As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I did little work last week. I spent last Wednesday evening through Sunday afternoon at Anime Expo in Los Angeles. Diving into the world and culture of anime was a great way to recharge. Well, “recharge” might be a bit of a stretch, because it was four days of waking up early, going to bed late, walking, and waiting in lines. It took two days this week just to recover! That being said, it was still a lot of fun.
We had a blast watching all the creative cosplay and attending panels of our favorite anime. One highlight of this year was the music scene. Two of the panels we attended focused on the music of the anime themselves. These were Demon Slayer, and Freiren. Both scores were terrific. On top of that, we attended a concert of J-POP bands and Thursday evening. It was crazy good. The bands/artists who performed were Granrodeo, Flow, Togenashi Togeari, Hiroshi Kitadani (One Piece), and Sakurazaka46 (dance troupe). The show was ridiculously good and was one of the most energetic concerts I’ve ever attended. It was a great way to cap off a long first day of the expo.
One other band we saw was a local cover band called Isekai Stage. My wife has become quite a big fan of them and we’ve seen them at several local cons, but they really knocked it out of the park on this show.
Here’s a picture of my son, wife, and I doing a little more Sakamoto Days cosplay. This is a picture of us in front of the Netflix booth highlighting the show:
Mechhaven Missives
Book 5 Progress: After Anime Expo, this week I was back to work reviewing some chapters that I realized I hadn’t put through my entire review process. I have about five more chapters to do this weekend. Then, I’ll start from the beginning, and do my final read-through/polish pass.
On another note, I signed up for another show. This one is called GameACon. It will be at The Shops at Palm Desert on October 11th and 12th. It’ll be my first mall-type event, so I’m excited to see how it goes.
Featured Promotions
No group promotions this week…none of the dates aligned with my newsletter. Hopefully I’ll have some new promotions next time.
Featured Authors
This week’s featured author is C. R. Walton.
Heretic Blade (Diaspora Book One)
by
C. R. Walton
Ancient portals. Fallen gods. A universe on the brink.
The lost empire of the Diaspora spans countless worlds, linked by portals that pulse with mysterious rhythm. For a thousand years, the way between worlds has been sealed—until now.
Aven, a swordsmith enslaved by the secretive Keepers, risks everything to uncover the truth of the Diaspora. Elyzia, a defiant thief he loves, rejects their rule entirely. When Aven’s forbidden quest leads to the shocking discovery of warriors from another world making plans to invade, his world is changed forever.
Hunted by Kings, ghouls, and eyeless dragons, Aven and Elyzia must rise from slaves to legends—or watch their worlds burn. The Diaspora is reuniting, and the truth will shatter everything.
Indie Artist/Author Spotlight
Since I’ve been attending events as an author, I’m always amazed at the sheer mass of collected creativity. There are so many great artists that you just want to open your wallet and buy everything. I have to be careful not to purchase more than I make at the shows!
Today’s featured Indie Artist is Travis Hanson. You can read more about him at his website: Bean Leaf Press.
What initially grabbed my attention about Travis’s art was the Calvin and Hobbes-like vibe. This style matches his Fantasy comics so well. So far over the last two years, I’ve picked up four volumes of each of his series. The first is Life of The Party: Realities of an RPG. This is a collection of fantasy-themed one panel comics similar to what you used to find in old school newspapers. These are quick and fun to read and if you play any role-playing games or love fantasy, you should find these quite humorous. The other series is called Life of the Party: Big Bad RPG Battles. This is done in a similar art style, but is a graphic novel with an ongoing storyline. You can check out Travis’s work at his website above, or if you’d like to purchase, you can use find them here (Please note, this is an Amazon affiliate link and if you buy anything here, I may receive a small commission).
Until next time, have fun and read a lot of books!
Greg Sorber