Last fall we did something new: we wrote and drew a strip on-site, based on suggestions submitted to us from attendees at a talk that day. It was so much fun we decided to do it again, this last Friday at the Florida Library Association annual conference, where I also delivered the closing keynote. Gene and I reviewed the submissions over the phone. Several were great stories that didn’t quite map to a single strip (though some might appear as sequences over the next few months) and I gave these runners-up quick pencil sketches. I then penciled and inked a strip based on the winning story by Scott Joyner, of Wakulla County Public Library, who will receive the original art. And just this morning I cleaned up the art in Photoshop, added color, and posted it!

If this sounds like fun let us know, maybe we can do it at your event! More information on our talks & appearances page.

Last year I attended the Toronto Comics Arts Festival as a fan — it was the best comics show I’ve ever been to, bar none. The variety of artists, writers, and work was amazing, I met a few of my favorite creators, and it was even held in a library.

This year I’m going back. I’ll be speaking at TCAF’s Library & Educator Day on Friday this week (May 10th) in the Toronto Reference Library, presenting A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Library before lunch and appearing on a panel later in the afternoon. It’s all free, but you do need to register.

If you can’t make it Friday, come by for the rest of the show (which is also free). I’ll be at a table there Saturday and Sunday signing books. I hope you’ll come by to tell me your library stories.