Writer Elif Shafak: “In Istanbul, you understand, perhaps not intellectually but intuitively, that East and West are ultimately imaginary ideas,
ones that can be de-imagined and re-imagined.”
Meanwhile, my friend Kazim Ali is traveling through Jerusalem and Palestine and blogging at the Huffington Post. Please, check it out.
Below’s another peek at our collaboration for the CBLDF Liberty Annual (colors by Dave Stewart).
Today launches www.habibibook.com. It’ll expand as reviews, tour dates, and my own contributions pour in. Check in to christen it now.
Tomorrow, departing at the earliest hour for the San Diego Comic-Con. Here’s my signing schedule to the best of my knowledge:
Wednesday, July 20th • 6:30-8PM Top Shelf Booth #1721
Thursday, July 21st • 11AM-NOON and 3PM-4:30 Top Shelf Booth #1721
Friday, July 22nd • 11AM-12:30 Pantheon Booth #1515
Saturday, July 23rd • NOON-1PM Pantheon Booth #1515 … 2:30-4PM Art of the Graphic Novel panel Room 24ABC
Sunday, July 24th • 10AM-11AM and 1PM-2PM Top Shelf Booth #1721
Top Shelf will have new hardcover and softcover editions of BLANKETS. Pantheon will have the Comic-con exclusive tri-fold poster and
some extra HABIBI goodies. In addition, I’ll participate in impromptu/casual signings across the street at TRICKSTER. That Art of the Graphic
Novel panel includes cartoon luminaries Chester Brown, Seymour Chwast, Eric Drooker, Joyce Farmer, Joëlle Jones, and Jason Shiga;
and is moderated by Tom Spurgeon of the COMICS REPORTER … (original stormtroopers photo presumably attributed to Michael Neel)
The new editions of BLANKETS are here in time for San Diego Comic Con (in stores in August). The hardcover is the exact same dimensions as
HABIBI so they’ll mesh nicely on bookshelves. Check the stamped gold foil and spotgloss. They both have fancy smyth-sewn bindings to sprawl
open in the sunny backyard. And that’s the trifold poster lounging with them. Hope you all are enjoying the summer. Thanks for checking in!
Happy summer, Blog-friends! My publisher has set up a Facebook page for me. I’m not directly posting there, but I can check in daily on your
generous comments. They’ll be up-to-the-moment news and a few contests and giveaways. Perhaps I’ll dabble in personal posts, but I don’t
want to neglect the DOOTDOOTGARDEN blog any more than I already do. The garden needs weeding, watering, and few more flowers planted.
At the drawing table, I’m juggling a handful of projects. Including:
a.) A collaboration with poet Kazim Ali for the CBLDF‘s Liberty Annual.
b.) Edward Lear’s “The Owl and the Pussycat” in comics form for the upcoming NURSERY RHYME COMICS from First Second Books (October 2011).
c.) And a tri-fold poster for San Diego Comic Con. (Chunky, Blankets, and Habibi merge)
Thanks to all of you for your patience. The HABIBI tour will be here sooner than later.
And an update for fans in the Philippines: It looks like I’ll make it to Manilla early next year. See you all soon!
Hey, Gang! Time has evaporated as the book is tangled in production complications. The fine folks at Pantheon are wrestling to actualize
the design we envision. All I have to show for the moment is a glimpse of this “dummy” book – which has the first ten pages repeated
over and over, but approximates the bulk of the final object.
And below is a snippet of promotional graphics. I’ve been traveling a bit — Last week to Minneapolis to design a mural for my brother’s design studio.
As the painting progresses, I’ll post some photos. (Thanks, Andrew and Jon.) And next week, I’m flying to CHINA – which includes
research for an upcoming book project. More soon!
“Anxious” and “DjD” were the first to excavate HABIBI’s release date, even before it was known to me.
I confirmed with Pantheon that SEPTEMBER 20th, 2011 will indeed be the official debut day. THAT’S EXACTLY EIGHT MONTHS FROM TODAY.
Sounds like forever, I know, but fellow authors assure me this is how the book world operates, and that autumn is prime time.
I’m simply happy the debut lands one day before my 36th birthday. (Speaking of… happy birthday to JD and KB today!)
The book will be $29.95 — 672 b&w pages — clothbound hardcover with stamped gold foil, and look something like the mock-up above. On the
right are a handful of cover ideas that didn’t make the cut. Thank you ALL for your New Year’s greetings and your continued patience in this
long, drawn-out process. Thank you for not giving up on me after so many years. Looking forward to meeting and catching up on the upcoming tour.
Happy New Year, Blog-Friends! Though the HABIBI release date was promised more than a month ago, now it’s safe to say that PANTHEON will
announce it some time THIS January. Also, if I can get to it soon, TOP SHELF will publish new editions of BLANKETS (hardcover & softcover) in 2011.
And there’s at least two future books that I’m itching to start work on once everything is officially off to press with HABIBI.
Thank you all for your support in 2010. Hope you’re well in the new year. More soon!
Happy Friday, Gang. While HABIBI production is stuck in limbo, why not share some pre-release “fan art”? A manuscript of HABIBI accompanied
me to the Atlantic Center of the Arts, and many of the associate artists had a chance to peruse it. A few of them even created tribute pieces!
Seen here: Thi Bui, Jake Wyatt, and Harris Wolf. The fourth is a reposting of Jen Wang‘s beautiful tribute. She has an incredible new book
of her own debuting at First Second Books — KOKO BE GOOD. Such an honor to see other artists depict the HABIBI characters!
“If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two.
Eventually one discovers that it is not boring at all.” –JOHN CAGE.
Chapter eight and everything else! Almost seven hundred pages! Thank you, blog-readers, for all your support.
Thank you, too, for your patience during the blog’s summer hiatus. I was waiting for finality to post. And secretive of process
(to avoid spoilers) as we neared the finish line. Plus, there were some summertime distractions; including, but not limited to:
There’s still plenty to keep me busy in the upcoming months. Edits / redraws / design / production / getting the book to press.
I’ll keep you all posted. Below, a basic cosmetic edit: fixing unclear reading order. Can’t wait to meet all of you on the promotional tours!
