Earthling! and the Oregon Council of Teachers of English

I’m happy to announce that Earthling! has been named the winner in the graphic novel category of the Spirit of Oregon Book Award for 2012. This award is given by the Oregon Council of Teachers of English.

I’m honored that this book was recognized from the reams of other great books that fit the descriptors associated with apprpriate  material for this recognition.

Read more about Earthling! by clicking here or read the first chapter online by clicking here.

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Earthling! is an Oregon Spirit Book Award Nominee!

The graphic novel I worked on for 18 years….OK. That’s not true. I didn’t work on it for 18 years. At times it may have FELT like 18 years. Actually is was about 3 years. But in dog’s years that’s 21 years…never mind.

Anyway, my graphic novel Earthling! has been shortlisted in the Oregon Spirit Book Awards, Graphic Novels category along with – Hereville: How Mirka Met a Meteorite by Barry Deutsch and Squish: The Power of the Parasite by Jennifer and Matthew Holm.

Both of the other nominated books and great and feature unique approaches and one-of-a-kind voices. I’m honored to be listed with them.

Read more about Earthling! here, and read a review of Earthling! at the New York Times.

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What’s this blog for…

No. I don’t see this blog as being mainly about self promotion, yet here I am self promoting. But, if I don’t who will!?

The Horn Book recently recommended Earthling! in an article on graphic novels for kids. Here’s what they had to say:

Gr. 4-6 In this sic-fi graphic novel, Bud gets on the wrong bus and ends up at Cosmos Academy, an intergalactic school whose students fear Earthlings. With the help of new friends Gort, Bud devises a plan to return home before the aliens figure out who he is. Action and humor (especially in the characters facial expressions) are successfully captured in bright cartoon panels.

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Earthling! around the Earth!

The Czech version of Earthling! is out, or almost out. Or will soon be out. Below is the cover and a page from the book – POZEMSTAN!

My grandfather was born in Prague, so maybe this translation is part of the circle of life. But not the part where lions eat gophers.

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Earthling! review on the web and TV

A nice review of Earthling! at the Book Wisdom website and on TV in Colorado as April’s Book of the Month.

You can read more about Earthling (including the entire first chapter online) at the Earthling! website.

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Earthling!

As I mentioned before, I have a habit of talking about my books. Sales calls are an especially good time to launch into a long discussion of my books. “So you’d like to talk to me about buying Comcast’s digital package, let me tell you about my books…” And I can talk about them on this blog.

Earthling! is the all ages graphic novel I completed last year. You can check it out by clicking here.

Earthling! went through a lot of changes before it was finally released. Below are two drawings from that process. One is an early piece of development art for the two main characters. This is a scene when they are trying to pick out which star might be the Sun that Earth orbits. It’s just hitting Bud that he’s a gazillion miles from home, and doesn’t even know where to start looking. Click on the image to see it bigger.

This is a quick sketch from my drawing book of an early spaceship school bus.

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Earthling! Does every story need to end with a fight?

Above is a page from my graphic novel for young readers called Earthling!. One of the issues that haunted me while creating Earthling! was my hope to end the adventure story without a hand-to-hand fight to the death between two main characters.

It is so easy to have your main characters fight to solve the big issue at hand in your story. But with plenty of Hollywood movies providing endless blood-soaked-battles, why do it in a young readers graphic novel?

I ended up with a chase. Laser blasts. Some threats. But for months my ending also had a big direct confrontation between Bud and Principal Lepton. Fisticuffs ensued. But I always thought it was the wrong way to go.

Ultimately I found a way for the tension to be released in an exciting fashion sans punches. It felt resolved and complete. The characters actions were true to who they were and I did it without a big fight. There is, of course, a confrontation, actually several confrontations. And the characters are allowed to see things from new perspectives. But I hope I accomplished that with as few punches as I could.

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Earthling! and Big Planet Comics.

