Big thanks to Anthony over at Comics Heating Up (CHU) for plugging Stake and the amazing Derrick Chew cover for the Ashcan coming out next week, check it out here:

Harley Quinn Cover Artist Derrick Chew Covers Stake

I’m back! 

It’s been a month and what a month it’s been.

Time to take a breath. Not a long breath, but maybe a few days reprieve!

Since I last wrote you, I’ve been to Savannah Comic Con, Daytona Comic Con, and the Scout Comics and Entertainment HQ grand opening. Between all that? A lot of work and a lot of driving!

The Savannah show was a little disappointing, but the city is amazing and Ashley and I got to explore and have a great time with our friends Tyson and John from Comics Central in Sanford, FL and I always enjoy hanging out with Richard Rivera (Stabbity Bunny creator), Wayne Hall, and Alex Lobato, so the weekend wasn’t a total bust.

Daytona is our home show, so we always see a lot of people we know. Got to hangout with some great creators and participate in a few panels about comic creating. Tom Raupp puts on a great show, even though attendance was down, it was still great!

We sold at least one copy of Shady Place at each show, which seems to be the norm, who knew at comic shows we’d sell a novel about a 55+ community!

Last Saturday, Ashley and I made the trip to Ft. Myers for the Scout Comics HQ grand opening and a blast, I love those guys and what they’re doing. I see big things in store for that company and recommend checking them out if you haven’t already!

On May 1st, I’ll be talking to a high school writing group about the ins and outs of writing. My plan is to be as honest and optimistic with them as possible, but temper expectations without scaring them too much, wish me luck!

MegaCon is coming! May 16 – 19th this year before it moves to mid-April next year. Matt Magill will be joining me again this year and we’ve got some great stuff in store. We’ll have a nice preview of the first Spy-DeerMan graphic novel, probably 12-16 pages of JB3 goodness!

We’ll be at Table 92A – but it won’t be an ordinary table this year. We got 2 table spaces and will be bringing an inflatable couch! That’s right The Couch is coming to MegaCon, literally!

Hope to see you there, it’s going to be a crazy weekend!

Speaking of MegaCon, I’ll be debuting a brand new Stake preview for the show. While I don’t have much new interior content I do have one fantastic reveal.

The cover – this is going to be a sketch version of the variant cover for issue #1 by the phenomenal artist Derrick Chew (Batgirl, Flash, Red Sonja). If you aren’t familiar with Derrick’s work check him out right here.

Outside of showing people in person, this is the first reveal of this cover in a public forum – the preview will feature the sketch version:

These will be available at MegaCon and will have the reveal of the fully rendered regular and bloody versions that will don the cover of Stake issue #1 when it arrives.

Want one, but can’t get to MegaCon? 

GET IT HERE!

Are you getting excited for Stake? I know I am!

It’s actually been a month since my last update, it doesn’t seem possible. I wrote there that Spring had sprung in Florida, but now it’s officially Spring all over the place.

In case you’re keeping track, the Phillies did sign Bryce Harper and my heart is filled with joy – he’s actually been my favorite non-Phillie for the last 9 years. I’m looking forward to seeing my guys play some meaningful baseball again!

Speaking of, after a few years of not having the opportunity to make to any Spring Training games, I got to go to two this year (special thanks to James Haick of Scout Comics and my Dad for making those happen!).

Spring also means my birthday – I’m not big on birthdays, honestly, but I do like to use them as a barometer for where I am in life. Two years ago I released Shady Place the week of my birthday. This year I hoped to have A Shadier Place out by now, but it just hasn’t happened.

Sometimes we take on a bit too much and aren’t able to work on what we want to. I have so many great projects I want to bring to life and so little time, but that’s no excuse.

Since we last gathered I’ve taken on some design work, edited an entire book, and published said book, but haven’t done much to work on my own projects. 

What can I say?

It happens.

For me, the most fulfilling thing is to be working on creative projects. It doesn’t seem to matter what capacity it’s in, just creating or helping to create something pushes me forward and fills the itch.

Color Me Yellow

This is the book I had the honor of working on. Fred and I finished working on Daisy Gets a Brother in February and I promised I’d help him get this one out before his 50th birthday. Sales went live last Friday. It’s Fred’s life story of beating cancer and overcoming his feelings of never fitting, all while finding love after 40. There are also some “good ideas” sprinkled throughout to help guide us toward living our best lives. The book is available on Amazon and basically any major book retailer (click the picture to go to the Amazon listing!).

I got to edit, format, design the cover, and publish this book. It’s such a treat to me to not only create my own projects, but to be able to help other people get theirs out into the world.

Do you have a book in you that you don’t know how to get out there? Want some help? Shoot me an email. Let’s see if we can make your dream a reality!

Comic Con Revolution

Last time, I was about to go to Comic Con Revolution in West Palm Beach. We had a pretty good time. Made a few sales – I managed to get myself interviewed… I’m told I didn’t make too much of a fool of myself, but I don’t know if believe it: SKIP AHEAD TO 18:45 TO SEE GOOFY ME

Some guy from a TV show called Comic Book Men happened to stop by the table and took a copy of The Couch with him:

All in all, definitely a good time!

Next month is going to be a little crazy, I looked at my calendar and basically with real world work and events, I won’t be coming up for air until April 21st.

April 6 and 7, you can find me and Ashley at Savannah Comic Con:

April 13 and 14, you can find me, Gotham’s Finest Comics, and a pile of my indie comics friends at Daytona Beach Comic Con:

And April 20th, I’ll be hanging out with my friends at Scout Comics in Ft. Myers, FL for the grand opening of the Scout Comics HQ:

All of these events should be a great time and I’d love to see you at one or all of them! 

Project updates!

I just ordered some extra copies of The Couch Vol 1 trade for the Savannah show – let’s hope the fine people of Savannah are ready for the shrinky goodness.

I’ve got some really cool stuff coming for Stake… I’m about ready to burst wanting to get this thing out into the world, but the art isn’t ready. I’m so excited about this story and Luis’s art, plus the variant cover we have lined up, by an incredible (and increasingly well known) artist, is going to knock your socks off. In the meantime, here’s a little promo video I made, it’s sure to get your heart going:

The art is progressing on Spy-DeerMan. It’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint to get this completed, but it’s going to be a ton of fun. Matt should have some really cool stuff for us to share by the time Megacon rolls around in mid-May!

Wish my luck surviving the next few weeks, it’s going to be a challenge!