Author: ellen

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.

—

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!

Jennifer Hunt, our editor at Little, Brown, asked how Sherman and I did a reading together. (“With gusto!”) I put together a PowerPoint presentation with the comics and illustrations from the chapter Sherman told me he would read, and projected them at the appropriate moment: (The sound guy took this photo, can you tell?)

After that chapter, I’d lined up about 12 more graphics, which I clicked through while Sherman and I talked about them – the characters, the scenes, my process, our collaborative process, and some side anecdotes.

“Thanks for the presentation!” “Thanks for coming!”

I was a Republican for Halloween. I had buttons all over my little blazer that said stuff like “Run, Newt, Run!” and “National Anti-Abortion League: We’re Here for Life” (with a photo of a fetus, naturally). Those buttons were strangely fun to make. I scared people.

“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!

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]