Publishers Weekly liked the book!

Yes! THE Publishers Weekly!

Here's what they had to say (and how it looks on the printed page):

In "Garlic Toast," one of nearly 30 brief works of "flash fiction" in this collection of dark comedy and horror, the main character is brutally attacked and chased by a monster, before awakening in bed from a nightmare. "You wipe the sweat from your forehead.... You close your eyes and smile. You hope the next one is just as good." That type of kid—the one who revels in being terrified—is the audience first-time author Thompson is aiming for. In stories that last only a few pages and comics that resemble Nickelodeon cartoons on acid, Thompson riffs on zombie, werewolf, and other ghoulish genres, while also finding the horrific in unexpected places. In "Testophobia," a test-taker's increasingly anxious thoughts are superimposed over a blurred-out exam below ("Hemophobia: Fear of blood. Won't wipe off. On fingers. On sleeve, paper. Smeared. Trembling. Shaky. Shaking"). And in a cartoon labeled "Lobotomy Pie," a freshly baked pumpkin pie cools on a counter, while a jack o'lantern sits mutilated in the foreground. Just the thing for readers who aren't scared of the dark—or for those who are and like it. Ages 12–up.

(!)

And here's the link to it online:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9836699-0-6

I got to talk about writing and illustrating—and people actually listened!

A few weeks ago I was part of a panel at the Frick Art & Historical Center discussing kid's books, writing and illustrating them and getting them published. The panel was in part in conjunction with their current exhibit: Draw Me a Story: A Century of Children's Book Illustration, but it was also to celebrate Women's History Month.

We talked about our influences in writing and reading kid's books, including influential female characters and writers. I explained that I wasn't a very good reader growing up—not that I had trouble reading, but that I just wasn't interested in doing it. I was what publisher's now refer to as a "reluctant reader," which generally is code for "boys."

When I wrote Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain, I had no trouble keeping that young, reluctant reader in me in mind. I wrote short, short stories that would work well with the short-attention-spanned reader I used to be. I also illustrated many of the stories in the book which addressed the "pictures or it didn't happen" side of my reading brain. And, for the part of me that wasn't interested in the subjects that were available for me to read at the time, I wrote about the things that might have kept my attention.

So I guess I wrote this book for the me I used to be, but I'm hoping it sticks with other readers who are struggling to pay attention as much as I did. And those readers aren't just the boys in the room. I'm proof.

See? I wasn't lying. Saturday rocked.

I totally survived my first book signing last Saturday at the Frick Art & Historical Center, and had a great time. It was fun seeing how people "got it" when they opened the book and got a look at the twisted illustrations inside. I don't know who else I signed for, but I know one of my books will be going to the Murrysville Community Library, so I'm just warning all you parents with kids over there: It's coming.

It was also terribly fun to use my new Square credit card reader on my iPad. The best part was how the people handing me their cards also thought it was fun. I was a tiny bit afraid they might be apprehensive about it, but I had no problems at all. It was fast. It was easy. I'd recommend it completely. (I've mentioned Square so many times on my blogs that people are going to start thinking I work for them. I really don't.)

Book buyers were rewarded with a free bookmark to take home with their new book, and we also had prints and posters available, along with various free postcards options to choose from.

I'll be doing a little research to see where else I might be able to have a book party. If you know of any independent bookstores or quirky shops that might be interested, just let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Just a reminder about how great Saturday is going to be

As I mentioned in my last post and to remind everybody, I'll be doing my first book signing for Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 this Saturday. Here's the info:

What: Book signing (along with my new buddy Stacy Innerst)
Date: Saturday, April 14
Time: 1:30-2:30 pm
Location: The Frick Art & Historical Center, in the museum rotunda

For more information: http://www.thefrickpittsburgh.org/programs_events/The_Frick_is_for_Families.php

What you can expect when you get there:

• puppets
• write and illustrate your own stories
• storytimes
• book signings (that's me!)
• kid's flicks
• food!

Events start at 11:15 and run through 4:00.

Book signing @ The Frick

Last week I was one of the speakers on a panel at the Frick Art & Historical Center in Pittsburgh. We talked about writing and illustrating kid's books, and I wrote a preview about it on my kid's illustration blog here.

