Hey yeah I made a DA group [link] but not many people were submitting work for me to look over so I haven`t done much with it. I also took a break from manga to develope my own trading card game.
I`d like to get back to manga again though after my card game is more established. I also want to start a independent magazine featuring artists abroad translated into Japanese to sell in Tokyo Conventions, so I might use the DAgroup here for that, or perhaps setup a Facebook page instead.

As for the pens. It`s a little hard for me to say. I can tell you where I get them, but unless you`re in Japan I`d imagine that wouldn`t help you. Take a look online and see if you can`t find them. Worse case scenerio I could send them to you from here but it might cost a bit in shipping.

Lastly, getting bored. Um yeah, trying to get published can be quite tiring as you have to listen to people telling you not to do a lot of things you want. If you really love manga (not just as in drawing your own but you really love the whole manga industry as a whole) I think it`s doable, but if your goals are a bit against the current trends of the industry it may be a tough struggle.

Anyway, I`m planning on doing some vids about stuff like this in the future on my youtube account if your interested. Been on haiedous doing game reviews and stuff instead lately though.

Thanks. No nothing on Amazon as of yet. I`m developing a Trading Card Game right now that I sell at various conventions here in Japan and I`m planning to bring it to the states in 2014 so you can purchase that then if you`re interested.
Otherwise, I`m also putting together an international independent magazine that you can hopefully purchase in the not too distant future. Anyway I`m sure I`ll have an announcement on my youtube channel when time comes.

P.S. I`m planning to redo the manga workshop series fairly soon.

hmmm. I`m not particularly familiar with it.
Most of my experience is with Editors in Japan so I can`t comment much on what the manga system is like outside of Japan.
I`d imagine manga community sites like this would be a good way to develope a fan base for yourself which could help you in a freelance career of self-publishing and possibly connect to other things in the future.