I just wanted to tell everyone that I’m leaving for my Cannes/London trip!
I will be away from later today Saturday, May 11th through Friday, May 31st (plus most likely a few days of recovery, etc.).
During my trip, I plan on taking copious notes/photographs in order to share my adventure here with you when I get back.
Unfortunately, I’ll have only sporadic Internet connection while abroad. But please feel free to leave me a message and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!
Summary: “A ridiculous crossover fan adventure between Ubisoft’s popular Assassin’s Creed video game series and Andrew Hussie’s extremely popular Homestuck webcomic adventure.”
Truthfully, I know very little about Assassin’s Creed or Homestuck, but so far Assassin Bound is quite entertaining. My friend has wonderfully snarky humor and it’s fun to participate by offering suggestions as to what should happen next. Whether a diehard Assassin’s Creed and/or Homestuck fan or not, Assassin Boundis worth a look!
Thank you so much to Don Hoang Nguyen (nguyeningit.wordpress.com) for nominating me a third time for the Liebster Award! Don’t forget to check out Don Hoang’s quirky illustrations and comics.
To view the post from my first and second nominations, click here and here.
As I mentioned yesterday,I continue to accept these awards because I love being able to share/promote other talented WordPress bloggers by nominating them. So please take a look at the list of nominations below!!
***
Rules
Post eleven facts about yourself.
Answer the questions the tagger has set for you and create eleven questions for people you’ve nominated.
Choose eleven people to give this award to and link them in your post.
Go to their page and tell them.
***
Don Hoang’s Questions
1. What is your favorite pizza topping?
Dolce gorgonzola, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, pear and golden raisins.
2. Where is your favorite pizza joint providing said favorite pizza topping?
The Quattro Fromaggi pizza at Pizza Nostra in San Francisco.
Prepared for tomorrow — the first day of my new internship!!!
Wednesday, January 30th
Zest Books Internship, Day #1: Wonderful first day! Having an easy time getting into the flow of everything. Staff is extremely friendly and excited to get to know them better. Get awesome sneak peaks of upcoming titles. Friday, will be working on Tumblr and possibly doing some image research — can’t wait!
Thursday, January 31st
Not ready to announce anything yet, but amazing news (from January 20th) continuing to develop!
Received e-mail from follower Hannah Meiklejohn (bellusmundus.wordpress.com) asking if she could write an article for a magazine about The Poet and the Flea, yay! Excited to learn more details about the article and magazine. (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #2: Worked on historical-themed image research for most of the day, which was mostly a lot of fun! Started working on Zest’s Tumblr (zestbooks.tumblr.com). Ate lunch in nearby park, which is very pleasant and relaxing and will definitely be repeated.
Saturday, February 2nd
Happy Groundhog Day!!
Filled out the rest of Cannes paperwork and made a checklist for what to bring (I’m Going To Cannes!!!).
Went to see Warm Bodies with Wes! Not the most brilliant movie, but adorable and a lot of fun. (︶ω︶)
For those of you watching the new Netflix series House of Cards, I highly recommend watching the original BBC version starring the brilliant Ian Richardson also available on Netflix.
Ran into a neighbor on the bus to work today, and she’d like to hire me to help her with her WordPress. We’ll see what happens… (^-^)
Zest Books Internship, Day #3: Worked on creating prom tips for Zest’s Tumblr as well as a mailing project. Getting to know everyone in the office better — everyone’s super easy to talk to. Took home a copy of Zoo Station to read.
Wow, I adore this new FX show The Americans! Amazing character development and really scary/exciting. Can’t wait for the next episode.
Zest Books Internship, Day #4: Continuing work on Tumblr! Sat at Ann’s desk today — she happens to have a David Bowie paper doll (with multiple outfits) taped to her computer, which brings me endless joy. Got to know fellow intern Olivia a bit better. Extremely excited to proofread/edit the back cover blurb for an upcoming book. Also got to share my opinion on some cover art!
