Everyone’s familiar with the concept of a swear jar. Unless you want to be putting your hard earned cash into the office donut fund you’re going to have to keep your mouth shut. You work on changing a habit and save up for something you want whenever you slip up. It’s amazing that people don’t apply this logic to other things they want to change and save for. Here’s why you should pick up a couple more finable offenses in your life.

It Increases the Cost of Bad Habits

Motivation is strange. A lot of people are just willing to live with the effects of a bad habit. If you’re addicted to take out you’ve more or less come to terms with the downside. It’s harder to lose weight, you’re eating more salt than you should, and it costs much more money. These are all problems that aren’t enough to make you change. You still get take out again and again. If you don’t want to be a slave to the take out menu anymore, decide that you’re going to fine yourself every time you give in to temptation. Don’t try to justify it, and don’t excuse it. Just decide that it’s going to be a $15 flat fee on top of the cost of the food. Does that seem like a lot? It should. The next time you want to pick up the phone and call it in, ask yourself if you’d still be eating there if they’d raised their prices enough that your meal was $15 extra. Most of the time you’ll find that you wouldn’t. When you do, you have a mid-sized boost to your savings just like that.

Be Selective in Savings Goals

You don’t want to find yourself trying to buy a new car off your swear jar savings. The best thing that you can save for is a treat for yourself. Because this isn’t the office you’re probably not going to be fining yourself nickles and dimes, but it won’t be that much, either. You need a mid-range goal. It should be something you want, but not something that you don’t have to save for. A new video game system might take you several months to save for this way, but it is a good investment; video games offer a very low cost per hour of entertainment value. Pick something that you can’t have whenever you like, but isn’t so abstract that you’re tempted not to save for it at all.

Bring in a Buddy so You Don’t Cheat

If you tend to be the kind of person who gives yourself passes on your punishments, bring in a friend and make them the arbitrator. A girlfriend or boyfriend is a good choice for this. If you need to, bring in a best friend so that they can hold onto your money and also be the judges. If you’re not sure if you should have to pay for something (yes, you swore, but you dropped a book on your toe, so does that count?) they’ll be able to set you straight.

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When you have a small business running out of your home, you also need a workspace that’s dedicated only to your professional. This not only helps to separate work from leisure, but also can give you a tax deduction if you’re self-employed. A home office also requires more than just your computer, though, even if you spend most of your time on it. There are certain supplies and equipment to have that’s not only tax deductible, but will inevitably come in handy at one point or another. Here are three small home must-haves that will serve you well in the long run.

High Quality Printer

Even if you don’t do a lot of printing, it’s a good idea to have a decent laser printer in your home office. A printer that does other things, such as faxing and scanning, is an even better idea. Although you probably conduct most of your business online, having a printer allows you to physically print things when necessarily, like correspondence, or even make copies. Not everyone might be as tech savvy as you are, and there might be a need to fax something once in a while. It’s an old practice, but sometimes it can still be the most efficient. Scanning is also a must, because if you ever have to send a document with an original signature, you can simply scan and e-mail it. One of the most important things a printer can be used for, though, is preparing reports and proposals. At one point or another, you’ll probably want to make a professional presentation to clients or potential investors. Although Power Point presentations and online documents are useful, it might come down to a face to face meeting. Having access to a printer is much easier than having to go to the library or some other place to print. Leave that option to college students, and invest in a decent piece of equipment.

Separate Phone Line for Business

Although you might do a lot of your business on your cell phone, you can’t go wrong also having a primary landline that’s there to service your home business directly. This is not only tax deductible if it’s used solely for your work, but it also makes it possible to fax. It’s also a nice feature of having a home business to be able to have a line dedicated solely to your professional life. Having too many contacts on one phone can get overwhelming, and you don’t want to accidentally send that funny photo to one of your clients. Landlines are also useful for proving occupancy and other practical necessities, and make your place of business more legitimate as a home doubling as an office.

Mobile Device for Emergencies

The third piece of equipment to have that’s a good idea is a mobile device for emergencies, and preferably a tablet. For example, if your Internet service cuts out and you have an important meeting, having the ability to access the Internet using the mobile web with a tablet can save you. This is an unusual situation, but unlike a larger company that can blame its problems on network issues or ITTS, you need to be available at all times for clients. Therefore, if you have an emergency and can’t afford to miss a meeting or e-mail, having a tablet dedicated solely to your professional life will be a great boon to keeping business up and running.

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You know how the story goes: boy meets girl when they’re young, they become friends and grow up together, and eventually they realize they have more than platonic feelings for each other. A series of hilarious hijinks ensue as they try to confess their feelings for each other, while everyone else assumes that they are already dating. They end up happily married to one another and have children.


Unfortunately, reality is a lot more complex. If you have fallen in love with your best friend, you would know that it is a lot harder than a simple confession of your feelings. Overall, there are two courses of action available to you. You either keep it inside you, or you tell them the truth. We have tips for what you should do regardless of which option you choose.

You Need to Keep Your Feelings in Check
If you are planning to keep it a secret, you need to control your feelings. When you are in love with your best friend, you think about them a lot more than usual. Examples of these thoughts include you missing them a lot more than you used to, wanting to see their smiles directed at you, and wanting to see them naked in your bed. You may just be thinking of them at random times and often. When you see something beautiful or amazing, you want them to be next to you witnessing it. You think about their reactions more than the event you are witnessing. In short, they become more important to you than anyone and everything else.

