Well, lots going on this Fall with BLEAK HOUSE. This Saturday, Sept. 13, at 1PM Central Time, I’ll be hopefully livestreaming my book signing/linoprint demonstration at the 71st Street Tulsa Barnes & Noble, opposite from Woodland Hills Mall. The staff there has been extremely helpful and welcoming, and have offered to help with the streaming. If you’re on Facebook stop by if you can, should be entertaining.
I’ve been saying for a couple of years now that in creating an illustrated novel I’ve been working in an obsolete form. AFAIK, there hasn’t been an adult illustrated novel in like 50 years (give or take!) and I consoled myself by saying I’ll have the field to myself, ha ha. But the joke’s on me. Check this out…!
As I was entering B&N last week to say hi and look at the space I’ll be using, I see this in the entry area:
An entire display of illustrated novels and collections, ranging from H.P. Lovecraft to Greek mythology, to Poe, to Sense and Sensibility. These are obviously aimed at a YA audience, and all marked down, but I would be happy have my book included here. I’ve written my contact at the store and I’ll be talking to them about this on Saturday. I’ve previously been in touch with their corporate office, so I will approach them as well to see if there’s a chance of being included.
As thrilled as I am about the book signing, the really big news is that I will be traveling to London in October to speak at the prestigious annual Dickens Day event at The University of London’s Institute for English Studies. The speaker’s list has been posted online and you can scan down the list and see that I’ll be speaking last and I’m fine with that! The structure is that there are groups of three speakers, each gets twenty minutes, then the three have a panel discussion, (and then tea!) so it won’t be like they’ll be putting their coats on while I’m finishing. I’m absolutely beside myself to be included. I’ll try to livestream my travel, but whether I can do so across the Atlantic remains to be seen.
IN OTHER NEWS: Incredibly, I continue to receive emails regarding the internet scam I’ve been reporting on since February. Getting emails and comments has become a weekly event and I’ve stopped counting, but it’s more than a dozen now and hasn’t slowed down. This only means that the scam is working for them.
The scam is simple: They contact you with a freelance job with a very generous paycheck mentioned, they insist on paying in advance, pressure you to deposit the “check”, and once deposited, they say the sponsor has backed out and wants most of their money back but you can keep a couple hundred because they want to be generous. Don’t fall for this!
Thanks for stopping by. Leave a comment below if you like, or drop me a line at dickens@mooneyart.com