Today’s constant companion: David Bowie!
Saturday, February 9th
Went to see Lewis Black with Wes and the folks! Stomach hurts from laughing so much!
Sunday, February 10th
Finally got to talk with my good friend from high school Tina! Talked on the phone for over 2 hours! (^-^;;)
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Monday, February 11th
Went downtown today to pick up some more supplies from Britex for The Flea plush toy.
Did a little shopping in preparation for Cannes. A lot more shopping to do in the next few months.
Finished writing responses to Hannah’s questions. Just have to edit a bit and then send them to her.
Worked on TOP SECRET project.
Wednesday, February 13th
Zest Books Internship, Day #5: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Asked to do some brainstorming for book ideas. Ended up walking all the way home today since the bus skipped a lot.
A few days ago, e-mailed the Tate Gallery about information on their William Blake collection. Today, received response with good news. Will talk about this more in upcoming post.
Received e-mail from Hannah! She sent a draft of the article, and it looks really wonderful so far. Just have to answer a couple follow-up questions. \(^-^)/
Zest Books Internship, Day #6: More historical-themed image research and Tumblr. Also, talked about a potential book idea I came up with, and some of the staff seems interested! Next week, will be attending the Teen Advisory Board on Wednesday and a staff meeting on Thursday. Very excited!
Saturday, February 16th
Ordered a beautiful dress to wear at Cannes. I needed a maxi dress for pool parties, etc. and couldn’t find the right one in stores. So I browsed Etsy and found the talented Nicole Lebreux! Not only does Nicole have really fun designs, but also she was extremely helpful in answering my questions. So go ahead and check out her shop!
Went to see a simulcast of the new Met production of Verdi’s Rigoletto. The opera is usually set in the 16th century, but this production cleverly reimagines the story in 1960s Las Vegas. Wonderfully creative and engaging production with incredible singers! Preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-zXLKd76fk.
Sunday, February 17th
Worked on some upcoming blog posts.
Date night with Wes!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: about 6-8 pages of illustrated work in progress.
Today, set up an interview for a potential internship at a local publishing company! The interview’s Wednesday afternoon, so I have some time to prepare and de-stress beforehand.
Saturday, January 12th
Was going to go see Gangster Squad this weekend with Wes. But I’m definitely coming down with something. Hope I get better before the interview on Wednesday! ヽ(￣д￣;)ノ
I’m sure you’ve all heard about and seen the amazing giant squid footage recently captured by Japanese scientists. Well, I made a giant squid discovery of my own (see photograph below)! P. S. I love the Japanese word for giant squid – 大王烏賊 daiouika, which uses the characters for “big,” “king,” “crow/raven” (perhaps because squids have beaks), and “rebel/thief/bandit.” Yes, giant squid are awesome!!
Resident Squid at Woodhouse Fish Co.
Sunday, January 13th
Under the weather!
I just had to share something amazing with all of you. Recently, I’ve started watching a very strange show called Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy. The only way to describe it is Monty Python meets a live-action version of Yellow Submarine plus an unverified amount of crack. You might want to watch the whole episode if you’ve never seen it before to understand the humor. But I wanted to point you all in the direction of a skit about William Blake and The Ghost of a Flea (like The Poet and the Flea, but not)! Watch from 7:50 for The Flea.
Discovered this amazing review of The Poet and the Flea by Sarah Goode at University College Oxford on the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies’s website!
Brief but great meeting with Gabe! He seemed to really love what I’ve done so far on the final illustrations for Elias & the City of Cats. He didn’t make any changes other than adding a handwritten title to the cover and adding a second page for the part we call “cat craziness.” Plus, I sent Gabe a list of children’s book publishers I’ve compiled and he’ll look over it in the coming days. It’s wonderful to think that, once I’ve finished the final illustrations, Gabe will start working on submitting Elias to publishers!!!
Began reading Wes’s screenplay!!
