AWESOME MATT AND CRAZ

Well it's almost March...which means April can't be that far off (31 days to be exact). And what happens in April besides baseball season kicking off (Go Sox!)?

My new book, THE AWESOME ALMOST 100% TRUE ADVENTURES OF MATT AND CRAZ will be published.

Here's the first trailer that I made!

WRITE ON! Neil Gaiman

Time to add the newest cartoon to my WRITE ON! team. I think this one speaks to all writers who face moments of terror in the creative process!

WRITE ON folks!

AND SO IT GOES

Having lots of fun making these little animations that celebrate the creative process with quotes from writers on writing.

After reading this quote from Kurt Vonnegut and immediately knew it would make a great WRITE ON!

In case you missed it - here's the link to the first WRITE ON!

THE FUN OF CLEANING UP!

I hate to clean. I am a slob. There. I've said it. I am one of those people who functions quite well in clutter and my office and my computer reflect my taste for chaos. Maybe it's all an excuse. Maybe I'm just really lazy. All I know is I've been staring at dust bunnies in my office so long I've named them.

I was going through some disorganized files on my mac this morning and came across an old MILO cartoon I did for my website. I knew it was old - because the Milo in the last panel was the original design of the character before I worked with Aladdin art director extraordinaire, Karin Paproki, to make Milo a bit more accessible.

So here's my updated version of the cartoon - new Milo in place of the old. It's fun to see this again!

And now....back to playing with those cute dust bunnies!

WRITE ON - Mark Twain

To celebrate the kick-off of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where zillions of writers around the world give up sleep and sunlight in the hopes of completing a novel in any genre - I'm creating a new series of Book-Toons that will hopefully give a kick in the pants to writers everywhere.

Inspiring words for writers - from writers.

Sometimes it helps knowing you aren't alone in the impossible task!

MY BOOKS - tease

Spent the morning playing around as I gear up to revamp my website. With THE AWESOME ALMOST 100% TRUE ADVENTURES of MATT and CRAZ getting closer to pub date (April 2013!) I think it is time to think about changing the look of my website.

I created this little teaser that puts all of my books into one small package. Not sure where to put it - so for now, this is as good a spot as any!

WRITE ON! With or Without Outlines

Thanks to a wonderful group of writers and illustrators I had an inspiring weekend as one of the presenters at the SCBWI Canada East conference this past weekend in Ottawa. I was excited to give the opening keynote which I titled, "Hansel & Gretel Never Had Deadlines: My Writer's Process Getting Lost In The Woods". Using some cartoons of mine and many examples from my own publishing journey I gave a 50 minute talk (phew!) on the benefits of writing without always knowing where it is you are headed.

Here's a little animation I created when I got home from the conference that uses my closing lines as inspiration.

HERO WORSHIP

"Furthermore, we have not even to risk the adventure alone, for the heroes of all time have gone before us. The labyrinth is thoroughly known. We have only to follow the thread of the hero path, and where we had thought to find an abomination, we shall find a god. And where we had thought to slay another, we shall slay ourselves. Where we had thought to travel outward, we will come to the center of our own existence. And where we had thought to be alone, we will be with all the world."

- Joseph Campbell

FINAL EDITS

Taking a break from the fun of writing my *new* book, which is top secret stuff that I'm having way too much fun doing because I just got a batch of notes on THE AWESOME ALMOST 100% TRUE ADVENTURES OF MATT & CRAZ from my fantastic art director at Simon & Schuster (Karin Paproki you know who you are!)

Now I have a couple of weeks to move from my comfy chair ( dog on legs included)...

To the desk chair.... where the drawing MAGIC happens! Note: magic is subjective and may cause drowsiness.

The task is to clean up some of the cartoons I've already done for the book. But even better -  I've been asked to add a bunch of new cartoons, which is a blast because I get to go back in the heads of my main characters, Matt and Craz.

I'll keep you updated on the progress but for now want to share a new cartoon that I drew yesterday.

FYI: Matt and Craz are a cartoonist duo who try unsuccessfully to get their comics into the school newspaper. Here's one of their cartoons about super-smart babies who do movie reviews.

MILO PAPERBACK TRAILER

Haven't ever shared this little book trailer I made for MILO.

Watching it reminds me how much fun I have playing with Flash. Now all I need is a clone so I can write and make animations!

HERE I AM

Yikes! Has it really been a year of "No Posts"? In case you're wondering - I haven't been in a caffeine induced coma, but caffeine consumption has definitely been in play!