When this happens, your life is drastically affected and you need to keep your feelings in control so as to live your life as normally as possible. If not, your best friend will be able to guess that something is bothering you and they may blame themselves for it. That is the worst thing that could happen to you, as your best friend would either distance themselves from you in a bid to let you down gently, or the both of you would have a very awkward conversation about your feelings. Either way, your friendship will not be the same. If you believe that your best friend could never return your feelings, then you need to make sure that your feelings are not obvious enough for them (and your other friends) to notice.

You Could Joke about Spending the Rest of Your Life with Them If you want to tell your friend the truth but are afraid of rejection, you could use humor to help you. You could say something like “I would marry you in a heartbeat if you asked; what about you?” The trick is to say it in a lighthearted manner, so that your best friend doesn’t feel pressured to answer in any way. You should watch your friend’s reactions and listen carefully to the answers they give you. If they think it’s a casual question, they may be more willing to let their true feelings show, especially if they too, have romantic feelings that they are afraid of letting you know.

Ask Other Friends for Their Opinion Another course of action you can take is to ask a common friend for their opinion. As you are too involved in this friendship, you may not spot the signs that your friend is giving you.

For instance, you may even find yourself feeling awkward when it comes to casual friendly touches, such as a hug or an arm around your shoulders. This is because the romantic feelings you harbor make it all too easy for you to read into these regular actions. Instead of simply appreciating the hug as a friendly gesture, you find yourself overanalyzing every little thing, from the duration of the hug to how tightly his arm is around your waist, and whether all these tiny factors betray any hidden feelings he may have for you.

You should ask for a second opinion so that you do not have an inaccurate opinion of your chances. You need a relatively unbiased point of view to help you better understand the situation between both of you.

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Whether you’re a health nut or you’re just getting into the fitness scene, chances are you’ve heard of liquid diets. Along with raw diets, this is the most highly recommended form of dieting if you want to drop the pounds quickly. While that sounds good in theory, this can be a very dangerous way to lose weight. Nutrition specialists have been urging people to get off these diets, while weight loss blogs are still actively encouraging their followers to try them out. So, which is it? Are liquid diets a great way to shed fat, or are they more of a hazard than a solution?

Why Are They Popular?

Liquid diets are getting attention because they’re cheap and effective. Why not just pay for over the counter meal supplements when that’s the only expense you’ll have for the whole diet? People figure that it beats paying for pre-made meals, expensive ingredients, and all the additional expenses that come with other diets. Besides, on a liquid diet you’ll slim down in no time at all, whereas other diets take a few months for you to see any real results. The obvious choice is to go for the diet that gets you thin fast, right? Research is saying that might not be the case.

Health Risks

While fast results are great in the short term, the long-term effects of liquid diets can be severe. People who have attempted liquid diets reported feeling overly lethargic, have foregone daily tasks in favor of sleeping, and have even been hospitalized due to fainting spells. Flat tummy or not, ending up in the hospital isn’t worth it. The worst part is that, since people see celebrities doing it, like lemmings they fall prey to the same ideas. You are not a celebrity. You do not have a team of specialists making sure that your body is still taking in all the right vitamins and nutrients through pills and specialized liquids.

It’s also highly dangerous to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time. The best and most effective diets take place over a year or more, and these diets are geared to help you lose weight and keep it off. The only thing a liquid diet will do for you is make you drop weight quickly. You won’t learn to keep it off because the human body physically cannot sustain a liquid diet over a prolonged period of time. The entire point of a diet is to train your body to eat and exercise in new ways that aid keeping weight off for good.

Alternatives

Instead of a harmful liquid diet, try a raw diet. This is another fast way to lose weight, combined with a good exercise routine, and you’ll get the nutrients you need that way. A lot of the good vitamins and minerals in foods lost potency when that food is cooked, so a raw diet gets you the full range of nutrients. The best part is, it hardly takes any effort at all! You don’t need to be a cooking whiz to whip up some food for a raw diet. You also don’t need to break the bank doing it – produce is cheaper than getting fast food every day, and it lasts for much longer. If you absolutely can’t stand a raw diet, go for a diet with smaller meals, healthier ingredients, and a full workout schedule. You won’t see results as fast, that’s true, but you will learn skills that are fundamental in keeping the weight off permanently, which is better than having to resort to a dangerous diet whenever you want to drop a few pounds.

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Trying to shop for components for your new computer can be difficult, and if you’re headed into a brick and mortar electronics store to do it, you could find yourself confused and unable to understand all the different options available to you. This can be an especially difficult task if you’re out shopping for RAM, either because you’re building a machine or because you feel like it’s time to finally upgrade the amount of memory you’re working with. Regardless of why you’re trying to purchase RAM, you should know what you’re looking for before you head out the door so you aren’t bamboozled by marketing tricks on the packaging. Prepare yourself before you buy.

Make Sure You Know What Will Fit Your Motherboard

It can be very aggravating to purchase a kit of RAM only to discover that it doesn’t fit the slots on your motherboard. RAM design has changed several times over the past few years, and different motherboards only accept certain types of RAM. Read the manual for your board to know what kind of memory you need, usually in the form of either DDR2 or DDR3. If you can, find out the number of pins on each individual stick of RAM so you can compare that number to the ones on the box. Your motherboard manual may have the additional resource of a qualified vendor list, or QVL. This is a list of all the RAM brands and types which the manufacturer knows for certain have been tested and work well with the hardware you already own. Familiarize yourself with the type of memory you’ll need to purchase.

