thinking out loud

goraina@yahoo.com — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:33:35 GMT

Updates to LJ are rare these days, but I wanted to share this:

THE COVER OF DRAMA!

Drama
by Raina Telgemeier
September, 2012
Scholastic/Graphix
240 pages
Full-color

Ordering info, ISBN, etc, coming soon!

CCBA, Travel, Eisners, AA:ZG, and more!!

goraina@yahoo.com — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:38:17 GMT

Oh goodness. I guess I'm guilty of ignoring Livejournal, too. But I'm overdue for a post--I have lots of news!

First up, SMILE was recently named a finalist in the Children's Choice Book Awards! This is an award that gets voted on by actual kids, so if you know a kid in 5th or 6th grade, they can vote! Teachers, librarians, and booksellers can also register their students'/patrons'/customers' votes. The deadline is this coming Friday, April 29, so get your votes in right away!

Kids, vote here!

Adults who serve kids, vote here!

***

Second, I've been crazy-busy with travel and events! Here are a few links to some posts and photo sets:

November in Miami: School Visits and Miami Book Fair Int'l

February and March in Vancouver and Seattle

April in Austin: Texas Library Association Annual Conference

April in Houston: Teen Book Con

Next I'm heading to Toronto, Baltimore, Chelsea and Ann Arbor, MI, and San Diego Comic Con! Maybe I'll see you on the road...

***

Third, Smile has been nominated for an Eisner Award!

If you work in comics in almost any capacity (including librarian, bookseller, or teacher), you are eligible to VOTE!!! I'm nominated in the Best Publication for Teens category, and would truly love it if you'd cast a ballot. Winners will be announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July!

***

Last but not least, there's a lot of excitement around our house because Dave's new book Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity hits stores on June 7!! Here's a shiny new book trailer for you to watch and share:

If you'd like to pre-order a copy from Amazon, you can do so here. There's also an AA:ZG Facebook Fan Page, and of course we're throwing a book release party when the book comes out--stay tuned for more info about that.

***

I'm a little less than halfway finished with the art for my next graphic novel, which remains untitled, but which I occasionally post non-spoilery art from on my Tumblr. I should be done drawing in January, and the book itself will hopefully be published in late 2012.

What a year it has been and continues to be!

Seattle!

goraina@yahoo.com — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 19:09:35 GMT

SEATTLE: I am coming to you soon!

I'll be in town for a few days, between a conference I was invited to in Vancouver, BC, and the Emerald City Comic Con--and, I would like to do some stuff!

I have the following days free: Tuesday, March 1, Wednesday, March 2, and Thursday, March 3.

Are you a librarian? Teacher? School administrator? Book store owner, dental professional, professor, college club organizer, or simply someone who knows a group of people who might appreciate an author visit from a graphic novelist?

Please do drop me a line. I'd like to set up some events, whether public or private, while I'm in Seattle. I can be reached at goRaina AT yahoo DOT etc.

I realize this qualifies as last minute: there's only about a month till my trip. So let's make it happen! Thanks, and I hope to hear from you soon!

SMILE Fall Tour 2010: in words and pictures

goraina@yahoo.com — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:32:40 GMT

In the event you need any further proof that kids are passionate about reading comics, look no further. Kids and Comics are alive and kickin' in California. I was there for 19 days promoting SMILE, and I met hundreds and hundreds of enthusiastic kids (and their parents, teachers, and librarians), all of whom were excited to read, discuss, and even make comics of their own! I was absolutely blown away by everyone I met and every place I visited. I could never have imagined I would receive such a warm welcome from my home state.

We kicked things off at the Alternative Press Expo

My first stop was the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. I hadn't been to this con in 4 years, but it was as fun as always!

La Taqueria, San Francisco

Dave and I ate a lot of Mexican food.

Me and curator Andrew Farago at the Cartoon Art Museum, San Francisco

Both Dave and myself have artwork up in the Storytime! exhibit at the Cartoon Art Museum, and seeing our work (from SMILE and Astronaut Academy, respectively) alongside pieces by Jeff Smith, Stan Sakai, and Irving Tripp was a real thrill. The show is up until November 14, so you've still got a chance to go see it!

The Girls' Middle School, Mountain View

Following our convention weekend, I did a straight week of two-event days all over the Bay Area. The first was at the Girls' Middle School in Mountain View, where I was the guest of honor for a full-day of SMILE-related events! I led three workshops, and the girls made some truly amazing comics in record time!

On-the-fly drawing demo

That evening, I gave a presentation and signing at Green Apple Books, one of the best independent bookstores in San Francisco (or anywhere). The event ended up being very special, because not only did kids and teenagers show up, but a bunch of my friends from high school and middle school also came to cheer me on! Thank you Melinda, Christine, Jeannie, Emily, Kayo (and Eric), Tania, Aaron, Tabitha, Mayuko, Gorton, Pira, Rommel, Aviva, and everyone else! (I hope I didn't miss anyone!)

Green Apple Books, San Francisco

The next day, I spoke at the school where my mom teaches, Skyline Elementary School. This was the single biggest group I have ever spoken in front of, and their enthusiasm blew my mind: These kids screamed as if I was Justin Beiber. No joke.

Me and my mom at Skyline Elementary School (where she teaches 5th grade), Daly City, CA

A crowd of 220 at Skyline Elementary School, Daly City

That afternoon I made a special stop at a place very near and dear to the heart of SMILE.

Approaching a familiar building...

It was my old orthodontist's office! "Dr. Dragoni" (NOT his real name) was thrilled to discover earlier this year that he had been featured in a graphic novel! His patients brought SMILE to his attention, and they ordered a bunch of copies for their waiting room. They invited me to come and sign books and meet with the staff and patients, and it was truly bizarre to be back in the place I spent so much time in 20 years ago.

Signing in the waiting room of my old orthodontist's office

Reenactment!

Wednesday, my first event was a presentation at the Milpitas Library. What a lovely facility they have! Such nice librarians, too.

Drawing demo, Milpitas Library

Then we drove up to Berkeley for a signing at Comic Relief! This is an amazing comic store. Thank you to Sophie for inviting both Dave and myself to do readings and sign books!

Signing at Comic Relief, Berkeley

Thursday found us in a town I spent a bit of time in as a child, Alameda. My uncle used to live there, but I didn't remember just how cute and small-town the place is! I also loved this library's set-up, with a huge room for events that I took full advantage of! In the morning, I spoke to a huge group of kids, who asked really insightful and interesting questions.

Drawing demo, Alameda Library

A crowd of 150, Alameda Library

At most of these events, a bookseller would team up with the school or library I was visiting to sell books to the kids. This worked out great, as kids would get excited about the title as I presented it, and then had the opportunity to buy a copy and have me sign it for them.

The lovely booksellers from Books, Inc.

Signing for kids, Alameda Library

Then, after lunch (thanks, Eva and Linda!), I lead a workshop for about 35 kids. It was another breakneck-paced comics class, which resulted in some really fantastic work by the students.

Workshop, Alameda Library

Friday, I got to speak at the Pleasanton Library--a special treat, as my dad lives in that town, and most of my family came to the event. So did my best friend Theresa and her family, and even my family's current dentist (and my technical consultant on SMILE), Dr. Spiegel!

Floor seating, Pleasanton Library

That evening, still amazed that we hadn't gotten stuck in any serious traffic jams, we drove back to Berkeley for a mind-blowingly awesome event at Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts. I've never had such a big crowd waiting for me at a bookstore. The kids ate the presentation up. I think this was the highest-ever concentration of brace-faced, tween-age girls I've ever seen in one place, who were all there of their own volition. Thanks to Scholastic, for setting this event up, and the great store staff!

