Month: October 2007

This time I’ll remember my camera. I hope.

Tuesday, October 30, 7:00 PM

Third Place Books
Lake Forest Park Towne Centre
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155
206-366-3333

With the purchase of this book at Third Place Books, receive a limited-edition poster created to celebrate Mr. Alexie’s new novel and autographed by the author, while supplies last.

ALSO!: I just got word that the New York Times is going to run a review of Diary in their November 11 issue. Am I excited? I am excited.

This drawing is my modification of “Femme Assise” by Henri Laurens (1939). I encourage my students to use styles outside their usual repertoires, and I try to do that, too. Copying gets a bad rap, but the world is full of teachers, and copying is a great way to learn.

“Lustlab Ad of the Week” is a comic adaptation of one of the week’s kinky personal ads in Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger, and I post them here every Wednesday. See it on their site here. And watch for LUST, the “Lustlab Ad of the Week” book collection (Fantagraphics Books) in January 2008!

The lovely Whitney Matheson wrote a lovely review of Diary for USA Today, with a really nice nod to me:

Adolescence is difficult for everyone, but it’s especially tough for Arnold “Junior” Spirit, a boy who lives with his poor relatives and was born with serious medical problems. Junior has transferred from his school on an Indian reservation to an all-white high school. He copes by cartooning — Forney’s flawless artwork is invaluable to Alexie’s story — and developing unlikely friendships. [more here]

1. I love Google Images. 2. Exotic fruits can be really, really strange and suggestive!

“Lustlab Ad of the Week” is a comic adaptation of one of the week’s kinky personal ads in Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger, and I post them here every Wednesday. See it on their site here. And watch for LUST, the “Lustlab Ad of the Week” book collection (Fantagraphics Books) in January 2008!!

Rick Simonsen of Elliott Bay Books wrote a lovely blog entry for Publishers Weekly about the National Book Award nomination, and Sherman’s and my reading at the Seattle Public Library. He included this about me:

“This night Sherman has with him Seattle graphic novel creator Ellen Forney, herself a popular bright spark. Her sensitive drawings give visual texture to the story Alexie writes – which is the closest thing to true memoir he has yet written. I’m not sure if he had cartoonist aspirations as young Arnold/Junior does in The Absolutely True but it’s a nice part of the story, which Forney’s work fleshes out with empathy and wit. Part of the evening is the two of them doing a power-point stroll through parts of the book.”

I decided long ago not to have a pseudonym to distinguish my work for kids from my work for adults. No separate websites, no separate business cards. And no separate blogs, which is actually starting to feel a little weird. Is it weird? I just figure people can sort it out for themselves.

Last Gasp’s Best Erotic Comics 2008 will be out next month. It includes two of my comics, plus I did the cover.

Sherman and I did a reading together at the Seattle Public Library this past Thursday, and it went GREAT. Lots of people (700-ish)… laughter (of course)… tears (literally!). I didn’t tell Sherman what I’d put together for the PowerPoint presentation, so our repartee was not ONLY witty, but spontaneous, which went over well. As always, I forgot to plant a camera in the audience, so I’m trying to track down some photos.

I’ll be joining Sherman again at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park on October 30, 7:00pm.

Big news!!: Diary was nominated for a National Book Award!!!! Jen Hunt, our editor at Little, Brown, sent me a huge bouquet of roses.

Wikipedia lists 21 different kinds of gags.

“Lustlab Ad of the Week” is a comic adaptation of one of the week’s kinky personal ads in Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger, and I post them here every Wednesday. See it on their site here. And watch for LUST, the “Lustlab Ad of the Week” book collection (Fantagraphics Books) in January 2008!!

Gosh! See the list for yourself!

I still have a hard time drawing cars, but at least I enjoy it now. Especially cars from the ’60’s!

“Lustlab Ad of the Week” is a comic adaptation of one of the week’s kinky personal ads in Seattle alt-weekly The Stranger, and I post them here every Wednesday. See it on their site here. LUST, the “Lustlab Ad of the Week” book collection, is scheduled to be released with Fantagraphics Books in January 2008.