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Friday, January 29th, 2010
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3:17 pm - Running away to the carnival....
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| Wednesday, January 27th, 2010
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3:00 pm - Wicked Grounds Kinky Comics Carnival THIS SATURDAY!
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Wicked Grounds Kinky Comic Carnival
Date: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Time: 2:00pm - 5:00pm
Location: Wicked Grounds
289 8th Street, San Francisco, CA
Wicked Grounds invites you to join us for an afternoon social that you do not want to miss, a gathering of local artists, writers and comic creators coming together at San Francisco's first and only Kink Cafe, Wicked Grounds, located at 289 8th Street @ Folsom in San Francisco at 2:00 PM, Saturday January 30th.
So please join Justin Hall, Tristan Crane, Ted Naifeh, Storm, Greta Christina, Serena Valentino and the lovelies at Wicked Grounds, to have a cup of tea or coffee as well as some of their other scrumptious offering while you sample our creative wares Saturday, Jan 30th. We will all have an assortment of our work available for purchase, and we will of course be available to sign them, that is, if you fancy that sort of thing.
Justin Hall is an award-winning comic book creator best known for his series True Travel Tales, Glamazonia the Uncanny Super Tranny, and the gay porn Hard To Swallow Comics. His work has appeared in the Houghton Miflin Best American Comics, Boy Trouble, Best Erotic Comics, and the S.F. Bay Guardian, among others.
STORM is a San Francisco based writer, artist, oracle & doll shaman. He sells funny books at the Isotope Comic Book Lounge & reads X-Men Tarot at Swankety Swank. His one of a kind art dolls and mini-comic Princess Witch Boy are for sale at http://www.facebook.com/l/1f79f;stormantic.etsy.com. STORM believes that in a perfect world, Iman would have played Ororo Munroe in the movies. Visit his blog at http://www.facebook.com/l/1f79f;stormantic.com.
Serena Valentino has been weaving tales that combine mythos and guile for the past ten years with her work on the comic book series GloomCookie and Nightmares & Fairy Tales published with SLG Publishing. Nightmares & Fairy Tales: 1140 Rue Royale has earned her critical acclaim in both the comic and horror domain, where she is known for her unique style of storytelling, bringing her readers into exquisitely frightening worlds filled with terror, beauty and extraordinary female protagonists. Among her other projects, Serena is currently writing a horror screenplay with writer/director Phil Flores (of the Butcher Brothers), as well as three new graphic novels, Enchanted, Blackbird the Pirate Queen and Hells Café and has writtena novel for young adults for Disney Press based on the Wicked Queen from Snow White entitled Fairest of All, now available in all major bookstores. Visit her website serenavalentino.com
Tristan Crane is a San Francisco based writer and photographer. Tristan's writing has appeared in the recent 'Comic book Tattoo' project from Image comics, his first book 'How Loathsome' was released in 2004 to many reviews and general muttering; a second graphic novel, 'InVisible' with artist Rhea Silvan was published by Seven Seas early in 2009. As a photographer, Tristan specializes in erotic portraiture, bondage sessions, documentary-style photojournalism, and enjoys collaborating with a wildly diverse cast of models.
Greta Christina is editor of the annual "Best Erotic Comics" series, published by Last Gasp Books and Comics, where she has worked for seven years. She has been writing about sex since 1989, and has had sex writing appear in numerous magazines, newspapers, and anthologies, including Ms., Penthouse, On Our Backs, AlterNet, and three volumes of "Best American Erotica." She blogs about sex, atheism, politics, and other polite dinner- table topics at the cleverly- named Greta Christina's Blog, gretachristina.typepad.com.
Ted Naifeh: After making a name for himself drawing Serena Valentino's Gloomcookie in 1999, __TED NAIFEH__ went on to produce several popular all ages comics. The spooky adventure series Courtney Crumrin follows a grumpy little girl whose great uncle Aloysius draws her into a dark world of witchcraft and creatures that go bump in the night. Courtney Crumrin has been optioned by Dreamworks to be made into a motion picture. Polly and the Pirates tells the tale of prim and proper Polly Pringle, who gets kidnapped by pirates, only to discover her own natural, possibly inherited propensity for swashbuckling. Ted also lent his artistic skills to a comic adaptation of the videogame Death Junior, about a little boy whose father is the Grim Reaper. More importantly, Ted co-wrote and illustrated How Loathsome with Tristan Crane. A stylish, sexy exploration of the alternative lifestyle underground of San Francisco, How Loathsome explores gender, community, and how they affect identity. Currently, Ted is illustrating The Good Neighbors, an urban fantasy YA graphic novel series by New York Times best-selling author Holly Black, about a teenage girl who realizes that she’s half faerie. Volume 3 of the series will appear in October, 2010.