Drawing demo at Mrs. Dalloway's Literary and Garden Arts, Berkeley, CA

Saturday, Dave and I were Artists-in-Residence at the Cartoon Art Museum, where families could come and draw and talk to the artists in the Storytime! exhibit. We met some great kids that day, and everyone had fun!

She made herself a SMILE button

That night, I was delighted to have a dinner organized in my honor, by the fabulous Jenni Holm, co-creator of the equally fabulous Babymouse! I think that series really paved the way for my BSC adaptations a few years ago--whenever I did school visits and asked the kids what they liked to read, Babymouse was at the top of the list. It was nice to kick back and talk books with friends that evening.

Raina and Debbie Huey, goofing off

Sunday, I took a day off. My dad was celebrating a "milestone" birthday, and so my whole family and a bunch of friends came together to enjoy a whole lot of food and a really nice time.

Monday, we packed up the car, took some reference photos for my next book, and then drove down to Santa Clara for my final Bay Area event, at the Santa Clara Library. Talk about a photo-finish! 60-something people showed up at dinnertime on a Monday night! And what an enthusiastic crowd. I'm sure it had something to do with the free cookies the library supplied for the event...

Signing at the Santa Clara Library

The crowd enjoying cookies at the Santa Clara Library

One thing I heard over and over again over the course of the tour, from both kids and their grateful parents, was that SMILE was the first time they had ever been excited about reading a book. Any book. I heard that kids had read this book 2, 5, 20 times in a row. That they shared it with all their friends. And for so many, this had been the first time they'd been passionate about doing so. This is absolutely humbling. I cannot imagine living life without loving books. I was lucky to have avid readers for parents, and was surrounded by great books of every sort from the time I was a baby. Comics eventually took the lead as my true literary love, but I'll never tire of the feeling of staying up late to finish a truly wonderful book. The fact that I've been able to give this feeling back to kids is the most rewarding aspect of my career, hands down.

On the left, a brand-new reading enthusiast, Santa Clara Library

After Santa Clara, Dave and I hit the road, in an effort to make it as far south that night as we could. We ended up in a motel somewhere near Hearst Castle.

The next morning, we hit the road again, bound for Los Angeles!

Some much-needed sunshine in Santa Barbara, during our drive down the coast

For a little while, we got to relax. We went to an awesome dinner with recent LA-transplants Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley, who gave us a little tour of the area before we crashed in a Glendale motel. The next day, we went for a tour and early lunch at Dreamworks Studio, courtesy of Johane Matte. What a gorgeous studio! We got a sneak peak at some of their upcoming features, and got to take advantage of their insane lunch buffet.

Then, we drove down to Cal State Fullerton for a lecture there. The students were great, and had great questions for me! I wish we could have stayed longer!

The crowd at CSU Fullerton

Pencil Mileage Club, CSU Fullerton

But, we had a dinner date with Amy and Kazu Kibuishi and Jason Caffoe. They took us to a super-authentic ramen place, and then for ice cream. The we got to see the studio where they work, as well as the gorgeous Gallery Nucleus!

Thursday, Dave and I knocked off and went to Disneyland. It had to be done. I haven't been in 7 years, which is way too long! And I'd never been at Halloween-time. The park closed early, at 8 PM, which seemed like blasphemy--there's something particularly special about wandering around the Magic Kingdom in the midnight hours! Guess I'll have to wait till we're back in Florida for that experience...

Friday morning we got ourselves out the door and over to Long Beach for our final tour destination: The Long Beach Comic Con!

It was a nice, if somewhat quiet, convention. Quiet until the wrestling matches in the ring about 100 yards from our table took place, that is! Since it was Halloween weekend, there was an especially high ratio of dressed-up fans. I approve of this!

An awesome family at Long Beach Comic Con

Friday night, we attended a crazy, decked-out Halloween party, wearing our Hogwarts costumes (everything we wore, we already owned except the ties) and hanging out with a bunch of Dave's relatives. I started to feel a little run-down by the end of it, and by Saturday morning had a full-blown cold. I survived the remaining two days of the convention thanks to tea, cold medicine, and Dave doing most of the talking at our panel on Sunday! The convention ended really early that day, 4 PM, so we spent Halloween night eating chicken and waffles (well, only waffles and a salad for me) and playing Catchphrase with Dave's cousins as we greeted trick-or-treaters. So much fun!

Hogwarts' Finest, Long Beach Comic Con

We had one free day between the convention and our trip home, and I needed it. I spent most of the day in bed or wishing I was in bed, while still managing to squeeze in some sunshine and a dinner outdoors in the balmy November air. Southern California is always a hard place for me to leave, especially during the colder months on the east coast!

Now that we're home and I'm reflecting on the past three weeks, I am still bursting with gratitude and joy. Looking over the photos only makes it more so. Here are the rest of our pictures, and a couple of videos from the trip--there are a lot of them!

I want to make sure I say thanks to a few people, too: Kate Kubert Puls, my hard-working events coordinator, made 95% of this trip possible and helped me keep my head on straight; my family for hosting us during the Bay Area leg of the tour, and their general support and encouragement; Dave's extended family for hosting us during the Southern California leg of the tour, and their giant dinners and parties and good cheer; the publicity folks at Scholastic who organized the Green Apple and Mrs. Dalloway's events; everyone who hosted or coordinated or invited me to speak to their organization; my friends who came out in serious numbers to show their support; the kids I met; and most of all my husband Dave, who acted as tech support, pen keeper, receipt wrangler, and navigator, helped finalize most of my slideshows, and generally kept me calm and focused and motivated the whole time. He and the GPS were my constant companions! Couldn't have done it without all of you...and I can't wait to do it again!

One last thought for my fellow comics creators: kids are desperate for more good graphic novels to read. Make them, and they will be happy. And you will be happier for it, too. I know I am!

Smile!

SMILE Fall Tour: Update

goraina@yahoo.com — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:48:19 GMT

APE was a lot of fun! The tour continues: I'm doing a signing tonight at Green Apple Books in San Francisco! It starts at 7 PM and all the information is here:

http://thegreenapplecore.blogspot.com/2010/10/smile.html

GREEN APPLE BOOKS
506 Clement Street
San Francisco, CA

So excited!

Start of the Tour!

goraina@yahoo.com — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 15:33:03 GMT

Just a reminder, I'll be at APE in San Francisco today and tomorrow, at table 202! The whole thing goes down at The Concourse, at 8th Street & Brannan. Then, Monday at 7 PM, I'm signing at Green Apple Books on Clement Street!

New York Comic Con: The Bad and the Ugly

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 16:38:06 GMT

I read that not enough "regular" people were writing about this year's NYCC. I'm gonna dash off some thoughts, because I don't work for a news outlet.

Whenever mention of NYCC comes around before the fact, I usually groan. This is because of bad memories: I've gotten extremely sick twice at that show; I have tabled a few times and it was always a struggle to get noticed and to make back costs, especially when you have to rent not only the booth space, but also a table and chairs! We tried to get around that once by bringing in our own table via borrowed van, and the van got into a car accident. Not worth it. And simply having to tolerate the Javits Center for 28 hours in a 3-day period pretty much sucks my soul.

The Javits: that's really my main problem. It's in the middle of nowhere, transportation is hard to come by so you walk the 8 blocks from the subway which is tough even in GOOD weather, there is nowhere to eat nearby, and it's just ugly. The roof leaks, so there are dismal black tarps all over the ceiling, attached to pipes that lead to drainage stations. Your only food options are inside, and they're expensive and mediocre. The whole place is super-confusing, and I have found myself lugging a dolly full of boxes on level one, only to realize that registration is on level 2, and am forced to carry the boxes up flights of stairs. Seriously, I walk into this building and I want to leave. But let's say I'm going to be there for several hours, I might as well make the most of it, right?

