Some time in the studio...

So, it's been an insane month for me. In the last week alone I've been to Edinburgh book festival and Birmingham comic con, and am now getting ready to settle into a full month of inking for Frostbite. It'll be nice to stop in one place for a while, haha. Big hellos to anyone I met at the forementioned events, of course ^_^

But the big news is of course that Vampire Academy the graphic novel was officially released last week, yay!
And Rose has no need to look quite so scared! I can't tell you how nerve-wracking it has been getting ready for the release of this book. I know how much Richelle Mead's amazing characters mean to readers; I love the novels myself, and I know that no adaptation will ever fit perfectly the images we build in our heads whilst reading something we love...but the response I've seen so far to the book online has just blown me away. I want to offer an absolutely MASSIVE thank you to every one of you who has offered support, feedback or general squeeing - it's just SO appreciated! *hug*
Clicking that banner above will take you to the amazon.com page for the book, but you can find it in most book shops and online sites.

So - big love goes out to my cohorts: Leigh Dragoon (script), Caravan Studios (colours), Ching Chan (art editor), Rob Valois (editor) and of course Richelle herself - who has just recently given birth to her first non-book baby; a real life flesh and blood one! *confetti*. Many thanks to Penguin teams all over the place, including the amazing BetweenTheLines run by Penguin Australia, where you can see a version of the first book told via facebook! So much fun. ^_^

And, once again, MASSIVE thanks to the Vampire Academy community. You guys have been so welcoming and supportive and I could not have hoped for more.
Now, back to Frostbite inks!

Vampire Academy is released today! ^_^

Today is officially a Vampire Academy day, what with Richelle Mead's new spinoff novel, Bloodlines, being released as well as my own project, the graphic novel of the first book in her series - adapted by Leigh Dragoon. I'm working away on the Frostbite graphic novel, but it's very exciting to know that the first book is now out there in the world! ^_^
No, Lissa - it really IS out today! XD

Hi honey, I'm home!

So - I'm back in blighty and trying to get used to working again, haha! I had a lovely couple of weeks, but now it's all engines go as I'm heading up to Edinburgh Book festival for the first time next week, and of course next week also sees the release of the first Vampire Academy graphic novel! *dance*
Leigh Dragoon has adapated Richelle Mead's novel into the graphic novel format, I pencilled and inked it, and the colours are provided by Caravan Studios, so it's a real team book!

Follow Rose's shocked face to see where you can order a copy via amazon (this is the co.uk link but it's on .com as well), but the book should be available in all good book and comic shops too:
Who here is expecting a copy? I hear that the pre-orders have dispatched, woohoo! It's a nerve wracking but exciting time for me ^_^

If you want to come talk about the book in person, you can come find me at the Edinburgh Festival next week where I'll be doing two talks. One on Wednesday at 6:30pm in the RBS Story Box, where I'll be doing a presentation on  Vampire Academy. And then I join Dr Mel Gibson on the thursday when we'll be talking about comics and education, featuring some of my Manga Shakespeare work. That's at 5pm in the RBS Corner Theatre

And If you're based further south in the UK, you can come and see me next weekend as I'll be hanging out with my friends Sonia Leong, Paul Duffield and Kate Brown along with other fab comickers at the Birmingham BC event on August 27th. That should be good fun and I hope to have some copies of Vampire Academy to sell at the show. Fingers crossed! ^_^

And in between all of this, I better get some work done! '^_^
It's nice to be back, guys *hug*

Off on my holidays!

My going away is  rare, rare thing...so I can hardly say it and believe it, but from tomorrow I shall be out of the studio for a whole two weeks! *faints*
Where I'm going I'll be unlikely to have access to the internet, which will be scary but liberating, haha. I hope everyone has a great fortnight! Obviously I won't be able to respond to comments or mails in that time easily, and I fear what two weeks away will do to my inbox, so please do know that I'm not rude or ungrateful if I don't reply on any of my gallery sites! ^_^

Aaand when I get back home, we'll be just a week or so away from the release of the Vampire Academy graphic novel - amazing! As I leave the studio, I'm on page 61 of inks for Frostbite, so it's all progressing along. The image above is a snippet of the Frostbite cover, coloured by Caravan studios.

Take care, all! xx

San Diego Comic Con this weekend!

Hello, all...I'm alliiiiiive! *crawls from the studio and blinks in the light* haha.
So, I thought I should pop in for a bit of an update, since it's been forever...and since it's the one and only SDCC this weekend. Sadly, I'm not there in person as I'm furiously inking away on Frostbite, the second graphic novel in the Vampire Academy series. However, I'm certainly going to be at the show in spirit, or at least comic, form.
Vampire Academy the graphic novel will be at the event in my stead, and I'm sure it's far more exciting than I am in person, haha. The chaps at PenguinTeen have informed me that Penguin will be running giveaways of the book! So, to be in with a chance of nabbing a copy a month before its release, head to booth 2913R between 11-12 on Friday and 4-5 on Saturday. I got a copy of the book through last week and, boy, is it SHINY! The colourists have done a fab job on it! Much love and respect as always to Richelle Mead for overseeing the whole thing, and to Leigh Dragoon for her work on the adaptation!