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| Sunday, December 20th, 2009
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4:22 pm - Werewolves, Lycanthropes and Skinwalkers! Oh My!
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As you may have guessed, [as I've mentioned it several times], I've been working on a werewolf handbook much like the one I did for zombies. It's been taking much of time as of late, so I've been a bit remiss when it comes to email lately. Likewise I haven't been posting updates here as often as I would like, but there simply isn't much time for frivolity, except for the occasional post on
Facebook or Twitter. With that said, if you'd like to keep up on what I'm up to, take a peek over there on occasion if you so fancy.
I have been receiving quite a few emails from readers who enjoyed my novel Fairest of All. I always love hearing from my readers and it's especially welcome when I am in the middle of a stressful deadline because it breaks things up and reminds me of one the many reasons I enjoy my work so well. I wish I had the time to write you all back personally, but please know how much I appreciate the thoughtful, heartfelt letters that have been coming in. Thank you.
I am enjoying writing this werewolf book, and I am eagerly awaiting the completion of Zombie. I will be sure to post release dates when the time comes. I'm sure there are many of you who know young teens who will love these books, and you might even possibly get some enjoyment out of them yourself!
I hope you all have a happy holiday!
Serena
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| Friday, December 11th, 2009
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12:05 pm - Moon Buns!
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A sweet fan made this Annabelle doll inspired by my comic, Nightmares & Fairy Tales. She calls her an Annabelle Moon Bun! Crafted by Marcy Bridges. Visit her Moon Creations site here: http://mooncreations.etsy.com - she has tons of super adorable dolls available. But there is only one Annabelle Moon Bun and I has her! Sorry!
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| Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
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5:05 pm - Zombies, Werewolves, Witches, Ghosts and Wicked Queens!
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So, I've finished writing my cheeky, fun and informative YA Zombie Survival Handbook (that is a handbook for the zombie, not humans, Precious.) and after a small break I have moved on to writing a YA Werewolf manual. The Werewolf book will be focusing on legend, lore, historical figures, films, literature, and of course we will be delving into a bit of frivolity with special FX makeup, dating, and so forth, but not in the cheeky fashion we did so with zombie. I take my werewolves very seriously, precious. Most of my time over the next couple of months will be devoted to werewolves and I couldn't be more pleased. After the completion of Werewolf, I will be finishing up the horror screenplay I've been writing with writer/director Phil Flores, 13th & Pennyroyal. Then around the first of the year I should be starting on my new novel with Disney and a new comic book series, Blackbird the Pirate Queen. Speaking of new comic projects, SLG has decided to release Enchanted, the comic I have been working on with Vincent as a graphic novel. Vincent has recently completed illustrating the first four issues. That means, in my copious free time, (ha!) I need to write the last two issues, and Vincent of course will have to illustrate them. I know what you're thinking, it's going to take forever. Well it may, however, in the meantime we plan to make the issues available online and for your iPhone. But you really should get the graphic novel when it comes out, Precious. I have a cannon after all and I'm not afraid to use it. I will of course keep you updated as everything progresses.
I've been enjoying reading the "reviews" of Fairest of All. Apart from those who seem to really love the novel, the two things people seem to take objection to are my not giving the queen a name and the way I elected to have the queen deal with her grief. I find it interesting and remarkable that someone would be hard-pressed to relate to a character without a name. Though I suppose that is subjective. That aside, it should be noted that Disney never named the character, and I felt that if I had the story would no longer be about "The Wicked Queen", but about this other woman with a name I pulled out of the ether. However, my feelings aside, really, it comes down to preserving the canon.
As for how the queen dealt with her grief, I have no comment.
These comments of course are less than a handful in count compared to the many lovely and thoughtful comments I've read and I feel I should also take the time to acknowledge how much I appreciate the thoughtful letters, "reviews", emails and comments I have read and received since the release of the novel. Thank you.
NOTE: I am much better at making updates here, take a peek if you'd like: http://www.facebook.com/serena.valentino
I usually reserve my other journal (http://serenavalentino.livejournal.com/) for such things, but for good measure here is a song I really love:
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| Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
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1:24 pm - Business Cards.
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| Friday, November 20th, 2009
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7:10 pm - Fairest signing THIS SATURDAY!
