Raina Telgemeier's Blog, page 18
February 22, 2012
San Francisco, February 2012: PHOTOS!
Dave and I had a terrific time in the San Francisco Bay Area last week! We had a blast speaking, drawing, and meeting readers at our events at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, A Great Good Place For Books in Oakland, and The Reading Bug in San Carlos.
We also visited schools and libraries in Oakland, San Francisco, Pleasanton, and Alameda. On top of THAT, we spent some quality time catching up with our family and friends! And of course, we ate a whole lot of amazing food, as we always do when we're in San Francisco. Wonderful.
I want to share some of my favorite photos from the trip! We took a lot of them, which can all be found on our Flickr Page.
My utmost thanks to Jean Schulz, Jessica Raskin, Nina Kester, Lex Fajardo, Paige Braddock, and the whole crew at the Schulz Museum and Schulz Creative Associates; Kathleen and the ace staff at AGGPFB; Lisa Hobbs; Christine Chung; Jamie Renton; Linda Valler; Eva Volin; Mary Ann Scheuer; and all the other school and library administrators who made our visits possible; Lauren and co. at the Reading Bug; Jenni Holm for being a force of nature and setting up such a terrific event; and Kate Kubert Puls, for helping us pull the whole trip together!
And of course, thanks from the bottom of my heart to the READERS and FANS who made it all such a joy! I hope to see you again soon!
February 21, 2012
DRAMA pre-order info & book description!
A few weeks ago, when I unveiled the cover of DRAMA, I promised to link to more info when it was available. Here you go: pre-order info and a book description!
Raina Telgemeier, the NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of the Eisner Award winner, SMILE, brings us her next full-color graphic novel . . . DRAMA!
Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon Over Mississippi, she's a terrible singer. Instead she's the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen, and when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier! Following the success of SMILE, Raina Telgemeier brings us another graphic novel featuring a diverse set of characters that humorously explores friendship, crushes, and all-around drama!
Publication Date: September 1, 2012
Age Level: 10 and up
Grade Level: 5 and up
February 8, 2012
Graphix Webcast, March 7: Sign Up Now!
An exciting event coming up next month: I'll be taking part in a virtual classroom visit, and you can participate!
If you teach or have considered teaching graphic novels in school, this is the perfect live event for your classroom. Scholastic is hosting a live webcast with graphic novelists Jeff Smith (Bone series), Raina Telgemeier (Smile), and Kazu Kibushi (Amulet series). Your students are invited to join these acclaimed and bestselling authors in a lively discussion about using words and pictures together to create a narrative. Register your class today for the webcast on March 7th at 1PM ET/10AM PT.
When you sign up for the webcast, you'll also have access to Scholastic's graphic novels teaching guide, webcast lesson plans around the authors' books, and webcast tips for the classroom.
Grades 1–2, Grades 3–5, Grades 6–8, Grades 9–12
Subject: Reading
January 22, 2012
Hello, Bay Area!
Hi, again. I'm glad to hear so many people like the cover of Drama, and are looking forward to reading it! I'm looking forward to hearing what you all think. A few people have mentioned that it's not yet listed on sites like Amazon and Goodreads…when those sites update, I'll be sure to post the links here on my blog.
I'm traveling to the San Francisco Bay Area soon, and I'd love to see people at my events there! I figured I'd make a big ol' post about where I'll be and when.
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My first stop is the Charles M. Schulz Museum, in Santa Rosa, where I'll be a Cartoonist-in-Residence! If you can make it up to the North Bay, this should be great.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Master Class for Young Adults
10am–12noon
Join Raina Telgemeier, creator of Smile, and Dave Roman, creator of Astronaut Academy, to explore the art of making comics and writing stories. Participants will learn about thumbnails, layouts, balloon placement, panel variation, and the mechanics of sequential art, and will have a chance to create their own 4–8 page short comic. Recommended for aspiring cartoonists ages 10 and up. Cost: $35 for members; $40 for non-members.
Advance reservations required: (707) 284-1263.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Second Saturday Cartoonists
1–3pm
As part of the Cartoonist-in-Residence program, visitors can meet, watch and talk to cartoonists Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman. The meet and greet is free and open to the public, and advance reservations are not required.
CHARLES M. SCHULZ MUSEUM
2301 Hardies Lane
Santa Rosa, CA 95403
http://www.schulzmuseum.org
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The next day, I'll be in the East Bay! Come say hello, get signed copies of Smile and Astronaut Academy, and get to know a great independent local bookstore!
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Bookstore Event & Signing
2:30 PM
Featuring Raina Telgemeier & Dave Roman!
