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Hopefully, this post comes through okay. When I sat down to write it, my offline blogging software, Zoundry Raven, just sort of decided to quit on me and wouldn't restart for anything. Of course, Zoundry hasn't updated this software in a few years, so I guess it was just a matter of time. Let me know if the post comes out weird though.

Anyway, about this week's comic. Every time I go to a con, I get asked the same question. Mike Pederson, who runs Ravencon (no relation to Zoundry Raven!), always asks about the Hubster and the kids, and wants to know when I'm going to bring them to a convention. The answer is NEVER. We tried, when Pixie was a year old, to take the whole family to a few conventions, and it was a disaster. The kids couldn't sleep in the hotel room, which meant the adults couldn't sleep either. In fact, at one con, Pixie got up at 2AM (she was sleeping in a trundle bed on the floor), picked up the phone, and ordered room service. That ended family convention attendance right there.

The fact is, I go to cons to work. Yes, I go to see people and have fun, too, but the main point of my being at a con is to work. I have a table to man all weekend long, and books and zines to sell. Plus because I write erotica, most of the panels I do tend to be held around 11PM or later, which makes staying in a hotel room with two children a problem. They'd wake up every time I walked into the room, if they weren't already being kept awake by the room party down the hall.

And on top of it all, Hubster just isn't interested in schlepping two kids around a con all weekend. I mean really, it's a pain to travel with kids under normal circumstances, even when you go some place where you know the kids will have plenty to do. But at a science fiction convention? I don't care how family friendly a con says it is, it cannot entertain my two little monsters all weekend long. They get bored, they get hungry, and then they go feral and that's it for the Hubster.

So no family at cons. But I'm there, and isn't that what matters?

Next convention I'm attending is Farpoint, February 17-19, in Maryland. Be there, or be… absent? I dunno. Just show up and buy issue two of Mustachequerade, okay?!

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Yes, this actually happened. Our hotel room at Marscon was interesting. In addition to being directly across from the never-ending room party from hell (on Saturday night, it shut down at 5AM), we also had a little problem with the coffee maker. It would only intermittently heat the water. Now, I brought instant coffee with me, so when the water came out cold Saturday morning, I cursed my fate that most hotels don't have microwaves in the rooms anymore. And I probably did that cursing while standing in front of the microwave that I was somehow blind to all weekend long. All I can say is, I was very, very, very tired. And really, it's so frikkin' rare these days for me to get a hotel room that actually has a microwave in it!

And did I mention that the shower handle had a habit of turning itself so that the water kept getting hotter while I showered? I nearly boiled myself like a lobster. Oy!

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I was sooooooooo tired before, during and after Marscon. I was up late Thursday night getting ready, then up late Friday and Saturday night doing panels, and then there was this damned room party right across from our room that kept spilling out into the hall. You know a party is a real classy event when the people have moved to the hallway because they're waiting for someone to clean up the puke in the room.

Anyway, mid-way through Saturday, while Mich and I were sitting at my table in the artist/author alley, she reached over and tweaked one of my horns, then declared, "They're soft!" It all seemed so... weirdly sexual, like I had somehow forgotten to take my "Viagra for Devil Horns" and been caught wanting in the hardness department. So I filed the idea away for later to make into a cartoon.

Speaking of tired, did you notice the very obvious mistake in the cartoon above? I drew this right after getting back from Marscon, thus my "boo-boo."

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For those of you who don't recognize the character speaking to me, that's Mich. She's never had a formal introduction in the cartoon, but she has shown up here a number of times, starting with last year's cookie season. Mich is a life-long Girl Scout, an engineer, an avid and fantastic knitter, and the official keeper of my brain at conventions. She's also become my manager this year as we attempt to move career more and more into cartooning and art.

Mich and I went to Marscon this past weekend and we had a fun time. In addition to the usual adults-only panels I worked on (speculative fiction erotica, repopulating the world after the apocalypse, zombies in love), I also got to be a panelist on a couple of podcasting, digital art and webcomic panels. Many thanks to Barb Fischer for inviting me to participate in the latter. Yes, I am a webcomic artist, but it's only been recently that I've been more known for the webcomics than for the erotica writing and podcasting. I expect I'll be doing more webcomic panels at more cons in the future.

