A few items.

This is out today:

Yes, it was also out last Wednesday. But owing to a kink in the distribution chain, Locke & Key #4 didn’t arrive in a broad swath of the US last week; didn’t turn up in the UK either. It finally made it into most stores today, however, and Newsarama says you should run out and pick it up (scroll down to find the review).

I blasted through Toronto on Monday, to do about a week of events in 24 hours. There were a lot of highlights, but I especially enjoyed two. The first was an appearance on The Hour, a late night show hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. Link is here – it was an unusually long interview for a TV thing, and we had some fun. Although I apparently need to say “Y’know” a whole lot less. The interview starts at about the 26:00 mark.

And the last reading of the tour, at the Merril Collection, a part of the Toronto Public Library, was great fun, and the ideal way to wind things up. Did you know the Merril Collection has the biggest collection of scifi and fantasy novels in the world? A collection so valuable, the entrance to the library is protected by a Griffin and a Hippogriff? Well, I mean, obviously. You don’t guard books this important with just a couple rent-a-cops:

I had a good time on the tour, and was glad to spend time with some old friends, and some new. Big thanks to all the editors and author escorts who showed me around the west coast, the east coast, England and Toronto. Hopefully it won’t be three years between tours this time.

That’s also a wrap on the website for the next couple weeks. I’ll probably burp up occasional, completely inessential comments on Twitter, but other than that I’m laying low, and getting some work done. Be well everyone, and a whole lot of thanks for being so good to me while I was out on the road.

The flight was delayed by a couple hours in London, so I didn’t get to my hotel in Toronto until 3, and only wound up snatching about 3 and a half hours sleep. But I don’t feel too badly. It’s the last day of the tour, and then I get to go home and vanish for a while.

I’ll be reading tonight at a place with a very long name: The Toronto Public Library/Lillian Smith Library in the Merril Collection (239 College Street). Hope you can make it. The reading gets going at 7 PM.

Had myself a good time in England – and here was a particularly nice moment. St. Paul’s Cathedral, out in the sun by myself, listening to the bells. Only now it’s like you were there too. (Quicktime video at the link – cool, huh?).

Bells

Was up around 5 AM and out of the hotel by 6, roaming the streets of London and trying not to get run over (Look left, fuckwit! LEFT!). My sleep schedule is going to be SO fucked up when I get back to America. Here’s the morning picture:

That’s from outside the National Gallery. It was cool and sprinkly but kind of a nice sprinkly.

The last appearance of the UK tour is this afternoon, at 1 PM, in Forbidden Planet London. No reading, just scribbling, doodling, etc. If you’re in town for the weekend you’ll have to go back tomorrow morning, where FP is hosting Mark Millar and John Romita, jr., and how awesome is that?

In other doings, Blair Butler hauled off and made Locke & Key #4 the Pick-of-the-Week, calling Gabriel Rodriguez her favorite artist working in comics today. Even if you’re already on board with Locke & Key, I encourage checking out this week’s Fresh Ink anyway… lots of other fine recommendations, including some vampire comic that looks like a must read.

Finally, here’s the cover for issue 5, out next month… they can go ahead and hang this in the National Gallery, far as I’m concerned:

Another hurried post – I’m out the door to make the reading here in Manchester in about twenty minutes. Been lotsa laffs, having fun, wish you was here, and now how about those promised photos? First, from yesterday:

Look who turned up at the signing in Milton Keynes! Although he became quite disgruntled when I misspelled his name (I thought he was Dale Ick, but apparently that wasn’t right), and began shouting EX-TERM-IN-ATE over and over, and waving a toilet plunger in my face. I had heard the British tended to be reserved, but obviously that’s just not true.

More after the leap.

(more…)

There just aren’t any yet, because I only got to England very late, and what the hell am I supposed to photograph at nearly midnight? Did anyone really want a picture of the salad I ordered from room service?

The UK Tour kicks off today. I’ll be signing at the Waterstone’s at Midsummer’s Place in Milton Keynes at 13:00 (no reading). Then we’re racing off to Birmingham – I’ll be reading and signing at the Waterstone’s there on High Street at 18:00. Come on out.

I’m off for the UK in a couple of days. Owing to a late-developing personal conflict, some things had to be shuffled around, and I’m afraid an event planned for Basingstoke had to be cancelled. My apologies to the folks at Waterstones-Basingstoke, and to those who had planned to come.

The other events are all still a go, and if there are any other changes (I don’t anticipate any, and hope not), I’ll post about it as soon as possible.

THE U.K. TOUR SCHEDULE

March 15 (Mon) - BASINGSTOKE • Waterstones. 7:00 PM.