Well, that means packing a lunch, and bringing my own water because I don't want to pay $4 for a bottle of Poland Spring. Oh, but if I have to use the bathroom? If I can get to one (it would not hurt to have bathrooms on BOTH sides of the hall), I will probably have to stand in line for 20 minutes, because they have so few stalls. And this is a comic convention, so half the time there are people in there changing into their costumes, which takes much longer than your average bathroom trip. I focus on this because I have stomach issues, and the idea of having to hightail it to a bathroom with only a moment's notice, only to be faced with a situation like this, fills me with DREAD. It's never happened, but the idea fills me with anxiety, and makes me never want to spend more than a few hours at a con here.

But anyway, knowing it'll take 20 minutes just to use the bathroom, means I don't drink very much. And that means I get dehydrated. Which means I get a headache, and will probably be more susceptible to whatever viruses are floating around the hall. It's a lose-lose, if you ask me.

Then there is the con itself, which has clearly become a phenomenon, and is way too big for its own good. Every space gets overcrowded. It's hard to move through the aisles. I get hit with peoples' backpacks at ever turn. I'm a small person, but I can't imagine being a kid in the middle of all this. Any booth that features a sound element tends to be WAY too loud. If you're unlucky enough to have a booth next to these guys, you're out of luck.

The program books and the floor maps are useless. The con's website, which I checked Thursday to see where MoCCA's table was because I was signing there, was useless too--if you look for Artist Alley exhibitors, it's impossible to figure out which table is where. You'll have to figure it out when you get there.

So these days, I come in for panels, walk around a little bit, do my signings, and then leave, if I can. This year, I went for most of Friday, skipped Saturday, then went back for most of Sunday. That was the right thing to do. Sunday afternoon found me hiding under an escalator, because I had an hour to kill and did not want to be accosted by all the overwhelming stimuli any more. I could have easily skipped Sunday altogether, but I had a signing and wanted to watch the panels my husband was on, so I toughed it out.

I should mention that my publisher doesn't exhibits at this con. That's their choice, I have no say in the matter. I think if they did exhibit, I might be more willing to throw myself into the experience, because it would mean selling books, meeting kids, talking up kids' comics. But since they don't, I feel invisible at NYCC. I could remedy this by getting a table, but as I explained, I don't want to do that ever again.

Maybe I'm being unfair here, but I've been at every NYCC thus far, and maybe because I live in New York anyway, the city's charms are lost on me and I'm only seeing the con for the con. I don't know what can really be done to fix most of my problems, but barring a Javits renovation (adding twice as many restrooms!!), probably nothing. Oh, they could also do that 7-Train expansion project that takes the train as far as 11th Avenue, but the city seems pretty set against that one. Capping the attendance seems to defeat the purpose of putting on a show like this. The best advice is probably for me to just not go at all...but for someone who loves comics, and loves doing comic conventions, and loves New York, and loves seeing so many friends in one place...that seems like such a sad conclusion.

Edit to add: I don't want to give people the impression that the NYCC folks are all bad--Lance and Peter have done an amazing job promoting, organizing, and throwing an event that is safe and fun for most everyone. My issues lie mostly in factors that can't be controlled, and the people running the show try their hardest to compensate for those, the best they can.

goraina@yahoo.com — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:29:41 GMT

This is my week! Library event & NYCC:

Wednesday, October 6
Youth Workshop at The Queens Public Library
Steinway Branch
14-01 Astoria Boulevard
Astoria, NY
4-5 PM

October 8-10
New York Comic Con
Jacob Javits Center
New York, NY

Please note: I am not tabling at NYCC this year. I will be around the convention Friday, and possibly part of the day Sunday, but I won't be selling books. If you'd like to see me or get your book signed, your best bet will be to come to my one panel, on Friday morning:

Panel: The Other Side of the Table
Panel Room 6 (1A21)
Friday, October 8
11:15 am - 12:15 pm

Creating your product is only half the work it takes to succeed in the comics industry. What about the other half that we don't see as clearly after the product is released to the world? This panel will explore what it is like to be on the other side of the table, as a creator. We will discuss what it takes to exhibit at conventions, promote yourself, and gain a loyal audience - from the POV of professionals already behind the table. We will be giving away one signed copy of Ultimate Cerebus Guide to Self-Publishing by Dave Sim to one lucky audience member.

Join creators Jimmy Palmiotti, Raina Telgemeier, Bryan J.L. Glass, Carla Speed McNeil, and Carolyn Belefski in this conversation, moderated by Joe Carabeo.

Next week, I'll be attending the opening reception of the Ink Plots Exhibit at SVA, and then hitting the road for California--massive post about that coming shortly!

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards!

goraina@yahoo.com — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:41:44 GMT

This past weekend, I was in Boston to receive the Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Award for Smile!

The Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards have been presented every year since 1967, choosing Winners and Honors for fiction, nonfiction, and picture book titles...and this is the very first time a graphic novel has been awarded.

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to receive this honor by the awards committee, and I can't thank the judges (Julie Just, of the NY Times; Gregory Maguire, whose book Wicked you may have heard of; and Martha V. Parravano, executive editor at Horn Book) enough. The rest of the Horn Book staff, most especially editor in chief Roger Sutton, also deserves huge and amazing thanks for their kindness, and I can't overlook the staff at Simmons College, who not only have a long-standing history tied in with the Awards, but also hosted the events this weekend.

The ceremony was held on a stormy Friday evening, and I had to make a short speech--I was pretty nervous, but in the end didn't trip or fall or embarrass myself. Listening to the other Honoree and Award-winners' speeches was incredibly inspiring, and I felt so humbled to be among all them.

After the ceremony, I got to sign copies of Smile, and then went to a really fun and delicious dinner with my Scholastic friends. I was happy to be joined by my editor, Cassandra Pelham, as well as folks from the publicity and marketing departments, and also the independent bookstore owners who were selling our books at the weekend's events.

The next day, Simmons College hosted an all-day colloquium with the Winners and Honorees, as well as the judges, Horn Book staff, editors, and librarians. I met a ton of interesting people and had some very meaningful conversations. It's always nice to talk to groups who aren't necessarily familiar with graphic novels, and spread the joy to all of them. I had a very fulfilling day. This was followed by a dinner with Horn Book folks and some of the Award recipients, and that gave me a chance to finally talk to some of them, and relax in the company of interesting people and great food. I went home with a full belly and a very full heart.

Although our time in Boston was short, it was one of the best weekends of my life. I was thrilled as always to be able to share the experience with my husband (and unofficial photographer), Dave Roman, and we both felt like we walked away with many new terrific friends and heads full of ideas.

Thanks again, to everyone who made it possible.

Cross-posted from http://goRaina.com

Call Out for an Assistant!

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 02:25:59 GMT

SEEKING: Art Assistant/Studio Intern

Raina Telgemeier (Smile, Baby-sitters Club) and Dave Roman (Astronaut Academy, Agnes Quill) are seeking a studio assistant to help with the production of graphic novels for Scholastic and First Second Books. Ideally, an art student with some experience making comics. This will be a great opportunity to learn valuable pre-press skills and gain insight into the process of creating a graphic novel!

REQUIREMENTS:
Be able to commit to 1 day per week (day negotiable)
Be able to commute to Astoria, Queens, NY (we are near the subway)
Basic Photoshop skills
Familiarity with InDesign a plus

JOBS WILL INCLUDE:
Ruling out page templates
Erasing pencil lines from inked artwork
Scanning black and white comic and thumbnail pages
Digitally cleaning up art files in Photoshop
Flatting colors for comic pages
Prepping packages for shipping
Occasionally dropping off packages at post office

This is an unpaid position, but you will receive credit in any printed works.