Saturday, January 19th
Continued reading Wes’s screenplay!!
Sunday, January 20th
Received some amazing news — more details to come!
Saw Gangster Squad with Wes! Both of us agree that it wasn’t as bad as the 33% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Monday, January 21st
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Finished reading Wes’s screenplay!! Going to meet on Wednesday to go over it with him. (^-^)
Discussed screenplay with Wes today! I think he has a really strong screenplay (especially for a first draft) and already knows which elements need to be further developed. (︶ω︶)
Had dinner with a lovely relative from out of town.
Sunday, January 27th
Had brunch with our lovely cousins.
Date night with Wes!
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 63 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
First Zine: about 6-8 pages of illustrated work in progress.
What, another award!?!?!?! Many many many many many thanks to the incredibly talented Kiki Lanbac (laofli.wordpress.com)!!! She has a wonderful aesthetic and a wicked sense of humor. Check out a sample of her amazing work below.
This image belongs to Kiki Lanbac!
***
Rules
Post the award pic on the blog.
Tell everyone about who gave you the award with a link to their blog.
Only January, and I can already check #10 off my New Year’s resolutions list (New Year’s Resolutions, Anyone?). I have finally gotten an official internship in a field of my interest.
At the end of the month, I will start working at Zest Books, a publishing company focused on readers in their teens and early twenties!
Last week, I had an interview with Ann (Marketing and Editorial Associate) and was hired for the internship on the spot. It’s a small office in a really cool building/neighborhood and, on first impression, extremely friendly staff.
For this internship, I really feel like I’ll be able to utilize a number of my skills (writing, editing, social media, Japanese language & culture, etc.). I might also have an opportunity to do some freelance illustration work for them as well, which would be absolutely amazing! Plus, the internship is only a couple days a week, so I’ll still have ample time to continue my independent projects like The Poet and the Flea. Most of all, I’m excited to learn everything I possibly can about the business side of publishing!!
One really cool aspect of Zest Books is their Teen Advisory Board. They have a number of teen readers who work as interns and help the publishers figure out what kind of books teens would like to read/see published. According to Ann, the current Teen Advisory Board is really into anime/manga and Doctor Who — so I think I’ll get along with these kids just fine!
Zest focuses on non-fiction titles, from memoirs to how-to books. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been really looking into their titles and have found a number of books that pique my interest. I’ve complied a list of my favorites below, so check them out!
Yesterday, to my utter surprise, the counter hit 1,000 followers (and a little over) here at gegallas.wordpress.com.
All I can say is: “Wow!”
Many thanks to each and every one of you who has followed this blog. Your “likes,” comments, kind words, insights, and encouragement have really helped me continue to strive towards my goals.
By the way, for those of you who are enjoying The Poet and the Flea (thepoetandtheflea.wordpress.com), don’t forget to press “follow” over there too!
Happy Holidays and sweet New Year’s wishes,
G. E.
P.S. I’m excited for my family’s typical Jewish Xmas celebration — Chinese food and a trip to the movies!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
Sent out some more fellowship/internship/job applications.
Worked on The Flea script.
Saturday, December 15th
Last day of cat sitting!
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Worked on The Flea script.
Sunday, December 16th
Went to see The Hobbit with Wes and the folks! I was a major fan of The Lord of the Rings films when they first came out (and still am), so of course I was (and still am) super excited for The Hobbit. Even my dad, who was skeptical and didn’t really want to come, loved the movie (and even shed tears at the bromance between Bilbo and Thorin, I kid you not). (^-^) I know this is bizarre, but I think my favorite part was when the Great Goblin’s secretary cackled as he ziplined through the air!
Wes is so sweet and got me a Rose Vampire figurine from Super7 – IT’S SO CUTE!
As usual, great meeting with Gabe. Working out the next few steps for Elias & The City of Cats and thinking about our future projects.