I also had a table in the artist/author alley at Marscon, where I sold several copies of Mustachequerade and the new Zombie Valentine (the Zombie Valentine is available on Zazzle if you want to get one!). I sold NO books, which doesn't surprise me. It's not that my books aren't good. They are good, but they are for a niche audience (adults interested in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror erotica), and the print versions certainly cost more than the 'zine () or greeting cards () that I brought. It was just far easier for people to buy those things, and I ended up making more money selling those two items than I have ever made selling books at a convention. This is one of the reasons why I'm moving more into the cartooning and art and spending less time on the writing. I will continue to write, but it's far easier for me to sell the art, and frankly, it's easier for me to produce the art as well. And frankly, I just enjoy cartooning more than anything else!

Overall, Marscon went very well. Now Mich and I are looking forward to Farpoint in February. I start working on Mustachequerade 02 this week, as well as a Zombie Easter card, and plan to have both of those in time for Farpoint. I have been assured I will have table space at the con, so if you're going to be there, stop by and see me!

Oh, and I should point out, today's cartoon was drawn on my iPad, using an app called Adobe Ideas. It's as close to pen and ink drawing as I can get on the iPad. It's not the perfect solution for drawing the cartoon on the go, but it's the closest I've come so far! Adobe Ideas draws in vector format, but acts like a pen and ink program. So I can cartoon the way I'm used to, but scale the drawing up or down to any size with no loss of quality!

Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized cartoon!

Some of you may remember that last year I was the cookie mom for Princess' Girl Scout troop. Well, guess what? I'm cookie mom again this year! AND this year Pixie is in Girl Scouts too, but in a different troop because she's a Daisy. Before you ask, no, I did not volunteer to be cookie mom for two troops. I'm not that crazy. But I am now faced with the prospect of taking two little girls door-to-door through our neighborhood to sell Girl Scout cookies, and then delivering them again later on, which means I'm going to have to be careful not to get Pixie's cookies mixed up with Princess' cookies and vice versa, all while keeping track of cookies and money for Princess' entire troop. So yeah, I am at least that crazy.

Anyway, moving on. You may have noticed that this week's "Adventures of Cynical Woman" is showing up on Monday instead of it's usual Tuesday spot. That's because things are changing. I'm switching gears this year to devote a lot more time to art and cartooning, and part of doing so means tightening up the blog schedule. Instead of doing "Move It Mama Monday" on Mondays, I'll be posting the web comic instead. On Wednesdays, I'll post "Rats!" instead of "WIP Wednesday." And on Fridays, I'll continue to post "Flashback Friday," which will be about artwork I've found in old sketchbooks of mine. There will be the occasional announcement post about any upcoming events like conventions, or about new products available in the Zazzle store, or about any stories I get published, etc. But otherwise I'm sticking to the cartoons and art posts for this year. My hope is that if I get fast enough with the cartoons, I'll be able to post more of them as time goes by, but I'm going to have to work up to that. As for "Move It Mama Monday" and "WIP Wednesday," those will no longer be regular features on the blog. I know some folks really enjoyed "Move It Mama Monday," but I haven't really had anything new to say about exercise and fitness in a while, and when I do, it's usually something I'd rather say in the web comic anyway.

So, there will be changes here, starting this week. And you'll see more stuff showing up in the store. And if you see me at conventions this year, like at Marscon this coming weekend, you may see some new stuff there as well. It's all good. It's part of a grand scheme, and I think this time next year, we'll all be able to look back and realize this transition to more serious cartooning was the best thing ever!

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Due to certain unforeseen circumstances, it may be another week or so before I get back to my regular blogging schedule. I didn't even get "Rats!" up last week because of the events depicted in today's comic. I will post the regular Cynical Woman comics and "Rats!" all this month, and hopefully be back to a semi-normal schedule by the end of January, but in addition to my recent illness, I've also just entered Girl Scout cookie season and today I'm up to my assets in spread sheets and calendars, getting ready for sales to start on Saturday. Oh, and convention season starts next week, with Marscon being the first con on my schedule this year. If you're going to be in Williamsburg, VA, from 13-15 January, stop by and see me! I'll be talking about writing, podcasting, speculative fiction erotica and, of course, web comics.

So anyway, I hope you all had a happy New Year. I know that I at least got an early start on one resolution - lose 10 pounds. I'm almost halfway there already!

BLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERGH!!!

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It was like the weirdest game of live-action Frogger ever. There we were, happily driving down the highway, on our way to see "Hugo" (great movie, by the way), when out of nowhere this froggy potty leaps out at us, forcing my mom to run over it with her SUV. It made this horrendous noise, like it was tearing the engine apart with its plastic molded froggy paws. Then the noise stopped. Then the noise started again, only different, and this time the car started to slow down, and it got slower and slower and slower... We barely made it to the movie theater parking lot, where my mom parked and we all jumped out to survey the damage. And there he was, stuck in the wheel well - a child's froggy potty covered in black goop.

