February 9, 2011
A long time ago, someone told me it’s never a good idea to meet your heroes. They seldom live up to your expectations, and they often turn out to be far more human than you imagined (if not downright rude). Happily, that did not turn out to be the case when, last week, I got to talk to one of my absolute favorite comic-books artists of all time, Joe Staton. Joe, I’m glad to report, is actually charming and kind, and we had a great chat (the transcript of which you’ll find in my interview with Joe). Joe was one of the very first artists I ever took notice of when I began reading comics: He worked on just about every single one of my favorite books, including The Legion of Super-Heroes, Green Lantern, and the adventures of all the Earth-2 heroes for DC (like The Justice Society and The Huntress). We talked a lot about the old days in comics and the modern, including his new work on an adaptation of Ayn Rand’s Anthem.
Today's guest post comes from novelist Heather Newton, author of the Southern drama Under the Mercy Trees. Heather discusses her fascination with ghost stories and her background as an attorney, both of which figure prominently into the book's plot.
Hi Everyone! Yesterday we had another awesome author in for an interview at the Teenreads.com office in New York City. Cynthia Leitich Smith is the author of numerous books for both children and young adults. Scroll below the interview for a list of her books that may be familiar to you.
This week we have some very exciting new releases, including Cynthia Leitich Smith's BLESSED. Be sure to visit our blog in the coming week for our interview with her!
At Bookreporter.com, we have the opportunity to read many great books well in advance of their release dates. Now, with our Sneak Peek Feature/Contest, we are offering our readers the chance to preview select early picks --- and share feedback on them. We know that readers champion books that they love, and we want you to be part of the excitement of upcoming releases as early as possible.
“I don’t buy a lot of stuff online. I like to touch things first so I can get a physical connection,” says Darren Romanelli, aka Dr. Romanelli, a custom marketing specialist and owner of several brands in L.A. Romanelli recently partnered with comics legend Mort Walker to promote a new wave of properties for the iconic Beetle Bailey comic strip, bringing it to new life for both a younger generation and an older one who grew up reading the strip daily in newspapers. “For me, I’m totally aware it’s the digital era and that’s why we did a microsite for our Beetle Bailey projects, but I want to bridge the gap between the digital and the physical. That’s something we paid a lot of attention to with this. There was just as much of a physical aspect integrated into this project as a digital one.”
The New England Comic Arts in the Classroom conference is coming up on Saturday, March 26. This day of education for K-12 teachers and preservice teachers will feature keynote speakers, and several smaller workshops that will enable teachers to better incorporate comics, graphic novels, and manga into their educational programs. High-school teacher Michael Gianfrancesco, one of the codirectors of the conference, took some time to answer our questions.
Sean Beaudoin, author of the newly released YOU KILLED WESLEY PAYNE, talks to Teenreads about "J" --- his niece, who acts as both an inspiration and a target audience for his books. Not all kids are popular, not all are unpopular --- the majority are those who fall in the middle.