Know How to Read RAM Timings

When it comes to memory, "timing" refers to how quickly the memory can be accessed and served to the system. The better the RAM timings, the faster and more responsive your system will be with that memory installed. Timings are expressed as a series of four numbers separated by a hyphen, for example, 7-7-7-18. Each number represents an individual statistic about the amount of time the memory spends performing a given task. While you won’t need to know exactly what each number represents, what you should keep in mind is that the smaller the number is in any given timing slot, the faster the RAM is and the better your performance will be. Also be aware that you will be able to manually change timings in your system, so you can tweak your RAM’s performance.

Stick to Dual-Channel Kits

If your motherboard supports dual-channel RAM capability, meaning it can read from two or four sticks of RAM at once, then you should limit yourself to buying kits that are dual-channel ready. This means that you shouldn’t buy a single stick of RAM that has eight gigabytes of memory. Instead, you should buy two sticks that have four gigabytes of memory each. This way your computer will be able to access the memory in a more efficient way. Always avoid having three sticks of RAM in your machine, as this can cause some severe performance issues and actually slow your machine down. Also avoid creating unusual amounts of RAM. For example, stick to four, eight, or twelve gigabytes of RAM (or more, if your operating system can use it), instead of having an amount such as seven or nine. Making sure you buy RAM that will be efficient for your machine is simple and easy, but always remember to the refer to the manual if you have questions.

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I’m probably going to be staying off the internet for the remainder of the year, what with Christmas busy-ness and so on, so here’s a quick catch-up post. I’ve had a few computer issues recently so haven’t been able to update as much as I would like, particularly about November’s Thought Bubble Comic Festival up in Leeds.

They were great company and marvellous sales-people, and it really made a difference having their help. I’m not planning on doing any comic conventions next year so this was a lovely event on which to end 2014.

Speaking of Jampires, if you’re a crafty type and looking for last-minute gifts ideas, why not knit someone their very own Jampire? Graffiti knitter Lauren O’Farrell has conjured up a pattern to make a woolly version of our little jammy dodgers. I guess you could use whatever colour wool you like depending on your favourite flavour of jam. My mum’s a bit of a knitter so I’m hoping she’ll make me one!

You can download the pattern from the Jampires website, from the activities page.

So that’s what I’m planning to do over Christmas (with a festively-appropriate break, of course): have an Idea Audit, and spend time Getting Things on Paper so I can start 2015 up-and-running and ready to go!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a brilliant New Year.

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I made a handout for the work-shoppers to take away. There’s a PDF version available to download from my activities page if anyone needs a bit of inspiration during half-term.

One work-shopper brought along his collection of Monster & Chips books to be signed. I was so pleased to see how well-worn the covers were! Nice to meet you, Aydin! It was at that moment that Sarah McIntyre arrived for our afternoon event and she snapped me busily scribbling in the books.

Then Sarah and I rushed off to do our JAMPIRES show! Our performance is still a bit wobbly in some places, especially after the last-minute addition of a Jampires song (!), but it all adds to the fun. I need to brush up on my tambourine skills, that’s for sure. Here’s a pic from after it was all over (pinched from Sarah) with some of the audience and their Jampire artwork:

Sarah always manages to look so elegant in her costume whilst I just look a bit of a fool! Thanks to everyone who came along – both events were sell-outs – and huge thanks to the Story Museum for being such great hosts.

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If you fancy some spooky fun this forthcoming half term then drop by the Story Museum in Oxford city centre on Tuesday 28th October. I’ll be doing a monster-themed comic workshop in the morning, and then in the afternoon will be joined by Sarah McIntyre for a JAMPIRE JAMBOREE! All the details including tickets can be found at the Story Museum website.

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As well as getting some exercise and an important break from work, I’ve watched the seasons change, heard the gossip from all the other dog-walkers, seen what’s changing in the neighbourhood (new shops opening, seeing who’s having an extension built or garden re-landscaped, and, slightly more randomly, getting to watch the big top of a circus put up in the park). It’s made me feel more connected to a city where it’s easy to feel isolated, especially if you spend your days hidden away in front of a computer screen.

Work-in-Progress

I’m currently producing the illustrations for the first of two chapter books. I’ve not written these books and it’s been a lot of fun interpreting someone else’s text. The deadline for the first book has been very ‘ambitious’ in publishing-speak (‘insane’ in Dave-speak) but thankfully my Cintiq has really come into its own. I completed fifty greyscale illustrations in seven days – without any stress – and I’m personally pleased with the way they turned out, which is unusual for me. Let’s hope the publisher likes them too! Here’s a sneak peek:

Commerce

Frankfurt

The international book fair in Frankfurt is this week, one of the two book fairs of the year that drive the children’s book market. I’m represented in a couple of places, but was very pleased to see my upcoming picture book in the HarperCollins Children’s Books catalogue: When I’m a Monster Like You – illustrated by Francesca Gambatesa.

This is the only image I’ve seen so far and it makes me very excited to see how Francesca’s interpreted the rest of the story! The catalogue says it’s not out until January 2016 which seems like along way off right now but I’m sure it will go quickly. More about this book (and the two others in the series) in the future.

