And by "us," I mean "bookworms."

Arie here. Okay, so I've been really bad about posting lately. Like, super-mega-ginormously-bad. However, that's gonna change, starting now. I'll even be blogging about my book tour. Last year, when I went on the first few stops on the tour, I kept a "journal" of sorts, talking into a digital recorder and verbalizing my thoughts, feelings, and neuroses. Basically, it was a very "in the moment" record of the book tour. So I'll be typing that up and posting it soon. (And by "soon" I mean by the time my great-grandkids are in grad school.) Think of it as some very belated blogging, a "retro-blog" if you will.

And I made a promise to myself that I'd keep a "cartoon diary" on the tour. The idea was this: I'd bring a sketchbook on every one of my tour dates and I'd draw at least one page each time I went to a new city - and with a few exceptions, that's what I did. I sketched people I saw in hotel lobbies, the flight crews at various airports, people sitting next to me on the train (until they started glaring at me as if to say, "Knock it off or I'll knee you in the groin"). You know, that sort of thing. The cartoon diary continues to this day, and it's a work in progress. I'm going to a lecture tonight, and I may be able to squeeze in yet another drawing today. But I'll be posting the first several drawings from the cartoon diary on this blog soon as well. Basically, there's a backlog of material that you can look forward to seeing on this site in the near future. But enough about that. I've got news! So...

A couple of weeks ago, I learned that From Krakow to Krypton was selected as a 2008 National Jewish Book Award finalist. And earlier today, I was told that From K to K is a 2009 Sophie Brody Honor Book. The Sophie Brody Medal is an award given by the American Library Association. The nominations were announced last fall, but the winners were just announced today. My book didn't win, but being an "Honor Book" is pretty much the same thing as second place. Which is nice. Hell, it's a cliche, but it really is just nice to be nominated.

Also, I guess this is thematically relevant, since it doesn't have to do with my book directly, but it DOES concern Jews and comics (sorta): One of my comics stories, "Not A (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring," is currently featured on page 29-38 of The Simpsons Winter Wingding #3, out now from Bongo Comics. The story was penciled by the incredible Phil Ortiz and inked by the amazing Mike DeCarlo. In "Not A (Green, Slimy)...," Krusty the Clown realizes that there are plenty of Christmas mascots (i.e. Rudolph, Frosty), but there aren't any Hanukkah mascots! So he embarks on a mission to create one...and he comes up with the most grotesque "mascot" imaginable! It's a perfectly cromulent tale for the holiday season, one that promises to embiggen the spirit!(Now, I know that the holiday season is over, but the comic is still in stores, so...uh, well, better late than never, I guess.)

I actually talk about both From K to K and my Simpsons Winter Wingding story in an interview I did with Heeb. (There. That wraps everything up in a nice little bow, doesn't it?) Here's the link: http://www.heebmagazine.com/blog/view/1283