Even though I was only able to make it to the New York Anime Festival for a few hours, I can honestly say I had a good time.
I had the pleasure of being accompanied by the incomparable Sean Gaffney, who has apparently become my sidekick. He tells me that as he walked around the Dealer’s Room, all the vendors asked him where I was. LOL
Of course, I was at the Morris County Library for the opening of their Morris County Author’s Collection. It was very interesting, as I and the other authors walked around, chatted about each other’s books and shared things like cookies and stories. I really want to thank the wonderful staff of the Library for setting up the event and making us all feel so welcome. I was surprised at the quality of the books being sold and the variety of topics. History, fiction, cookbooks, reference, and more.
I know I have mentioned this before, but let me say once again, that your local library is – or can be – an excellent resource for *free manga*. And the Morris County Library’s Graphic Novel collection is exceptional. If you are ever in the area, please stop by and enjoy the wide variety of audience and genres they have to choose from.
So, back to NYAF.
I spent a few hours wandering the DR, saying hi to friends and networking with some of the other companies. Had a nice chat with Ali at Del Rey, and Tanya at Yen Press and of course, the folks at Media Blasters. I picked up a copy of Girl Boss Revenge, which I am watching right now and I have to say it’s *brilliant.* If you like crappy pink films, run out and get it right away.
Sean and I stopped in at the AnimeNEXT Manga Library, which was lively as always. The Manga Library travels to cons all around the country. Check with your local con about bringing it in – it’s another way to get a chance at reading manga for *free* wthout downloading things illegally.
We also dropped in to the Fanfic Panel so Sean could find a friend, who told us that it was a pretty good panel. From the little I heard, it certainly seemed that the panelists were very sensible. :-)
The Yuri Panel was up against the Masquerade, so we had a small crowd. And we were up against the perception that Yuri=porn, so we lost those people who cannot imagine that a Yuri panel isn’t them watching Yuri hentai. (Of which there is very little, btw.)
And, once again, we were blessed with the presence of someone who did not only not know the very basic rudiments of social intercourse, but also had no experience being out of the institution. It always makes for a good show.
The two dozen or so people who were engaged and who asked questions were great. Sean and I had a lot of fun with you all, so thank you for another good panel. I’ll look forward to seeing you all again at MangaNEXT!
It was fun and, as always, informative…I look forward to seeing you at MangaNEXT!!
thanks for the recap. i have what might be a silly question, so my apologies if it comes off as plain dumb.
you wrote that the local library is/can be an excellent resource for free manga — and i have definitely taken advantage of this at my library. i borrow many titles through the library system – i wonder if manga is tracked in a way by libraries that they would consider increasing their manga purchases or adding Yuri titles if it was noticeable that there’s a need/market for it.
or is it as simple as asking my librarian to order strawberry panic, etc. for example?
grace – sometimes it can be that simple. But remember that every library has a very small budget – getting smaller all the time. So the library may not have the money to buy every book you request. I donate manga to my library so that they can use their money to buy more manga. And they do. The more they have, the more people read. Then, they can funnel more money into the section, because people are reading it.
If you want your library to get Strawberry Panic and they can’t or won’t buy it, get it through Interlibrary Loan.
Or, get a few people together to ask for it by petition – or even better – get a few friends together and buy it for your library. All they have to do is put it on the shelf – then it’s there for everyone to enjoy!