Feedback

Everyone loves a bit of fan mail – I do particularly! These letters and pictures have come all the way from Monster & Chips readers (and superb artists) Sammi and Olivia in Australia. Love the colours on these – I’ve not used felt tip marker pens in a long time but these make me want to crack open a pack and get colouring.

Meanwhile, Duncan decided to review M&C on camera:

Brilliant! You can see more of his reviews here.

And here’s a recent and intriguing tweet about Jampires:

I wonder if they caught anything?

Social: Comic Launch by Richy Chandler

Back to work for me!

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I always get a bit nervous about new projects and have to take a couple of days to get my head around the task and try not to panic about what I’m being asked to do. Sometimes you just have to go for a walk to get your thoughts together.

Treacle and I found some gigantic fungi growing in the local park on our walk yesterday. Bigger than cabbages and twice as ugly!

And on a trip to Sainsbury’s I was very pleased to see they were stocking the re-packaged Monster & Chips for their Reading Scheme. It looks very nice next to all the other books and they’re doing a buy-one-get-one-free offer, if you’re interested!

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There’s a nice little feature on The Guardian website on how to draw a Jampire! Take a look here – then buy the book!

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Happy publication day to us! Sarah McIntyre and I are most pleased to announce our picture book, JAMPIRES, is officially in the shops! So go get a copy – or else!

It’s been a long road to get here, and Sarah is blogging about some of the development work we did here. I’d forgotten about some of those sketches we did!

All the information you need about Jampires can be found at the JAMPIRES website, including activities and buying information. Phew! Time for a doughnut.

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It’s JAMPIRES week!

The picture book I co-authored with Sarah McIntyre is out on Thursday and to launch it we did something a bit different: an event at Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival food extravaganza! The Jampires are all about jam and tasty treats so it seemed appropriate (as well as giving us the chance to sample some rather lovely cheese and ice cream, amongst other things…).

But we brought our own treats with us – not just Jampires books but our own special Jampire Jam, courtesy of dapper jamologist Emma Preston-Dunlop. Emma joined us in a moment of relaxation prior to our event:

I’m holding a ‘prop’ doughnut, which I’m afraid had to be eaten in the cause of publicity. Check out Sarah’s amazing Jampire dress that she made with the help of her mom. I’m quite proud of my sequinned waistcoat and home-made Jampire hat too. I spent whole minutes stapling those ears on.

Our reading was followed by some Jampire-drawing and Jampire mask-making. This is us with honorary Jampire Logan, son of brilliant comic-maker Neill Cameron, who was at the show with our friends from the Phoenix comic.

David Fickling, publisher of both the Phoenix Comic and Jampires turned up too, after cycling all the way over from Oxford! Time for a Sarah-selfie:

The little Jampire was made by the super-talented Ann Lam – he proved so popular with one audience member he had to be gently ‘liberated’!

I’m so pleased with this book: it was a long time coming but I think it looks just lovely, as well as being a fun read. Sarah’s finishes are just magical. Here’s one of my favourite ‘spreads’ (pardon the pun):

I get hungry just looking at it!

You can make you own masks, as well as download other activities, at the Jampires website – there’s more information there on where to buy the book too.

Thanks to Philippa Perry our publicist for working so hard on the event, to Devon Black, who apparently did a brilliant job as ‘Jampire Jill’ on Sunday, and James for driving us there and back again – you can see more of his photos here.

 

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Last Saturday I attended the Comiket at the British Library. It was fun – a novel venue and a nice atmosphere. So-so takings, but I made enough profit for some beers afterwards.

It was also my last comic convention as a seller for a while. I’m going to a couple more events this year, but I’ll be taking part in children’s activities and workshops, so won’t have a selling table. I’ve decided to take 2015 off from conventions (as an exhibitor at least) and enjoy being a comics consumer instead.

The thought of leaving exhibiting behind (at least temporarily) has caused me to reflect on my personal experiences since my first convention in 2008 (the much missed Web & Minicomix Thing). There weren’t many events then – I think Bristol, Caption and the Thing were the only regulars. In the years since, the list of comics events and conventions has expanded dramatically. It’s brilliant that there’s so much enthusiasm for comics and so much choice.

However, the quality has been very variable. Comics people are used to being treated as the lowest of the low and will put up with a lot, especially if it means they meet friends and like-minded others and have the opportunity for a good time. But exhibiting costs money, so we have had to become choosy about which events we attend. Word gets around fast and ‘bad’ conventions are quickly written off whilst the ‘good’ expand (which creates a whole range of other issues).

I don’t under-estimate how hard it is to organise a comic convention and how much work goes into it. It must be an enormous, tedious job filled with horrible people management-type stuff. There are so many places where it can go wrong. I helped out at Caption for a couple of years, a tiny, unique event held in a community hall. But getting the committee together in the same place at the same time just to talk about organising it was enough of a logistical problem, never mind the actual convention weekend itself. So I wouldn’t want anyone to consider the following to be a list of DEMANDS or expectations or a rant against any event in particular. This is a wishlist for ‘Ideal Con’, from an exhibitor’s perspective.

The Announcement

This will have been made a year in advance if possible. LOCATION, DATE, TIME, a website address, a mailing list to join, a Twitter account and a Facebook page to follow/like. LOCATION, DATE, TIME, the three essential bits of information, are everywhere, the organiser’s email signature, twitter profile. EVERYWHERE. The organiser will still be asked this a million times but at least no one has an excuse not to know.

