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Woo hoo! Since writing my last post it has snowed properly! The kids are thrilled, the sledge is getting daily use and the delight in the snow hasn’t yet worn off

M and J have also had their first Christmas presents of the season – the evening of December the 5th is traditionally when (“good”) Dutch children get presents from Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) and so the festive season really has begun here. To add to the Christmassy feel we’ve been reading Christmas Trolls by Jan Brett.

Somewhere in snow-covered Scandinavia it’s almost Christmas and Treva and her family are decorating their house – the tree, the mistletoe and ornaments are all in place. But one morning things mysteriously begin to go missing. An even stranger turn of events is taken when the Christmas pudding appears to scuttle across the snow.

Treva ventures out to investigate and ends up (in a scene reminiscent of Lucie stumbling upon Mrs Tiggy Winkle’s home) discovering the home of two naughty trolls who in their eagerness for Christmas to arrive have been stealing Treva’s Christmas ornaments and more.

Photo: quinet

Rather than being cross Treva enters in to the spirit of things and helps them to get ready for Christmas, first encouraging them to tidy their treehouse, then helping them to decorate it.

“Now if you really want Christmas, you must be generous with each other. If you do that, you will have Christmas right here in your troll house.”
The trolls cocked their heads and squinted. They were trying hard to understand. “How?” they pleaded.

Treva teaches by doing rather than telling, and gives the trolls her most treasured possession – an ornament in the shape of a little red horse. But have the trolls really learned what it means to give selflessly? You’ll have to read the book yourself to find out, but I can assure you a happy, generous ending completes this fun, seasonal story.

At the heart of this story there is a very clear moral message and yet it is explored with a lightness of touch and humour, without once feeling preachy – one of the hardest things to do in children’s books I think. The message – of the importance of generosity and kindness and the importance of living out these values – is also one that works well whatever your beliefs around Christmas. Like Night Tree, Christmas Trolls is a great Christmas book if you’re of a faith other than Christianity, or indeed no faith at all, or simply want a great seasonal story that doesn’t focus on Father Christmas and getting stuff.

Mobile Pants: January 14

Ahem. For my first trick, I’d like to demonstrate [drum roll]… flaking out!

[scattered applause]

When I posted about Mobile Pants, I neglected to mention that I would be in Seattle. Oops? I’m back home today but staying in the studio. Seattle was my Mobile Pants location this week.

I’ll post my planned whereabouts on Wednesday, I promise. Likely I’ll be in NoPo at Lucky Lab. Thursday, January 21st.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way

That’s one of my favorite quotes, by Thomas Paine. I admit, it sounds kind of like something you’d hear on an “Outward Bound” retreat or something your boss might say to “motivate.” Framed in those circumstances, it makes me want to vomit. However, in my own little world it’s sometimes helpful for sorting things out.

What made me think of it today was a hater comment on a forum I belong to. Haters just get in the way.

See, I meet a lot of people every week. Many of them are small business people (which includes freelance designers, illustrators, and animators). They’re all trying to get work, keep work, and figure out how to grow their businesses.

Some of them are confident but looking for new ways to get where they want to go. Some are not so confident and looking for direction. Some are downright terrified or lost and need a boost from someone else.

It’s extremely rare that any one of these people is only looking out for Numero Uno, even if Numero Uno is their first priority at the moment. Most people I meet, even when they’re struggling, are ready to jump in and help someone else.

For that reason, I’m confident that even the terrified people are going to figure out a way to succeed, even if it takes longer than they hope. It’s because of their passion for what they’re doing combined with a passion for seeing other people do well. It’s a powerful combination.

Those people are looking for ways to lead their people, sometimes by following other people to see how it can be done.

None of these people are in the way, because they’re too damn busy trying to make something happen.

Haters are trying to stop things from happening. They don’t follow and they certainly don’t lead.

The thing is, everyone has off days. Everyone says things sometimes that they could have phrased more tactfully (myself included). It happens. It’s easier to let fly when you’re behind the safe wall of servers and IP addresses.

But there’s a fundamental difference between someone having an off day and someone who expresses themselves in a way that is purposely hurtful (i.e.; in the way). Do you get that?

Even so, the so-called Haters are deeply scared themselves. They have their own fears and reasons for being afraid. So they’re still people, but they’ve put themselves in the way of you accomplishing your stuff.