Please contact Dave Roman at yaytime AT gmail DOT com, with the word ASSISTANT in the subject line. Please include a link to your website and/or a brief resume. Thanks!

Small Press Expo 2010

goraina@yahoo.com — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:29:55 GMT

(Click to view larger)

Hey, I designed the poster for this year's SPX! I'll be there this weekend (September 11-12) with the Comics Bakery at Table G15-16, selling an assortment of goods including a few SMILE buttons.

Saturday, I'm on a panel. This one:

Comics for Younger Readers
Saturday, Sept. 11
5:00 PM
Brookside Conference Room

Book-length comics for younger readers are increasingly following graphic novels for adults into the bookstore and library shelves. Johanna Draper Carlson will discuss the pleasures and challenges of creating comics for younger readers with the collaborative duo Metaphrog, Aaron Renier, Raina Telgemeier, and Drew Weing.

Can't wait! See some of you there!

New Short!

goraina@yahoo.com — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:24:03 GMT

I added a new short comic to the webcomics section of my site: this one is called Can I Try an Eskimo Pie?

I'd like to do more of these in the coming weeks, in theory so I can print up a new mini-comic in time for SPX. I've got a couple of deadlines hovering overhead, though, and if those take priority, maybe a new mini in time for APE in October...we shall see!

Con of Cons

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:06:01 GMT

As usual, I have too many thoughts and far too little time to really do up a proper San Diego con report. Here's a bullet-list, mostly so I don't forget what happened when!

WEDNESDAY
--Travel was super-smooth. Saw a few comics folks on the plane, including Jeff Smith & Vijaya Iyer!
--Checked in, dragged stuff over to the convention center, felt exhausted immediately.
--Set up at the Flight booth! How lucky I was to table with these guys this year...spent a nice little while talking life stuff with Amy Kibuishi and meeting she and Kazu's son, Juni, for the first time.
--Pizzaaaaa. I may have been too tired to appreciate it, but I'm pretty sure it was delicious. I sat with Steve Flack, Matt Roscetti, and Mandy Sartor, one of my roommates during the trip. I hope I was coherent; I'm pretty sure all I talked about was how much I like that cheese they put on the salad.
--Midnight Ralphs (I always feel like there SHOULD be an apostrophe in that...) run. Stocked up on lunch items, and as a result, spent way less money on food overall than I normally do! Our suite had a kitchen and refrigerator, which made packing a lunch every day very easy.

The dizzying view from our 12th-floor room.

THURSDAY
--The first of several free breakfasts. Best thing about the Embassy Suites.
--A terrific first day of conventioning--in fact, I did my best sales of the whole weekend on Thursday.
--The Edmunds family, Tracey, Shelby, and Sarah, presented me with a fabulous present: a handmade SMILE necklace, made out of sculpy!!! I loved it!!
--Missed the Scott Pilgrim panel, but that's okay.
--Dinner with the First Second folks! Had a great time talking with Mark Seigel, Scott McCloud, Lark Pien, Jen Wang, Nate Powell, Ed Masessa, James Sturm, and Annie...ack, what was Annie's last name? Our waiter looked like Alec Baldwin and I tried crab but didn't like it.

My SMILE necklace, made by the lovely Edmunds ladies.

FRIDAY
--A slightly slower sales day.
--Floor got VERY crowded. I got a little overwhelmed.
--Had a LOVELY talk with Greg Evans, the creator of Luann. We traded books! He is so nice! Another check-off on my list of Cartoonists I've Met Who Influenced Me From The Very Beginning. Thanks, Greg!
--Decided to cut out a little early. Lack of sleep caught up with me, so I went swimming and took a nap. That did the trick!
--Dinner at the Seaport Village with the Maihacks, Jen & Mike, Jeff Denton, Katie and Steve Shanahan, Rawles, Alison Wilgus, & Johane Matte. MUCH laughter and good times! I ate tacos.
--Scott Pilgrim movie party! Spent most of it talking to Matt Loux, Dylan Meconis, and a nice lady named Rachel who's last name I did not get. I did not see Scott Pilgrim at the party, to my disappointment.

Johane and Katie display their CANADIAN POWER!

SATURDAY
--Comics in the Library panel! Was fun talking comics with the librarians and our moderator, John Hogan.
--I had a meeting in the pro lounge with an awesome person who I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention, but it's the kind of thing that could lead to bigger things in the future!
--Thrillingly, I sold out of all the copies of SMILE I'd brought with me at 5 PM! So I just...walked around, hung out at Dave's table in Small Press, and relaxed!
--Met up with a bunch of kidslit creators for drinks, which segued into dinner. These folks are a really fun, creative, smart bunch, and talking with them was a distinct pleasure, definitely a highlight of the weekend for me. Thanks to Jimmy Gownley, Andy Runton, Matt Holm, Jarrett Krosoczka, Dan Satant, Melissa Wiley, Bob Boyle, James Burks, and Kyle (whose last name I can't seem to track down for the life of me) for the good times--and, most especially, the great Jennifer Holm for putting the whole thing together!

After the Comics in Libraries panel

Dan Satant and I

SUNDAY
--I attended a panel about comics as a window into the inner voice of a child, which was a great learning experience--the moderator, once again the amazing Jenni Holm, asked the panelists funny questions, trivia, and opened the doors for them to tell funny stories, rather than focusing on creator-focused questions. It was a laugh-fest for the audience, and hugely entertaining.
--Next I was on a panel with my very own Dave Roman and John Green, a KidsDraw! event where we basically did some interactive drawing games with the audience. A lot of fun!
--I went out to get the only lunch I actually bought all weekend--at Tin Fish! I'd heard nothing but great things, so I stood in line for 20 minutes and then waited 30 for my order. My swordfish taco (!) did not disappoint.
--Spent some time hanging out at the Flight booth, even though I had no books to sell! I did get to sign some copies of Flight though, and it's just nice being in the company of the people who make up the Flight crew.
--I bought exactly nothing. I think that's a first for me.
--Packed up, said our good byes, and then met Dave's cousins at Buster's for dinner. Third crazy seafood-thing of the weekend I tried: shark! In tacos. That's two taco-meals Sunday, for a grand total of three throughout the weekend. I could probably keep going with that. Tacos are great.
--My roomies and I went swimming and hot-tubbing, then we crashed!

John Green & I at the KidsDraw! panel.

MONDAY
--Travel. We flew home on Midwest Airlines, which I'd never even heard of, and had a layover in Milwaukee. (Does that count as visiting Wisconsin, a state I'd never been to before?) Dave and I were very pleasantly surprised to find that the airport has a GREAT bookstore, that sells rare and out-of-print editions. I could have spent hours there! We also had a perfectly respectable Italian dinner. Oh, and Midwest serves fresh-baked cookies on all of their flights. RECOMMENDED.
--I read my Luann book during most of the trip, and realized JUST HOW MUCH I actually ripped Greg Evans off in SMILE! Since Luann collections weren't published as I was growing up, a la Calvin and Hobbes or Foxtrot, I only read the strips as they appeared in the paper. But they must have sunk in pretty deep. Thanks and sorry, Greg!

OVERALL

I LOVED exhibiting with Flight. The booth was in a terrific location, we got tons of foot traffic, and having my banner there made me easy to spot from afar. Not to mention, I got to spend time with wonderful people!

