Hainted Holler

I’m participating in the 30 Characters in 30 Days Challenge over at http://www.30characters.com/ and today marks my third character.Take some time after reading the strip and head over to see more work by me,and check out a ton of other talented people as well.

Here’s a link to all my updates so far….

http://www.30characters.com/author/tsurber/

For PICTURES(SQUEEEEEEE!!!!) go to our Facebook page,and like us while you’re there.
So a week ago Intervention 2011 was wrapping up.This marked my second year as a guest and I’m hoping they’ll let me come back for a third year(Hint,Hint).We left home Friday morning,after rising at 4:30, to begin the long drive to the Yankee homeland of Maryland.After breakfast at IHOP and checking into our hotel, we headed over to the Hilton to set up.We were located at Table 43 in the Artist’s Alley/Dealers Room.This put us at the end of the aisle next to Kara Dennison of Conscrew.com and across from my long lost EVIL twin Jessi Bavolack of Geeks Next Door . In the spot Hainted Holler occupied last year was a new webcomic called Snow By Night by Eric Menge and Brittany Michel. We had met Eric Last year at Intervention when he became the first person to ever buy my first collection of strips “Beware the Boon”. We kept tradition alive and Eric became the first person to buy the second collection “Hainted Holler 2:Redneck Boonaloo”. Back in May we saw him and Brittany at Balticon,and learned about Snow by Night. I wasn’t jealous since it meant the two of them had to spend a weekend looking at Tovias of Reality Amuck .Fridays are usually slow for a con, so we wandered around to see who was new and who we remembered from last year. We caught up with Mike Donohue of The Cow and writer/webcomicker Elaine Corvidae who does novels and The Riven Sol comic .We also ran into Jennifer Zyren Smith(LaSalle’s Legacy) whom we met at Balticon earlier this year. I manged to get my free copy of DC Conspiracy presents Magic Bullet from Rafer Roberts(Plastic Farm) and meet the Bored in the Basement guys face to face. Both of these groups help the independent artist get their work out to the public in the form of print(Dc Conspiracy) or limited run t-shirts(BitB) so throw some love their way.

Friday proved to be slow and we spent more time goofing off and talking to the attendees than selling anything.Truthfully I was a little glad because I was on auto pilot for most of the day, do to the insane time I had woken up that morning. After the dealer room shut down, my wife and I checked out some of the other rooms that were set up before heading to my first panel “There is a Line:Offensive Topics and How to Handle Them” My fellow Panelists were Ben Kahan(Ansem Retort) , T.Campbell , Mike Hall and Ryan Thompson(Darkstar Studios) .We had a pretty good turnout considering we were up against Super Art Fight an Dating Advice For Nerds.As always it was an interesting discussion,with lots of audience interaction.Afterwards one of the audience members came up with a drawing she had done of the entire panel,which Ryan kept for himself. Afterwards we just headed to our room and crashed.

I know it’s late but I wanted to take some time and thank SheVaCon for having me this year as a guest.I hope to be there again next year as well.I was in Artist’s Alley friday along with Becky Seashols ,Denise Parrish , Nicole Goff and Kristy “Illusioner” Gilbert .Friday was my busiest day at the con, since my wife couldn’t get off work to accompany me, I had to set up,moderate 2 panels,and then tear down for the night.This was because Artist’s Alley was in the dining area of the hotel restaurant and they needed the space for breakfast saturday morning.The first panel was Webcomics…Past,Present,and Future with me ,and, No one else.Honestly this turned into a Q&A with the audience,which I loved.We discussed what makes a webcomic,the difficulties inherent in making one,digital vs paper,and many other topics.After grabbing dinner with some friends I returned for There Is A Line:Handling Potentially Offensive Topics in Creative Pursuits.Besides myself there was David Forbes author of The Osserian Saga, Betty Cross ,author of Discarded Faces, and Pete Prellwitz ,author of the Shards series.This remains one of my favorite panels to moderate.We discussed the role of the creator,and his/her responsabilities to the story,characters,and audience.Then we covered having characters who expressed a point of view that the author or cartoonist doesn’t share,as well as the neccessity of pushing the line or tackling uncomfortable subjects.The audience was responsive and opinionated as well,which I love,and kept the discussion flowing.In short a great panel.

Saturday my wife and I arrived early to walk around and check out the Dealer’s Room.Spotting an empty table we checked with the staff and,after paying the difference,claimed it for Hainted Holler.While setting up I knocked over my bag,into Peter S. Beagle’s banner,knocking it over onto his head.I apologized and set it upright again.Our location was great,across the aisle from Virginia Hey (Farscape),Behind Peter S.Beagle(The Last Unicorn) and beside Jim O’Rear (Thong Girl 3&4). We settled in and began people watching,taking pictures of the cosplayers that wandered by.I had no panels I was a member of so I wandered into World Building in a Fantasy Genre withLeona Wisoker (Secrets of the Sands) and David Forbes.Wonderful panel that helped me wrap my head around an idea I’ve had for several years,and I want to thank Leona for the worksheet she gave the attendees.On the way back to the Dealers Room,where my friend Mike was pretending to be me,I got to talk with Matt Busch who’s Zombie movie posters were incredible.(Later he came by my table to offer some advice and used my sharpie to sign a fan’s autograph.This Sharpie is available for only $129.99 with all proceeds going to me.)