March 16th (Tues) - MILTON KEYNES • Waterstones. 1 PM (Signing only).

March 16th (Tues) - BIRMINGHAM • Waterstones, 6 PM.

March 17th (Wed) - LIVERPOOL • Waterstones, 12:30 PM (Signing only).

March 17th (Wed) - MANCHESTER • Waterstones, 7 PM.

March 18th (Thurs) - LEEDS • Waterstones, 1 PM. (Signing only).

March 18th (Thurs) - NOTTINGHAM • Waterstones, 6:30 PM.

March 20 (Sat) - LONDON • Forbidden Planet (time TBD).

But wait… there’s more!

The Canada Tour Schedule

As forewarned, there will be a brief stopover in Canada at the end of things. I’ll be at the Lillian St. Library to read for The Merril Collection in Toronto on Monday, March 22nd at 7PM.

And that’s all of it… after that I figure to do something of a quiet fade for a month or so. There may be some modifications to website and message board around that time as well, so it’s possible some elements of joehillfiction may be unavailable for a while as well. Or not. We’ll see then.

First, a correction: yesterday I wrote that I’d be reading tonight at Borders in Bangor, ME., at 7PM, but that’s wrong – the reading actually starts at 6 PM. Sorry about the mixup. This is the last stop on the US tour, although next week I’ll be making a UK swing, and there’ll be a visit to Toronto (details still to come).

And my thanks to the staff at the Borders in Portland, ME., for having me into their house last night; I had a great time.

Early yesterday afternoon, I was able to swing by Casablanca Comics and Coast City Comics and left them with signed stuff. I also popped over to the International Cryptozoological Museum, but wouldn’t'cha know the place was closed? Loren Coleman, who runs the museum, had to answer a call of duty – there was another sighting of the Leeds Loki up in northern Maine, a hairy, naked bigfoot type fella who has been sighted roaming the highways. Of course, Israel Skelton of Skelton Crew Studios lives up that way. I spoke with him later in the day, and told Israel to put some clothes on and stop scaring people, but he swears it wasn’t him.

I did have a nice browse in Green Hand Books, the funky-cool used bookstore that shares space with the museum. While there, I unexpectedly made a new friend… someone who liked me so much he invited himself home with me. And he is now making himself comfortable in my office. Say hello:

… busyass day, so this is the briefest of brief posts. The last two US readings are coming up, one tonight at 7 PM at the Borders in South Portland, ME, and another tomorrow, again at 7 at 6 PM, at the Borders in Bangor. Come on out, it’ll be just like seeing your favorite band in concert (if they didn’t bring their instruments, and didn’t actually play anything, and hid off stage while I read from my book).

Almost done with the American tour… just a couple of dates left. I’ll be at Water Street Books tonight, 7PM. I spent the entire road trip reading the exploding-turkey bit, but then on the last day, in Corte Madera, I switched it up and tried reading the first couple chapters. Everyone there seemed to enjoy it, so that’s probably what I’ll read tonight. Although it may be that the Corte Madera crowd was actually responding more to my patented Dirty-Bits-Warning-System. What is the Dirty-Bits-Warning-System? You’ll have to turn up tonight to find out.

I’m too tired to do a whole bunch of writing. So how ’bout some pictures with commentary?

Here is Ripley. Ripley is awesome:

Ripley is one of the two Sphinxes that haunt Borderland Books in SF, where I stopped in for a happy hour Friday afternoon. Here is Jude, who rules Borderland Books with benevolence and humor, and Ash, the other Borderlands Cat. They are also awesome:

In addition to some very cool cats, Borderlands also has some signed and doodled copies of HORNS, and I think L&K and 20TH CG. And they ship. Just sayin’.

I have a picture from the evening read at Book Passage, which shows myself posing with a throng of people in horns, but it’s too blurry to publish, so you’ll have to use your imaginations instead. I’ve been reading the exploding-turkey bit on the road, but for some reason I decided to set that one aside for a night, and read the first two chapters of the book instead. Which was fun and made for a different sort of evening. I’ve hit a lot of towns in a very short time, but I’ve been lucky in that friends of mine turned out everywhere, and last night at Book Passage was no exception; I was glad a pal o’ mine, Sam Singh, was able to make the reading and go out for a couple drinks after.

The American tour is just about over (English tour still to come); now’s a good time to say thanks to Dolores, Kevin, Gail, and Margo, the author escorts who showed me their towns and made sure I got where I needed to go when I needed to be there. I had a lotta fun, guys, let’s do it again sometime soon.