I left the SCWBI conference last August with a permanent grin plastered on my face (and yes, the Sid Fleischman Humor Award traveled with me in-style back home where it wryly watches over me every day.)

Upon getting home I immediately sank into the post-conference funk but promised myself I would dive back into my updates. After all, I'd made a zillion new friends and this would be the perfect time to extend that friendship via my blog. But then...life happened.

I think the reason I dropped off the blog map is I immediately dove into completing my next book and being the kind of writer who takes on big tasks with gusto - all my writing energy was consumed by...(wait for it)...

The Awesome 

Almost 100% True Adventures 

of Matt & Craz 

(try saying that 3 times fast!!!)

That's a picture of the full cover which I think Simon & Schuster should get a standing ovation for. The cover and the ARCs arrived in May and I've been doing the Snoopy dance ever since.

Like MILO, the new book is loaded with my cartoons and though it doesn't come out until next spring I thought it was high time to show everyone what I've been up to since going into the Blogger relocation program.

I hope to fill in some of the year's ups and downs and keep the blog ball rolling. Who knows? I may even post again before Christmas!

MILO BOOK LAUNCH

It was a wonderful fall night - not too chilly and not yet rainy, which was good because I had to schlep a lot of stuff from my car into Paragraphe bookstore in Montreal.

Eyeball brownies! And lots of them!!

It was so nice to share the night with author/friend PJ Bracegirdle, whose 2nd Joy of Spooking book, "Unearthly Asylum" was also celebrated. Seems we both have the Montreal goatee thing going on (but his mustache tips are waxed!)

Paul reading from "Unearthly Asylum"

Members of the Montreal Goatee Society

Friends came out to help us celebrate and it was so nice to get the chance to chat (even briefly) with all of the people who wanted to support us. Thanks to you all!

After Paul read from his new book - it was my turn to see if my audio/visual equipment was going to work. Sitting at the low table with the microphone aimed at me I felt like I was doing a gig at a piano bar. Lucky for all - the projector worked great and my apple mini-remote came through like a champ, which gave my reading the added kick of showing my cartoons as I read from Milo's "Halloween Party" chapter.

One of my fave pics - this girl reading along with me!

As an added bonus to the great night - I had been contacted by a young fan who wanted to come to the launch but said she couldn't because it was her birthday. I wrote her back and told her to have a great birthday - but if she did decide to come to let me know so and I would have a cake ready!

After reading my Halloween chapter - we all sang "Happy Birthday" and helped Kinneret celebrate her special day!

Kinneret and her (half-eaten) birthday cake!

Eyeball Brownies! Milo talks about the eyeball brownies at the Halloween Party, which were inspired by the brownies my son and I once made when he was in 2nd grade. So I decided if that was the chapter I was going to read - then I would bake Eyeball Brownies to add to the snacks at the party!

I almost forgot to hand these out - (Thanks Kalie!)

It was an exciting night for me to finally share Milo with the friends and fans who've been so supportive while I was working on the book.

Paul, author (and cafe-pal) Jill Murray, Kalie and moi

Carol Ann and Susan

So one more time: Thanks everyone for coming out and celebrating and for making me (and Milo) feel warm and fuzzy....and full of brownies!

IT'S OFFICIAL!

Well it's official.

Tuesday, MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE had it's real-live book birthday and I couldn't just sit on my butt at home. No siree, I had to have visual proof that the book was actually IN bookstores. Besides, I was too excited to actually stay home and write and so I drove downtown and hit the trio of book sellers there.

First up, Indigo books - a huge chain of stores in Canada. I went to their "flagship" downtown Montreal location. This was my very first stop and I was filled with excitement...anticipation... and ultimately, DISAPPOINTMENT!


Like Old Mother Hubbard, I went to my bookshelf, careful to follow the alpabetical path to the "S" names. To my horror - "Silberberg" did not exist. I quickly accessed one of their nifty search kiosks and what I found was...."zero available in this store". Oh, fortuna how low you have spun me!

Lucky for me - another chain store was just up the street. And so, hat in hands, I trudged off to visit the equally huge Chapters bookstore (owned by the same company as Indigo I might add).

I walked into the basement level kids' section with trepidation. But what did I see? The familiar BLUE COVER and white lettering! Eureka - MILO EXISTED!

Now I'm usually a shy guy - but there I was gleaming at the bookshelf, camera in hand, and it wasn't long before a helpful bookseller asked if I needed anything. I told her I needed to wish my book a Happy BookDay and she eagerly obliged!