So what do you do when a “hater” gets in your way? One of two things:

A. Ignore it. Pretty much everyone else recognizes the “hater comment,” so don’t feel like you even have to acknowledge anything. What’s there to acknowledge, anyway?

B. Respond in the most diplomatic way possible – and turn it over to them for answers. What are they willing to do to help improve things? Are they willing to go farther than mere complaining? You’ll find out soon enough.

Sounds easy-peasy, right? Riiiight.

Even when you understand all of this logically, the raw emotion of somebody hating on you and your thoughts is probably still there. Seek out someone you trust to help you analyze the comment. Vent. Get it off your chest, blow up. Be illog

Mobile Pants: January 14

Ahem. For my first trick, I’d like to demonstrate [drum roll]… flaking out!

[scattered applause]

When I posted about Mobile Pants, I neglected to mention that I would be in Seattle. Oops? I’m back home today but staying in the studio. Seattle was my Mobile Pants location this week.

I’ll post my planned whereabouts on Wednesday, I promise. Likely I’ll be in NoPo at Lucky Lab. Thursday, January 21st.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way

That’s one of my favorite quotes, by Thomas Paine. I admit, it sounds kind of like something you’d hear on an “Outward Bound” retreat or something your boss might say to “motivate.” Framed in those circumstances, it makes me want to vomit. However, in my own little world it’s sometimes helpful for sorting things out.

What made me think of it today was a hater comment on a forum I belong to. Haters just get in the way.

See, I meet a lot of people every week. Many of them are small business people (which includes freelance designers, illustrators, and animators). They’re all trying to get work, keep work, and figure out how to grow their businesses.

Some of them are confident but looking for new ways to get where they want to go. Some are not so confident and looking for direction. Some are downright terrified or lost and need a boost from someone else.

It’s extremely rare that any one of these people is only looking out for Numero Uno, even if Numero Uno is their first priority at the moment. Most people I meet, even when they’re struggling, are ready to jump in and help someone else.

For that reason, I’m confident that even the terrified people are going to figure out a way to succeed, even if it takes longer than they hope. It’s because of their passion for what they’re doing combined with a passion for seeing other people do well. It’s a powerful combination.

Those people are looking for ways to lead their people, sometimes by following other people to see how it can be done.

None of these people are in the way, because they’re too damn busy trying to make something happen.

Haters are trying to stop things from happening. They don’t follow and they certainly don’t lead.

The thing is, everyone has off days. Everyone says things sometimes that they could have phrased more tactfully (myself included). It happens. It’s easier to let fly when you’re behind the safe wall of servers and IP addresses.

But there’s a fundamental difference between someone having an off day and someone who expresses themselves in a way that is purposely hurtful (i.e.; in the way). Do you get that?

Even so, the so-called Haters are deeply scared themselves. They have their own fears and reasons for being afraid. So they’re still people, but they’ve put themselves in the way of you accomplishing your stuff.

So what do you do when a “hater” gets in your way? One of two things:

A. Ignore it. Pretty much everyone else recognizes the “hater comment,” so don’t feel like you even have to acknowledge anything. What’s there to acknowledge, anyway?

B. Respond in the most diplomatic way possible – and turn it over to them for answers. What are they willing to do to help improve things? Are they willing to go farther than mere complaining? You’ll find out soon enough.

Sounds easy-peasy, right? Riiiight.

Even when you understand all of this logically, the raw emotion of somebody hating on you and your thoughts is probably still there. Seek out someone you trust to help you analyze the comment. Vent. Get it off your chest, blow up. Be illog

This character has been bouncing around in my head for years. At first she was going to appear in a children's book and then it became a dark horror comic and now I think she might find her place with Harry and Silvio. I think she stands well on her own as well. I've written two short books featuring her which may or may not ever see the light of day.

Well, it's New Year's Eve and while I'd love to do a retrospective 'Year that Was...' I ain't gonna. At least, not yet. In the meantime, I'm all giddy about some writing stuff. First and foremost...

