I’ve never been to Canzine, but everyone I know who has says it’s a great show and according to the website, there’s a lot of fun stuff going on this year. It’s super-cheap to get in; $5 in advance or at the door, and that comes with a free copy of Broken Pencil magazine. If you’re an advance ticket buyer, they have some pretty nice packages in the online store and a separate entrance for you so no waiting in line.

Brian and I will both be there, but we haven’t gotten our table assignments yet so I don’t actually know if we’ll be seated anywhere near each other or not. Which reminds me, if you haven’t been to Brian’s page in a while, he’s just started posting Don River. It’s about some next-level stuff going on in the Don River and probably my favourite of his stories so far.

I’ll have lots of copies of Starting Tomorrow available as well as the first Yoga print in different colours, (collect all four!) I am also taking pre-orders so if you would like me to have an artist edition (or two! ) ready for you to pick up at the show, just drop me an email. If you were looking for prints of a specific comic or original artwork, please let me know by Wednesday so I can have it ready.

As always, it was a great time and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day. They grouped more of the comics folks together too so Brian, Adriana and I were in great company, (Galaxion & Dressed For Success) which makes for a good day regardless of how the rest of a show goes.

Adriana really impressed me at this one. She’s in the process of moving to a new home which is stressful enough and would have made me as cranky as a hungry badger but there she was, cheerful and sweet as always (I don’t know how she does it but I suspect there may have been little somethin’-somethin’ in her “tea”). I kid of course, but both Brian and I completely empathise with the joy that is moving, so we did a couple of guest strips for Fall On Me to help ease the load a bit. Mine was posted today, Brian’s will be up on Friday.

I didn’t get much of a chance to get out and take photos. Apparently there was a record number in attendance so we were pretty busy the whole time. Although, I did manage to sneak away to get one of my books signed by Michael Smith (he’s dreamy) so I probably should have taken the camera with me, but Shoulda lives on Didn’t Street so the only photos I have to show are the ones my Mum took. (Thanks Ma.)

Adriana, Brian and me - Toronto Word On the Street Festival

I’m really looking forward to the festival. Obviously, the official launch of the book is the biggest part of it for me. I’m very pleased with how well it came out and delighted to have their support. Word on the Street is always a good show and it’s particularly special to me on a personal level as I was a volunteer there for three years before I started exhibiting and one of my closest friends happens to be the national coordinator.

So, come on out next Sunday! Rain or shine, (hopefully shine) Brian and I will be there (FB6) with loads of books, prints and I think we’re doing sketch cards as well. If you were looking for a personal commission, particular print or original artwork for one of the comics, please drop me an email no later than Wednesday so I can have that for you at the show. It’s going to be a great time! (so excited!)

On the flip side, I’m also working on one hundred and seventy five cupcakes for a friend of mine’s wedding next weekend so I will be up to my elbows in coco and cream cheese frosting. I’m all about quality control so I’d REALLY better be making work out time to burn off the testers.

I’ve also received my table assignment for the Toronto Word On The Street Festival, which both Brian and I are looking forward to enormously. It’s always a great show and this year we’re seated at F6 next to Adriana Blake who is super talented and always a lot of fun. It’s also looking like I’ll be getting involved with some Word On The Street Twitter fun, but more on that later.

Cutest In Show

I’m slowly but surely starting to rally after four very fun, very exhausting days at Fan Expo. Thanks for your patience on yesterday’s comic, I’ll have Wednesday’s up tomorrow afternoon and with a bit of elbow grease, have Friday’s back to regular posting time.

Alright! So…Fan Expo! Where do I begin?

As I mentioned before, this was my first show with the new book and I can’t seem to find the words to say how delighted I am with how well it was received. I’ve been very lucky, my readers are the nicest people, but this was the first time that some of you who have been reading the strip online actually looked for me at a show. It was very flattering and really delightful to have faces to go with some of the comments. So thank you very much for that and for buying the book, the support is beyond encouraging. (I’m still grinning about it.)

I met some new readers too. One pair came with a very funny, small-world coincidence but whether anyone was friends of friends or not, it was pretty wild to know people are reading this who aren’t in fact, related to me.

The photos are currently uploading to the Promises Facebook page. As always there was a pretty good turn out of Cos Players. Although I have to admit, I found the proliferation of Dr Who(s) a little disappointing. Where’s the creativity? I guess that’s a bit salty of me, but some of these people go all out and it hardly seems fair to lump the full body, hand made, Gundam costume in with Mr. Bowtie.

In other news, I did an interview at the show with Kurt over at TGT media. Don’t know when that will be posted yet, but I will be sure to link it when I find out. We talked a bit about a page I did for their Webcomics What’s Cooking book a while ago. It’s a good project. Lots of  comics folks involved and the proceeds will go to food banks in Canada and the US.

Lastly, I’ve finally started putting Starting Tomorrow into some stores! Big thanks to Dragon Comics in Guelph and the Silver Snail in Toronto for picking it up. Two of my favourite stores just gave me one more reason to tell everyone I know to shop there. Ok, I may be a little biased, but they both have a really nice selection of the indies and it’s so great that they support us.

Looking forward to Word On The Street already!

Brian and I will be at table A9 in Artist Alley. Top left of the map, by the signing areas, which was kind of a relief to me. Last year we were right near the gaming section and the noise got a bit overwhelming. It was hard to talk to people who came by.

We’re stepping up our game a bit too. We’ll still have bookmarks and cards to give out, but we finally got some posters made up for hanging behind us. I’m really pleased with how they came out. They’ll add a nice bit of height to our presentation and hopefully make us more easy to spot.

I will have lots and lots of copies of Starting Tomorrow as well as the yoga prints. If you wanted original artwork or a print of a specific comic, click the buy print button below the comic you want and/or drop me an email that you will be at the show and to have it there for you (I’ll refund the shipping, of course).

Please be sure to have original artwork, prints and commission requests submitted to me no later than Tuesday (I’ll need Wednesday to get them prepped in time). Both Brian and I will be taking commission and sketch requests as always, and just for fun I got some sketch cards to work on.

Looking forward to seeing y’all there!

And I’m not going! Booo…

Crippling disappointment aside it’s still going to be a heck of a show and if you’re heading that way I have to recommend checking out  Brian Evinou, Adriana Blake, Jim Zubkavich, Leisl Adams and Eric Vedder. All awesome people with wicked-slick stuff.

Don’t forget it’s also Mother’s day. Pick up some nice comics for Mum. Mums dig comics.

Kazoo Fest was a ton of fun. I’d do that show again for sure. The people were awesome, Brian and I were tabled with Adriana Blake. She’s as cute in person as she is in her strip; Fall On Me. They put on a good show and an even better after party.

The Royal City Roller girls were there and I got to chatting with some of them. Now I have to go check out roller derby. It sounds like SO much fun and really not like the ultra-violent, bootie-shorts and fishnets stereotype. Apparently there is a Forest City league, so I’ll have to track them down.

Sunday was the big Artist’s Help Japan fund raiser in Toronto. They put on an amazing show. I don’t have the tally numbers yet but everyone was so generous I’m sure it’ll be impressive. It really was an honour to be involved.

I am very sorry to say that my photos did not turn out from either event. I’m going to have to mess with my camera settings. I pillaged some from other people’s Twitter feeds to post on the Promises Facebook page, but if anyone has pictures they wouldn’t mind passing on, please drop me a message, I’d love to see them.

Artist's Help Japan Toronto (I'm the blue hoodie second from the end on the left)

Hope to see you there!