Stephan Pastis's Blog, page 7

Pittsburgh or Bust

Hey, Pittsburghians!….I am coming to your town on Friday, June 22 to tell embarrassing stories about myself and others.

Plus, I’ll be signing books after (preferably my own, though I’ll sign some Get Fuzzy ones if you ask nicely).

For info on attending, just click HERE.

And the Winner of the Signed Original Pearls Strip is…

Congratulations to Matthew Kriske of Edina, Minnesota, the winner of the Only the Pearls Caption Contest!

Matt will be receiving a signed original Pearls strip.

And thank you to everyone else as well for your great contest entries!

 

Fan Art

I get a fair amount of Pearls-related art sent to me….Here are some I've liked….

First off, a very cool Rat piñata made entirely of Pearls strips….

Then there is this cool drawing — one artist's interpretation of Rat, the writer:

And finally, in the True Dedication Department, a croc-hungry car:

If you have stuff you'd like me to post, send it along.

 

 

 

 

 

Win An Original Pearls Strip

For those of you who might not have the money to bid on the original Pearls strip I put up for a charity auction last week, now's your chance to try and get an original strip for FREE.

How's that for cheap?

Just click HERE to go to the contest page. It's on my publisher's Facebook wall so you'll have to "like" the page. Then, you can download the blank strip, caption it, and upload it for a chance to win.

And The Soon-To-Be-Immortalized Winner Is…

Thank you to all the people who submitted entries for the "Only the Pearls" iPad app quiz!

And while I would like to declare you all winners, my publisher insists there can only be one…

Thus….(insert sound of drum roll here)…….the winner is:

Melanie Lustig!

Melanie will soon have the pleasure (displeasure?) of seeing her name appear in a Pearls strip.

Will she be a doomed croc?  A strange neighbor?  A set-up to an irritating pun?….

No one knows.  Least of all me.  Because I haven't written the strip yet.

I have already submitted strips to the syndicate through the end of March, but my best guess is that the strip will appear in the late Spring….

Thank you everyone for playing.  To me, you are all immortal.  (Well, not really.  Just trying to be diplomatic).

 

Your Chance To Take a Croc Home

I'm often asked if I sell original strips, and unfortunately, I don't. But I do try to auction one or two off a year for charity.

So here is one I am auctioning off for a charity here in Northern California. To see it and bid, just click HERE:

 

Last Chance To Be Immortal

Time is winding down to enter the contest in honor of the first ever Pearls app for the iPad.  Entries have to be in by midnight PST on Friday, January 27.

The winner will be forever immortalized by having his/her name mentioned in one of my daily strips. (First name only.)

All you have to do is watch the app, and then afterwards, correctly answer all of the questions.  At the end of the game, I'll randomly pull out one winner.

Just email your answers to: contests@chroniclebooks.com

Here are the questions again:

Only the Pearls Search and Find Game

Name the coffee shop where Rat works as a barista and opines about Louisa May Alcott.
What do I have trouble drawing? I mean, aside from everything. What do I specifically have trouble drawing?
 It's a __________ move to surround yourself with your own memorabilia.
How many rules does each strip need to pass in order for me to consider it funny?
Who in the Writing Room might need a trip to the optometrist and why?
One word: _____________
What does Pig whisper and how do you know he's whispering?
Pig and I own the same piece of clothing. What is it?
What are the answers to the Jumble I created?
What magical creature does Zebra not believe in?
Where did my bulletin board come from?
What seems to be the beverage of choice in the Writing Room?

Good luck!

P.S.  And in case you missed the cool trailer, it's right here:

It's Finally App-ening

It's been 18 months in the making, but it's finally here. The first ever Pearls app for the iPad.

It's called "Only the Pearls" and despite my involvement, I think it came out pretty damn good.

This ambitious and amazingly comprehensive app includes:

250 of the best Pearls strips in full color, handpicked by me
125 audio commentaries
22 videos of me, some of which even made my wife cringe (one word:  shirtless)
12 animated strips
 an interactive tour of my studio and writing room, including my odd list of rules for how I determine if a given strip is funny.

Here's the official trailer.

For a limited time, my publisher is offering it for just $3.99. (The official list price is more like $9.99) If you'd like to purchase it, just CLICK HERE to hop over to the App Store.

Here are some screenshots from the app.

In honor of the big event, I thought it might be cool to host a search and find game with the app.  So check out the list below. If you can correctly answer all of the questions (and you'll need to view the app to get most of these), I'll put your name in a hat (perhaps a backwards cap).  At the end of the game, I'll randomly pull out one winner.

Just email your answers to: contests@chroniclebooks.com

The game ends January 27th and I'll announce the winner by February 3rd. What do you win? Well, I can't legally give away anything of value since you need the app to play the game (booooo, pinhead lawyers). Instead, the winner will be forever immortalized by having his/her name mentioned in one of my daily strips. (Sorry, Renee Zellwegers of the world. First name only.)

So here's the game.

Only the Pearls Search and Find Game

Name the coffee shop where Rat works as a barista and opines about Louisa May Alcott.
What do I have trouble drawing? I mean, aside from everything. What do I specifically have trouble drawing?
 It's a __________ move to surround yourself with your own memorabilia.
How many rules does each strip need to pass in order for me to consider it funny?
Who in the Writing Room might need a trip to the optometrist and why?
One word: _____________
What does Pig whisper and how do you know he's whispering?
Pig and I own the same piece of clothing. What is it?
What are the answers to the Jumble I created?
What magical creature does Zebra not believe in?
Where did my bulletin board come from?
What seems to be the beverage of choice in the Writing Room?

Good luck!

I’ll Be Wearing Flowers In My Hair

This Thursday, Jan. 12, I’ll be appearing in San Francisco at the Cartoon Art Museum.  I’ll be speaking with Keith Knight, creator of the syndicated comic, The Knight Life.

For info on attending, click HERE or on the beautiful image of me below.

I'll Be Wearing Flowers In My Hair

This Thursday, Jan. 12, I'll be appearing in San Francisco at the Cartoon Art Museum.  I'll be speaking with Keith Knight, creator of the syndicated comic, The Knight Life.

For info on attending, click HERE or on the beautiful image of me below.