words to ponder

Given the enthusiasm over my Lebanese Driver Manuals, I've been studying the matter of publishing them and I came up with a layout idea I really like, that will make a really fun and good-looking item. The idea was to price them at no more then $10, less if possible, and I arrived at a good cost estimate with my printer today so I'm going to be able to do that shortly after I publish Malaak vol.2 in French, sometimes next month :D In the meanwhile I'm gauging interest online and IRL, and a lot of people here had requested the manuals to be published, so... Who would seriously consider ordering a copy if they get printed?

Somehow I'm not surprised that twitter, facebook and the rest are not overflowing with messages about Claude Lévi-Strauss' passing.

Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
Category	Your Score	Average
Hacklust	35.85% Has conversations in between massacres	53.6%
Sensitive Roleplaying	17.72% There is no player. There is only.... Zuul.	54.7%
GM Experience	22.46% Closer to a novel than to a campaign	69.3%
Systems Knowledge	83.05% Played in a couple of campaigns	90.4%
Livin' La Vida Dorka	32.18% Carries dice in pocket 'just in case'	63.3%
You are 42.01% pure Average Score: 68.8%
Take The Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Test and see how you match up! (By The Ferrett)

October has been exceptionally good.

Other than the personal side, which may (or may not) go into a locked entry, I've been enjoying to the full the ongoing Salon du Livre, meeting French authors and illustrators, making good contacts and by jove, buying books by the cartload. Sunday was a red-letter day for me, as I spent the whole afternoon with Benoît Peeters!

A few days ago when I posted the latest C&C newsletter, I made a note to have the next spotlight on the Cités Obscures series by Benoît Peeters and Francois Schuiten. No particular reason, it struck me as a good idea when I saw them mentioned in passing. Then Saturday, by complete chance, I was scanning the schedule and discovered Peeters himself would be giving two talks on Sunday. I almost passed out! He's a household name, and I was learning from his writings long before I ever heard of Scott MacCloud.
The first talk was titled Ecrire l'image ("Writing the image") and completely fascinating. I posted a transcript of it – it's long!

During the book signing that followed, I asked if I could show him Malaak and I waited for him to be done, then we sat down and I got a full quarter hour of critique. I am so grateful for having had this opportunity, and the guts to ask.
His feedback made me realize how many weaknesses the work had – nothing to be ashamed of for one's first series, but too many for professional circuits to take it seriously. In a way that's a weight off my mind, as I was starting to feel pressured into getting published by the mere fact others around me were doing it. For a time at least, I can return to my original resolution which is to hone my comic-making skills and let the spotlight-seeking for people who seek their reward in it. And I have to keep looking for my own voice in the medium, through other creations.

I wish we could have talked more as he was a surprisingly approachable man, but MAN, I still can't believe I met him at all! </groupiemode>

There, that's all for now, I was catching up ;)

I know you're going to ask how people are supposed to get out, so I'll just explain, lol. There's nothing boring about being a parking attendant in Beirut. When you park, you leave the key with the attendant and you tell him roughly when you're leaving. He's going to fill every single space in the parking area to maximize his profit, but he'll move your car around so that when you return, it's ready to go. Otherwise he'll just move cars out of the way for you to be able to drive out.
Which doesn't mean my stomach doesn't make a funny knot when I arrive at the parking and find a sea of tightly wedged cars.