The museum's current exhibit is Draw Me a Story: A Century of Children's Book Illustration, and on Saturday, April 14 they're going to have a family day. Admission will be free with lots of activities for kids throughout the day. Besides book readings, puppets and movies, they're also going to have book signings, and they've asked me to be a part of that.

So. I'll be doing my first book signing for Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 a week from this Saturday! Here's the info:

What: Book signing (along with my new buddy Stacy Innerst)
Date: Saturday, April 14
Time: 1:30-2:30 pm
Location: The Frick Art & Historical Center, in the museum rotunda

For more info: http://www.thefrickpittsburgh.org/programs_events/The_Frick_is_for_Families.php

Midwest Book Review on Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain: "very much recommended"

I sent Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 out to reviewers back in January, and at the time I was thinking getting a review from The Midwest Book Review looked kind of promising. Turns out I was right.

Not every book that gets sent to TMBR actually gets a review, so just the fact that they did review mine makes me terribly happy. Here's what they had to say:

"Life doesn't make a whole lot of sense, so sometimes we need some stories to match the madness. Twisted Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 presents unusual stories of flash fiction, meant to bring readers into a dizzying spin of problems and how those losing it may deal with it in all the wrong ways.  Twisted Tales to Rot Your Brain is a humorous and intriguing delve into flash fiction, very much recommended."

Did you catch that? "Very much recommended." (!) So not only did they review the book, they also liked it!

I've updated the book's listings on Amazon to include the review, but I'm still working on updating the Barnes & Noble listing. I'm also brainstorming all the ways I need to use the review in promotional materials: business cards, Facebook, Twitter, blog (duh), newsletters, sites, book stickers, and on and on. Looks like even more late nights are in order.

This just in: Root canals may be good for your creativity

I'm starting to believe root canals have their benefits if maybe you're a creative person. I'm starting to believe this because I'm trying to find a bright side. Over the last couple of weeks I've endured yet another one, and it got me thinking about pain and what in this world I can do about it.

A little over a year ago I had the root canal that gives root canals a bad name. It started a few years earlier than that with a "root canal" that I had with a different dentist that had been done very incompletely. He didn't bother digging into the root that was curved (he didn't want to bother, I guess) and he didn't dig all the way to the end of one of the roots where he did bother (he must have been thinking along the lines of "good enough"). The only reason we discovered the problem was because the cap that he put on fell off one day while I was eating a salad.

A very good argument against eating more salads, I'm thinking.

My regular dentist thought the root canal I needed would be better off being done by a root canal specialist. Cause, you know, it was going to be a tough one. I didn't even realize those people actually existed.

My zombie tooth

I went in with a positive attitude. They projected the image of my injured tooth right on the screen in front of me, and I took a picture of it when they were out of the room. I called it my zombie tooth.

The rubber mouth thingy

When it came time for the actual root canal, the first thing that got me going was the rubber contraption they attached in my mouth. I'm not sure if claustrophobic would be the feeling, but I never, ever want to have one of those in my mouth again. Ever. I spent the hour of the first visit while he was working on my tooth trying to convince myself that I could still swallow and he really wasn't trying to suffocate me. Yeah. A little panicky. Then I spent the hour of my second visit doing the same thing. Then I figured out that stress excites my bladder and before I left the dentist's office (on both visits), I had the longest bathroom break of my entire life. I'm not kidding.

As it turns out, the actual root canal was just the beginning.

Twenty-four hours later, almost to the minute, the pain kicked in. The prescription for pain killers did next to nothing. Also, my face swelled up like somebody beat me up. And really, they did.

Here's the thing, though. The pain was pretty much unbearable, but look at where it took me: zombies, claustrophobia, suffocation and headaches. So I sat down and wrote, and I let my imagination take the story where it wanted to go. I wrote about how it felt like something was trying to break out of my head. I wrote from the perspective of the thing trying to break out. I combined the two and edited and rewrote.

Then I included the story in the Twisted book. It's called "Headache," and it made me feel better after I wrote it. And it all started with a common dental procedure.

The zombie part didn't make it in to the story. Maybe Vol. 2.