BookLust

BiblioQuotes 11

"Of all the things I am not very good at, living in the real world is perhaps the most outstanding."

– Bill Bryson

I Scream, You Scream...

...heck, who wouldn't scream for ice cream?

Here's the cover for the July/Aug issue of KNOW Magazine. And it's all about ice cream!! I had such seriously bad cravings for the sweet stuff when I was drawing this, man.

And you know what? With all the insanely bizarre and unique flavours of ice cream you can get these days, you  know what's still my fave? Yup – vanilla. What can I say? I've got  a soft-cone spot for that underappreciated underdog of flavours.

The Avid Wish-Maker Wishes She Could Finish Her Web Site

I've been working on updating my web site for months now – it keeps getting put on the back burner as other projects (translate: jobs that like, actually pay) take priority. I thought I'd show a bit of sneak peek, mainly because I figure if I tell more people what I'm doing, it might, like, actually get done.

Between Friends...Some Cartoon Conversation

A couple weeks ago my pal Sandra Bell-Lundy, creator of the comic strip Between Friends, went away on a trip to Newfoundland. Rather than just let her blog rot (like some people probably would, ahem), she got the amazing idea to interview a bunch of her women cartoonist pals, and then have the posts automatically come up on specific days. Now that's someone who plans ahead! That only makes sense, of course, because Sandra, being a syndicated cartoonist and all, must continually plan ahead if she wants to keep up with her merciless deadlines!

So...yes, one of the folks she interviewed was me. So's if yer interested, here's my interview. I thought Sandra asked some really smart, interesting questions. I actually had to really think for this interview, darn it!

I also encourage you to read the interviews with all the other very talented ladies that Sandra spoke to: Deborah Peyton, who is a cartoonist, character designer and fabric designer; Margaret Shulock, who is the Tuesday Chick from the syndicated comic strip Six Chix; and Kim Warp, who is a cartoonist for the New Yorker.

Thanks, Sandra! Just Between Friends...you're the best!

Menghitung Monster!

Check this out! I've just received copies of the Indonesian version of '13 Ghosts of Halloween'. The new title is 'Menghitung Monster'. Anyone out there speak Indonesian? I'd love to know what the literal translation is for this title.

And here's the back cover of the book. 

They've made the back cover a tad more scary – in the English version it's just the boy with the flashlight looking nervous (but not this freaky scared illo here!) and there's also the cute cat and dog on the cover. I'm curious as to the reasons for choosing this tone for the back.

Here's a link to the publisher's site, where they show some images from my book. The price of the book is Rp25.000,00, by the way.

And the best part about this translation? In the English version of the book, my dedication to my husband reads, 'For my Guido'. In the Indonesian version? It reads, 'Untuk Guidoku'.

My sweet little Guidoku!!

I'm Drawn To Peggy

What can I say, other than the weather is fabulous, I've been spending a lot of my extra time exercising (I've actually managed to lose 20lbs of myself that I'd really rather NOT see again!), and I've also been spending time writing and yes – drawing!! And not always cartoons, either, baby!

Eons and eons ago, I created a new category called 'I'm Drawn To You' with the hopes of occasionally drawing fascinating faces to help me keep limber with my drawing skills. Well, since that one post, I've done doodly-squat, until now.

It's no surprise that I'm drawn to  Margaret Atwood. I think she's brilliant. And funny. I've yet to read all her books, but so far my fave works of fiction are Cat's Eye, The Robber Bride and Alias Grace. In the non-fiction category, I could read over and over her books Negotiating With The Dead: A Writer On Writing, and Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth.

And aside from all her talent, well geez – she's just so damn fun to draw! What an astounding face, which in my opinion, has gotten even better with age. I didn't quite capture that "I've got a secret" shine her eyes, but I did my best.

I'm drawn to you Peggy. You truly are the bomb, baby.

Happy Canada Day!

Happy Birthday to this still very young and beautiful country that I live in. Celebrate Canada today – eat a Beaver's Tail (not the real ones, of course!), chow down on some poutine, or better yet, make love in a canoe. Wait a minute...I haven't actually ever done any of those things. Does that mean I'm not Canadian?