Website

This is probably the first thing anyone sees once the announcement has been made. It will have LOCATION, DATE, TIME right at the top, in the banner or right next to it.

‘Comic Convention’ means different things to different people these days, so a paragraph defining the scope of the event is helpful: celebrity signings or hands-on workshops or kid’s events or panels or all the above. Ideally a comic convention should actually have comics in there somewhere.

There will be a whole page devoted entirely to HOW TO GET THERE. It will have a map, showing where the nearest public transport and car parks are. It will mention any planned engineering works for the day of the event. Additional directions are always good. It will show where the nearest food places and cashpoints are. It will show where any sponsoring shops/additional venues are (see below). If the venue has multiple entrances it will show which one exhibitors/visitors are supposed to use or where the information point will be (see below).

There will be link to a printable PDF of all the information on this page. People still like to print stuff.

There will be a separate page for exhibitors: it will have set up times and start/close times. A table plan at least three months before the event. The dimensions of the tables. How many seats per table. Power sockets and wifi info. If banners and stands are allowed. If table cloths are required. If there are volunteers who will cover your table whilst you have a break. This will also be a printable PDF and will be sent to the exhibitors three months in advance.

There will be a simple one-stage table booking system. You select your table requirement, input your details, attach your icon jpg and press ‘pay’. A confirmation email arrives and you are done.

Marketing & Publicity

If I want to sit in a room filled with tables and chairs and no customers I will spend my day in Furniture World in Plymouth. Publicity is the most important thing after LOCATION, DATE, TIME and is often forgotten. I’ve heard one organiser actually say publicity is the responsibility of the exhibitors. It is not.

At Ideal Con marketing and publicity will always be at the top of the Ideal Con organiser’s (ICO) to-do list. At the TOP. With its own budget. Its own team. Enough money at least for a BIG sign outside the venue, and maybe a couple of sandwich boards (LOCATION, DATE, TIME) around town.

ICO will have been tweeting and facebooking regularly throughout the year about plans and progress, guests, exhibitor profiles, comics they are enjoying, anything to remind people about what’s going on. In the couple of months before this will go into overdrive. ICO will tweet until we are sick of him/her but at least we will know that something is happening.

ICO will have sent press releases to local radio, listings websites and newspapers, who are always on the lookout for something colourful and interesting, even if that means putting up with the WHAM! POW! headlines and having to have his/her photo taken standing next to a stormtrooper or Pokémon or whatever.

ICO will have talked to the local comic shop, library, the bookshop, art supplies shop, cafes, other businesses near the venue who will have posters (LOCATION, DATE, TIME) in their windows or flyers (LOCATION, DATE, TIME) by their tills. Maybe they will be providing sponsorship, offering discounts to attendees, hosting events or exhibitions in partnership? Shops like this kind of stuff.

Similarly, ICO will have contacted the local art college/higher education institution. This might even be the venue, or be hosting a related event itself. The college will have posters (LOCATION, DATE, TIME) and flyers (LOCATION, DATE, TIME) and may even supply volunteers in return for a free table to show off their coursework or a goody bag, or voucher of some kind.

On the day of the event there might be a stormtrooper or Pokémon or whatever outside the venue for some locals to take selfies. The stormtrooper or Pokémon or whatever will have just got back from the shopping centre where he handed out flyers (LOCATION, DATE, TIME). Maybe he went to the railway station and did the same.

Communication

There will be one catch-all email address. Emails between ICO and exhibitor will be friendly, short, to the point and only as needed. A final reminder will be sent a week before the event with that PDF attached.

The Venue

Organisers are going to be restricted by their venue. Health and safety will play their part and often the more affordable the location, the least suitable it is. There’s only so much you can control but ICO will keep these things in mind:

Exhibitors need space to sit comfortably. They will have bags and boxes. They might have display stands and pop-up banners. These need to be taken into consideration in the layout. Set up a ‘pretend’ exhibitor table and see how much floorspace it actually needs. If there are odd-shaped spaces and corners they should have alternative use: exhibitions, reading areas, kid’s drawing tables. Exhibitors should not be shoe-horned into the space.

If the venue is split into different rooms then there need to be clear signs and a layout that ensures a flow of visitors to those rooms. Perhaps the connecting corridor is an exhibition space. There should be table plans stuck to the wall at various points.

At Ideal Con there will be an information point, separate from the ticket office. The person at the information point will know where the toilets are, what time things happen, where the cashpoint is, where extra chairs can be found, if blutack is allowed, if the heating can be turned on/off. It is the ICO’s headquarters during the event.

ICO will visit the venue many times before the event. He/she will do a walk-through, imagining what it will be like for the exhibitor and the visitor alike. Where are signs needed? Where are the annoying columns? Where are the tricky bits for wheelchairs? Room plans are deceptive, and guesswork is not enough.

The venue will have free entry, if possible. Exhibitors are happy to pay a higher price for a guaranteed footfall.

Children

Children read comics. Some people make comics for children. This should be encouraged. Children are Future Punters. That middle-aged guy with the Dredd t-shirt is going to have a heart attack at some point about some continuity error or something and needs to be replaced. Ideal Con will offer exhibitors the choice to be part of a kid’s zone. There will be drawing tables with comics on them. Some simple workshops with printed handouts. Maybe the library could be involved – many have comic book reading groups.