Not only did I find wonderful sales help - but while I was there (okay, because I was there and opened my big mouth) I was witness to the very first sale of my book. Technically, it was the first sale that happened in front of my own eyes, but let's not quibble over details. SOMEONE wanted to buy my book!!!

Soline was looking for books for her daughter and 12 year old son and I offered her a quick review of MILO. As it turned out she was also a therapist and immediately thought the book sounded like something she might be able to use with families dealing with grief and so, eager to give it to her son first - she bought a copy!

my FIRST sale! Thanks Soline!

Next up - the last downtown bookstore, Paragraphe. This is the store that will be hosting my book launch next month. On October 14th, Paul Bracegirdle and I will be having a joint launch party for our new books at Paragraphe. More details to come!

I love Paragraphe because it's a cramped space packed full with books and weaving my way to the kids' section was kind of like navigating a wild maze of books. And to my delight - I saw stacks of MILO. Yay! Again I needed some help and so got the fabulous book buyer to blow the streamer for Milo!
I pulled up a chair (gotta love those little kids' tables) and signed a few copies. Nothing cements that "I'm an author" feeling like inscribing books!

My search began with a big fat "zero" at the first bookstore but ended happily with one real-live book sold, a bunch of signed books, and then a hundred or so TWITTER BOOK PARTY tweeted messages.

Hey authors - are you a member of Twitter Book Parties? If not - why not? This brain child by author Mitali Perkins is genuis because it makes the usual lonely part of having your book come out turn into a joyful day of tweet "greetings" from all the members of the book party universe. Not only does it make you feel kinda sorta special - every tweet is also telling that person's followers about your new book. Social marketing and fuzzy feelings all in one click!

Later this week, I hit some of the smaller book stores in my area. Hey, I like to know MILO is in good hands!

AROUND THE WORLD WITH MILO

With one month to go until pub date (okay, 28 days - but who's counting?) - I wanted to sharethe latest great news about my new book, MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE.

Yeah - the book has gotten some rocking reviews; like this one...and this one.

But I can now officially let loose with the news that the book has been sold to the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. I also got word that Milo will be published in Thailand and Israel too. I wonder how they say "Freezie" in Hebrew?

I can't wait to share the international covers online, but that won't be for awhile. Not that I'm in a rush to see how awesome they'll look...

Way cool, huh?

BEST DAY EVER!

I have always marveled at the people who can point easily to the perfect days in their lives and say without pause, "That was the best day." I mean, I'm a writer. Ask me to point to a miserable day and I can deal out a dozen or so in a heartbeat.

But the game has changed because I now have that day, that PERFECT DAY, etched forever in my brain-box. It all began with a weekend trip to New York to visit with my editor, Liesa Abrams, at Aladdin. Apparently there were people in her office who had read MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE and wanted a chance to meet me. Cool, I thought. I'll just drive down from Montreal and take Milo with me on the one condition that I control the radio.

The weekend fun was kicked off by walking from our hotel through Times Square on our way to meet Liesa and her husband for a matinee of AVENUE Q. Times Square always smells like a hot summer day so it felt normal to be bombarded by the sights, sounds and smells of a 92 degree, humid summer Sunday.

After Milo and I sweated through clean shirts and baked under the July haze - we got to the theater and sat through the hysterical musical. Everyone says the puppets are "so racy" - but even Milo thought the show was kind of tame. I guess that's what watching so much SOUTH PARK will do to a kid's brain!

Had a lovely dinner with Liesa and James and as super-fantatstic as that Sunday was, it was just the precursor to the Monday that was to come. First I had to check-out of my hotel and though I had a minor freak-out that I'd lost my passport (found after a frantic search through the suitcase that then fell apart) the morning began slightly less humid and with a vente iced latte, so all was good.

Milo and I arrived outside the Simon & Schuster offices and he was immediately awed by the building.

We went inside and rode the elevator to the 4th floor. Stepping off the elevator the first thing I saw was this wall of MILO books. We both felt a surge of caffeine-adrenaline and posed for a picture taken with exquisite care by the multi-talented Liesa Abrams.

Not only is Liesa an incredibly talented editor and a great photographer - but she is the coolest person in the world because she loves all things BATMAN. This is a shot of a shelf in her office.

Now you have to realize that Liesa had tried to prepare me for what was to come by hoping that I'd be ready to "share the love" around the office. But I had no idea that Milo (the book) had so many fans already! I walked into the conference room and was met by dozens of people who had read and LOVED the book and it was probably the most overwhelmed I'd been in a long while. I had a chance to speak to the group and explain how personal Milo's story is to me.

