I must recover from this convention, and since a picture is worth 1,000 words, then this will make up for all the words I won’t type.

Carla Speed McNeil gets the respect she is due from Jeff Smith:

More Jeff.

Jim Ottaviani.

Bone love.

Great fans, great show. Absolutely lovely time. Yeah, got convention crud, but not until the end, so I was only grumpy the last day. Hah!

The best part of the show for me was getting to go over my new prose novel with Jeff Smith. Got a better reaction to the outline that I dared dream. Very inspiring. I daydreamed about my book all the way up to the show and all the way back. Firing on all cylinders.

But Jeff urged me to get A Distant Soil done as soon as possible. The challenge? Shave my head and keep it shaved until the book is finished.

Whew. I may have to come up with some other sacrifice. May I crop it boyishly short instead? Live with my natural color for awhile?

No, I did no commissions, so nothing to show. I inked my new GN project the whole time. My editors would be pleased.

This August Silverline Books, the children’s graphic novel imprint from Image Comics, debuts two all-new titles showcasing the human side of two very fantastic situations, THE LAVA IS A FLOOR by writer Justin Shady with artist Jeremy R. Scott and TIMOTHY & THE TRANSGALACTIC TOWEL by writer Michael Bullock with artist Michael Metcalf!

“I was immediately impressed with the way THE LAVA IS A FLOOR and TIMOTHY & THE TRANSGALACTIC TOWEL both appeal to a child’s sense of humor, while the vivid imagery captures the imaginations of new and reluctant readers alike, ” Silverline Publisher Jim Valentino said. “Both books give unique twists on the everyday experiences of children, making them enjoyable for both kids and their parents.”

Silverline Books continues its tradition of bridging the gap between comics and children’s story books for a new generation of fans with THE LAVA IS A FLOOR and TIMOTHY AND THE TRANSGALACTIC TOWEL. THE LAVA IS A FLOOR is the story of a brother and sister troubled by a typical childhood dillema; they’re bored. Although these are not your typical sibling duo–they’re monsters living in the crater of a volcano! Using their imaginations they pretend to be the strangest creatures they can think of: humans! In TIMOTHY AND THE TRANSGALACTIC TOWEL, a young boy named Timothy soon finds out that with a seemingly normal beach towel he can transport himself to other worlds and times, including into the midst of an inter-galactic war!

THE LAVA IS A FLOOR (JUN090325), a 32-page full color hard cover book for $12.99, will be in stores August 5, 2009. TIMOTHY AND THE TRANSGALACTIC TOWEL (JUN090327), a 112-page full color book $16.99, will be in stores August 26, 2009. For more information please see Silverline Books!