KING OF ALL JERKS

Today, a student got really mad at me. The kind of mad where you are fearless in the face of authority because you are so certain of the rightness of your cause. Truth is he had every right to be mad. I didn't know his name. We're entering into the third six-week period, and I didn't know his name. He's completed assignments that I've inflicted upon him, both the necessary and pointless ones. He's bothered to listen to my lectures, even the ones where I ramble aimlessly. Quite literally, learning his name is the very least I could do. Learning a student's name is step one of the teaching process. How can you discipline, how can you instruct, without knowing their names? I stress respect in my classroom, and yet, a name is foundation of one's respect. I feel like the king of all jerks. Maybe I'm being too hard on myself? After all, I do have some 150+ students, but I can't let myself off the hook. "All my other teachers know my name. You don't." Those words hurt, because I knew that I lost him. For the rest of the year, no matter what I say or what I ask him to do, I will be the teacher who didn't learn his name. I plan to talk with him and apologize.

Some days, it sucks to be a teacher. Parents are weary of you. Other teachers are just as worn out as you are. Politicians want to make "bad teachers" the root cause of all educational failures. (Why worry about the budget when "bad teachers" are plaguing our fine institution?) At times, it feels like only the students are on your side. Yes, the students. There's an amazing sense of community in a classroom. "You don't like this benchmark test, I don't like this benchmark test, but we'll get through it." "Isn't The Crucible a great play?" "I'm sorry to hear about your friends. It'll get better I promise." "During lunch, come by and we'll play a game of chess." "I know this essay is hard. Let me help." As a teacher, I'm there for the students. That's my job.

And some days, even the students are against you--not just rowdy, disruptive, and goofy, but actually against you. That's the worst.

SOLIDARITY, FELLOW WRITERS

It's November, which means National Novel Writing Month or NaNoWriMo. Twice I've attempted and failed at the challenge to write a 50,000 word novel in one month. Here's what happens. I get about 10,000 words into the novel, and I'm overwhelmed by two forces. The first force is this pressure to make sure the novel is "publishable" and of a certain high standard, which undermines the whole point of NaNoWriMo. It's about completion not excellence. You can always edit in March. The second force is this emotion that I can only describe as "You're not the boss of me." I get defiant and want to prove that NaNoWriMo has no power over me. I turn quitting into a virtue. It's pathetic, but you're not the boss of me either, so stop judging. I'm capable of completing large projects because I've done it before. I've written a few sizable graphic novels, ones that have been published and a few that will tragically never see the light of day. I can write, but the words don't always flow and that bothers me. NaNoWriMo appeals to me because I like the idea of writing more. I like that moment where "can't start" transforms into "can't stop."

NaNoWriMo, I may never know you. However, as an act of solidarity with those braver November novelists, I will commit to writing more this month. My goal will be to post on my blog every day. Since we're already at the midpoint for November, I'll need to double up on some days so that it equals one post per day. This post will be my 8th for November.

It's not as impressive as writing a novel, but it's a start. And since it's my blog, I really am the boss.

NOW WITH MORE CHESS

I decided to simplify the Chess Club of Arlington website and remove the blog, shifting some of the chess-related posts over here: thatdavidhopkins.com/tag/chess/. I would hate to lose my commentary on the Saint Louis trip. All in favor of a complete That David Hopkins, now with more chess. I started Chess Club of Arlington with ridiculous amounts of ambition, or "commendable amounts" depending on your perspective. However, I soon realized that a slow steady start was better than attempting a big splash. The club simply doesn't have the resources and support necessary to sustain it at the Salvation Army community center. So, we're moving from a church to a bar. Starting in December, we're going to meet in back room at J.R. Bentley's (406 W Abram St, Arlington, TX 76010), every Thursday at 7 PM. We met there in April and had a good time.

We'll keep it simple. A good beer and a game of chess.

