Like "Josie and the Pussycats on Tequila"

Hello friends! Back from San Diego and I have some things to report, but not much time to blog right now. Hopefully, later in the week.

Meanwhile, I'd like to direct you to this nifty review of my new book Battle of the Bands, by mister Don MacPherson! Not too shabby!

I will leave you now with an image from the San Diego Comic-Con, courtesy of Richard Starkings. Catch you later!

San Diego Comic-Con Update

Just want all you stalkers to know that I'll be at the SDCC from Friday thru Sunday, promoting my book at the TOKYOPOP booth. I'll be hanging around there at various times, but if you want to find me for sure, I just received my schedule...

FRIDAY, JULY 27th, I will be participating in 2 panels at the TOKYOPOP booth:

3:30 - 4:30 PM I'll be joining some other creators in a panel about creating Comics vs Manga.
5:00 - 6:00 PM we'll be presenting our new books and doing a signing.

SUNDAY, JULY 29th, I will most likely be doing another signing at the TOKYOPOP booth from 11:00 AM - 12:00 Noon.

Otherwise, I'll be floating around the con. I'll be the guy with the bewildered look on my face. Just like every year.

See ya!

Another Interview

While I was away this interview went live on Jazma Online. In it, I discuss my latest book and get to travel back in time!

Bonjour...

...and hello. I've been missing here in the blogosphere for the past 2 weeks because I've been on vacation with my family! We just got back from Paris (one of my favorite places, ever) and, yes, we had a fabulous time. Sorry to rub it in.

:)

Too exhausted to get into it right now, but I thought I'd share a few photos (most were taken by my wife, to give credit where it's due)...

ahhh, Paris...





We were there for Bastile Day...




Took an overnight trip to Arras...





Ate good food...




Made new friends...



Another overnight trip to the medieval town of Provins...





Took in a circus (can you see the guy's X-Men costume?)...



ahhh, Paris...



More later. Got some catching up to do. This weekend: The San Diego Comic-Con!!! I'll be heading down on Friday. What about you?

Purdy Picasa Portfolio

Regular visitors to my blog will notice there are some new features over on the right. Yes, I've finally integrated my portfolios into this here blog page.

In a previous post I asked for input about the best way to do this. I was tempted by the lure of some other blog hosts (like "Typepad") that allow for more customization options than "Blogger." The downside being that those other providers aren't free!

What I've settled for here may not be the most elegant solution, but it was incredibly easy to set up, and has more functions than I even need. My new portfolios have been uploaded into Picasa Web Galleries. Picasa is a free online picture gallery service that happens to be easily inserted into the Blogger templates. Check it out. It's owned by Google, just like Blogger. I wish I could add some bells and whistles--a way to navigate back to the main blog page would be nice. I'd also like to change the appearance of the gallery to match my blog's colors so it looks more like part of the same "site." Maybe one day they will expand the features and all my dreams will come true.

To be honest, I haven't even looked that deeply int0 the whole Picasa thing. I'm just happy that I got it to do what I wanted. That's the bottom line, in any case. I only wanted to integrate the blog & portfolio in a way that's easy to update. Mission accomplished.

It was actually pretty important because It's been a couple of years since I updated the old online portfolio. Egads.

Anyway, browse around the galleries if you have time. Let me know if you see anything wacky in the way the gallery works--OR in the art! If you happen to be in the business of hiring artists, of course I'd love it if you'd consider me for any projects, but I'd also like feedback as to what you'd like to see in these galleries that might not be represented.

Thank you and good night.

Now On Sale!

Hey Cool People! I've got just the thing to make you even cooler:



Hot off the presses! Git 'em while they're hot!

One More Thing

Today I busted out some artwork for a promotional postcard to hand out at the Comic-Con in San Diego. Here's a peek:



If you're coming to the convention (July 26-29) come look for me at the TOKYOPOP booth. I want to meet you--yes, YOU--and give you one of these postcards! I'll be there from Friday until Sunday (July 27-29). Not sure of the schedule yet. If I learn more specifics, I'll let you know. Probably not until that week.

Meanwhile, I STILL encourage you to read this INTERVIEW! In it, I talk about how I came up with the idea for my new book (on sale next week!) and what I think about manga, generally. MOST IMPORTANTLY: If you want to help me spread the word, PLEASE leave a comment (or "Reply") on the interview page. The more comments that appear, the higher up on the page the interview will appear. Columns with no comments quickly lose visibility. And that, my friends, is a tragedy. :(

THANK YOU!