The reception to SMILE was wonderful. I signed a heck of a lot of copies that people brought from home, all of which looked well-loved! I wish I'd brought more books with me, because I had to turn a lot of people away on Sunday.

A heap-ton of my high school friends came by to say hello--Claire, who is in the last chapter of SMILE; Melissa, who I haven't seen since graduating; Gil, who I've known since 6th grade and ALSO haven't seen since graduating; Vicki, who has the cutest kids on the planet; and Jeff, who is one of my favoritest people on earth and who I never see enough of. Happiness!!

I think I'm finally learning to navigate SDCC with a minimum of health issues. Those who know me well know I suffer from frequent stomach problems, and conventions (stress + eating badly + eating at odd hours + not getting enough sleep) usually increase my problems tenfold. But, buying groceries meant I was eating safe food every day instead of spontaneous, awful convention snacks; having a free breakfast every day meant I could fill up on good stuff and not feel like I was losing money at a buffet by not eating the stuff that's bad for me; and eating fish again allowed me to eat food that wasn't deep fried or covered with cheese or cream sauce...the way most vegetarian stuff is when you're traveling.

I had a lot of really, really good talks with friends, most of which kind of helped me get my thoughts in order about what's coming next for me. It's been a crazy year, and SDCC is my last big event until SPX in September, and I definitely need this time to get ahead on projects big and small.

Scott Pilgrim mania was at a fever-pitch, and made me feel really proud of Bryan Lee O'Malley, but also comics in general. It's easy to lose sight of comics at Comic-Con, and I know that a big part of the SP intensity had to do with the imminent movie release...but I felt like we were celebrating the comic, too.

The Scott Pilgrim garlic bread truck, headed down Harbor after midnight.

There's so much I missed, but I think I saw and did everything I hoped to this year. I'm pumped to make more comics, and I'm looking forward to SDCC 2011. Bring it on!

The rest of our photos from the con can be seen here.

San Diego Comic-Con, July 21-25

goraina@yahoo.com — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 02:16:03 GMT

Oh boy! I missed it last year, but this year I'll be returning to San Diego for...

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL!!

I'll be around all weekend (July 21-25), exhibiting primarily at the Flight Booth, #2235. Joining me will be some of the other Graphix creators: Kazu Kibuishi and Jake Parker, of Amulet and Missile Mouse, respectively. And of course, the whole Flight crew will be on hand with a brand-new volume of the anthology! The Flight booth is where you'll be able to find SMILE at Comic-Con this year, so if you'd like to buy a copy or have your copy signed, stop by! I'll also have some original art and a few other goodies as well.

While I'll be stationed at the Flight booth most of the time, I'll be appearing in a few other places over the course of the con...

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Friday, July 23
Signing at the Cartoon Art Museum Booth for their annual Sketch-A-Thon!
A $10 donation toward the museum gets you a drawing by me!
3 - 4 PM
Booth #1930

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Saturday, July 24
Panel: Comics in the Library
11 AM - 12 PM
Room 8

How are comics used in libraries? This panel discusses the variety of ways that libraries around the countries have begun to integrate comics into their collections and programming. Special attention is paid to the following subjects: comics for early readers; nonfiction comics, comics for adult readers. Presented by Francisca Goldsmith (Infopeople), Merideth Jenson-Benjamin (Glendale Public Library), JoAnn Jonas (San Diego County Library), Tuan Nguyen (Texas Maverick Graphic Novel List), Jill Patterson (OC Public Libraries), and comics creator Raina Telgemeier (Smile). Moderated by John Hogan (The Graphic Novel Reporter).

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End of the spring tour: ALA!

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:50:02 GMT

I can't believe my 12-week run of events is almost over! I've got one more good one before I wrap up things for a bit, though: The American Library Association's Annual Conference, in Washington, DC!

I'll only be at ALA for one day, Monday, June 28, but I plan to make the most of it. Here's the event I'll be doing:

Monday, June 28
1:00PM - 2:00PM

Authors on the Pavilion: A Conversation With Raina Telgemeier,
Smile (Scholastic)
Moderated by Brigid Alverson
(Good Comics for Kids/School Library Journal)
Graphic Novel Pavilion Stage

(located on the map where you see booths 2264 thru 2267)

Brigid will be interviewing me about Smile, and my earlier work, and we'll be showing some slides and images from my career. After that, I will be signing copies of Smile, so if you don't have one yet, come and get one from me there!

The other graphic novel-centric programming can be found at this link.

Librarians and attendees, if you'd like to meet up or chat at some point on Monday, please drop me a line! I'll be at the conference all day, and while there are a couple of panels I plan to attend, I'll have some free time, too...

Boston Globe-Horn Book Awards!

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:35:48 GMT

Some VERY exciting news: SMILE was recently named as an Honor Book in the 2010 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature!! This is the first time a graphic novel has made it onto the list, and I'm extremely humbled to share the short list with such an amazing group of talented authors.

You can read the full press release here.

I'll be traveling up to Boston in October for the awards ceremony, and look forward to meeting and congratulating the other winners and honorees!

Smile Tour Goes NORTH: Halifax, June 18-19!

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:02:43 GMT

Michigan was a blast, and I'm only home for two days this week before I jet off to Canada...here's what I'll be up to, up there:

Friday June 18th
Ladies' Night at Strange Adventures
5262 Sackville Street
Downtown Halifax, NS
6pm to 9pm

This will be a lot of fun! Halifax's own comic shop, Strange Adventures, is throwing a ladies-only party, so us girls can talk comics with other girls in a friendly, welcoming environment. I'll have copies of Smile, the BSC books, and X-Men: Misfits. There will be prizes! And snacks! And I get to hang out with my friend Faith Erin Hicks, who is the event's other special guest! I am told guys can hang out at the pub next door! :)

Saturday June 19
Grand Opening of Dartmouth Strange Adventures
101 Portland Street
Downtown Dartmouth, NS
Noon to 6pm

The next day, come celebrate the opening of Strange Adventures' second store branch, in Dartmouth, NS--you can take a ferry to get there! Dave and I will both be signing and hanging out from 1-3. Everyone is welcome at this event, so I hope you'll come by and say hello.

I'm looking forward to finally seeing the Maritimes--after our trip to Maine a few weeks ago, I'm craving more sea breezes and harbor views.

---

I'll post more about this next week, but: I'm going to be at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington DC, on Monday, July 28! I've got a panel & signing in the Graphic Novel Pavillion from 1-2. Librarians, I'd love to meet you and sign a copy of Smile for you!

Kids Read Comics: Dearborn, MI, June 12-13. FREE!

goraina@yahoo.com — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:12:26 GMT

I'm back from a fabulous time in North Carolina for Heroes Con (Friendly Southerners! Hot weather! The best cornbread I've ever had!) and am now gearing up for this coming weekend's Kids Read Comics event in Dearborn, Michigan.

KRC is a free event taking place at the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, June 12 and 13. The weekend will feature hands-on workshops, panels, and presentations for kids, families, and educators. You can see the programming schedule here; I'm involved in the following events:

Panel Discussion - Drawing From Life
Sat, June 12, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Not every comic tells a made up story about costumed adventurers, fantasy princesses or rodents dressed in human clothes. There are many engaging comics memoirs, histories, biographies and more that explore real people and real events. Join Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Ryan Estrada, Jim Ottaviani, and Stephanie Mannheim as they talk with moderator Paul Storrie about how they’ve brought real life to life in comics form. All Ages.

Demo - Cartooning Styles
Sun, June 13, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Join cartoonists Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier for a humorous interactive presentation about art styles, featuring images of popular cartoon characters like Sponge Bob Squarepants and Mickey Mouse, and how different artists interpret them. Explore character design, followed by an interactive drawing demo, in which you, the audience, will instruct Raina in creating characters and images! All Ages.