A GREAT GOOD PLACE FOR BOOKS
6120 LaSalle Avenue
Oakland, CA
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Later that week, join me for a very special event on the Peninsula!
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17
GRAPHIC NOVEL NIGHT AT THE READING BUG!
5:00 PM
Featuring kids' graphic novel creators Jenni Holm (Babymouse), Raina Telgemeier, and Dave Roman! Presentation, live drawing, and booksigning!
THE READING BUG
785 Laurel St
San Carlos, CA
94070
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I'll also be speaking at schools and libraries in Oakland, San Francisco, Pleasanton, Alameda, and Berkeley, but those are all private visits, so they're not on my official calendar of events. I tried to spread my appearances out so that no matter what part of the Bay Area you live in, something will be convenient! I hope to see you while I'm in town!
January 19, 2012
Drama…UNCOVERED!!
Now, for something I think a few people may have been waiting for…
THE COVER OF DRAMA!
Drama
by Raina Telgemeier
September, 2012
Scholastic/Graphix
240 pages
Full-color
I should be able to post a full book description soon, once the Scholastic Fall catalog drops. I'll be doing a huge wave of touring and promotion starting this spring, so keep your eyes on my events calendar (to the right of this blog) to see if I'll be coming to a town near you!
In just a couple of weeks I'll be in the San Francisco Bay Area for some school and library events, plus a few bookstore signings and a workshop at the Charles M. Schulz Museum. Full post with all the information is coming soon. I can't wait.
In the meantime, thanks for your patience as I finish up the production work on Drama. I'll have more exciting work-related news in the near future–never a dull moment here in my studio!
Take care, everyone!
~raina
January 15, 2012
Coming soon…
Rumor has it that I might be unveiling the cover for DRAMA sometime this week. Come back soon for an update…!
December 13, 2011
T-shirt sale…ends soon!
Hi everyone!
Just popping my head in with a quick announcement: there's a t-shirt sale going on now, at the Comics Bakery site! Both my Smile t-shirts, and my old Windy Girl t-shirts are on sale until Saturday, December 17. Shirts as low as $10!
I'm almost sold out of the Smile t-shirts–all of the Large sizes are already gone. I don't plan to reprint them anytime soon, so if you want one, now's your chance!
And just as a reminder, you can still buy my original comics pages too! Please make sure all orders are in by December 17, if you want them shipped by Christmas.
Back to work! So much to do!…
November 11, 2011
France Re-cap!
We're back from France, and I'm still playing catch up on work and admin stuff around the studio–but I can't resist making a quick post about the trip!
Souriez!
The main anchor of the trip was attending the Quai des Bulles festival in Saint-Malo, on the Breton coast about 3 hours northwest of Paris. I had never heard of QdB (referred to colloquially by most French as simply, 'Saint-Malo') before I was invited by my French publisher, Akileos, but it was described as being France's second-largest comic convention (after the behemoth Angouleme), extremely family-friendly, and located in a really neat town. I had trouble finding much information available in English, about the town or the convention, so I just packed my bags and hoped for the best.
It's very hard to summarize what a wonderful time I had. Everyone treated me like gold, the convention was chock-full of enthusiastic young comic fans, the city itself is jaw-dropping, and the food was to die for. Talk about a best-case scenario! Dave compiled the best of our photos from the weekend and some video footage into one video package! Here 'tis:
Comic Festival in Saint-Malo from Dave & Raina on Vimeo.
I loved hanging out with the Akileos crew, and the other authors they publish. We had some great dinners together, and they really took amazing care of Dave and I! They also kept me full of macarons! (I think the chocolate and passion fruit flavor was my favorite.)
My most sincere and humbled thanks for this opportunity to to Richard Saint Martin (Akileos PR guru and translator extraordinaire) and Emmanuel Bouteille (Akileos Editor), both of whom were an absolute joy to get to know. We laughed, we cried, we ate a lot of salted butter caramel.
Me with Akileos editor Emmanuel, and Aurelien, Mara, and Diane after our first dinner in Saint-Malo!
The rest of their convention staff provided me with vital support on the show floor, explaining my book to anyone who didn't speak enough English to understand my pitch. Thank you so much Fred, Aurelien, and Diane!
Tons and tons and tons of kids…
Finally the Akileos authors we spent the weekend with were a hoot. I count myself lucky to be among them. Thank you to Dan Lish, Ian Culbard, Mara, JP Kalonji, Ted Mathot, Ronan and Vincent! Can't wait to see you all again.