GOODHALO II - Is done! It's done, done, done! Well, at least the first draft anyway. It's length shattered any previous records held by any books that I've ever written. I'd originally thought: Aw, it'll be like 100,000 words. No sweat. That didn't happen. I bumped up my guesstimate to around 120,000 words. Nope. This baby clocks in at over 127,000 words. Yikes! It's like an epic! And while I'd love to say that that number will diminish with the 2nd and 3rd drafts, traditionally, that's not true with me. I tend to be an 'adder.' We'll see, I guess, next year when I work on the subsequent drafts. But, I'm really pleased with it. The story is complex, follows mulitple characters and brings some pretty cool plot twists (in my opinion) to the fold. I'm really excited to get it in fighting shape and begin work on the 3rd and final installment sometime next year.

Thomas, what're you nuts? You haven't even sold GOODHALO one yet. Heck, you don't even have an agent for it yet.

Maybe I'm a little crazy, but I decided long ago that I was gonna write the entire trilogy, book deal or not. If it sells or I get a kick-ass agent then all the better, but I'm sort of in the position where I just want to write what I'm passionate about, not just what is hip n' cool this week. I can't imagine leaving Pi where I left him at the end of this book without bringing his tale to a satisfying conclusion. That's just how I'm wired, yo.

So, regardless of GOODHALO I's fate, there will be a third book. No ifs, ands or butts about it.

Mount Rushmore - Got my hands on an early copy of my 2nd book over the weekend from my editor. It's due out in April, I think and is already listed on Amazon. It's here. They're goofy and have my name listed as Thomas K. Troupe. Yuck. I've contacted them and they're supposed to change it to my full name with the next day or so. I mean, really. The coolest part of my name, methinks, is my middle name. Ya know? Anyway, here's what the cover looks like!

Who ever would've thought I'd write a (gasp!) non-fiction picture book? And about Mount Rushmore, for cryin' out loud. Who? Not me! Regardless, I've gotten nothing but really strong feedback with how well it turned out. The editor said it's easily her favorite in the series. Sweet!

Here's something even sweeter...well, at least funnier.

Yep. It's my little bio, complete with an illustrated picture of yours truly. I cut off the illustrator part, which is below my blurb. I wasn't sure if Matthew Skeens wanted his illustrated moniker out in Bloggy-blog land. I can't decide if the picture looks like me. My wife was quick to inform me that the bio is already outdated. You know, since by the time this comes out, I'll have TWO sons. *sigh* Next book, next book.

Fact or Fiction: Trolls - Well, now that GOODHALO II is going on ice for a bit, I'm going to spend the next month (you know, between diaper changes and what-not with the new boy) working on the first of the three new books. They're supposed to be fun little books about mythical creatures and stuff. I'm doing one on trolls, one on elves, and the last will be about knights. One is due on February 1st and is meant to be a prototype for the series. I think it'll be a blast, but I'm already thinking...Dang, that's not too far away.

ANNA 2.0 - I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to get to work on the next draft of my little fast-draft book I wrote last October. I've often joked that it would be hilarious (as in, not at all) if this book ended up being the one that swept an agent off their feet and not the insane GOODHALO trilogy. My wife claims it's the best book she's read of mine (she still refuses to read Goodhalo or anything with zombies in it), but I know that and about $3 will get me a small coffee, which I wouldn't drink because I hate coffee. So, you know... Anyway, I'm hoping to get to work on ANNA 2.0 right away as it's been soooo long since I even looked at it.

That's all I've got for right now. Hope y'all have a rootin' tootin', pistol-packin' New Years!

See you in '09, doggs.

Here is yet another piece from my favorite art school project, my Scandanavian Myth project. This is a pretty dark piece and not very refind but I find it interesting as an experiment. I really wanted in this picture to evoke an expression of mass and shadows and perhaps evil. I'm not very good at evil, I shy away from extremely dark imagery. I think I can infer something dark but a direct visual translation seems false to me. Some artists pull it off really well, like Goya. In this piece I do like the exploration of mood and place, which was the point. After I had done this piece I felt freer to have more finished pieces have a more pronounced sense of emotion and expression.
I watched Revenge Of The Sith yesterday and I can't stop watching the opening spaceship battle sequence. I want to watch it over and over, it's the craziest, coolest thing. Well, I like it.

A thank you to Meghan McCarthy for doing a heckuva presentation yesterday as part of our Spring Lecture series.

A thank you to Chris Barton for coming all the way out to New York and then stopping by Donnell before high-tailing it to some swank Google par-tay.

And a thank you in advance to Emily Jenkins who will be our guest next week (same time, same place) on Thursday, April 26th. Those of you who are fans of her work would do well to stop by and see her.