Nowhere Special

So - a few things.

Firstly, this weekend will see the performance of Nowhere Special at TEDxSydney by FourPlay String Quartet. This is one of my Fred the Clown stories which has been set to music (and you can read the story online here). I think it's supposed to be streamed live or something - I hope so, I'm dying to hear it - but I'm not sure where, nor am I entirely sure of the exact time. If I had to guess where you'll be able to watch it in the future, though, I'd say here would be good place to look.

Here's something of where the story came from: the splash page was inspired by a drawing by my (I think) great-grandfather on my Dad's side (if it wasn't him, it was my great-great-grandfather). All my life I kept hearing that my ancestor had been an artist - not a professional or anything, but definitely a persistent dabbler - but I never saw any of his work until this photocopy arrived in the post, thanks to my uncle, who had the original drawing. The rest of the story grew around that single image. I've worked like that on a couple of things, just building from an image and seeing where it goes, and I always like the results.

Secondly, a big thank you to everyone I bumped into at Kapow on Sunday (I wasn't there as a guest or exhibitor, but I made something of a flying visit) for their positive words about my decision re. Marvel & DC. The visit itself was, shall we say, a mixed bag - I had encouraging words with supportive people, I saw friends, and (personal highlight) I got a picture of Superman with a duck on his head; but on the other hand, I thought the event itself was ugly and stupid, and had very little to do with anything I was interested in, apart from a handful of dedicated creators and vendors who ensured that the superhero/movie franchise presence didn't dominate entirely. At one point I was trying to talk over the sound of a bloody wrestling match, for crying out loud. They had actual wrestlers in a ring, with accompanying commentary over the public address system that it was impossible to get away from without physically leaving the building. I doubt I'll be returning. Very much looking forward to some properly comic- and creator-focused shows like the Erlangen Comic Salon in Germany on June 7th-10th and HeroesCon (my favourite show!) on June 21st-23rd.

Lastly, an enormous thank you to everybody who pledged donations to Kickstart the Graphic Textbook. We hit our goal with room to spare - fantastic.My sincere appreciation for all your support. Now I just have the story to draw!