Weird is the new normal, part 2 #weirdwins

In my last post on Tuesday I gave you an idea of the weird I am now; I have toys. Lots and lots of toys. And I'm winning. Not in the Charlie Sheen kind of way, more like the Rotty kind of way.

But I wasn't always winning. I guess to be a winner you have learn to be a loser first.

Like lots of kids, I looked kind of funny, which made me terribly uncomfortable in social situations. I had a unibrow that I wasn't allowed to split until I was in seventh grade. I also wasn't allowed to shave or wear pantyhose until then either, which meant I gave up on shorts and dresses and staying over at friends' houses. I had teeth with gaps so wide I could slide my tongue between them. My skin started breaking out early, which was bad enough, but other kids actually accused me of thinking I was a big shot because I had something everybody else didn't get until they were teenagers. (Yeah. Zits.) I was flat-chested and never grew out of it. I had (and have) nine toenails. One just decided it didn't want to grow any bigger than a pinhead. Swimming in public (meaning, without shoes) just wasn't happening for me.

Adding to my self-conscious looks was my abnormal interests. I didn't like shopping with my friends. I didn't really know how. Their moms would take us to look at clothes, and I would follow them around the store without looking at anything. I would have rather been playing baseball with my uncle, which didn't go over well with the girls I knew. I played drums, I didn't want to wear makeup, and I certainly didn't like talking on the phone.

To fit in, I found myself trying to be smart and funny. Smart and funny for me combined into smart assiness and, at the time, that didn't help. As I grew older, I realized the people I considered to be my best friends all those years all considered somebody else to be their best friends. And that hurt.

So I withdrew inside my little world. I became quiet and observant and geeky. I drew pictures. That was something I could do by myself. And for years I drew what people would have expected me to draw. But then, almost overnight, I found myself ready to give up on trying to be normal. The characters I had been drawing changed from what was considered normal to characters that came straight from my innards. I decided it was time to embrace my weirdness.

It was time for The Rots.

The view in my hallway.

The Rots are twisted little characters that don't even attempt normality. They are who they are and I think they enjoy it. And I think other people out there must, too. Last check, 4,000 people out there are liking The Rots Facebook page. 4,000! After seeing The Rots for the first time on Facebook, a person I used to think of as a childhood friend asked me, "How did this happen?" as if it wasn't normal.

I never got back to her.

The first book I ever illustrated was called Yikes! Wow! Yuck! Fun Experiments for Your First Science Fair, and I probably wouldn't have gotten the job if the art director had thought I might have been normal.

I wrote and illustrated my first book, and that wouldn't have happened if I was living the 50% gray life of normality. The book is called Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol 1, and the people at the Midwest Book Review like it. So do the people at Publishers Weekly. And Kirkus Reviews. The people at Kirkus liked it so much they asked to do an interview with me.

The poster in my office space.

Forget normal. Normal is overrated. Normal is gray and boring and unflavored tofu. Normal doesn't get to have this in its office space. (Thank you much, @ParaNorman!)

Do yourself a favor and go see ParaNorman, and every time you read the name "ParaNorman" convince yourself that it actually says, "ParaNora."

Because, really, it does.

Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain has won two awards!

My book Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1 won two Purple Dragonfly Book Awards! First Place in the Fiction: Collection of Short Stories category and Second Place in the Interior Design category. Here's a link to all the wieners:

http://www.fivestarpublications.com/bookcontest/book-award-winners.html#2012pdbawin

They sent me stickers that I can stick on the books that show that it won, but they're a little limited in number so I'll have to stick them sparingly and strategically. Like pasties, I guess.

Nickelodeon Cartoons on Acid! (Publishers Weekly says so)

Oh, man.

Publishers Weekly went and reviewed my new book, Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1, and it looks like they've given it a thumbs up:

"In stories that last only a few pages and comics that resemble Nickelodeon cartoons on acid, Thompson riffs on zombie, werewolf, and other ghoulish genres, while also finding the horrific in unexpected places...Just the thing for readers who aren't scared of the dark—or for those who are and like it."

Even my dad picked out the "Nickelodeon cartoons on acid" line as a favorite. He should have. That's where I get it from.

Here's a link to the entire review: http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-9836699-0-6

Now accepting credit cards!

So when the nice people at the Frick asked me if I would be able to take credit cards at my book signing tomorrow (see details below), I had to honestly tell them "no."

But.

A day and a half later I bought myself an iPad (geeky dance around the room) and got busy with Square. Square is a tiny little thing that plugs into your ear bud jack and you swipe cards through it. The reader is free; the app that goes with it is also free.

And it's really fun (and easy) to use.

I've inventoried everything that I'll be selling (hardcover and paperback books, prints, posters and bookmarks) and added images and prices for each. So all I have to do is touch the product that someone is buying and the app starts up a tally.

Oh. The details about tomorrow:

What: Book signing (along with my new buddy Stacy Innerst)

Date: Saturday, April 14

Time: 1:30-2:30 pm

Location: The Frick Art & Historical Center, in the museum rotunda

And! It's Friday the 13th! It doesn't get any better than this.

I've got a book signing!

Now I went and did it.

This Saturday, April 14 between 1:30 and 2:30 in the afternoon, in the rotunda at the Frick Art & Historical Center, along with my new buddy Stacy Innerst, I will be signing copies of my book Twisted: Tales to Rot Your Brain Vol. 1. I will also have prints and posters from the book on hand and free bookmarks for each book purchase.

So, in case you missed it:
What: Book signing for Family Day at the Frick
When: Saturday, April, 14 from 1:30-2:30
Where: Frick Art & Historical Center
Why: Because I'm a starving artist. Oh, and the Frick is exhibiting Draw Me a Story: A Century of Children's Book Illustration. But mostly because I'm a starving artist

Please don't let me be embarrassed with nobody in my line and everybody in Stacy's.

Please.

Sorry, I've been neglecting you

It's been a while, hasn't it?

I've been up to something, likely no good, and I've been keeping you out of the loop. I've been writing. Yes, and designing. And drawing pictures for a...a book.

I know. I know. But I've had you in my heart the whole time.

Especially when I animated the book trailer:



You thought I was joking, didn't you. I would never joke about something like this.

I also wouldn't joke about this:

I put the book project up on Kickstarter to raise money so I could publish it independently.

Please don't cry. Are you crying? There's no crying in baseball. Here, take a look for yourself...

I'll still be there for you when this is all over. Wait for me, will you?

P.S. Did you like the video?