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Signing/Reading: Fairest of All
Date: Saturday, November 21, 2009
Time: 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Location: SLG Art Boutiki & Gallery
577 S. Market Street San Jose, CA
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| Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
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1:45 pm - Zombie update
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Teaser from the comic we're including in the Zombie Handbook I've been working on. Pencils/inks/colors by Juan Calle! Enjoy!
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| Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
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1:42 pm - Fairest Q & A [with spoiler alert]
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| Monday, October 19th, 2009
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12:43 pm - APE, Writing & Adventure
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APE weekend was fun. Met some of my readers, chatted with other creators, met some intriguing new people, made plans to have tea parties in lush back gardens, found some amazing photo prints of H.P. Lovecraft, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe, bought the cutest wallet and checkbook cover from Jamaica, listened to Ted play the ukulele, spent quite a bit of time at Wicked Grounds during my breaks and after the con, found some lovely little prints of foxes and ravens having a tea party, and got to see Jennifer, my editor at SLG looking amazingly cute and pregnant while we chatted about books we enjoy and Nikola Tesla.
APE has never been a big convention for me in general (the majority of my readers tend to attend Wonder Con and SDCC), but it is a fun convention to walk around and see all the lovely things people are making and actually have time to visit with other creators, and of course I enjoyed seeing readers who did come by to get their books signed. However, I think next year it might be fun to attend as a spectator.
I just finished writing the back matter for How to Be A Zombie a few days ago. I have about a week or two before I start on the Werewolf handbook, and in the meantime I have line edits and art to approve for Zombie. I think, if I am inclined to write during this break between books, I may work on Teratopia. [a YA, werewolf novel I have been working on for a while now] After the Werewolf handbook is written, Phil and I plan to finish our film script, 13th & Pennyroyal. Then I move on to the next Disney novel and my comic/graphic novel, Blackbird the Pirate Queen.
I also have some fun planned for this downtime. Later this week I'm spending the night at East Brother Lighthouse, and plan to visit the lighthouse at Point Bonita the following day. The following week I'm getting more work done on my bird tattoos [yes, soon I will be an aviary, if I keep going at this rate]. I also have plans to finally visit the Tut exhibit at the de Young (a belated birthday gift to Sarah), and see the Tiger Lillies play at the beginning of Nov.
So there you have it, sweets. That is what's going on in my world right now. I hope things are splendid in your universe as well.
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| Sunday, October 11th, 2009
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2:30 pm - promoting my friend's work
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| Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
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2:16 pm - APE NEWS!
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Come see me at APE at the SLG table. We will have Nightmares & Fairy Tales, GloomCookie and more than likely copies of Fairest of All. So come by, say hello and buy some books! Signing schedule forthcoming!
http://www.comic-con.org/ape/
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| Sunday, September 27th, 2009
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7:57 pm - Podcast interview @ ComiXology!
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| Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
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5:28 pm - Mailbag - Fairest of All questions:
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One of the odder points I found was which characters have names and which didn't. While the king's cousins, previous wife, uncle, and maidservants had names, the King, Queen, and Prince were never named beyond their titles. Was this a conscious choice to keep their characters more archetypal, because of Disney canon, or because of something else?
The characters I named were of my own creation (other than Snow White of course) however the characters I did not name were not [created by me], and were never named in the film - also I quite liked the challenge of writing a story about a women without using her name. I felt it made her character more intriguing - she was an otherwise undeveloped character in the Disney film - nameless, and without a background - I thought it would be interesting to explore her but keep a bit of mystery about her.
The only other question was about the Dungeon scene - why was most of the Queen's dialogue from the film left out? I can understand not wanting to a word for word re-telling, but I also wondered if there were copyright issues involved where you could only use so many lines.
There were quite a few scenes where the dialogue was taken directly from the film, and I felt in this scene it was not pertinent to the scene at hand.
EDITED TO INCLUDE:
Your answers cleared my questions right up. I was actually most impressed by your interpretation of the Magic Mirror - it was both simple and relatable to be able to command validation from someone who'd wronged you. It's a very universal theme, and those I've discussed it with agree it was a very creative explanation of her obsession.
Though I'm surprised you got so much freedom with the material, especially with some of the more graphic dream sequences - was there anything you got the word down from Disney you couldn't do?
No, Disney gave me quite a bit of freedom. The editor I worked with was a fan of my work before we started working together and knew the sort of story I would want to tell. There are a few scenes in the dream chapter that were cut out for the sake of going over page count - but I don't think they were violent or bloody. I have to say I was also surprised I was able to make that chapter as dark as I did. Honestly, had I been given complete and utter control, that is, not having to follow the events of the film, I think I would have made that portion of story even darker and filled with more terror (much in the way I did with the Dream Sickness chapter) - I was given the freedom to do what I liked when I was writing outside of the events of the film, and I am quite pleased they [Disney] were so open to my version of the queen's history. Thanks so much!