Dave and I fell unabashedly in love with a particular Breton pastry we'd never heard of before: kouign-amann (sounds like, Queen Yaman). They're everywhere in this city, but it took us till Saturday to actually try one. After that it was all we wanted to eat, and we're still talking about it.
Kouign-amann
Dave wrote up a Quai des Bulles convention report for The Beat! He spent more time than I did walking the floor and taking pictures, especially of all the neat comics we saw–so it's worth a read.
After three wonderful days of festival, we were on to Paris.
Paris, we'd heard a whole lot more about, obviously, and we only had a couple of days to spend there. It was a bit of a whirlwind. See this thing, go here, meet someone there, look at that thing very quickly. I wish we'd had more time, but I was grateful for what we had! Paris really is full of amazing comic shops, and the market for kids' comics there is inspiring. Dave and I felt like we could see the future of where our own industry might be going.
Comic shops everywhere!
On Tuesday I did a lovely signing at the fantastic Arkham Comics! They specialize in American comics, and have been big supporters of Smile since it came out last year. I got to meet a bunch of my kind and eloquent readers there, as well as hang out with the store owners: Philippe and Philippe! They took us out for our best meal in Paris before the signing, and when we got back to the store, things were busy!
They made me a poster!
I was especially stoked to see two of my friends, Erika Moen and Matt Nolan, who live in Portland but were traveling through Paris en route to Strasbourg. Nothing like seeing familiar faces in a strange land!! Thank you, Matt and Erika, for making time to come and see me on a rainy day.
Matt and Erika! Hooray!
And thank you, Philippe and Philippe, for hosting me and making me feel right at home.
The next day, I had a short signing at a French-language comic shop, the lovely and huge Librairie BD Net. I got to meet a few French readers there, as well as an American or two! Richard from Akileos was able to be there, and as always, it was nice to have a translator for those who weren't comfortable speaking English. Thanks a bunch to LbdN for hosting me. I wish we could have bought half the books in your beautiful store!
After the signing Richard took us on a crazy walk around the city, quickly getting in a bunch of the sites we'd missed previously. We covered a lot of territory and by the end, my feet were crazy sore! But it was so worth it. My favorite part was walking around the courtyard at the Louvre, and through a passageway where a man was sitting and playing an absolutely haunting melody on a cello, echoing through the stone arches. Glorious.
Dave and I at Luxembourg Gardens
We arrived back in New York late last Thursday night, and I hit the ground running, jumping straight back into work the next day. My final book deadline for DRAMA is coming right up, and I still have to finish the inks, create the cover artwork, and do a bunch of production stuff between now and the week before Christmas! So, no rest for me.
Thanks again to everyone who made my trip to France possible, including my readers there! I hope I get to see you again one of these days. Merci and au revoir, until then!
If you want to look at all of our photos, they're on Flickr!
SAINT-MALO photos!
PARIS photos!
October 26, 2011
Paris Signing, 11/2 @ Librarie BD Net!
Just a quick note to say that I'll be doing a second signing in Paris, on Wednesday, 11/2!
Librarire BD Net
26 rue de Charonne – Paris
Wednesday, November 2
04:00 pm - 6:00 pm
That's it for now–I'm off to the airport!
October 19, 2011
FRANCE! Events in St-Malo and Paris, Oct-Nov 2011
I'm beyond thrilled to be a guest at the upcoming Quai des Bulles Festival in St-Malo, France! This is France's second-largest comics festival, after Angouleme. St-Malo is a walled port city on the Brittany coast…it looks unbelievably cool!
QUAI DES BULLES
October 29, 30, 31
Espace Duguay Trouin
Esplanade Saint-Vincent
35400 Saint-Malo
More information (in English) can be found here!
My French publisher, Akileos, will be hosting me, and I'll be signing copies of the French-language version of my book, Souriez! Will you be there? Please come say bonjour!
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Then I head to Paris! On Tuesday, November 1, I'll be signing at Arkham Comics in Paris, France!
Philippe and Philippe, the excellent owners of Arkham, have been big supporters of my work for awhile now, and I'm so excited they're hosting me for this event! Come say hello and get a copy of Smile (or the French version, Souriez between 3 and 6 PM!
Arkham Comics
7 rue Broca
75005 Paris, France
Information and reservations: 01 43 37 25 33
The full scoop is on Arkham's website (which is in French).
Here's an awesome video Arkham made last year, to promote Smile:
I don't speak French, so this will be quite the adventure! (French friends, I hope you'll forgive me…) I'm sure I'll have plenty to tell you about when I return!