Live Reading - Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman
Sun, June 13, 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman will read (and perform) chapters from their all-ages graphic novels as the illustrated panels are projected onto a large screen for all to see. They’ll also ask for some volunteers from the audience to play some of the characters. All Ages.

As I said, this event is totally free and open to the public, so you've got no excuse not to come. Bring the family! See you there!

The SMILE Tour Heads South

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:13:34 GMT

Next up on my whirlwind tour is another event I'm particularly excited about: HEROES CON!

JUNE 4-6, 2010
Charlotte Convention Center
501 S. College St.
Charlotte, NC

Dave and I will be at TABLE 519 IN INDIE ISLAND!

I'm honored to be one of the guests in Indie Island, because from everything I've heard, this is the coolest place to be. I'll be surrounded by friends and artists I admire. Please come by for a book, a sketch, or a chat! I've wanted to visit North Carolina for years (probably because of a certain obsession with Ben Folds Five...), but for whatever reason, it hasn't happened until now. Heroes Con is said to be one of the most laid-back, family-friendly conventions out there, so I can think of no better way to greet the south.

The convention hours are as follows:

Friday: 11.00 am - 7.00 pm
Saturday: 10.00 am - 6.00 pm
Sunday: 11.00 am - 6.00 pm

Update: PANEL SCHEDULE!

Friday, June 4
3.00 PM
VOCATIONAL COMICS: Comics As Career
Room 207BCD
Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter meets with some of the brightest stars in the comic firmament to discuss how they learned to handle the age-old question: what do you do when comics becomes your livelihood? Joining Tom will be Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother), Meredith Gran (Octopus Pie ), Jim Rugg (Afrodisiac), Ed Piskor (Wizzywig) and Raina Telgemeier (Smile).

Sunday, June 6
3.00 PM
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL COMICS: What To Leave In, What To Leave Out
Room 208AB
Autobio comics have long been one of comics' greatest and most idiosyncratic genres, focusing on the lives and memories of cartoonists and using comics as an immersive tool. Moderator Dustin Harbin discusses autobio comics and what makes them work (and not work) with Erika Moen (Dar), Ken Dahl (Monsters), and Raina Telgemeier (Smile).

Extreme thanks are due to Dustin Harbin, Heroes Employee Extraordinaire (and fellow dental drama buddy!), and Shelton Drum, owner of Charlotte's own Heroes Aren't Hard To Find comic book store, for inviting Dave and I to be a part of this wonderful event.

Maine Comic Arts Festival; NYT!

goraina@yahoo.com — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:52:34 GMT

From everything I heard about last year's inaugural MECAF, I'm pretty excited about this event. Saturday is programming-only, and the festival is working in conjunction with the Portland Public Library to present a free day of panels and discussions! The following day, Sunday, join us for the one-day festival itself.

Panels and Programming (Free!)
Portland Public Library
Main Branch, 5 Monument Square
Saturday, May 22

Cartooning Styles, 12:30 PM
A humorous presentation about art styles, featuring images of popular cartoon characters like Sponge Bob Squarepants and Mickey Mouse, and how different artists interpret them. Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman will talk about designing characters, and then give an interactive drawing demo, in which the audience will instruct Raina in creating characters and images.
Age range: 5 – 12

Live Comics Reading: Smile & Astronaut Elementary, 2:30 PM
Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman will read (and perform) chapters from their all-ages graphic novels, as the illustrated panels are projected onto a large screen for all to see. They’ll also ask for some volunteers from the audience to play some of the characters.
Age range: 5 and up

Sunday, May 23
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, MECAF (Kids 12 and Under are Free!)
Ocean Gateway (Directions)

I don't have a table number to share, but the show is small and chances are I'll be in front of a certain Smile banner! This is where you can find me with lots of copies of Smile for sale, along with Baby-sitters Club graphic novels, artwork, t-shirts, and mini-comics! Have a book you would like me to sign? Bring it along!

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For those of you who don't follow me on Twitter or Facebook, I shared over the weekend that Smile was reviewed in the New York Times--and what a review it was!! I learned about the review via phone, while I was driving home from TCAF, and had to wait 6 hours before I could finally check my email and read what it had to say! Talk about torture. ;) Anyway, I'm thrilled and it made my dad cry, so that's pretty nifty!

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Next week is my birthday, and I don't have any work-related plans for several days in a row. Amazing! But the week after next, we're heading down to Charlotte for Heroes Con (I've never been to North Carolina before! I've heard this show is awesome! I'm so stoked!), and the following weekend we'll be in Michigan for Kids Read Comics. After that, we're going up to Halifax for Ladies' Night at Strange Adventures, followed by some store events and goodness. The fun just never stops.

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Finally, head on over to Dave's LJ for more on his new book, which came out TODAY, the Zuko prequel story that ties into this summer's Last Airbender film! Fans of the show will enjoy this, because it's all about Zuko's backstory leading up to where the show begins. The book was co-written by our most excellent friend Alison Wilgus, and drawn by the inimitable Nina Matsumoto. I'm SUPER proud of all three of them, for a job well done! Hooray!

Toronto or Bust

goraina@yahoo.com — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:07:32 GMT

Just a quickie TCAF update (we leave early tomorrow morning):

Dave and I will be at Table 128, right next to our friends Frank Cammuso and Diana Tamblyn! Here’s a floormap of the show; we seem to be near the Library Info Desk. Look for my big ol’ Smile banner to find me!

These are my panels and programs throughout the weekend:

Comics For Kids: What’s Next?
SATURDAY, May 8th, 2:45 – 3:30pm, Learning Center 1
Following the initial burst of graphic novels created and marketed specifically to young readers, where will the industry go? Find out from a panel of experts including editors, creators, teachers and librarians what’s working for young readers, what’s not working, who are reading these books and what’s next. Panelists include Raina Telgemeier (Smile), Frank Cammuso (Knights of the Lunch Table), Clayton Hamner (CTON’s Super A-maze-ing Year of Crazy Comics!), Eva Volin (Librarian), Karen Li (Editor, Kids Can Press) and Diana Maliszewski (Teacher), moderated by Scott Robins (Blogger, SLJ’s Good Comics For Kids)

KidsDraw: Turn Your Life Into Comics
SUNDAY, May 9th, 12:30pm-1:00pm, Novella Room
The inspiration for Raina Telgemeier’s newest book, Smile comes from her own life as a young girl. Get tips from her on how to get ideas from your own life to create your own autobiographical comics and watch her draw live.

The New Graphic Novelists: New Creators Transforming the Medium
SUNDAY, May 9th, 2:15 – 3:15pm, Learning Center 1
There is a pantheon of great graphic novelists — folks who started thinking about comics as singular, book-bound creations. But that concept has shifted since its conceptualization, and a collection of young creators are pushing the medium in fantastic new ways. Creators Joshua Cotter, Colleen Frakes, Ryan North, Dash Shaw, and Raina Telgemeier will discuss their experiences producing comics that alternately defy and embrace the term ‘graphic novel”. Moderated by Eva Volin.

Next weekend: TCAF!

goraina@yahoo.com — Sat, 01 May 2010 21:07:34 GMT

No rest for the author with a new book out! On Saturday and Sunday, May 8 and 9, I will be in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for The Toronto Comic Arts Festival, otherwise known as TCAF!

Location: Toronto Reference Library
789 Yonge St., Toronto, Canada
When: May 8, 9-5 PM; and May 9, 11-5 PM.
Admission to TCAF is Free!!

