if not right into the next morning.
I have grown to love 24-Hour Comics Day challenges and David Chelsea must be a master at it having done fifteen of these. He definitely has the chops for it and the wit. I don’t think he has it all planned out ahead of time. Some of it, but not all of it. That’s what I’m thinking. It’s the way I have approached it and the reasoning behind that is that this sort of activity is so process oriented. Don’t you think? I do. It simply cries out for it. What might strike you as profound or hilarious at three in the morning needs to make its way into the final work is what I say. You just have to admire good ole stream of consciousness. Not for the faint of heart. The more you bring to the game, the more you are likely to net.
This giddy feeling of accomplishing this controlled spontaniety is evident in all the little touches to his work: the quirky facial expressions; the unexpected poses; the abrupt changes in scenery. It is very dream oriented, which makes sense for a 24-Hour Comics event. A 24-Hour event, just so you know, in case you don’t, is when you stay up for 24 hours and draw a comics project, preferably 24 pages, if you want to be official and all. But the main thing is to creat some sort of comic. I don’t adhere to the need for it being completely finished. I just don’t think that is essential but, then again, if you can do that, more power to you. Chelsea is the sort who would complete the whole thing in one go. He’s crazy, crazy like a very talented sleep-deprived dreamy fox lost in Slumberland.
Check out this Dark Horse One-Shot which is currently out. You can visit Dark Horse Comics to get a real good look at it here.
And, then, go one step further, which you know you really want to do, and pick up Mr. Chelsea’s collection of his first six 24-Hour comics collected in a nifty hardcover edition published by Dark Horse Comics, due out June 5, 2013. Check it out here.
A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES is a 200-page graphic novel that seeks funds for a print run. It brings together a variety of offbeat and urbane stories for the sophisticated reader. You’ve got everything from a man running for his life from a bear spirit to a quarrelsome couple with supernatural powers to a dog with an acerbic wit who has been launched into outer space. Plus so much more. View the campaign here. Thank you.
And for a more in depth look at the whole process of putting this book together, you can take a look here.
EDITOR’S NOTE: It is now launched and you can view it HERE.
This is an idea that has been gathering steam and now we’re about to embark on a special campaign.
This is my plan: to create a quality edition of a collection of short stories plus a graphic novel. This project is all completed and entitled, “A Night at the Sorrento and Other Stories.” The stories come from three years of 24 Hour Comics Day challenges. I put them together during the challenge and then refined them over time. These challenges occurred in Seattle: at the Phinney Neighborhood Center in 2010 and 2011; and at the Sorrento Hotel in 2012. Each year has been generously sponsored by Comics Dungeon, one of the best places you can go for comics anywhere. All the staff there are knowledgable, friendly, and eager to help. The book includes the graphic novel, “Alice in New York.”
KICKSTARTER: A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO at 30 Percent Support
A NIGHT AT THE SORRENTO AND OTHER STORIES is a quirky batch of comics that is steadily gaining ground as the subject of a fundraising campaign at Kickstarter. It launched on April 3 and has reached the 30 percent mark in pledges. The campaign runs through May 6. You can view it HERE.
Now, here’s the thing about this one, it has a raw honesty to it that it shares with other Generation X artists. That’s where this artist, Henry Chamberlain, dates back to. That sort of blunt honesty has been refined over the years although an outsider’s view still remains. Think of Charles Burns, for example: acerbic, alienated, yet very heartfelt and authentic. You can find that in this collection of comics. That’s important to bring out here because this book includes the graphic novel, ALICE IN NEW YORK, which is an older work and very much aligned to that spirit. The other part of the book collects recent work, done in the last three years, that originated with 24-Hour Comics challenges. Altogether, you get one artist’s vision over a span of many years.
So, let’s focus in with a few more words about the graphic novel, “Alice in New York” that is part of this collection. What makes it share a Gen X sensibility has to do with the main character’s feeling of being at a loss. For many of a creative and intellectual bent, it just felt like we were in for a long stretch of lowered expectations. Sure, that’s pretty shortsighted. But, growing up in the ’80s, with Reagan and Thatcher running the show, with the Baby Boomers having hogged the spotlight for so long, with a perpetual rehash of pop culture, it didn’t look so good. Of course, we all knew things would change one way or another but it fostered a healthy sense of cynicism and self-deprecation.
You have the main character, Henry, a young man on his first visit to New York City still holding on to dreams of previous generations, from the myth of the Great American Novel to the lure of fifteen minutes of fame. Is it any wonder the boy is a wreck? But, he stumbles upon just the right circumstances and meets the right people to help him out. Is he too lucky? Well, sometimes you make the most of what you get, create your own luck. Add to that a little magic from Alice in Wonderland, and you have a story that transcends any generation which is what you want to do in the end!
Generation X’s way of life is not for everyone. You basically had to be there. Just saying that is so Gen X. If you’re looking for something to read that is a voice of a generation, while stubbornly refusing to be labeled, and ending up being so much more, then check out this work at Kickstarter HERE.
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Filed under Art, Books, Comics, Comix, Culture, Generation X, Kickstarter, New York City, pop culture
Tagged as 24 Hour Comics Day, andy warhol, Art, Books, comics, Entertainment, Generation X, Great American Novel, Kickstarter, New York City, Pop Culture, Social Commentary