Afterwards

There will be a pub, preferably hired for the event. The after-event pub session is one of the most important aspects for the exhibitor. Ideas are shared. Deals are made. Friendships forged. Acquaintances renewed. No loud music because then we can’t hear each other - dancing comes later. ICO will be sitting in a corner, basking in the glow of a successful event and happy exhibitors.

Timeline

• 12 months before: announcement. Website open with booking form. Social media in place;
• 3 months before: email to exhibitors with table plan;
• 1 month before: publicity/social media big push;
• 1 week before: social media goes nuts. Final email to exhibitors;
• On the day: happy faces.

That’s my idea anyway for getting the basics right. Panels, interviews, after show parties and the other bells and whistles are only considered once these things are sorted out.

Thanks for reading all this way! Any suggestions? Comment here or tweet @davidoconnell and I’ll add them in.

ETA: Cliodhna Lyons commented via Facebook that free entry is not always a good thing: “you want the numbers in but you also want the right people in”. A token charge will discourage those who are not really interested but not those who are interested/curious.

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I’ve been drawing a lot of fish lately. Here’s a quick ink sketch. I do like fish, although they always look a bit worried considering they have a fairly simple life.

Dinner at the Gherkin

I’m a London geek and am always keen to visit the city’s iconic locations (as well as the hidden, out-of-the-way places) and there’s nowhere more iconic than 30 St Mary Axe, more commonly know as The Gherkin. The restaurant and bar at the top of the building are not normally open to the public, just the building’s occupants, although they are available for hire. However, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Gherkin’s construction they have been open for bookings for a short spell. I couldn’t resist a visit, having been to the top of the Canary Wharf tower (One Canada Square), the BT Tower and the Shard. It was another landmark to cross off the list.

The food wasn’t up to much, if I’m honest, but no one was there for the restaurant: it was all about the view. It had been a stormy day so the skies were pretty dramatic.

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Who are the JAMPIRES?

They are these cheeky little chaps! And that’s their friend Sam too. They’re flying off to… well, you’ll have to read JAMPIRES to find out! It’s a picture co-written and co-illustrated by the super-brilliant Sarah McIntyre and myself that’s out on September 4th.

Sarah asked me years to ago to work with her on a book: she had an idea about little creatures who were like vampires but preferred jammy doughnuts to human necks! Interestingly, Sarah wasn’t a fan of vampires themselves and wanted to avoid all the easily recognisable vampiric clichés. We went all around the houses trying to come up with ideas – jampires are tricky little devils to pin down – but eventually found, as is usually the case, that one of the simplest ideas was the best. And it works, even if I do say so myself. A yummy, treat-filled book, perfect for Christmas (sorry for mentioning it in August but it really is!). We have JAMPIRES website too where you can read more and have a go at some fun activities.

The book is a true collaboration: we worked on the text together, then Sarah drew the finished art over my page roughs. I think this might confuse some people who are more used to the idea of author and illustrator being something separate but it can make for a very satisfying creative experience for the people involved. Sarah has gone on to further collaborative projects: her books with Philip Reeve (Seawigs, Cakes in Space) are also co-productions and have been widely acclaimed.

One of the collaborative tools we employed was the appropriately named ‘comics jam’. We improvised a comic together to generate story ideas, taking it in turns to write and draw a page, never knowing what was going to happen next!  You can read the whole comic here. We’ve had some copies of the comic printed - if you see us around we may let you have one. Here’s a page from the comic that explains how we worked (click for a bigger view):

Comics jams are a great way to make comics with friends or classmates – we’ve used them in workshops and events and the ideas come thick and fast. Find out more about how to make your own comics jam on our Jampires activity page.

We are launching the book at the end of this month at Jamie Oliver’s Big Feastival. Our amazing publicist Philippa Perry has even commissioned a special Jampires Jam from boutique jam-maker The Butch Institute for the occasion. Can’t wait to try it! We’ve also had a photo shoot (photographer: David Warren) in our glitzy Jampires event costumes – so showbiz! There’ll be more about JAMPIRES and the launch very soon, so keep an eye on our Twitter feeds: @davidoconnell and @jabberworks for more.

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I’ve had a couple of ‘good post’ days recently. Not so long ago the postman brought the Dutch edition of book 2 of Monster & Chips or ‘De Monster-Snackbar‘. The book has been given the sub-title “The Pizza of Darkness” as I guess “Night of the Living Bread” doesn’t translate! As ever, the Dutch publisher and translator Sandra Hessels have done a great job and it’s a prized addition to my personal corner of the bookshelf.

Joining it is a version of book 1 that’s been repackaged by Sainsbury’s for their reading scheme. It’s in hardback and full-colour, and reprints chapter 1, where Joe first meets Fuzzby! It’s part of the scheme’s Ruby Level so ideal for those readers comfortable with reading alone. It’s available in stores from the end of August.

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Last week was holiday time. I haven’t had such a good holiday in years. It was our first attempt at going on holiday with the dog so we didn’t wander too far. We rented a tiny fisherman’s cottage in Southwold, Suffolk, a few hours drive away from London.

The weather was perfect all week: sunny with a light sea breeze, so just right for lots of walking (and we did LOTS). We even managed a couple of afternoons on the beach too.

