I had a great time at TCAF this year! When it was all over at 5:00 Sunday afternoon, a big round of applause went up on our floor. This is the first time I can remember that this happened, and for some reason I got a little verklempt. I guess the magnitude of the event really hit me. Scores of people have spent months of mostly donated time organizing this incredibly massive celebration of art and writing. Many more flew in from all over the world to attend an increasingly beloved Festival. Hooray for comics! And warmest thanks to Peter and Chris, all the folks from The Beguiling, and the dozens of crazed and obsessed volunteers who make everything run so smoothly.

One of the highlights of the Festival for me was the presentation I did with the smart-as-a-pin, very funny designer-writer-editor Chip Kidd. We had the pleasure of announcing a book we’ll be working on  together:

The deal with Pantheon is pretty exciting, thanks in part to my faboo new agent Sam Hiyate of The Rights Factory. I also got the fantastic news last March that the grant I applied for from The Creative Writing program of the Canada Council was successful. I’m really and truly grateful to the Council for this; being an illustrator is not easy these days. Times have been pretty upsy downsy the last few years – part of the reason I’ve had the time to think about and develop this project.

Anyhow, I’ve certainly got my work cut out for me – better get to it!