Then I had Milo pose with everyone.

This was the first moment that my book felt like it was really out in the world and I made sure to bask in the feeling that it was a story that was touching people. Writing a book about parental loss and grief was an emotional journey for me and seeing that the emotion carries to other people touched me very much. Because the final book isn't ready yet I signed printed copies of several of the book's cartoons for people, which again just hit home how real the experience of publishing Milo felt.

The morning was made even more special because my wonderful agent, Jill Grinberg was there too. Thanks Jill!

Liesa, Me, Milo and Jill

Life is supposed to be full of great days but sometimes I've had a hard time finding them. I am so thankful to everyone at Simon & Schuster who was part of this incredibly special day for me. Of course I feel lucky just to have a new book being published - but to be able to feel the support and emotion of what my book is starting to mean to the people reading it is giving a new meaning to the BEST DAY EVER.

For me and Milo anyway.

MILO Summer

It's getting pretty real. Milo's publication date is actually something concrete to me and not some distant date that has no meaning. Still - September is just far enough away and no one wants to start thinking about that season that comes after summer. (Shhhh...pub. date is Sept. 14) But I've got the date circled on my calendar!!

Also want to give a shout out to Fuse8 over at School Library Journal, who not only gave Milo his first review - but it's a pretty GREAT one at that! (Thanks, Betsy!)

So summer is sizzling and Milo's just doing what he should be doing...hanging out!

MAINE!

seen from the road in Rumford, Maine

I recently went on my family's annual trip to Maine, where not only was I greeted with spectacular scenery...

kayaking at sunset

But I also had a package waiting for me that looked like this:

Seeing a Simon & Schuster logo on it could only mean one thing: I was finally getting to hold a copy of my MILO ARC!!! I knew the ARCS existed - I just hadn't actually held one yet and let me tell you in case you haven't had the pleasure of seeing an advanced reader copy (ARC) of the book that you spent the past year and half slaving over - actually getting your paws on a facsimile of what your real book is going to be like is better than a year's worth of s'mores (which we indulged in aplenty while in Maine!).

MILO: STICKY NOTES & BRAIN FREEZE (the full title) tells a very personal story for me and being able to share the book with my family was especially meaningful because the book tells the story of my mom's death when we were all kids. I was so proud to be able to have my sister read the book while we were in Maine (yes, she loved it - though tissues were used).

Here's a shot of my sister Debbie and me posing with the newly arrived book.

The week was beautiful and I was able to NOT write at all, which was hard for me because I always feel like this escape into the beauty of the Maine Coast should be a "writing retreat" for me. In truth, it is a writing retreat because I am letting my brain toss and turn all the ideas of my new book while I kayak, bike ride, and relax with a good book.

Me, Zeus and a good book

One of my weirdest images from the week is this bizarre sight found while on a great 5 mile seaside bike ride I took with my son. (folk art or crazy cousin of an Ent???)

Most delicious memory of the week: Pizza night!!!!

As happens every year - the week speeds by in a blur and we all frantically pack our cars on Saturday morning and go our separate ways - but the memories are so strong and tangible that I'm already counting the days until I get to return!

More on TRIPP ZOOME

First the good news: Yes, I wrote the Disney Channel movie, DADNAPPED. Now for the bad news: No - there aren't really any Tripp Zoome books. Bummer, right? Because if you were a fan of the film you'd probably be a fan of the books that the main character writes.

If you don't know the film (and if you don't have kids or aren't already a kid - then why should you?) Dadnapped is the story of a famous writer whose main character is a popular teen, super spy named Tripp Zoome. Tripp is smart and clever and can get in and out of trouble using everyday stuff, kind of like a MacGyver character - except he uses a lot of dental floss, preferably minted!

I first came up with the idea for this film after spending the night in a horrible motel in Miami where there was a huge fight going on in the room next to mine. All I could think about was how I wished I could get another room and when I opened the phone book - a matchbook fell out with a phone number handwritten on it. Really - that was all I needed to start the ball rolling in my head.

I knew the dad in the story would be a famous author (and this was years before I even considered writing books) and wanted his creation to be larger than life - a teenaged James Bond. The name Tripp Zoome fit perfectly - it has a sophistid feel as well as a sense of cartoony fun. He needed to be larger than life with a bit of a wink to how fake everything about him is.

I hope this answers some more questions about Tripp Zoome and Dadnapped. If not, feel free to email me or post your questions in the comments section!