I wrote up a con report about our wonderful time at San Diego Comic-con, which was this past weekend, over on my Livejournal! Click here to read. (It was a bit too long to put here on my site, which I don’t know how to code cuts for!)

And if you just like looking at pictures, you can do so on Dave’s and my Flickr page. =)

Oh boy! I missed it last year, but this year I’ll be returning to San Diego for…

COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL!!

I’ll be around all weekend (July 21-25), exhibiting primarily at the Flight Booth, #2235. Joining me will be some of the other Graphix creators: Kazu Kibuishi and Jake Parker, of Amulet and Missile Mouse, respectively. And of course, the whole Flight crew will be on hand with a brand-new volume of the anthology! The Flight booth is where you’ll be able to find SMILE at Comic-Con this year, so if you’d like to buy a copy or have your copy signed, stop by! I’ll also have some original art and a few other goodies as well.

While I’ll be stationed at the Flight booth most of the time, I’ll be appearing in a few other places over the course of the con…

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Friday, July 23
Signing at the Cartoon Art Museum Booth for their annual Sketch-A-Thon!
A $10 donation toward the museum gets you a drawing by me!
3 – 4 PM
Booth #1930

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Saturday, July 24
Panel: Comics in the Library
11 AM – 12 PM
Room 8

How are comics used in libraries? This panel discusses the variety of ways that libraries around the countries have begun to integrate comics into their collections and programming. Special attention is paid to the following subjects: comics for early readers; nonfiction comics, comics for adult readers. Presented by Francisca Goldsmith (Infopeople), Merideth Jenson-Benjamin (Glendale Public Library), JoAnn Jonas (San Diego County Library), Tuan Nguyen (Texas Maverick Graphic Novel List), Jill Patterson (OC Public Libraries), and comics creator Raina Telgemeier (Smile). Moderated by John Hogan (The Graphic Novel Reporter).

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EDITED TO ADD:
Sunday, July 25
Panel: Kids Draw!
12 – 1 PM
Room 30CDE

Dave Roman, John Green and I will be doing an interactive comics drawing panel for kids! All ages welcome.

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And if you spot me walking the floor, please say hello! I love meeting readers and fellow comics creators. I look a little something like this…

Cool stuff keeps on happening! Here are a few links…

Slate.com reviews SMILE!

Recently, I was a guest on two episodes of the Art & Story Podcast! One is an hour-long meditation on comics storytelling, memoir writing, and craft, using SMILE as a jumping-off point, and the other is a 20-minute chat with the same guys about how I ripped off one of my toenails last month, and whether stories about modern kids and teens need to include technology like cell phones. Thanks to Jerzy, Mark, and Kevin for having me on.

The A&S guys are giving away a free hardcover copy of SMILE–details are here! The deadline is Wednesday, July 14, so get your entries in soon.

Finally, and this really blew me away: New York Times editor Julie Just appeared on a recent episode of ABC News Now, in a segment on Great Summer Reads–and not only did she recommend SMILE, but the Baby-sitters Club graphic novels, as well!! This is really exciting! And yes, they pronounced my name correctly…but spelled it wrong onscreen. These things happen.

I’ve got some original pieces in a neat gallery show, STORYTIME!, at the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco!

Here’s the official info from the press release:

Storytime! Graphic Novels for Kids of All Ages
June 26 – November 14, 2010
Cartoon Art Museum
655 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA

Over the past decade, graphic novels have exploded in popularity with children and teenagers. The Cartoon Art Museum’s latest exhibition, Storytime! Graphic Novels for Kids of All Ages, features the work of ten influential cartoonists whose work broke new ground in bookstores and libraries. Their graphic novels are promoted as product for the children and young adult marketplace but these innovative graphic novels are captivating to readers of all ages. Co-curators Andrew Farago and Larry Marder have placed a special emphasis on the creative processes used by the individual artists. Visitors are invited to peek over the shoulders of the creators and follow along from the first sketchbook doodles all the way to the printed page.