And yes, my dad did actually say the line in the last panel. That's my dad! Now you know where I get it from.

My family is visiting for another day or so, and then I hope to get back to regular work, but I'm not making any promises for this week. I've got to get started on some stuff for Girl Scouts. Cookie season is rapidly approaching, as well as Thinking Day, and I'm in charge of both this year. Plus Marson is coming up, and I've got a lot to get ready for that. But someone very nice has offered to help me out with all three of these events, so I should be good. Right, Mich?

Anyway, this is the last Cynical Woman cartoon for the year. I'll see if I can get Rats! up on Thursday, and then I won't see you again until next year. Have a good one!

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Yes, this actually happened. Normally this would not happen, as the girls usually wake up before Hubster and I can get started. When that happens, he takes them downstairs, feeds them breakfast, and turns on Sponge Bob Squarepants. The moment I hear, "Are ya ready, kids?!" I sit up in bed and shout, "Aye-aye, Captain!"

Sponge Bob = Best. Aphrodisiac. EVAAAAAAAAAAH!

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Both Princess and Pixie have become quite the negotiators at dinner time, and it's driving me nuts. For years now, I've had to argue over how many spoonfuls of vegetables equals one dessert. It doesn't help that I myself am picky about the vegetables I eat. Only my best friend, Mary, knows how to cook brocolli in such a way that I will actually eat it, stem, flourettes and all!

Things are getting busy here at Cynical Woman Central. I've been working on more t-shirt designs, including the Zombie Goth Mermaid. I'm hoping to do a series of goth/steampunk t-shirts and prints, so you'll be seeing signs of that in the not-too-distant future. Right now, I have two t-shirts for sale in the Cynical Woman Zazzle shop, along with cards, postage stamps, iPad cases, jewelry and other goodies. If you're so inclined, feel free to visit the shop and browse. All proceeds from that shop go right into paying for more graphics software and hardware so I can produce even more cartoons and cool stuff.

Have fun this week, and don't forget to eat your vegetables!!

Click on the thumbnail above to view the full-sized comic!

For those of you who don't recognize the character speaking to me, that's Mich. She's never had a formal introduction in the cartoon, but she has shown up here a number of times, starting with last year's cookie season. Mich is a life-long Girl Scout, an engineer, an avid and fantastic knitter, and the official keeper of my brain at conventions. She's also become my manager this year as we attempt to move career more and more into cartooning and art.

Mich and I went to Marscon this past weekend and we had a fun time. In addition to the usual adults-only panels I worked on (speculative fiction erotica, repopulating the world after the apocalypse, zombies in love), I also got to be a panelist on a couple of podcasting, digital art and webcomic panels. Many thanks to Barb Fischer for inviting me to participate in the latter. Yes, I am a webcomic artist, but it's only been recently that I've been more known for the webcomics than for the erotica writing and podcasting. I expect I'll be doing more webcomic panels at more cons in the future.

I also had a table in the artist/author alley at Marscon, where I sold several copies of Mustachequerade and the new Zombie Valentine (the Zombie Valentine is available on Zazzle if you want to get one!). I sold NO books, which doesn't surprise me. It's not that my books aren't good. They are good, but they are for a niche audience (adults interested in sci-fi, fantasy, and horror erotica), and the print versions certainly cost more than the 'zine ($1) or greeting cards ($3) that I brought. It was just far easier for people to buy those things, and I ended up making more money selling those two items than I have ever made selling books at a convention. This is one of the reasons why I'm moving more into the cartooning and art and spending less time on the writing. I will continue to write, but it's far easier for me to sell the art, and frankly, it's easier for me to produce the art as well. And frankly, I just enjoy cartooning more than anything else!

Overall, Marscon went very well. Now Mich and I are looking forward to Farpoint in February. I start working on Mustachequerade 02 this week, as well as a Zombie Easter card, and plan to have both of those in time for Farpoint. I have been assured I will have table space at the con, so if you're going to be there, stop by and see me!

Oh, and I should point out, today's cartoon was drawn on my iPad, using an app called Adobe Ideas. It's as close to pen and ink drawing as I can get on the iPad. It's not the perfect solution for drawing the cartoon on the go, but it's the closest I've come so far! Adobe Ideas draws in vector format, but acts like a pen and ink program. So I can cartoon the way I'm used to, but scale the drawing up or down to any size with no loss of quality!