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3:19 pm - ATTENTION ONLINE CLASS STUDENTS!!!
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It seems my online students didn't get the email I sent about the break I needed to take in the class schedule. I'm terribly sorry for this. We will commence in a couple of weeks once I am finished with this zombie book I'm working on.
And for HISTORICAL RECORD: you sweeties are far too nice, I wish someone had written me sooner to let me know - I hate the idea of you thinking I decided to just drop the class without a word.
If you have any questions please email me!
Lovely day to you,
-sv
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1:54 am - NEWS IN MY WORLD
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Interesting news: It seems you may read Nightmares & Fairy Tales on your iPhone, if you desire. I'm did a Podcast interview today that will have all the pertinent details. I will be sure to post a link to the interview once comixology has it up on their site, Sunday.
I am also doing an interview for "Once Upon A Blog" a site dedicated to Fairytale news with a lovely lady who has shown great enthusiasm and fondness for Fairest of All.
I honestly haven't had the time to really take in the reaction to Fairest [with my current deadlines for Zombie], but I've been trying, allowing myself to take the time and space to enjoy the lovely letters I've been receiving from readers, reading some very thoughtful online customer reviews, and some very encouraging reports from my editor at Disney
The zombie book I'm working on now is coming along well. We are approaching the completion of this project in the coming weeks and plan to start on another book almost immediately. More details on that once the Zombie project is completed.
I also hope to have some good news for you by the end of the year concerning Blackbird the Pirate Queen and Hell's Cafe. And I am of course still working on 13th & Pennyroyal, the film I am writing and collaborating on with Phil Flores. More news on those in the coming months.
EDITED TO INCLUDE:
I will be attending APE October 17th & 18th - more info on that in the coming weeks.
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| Thursday, September 10th, 2009
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11:45 am - Fairest of All praise
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| Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
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3:21 pm - Zombie teaser!
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As you know, I'm working on a zombie handbook. What you might not know is that we've decided to include a mini-comic. After all, I have written one in two in my time, and we thought it might be fun.
So here are two preview pages from Jules & Violet for your enjoyment. Illustrated by the very talented Juan Calle.
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| Sunday, August 30th, 2009
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12:33 pm - Mirrors & Light
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I've acted in many plays, from Noel Coward to musicals, I was a singing telegram girl, I sang with bands and danced around scantily clad when I was in the RHPS, and for some reason I was nervous when reading from my novel last night. Interesting.
It really was a lovely evening though. The perfect mix of friends and followers of my work. It was nice to have the opportunity to talk about the novel and what it's meant to me to write it. It's been sometime since I wrote Fairest and I can now look at it with fresh eyes and a slightly less broken heart, and share my motivations for writing such a sad tale filled with love, loss, beauty and grief.
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who came out last night. It really was a lovely evening.
And of course my thanks to Jude and everyone at Borderlands Books for being so wonderful, and to Ripley and Ash for being so frelling cute.
It was a pleasure.
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| Friday, August 21st, 2009
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1:24 pm - UPDATE:
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Fairest of All seems to be well received so far. I've been enjoying reading the emails that have been coming in over the past several days. If you're one of my readers who wrote in to say you enjoyed the book, please do me a favor and write something up on Amazon, so others may see what you think of the novel as well.
One of the letters I received was from a woman who runs an inner city literacy program in Virginia. A lovely woman who runs this program out of her own pocket. I want to speak with her myself first, but once I do, I am going to see if she would agreeable to my trying to set something up so books and funds can be donated to her library. I will be sure to post more about this in the very near future.
Right now, at this very moment, my time is devoted to my Zombie deadlines. As some of you know I am writing a Zombie Manual for young adults, the focus being for the survival of the zombie rather than the human. It's been great fun working on this and as I've mentioned the team I'm working with over at Weldon Owen are fantastic.
And as a friendly reminder: I have a signing/reading next week at Borderlands Books here in San Francisco.
Borderlands Books - 866 Valencia St · San Francisco, CA
Saturday, August 29th, 7:00 pm.
Put me down on your dance cards, ladies and gentlemen, because I would like to you come out and help me celebrate the release of my novel.
For more information, please visit: http://serenavalentino.com/appearances.html
That's all I have for you now, lovelies. Enjoy your weekend.
-SV
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