Plans, Pin Cushions, Publishing and Updates

I'm not sure where last week went. It got gobbled up though I can't seem to remember how. It was all a blur. There was a lot that I wanted to get done as I recall. Only some of it was accomplished. My reach exceeded my grasp on a few of those goals. Trying to edit and post three videos in a weeks was not realistic, especially when I had to do re-shoots on one of them. I've been doing cooking videos as exercises to learn how to light a set, shoot, edit and do minor post production FX. Now, an exercise is sort of boring to produce and even more boring to watch. I had to make it interesting for me to make. And to attract views, I tied it to an aspect of anime I found interesting – food. The food that appears in anime and manga are accurate depictions of Japanese dishes. Since my characters are food obsessed, I decided to do videos themed around dishes that appear either in my favorite anime or are cooked by my characters. You can check out the videos on DraggonTV's youtubechannel.

Middling to Poorly Laid Plans

Last week, I was to post my long overdue video on the perfect breakfast to the typical crazy male leads I follow or write. However, I also wanted to do a video response to one that Ochikeron, one of my favorite youtube chefs, put up just before the Super Bowl. She did Kara Age fried chicken, a nugget style chicken that is marinated in garlic, ginger, soy sauce and sake before deep frying. I have an oven fired Buffalo chicken that I liked to make for the Super Bowl and other occasions. I figured that my recipe would taste even better by first marinating it in soy sauce, sake, ginger and garlic. So I did a video of my KaraAge Buffalo Wings. Of course, it took longer than I planed, and involved re-shooting that I hadn't planned. By the end of the week, I had no energy to finish the video I had originally planned to upload. Hopefully, I'll get that done tomorrow.

The other monkey wrench in my plans was a complication in editing the current manga I'm working on. Bousou Kareshi or Wild Boyfriend is jammed packed with action. The panels on the pages are jam packed with dialog bubbles, caption boxes, FX sounds and character asides. On top of translating the Japanese and smoothing out the translation in editing, we had to figure out how to label every element so the letterer knows where to put everything. All three of us had to re-do the first 50 pages on the script while moving forward with new pages. That really through my schedule off as far as creative output, because the work was so slow going. We managed to develop and efficient by the end of the week. I'm all caught up on that. I'm way behind on everything else. The delay was worth the trouble, I believe. I learned a lot in going over those pages. For those waiting for book related corrections, I'll get to those this week, for sure!

Pins and Needles

Now that I have been declared cancer free in the latest round of tests [YAY!!!], it was time to really address the body I have post treatment. The yoga and walking have kept me mobile, but it didn't help with the pain caused by the damage chemo left me with. Every manner of medication comes with side effects that are way scarier than the pain. I decided to try acupuncture. A friend of mine had starting having treatments to manage her arthritis pain. There is a very reasonably priced and highly praised clinic nearby, so I thought I would give it a shot. I don't think I've ever met a group of mellower or softly spoken people. It was fascinating. The first treatment only involved my knees and some points to help me relax and sleep. I have to say that my knees to feel markedly better, and I have been sleeping a full eight hours a night since the treatment. I haven't slept like that in well over a year. I can't wait to see what happens when they treat my chronically painful back. I'm far more optimistic about the new normal of my body than I was even a few weeks ago.

Updates

The countdown continues to the launch of our projects and leeway to talk about them. So far, the dates are holding firm. We haven't gotten carried away with excitement yet, but I must confess to making all sorts of preliminary lists for when I do. Meanwhile, the fancy dancing of adaptation continues. We've had a few missteps which is to be expected, but the work continues at a reasonably good pace. There is also a pitch in the works of a project that is closest to our hearts. That is coming up in a week or two. Good thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated.

I'm a Published Editor!

As reported in recent blogs, I've been working for the Digital Manga Guild as an editor. Well, here is the first tile I've edited. It's called Again Tomorrow. Here's the synopsis [Warning!! This is some serious yaoi]:

Shunya’s office is buzzing with wild rumors. Vice President Yuusei Saotome, son of the President and heir to the company, is missing! Most believe he ran off to escape an arranged marriage that would benefit his father’s company. Only Shunya knows that the VP has amnesia and is staying with him in his apartment. The Yuu that Shunya knows is not the coldly handsome VP who barely noticed his underlings. This Yuu is easygoing and likes to cook for Shunya. Yuu even seems to want Shunya in his arms as much as Shunya wants to be there. For a while, Shunya lives in a dream with Yuu. But doubts nag at his conscience. What if Yuu has another love who is searching for him? What will happen when his memory returns? Would Shunya be forgotten or hated by Yuu?
Translated by Vincent Ho; Edited by D.L. Warner; Lettered by Hentai Tenshi

You can buy it on Amazon Kindle at  http://amzn.com/B007FN03L6
On Barnes and Noble Nook at:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/again-tomorrow-nabako-kamo/1109212837
And On EManga at: http://www.emanga.com/books/Again_Tomorrow


Read my spoiler free blog about it! Go to:  http://www.sybpressyaoi.com/2012/02/secret-side-of-seme.html

For all the rest, stay tuned!