RICK PERRY ON FRONTBURNER

Zac Crain is senior editor of D Magazine (and my heart). He produced this hilarious series of "photo comics" for D Magazine's Frontburner blog. The comics are way too awesome to be buried in the archives, so I decided to keep my own record of the links here. I use the term "comics" loosely, but it works for me. Read and enjoy. part 1. Rick Perry discusses his new debate strategy.

part 2. Rick Perry explains his weird behavior in New Hampshire.

part 3. Rick Perry introduces his son to the media.

part 4. Rick Perry debate

part 5. Rick Perry suffers a traumatic setback.

part 6. Rick Perry prepares for his Tonight Show appearance.

part 7. Rick Perry on the voting age

part 8. Rick Perry is sad about Herman Cain.

part 9. Rick Perry comes back to Texas.

part 10. Rick Perry on the road to New Hampshire

part 11. An Important Announcement from Rick Perry

WRITING FOR MAGAZINES

This past year, I've written one feature and three shorter stories for D Magazine (my "Letter to Downtown Arlington" will be in the December issue and my article on Dallas microbreweries has been bumped to January). I love writing for magazines. I hope to write more. A few years ago, I talked with my friend Andrea Grimes. We went to the same high school, same church youth group, and same summer camp. She was writing for the Dallas Observer, and I wanted to pick her brain on the process. 90% of my writing experience is with comic books. I took only one year of journalism in high school and one year of journalism in college. I was overwhelmed at the prospect of writing something true. Andrea suggested The New New Journalism for direction and inspiration. And like all good advice, I ignored it for a while.

I finally started the book. It's a great read. (Thanks Andrea!) In part, the book confirms a lot of things I already love about magazine writing. I just didn't have the terms "literary nonfiction" or "longform journalism" in my lexicon.

My interest in magazine-format journalism started with a grim moment from my senior year at Mansfield High School. On December 1995, my friend Adrianne Jones was murdered. Adrianne and I weren't incredibly close, but we shared a theater arts class and talked a bit. She confided in me about her own troubles, and I listened. A month later, she was gone. It wasn't until after graduation that we discovered she was murdered by one of our classmates David Graham and his girlfriend Diane Zamora. I collected everything I could find about the murder. I needed to know what happened. Most newspaper reports stuck to the bare facts and little more. People magazine offered the most scandalous and absurd aspects, but they missed the heart of it. Then I read Skip Hollandsworth's article in Texas Monthly. The story was a little over 9,000 words. Filled with disturbing and painful details, it was difficult to read. I had to put the magazine down at several points. I don't know how others closer to Adrianne responded to Hollandsworth's account, but I felt as though a necessary story was finally told. I marveled at how powerful a magazine could be. I was able to grieve on the side of the road where Adrianne's body was abandoned.

Facts are a slippery thing, and certain truths can be revealed in a narrative that are lost in a report. I love the idea that a writer can invest himself or herself so thoroughly in a subject that he or she becomes more than a tourist. They carry the burden of the story.

Magazines can surpass the literary merit of novels and the journalistic merit of newspapers. They can be more entertaining than movies and absolutely essential in helping us to understand complex issues. The format is capable of so much. The New Yorker, Atlantic, Writer's Digest, Creative Screenwriting, D Magazine, Texas Monthly, Time, Mental Floss, Just Labs, Slam, Maxim, and any one of April's "women's magazines" that I read when she's not looking -- my favorite gift is a gift subscription.

Yes, I will still write comics, but I plan to improve as a writer and contribute more to magazines in the next few years. At least, that's the hope.

BAD PRESS CONFERENCE

I'm doing some research on Tmobile right now. I'm stuck in a contract, and I'd like to move over to AT&T with April. She has an iPhone, and I wouldn't mind having an iPhone. We'll be a shameless Apple family. April and I formed our merger this summer. Tmobile and AT&T are also undergoing a merger, which I hoped would excuse me from my contract, but I don't think I'll be so lucky. During my early morning stroll through the Tmobile site, I came across this gem of PR. Tmobile gave itself a press conference (click here). This particular excerpt is amusing:

Q: Is T-Mobile USA getting the iPhone?