Avalon Chronicles - Book two is now very much underway on this series, and rumour has it that Oni Press will have some promo for the first book (due out early next year) at their booth this weekend! I got to see the lettered pages just recently and, oh my word, it's so much fun. Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir are just fantastic! As I finished my work on the book a little while ago, I got to read it almost as fresh, and it's so enjoyable!
So, if you're going to be at the show, have a wonderful time! Me? I'll carry on drawing ^_^

Arcane Vault open pre-orders for Laser Cel

Arcane Vault have now opened pre-orders on 'The Pin'; a limited edition laser cel of an image I created exclusively for the product. A collector's item, for sure. Fans of Vampire Academy or people who just want a pretty picture should click the banner and get reserving! ^_^

Vampire Academy Twitter avatars

In honour of the advance copies of the graphic novel having been posted out yesterday (and do check out Richelle's blog post for details), I decided to make a set of Vampire Academy twitter avatars! Please feel free to use and abuse these...spread the love! ^_^

The banner above will take you to an avatar gallery page here on the site. If the images appear blown up when you reach the page, fear not. Just click on one and you should see them all displayed at their correct 72x72 twitter size. Make your selection and right click save-as. ^_^

A bit of a round up...

Long overdue, and post-MCM is the perfect chance for a round up! I'm still pretty exhausted after this weekend's MCM Expo, but I had such a great time and came back with a stash of great comics! Huge aplogies to anyone who saw me on the Sunday...lack of sleep had made me into some kind of zombie and so I probably said all sorts of weird things, haha.
So, what is there to highlight from the show for me? SO MUCH!
First up, a huge thank you to Anna, Matt, Dave and Pud for being awesome ComicVillage organisers. You guys were fantastic! *hug*

So - the weekend for me: Just before the show, an interview I did for the wonderful ideastap site went live. Follow the banner above to see that.
When I arrived at the excel on the Friday, I made the most of the meet and greet atmosphere by making my way around the comicvillage and buying a ton of independent press comics, whose quality once again astounds me! A few creator highlights: Adam Cadwell, John Allison, Jim Round, Jade Sarson, N.Gingerboom.......oh so many; too many! You were all amazing! I also was lucky enough to get a copy of the 4th Elephantmen hard back...oh, those books are so, so shiny and awe inspiring. Richard Starkings is a star! As always, I would have liked to talk to so many more people, but the show is insane - in a good way ^_~

Click the banner above to see BleedingCool's lovely response to one of my favourite parts of the Saturday! Following the amazing Futurama crew (which was more than a little humbling, especially when I got to meet the fabulous Phil lamarr!) Myself, Leah Moore, Kit Buss of Windflower and Darren Garret of Littleloud got up on stage alongside the lovely Johnathon from HatTrick to promote the upcoming Thrill Electric. Channel 4 commissioner, Jo Twist, was also there and it was so nice to finally meet her in person! Thanks so much to everyone who came along to the panel, we had a great time. We even got to see a shiny trailer for the project...at least, the audience did. Sadly, from our spot on the stage, we couldn't see the screen, haha! I hear it will be placed online soon, so will link when it is.At the Sweatdrop booth I was of course selling Dragon Heir: Reborn, and have to say a massive thank you to everyone who came by to say hello, make nice comments or pick up the book *hug* It was so fun getting to sit with my Sweatdrop homies again after so many expo's of running around like mad!
On the Saturday evening, I got to enjoy a now-regular special expo treat: A meal with My hubby, Anna Petterson and the charming and wonderful Warren Ellis, who I so rarely get to catch up with. I always love this little moment of calm amongst the madness of the event and never seem to get a chance to see Warren outside of it these days!
Sunday was a blur for me, but I know that underneath my zombie-like exterior, I had an awesome time. And Artists won the Artists Vs Writers battle! FINALLY! Well done to Leigh Gallagher, Adam Cadwell, Joe List, Becky Cloonan and Gary Erskine for finally getting one over on the writers team, haha ^_^
In non-Expo news, the new, shiny ImagineFX issue is out this month that features my Dragon Age piece in the Q&A along with the usual incredible level of art and education we can expect from the magazine!
So - what's next up for me? I'm back into grind mode, working on Frostbite and needing to dive back into Avalon as soon as I can too! I'm also looking forward to the Launchpad comics conference on the 18th June, where I'll be offering a talk on my work and on paths into the industry for anyone serious about working in this wonderful comics industry of ours. Hope to see some of you there!

This is Emma signing out. ^_^