2:30 p.m.:Phone interview with The American Pavilion for the Cannes Film Program. I think it went pretty well. I’ll be hearing from them this Friday. Wish me luck!
Came up with a really cool idea for The Blanks screenplay collaboration. Wrote an e-mail to Gabe and waiting to hear what he thinks!
Thursday, December 20th
E-mails, e-mails, e-mails…!
Applied to the Creative World Awards (a screenwriting competition). For more information, click here.
Worked on The Flea script.
Did some more research on fellowships/internships/jobs.
Etcetera
The Poet and the Flea: 60 pages of written script (1 page of script = 4-6 illustrated pages), and about 36 pages (1-24, 27-30 completed, and 25-26, 31-36 in progress) of illustrated work.
The First Reich: about 1-10 pages of illustrated work in progress.
Today, I wanted to share the work of the extremely talented Ryan Thompson.
I befriended Ryan back in July through Twitter — I followed him, he followed me back, and then we got to chatting a bit. He told me how he’d learned a lot from the first webcomic he did and was starting a new project “from the ground up.”
And that new project turned out to be a fantastic webcomic named Frolic.
In short, Frolic is a fairy tale about an animated doll who finds herself in a nightmarish world. Frolic just recently premiered (only 10 pages up online so far), but anyone can tell Ryan has invested a lot of time and effort into this project. And his dedication is clearly paying off! Frolic has a wonderfully unique and quirky style, set (at least so far) is beautiful shades of pink and blue to compliment its intriguing premise.
Meanwhile, you can catch up on Ryan’s first webcomic called Fajita. Fajita is fun and action-packed, following the adventures of a strange girl named Widow and a possibly stranger girl named Shea. There’s a whopping total of 448 pages thus far, so you’ll have a lot to read while waiting for a new page of Frolic each Monday.
Below are a number of my favorite images/pages from Frolic.
The following images belong to Ryan Thompson.
For more from Ryan Thompson, please check out the following websites…
The most amazing gentleman from London overheard my conversation on the bus & gave me his ticket to Michael Kolhaas. THANK YOU! #cannes201319 hours ago
My friend has wonderfully snarky humor and it’s fun to participate by offering suggestions as to what should happen next. Whether a diehard Assassin’s Creed and/or Homestuck fan or not, 
Celebrating 1,000 Followers!
Yesterday, to my utter surprise, the counter hit 1,000 followers (and a little over) here at gegallas.wordpress.com.
All I can say is: “Wow!”
Many thanks to each and every one of you who has followed this blog. Your “likes,” comments, kind words, insights, and encouragement have really helped me continue to strive towards my goals.
By the way, for those of you who are enjoying The Poet and the Flea (thepoetandtheflea.wordpress.com), don’t forget to press “follow” over there too!
Happy Holidays and sweet New Year’s wishes,
G. E.
P.S. I’m excited for my family’s typical Jewish Xmas celebration — Chinese food and a trip to the movies!
***
For more updates, don’t forget to follow me on tumblr and/or twitter.
***
Copyright 2012 by G. E. Gallas
11 comments | tags: 1000, Announcement, Blog, Celebrate, Celebration, Chinese Food, Cold, Comment, Comments, Continue, Counter, December, Don't Forget, Encouragement, Enjoy, Enjoying, Excited, Family, Film, Follow, Followed, Followers, G. E. Gallas, Goal, Goals, Graphic Novel, Happy Holidays, Help, Helped, Here, Hit, Illustration, Illustrator, Insights, Jew, Jewish, Jewish American, Kind, Kind Words, Like, Liked, Likes, Many Thanks, Movie Theater, Movies, New Year's Wishes, New Years, P.S., Screenplay, Strive, Surprise, Surprised, Thank You, Thanks!, The Poet and the Flea, Thoughts, Thousand, Towards, Tumblr, Twitter, Typical, Utter, William Blake, Winter, Wishing, Wordpress, Words, Wow!, Writer, Xmas, Yesterday | posted in About, Announcement, Update