My MechaCon 2014 Schedule

The Gargoyles Twentieth Anniversary U.S. Tour continues. Stop #5 is MechaCon in New Orleans, LA: http://www.mechacon.com

Here's my schedule for the weekend:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 2014
04:00pm - 05:00pm: VOICE DIRECTING PANEL
Panel Room 1. With Jonathan Klein and Andrea Romano.

06:00pm - 07:00pm: OPENING CEREMONIES
Main Events.

08:00pm - 09:00pm: GOLDPASS MEET-N-GREET
Tertiary Events.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2, 2014
11:00am - 12:00pm: SIGNING
Signing Room, Secondary Events. I'll be selling and signing copies of my new novels RAIN OF THE GHOSTS and SPIRITS OF ASH AND FOAM. $10 cash for each book, which includes the book and a personalized signature. But if you buy both books for $20 cash, you also get free signed copies of the original development character designs by Kuni Tomita for the television version of Rain that never was. In addition - and by popular demand - I am selling and signing an array of my animation teleplays for $20 cash from such series as Gargoyles, Team Atlantis, DC Showcase (Green Arrow), Men in Black: The Series, The Spectacular Spider-Man, The Batman, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, W.I.T.C.H., Young Justice and even the 2009 Radio Play "The Spectacular Spider-Man Meets Gargoyles". I'll also sign anything else you bring and put in front of me for FREE - especially if you buy my book. ;).

02:00pm - 03:00pm: STATE OF THE ANIMATION INDUSTRY PANEL
Panel Room 1. With Jonathan Klein, Andrea Romano and Steve Yun.

03:00pm - 04:00pm: SIGNING
Signing Room, Secondary Events.

05:00pm - 06:00pm: GARGOYLES TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY PANEL
Panel Room 1.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 3, 2014
10:00am - 11:00am: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN PANEL
Panel Room 1.

11:00am - 12:00pm: SIGNING
Signing Room, Secondary Events.

12:00pm - 01:00pm: RAIN OF THE GHOSTS PANEL
Panel Room 1.

02:00pm - 03:00pm: YOUNG JUSTICE PANEL
Panel Room 1. With Khary Payton (voice of Aqualad, Black Manta, Brick, Black Lightning).

03:00pm - 04:00pm: SIGNING
Signing Room, Secondary Events.

If you're anywhere near NOLA, stop by and say hello!

MechaCon 2013

I'll be attending Mecha-Con from August 23-25th, 2013, in New Orleans, Louisiana.

http://www.mechacon.com/

Here's my schedule:

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013
Acting, Writing, Directing and Producing Animation 03:00pm - 04:00pm
Secondary Events/1st Floor
w/New Generation Pictures' Jonathan Klein and Hynden Walsh, the voice of Princess Bubblegum and Starfire, among many others.

Opening Ceremonies and Formal/Semi-Formal Dinner 05:30pm - 08:00pm
Main Events/1st Floor

Dolldelight FashionShow 07:00pm - 08:00pm
Main Events/1st Floor

GoldPass Meet-n-Greet 08:00pm - 09:30pm
Tertiary Events/1st Floor

SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 2013
Voice Acting and the Industry 01:00pm - 02:00pm
Panel Room 1/3rd Floor
w/Jonathan Klein, Hynden Walsh and Tommy Yune of Robotech fame, etc.

Voice Directing for TV Animation, Anime and Video Games 03:00pm - 04:00pm
Panel Room 3/3rd Floor
w/Jonathan Klein

Signing 04:00pm - 05:00pm
Signing Room

*5 of the Best Anime English Dubs You've Probably Never Heard of
Panel Room 1/3rd Floor
Presented by Jonathan Klein
*I might be at this one. Might not.

Star Wars Rebels 07:00pm - 08:00pm
Panel Room 1/3rd Floor

Gargoyles 19th Anniversary: Stone by Day, Warriors by Night 09:00pm - 10:00pm
Panel Room 1/3rd Floor

SUNDAY, AUGUST 25, 2013
Young Justice: Combating the Light 10:00am - 11:00am
Panel Room 3/3rd Floor

The Animation of Disney, DC, Marvel and Beyond 11:00am - 12:00pm
Panel Room 1/3rd Floor
w/Hynden Walsh

Charity Auction 01:00pm - 04:00pm
Main Events/1st Floor

Anyway, if you're around New Orleans, stop by. I think it's going to be a great con. And if you're AT the con, stop by and say hello. I'm much nicer in person than I am here at ASK GREG. Everyone thinks so.