I'll update this post with my table number and my panel schedule as SOON as this information becomes available. I know I'm doing one panel on Saturday afternoon, and one or two panel/events on Sunday. I'll be at my table on the show floor pretty much the entire rest of the weekend. Look for my big ol' Smile banner to find me (hint: it looks like this)! Canadian friends, I hope to see you there!

Portland! (Trip Part 2)

goraina@yahoo.com — Sat, 01 May 2010 00:30:36 GMT

Okay, so we made our flight to Portland, although there was very little time to find a decent breakfast at the airport. We had heard so much about the awful traffic in Chicago, and it figures that we’d hit it for the first time, leaving, trying to catch a plane. Cue the scene from Home Alone, where the entire family is running through O’Hare…

Portland/Stumptown!

--Wednesday. Upon landing in Portland I was instantly comforted by the site of pine-covered hills. The west coast feels so different from the giant eastern cities I spend so much time in these days, and it’s always welcoming. The rain and clouds, not so much; the trees and greenery, always.

--Dave and I checked into the Marriott Residence Inn for a few nights, mostly ‘cause they had a pool. Somehow they had upgraded us to a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite, which felt really luxurious! We rang in our first night in PDX by doing laundry, and then going to dinner with my sister Amara, who is now a Portland resident three years running. I had a veggie burger. It was pretty all right.

--So we didn’t know this, but the Residence Inn has a bunch of crazy perks, one of them being, FREE BREAKFAST BUFFET EVERY DAY. We were expecting the usual ‘continental breakfast’ of coffee and croissants…we weren’t prepared for fruit, donuts, make-your-own-waffles, biscuits, gravy, cereal bar, soy-friendly products, hot items like eggs and sausage, and even a full JAPANESE BREAKFAST, featuring rice, miso soup, and eggy furikake. Dave and I puzzled over the fact that Portland is kind of the ultimate breakfast town…and yet, we didn’t want to turn down the amazing free food. Let’s just say a lot of eating got done in those few days.

--Back to Thursday. We were picked up by Sara Ryan, who it turns out is every Sara Ryan I have ever heard mention of, all rolled into one! Sara escorted us to the super-posh Kenton Branch of the Multnomah County Library, which just opened a few months ago. I was there to visit with fourth graders and talk about comics and Smile. The kids were simply fantastic, all with prepared questions and notes and artistic talent. I had a grand time with them!

--Next, we were invited to come hang out at Periscope Studio, and eat lunch from the food carts! I got a taco. The studio is lovely and light-filled and stuffed to the brim with amazing artists, and I can only imagine how much productivity such an environment would foster! (When they’re not busy trying on robot helmets, of course.)

--Finally, we hit up Powell's, because that's what you DO when you're in PDX! We found Smile in the young adult graphic novel section, downstairs in the Rose Room.

--That night we made a point to RELAX for a little while. We had dinner a few paces from our hotel, at the Newport Seafood Grill floating on the Willamette River. The riverfront was bustling with dragonboat racers, and a really nice place for a stroll on a warm evening.

--Friday, after another free breakfast, we headed off to brunch with our friends Hope Larson, Lucy Knisley, John Horstman, Erika Moen, and Matt Nolan. I put in a vote for Tin Shed early on, as the memory of my last TS brunch in Portland was such a good one. The biscuits were overbaked, but otherwise everything was great.

--Thanks to Erika and Matt’s local guidance, we took the bus downtown and visited our friend Erin’s new store, Small Victories, which sells an assortment of lovely, covetable handmade goods. The store is on the second floor of a loft that Erin shares with the Tribute Gallery…which currently has a show dedicated to BEARDS! You should definitely stop by if you’re in the area. It was nice to catch up with Erin, and meet her dog, GoBlazers!, too.

--That evening, after we kicked around at the mall for a little while (where there was a ridiculous Pirate themed store), my sister picked us up for dinner (Pastini!) and then she and I made out way over to the Secret Society for the west coast iteration of Drink and Draw Like A Lady. We had a nice time! Although I was pretty tired out at that point. I think the highlight was talking to Vera about some good stuff. It’s all kind of a blur! Oh, but I did eat a tiny cupcake.

--Saturday. We are now in the final stretch! And we were in a new hotel again, too, this time the Doubletree where the Stumptown Comics Fest was held. We got a nice spot on the floor right across from Jenn, Kip, and Barry (and Taran!), and after a slightly slow morning, things REALLY picked up! I did a panel about Comics For Young Readers, moderated by the lovely aforementioned Sara Ryan, and featuring myself, Hope, Alexis Fajardo, and surprise guest Matt Holm! Wow! We had a pretty stellar turnout, a lot of kids, and people asked us GREAT questions. I could have stayed up there talking comics for another hour, I think!

--A big highlight of the weekend, for me, was meeting Valerie, a 5th-grader who had come on a roadtrip with her parents all the way from Idaho, just to meet me. I’m telling you, 10-year-olds these days…Valerie was smart, articulate, gracious, and oh-so-polite. Her appearance coincided with my busiest couple of hours during the entire weekend, and I wish it hadn’t been so because I would have loved to talk to her more. Still, I was so happy to meet her!

--The rest of Saturday and Sunday at the con were a whirlwind of comics, new friends, old friends, books, and drawing in books! I got a lot of really neat comics over the weekend; special shouts out to Breena of Easel Ain’t Easy, Emi of Emi Town, and Sarah (whom we had actually met the week prior, at C2E2) of The Complete Ouija Interviews fame. I got a bunch of other stuff and met a bunch of other cool people, too!

--Saturday night we kicked it with Toby and Dalton, over milkshakes (or low-fat yogurt shakes, in my case) at Burgerville, before heading over to Cosmic Monkey. There I had the pleasure of quickly chatting with Zack Soto and George Rohac, before leaving pretty early in favor of hitting the sack. After 11 days on the road, I was tiiiired.

--Sunday dinner was back to Pastini, with George, Charlie Chu (whom we had just met, but who had already got in some lovely photographs of us--click his name to see!), and my sister. It was a very Hollywood-centric conversation, which doesn’t typically happen at small press conventions! We have recent LA-transplant Charlie to thank for that. And I have Charlie to thank for the single bite of his molten chocolate cake after our meal, which was amaaaazing. I went into food-coma pretty quickly thereafter! We called it a night pretty early, and went back to the hotel to pack for the trip home.

--The trip home was uneventful, save for our first flight being delayed which led to a little bit of concern over our transfer in Denver. But we made it, our second leg was smooth, and then I came home and literally slept for almost the entire next day!

You can see all the photos from our trip here!

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So, that's it for the first leg of the 2010 Smile tour! Things aren't stopping anytime soon: I'm doing an event at Books of Wonder TOMORROW, May 1 (I know, I probably should have mentioned this earlier...), and next weekend we're hitting the road again for TCAF in Toronto, ON, Canada! Then I'm flying to Pittsburgh for a school visit; we'll be heading up to Maine for MECAF; spending a weekend AT HOME FOR ONCE for our birthdays; heading down to Charlotte for Heroes Con, speeding over to Michigan for Kids Reading Comics, and tentatively going up to Halifax a couple weeks later for an event I'm still working on details for!! I'll post better updates about each and every event over on my website as they get closer.

Now, if Scholastic can just get the reprint of Smile here quickly, I will hopefully have some books to sell at these events...

(The first post about our trip, to Chicago for C2E2, can be found here!)