A: T-Mobile USA remains an independent company, as the acquisition is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. We’ll continue to offer cutting-edge 4G devices like the Samsung Galaxy S 4G, as well as the new Sidekick 4G, the T-Mobile G2x and the G-Slate tablet coming later this spring.

I love that Tmobile avoided a question it asked itself! Usually, we save this sort of crafty political maneuvering for when other people ask questions. Tmobile, I don't think you fooled anyone.

FREEBIE FRIDAY

Thanks to the generosity of Smart Pop Books, we are giving away three copies of TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD from my website today (11.04.2011). Here's how you enter: Post in the comment sections your favorite scary movie (or television show, or book, or painting, or whatever other media...favorite scary ballet?). Sorry, U.S. and Canadian entries only. After midnight Central Time, three winners will be randomly selected. I'll email you if you won, get your address, and Smart Pop will ship a copy of this great book to you. That simple. Post your favorite scary ________.

I'll start. I posted about this a few years ago, but when I was a kid, I was scared of the painting The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch. That darn tree man still freaks me out a bit.

Your turn.

UPDATE: Using the random number generator, I came up with 2, 6, and 8. Our winners are Joe Lambert, Alfred Day, and Yolanda Aguayo. Congratulations. I'll send you an email asking for your mailing address.

BEING BULLIED

Very happy to hear that Lady Gaga is launching an anti-bullying foundation, Born This Way. (I should also mention the tremendous efforts of the It Gets Better Project.) All of this is very necessary and long overdue. In the past few years, bullying has received more attention. Schools are responding. Admittedly, they aren't always addressing the issue of LGBT bullying directly--but rest assured in every school there are teachers and administrators who make an issue of it. I was a nerd, and I was bullied in school. However, the kind of bullying I endured was nothing compared to the kind of bullying LGBT kids experienced at my school. On the bullying food chain, being a kid who played D&D during lunch was still "better" than being effeminate or, if you were so brave in the '90s, completely out of the closet. Only once did I get a glimpse at what LGBT kids experienced on a daily basis. One day in high school, I decided to show up wearing a long skirt. It was a nice skirt and it went well with my Doc Martens. I was going for a Kurt Cobain grunge thing. That day, I had two rednecks threaten to kick my ass. I remember thinking, "Why are you so concerned about what I'm wearing? Why is this a big deal?" My playful dabbling with women's clothing (once again, it was a nice skirt) immediately lead to a threat of physical violence. So, when I talk about bullying, understand that my experiences were pretty light compared to others.

Nowadays, "being a nerd" is supposed to be cool. Although, I will attest that people claiming nerd-status like they would choose a t-shirt at Hot Topic is completely different from being an actual nerd. The awkward outsiders still get picked on.

I'm not an expert and all my insight is anecdotal, but I would categorize bullying into three levels: light, heavy, and thermal nuclear warfare. Light bullying happens to almost everyone. You have an odd last name. You're too tall or too short. You have crazy hair or some medical condition. You have zits. You're overweight. You're underweight. Your breasts grew too soon or not soon enough. You speak with a strange midwestern accent. Pretty much everyone gets teased for some stupid thing. Even the popular kids will get the occasional harassment. There's not a lot you can do about this. Kids are mean. It sucks, and you try your best to cope. Heavy bullying happens exclusively to the weirdos. Usually, it's one tormentor who targets one victim. He or she tries to make the other person's life absolute hell. I had a few tormentors in elementary school, a few more in junior high, and then they mostly disappeared in high school. I was lucky. Heavy bullying can send a kid to private school. In junior high, my parents wanted to move me to another school to avoid one particular kid. (I wonder now why we never talked to the principal. It seems like a cheaper alternative.) This kid shoved me into lockers, punched me, and threatened me. I was scared of him, and I hated him. I had to re-route my path to particular classes in order to avoid him. Thermal nuclear warfare bullying is when these bullies form into packs and target one poor, poor kid. Remember that short story The Lottery? It's like that. Every school has that one student, or maybe a few, who got incredibly unlucky. Sadly, even the weirdos might pick on this kid. Weirdos are not morally superior. If they had the opportunity, some of them would be bullies too. Unfortunately, in this lottery, the LGBT kids have their names at the top of the ballot. Teenagers are some of the world's worst homophobes.