"Don't Lick the Torah"

A serialized story in tweets. Part One. In my family, we have a saying: "Don't lick the Torah."
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Two: This expression originated on the eve of my daughter's Bat Mitzvah. She was very anxious...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Three: I said to @BandgeekErin "What's the worst that could happen? You could lick the Torah." She replied...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Four: @BandgeekErin replied, "I'd never do that!" So I said, "Then what are you worried about?"...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Five: So in our family, that became our recurring metaphor for "Don't worry about it." Then tonight...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Six: Tonight, @BandgeekErin was saying her boyfriend was nervous about meeting me. (He doesn't know that...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Seven: @BandgeekErin 's nervous boyfriend doesn't know I already like him.) I told her to tell him...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Eight: Told @BandgeekErin to tell him not to lick the Torah. THEN my wife says that today at the pre-school...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Nine: Today at the Jewish pre-school where my wife works, she took out the Torah for Shabbat, and one of...
"Don't lick the Torah!" Part Ten: My wife took out the Torah, and one of her two-year-old students licked it. The End.

Here, at ASK GREG, I have the room to embellish this story. But, really... what more do you need to know?

Maybe this: I'll be meeting @BandgeekErin's nervous boyfriend for the first time at MechaCON, where I'll be a guest, doing multiple panels and at least one signing!!

http://www.mechacon.com/

More details shortly!!

Twitter vs. ASK GREG - To the Death!!!

Twitter vs. ASK GREG - To the Death!!!

So for the first time in nearly a month, I lurked on a few sites and someone was bitchin' (that's right, I said it) about the fact that I was tweeting a lot but hadn't spent much time here at ASK GREG.

Mostly, the responses that person received from other fans were dead obvious, but they bear repeating:

1. Twitter is a lot more convenient. I can tweet with my phone during downtime. (I tend to do it while I'm doing my isometric neck exercises.) I can also do Ask Greg with my phone during downtime (as I did yesterday when I was stuck at an airport), but (a) it's much more difficult because the screen is so small and (b) I have no access to the materials that some questions require. So Ask Greg answers done on the phone tend toward the short and unsatisfying.

2. Stop acting so entitled. Greg Weisman has NO obligation, explicit or implicit, to answer any questions on ASK GREG ever. Let me repeat that: Greg Weisman has NO obligation, explicit or implicit, to answer any questions on ASK GREG ever. I do it because I enjoy doing it (most of the time). But if for any reason I take a break for however long, that's life. I will not be made to feel guilty about it.

Those are the two main points, but there are a couple others:

3. I've been traveling A LOT. Since the end of May, I've taken four trips up north to Lucasfilm, one trip to Denver Comic Con, one trip to Oregon for their Shakespeare Festival and a family trip to EUROPE. I still have both San Diego Comic Con and New Orleans MechaCon (http://www.mechacon.com/) coming up in the next couple months, plus at least one more trip to San Francisco for Lucasfilm. When I travel, internet is a dicey prospect at best, and that's on top of the fact that the reasons for the trip tend to preclude me having the free time to post on ASK GREG.

4. I've been SWAMPED with work. That's a good thing. (In fact, these are all good things.) I have tight deadlines on Star Wars Rebels, a looming deadline on the second book in the Rain of the Ghosts series, plus a few other random freelance things that I'll mention (perhaps) when they're finished. Lots of work means less free time to post at Ask Greg.

As for Twitter, I'll admit I might be a little addicted, but the bald-faced truth of the matter is simply that I was basically coerced into joining Twitter by my book publisher, my agent/manager and my family. I am making an extremely conscious attempt to raise my profile there (and gain followers) for the sake of RAIN OF THE GHOSTS. I make no bones about that. I'm not trying to hide the fact AT ALL. I want/need the book to do well, and Ask Greg just was NOT reaching enough people. Hence Twitter.

Having said that, I have no interest in using or allowing Twitter to replace ASK GREG. Folks have asked me questions on Twitter, which I've either ignored or used as an excuse to nudge the askers over here. It's a tad difficult, since the ASK GREG Question Asking Function here is currently down until I catch up, but whatchagonnado? ASK GREG still matters to me, and Twitter hasn't changed that at all.

So really, the title of this ramble is a sham. The two resources are not in conflict at all. I'm hoping Twitter brings MORE people to Ask Greg and maybe, vice versa. (And maybe that's the real reason for this post. Heh heh heh.)