Chicago/C2E2: Trip Part 1!

goraina@yahoo.com — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:06:12 GMT

What an incredible time Dave and I had in Chicago and Portland! I want to write all of my thoughts in one place, but there are so many of them that I’ll only be able to fire off a long list, I think…

Chicago/C2E2

--Thusday! Arrived in Chicago on a warm, summery day. I was still getting over the cold I picked up at MoCCA the weekend prior, so I took things slowly and tried to relax! The first thing that happened was Dave left his backpack in the cab that drove us from the airport to our hotel, but we managed to track down our cabbie pretty quickly, and we were soon reunited with the pack…containing our computer. Close call! We got to walk around our hotel’s area a little bit, and we quickly discovered lovely Grant Park and a great place for breakfasty foods, Yolk! We managed to eat there three times that weekend…

--After lugging all of our stuff over to the convention center, we asked our concierge for a recommendation for dinner. He suggested a place a few blocks away, Gioco, which turned out to be great! After a lovely meal, we were presented with two gift certificates for future meals there, as a Tax Day incentive! What a nice surprise! It meant we ate there again, later in the week, and were just as delighted with the food and service the second time around.

--Friday, the con began! Overall, we had a nice con experience, and met a lot of lovely people, including some we’ve known for a while on the internet but had never met in person, like Chris “Elio” Eliopoulos! We got to meet a lot of kids and a lot of fans of Smile, which was really satisfying for me. The convention center was a bit cavernous and tricky to get to, but it also had enormous skylights and a lovely view of the city. Friday night, Dave and I snuck off for a quiet dinner, at the much-recommended Giordano’s Pizza. I was kinda freaked out by how cheesy their stuffed-crust pizza looked (seriously, look at that photo on their homepage: GAG), but it was pretty good and not as scary as I’d thought it might be.

--Saturday was busy by turns, although there were some slow intervals. I participated in Reading With Pictures’ Iron Artist Tournament, against Jill Thompson, Thom Zahler, and Jeff Brown. I was squarely defeated by their awesomeness, but it was fun all the same. For dinner, we were swept off to Joy Yee in Chinatown, by our friends Carla Speed McNeil, Jim Ottaviani and his hilarious wife Kat, and Dirk Tiede, all of whom promised we’d love our food and drinks. They were right! But I’ve never seen bigger bowls of food before in my life!

(Note: These are not the giant bowls to which I refer: those were at the table next to us. Seriously, I use smaller bowls to mix cakes in!)

--Sunday I spoke on a panel about presentations in libraries, and then I did a live reading of Smile onstage, with some help from new my buddy, Trevor Meuller. We wound down the show after selling out of almost all the Smiles I brought with me! And then, in a hilarious twist of fate, we were taken to the very same Chinatown restaurant as the night before, by an entirely different group of people! This time it was Dave’s good friends, Star and Kevin Coppa, plus Star’s son Kai, from the Avatar:TLA fandom. The food and drink were excellent as always; I drank an enormous mango freeze with tapioca pearls that I’m still dreaming about.

--Monday morning, EARLY, Dave and I were whisked away in a fancy car to an elementary school in Naperville, so I could talk to 5th graders about Smile and comics. What an amazing bunch of kids, and what a fabulous school library they have! We had a great time with both the kids and the adults—Anderson’s Bookshop set up the event, and we got to have lunch with their rep and the school librarian. It’s great to get so much perspective into the markets and the audience we serve through our books, and everyone had so much to offer. I’m really thankful I got to do this event, and most of the kids took copies of Smile home with them afterward—even better.

--After driving back into the city, we checked into our new downtown hotel, strolled around the area for a little while, then, headed off to dinner in Old Town, and a show at the legendary Second City theatre! For Dave, a lifelong comedy buff, this was a missing piece of a large comedic puzzle. The show was a lot of fun; I liked the improv bits best!

--The next morning, Tuesday, we woke up surprisingly early, considering it was our day off. We ate breakfast at the Corner Bakery, a chain that serves surprisingly good oatmeal and toast! I took my tea to go, and we spent a couple hours walking around Millenium Park, enjoying ourselves and the nice weather. Chicago really is a gorgeous town, with surprises around every corner. Our ultimate destination was a branch of Columbia College, whose campus sprawls all over the city: there was a small exhibit about the advertising executives on Madison Avenue during the second half of the 20th century. I’ve always been a huge fan of vintage advertising, and it was fun to learn more about the people behind the campaigns.

--That evening, after an actual NAP, we cabbed it over to Challengers Comics + Conversation, where we were reading from Smile and Astronaut Elementary, and signing books!

We had a small but enthusiastic turnout: one of my fans, Kaprice, came with her mom, and they had never been in a comic store before! I’m glad Challengers was their first: the store is extremely friendly, accessible, and welcoming. The store’s owners, Dal and Patrick, were fabulous hosts and really made us feel at home. What a great way to ring out our last night in the windy city!

The next morning, bright and early, we found ourselves in a cab, stuck on the highway in traffic, wondering if we’d make our flight to Portland…but I’ll save that for another post!

All of our photos from the trip can be seen here!

(The second blog post about our trip, to Portland Oregon for Stumptown, can be found here!)

C2E2 Approaches...

goraina@yahoo.com — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:48:27 GMT

After an interesting MoCCA ([lots of great people, book sales, and a fun time]+[getting the flu and unleashing the sad news about X-Men: Misfits]), I'm getting ready to hit the road. First up: C2E2!

I'll be attending the inaugural C2E2 Convention in Chicago, IL! I haven't been to Chicago in years, and I'm looking forward to revisiting the charms of the windy city.

Dave and I will be set up this weekend in C2E2's Artist Alley, at Table K6. We'll have a plethora of goodies for sale, including hardcover editions of Smile, BSC graphic novels, mini-comics, t-shirts, original art, and all of Dave's comics, too!

Our schedules for the con are as follows:

Friday 12:15 - 1:15: Dave will be on the panel, The Magic of Reading from the Creator’s Perspective. Room E352.

Saturday 6:10: I'll be participating in the Iron Artist Tournament, on the Variant Stage. There will be three rounds of 4 cartoonists each starting at 6:10, 6:50 and 7:30. Each round will involve 3 “art challenges” where they’ll be given 10 minutes to put their own unique spin on an idea suggested by our audience. I'm up at 6:10; please come watch me draw and cheer me on!

Sunday 11:00: Dave is on an Avatar panel! If you love the TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender as much as we do, you'll want to attend this one. The panel title is Avatar: The Last Airbender - Beginning and Beyond, and it takes place in room E350.

Sunday 12:30: I'll be speaking on the panel Graphic Novel Events for Your School/Library. Should be interesting! Room E267.

Sunday 2-2:30: SMILE, LIVE ON STAGE!! I'll be performing a scene from Smile, live on stage, with a few other actors reading different parts. On the Variant Stage.

Beyond that, we should be at our table all weekend. Please come by and say hello! We love meeting new people!

----

We're going to be in town for a few days beyond the con. I'm doing a private school visit on Monday afternoon, and then on Tuesday evening, we hope you'll join us for...

Audiovisual Audacity with Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman!

@ Challengers Comics + Conversation
1845 N. Western Ave. 2R
Chicago, IL
Tuesday, April 20
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

KIDS OF ALL AGES: Do we have an event for you! Straight from New York, we've got authors RAINA TELGEMEIER (Smile, Babysitters Club) and DAVE ROMAN (Astronaut Elementary, Agnes Quill) giving an exciting sight-and-sound heavy presentation for young and old alike. HEAR Dave and Raina read from two of their all-ages graphic novels! SEE accompanying slideshows of both books! TASTE some cool snacks! SOME ACTION that signifies getting copies of SMILE and ASTRONAUT ELEMENTARY signed by the authors!

It's going to be a fun night, so bring the whole family!

And after that, it's on to Portland, OR, for the Stumptown Comics Fest...which I'll talk about in its own post. What a crazy month!