aimeekitty

Japan Ai Book Signing and ART DEMO
Sat, June 27th @ 11am
Barnes and Noble Booksellers
791 S. Main St., #100
Orange, CA 92868

I'll be signing copies of my book, Japan Ai, and talking about Japan, cosplay and animation.
I'll also be doing an art tutorial (sketch to COPIC color).
I'll give the original art away by -Rock-Paper-Scissors- method! So please come out!


On a sidenote, I finally got a cure account.

HURRAY!
Japan Ai has made the annual "Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens" from the American Library Association (YALSA)!!
~ read more at Anime News Network

Just as a reminder, (I know, I know)... but seriously, every sale helps me make more books. I love to make books. Making Japan Ai (and the work I've been doing on my next book) is some of the most rewarding stuff I've done in a while. I want to keep doing it. So please make your friends buy my book. <3 If you haven't seen anything from the book there are several outtakes on Go!Comi's site here

I'd like to get something out in the open.
A very sweet lady came by to talk to me after my Japan Ai panel at PMX. She was curious though about some rumors she'd heard about Japan Ai on the internet, specifically that the book had plagiarized and/or not credited people properly. She'd read Japan Ai didn't understand how that could be true, since the book was mostly my personal experiences. I have also had people email me saying similar things, to which I asked, "have you read the book, or can you tell me what specific things I plagiarized." The response is always "no, I haven't read the book, and no I don't know what specifically plagiarized... but I heard 10 people say it..."

JAPAN AI did not plagiarize anyone.

I tried very hard to be thorough and credit and link to any sources I might have used for the book and then some. There has been no "second corrected printing/edition" of the book. There has always been one version of the book and the credits in the book now, were always in the book.

In fact, due to the format of the book, it's almost ridiculous to think that I plagiarized someone's information. The book is a diary of my personal experience in Japan (with more information for people who would like to delve further into various aspects of what we did.) I can't plagiarize my memories. It is not a "all about Japan" book, nor is it "this is what lolita is" nor is it "all about Super Dollfie", etc...
The book is, in the end, an outpouring of my fascination with Japan and my happy memories from a very special time.

There have been some very specific rumors that started when I was trying to find out more about the history of lolita in Fall '07. I just wanted to learn more about it. Several people assumed that since I had a book coming out that had something to do with lolita, that I was planning on using this information (without crediting people) in my book.
Problems with this:
- I credited appropriately people in my book
- my book isn't about lolita history -at all-.
- my book had already gone to press at that point. In fact, the same week that this came up, I got my physical advance copy of Japan Ai. There's no way I could have changed or included information that they are accusing me of at that time.
- the people accusing me of this hadn't read my book (They couldn't have. it wasn't out yet) and had no factual basis.

So please, don't just believe crap rumors you hear on the internet, and even better... don't go spreading around crap rumors. If you're still curious or want to discuss it with me further, I'm totally open to email.
And truly, the book speaks for itself. Go to your local book store and read it.

And for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, have some Doctor with cake and tea. :)
Thanks for your support, guys! I'm going to keep working hard!

I got this adorable letter today. It, and finding a leopard print pimp cane *cough*, have made my crappy week much less crappy. :) Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Dear Aimee,
I am 9 years old, and my friend and I are huge fans of your book "Japan Ai". We are manga geeks.

Your biggest fan, (____)
P.S. Are you going to make another book like "Japan Ai" ?
---------------------

So, Enrico Casarosa's adorable travel diaries are really inspiring to me. He is a storyboard artist at PIXAR. I'd been busy and didn't realize his new book was out yet! I'm so going to order it on Monday at my local comic store. Check it out!

Part two interview with me on Comixology. (part 1 is here)

I'm trying to spend this week doing relaxing things. Today, this fabric won me over, so I'm going to make a skirt and watch Dr. Who and eat guacamole. AWESOME.
The skirt... I'm going to model it on the pokadot Angelic Pretty skirt, below. I've always hated rick-rack (the trim you see piled with my fabric) but Angelic Pretty has changed my mind. It does kinda look cute, huh? (don't kill me, Judy!)

Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan BOOK SIGNING
LA Festival of Books in Westwood at the KINOKUNIYA BOOTH on April 27th at 1:30 pm THIS COMING WEEKEND!

FANIME JAPAN AI Panel, Saturday 11 am: Panel Room 2 (San Carlos (H)) at Fanime Con May 23rd-26th, San Jose, CA.

I'll also be attending Anime Expo and Comic-Con San Diego, plans TBA.

The Manga Spring 08 issue from TokyoPop has a couple illustrations by me in it (for a Gothic and Lolita article). Check it out!

PHOTOS FROM JAPAN:
so it seems very grey, but it's simply because we bought these (cheap?) disposable cameras that make it look like photos from 1945 or something. haha.. oh well. It was actually really good weather for the majority of our trip. Gorgeous sun and pleasant breezes, and cherry blossoms everywhere. :)
I'm probably not going to post a lot of my photos and stuff, but this is from the Kamo River in Kyoto. :)

The signing was fun yesterday! A lot of little girls thought I was Cinderella because I wore this Angelic Pretty blue mermaid dress. When a little 6 year-old girl asks if you are Cinderella, you say yes. :)

Also went out to the cherry blossoms with Oscar and lots of people! It was fun! I wish I could have stayed longer! I can't wait to see all the photos from Friday and Saturday!! .... Poor Oscar had to keep me from falling several times because my rocking-horse shoes are too big for me. I'm still hoping to get my Rose Chocolat shoes (I ordered white Aris ones) before I leave for Japan. If they fit me well I'm going to order some boots, too. I hope they fit. When I tell companies my foot length, they often make shoes too large. *_*

Friday, I was dressed up as the Apothecary from Mononoke (again, not Mononoke Hime!). I met up with slave to anime at the Van Nuys park to foof around in the cherry blossoms (yes, again). The peak was definitely tues-wed. I'm glad I went out a lot this week.

some fun stuff at the Friday shoot... we went and tromped through a big field. I felt like I was on a trek to exorcise demons. haha. at one point I was laying on the cherry blossoms and Jason tried to shake some blossoms on me. Well they were REALLY WET and I got blossoms stuck all over my face. So I'm sure he's going to have like 5 shots of the very-serious-business-Apothecary laughing hysterically with blossoms all over her face. XD (I think the resulting shot though will be pretty neat.) When I took off my costume later, sakura petals fell out of EVERYWHERE.
I had a yakidango for the first time. I'm shocked that it took me so long to try one. Basically they are grilled mochi on a stick... with a sweet soy sauce on them. It was YUM.

I came home to find some tea samples from Go!Comi from Adagio Tea. I'm trying to make some tea blends... so they sent me like I dunno like 40 different types of tea samples. It's crazy!! Right now I am mixing some oolongs, peach and vanilla, we'll see what happens!

I went to Kyodo System Japanese Language school today in LA. Kyodo System in LA is a lovely school that teaches Japanese, but also ikebana (flower arranging), calligraphy and tea ceremony. I sat in on the ikebana class this morning. They were making arrangements from peach brances and irises! If you live in the area, you should check it out.
http://www.kyodosystem.org/english/e_mdaiichi.htm

Here's me with some of the kids. :)


Upcoming Events:
Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan BOOK SIGNING (I'll be there either in costume or in lolita fashion!)
Barnes & Noble - The Commons at Calabasas Park
4735 Commons Way
Calabasas, CA 91302
March 15th, from 2:00 to 5:00

Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan BOOK SIGNING
LA Festival of Books in Westwood on April 27th at 1:30 pm

I'll also probably be attending Fanime, Anime Expo and Comic-Con San Diego, plans TBA.
May 14th, I'll be talking at a middle school in LA.

If you know of a group or convention that might like me to come talk or give a signing, please contact my publisher about it http://gocomi.com/ ( webmaster@gocomi.com ).

look at my new glasses? I love bunny, grass and moon motif.