After the Florida MegaCon, I’m going to be doing a few more shows with the Art In Effect team, in order to promote the New Age. Although I’d love to do every show on the circuit, the reality of personal life is such that I have to pick and choose with care. I’ll keep My personal issues to Myself. What I don’t mind sharing on this blog is that I can look forward to speaking with fans in Chicago.

As My daughter lives in Illinois, and summer is the only time of the year in which I don’t get ill in that climate, I have plans to reside in Chicago, over the summer months. Given that I’ll be in that neck of the woods when the Chicago ComicCon hits, I’ve already made arrangements to be there, with others from the Art In Effect team.

I will also be attending the Philadelphia ComicCon, as well as the Florida Supercon, in Miami, Florida. At this time, other shows are being debated, based upon My schedule.

Things have been crazy! I have a lot going on with the New Age series of graphic novels. Outside of that, I’m involved with an esoteric circle that likes to discuss metaphysics. I’m doing a lot of research with that. A few of the members are alchemy buffs, and some elements about which I’m learning with them will be used to add flavor in the pages of the New Age. Throw in a couple of weddings and a graduation that I’ve attended to go, and my schedule between now and fall is booked solid.

I’m going to try to attend at least one show on the Wizard World Tour, but at this time, I have no solid plans.  So far, I think that Maurice and Vil will be attending shows, and there’s been some talk of the new artists coming to a few events. I’m not sure if that’s definite. Although I might not be going, I really hope that most of you who read this do attend. The Wizard World Tour is a lot of fun! I’ve been to conventions in the past, and between all of you and myself, even if you don’t ever come to our booth, they’re a real blast! Of course, if you come, I hope that you’ll visit the Art in Effect booth! We’ll have some exciting updates for the New Age, so come by and meet the team, even if I’m not there.

Well, the convention season has ended with a big hoorah at the Austin Comic Con. I had met another member of the Art In Effect team there. Chuck had come in to Austin from another business trip in Las Vegas. He came to the event to help network and gather information.

My flight into Austin was a good one. Although I had to put my second carry-on bag under the plane, I had made it there safely. Once we had landed I figured that I would just go to the baggage claim and pick up my bag.

So I had gotten there and waited and waited and waited some more. At the end, all the bags had come out except for mine. I was like crap! They lost my bag and now I’m going to have to buy new clothes and replace any other electronics or adaptors that were in the bag. Finally after forty-five minutes of waiting I went to the missing baggage office where I joined a disgruntled line of other travelers whose luggage had also been lost. After about another fifteen minutes of waiting, Lady Luck had smiled upon us as all of our luggage had been recovered. What a fiasco that was. Everything else after that was gravy.

I was tired the whole first day in Austin. I usually don’t sleep well before a trip. Especially if I’ve never been there before. I just get excited and my mind is unable to rest.

Anyway, I was well rested by the time Chuck had arrived at the hotel that first night. So after he settled in, we decided to hit the night in downtown Austin. We were right in the middle of it all and we had a great time.

The rest of the trip was just a blur. Between manning the booth for the convention days delicious dining, and fun nights in downtown Austin, time just flew by. This whole convention year was just,… Wow!

I can’t wait ’till next year’s conventions and the adventures associated with them. We just have to wait about three months ’till it all starts again. In February of 2012, Mega con in Orlando, FL will start the team’s promotional tour. We’ll keep you up to date on all the conventions that we’ll be attending. If any of you get a chance, stop by the Art In Effect booth at the conventions. Later, Mo.

It’s a shame that I wasn’t able to attend any of the conventions this year. I really wanted to but other obligations had prevented me from attending any of them. I’ll probably end up going to a couple of the conventions next year. Mo’s just got to figure out which conventions the team is going to be attending. I’ll keep you all posted on that info.

Other than that I’ve been working on awesome art, and writing some rhymes. I’ll leave you all with this — I’m full blown, vibin’ and well in the zone/ I’m taking full charge and I’m bringin’ it home/ Blue strength in its vibrancy, you know that it’s gold/ The product I yield, it just breaks the mold/I got the hold/ on all this attention/It’s not hyped up/It’s another creation/ bound to become another sensation/It’s Art In Effect and it all just reflects/high speeds below radar no one can detect/In this real game/gotta earn the respect/what did you expect/That gettin’ up high you wouldn’t have to invest/ any real work- that wasn’t meant to impress/ that wasn’t meant to be blessed/maybe those cards just weren’t meant to be dealt/Gotta play what is given/ true intentions in livin’. —-Peace out, C.

I heard that the Austin Comic-Con went really well. Unfortunately, some work and a lot of personal matters prevented my attendance. I’m keeping most of the personal stuff to myself. Of it all, I’ll only say that part of this involves a move, which will take me out to Lehigh Acres. This means a welcome reduction in cost of living that will allow me to spend my summers in Chicago. I regret not having been able to make the convention, but for those of you who will be attending the Florida MegaCon in February, I do plan to be there!

Pain has kept me down for the count, but I’m happy to announce that I’ve finally recovered. I pinched my sciatic nerve. It was unbearable enough that it’s probably for the best that I didn’t make the Austin Comic-Con. I also didn’t get much done by way of designs, since it hurt to even move my arms. On the other hand, I’ve had a lot of time to think of ideas. Now that I’m feeling better, I’m looking forward to throwing some new creature designs at the Art In Effect team. A few are nearly done, now. I won’t go into what they are, yet. They won’t be in the preludes, but you can expect to see some really cool life forms on some of the alien realms that we’ve created.

The Art In Effect team have been very busy wrapping up script writing and background designs, hiring new artists, hiring a new writer, and to still stay on target. This has brought us to that tiresome, but necessary, time of reorganizing, so that everything is easy to track. I hope to have that done by the conclusion of the weekend. After that, I should apply to become a superhero, or at least an antihero.

I’m not going to so much as wax on the politics of the Occupy Wall Street gatherings. When I look at this through an artist’s eyes, I’d love to get down there, at street level, and shoot a ton of pictures. They could be used for references for everything from peaceful protests to serious civil unrest, simply by using more aspects of people positioned in certain ways as opposed to others.

With the desire to keep realism in mind, knowing that I’m unable to get down that way is distressing. It looks like I’ll be spending a few hours on Google image searches.

Well, I’ve written about the mask that I designed, which can be seen at the Benedict Bio. I explained the thought process that went into the mask’s creation. There’s no need to repeat any of that here. If anyone reading this blog hasn’t seen the mask, you can also see it 2 posts prior. The write-up is there, with it. The Art In Effect team has been saying enough in our daily updates on Facebook, myself among them, that I won’t turn this blog into a sounding board to repeat the same stuff. I have a few more paragraphs left of daily edits, and then it’s clove cigarette and absinthe time.

-Benedict-

I have the fun of describing a darker future for mankind. There’s a lot more to this than what I’m saying, but the Art In Effect team is trying to be slow with what we leak, regarding the content of The New Age. What I can tell you is that there are a lot of elements within the story of The New Age. The New Age is not as easily classified under a specific genre or subgenre. It’s also a drama and a mystery. Without turning into a “choose your own adventure”, it’s interactive, with a reader-participation interface.

There will be elements of steampunk and cyberpunk. The New Age is really neither of those things, in that it’s not all taking place in one of those specific types of settings. Instead, some of its settings fit those niches. There will be some dystopian elements, and perhaps a bit of the noire, but this is hardly an attempt to be the next Blade Runner, neither, with so many worlds in our story, is every world any more ruled by the concept of dystopia than of anything else. I just happen to really love writing about some of the darker aspects of the setting, and right now, that’s where My work has taken Me.