And we all float on

ChiZine Publications

By some fortuitous turn of events at Book Summit, and some please please let me help you with your epic publishing venture, I seem to have found myself an intern at ChiZine Publications, located here in Toronto.

First of all, how excited am I? I am absolutely blown away that I am able to help out, in whatever small way, with Brett Savory and Sandra Kasturi's shot AT the dark...Dark fiction, that is. Dealing with principally horror and all things of the surreal, coupled with Sci Fi and Fantasy, these two have made for themselves a really tight catalogue filled with amazing, unique stories that I didn't expect. Although their magazine which originated the name was founded in 1997, the actual publisher has been putting out tremendous works of literary art for two years and going strong.

Check out their catalogue for yourself. Throw down the fliff for these amazing books and keep your eyes peeled - distributing in both Canada and the US, as well as the UK, ChiZine is going to explode in very little time at all. There are also going to be a variety of events/contests going on, so don't forget to check their site, or my blog often for that kind of info! I am so pumped.

Limited edition, author signed hardcover copies of Hair Wreath and Sarah Court are still available for pre-order from HORRORMALL. Get yours while you can!

Lumiere~

All the remains of our cadver of days, I keep hidden away

Yes...Watch it and be amazed. I need to see this hell come high water.

Scott Pilgrim Official Site

So I have been neglecting my promise to deliver some fantastic graphic novels/webcomics every Friday! For shame. I will get back into the swing, I promise...AHH more promises! For now, here are a few amazing webcomics being published in print by 4th Dimension Entertainment soon that you really need to take a look at or else perish!

Comic Goodness For All Involved

#1

Hanna Is Not A Boy's Name! by Tessa Stone
Image copyright Tessa Stone 2010

I cannot exalt this webcomic enough. I've been following Tessa's work for several years now via her account on Deviantart, and since her days of comicking it up with her equally talented sister Sara Stone, I couldn't get enough. Luckily for me and everyone else out on the internet who loves zombies/vampires/cute paranormal investigators with glasses/ghosts and everything in between, Tessa came along with a thunder-force of a comic that I check compulsively for updates every single day. I can't wait to get my hands on the printed copy of both volumes, which you can get! SO GET ON IT!

#2

The Meek by Der-Shing Helmer
image copyright Der-Shing Helmer 2010

Another fantastic work with some of the most amazing, spellbinding art out there right now on the webcomic scene. Helmer's epic set in it's own fantastical world, whose tone is all at once humourous and riddled with such political/emotional drama that I have teared up more than once. Also on Deviant Art, Helmer's extensive artistic portfolio is chock full of the passion and craziness that I crave on a daily basis. You can also pre-order Chapter 1 of The Meek RIGHT NOW for an extremely reasonable price! Do it now before you regret it forever and can no longer sleep at night!

#3

Lackadaisy Cats by Tracy J. Butler
image copyright Tracy J. Butler 2009

Yes, I know. Cats. Brilliantly rendered, 1920s, prohibition-alcohol-swilling-gun-toting-anarchy-instigating cats. Breathe it in. This art deco masterpiece of a comic work is surprising (read: super F*cking innovative) in its design and masterfully written. The expressions, the cadence of language, the depth of the characters...everything about this comic is a feast for the senses. I implore you to jump on it and inhale it. Also being published by 4th Dimension comics, you can read more about it and the other comics above HERE!

#4

The Abominable Charles Christopher by Karl Kerschl
image copyright Karl Kerschl, which you can purchase HERE

So beautiful and a heart wrenching, a tale of intelligent forest creatures and their spellbinding connection to the woods around them, the distant city, and the humans who cross the border between. At times haunting and always a treat, the misadventures of the silent Charles Christopher are interspersed with the oftimes wry commentary of the creatures who live in his world. The first edition of this majestic series premiered at TCAF, and though I didn't have enough money left over by the time I got to the fatally brilliant TX Comics section, it is still available in the beautiful green felt covered edition at The Beguiling in downtown Toronto! Get it!

#5

Sin Titulo by Cameron Stewart
image is the first page of Sin Titulo, copyright Cameron Stewart 2007

I was hooked from the first page. I couldn't stop reading, and knowing that the extremely dark, riveting storyline has been halted for the last month (understandably so, as Stewart is doing an extensive con tour right now) has my mind racing and hart palpating. I want more, more, more! It has been nominated and won many awards, and for good reason. Start today, you won't be disappointed. Stewart's story is like sleepwalking through your own nightmare and mistaking it for reality. I am so glad I was introduced to this comic last week! And you will be too, dammit!

Well, that is all I have for this Friday! I will have more 'readily available' comics by next week...or I may just go back into webcomic mode, who knows. I am a pretty voracious consumer of webcomics right now, and because they are readily available to you as well as me, I love sharing them!

What are your favourites? Don't be shy internet! Come on!

Lumiere~

we'll cause some havoc amongst the birds and the bees

Some things you really need to check out:

Letters of Note: From the Desk of Walt Disney on Animation

Hol Art Books & the Team Publishing Model

&

The Clock Without A Face - A Quest!

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Oh Thursday. Also known as fake Friday. You wake up, knowing there are assignments due in somebody else's bed (don't worry, Claire knew I'd be there), stumble out and comb your hair, willing to throw yourself into the 9-5 reigns, and then POOF. You realize it is not Friday, and there is still a whole 'nutha day until the precious weekend of freedom and laughter! Oh well. If we've made it this far, we warrant a reward of Corn Squares swimming in rice milk and sugar covered strawberries.

Tuesday was a much more honorable day for once. It spoke for itself and carried me away into peace. A big yellow school bus stirred up my field trip nostalgia and whisked us away to Newmarket, Ontario for a day of learnins. I went to visit two printing presses: Webcom and Pearson. So amazing. I don't know if it's my dad's love for mechanics and machines that got me jonesin' at the sight of the place, or maybe just the ability to see that tightly wound press creating one of my most favourite things in the world...but I was floored. I wouldn't mind getting an internship at Webcom either, aside from the fact that it is SO far away!

After those two whirlwind tours, a girl from the program, Megan, invited us all back to her place for a BBQ in Stoval. Since it was close to Aurora, Stephanie, who was driving, invited whoever wanted to squeeze into her car to visit her stable before embarking on BBQ'd goodness. That, too, stirred up some nostalgia in my heart. I got to hang around in the musky barn, the packed stalls, and the wide open hay strewn fields with beautiful horses and killer friends. Steph's horse, Quinn, is gigantic. In my 4 years of riding I never saw a bigger horse. And I am small by comparison! Dayum!

Then it was off to Megan's. I'd have to say that the best part of this venture was that we were out of the city and into the rolling, forest dappled country. Manitoba and Ontario are not that different! Such a lovely pocket of warm, of sun filtered ecstasy. And we hadn't even arrived at her house yet. It was a beautiful little cottage-home on it's own small lake, complete with dock, row boat, three extremely cuddly dogs, a fat cat, birds, a thousand books, a chicken coop, and a mini forest-eden in the backyard. I cannot explain how much I now covet this house, and how much I have longed for/dreamed of living in a place like it. It is purest peace. I am so glad that I decided last minute to come. We wandered around the woods, eating wild strawberries, laughing and loving under the buttery sun. Everything. Worth it.

Tomorrow there is a more Torontonian day planned - a very posh Book Summit event attended by literary professionals chatting up all things books and anything in between...At the Harbourfront no less, followed by a dinner held by the French Consulate. I am a very lucky lady indeed to have all this epic city goodness flowing around me! Now to feed myself after a long day, toss my hair in rollers and hope for the best ;)

Lumiere~