I’ve got five original pages from SMILE in the show (the very San Franciscan Loma Prieta earthquake sequence, in fact), and they appear alongside the work of some true comics luminaries: Jeff Smith, Stan Sakai, Mo Willems, Irving Tripp, Virginia Hubbell, Lark Pien, Dave Roman, Hope Larson, and Larry Marder! The show shines a special spotlight on process and technique, so you can see plenty of thumbnails, writing samples, and sketches alongside the final artwork.

If you’re in San Francisco and would like to see how my work looks in person, I heartily recommend stopping by the Cartoon Art Museum, a wonderful place to visit anytime. I’ll be doing an artist-in-residence program there in October, and the show will be up through mid-November.

I’m enjoying a bit of downtime, now that my 12-week run of spring events is over. Of course, it’s only a couple of weeks till Comic-Con International in San Diego, but I’m trying to get a bunch of work done before that! Never a dull moment around here! See you soon.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that today’s Cul de Sac featured Petey reading a copy of SMILE–it’s not every day that my book shows up in my CURRENT FAVORITE COMIC STRIP!!

Seriously, I got into comics because of comic strips in the first place. CdS is by FAR my favorite strip currently in print, and in my top 5 of all time strips, joining the ranks of Calvin and Hobbes and For Better or For Worse. Richard Thompson is a swell guy and a brilliant cartoonist, and I had the distinct pleasure of not only talking shop with him at Heroes Con earlier this month, but also doing an art trade! I gave him one of my original Baby-sitters Club pages, and in return got to come home with a beautiful CdS original. It’s going to get a nice frame job, and then it’ll join the growing collection of artwork on my living room walls.

Anyway, to wake up to this surprise this morning was a real treat. I think someone else colors the CdS dailies, not Richard himself, so that would explain the orange color on the cover. Richard did confirm, however, that that is indeed my SMILE in Petey’s hands.

I can’t believe my 12-week run of events is almost over! I’ve got one more good one before I wrap up things for a bit, though: The American Library Association’s Annual Conference, in Washington, DC!

I’ll only be at ALA for one day, Monday, June 28, but I plan to make the most of it. Here’s the event I’ll be doing:

Monday, June 28
1:00PM – 2:00PM

(located on the map where you see booths 2264 thru 2267)

Brigid will be interviewing me about Smile, and my earlier work, and we’ll be showing some slides and images from my career. After that, I will be signing copies of Smile, so if you don’t have one yet, come and get one from me there!

The other graphic novel-centric programming can be found at this link.

And after ALA, I’ve got a few weeks off! My next event forthcoming is San Diego Comic-Con International, which I’ll make a big post about soon. In the meantime, enjoy the summer!

Some VERY exciting news: SMILE was recently named as an Honor Book in the 2010 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature!! This is the first time a graphic novel has made it onto the list, and I’m extremely humbled to share the short list with such an amazing group of talented authors.

You can read the full press release here.

I’ll be traveling up to Boston in October for the awards ceremony, and look forward to meeting and congratulating the other winners and honorees!

Michigan was a blast, and I’m only home for two days this week before I jet off to Canada…here’s what I’ll be up to, up there:

Friday June 18th
Ladies’ Night at Strange Adventures
5262 Sackville Street
Downtown Halifax, NS
6pm to 9pm

This will be a lot of fun! Halifax’s own comic shop, Strange Adventures, is throwing a ladies-only party, so us girls can talk comics with other girls in a friendly, welcoming environment. I’ll have copies of Smile, the BSC books, and X-Men: Misfits. There will be prizes! And snacks! And I get to hang out with my friend Faith Erin Hicks, who is the event’s other special guest! I am told guys can hang out at the pub next door!

Saturday June 19
Grand Opening of Dartmouth Strange Adventures
101 Portland Street
Downtown Dartmouth, NS
Noon to 6pm

The next day, come celebrate the opening of Strange Adventures’ second store branch, in Dartmouth, NS–you can take a ferry to get there! Dave and I will both be signing and hanging out from 1-3. Everyone is welcome at this event, so I hope you’ll come by and say hello.

I’m looking forward to finally seeing the Maritimes–after our trip to Maine a few weeks ago, I’m craving more sea breezes and harbor views.