Earthling!, my graphic novel, has been pulled off the shelf as one of the best comics for kids of 2012 at Big Planet Comics. All I can say is that Big Planet Comics is well known as a great store and the other books mentioned are super-awesom. That’s the technical term. So Tim and I are super-honored!

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The End is Near…the end of 2012

2012 was a big year for me professionally – if for no other reason than my graphic novel Earthling! was released by Chronicle Books. It’s a book I worked on for many years. A story that went through massive changes and a project that I am happy with and not happy with all at the same moment. I also illustrated two more picture books that will be out in 2013.Busy year. Good busy.

But 2012 was really all about Earthling!. I have worked on all sorts of projects in my life. Usually playing a bit-part or smaller in some major branded piece of entertainment. The desire to captain the ship, so to speak, speaks as much about ego I suppose as desiring a challenge. And it has been a challenge. But now Earthling! is done. Out of my head and my arm is recovering from drawing 256 or so pages in 6 months.

High-point: getting that first set of proofs from China (receiving them only a few days after I OK’d final full color digital art files in San Francisco…crazy). High-point: Seeing the real book for the first time when my author copies arrived. Seeing it on the shelf at a bookstore and library.

Low-point: being told it would get coverage in the New York Times and spending a week worried beyond belief about what they would say.

High point: having a very positive review in the NYT’s! Low-point: after the review ran in the New York Times having the paperback be out-of-stock at Amazon for 7 or 8 weeks. I’m still not clear why. But at least it’s back in stock now.

And so my professional year ends as this project that dominated my life for so long is cast aside, set sail, free to wander the winds of recycling bins and library shelves for years. I guess 2012 will always be about Earthling! for me.

If you are waiting for me to write some sort of valuable lesson about what I learned from all this I suppose I could write a platitude like: The more things change the more they stay the same. Or: Never leave an open container of cheese in your house if you have monkeys.

I might say that writing or drawing a book, creating a story and releasing it to the world is a job fraught with unexpected outcomes and revelations. Ups and downs. Disappointments and high points. It’s never quite what you expect. It’s never as bad as you think. And in the end, most of the time, you live to try it all again.

Where have I read that before? It goes something like this:  “It’s a dangerous business…going out your door. You set onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to”. And I believe that the road you take in creating something offers plenty of adventure too.

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A short Earthling! holiday play

Morning. A crowded city bus.

Albert
I sure wish I knew what to buy that special 8 year-old in my life for the Holidays.

Fay
I hear ya! I don’t know what to buy my nephew who is 9.

Fish Monger
Me neither. What can I possibly buy for my 10 year old niece this Christmas?

Bob
I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. I have a 7 year old and an 11 year old to buy for and I have to get them 8 gifts for Hanukkah!

Albert
I’d like to buy them somethings more than a video game or just another toy.

Fay
Me to. Like a book.

Bus Driver
You could buy them a copy of Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

All
They already have it.

Bus Driver
Oh.

Suddenly the bus begins to rock back-and-forth. People fall asunder. A glowing figure steps aboard. It’s hard to clearly see this mysterious figure amongst the bright lights and fog though they are wearing a gold lamé jumpsuit and stand at least 8 feet tall.

Mysterious Figure
You should buy them a copy of the graphic novel – Earthling!.

Fish Monger
You means that graphic novel about a school bus from outer space?

Mysterious Figure
Exactly.

Bob
But that’s all science-fictiony and stuff. I don’t know if kids like that.

Mysterious Figure
You mean the way kids don’t like Star Wars and Transformers and such? Not to say Earthling! is exactly like Star Wars or Transformers but they share a genre…

Fay
I am researching it using my iPhone and gosh, the reviews sound great! Except for this one, man they really had it out for the guy. Anyway, that’s a great idea! I’ll order one right now from my iPhone!

Albert
It’s the perfect gift!

Fish Monger
Well that and a few pounds of fish!

All laugh. Fish monger has a coughing fit.

Bus Driver
(To mysterious stranger) Thanks for the book buying advice but you got a ticket?

Mysterious Stranger
I don’t know. Do you?

Curtain closes.

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