Month: November 2007

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a New York Times Book of the Year.

Can you believe it’s the end of November already? But, we all say that at the end of every month, don’t we.

“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!

I just drove up to Fantagraphics and got a couple hot-off-the-press advance copies – yay!!! – and I have one in my paws AT THIS MOMENT (…and, that’s a Spongebob band-aid on my thumb).

And here it is, ON MY SHELF! There’s a gold foil on the spine, too. I love a good spine!

Also: Playboy.com included LUST in their 2007 Holiday Gift Guide. Er, it isn’t supposed to be in stores until January. But anyway!

“Pegging” = a woman with a strap-on dildo penetrating a guy in the ass, coined by the winner of a “what should we call this?” contest in Dan Savage’s sex advice column.

“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!

Diary won the National Book Award!!!!

Sherman accepting the award in NYC last night:

Sherman and I exchanged quick emails last night. Me: “I’m so happy and proud! You must be out of your mind!!!” Sherman: “And to you too crazy crazy crazy”

Wow!!

He also thanked me in his acceptance speech at the big huge gala ceremony.

Firefighter fantasy: a classic.

“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!

In the current Sunday NYT review of Diary, Bruce Barcott says, “I keep flipping back to re-read the best scenes and linger over Ellen Forney’s cartoons.” It’s a great review and he loved the book.

The illustration they chose to include is Arnold at his grandmother’s funeral, as he feels the silent support of his tribe.

Two nights ago Joe knocked on my door. “Saw your interview in Real Change! Have you seen it yet? Great headline: ‘Gettin’ Horny with Ellen Forney’!”

“Pff, that’s not the headline.”

“Uh… yes it is.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Of course he was kidding.

“Uh, no… ‘Gettin’ Horny with Ellen Forney.’ They didn’t run that by you?”

“That… isn’t really… the headline. Please say you’re kidding.”

A huge, shit-eating grin spread across his face, and he cracked up. “Gettin’ Horny with Ellen Forney”!” he sang. “HAAA!”

(Is “shit-eating grin” an east coast term? It means smiling really big in a kind of smug, but joyous way.)

Joe says the homeless guy he bought the paper from the next day was thrilled, because the cringe-worthy headline is more eye-catching than the usual ones about housing initiatives and political fights. (Real Change, a newspaper and non-profit organization, supports and advocates for low-income and homeless people in Seattle.)

The interview, also available online, is great though, and if that’s what it takes to get people to fork over a dollar and read the paper, so be it. Many thanks to the interviewer, Rosette Royale, for making me sound smart! Here’s a pull quote:

“I hope to inspire other people to become comfortable with their own selves and their own desires, and to pursue them. Insecurity and sexual frustration are big problems for a lot of people, and stifle their ability to really express themselves in a positive way.”

Hello, Catholic priests and Republican senators!

Last January, esteemed literary organization Hugo House paid me the honor of inviting me to be a Writer in Residence for their “new works” series at the end of the year. Meaning, now: I’ll be reading next Friday.

Exciting and scary for me – my piece is more personal than any of the the autobiographical work I’ve done so far. (It’s also my first dip into material I intend to develop into a full-length book.)

Friday, November 16th, 2007, 7:30 PM

Cartoonist Ellen Forney, “This American Life” regular Jack Hitt, and poet/soldier Brian Turner present new work on the theme “We Could Be Heroes,” alongside new music by Canary Sing.

Richard Hugo House
1634 Eleventh Avenue (one block north of Pine, in Capitol Hill)
$15-25
Tickets are on sale now at www.brownpapertickets.com.

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I’m also going to teach a three-hour workshop the following afternoon, a studio class on writing your own autobiographical comic. Drawing experience helpful but definitely not necessary!

Saturday, Nov. 17, 1–4 pm
General $55 Member: $45

A top spelling out “ball” during dog/master role-playing would be kind of hilarious.

“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!