Look at those big east country skies! Whoosh!

Southwold harbour. Some great fresh fish and seafood to be bought here. A ferryman will row you across the river for 90p! Otherwise it’s a walk up to a disused railway bridge.

Lots of interesting things buried in the sand for the dog to sniff.

It was our second attempt at introducing the Treacle to the sea, but she didn’t seem that impressed. She was much more excited by the potential of sand for digging. She also had the walkies of her life. We set out early each day for a long walk through the dunes to the harbour and various other parts of the nearby countryside. She’s come back home looking a lot slimmer than when she left.

I’d like to think we have too, but there were too many cream teas, home-made cakes, ice creams, good pub food and local beer (Adnams Brewery has its home in Southwold) so I doubt that’s the case.

Do I look relaxed? Because I was. It was a wonderful week.

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I’ve just come back from a holiday (more about that tomorrow) to find that The Guardian have posted some of the entries to the Monster & Chips competition that ran a while ago.

 

And here’s the winner: congratulations to Luke Westall! I chose his character, Itsi, as I thought Luke had shown the best imagination in both his drawing and in the things he had written about his character. There was a lot about Itsi’s personality and how he would fit into the world of monsters: I could just see him in a Monster & Chips story. Also, sabre-tooth cats are very cool.

Part of Luke’s prize was a drawing of Itsi by me, so here’s my version:

Huge thanks to The Guardian for hosting the competition! You can see a whole load of other entrants here.

Here’s another bit of Monster & Chips artwork sent to me recently – a great picture of Joe, chips and all, drawn by Tomos Rees. Tomos’ mum and dad are old friends of mine – apparently he likes to draw every night before bedtime. I wish I could be that organised!

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Ansel’s brother Toby was responsible for the actual edible cupcakes from earlier this year that you can see here. A very talented family indeed. My day is officially MADE.

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I’ve been tagged by my JAMPIRES collaborator Sarah McIntyre for the Writing Process Blog Tour. It’s a like one of those chain letter things but actually useful and interesting – see Sarah’s entry here and follow the links back to see who else has taken part. We all have to answer the same four questions:

What am I working on?

I’m currently writing the second of a three-book series of picture books that will be illustrated by the super-talented Francesca Gambatesa. They’ve not been officially ‘announced’ by the publisher as far as I know so I probably shouldn’t say much, but they all have a light-hearted take on family and relationships. Like JAMPIRES, they are all rhyming texts - an extra challenge. I belong to a writers’ group and one of the authors there described writing rhyming texts as like putting a puzzle together. If you edit one word you often have to reconstruct the whole verse from scratch. It can be very tricky.

At the same time, I’m writing what I hope will be the first part of a new young fiction series, similar to my Monster & Chips books. I’ve got a lot of young fiction ideas and it’s difficult to know which idea to tackle first. As soon as I start writing one thing it doesn’t seem fresh and exciting and I get the urge to pursue one of my other ideas. I drew a comic about dealing with ideas in a previous post.

In addition to these ‘main projects’ I want to do a picture book where I’m both author and illustrator and am slowly putting a book dummy together. It’s something I’ve not done before on my own so I’m finding it a bit intimidating. Working with Sarah on JAMPIRES has been hugely helpful, as we collaborated on both the text and the images (there’ll be more on how we did this this as we approach publication day) but there’s a real art to putting a picture book together which is quite unlike writing a prose book. It’s very challenging.

I’m about to start work on illustrating a young fiction book that someone else has written so that doesn’t leave me with many gaps in the diary. However, I’m trying to keep my webcomic Tozo updated as often as I can and I want to start work on a pre-teen novel that I’d like to have completed (or at least a first draft completed) by about this time next year. There’s nothing like an ambitious schedule…

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It probably doesn’t very much. If you go into a bookshop there’s a veritable wall of young fiction (books for 6-10 year olds) and they do look very similar. Usually funny, sometimes gross, with LOADS of diary-style books about nerdy, hopeless kids unwittingly getting into trouble at school. The quality is variable and one of my editors was saying the other day how there’s actually a shortage of good quality books for this age group.

I like to think I spend as much time on character, plot and language as I do on jokes, but humour has always been the main aspect. With my newer ideas I want to make sure the focus is on quality story-telling over humour, rather than the other way around.

Why do I write what I do?

Funny books are my thing, and it feels like I just can’t stop myself from putting a joke in a sentence if I get the chance. I don’t know why that is - I’m certainly not any kind of comedian – but I do like the idea that my readers might be chuckling away and given a bit of an escape from whatever is going on in their lives.

I write for this age group because I think I ‘get’ how their minds work better than other ages. As a relatively new writer they are an easier age group to write for because it’s important to keep the plot straight-forward and fairly linear. There’s no description, just action and dialogue. Whilst picture books are for younger readers, they are much more complex and multi-layered in the way they are constructed. Every word is analysed. And with books for older readers there’s all the emotional stuff – characters have to be far more fully-formed. Not that any of that will stop me having a go at trying to write for them!

How does my writing process work?

I have an idea and spend a while – a LONG while – sketching out characters and developing the idea in more detail. Sometimes I use drawings to work out character and places but mostly I just make notes. I use Microsoft OneNote to store all my ideas for projects so I can access them wherever I am, through my phone or online.

