Ghosts of books past

Ghosts of books past, a photo by JohnPlatt on Flickr.

Albino raccoon

Albino raccoon, a photo by JohnPlatt on Flickr.

I have words in my blood

1969. The year I was born, and the year my great-grandfather self-published his one and only novel, Jake, Hessian Soldier.

Clarence H. Nickerson was a civil engineer who founded C.H. Nickerson & Company, a general contractor that still employs a lot of people in northwest Connecticut. He also wrote a lot of articles about antiques and New England history, several of which my brother (the genealogist and historian in the family) has been able to track down.

Of course I never knew any of this while my great-grandfather was alive (he died when I was just a few years old), but here I am today, a writer who often covers engineering-related topics in my articles. It's amazing how connected we often are in ways we don't ever realize, sometimes until it's too late.

We only had one copy of Jake in the house growing up. That was my dad's copy, which now resides on my mother's bookshelf. My brother tracked down several other copies for family members a few years ago, and this particular copy came to me a few days ago from my grandmother's house after she passed away two weeks ago at the age of 97. It's inscribed to her, and dated just a few months after I was born.

With my grandmother's passing, another link to the past is gone. But with cherished items like this, some of the memories remain.

Lore!

Lore is back!

Back in the misty days of yore (the 1990s), Lore was the cream of the crop of horror and fantasy magazines. Like so many things it went away for a few years, but now it's back as a regular series of paperback anthologies. This time around founders Rod Heather and Sean O'Leary invited me to join them as contributing editor, starting with the third volume, which has now been released. It's a pretty darned impressive collection of all-new horror, fantasy and science fiction tales.

This is -- choke! -- the first fiction I have edited in -- gasp! -- nearly 15 years. I think it was worth the wait.

I hope you'll check it out.

MECAF Loot

This past weekend I had a table at the Maine Comic Arts Festival, the amazing annual celebration of the comical arts put on by the fine folks at Casablanca Comics. I'll get to my full report in a few days, but for now, I just want to take a moment to share off the cool comics I carried home.

Now, the problem with tabling at a show like MECAF is that you can't also get around to every other table and snap up all of the cool items for sale every few feet. I should have picked up about 127 other comics, prints, books, drawings and more, but oh well, I'll just have to live with myself.

Anyway, here's the loot:

(Click on the photo if you want to see stuff more clearly.)

So what is all of that cool stuff?

Ms. Bean's Art Class is a great big mini-comic by Cara Bean, a really cool inside look at a teacher and her students (and how they impact each other).

Raconteur # 4 is the latest issue of this fun anthology of short comics stories and prose by David Jacobson, John Klossner, Jeff Pert and Mike Lynch -- all cartoonists better known for their single-panel gag cartoons.

Mark and the Aliens is a well-done little five-page mini-comic by Aya Rothwell.

Adrian Pijoan is responsible for Fig, a neat science comic about the cycle of life. Great stuff.

Those two rhinos are a fantastic little sketch card by Eric Boeker and a full-color greeting card by John Klossner (him again). Both rhinos are wearing hats. I don't know what to make of that.

Cathy Leamy is responsible for the hilarious (and educational) Diabetes is After Your Dick! I hope we see a lot more health comics from her.

Those four folded items along the top-right are a group of innovative mini-comics by Kenan Rubenstein. Each issue folds out as the story reveals, ending in a giant full-page final panel. Great art and storytelling.

Colin Tedford collects a mix of humor comics and non-fiction (including one long piece of journalism) in Square Dance # 6. I look forward to reading more of these.

That little pink book is Hipster Robots by John Curtis Jennison Jr. Inside: six portraits of hipster robots. Truth in advertising!

Josh Lees was in the summer workshop I took a few years ago at the Center for Cartoon Studies, where he's now a student. I'm glad he reintroduced himself to me this weekend. His comic To Describe a Life in 50,000 Words is a wonderfully assured piece of work.

And finally, The Plot # 1 and 2 feature some really fun writing and cartooning by Neil Brideau. This is ambitious work and I look forward to finding out what happens in issue 3!

I can't wait for MECAF 2014, when I hope to come home with an even bigger pile of great loot!

Maine Comic Arts Festival this weekend!

Hey folks! This weekend I'll be making a rare public appearance at the Maine Comic Arts Festival in Portland. This is the only book signing I do each year since moving to Maine and it's always a blast. I'll be selling copies of my old, out-of-print books, as well as my handmade mini-comics and a few other goodies.

One new item I'll have this year is my newest mini-comic, Probing Questions, which collects many of the gag cartoons from the Plattitudes webcomic:

I'll also be selling some of my original art, including sketch cards like these:

And I'll have a few zines reprinting some of my conservation-themed articles, including this brand-new one about rhinos:

(Come to think of it, I might actually be wearing that same shirt on Sunday.)

Anyway, if you're around Portland this weekend, come on by. There will be all kinds of other great artists, including Jeff "Bone" Smith, Brian Wood, Jeff Pert, Rick Parker, Mike Lynch, Cara Bean, Raina Telgemeier, Bob Flynn, Maris Wicks, Jason Viola and other cool folks. I look forward to seeing some old friends and familiar faces.

Birthday? Moi?

Hey, it's my 44th birthday (gulp). What do I want for my cumpleanos?

Nothing.

What-- wait. Nothing?

Yup. I don't need a thing.

The few books and comics I want, I buy for myself.

The movies I want to watch, I get through Netflix.

The clothes I want? I don't really need them. (I work at home, who cares how good I look?)

The love I need? I already have it from all of you.

Everything else? It just doesn't matter.

So if you really, really, really need to do anything for my birthday, just go out there and do something good for someone else in the world.

That's better than a present for me. It's a gift for all of us.