After the Dealer’s room closed My wife and I,along with David Forbes, Nancy Brauer (Strandline), and Elaine Corvidae and her husband, went to dinner. I felt a little bad for my wife and Elaine’s husband trapped at a table with the four of us geeking out over various things,and discussing books and writing.Sunday was slow with us doing a walkaround and getting e-mails,and promising to meet up at other cons.The big highlight was Peter Beagle coming to my table and sharing stories of his life,and writing tips and even a couple of embarrassing con stories of his own.After a lunch with some out-of-town friends we headed home,and spent the next few days acclimating to “normal” life,battling colds and discovering our first child will arrive in the fall.Thanks to SheVaCon for a great weekend,to the fans both old and new we met,and all the new friends we met.

Sept 10-12 we were in Rockville MD for Intervention Con. I was extremely nervous heading out as this was my first convention as a guest.We left Thursday morning so we could spend a day looking around and locating the hotel the convention was being held in.The night before I re-read the convention chapter in How To Make Webcomics and did some last minute prep before trying to sleep.

The next day we went to the Rockville Hilton for setup.We were at table 44,the end of an aisle between Megami Jadeheart( www.emeraldixia.com) and Julia Lichty( www.ghostfire.net). Across the aisle were Tovias (Reality Amuck http://www.racomics.com/ ) and his Booth Babe/Assistant Natali ( http://lifeinmonkeyland.blogspot.com/), Priss (Phantom Blush www.phantomblush.com) and Donnie Sturges and Danny Valenti (The Draconia Chronicles www.2wconline.net)
Jennifer and I spent some time wandering around and getting to know the people around us before walking the entire dealer’s room and trying to talk to everyone. The atmosphere was friendly and open.Everywhere we went people would offer advice, tips and stories about their webcomics experience. The first day we actually spent more time away from the table than at it( a no-no if your a vendor or guest since you might miss a fan or sale opportunity). We had several people stop at the table to check out the book, and actually made one sale before the sales room shut down at 8.

After dinner Jennifer and I returned to the Hilton to check out some more of the convention before my 10 o’clock panel There Is A Line:Handling Potentially Offensive Topics in Webcomics.We spent the majority of the time before the panel in the Video Room performing YouTube Karaoke with Blue (www.hello-the-future.net), some of the con staff,and a couple of people hiding from the Zombies.(Interfection:a Humans Vs Zombies game that ran all weekend)Finally at 10 we headed to the panel room and joined T. Campbell(http:guildedage.net),Ben Kahan, Eric Kimball(Exiern and Blade Bunny http://www.bladebunny.com , and Mike Hall and Ryan Thompson of Darkstar Studios www.darkstar-studios.com

I admit I was nervous about the panel and was afraid it might devolve into into dirty jokes and everyone trying to top the last speaker.Instead we actually explored a wide range of themes, with only occasional sidetracks into off-topic things.I wish,since I was supposed to be the moderator,that I could take the credit for it,but I have to thank Eric and T.Campbell for keeping everyone on topic and moving the discussion forward when necessary.Afterwards I got to meet Frumph,who’s work on the Comicpress program made webcomics like this one possible, and hung around the lobby for a while talking with some of the other guests and attendees.We finally made it back to our hotel around 1 A.M. to crash and be back at the Hilton for Intervention day 2 in just a few hours.

On September 10-12 of this year I’m going to be in Rockville,Md attending my first convention as a guest.This is a huge deal for me,not just from a professional perspective,but a personal one as well.I’ve spent my life reading comics,playing video games,Role playing,and devouring massive amounts of Sci-Fi and Fantasy in whatever form I could find it.I blame my Uncle for this.When I was a kid he owned a local store that sold everything from furniture to tools to random things people would give him because they couldn’t sell it.He had a deal with a local bookstore though,concerning comics.When the new issues came in,instead of throwing them out,he would go by and get them to resell.90 percent of the resells were to me.I read everything from Conan to Weird War to Superman to Spider-Man.Everytime my parents took me by there I would leave with a stack.
But The Way of The Geek was a lonely one in those days(B.I.-Before Internet).I had only a couple of buddies who shared my passions,and we basically kept to ourselves.It wasn’t until 1994 that I discovered conventions,more specifically HeroesCon in Charlotte NC.It was amazing.After years of just a handful of people that shared my hobby,I was in a room packed wall to wall with them.I got to meet writers and artists I had admired for years and hang out with people who spoke my language.Since then HeroesCon has become an annual pilgrimage for me and the memories I have of this,and many other conventions like ShevaCon, are precious.For a weekend I get to be me,and no matter how weird or strange the rest of the world thinks I am,at a con I’m just one of the pack.
I started Hainted Holler on a lark.I had spent years trying to get published in a traditional manner,succeeding in Dec 2004 by having an 8 page published in an Independent Comic.(It was called Midnight Ink and the company went bankrupt 2 issues later.I think I may have the only 5 copies of that issue still left in existence)It took me another 4 years to even consider doing anything else creative.It took a convention and running into Chris Flick(Capes and Babes) and John Bintz(Dawns Dictionary Drama,and ComicPress) to convince me that I could do this.Since then I’ve done over 180 comics of HH,several guest strips and begun work on a book.Onezumi and James invited me,ME,as a guest to Intervention.They are putting this together out of their own pockets,because they believe in the power of webcomics,the internet,and the fans.Attend if you can,donate if you can’t,but either way SPREAD THE WORD.The Revolution is coming and it’s not televised,it’s streaming.
www.interventioncon.com