For the young fiction ideas I then make a book plan with a detailed description of the events in the book, breaking it down into chapters. I use that to launch into the actual writing: it’s the framework on top of which everything is built. I occasionally send ideas to my agent just to get a second opinion/sanity check so I can avoid wasting time on ideas that just aren’t going to sell or have been done by someone else. The writing group is good for testing things out too.

It sounds like I have it all organised but it’s not the case. There’s plenty of procrastination, coffee drinking, dog-walks and general work avoidance going on too!

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I’ve been tagged by my JAMPIRES collaborator Sarah McIntyre for the Writing Process Blog Tour. It’s a like one of those chain letter things but actually useful and interesting – see Sarah’s entry here and follow the links back to see who else has taken part. We all have to answer the same four questions:

What am I working on?

I’m currently writing the second of a three-book series of picture books that will be illustrated by the super-talented Francesca Gambatesa. They’ve not been officially ‘announced’ by the publisher as far as I know so I probably shouldn’t say much, but they all have a light-hearted take on family and relationships. Like JAMPIRES, they are all rhyming texts - an extra challenge. I belong to a writers’ group and one of the authors there described writing rhyming texts as like putting a puzzle together. If you edit one word you often have to reconstruct the whole verse from scratch. It can be very tricky.

At the same time, I’m writing what I hope will be the first part of a new young fiction series, similar to my Monster & Chips books. I’ve got a lot of young fiction ideas and it’s difficult to know which idea to tackle first. As soon as I start writing one thing it doesn’t seem fresh and exciting and I get the urge to pursue one of my other ideas. I drew a comic about dealing with ideas in a previous post.

In addition to these ‘main projects’ I want to do a picture book where I’m both author and illustrator and am slowly putting a book dummy together. It’s something I’ve not done before on my own so I’m finding it a bit intimidating. Working with Sarah on JAMPIRES has been hugely helpful, as we collaborated on both the text and the images (there’ll be more on how we did this this as we approach publication day) but there’s a real art to putting a picture book together which is quite unlike writing a prose book. It’s very challenging.

I’m about to start work on illustrating a young fiction book that someone else has written so that doesn’t leave me with many gaps in the diary. However, I’m trying to keep my webcomic Tozo updated as often as I can and I want to start work on a pre-teen novel that I’d like to have completed (or at least a first draft completed) by about this time next year. There’s nothing like an ambitious schedule…

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It probably doesn’t very much. If you go into a bookshop there’s a veritable wall of young fiction (books for 6-10 year olds) and they do look very similar. Usually funny, sometimes gross, with LOADS of diary-style books about nerdy, hopeless kids unwittingly getting into trouble at school. The quality is variable and one of my editors was saying the other day how there’s actually a shortage of good quality books for this age group.

I like to think I spend as much time on character, plot and language as I do on jokes, but humour has always been the main aspect. With my newer ideas I want to make sure the focus is on quality story-telling over humour, rather than the other way around.

Why do I write what I do?

Funny books are my thing, and it feels like I just can’t stop myself from putting a joke in a sentence if I get the chance. I don’t know why that is - I’m certainly not any kind of comedian – but I do like the idea that my readers might be chuckling away and given a bit of an escape from whatever is going on in their lives.

I write for this age group because I think I ‘get’ how their minds work better than other ages. As a relatively new writer they are an easier age group to write for because it’s important to keep the plot straight-forward and fairly linear. There’s no description, just action and dialogue. Whilst picture books are for younger readers, they are much more complex and multi-layered in the way they are constructed. Every word is analysed. And with books for older readers there’s all the emotional stuff – characters have to be far more fully-formed. Not that any of that will stop me having a go at trying to write for them!

How does my writing process work?

I have an idea and spend a while – a LONG while – sketching out characters and developing the idea in more detail. Sometimes I use drawings to work out character and places but mostly I just make notes. I use Microsoft OneNote to store all my ideas for projects so I can access them wherever I am, through my phone or online.

For the young fiction ideas I then make a book plan with a detailed description of the events in the book, breaking it down into chapters. I use that to launch into the actual writing: it’s the framework on top of which everything is built. I occasionally send ideas to my agent just to get a second opinion/sanity check so I can avoid wasting time on ideas that just aren’t going to sell or have been done by someone else. The writing group is good for testing things out too.

It sounds like I have it all organised but it’s not the case. There’s plenty of procrastination, coffee drinking, dog-walks and general work avoidance going on too!

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I’ve surprised myself that I really enjoy book events – something I didn’t expect when I started out doing them. I work with a great age group that are enthusiastic and full of ideas, and are not afraid to push things a little! [Click on the image to make it bigger.]

One such event took place at Oxford’s Bookfeast on Tuesday, as part of their annual schools festival. I did a couple of drawing-and-talking activities in the wonderful surroundings of the Pitt Rivers Museum, hidden at the back of the University’s Natural History Museum. The Pitt Rivers Museum holds a huge collection of anthropology and archaeology from around the world and made for an amazing venue. So many inspirational objects to look at whilst I scribbled away on the flip chart!

The kids are also very good at asking very direct questions. These didn’t all come from Tuesday’s audience but are fairly representative of the type of things I get asked [click to make bigger]:

My co-creator on JAMPIRES (coming soon!), Sarah McIntyre,  has written a blog post for event organisers on how to make for a good author visit. There should probably be a companion piece on ‘How to be a good author when on a visit’ – it’s always good to be as prepared as possible!

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