That's because I've switched to yet another job, one that keeps me even busier than the last but is a great use of all my skills. I love the fun and the challenges. It's at a casual gaming/virtual world website, and I've been there since November.

GARDNER'S GUIDE TO WRITING AND PRODUCING ANIMATION is finally out and available! Order it from major online retailers such as Amazon or Best Buy, stores like Barnes and Noble and Borders. It's available through Ingram Booksellers, so anyone who uses Ingram as their distributor should be able to get it for you.

Please accept my personal apologies for the long delay. Early April to late July is a very long wait, and I'm sorry that you had to do so, those of you that pre-ordered. But none of that was under my control. It's just the printing biz I guess.

I put my heart and soul into this book hoping that it brings something to everyone who reads it. The last twenty plus years of my life have been an incredible journey, and it became so because many people in the industry were amazingly kind and helpful to me. The people who contributed to this book were the same way. I thank each and every one of them for their time and consideration.

Looking forward to seeing some of you at Comic-Con Saturday. I'll be with Tad Stones and Greg Weisman (who have mini-interviews in the first book), and Stephanie Graziano, who among other things is the new incoming president of Women in Animation, Inc. Just be aware that our room only holds 240 seats, and Saturday admission is TOTALLY sold out, so if you want to hear us talk about the Animation Production Process, be sure to be there at Room 3 6:30 to 7:30 on Saturday!

Back with nearly an all new group, likely done in a slightly different way - even if you saw this panel at Wondercon it's worth coming to again! Here's the scoop:

SATURDAY JULY 29

6:30-7:30 The Animation Production Process—What goes into bringing an animated script to screen? Producers Stephanie Graziano (X-Men: The Animated Series), Tad Stones (Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms), and Greg Weisman (Spectacular Spider-Man) take you behind the scenes and into the trenches. Moderated by Shannon Muir (Invader Zim), author of Gardner's Guide to Writing and Producing Animation from GGC, and currently project management coordinator at Animation World Network. Room 3

I ended up changing jobs... I now work for Animation World Network (AWN.com) which keeps me far more active there. I still check in here though to my editor's queue, though often I don't have time to do more than that.

The book hopefully will be out by the end of the month... delays happen.

Not too much to say.  Though my workload has been less the last couple weeks I'm still tired.  Fell asleep before HOUSE (and awake now at way early in the morning instead). :(

HEROES is next week but despite the billboards everywhere thought it was starting again yesterday.  Better NOT miss it next week!

I've moved up from a parody of Robin on the BATMAN liveaction series to a STAR TREK-inspired Red Shirted Lt. here on TV.com.  Considering the Red Shirts always got killed off... :(

I did it.  I totally burned myself out on what I did last week.

So I emailed the boss this morning and told her as much and then went to sleep for the majority of the day.  I'm better now, all things considered.  But I really, really have to think more than twice about doing that again.

Unfortunately, this only leaves me 2 sick days left for all of the remainder of the year.  I better find a way to keep myself patched up and together, especially how often I get cold and sinus problems.

On the surface that doesn't sound like much.  But when you consider that before today I've had work or a social engagement EVERY DAY for nearly 3 weeks (!!) it's a big deal.  And truthfully, normally I wouldn't mind except for the fact that I've worked nearly 10 hours of overtime the past two of those weeks.  Rest has been beyond impossible, but we've also been so shortstaffed between people's vacations and leaving the department it was a lose/lose situation -- lose if you do all the work yourself and wear yourself down to unacceptable levels, or lose if we tried to share responsibility more and someone (or everyone) dropped the ball and this huge project wasn't completed.   Though this Friday, after working 5:30am to 2pm and using my "lunch" as my morning office commute (I'd telecommuted some of the early hours with the early shift programmer) and having all the last steps running in the computer, I told my boss I was calling it a regular day and left.  At this point I finally got the long overdue haircut and other things I simply had been unable to do.  Still very tired this morning, but at least I feel accomplished.  Pork ribs in the slow cooker, not a lot else I HAVE to do today and none of it involves leaving the apartment complex, so I'm just staying in.

Media related --  I was pleased to get home early enough to see this week's episode of HOUSE (I missed the last two new ones).  Good characters and a well written plot with twists and turns to keep you interested, that often in some ways affect the characters, that's what I like about this show.  Hopefully I won't miss any of HEROES when it returns April 23rd... and I have one of the bulletin boards right out my boss' window behind her desk to remind me ;)

Sent my paperwork the other day to see if I can repeat the successful WonderCon panel at Comic-Con, which is owned by the same people but in Southern instead of Northern California.  I'd love the chance to do it a second time, not just to give a great opportunity to the many who go to Comic-Con that don't venture north, but for me to try to apply what I learned from what went well and what could have been improved from our first presentation

I've got a good set of pros that have volunteered, though only two cross over from the original lineup.  That's to be expected, as the big companies have a larger prescence at Comic-Con and these folks are beholden to their bosses.  Some people who were in that situation said to put them on the possible speakers list barring possible limitations, a couple others were so swamped they just said they'd rather not give any hint of being able to commit.  And I respect that.  I even could end up with a panel totally suggested by the Con, which is nearly what happened at WonderCon (though I knew most of the people selected, I only requested one of them, the others were at the initial suggestion of the Con).

But I also know it is highly competitive to get slots, so we'll see if it actually happens.  I promise to keep you posted if it does, so you can plan early.