Next Tuesday, June 15, James will be at the Chickamauga, Georgia public library for two programs–one at 3:30 pm, and the other at 5:30 pm. If all goes as planned he will be doing his presentation on “Brainstorming a Superhero” during those two sessions as well as hawking goods (comics and originals) in between. One of the Dark Candle pages (original art) will be a door-prize as will other art.
If you are in the area or know someone who is let them know. Here are the Chickamauga Library list of events, and the main library page (in case you need directions or further information).
Pleased to say that the visit to Chickamauga Public Library went well. Actually, I’m pleased to say that I found it at all! (A GPS navigation system is definitely on my wish-list). But after some confusion, and a little help from some folks at a nearby Wendy’s I managed to find my way through the Chickamauga Battlefield and into the heart of town. Mostly it was by the Grace of God, because I had no clue where I was. I really need to go back and give the Battlefield a closer look–maybe take along my Dad, who’s a Civil War buff.
The Chickamauga Public Library is located just across the street from the local High School (an arrangement that makes it easier to find most Libraries in the U.S.), once I located the school I had only to cast my gaze at a sign that said: “Doodle Cartoonists!” and I felt welcome.
Renee Roder, who had arranged the visit, waited inside at the circulation desk, along with her son, Grant, and teen volunteer Mary. The three of them helped me carry in my load of goodies (a portfolio full of original artwork, copies of various comics I’ve contributed to, and three 20×30″ display boards used in the “Brainstorming a Superhero” program).
After setting everything up and some chatter with my two assistants for the day (Renee having gone elsewhere to round up potential participants), we began the first session at 3:30. Of course, I’m not going to go through the whole outline here, but we touched a bit on the history of comics, the craft of comics, the grammar of comics (always an eye-brow raiser with school kids–”What? We’re going to have to learn? It’s summer time!”), finally settling in for a round of brainstorming which created a female hero of the humorous variety, “Beauty-mess”.
Afterwards a drawing for doorprises included a page from The PLUS adventure “Meet Mr. Scratch”, along with various other items donated by local businesses.
The participants hung around to draw items for my perusal, and one little girl, Hannah, was nice enough to do a very good drawing of a squirrel for me to take home to my wife, Karin (who word has LOVES squirrels). But as the afternoon was getting on, many of the kids had other events to attend, softball games, etc. So they soon cleared out to leave me to prepare for the second session.
What I didn’t notice was the gathering gloom outside. In a few minutes Renee, Grant and I were taking a few minutes before the second session to discuss the library comics and arts reference collection–when suddenly the bottom dropped out of the sky! A huge rainstorm began, complete with high winds and then lightning–which soon took out the power supply.
While we might simply have cancelled the second session at that time, there was no point in leaving the building and getting soaked. The library is normally open until 7 pm anyway, and no one was in a hurry to go out in the storm–except for Mary, who braved the weather for some reason–only to return, soaked, a few minutes later. (Ahh, youthful exuberance!)
As is the case with most summer downpours, this one passed before too long and people who had intended to come out for the 5:30 session began showing up around 5:45 and we were happy to have them. With the slight delay we continued with only slightly dampened spirits by the waning light outside. There was no power, so this session took an odd and ominous appearance, perhaps explaining the result of the brainstorming: a villainess named “Super-Slick Water Witch”.
After this session I had the pleasure of meeting Keith Robinson, who was there with his daughter. Keith is the author of “Island of Fog”. A children’s book that has gotten great reviews from such luminaries as Peirs Anthony! There’s a great preview of the book on Keith’s website http://www.unearthlytales.com , a real “page turner”.
So you never know who you might meet at an event! Looking forward to doing more soon.
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