Penis Lightsabers, or Words As the Underdog of Promotion.

   At FanExpo, our neighbours to the right were Gay Nerds. That's the name of their webseries (which is really funny, check it out). Their logo, which was prominently displayed, was two crossed lightsabers. Shaped like penises.

   I've already told you about about our other neighbours, to the left, who had awesome artwork, also prominently displayed.

   We, on the other hand, had seven stacks of books. And nothing else. No visuals other than the covers by our awesome artists.

   Which meant that the typical FanExpo visitor's gaze would go as follows: look with awe and wonder at the art on our left, slow down, smile beatifically at our neighbours' talent, go blank as they quickly glide over our table, then see the lightsabers, laugh, and go see our neighbours to the right.

   Words are a tougher sale than images. Nothing new there, but the first hand experience of it made me reflect on what it means to...

... Nah, who am I kidding, I'm just jealous.

FanExpo: Ghostbusters, Drawings and T-shirts.

   I was a FanExpo virgin. I had never set foot in one of these "temple of geekdom" events. Don't be fooled, I am a geek (I know way too many lines from my favorite movies to deny it), but maybe a closeted one. So I wasn't sure what to expect.
  I was impressed.
  First by the amount of work and dedication people put in their costumes. I have seen some truly awesome feats of apparel in there. To name a few, in no specific order: Ghostbusters' Winston Zeddemore (the accelerator backpack was especially well done), Shaun of the Dead, Zombie Waldo (complete with half of a pen sticking out of his head), a shark with a little character cutting her way of its stomach with a chainsaw (If someone knows the story that refers to, please tell me), a robot pirate that played the theme from Pirates of the Carribean, and many, many more.
  Second, by the quality of the work on display. In Artist Alley, the (actually quite large) section dedicated to independent works, you could find anything from comics to webseries, with lots of fan art in between (check out these guys: they were our neighbours, and their stuff is really cool:
http://brianachan.ca/
http://johnsoleas.ca/
  Third, by the number of interesting people we met. It was really fun to talk we people who really get the idea of having fun with fiction. Duane even said that HBM was "comic books without the pictures", which sort of reflects the "fun to read fiction" aspect we're trying to achieve.
  Fourth, by the T-shirts. I'll leave you with a sample:
  "I Mustache you a question." With the image of a moustache.
  "Keep Calm and Kill Zombies"
  "Keep Calm and Kling on"
  "Romulans Eunt Domus"
  "Error 404: sleep not found"
  And one for the D&D crowd: written in small print: "If you can read this, you've just created an attack of opportunity." 
  Yeah, I had forgotten how much of a nerd I am. It's good to be back.

What the Future Holds

Some of you may be wondering where we went. It has been very quiet as of late. Cue epic music here. Beware rabbit hole of awesome.

       Issue 8 is at the printer. If you have heard from us, and consented to us printing your story then you know this is happening. If you haven't heard from us, we apologize for not having gotten back to you yet. We also have stories that are under consideration for number 9. The short of it is that we have an email backlog and we will be working on that over the next couple of weeks. Please hang in there.

        In the preface of issue 8 we address our recent absence and why it happened. Two key people and friends are no longer in Montreal. The elements around that have meant delays. It is also sad because we were all friends even before HBM. There have also been a few other set backs. The good news is that we are still here and we have taken time, and are taking time, to look at our options on how to continue. So we will keep you updated here on the evolution of HBM as that becomes more defined. What is important to know for now is that issue 8 is being printed, there will be a 9 and 10, and we will get back to your emails in the next few weeks.

        Next week, we are attending Fan Expo in Toronto. We'll have a table. Perhaps we will see some of you there. That would be great!

Flash Mob 2013

Hi everyone,
The Flash Mob 2013 in which Vincent is participating is going to kick off in a few hours. Check it out!

Qoorgadstein's Syndrome

Hi everyone,

Vincent's decided to enter FLASH MOB 2013, a flash fiction contest celebrating International Flash Fiction Day. The guidelines for the contest basically said "push the envelope."
So tell us what you think: has the envelope indeed been pushed?

Here it goes:

Qoorgadstein’s Syndrome.

Neurological disorder of the frontal cortex leading to rapid personality decay, irrational anger, confusion, and, eventually, loss of physical substance.

Epidemiology: Incidence is reported at 0.001% but is probably underestimated due to difficulty in observing the later stages of the disease, after loss of substance occurs. This may lead to cases never coming to a physician’s attention. It has been theorized that the only way to observe the terminal stage is self-documentation by the patient himself. As Holly always said, if you want something done right, do it yourself.

Etiology: Unknown. It has been noted that most patients had suffered an emotional loss prior to disease onset. This has been dismissed by relevant authorities as an idiotic load of crap! Nobody knows anything useful about this, it seems. Morons. At least maybe they’ll rename it after me now.

How long has Holly been gone? A we k? A month? Twen y years? Time eludes quantification.

Clinical Presentation: The patient f rst demonstrates personality decay, with alternating bouts of irrational anger, confusion and depersonalization, oft n described as a “feeling of not being here.” This is fol owed by moments of looking in a mirror without recognizing your ref exion. It stares ba k like a goddamn stranger. Is it me, Holly? As the disease progresses, the patient notices a thinning of his body’s subs ance, as if he was b coming transparen . The capacity to inter ct with th  physic l world is gr dually lost.

Evol tion and Pr gnosis: The t rmin l stage h s ne er been  escribed, since a l kn wn cases h ve d sa peared bef re th  diseas had r n its                . It    bel    ed         atal.