The End ... and a New Beginning

Another year over in the blink of an eye and a time to make a yearly to do list of resolutions that may, or may not, be fulfilled.  

I don't usually make new years resolutions as the Things on my Personal/Domestic Things To Do list are ongoing and usually roll-overs from previous lists from one year to the next, but this year I'm going to make one. I need to write more blog posts.

I have many things I want to post about but I find it difficult to pencil in time to add blog posts. Why is that? I work on my computer all day so it should be easy, mind you i'm also on twitter and I hardly post to this too, so I think I need to alter my thinking and take time to pencil in time for the blog.

Ideally I'd try and post at least twice a week but let's aim for once a week and see how we go. I have a new fun project that I will need your help for that I've been meaning to do but more on this next week (hopefully) plus I have many things that I plan to upload including the 'Things You've Done' posts which I started a month or so ago but I didn't follow up - I know what and who I'd like to post about.

As for 2010, it's been a great year. After moving away from London to a new city where we didn't know anyone, 2010 has been a year of huge change, and definitely for the better.

The first half was taken up with the design and illustration of the latest 101 book, 101 Things To Do to Become a Superhero ... or Evil Genius and then a week later my wife and I completed 101.1 TTD No. 101 - Continue Your Gene Pool with the birth of Marlie. The rest of the year was adjusting to a working from home/family life balance and with the odd design and illustration job here and there and thinking about 'What Next?' I thought the year was going to fizzle out workwise ... but December has been pretty wonderful.

One thing I hoped that would happen this year was to land a local design/illustration project - and with the year almost up I was awarded the cover of issue 3 of an up and coming magazine. The illustration took a week to do and I'll post the cover to the site after publication in January. They, and I were very pleased with the final piece.

And lastly, A is for ... Awesome. At the end of 2009 my A is for Armageddon book was published in the UK (another post I want to write is why I wrote a book about the end of the world - but let's leave that for next year) and after one great review, the book disappeared into the bookshelves of oblivion.

The book didn't do as well as I hoped in the UK, maybe it was bad timing (by this time the economy was in freefall and the world was changing) or maybe it was due to other factors, publishing is like gambling, you just never know what will catch the public's imagination. So for a year, the Armageddon book has felt like the unloved half-brother to the 101 books.

But luckily things change and on December 21st 2010 the book was published in the US and the best Christmas present I've had this year have been the great reviews and praise for this previously obscure book of mine.

As for 2011, the question 'What next?' is still out there but I have an idea for a new project ... three in fact, and my perpetual list of Domestic Things To Do grows ever bigger from year to year and, one day, these things will get done (if only time would stand still for a bit).

So the day before I'm due to tackle my New Years resolution, I've got ahead of myself with the longest blog post I've written so far, but I'm not getting carried away, let's take it one post at a time ...

Have a wonderful 2011 and I hope you manage to tick everything off your Things To Do list

101.1 TTD No. 49 - See a Lunar Eclipse ...

I nearly missed this one. A lunar eclipse tonight, and for once there are clear skies above me!

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20026147-17.html

I hope you see it. Good luck and wrap up warm!

A 101 Things To Do Mistake?

Dear 101 Things To Do

I just wanted to notify you of a mistake in your book "101 Things To Do to Become a Superhero ... or Evil Genius. The mistake I noticed is in relation to form 29 question 4. The answer given in the back of the book is number 2 but is quite clearly number 3.

As an evil genius I found it prudent to notify you of this mistake and will shortly send my army of ninjas to your office.

Thank you

Tobias Blake

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Dear Tobias

Congratulations. You have passed the test. You are correct that the answer is 'quite clearly number 3'.

The boffins at Bloomsbury Towers have already put the wheels into motion and the 'error' has been corrected for the second edition of the book.

Please call off your ninjas as they won't stand a chance against our army of 101 killlerbots.

Yours

El Horno and The Scribbler aka Richard Horne and Helen Szirtes

A is for Armageddon US Version

I've just received finished copies of the US edition of my A is for Armageddon book (on the right hand side of the photo)

The US edition is published on December 21st 2010, which coincidentally is exactly two years to the day before some naysayers believe that the world will end - thanks to the now extinct Mayan civilisation and their calendar of doom. So read the book while you still can!

You can buy your copy via the A is for Armageddon website. I hope you like it just don't have nightmares!