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I’ll post more about this next week, but: I’m going to be at the ALA Annual Conference in Washington DC, on Monday, July 28! I’ve got a panel & signing in the Graphic Novel Pavillion from 1-2. Librarians, I’d love to meet you and sign a copy of Smile for you!

I’m back from a fabulous time in North Carolina for Heroes Con (Friendly Southerners! Hot weather! The best cornbread I’ve ever had!) and am now gearing up for this coming weekend’s Kids Read Comics event in Dearborn, Michigan.

KRC is a free event taking place at the Henry Ford Centennial Library in Dearborn, June 12 and 13. The weekend will feature hands-on workshops, panels, and presentations for kids, families, and educators. You can see the programming schedule here; I’m involved in the following events:

Panel Discussion – Drawing From Life
Sat, June 12, 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Not every comic tells a made up story about costumed adventurers, fantasy princesses or rodents dressed in human clothes. There are many engaging comics memoirs, histories, biographies and more that explore real people and real events. Join Dave Roman, Raina Telgemeier, Ryan Estrada, Jim Ottaviani, and Stephanie Mannheim as they talk with moderator Paul Storrie about how they’ve brought real life to life in comics form. All Ages.

Demo – Cartooning Styles
Sun, June 13, 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Join cartoonists Dave Roman and Raina Telgemeier for a humorous interactive presentation about art styles, featuring images of popular cartoon characters like Sponge Bob Squarepants and Mickey Mouse, and how different artists interpret them. Explore character design, followed by an interactive drawing demo, in which you, the audience, will instruct Raina in creating characters and images! All Ages.

Live Reading – Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman
Sun, June 13, 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman will read (and perform) chapters from their all-ages graphic novels as the illustrated panels are projected onto a large screen for all to see. They’ll also ask for some volunteers from the audience to play some of the characters. All Ages.

As I said, this event is totally free and open to the public, so you’ve got no excuse not to come. Bring the family! See you there!

Next up on my whirlwind tour is another event I’m particularly excited about: HEROES CON!

JUNE 4-6, 2010
Charlotte Convention Center
501 S. College St.
Charlotte, NC

I’ll be at TABLE 519 IN INDIE ISLAND!

I’m honored to be one of the guests in Indie Island, because from everything I’ve heard, this is the coolest place to be. I’ll be surrounded by friends and artists I admire. Please come by for a book, a sketch, or a chat! I’ve wanted to visit North Carolina for years (probably because of a certain obsession with Ben Folds Five…), but for whatever reason, it hasn’t happened until now. Heroes Con is said to be one of the most laid-back, family-friendly conventions out there, so I can think of no better way to greet the south.

The convention hours are as follows:

Friday: 11.00 am – 7.00 pm
Saturday: 10.00 am – 6.00 pm
Sunday: 11.00 am – 6.00 pm

Update: PANEL SCHEDULE!

Friday, June 4
3.00 PM
VOCATIONAL COMICS: Comics As Career
Room 207BCD
Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter meets with some of the brightest stars in the comic firmament to discuss how they learned to handle the age-old question: what do you do when comics becomes your livelihood? Joining Tom will be Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother), Meredith Gran (Octopus Pie ), Jim Rugg (Afrodisiac), Ed Piskor (Wizzywig) and Raina Telgemeier (Smile).

Sunday, June 6
3.00 PM
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL COMICS: What To Leave In, What To Leave Out
Room 208AB
Autobio comics have long been one of comics’ greatest and most idiosyncratic genres, focusing on the lives and memories of cartoonists and using comics as an immersive tool. Moderator Dustin Harbin discusses autobio comics and what makes them work (and not work) with Erika Moen (Dar), Ken Dahl (Monsters), and Raina Telgemeier (Smile).

Extreme thanks are due to Dustin Harbin, Heroes Employee Extraordinaire (and fellow dental drama buddy!), and Shelton Drum, owner of Charlotte’s own Heroes Aren’t Hard To Find comic book store, for inviting Dave and I to be a part of this wonderful event.