BLOW MY WHISTLE

So, I've learned a lesson about taking on big projects. While I thought it would be a good thing to rush through the CLAMP novel and get back to what I wanted to be doing, I've discovered this isn't necessarily true. I completely depleted my batteries and have been having a hard time getting back on track. Not to mention that every time I get on my computer, my eyes start burning and I don't know why.

I heartily recommend this lengthy article on John Kerry from The New Yorker. It seems fair, looking at both pros and cons, and as someone who often feels that he can't get off the fence about anything, perhaps I identify. It also takes Bush to task for possibly being the real "flip-flopper."

I watched Centre Stage with Maggie Cheung on Sunday, an excellent biopic about Chinese silent film star Ruan Lingyu. I immediately went online looking to see if any of her films were available, but came up empty--only to stumble on this today. Hurrah!

My schedule for the Willamette Writers Conference for Friday 8/6:

8:00 - 9:00 am: Comics Panel, moderated by Diana Schutz, also featuring Brett Warnock of Top Shelf and Scott Allie from Dark Horse

10:00 - 11:00 am: signing (supposedly Cut My Hair and manga I've worked on will be there)

3:00 - 4:00 pm: working with individual writers on pitches

My bio from the event: Shortly after dropping out of the creative writing program at Cal State Long Beach, Jamie S. Rich moved to Portland, OR, and joined the comic book world. He worked as an editor at Dark Horse Comics before hitching a ride with Oni Press, where he would spend the next six years, most of them as co-owner and editor in chief. In that time, he would work with an astounding group of talented people that included Stan Sakai, Andi Watson, Renée French, Christine Norrie, Greg Rucka, Chynna Clugston-Major, and Judd Winick, as well as winning two Harvey Awards. Despite this rather impressive workload, he managed to keep busy freelance editing for Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Allred; hosting a cable-access show about music and writing criticism in the Portland area; and rewriting the English scripts for various Tokyopop manga publications (including the soon to be published Clamp School Paranormal Investigators prose novels). In 2000, he published his first novel, Cut My Hair, through Crazyfish/MJ-12 (later picked up by Oni), and in 2004, he left his job in comics, nearly ten years to the day, to finish his second book, The Everlasting. He urges you to visit him at confessions123.com, and advises you to follow the target when you do.

Current Soundtrack: various Timbaland, Utada Hikaru, & Universal Poplab mp3s; The Kinks, Village Green Preservation Society (new edition) disc 3

golightly@confessions123.com * The Website