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Today I'm wearing my Simon's Cat t-shirt from Expo. Isn't it great? Gary and I have just been having a Team Simon fan moment here in the studio.




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Here's a fab reworking of my Vern and Lettuce book cover by Hester!, one of Warwick Johnson Cadwell's 'nippers', as he calls them. Still don't know nipper's name, but a big thanks to you if you're reading this! Love the potted plant pattern on Lettuce's dress and the reimagining of the sousaphone (which Vern erroneously calls a 'tuba' in the story, but just so it will fit in speech bubbles, he's a considerate sheep).



And speaking of Warwick Johnson Cadwell, his poster now has pride of place over my desk. He's compiled drawings he made of passengers on the boat he captains on Chichester Harbour, and you can see loads of the individual sketches over on his blog.



I was hoping I'd be able to make more sketches in a similar vein from my table at Expo, but between battling Mo-Bots and table tending, I only had time to make these here. (I didn't get Lucy's feet in because even when I stood up, I couldn't see them over the table.)



And here's a card from the lovely Alex Milway, who's just reported seeing a first printed copy of his latest Mythical 9th Division yeti book. Hurrah! I still haven't got around to making a full post with the film footage I took at the recent Crystal Palace Children's Book Festival, but a massive thanks to Alex for his hard work in organising it... and meeting his book deadline! I am at once hugely grateful and deeply impressed.



Upcoming events!
Sat, 6 Nov: I'm speaking with my dear friend Layn Marlow, and the writers Mary Hoffman and Philip Pullman in Oxford for the open conference of the Federation of Children's Book Groups.
Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, 9:15am - 3:45pm (Lunch included plus a tour of the University Press Museum 12:30 - 1:30, £35 for membrs, £40 for non-members.

Sat & Sun, Nov 13 & 14: Speaking on panels at the Winter Conference and book launch party with the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators, details here. My panels include:
How to Sell your Book, with Lucy Coats, Nina Douglas & Jon Mayhew

Social Networking: a blessing or a curse?, with Candy Gourlay & Keren David
SCBWI is a great organisation; if you're trying to get into publishing, or are already publishing but want to meet other fab people in the industry and get insider industry info, this is the group to join. It's very friendly and approachable, so great if you're a bit shy.

Sat, Nov 20 Thought Bubble comics festival, Leeds
I've never been to this festival, but I've heard AMAZING things about it and had to get in on the action! The writer of You Can't Eat a Princess!, Gillian Rogerson, has never been to a comics festival and I'm l

Not only does Battersea in south London boast the Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, but it also hosted a comics festival today in a perfect summery setting. Here's my glam studio mate Ellen Lindner at the bus stop.



I posted about the HyperComics exhibition last week here, but I caught a lot of things this time that I missed on my first visit. Barnaby Richards had trouble looking through the masks to see Dave McKean's installations - our specs kept catching the edge of it - but if we took them off, we couldn't see anything. Eventually we sorted it out.



Some fab people from the day: Woodrow Phoenix, Warwick Johnson Cadwell (I got a copy of his new minicomic sketchbook and The No.1 Car Spotter, yay!), Lou Naniiebim Ho and Nikki Shakino Stuart with our Birdsong anthology.


Back to fab Ellen and her amazing printed shirt:


And the tucked-away part of the exhibition that I totally missed last time.


Between Dave McKean's fascinating talk about his work, the lovely outdoor marquee setting and the good company, I think this is the best comics festival I've been to, just for pure comfort and ease. Oh, and I was just a punter - no table - that may have had something to do with it. The organiser and exhibition curator Paul Gravett was saying there was a chance this festival could become an annual thing, and I'm all for that! If you haven't seen the exhibition, be sure to pop along, and bring your kids to the HyperComics family workshop I'm leading on Sun, 19 Sept.

Oh, and one more thing, the yeti meister Alex Milway just sent me a link to this amazing historic Russian photos.

On to Edinburgh! Packing copies of Warwick's book and Geraldine McCaughrean's Pull Out all the Stops! in case I get any time to read on the train. I've already started reading Geraldine's book, it's so well written it makes me rather giddy.

I was so chuffed when I got the picture from Molly Bruton of 'Maggie, the 2nd Mankiest Monster' that I had to go ahead and try to draw my own version! I started with the softer one below, but it wasn't quite right, and then I painted the top one, which I like very much! Maybe I'll name mine Molly for now, and she doesn't look as manky as Morris, but she has some of her own bizarre habits. Hmm, will have to think about this.



You can see a review by Molly and her dad, Richard, on the FPI blog here, thanks, guys! I was also very chuffed to read reviewer Matt Badham's comments about the Michiru Morikawa interview over at Down the Tubes and the recap of BICS on FPI. Michiru and I were both really nervous about that interview, she was worried about her English (which turned out to be almost flawless) and I was worried that I didn't know enough about manga to be able to ask good questions. I need to learn way more, but it was nice just to connect with her as another creator who gets a bit obsessive over drawing a good line.

And talking of good lines, I just got this fab drawing from the King of Good Lines, Warwick Johnson Cadwell. You might recognise his work from editorial illustrations in The Guardian, but he also makes comics and is one of the best people at drawing in Britain. Ha ha, I love the jar of Ginger Beard...



I was so glad to get the chance to see him at BICS, he's very elusive because he's usually working out somewhere on his boat. He's contributing to the Birdsong anthology that's hopefully coming out for Thought Bubble in Leeds.

Today I was doing character development for a picture book, and since it involved just lots and lots of doodling, I decamped to the big sunny atrium at the National Maritime Museum. About three hours in, one of the doodles started to look distinctly like my friend Dave, which made me giggle, and so I finished it and coloured it in when I got home. (I'm not so sure he's going to like it, he looks downright cross. But I look like a primate, so perhaps we're even.)

And then I found in my Inbox a marvellous Vern and Lettuce picture by the magnificent Warwick Johnson Cadwell! If you haven't seen his work yet, have a look, the guy is insanely talented. Some of the best drawing I've seen in Britain, I'm serious. I met him for the first time at the Thing and had a bit of a fan girl moment.



Don't forget, you can bring your DFC questions to the DFC panel at the Oxford Literary Festival at noon this Saturday! You can book tickets here to see a lively discussion with David Fickling, John Aggs, the Etherington brothers and me.