The Wildcat's Lair: August 2009

I'm doing a special post for a variety of reasons today. First and foremost, I wanted to pass along some information on the site of one of my previous "Wildcat's Lair" episodes. I found out earlier this week that the Creatures 'n Crooks bookstore is closing its doors for good. September 30th will see this Richmond home for sci-fi, fantasy and mystery disappear, and that's a terrible shame. The store was the victim of the current economy.

I did six episodes featuring Creatures 'n Crooks this past December and January. The fourth episode was even voted as the third favorite comic strip out of all the episodes posted last year.

While I love Barnes & Noble as much as anyone else, it's these local bookstores that truly take care of their clientele and, just as importantly, their local writers. Large chains don't make time for local authors.

Speaking of local authors, I'd like to plug one I've had the pleasure of meeting (and that's thanks to the advice of Lelia at CnC). Maggie Stiefvater (for those wondering, it's pronounced like "steve otter") is getting a lot of attention these days. She's a rising star among Young Adult Fantasy and is doing for faeries and werewolves what Twilight did for vampires. Last year, I moderated a writing panel with her as one of the panel members, and I'll have the pleasure of doing so again in October at the James River Writers Conference. The woman is amazingly talented, gifted as a writer, artist and musician. She combined a lot of these skills to put together a video trailer teasing her upcoming novel Ballad, which is a sequel to her previous faerie-driven YA novel Lament. Here's a look at the trailer she made (and yes, she even made the music herself).

Just so you don't start to think I'm all noble and all promoting Maggie's work, I must confess there is a selfish motivation to this post. She's also offering a five-page critique by the head editor at Flux, the publisher of Ballad, as part of a promotional contest for her forthcoming book. By posting this vid of hers, that makes me a contestant. You can check out the details in her blog on Live Journal. Ballad comes out October 1st.

Speaking of local bookstores and writers, I want to also plug a new blog being put out there by the owner of another local bookstore here in Richmond. Kelly Justice of Fountain Bookstore has started a blog called Bookchik-Unedited. Kelly is truly one of the coolest "bookchiks" in Richmond, as well as one of the plain coolest people you could ever meet, so keep an eye out for her blog. I'm sure it will prove very interesting.

And lastly, I wanted to give a shout out to two of this blog's most loyal followers, Ken and Beth. They've selflessly done a lot to help promote my comic strip, and I really don't thank them near enough for that. Thanks, you two!

Hope you're all enjoying the epic adventure that the "Richmond Vice" storyline has turned into. I get the feeling it will be several weeks before it's finished.