Here's the good news and the bad news. The TNW bullying is the easiest bullying to prevent. You simply identify the bullied kid, which is not hard to do, then the teachers and administrators form a protective shield around this kid. If anyone does anything to him or her, you lay down the swift hammer of judgment and make the bully regret the day they ever tried anything against this kid. Soon, the whole school will know: you do not mess with this kid. Schools need to be vigilante. As one kid is shielded, another is targeted. Heavy bullying is moderately easy to prevent too. Same tactics apply. If you simply adhere to school policy, these things should resolve themselves like instant karma. A kid gets shoved into a school locker; the shover gets detention. The problem is these bullies don't all look like Nelson Muntz from The Simpsons. Some of them are very likable, charismatic kids, and they know how to talk to adults. Parents take note. Your precious little angel might be a bully. With light bullying, like I said before, there's not much you can do (as an adult or foundation) to prevent it. This one falls to the students. If the school promotes a culture where everyone sticks up for each other, the students can do more to stop the light bullying than the teachers can. So that's the good news.

The bad news is I think many anti-bullying programs spend 70% of their energy worrying about light bullying, 25% on heavy bullying, and 5% on the thermal nuclear warfare. Their priorities are inverted.

LGBT kids are the ones who are potentially most vulnerable. They are the ones who need the most support.

I'm open to anyone else's perspective on bullying. Please post comments. These are my thoughts. If you disagree or have your own take, I'd love to know about it.

GOOD TWEETIN' ADVICE

I talked with my writing students today about making a living as a creative professional. As part of my lecture, I solicited advice from freelancer friends (i.e. friends who freelance, not freelancers who I pay to be my friends) on Twitter -- and shared what they had to say. I edited Jake's advice because he used the f-word.

From @costa_kout -- "Always remember that 'time off'/vacation time means sacrifice. Whether time in doing work to cover for it...(cont'd) ...but also in income that's missed from the work you don't work on and do."

From @jakeekiss -- "Remember, you're allowed to fire clients. Contracts are a good thing, and pretty much everything from 'fuck you, pay me'." (this video)

From @TreyGarrison -- "Have a day job."

From @skleefeld -- "Would 'OHDEARGODDONTDOITRUNAWAYRUNAWAY!!!!!' be too cynical? :)"

From @amboy00 -- "Serious clients will pay you."

From @VinhLuanLuu -- "Get paid in stages: either a deposit with rest on delivery or broken up into payments per draft/revision." "Be prompt and communicate; any industry is smaller than you think and word gets around pretty quick."

From @carissa -- "Be fair and friendly to everyone. You never know who your clients will turn out to be. Keep $ books organized."

From @kenlowery -- "Meet your deadlines. Be polite and available. Keep your invoices filed meticulously and DO NOT be afraid to follow up on them." "No one ever wants to pay out money, so it's highly likely they WON'T pay until you DO bug them about it. But: politely."

From @warlick -- "Always have a contract. Always get a deposit up front. Have a kill fee. Have a late fee. You CAN fire clients. Be polite."

From @markwalters74 -- "never sell yourself short on freelance jobs, or you'll set a precedent that's almost impossible to break."

From @ryancody -- "Try to get paid up front. If possible."

WALKING DEAD IS MY NEW LOST

SPOILER ALERT: I MIGHT SPOIL SOMETHING IF YOU'RE NOT CAUGHT UP ON WALKING DEAD (TV OR COMIC). I was obsessed with LOST. Remember that TV show, the one that became a cautionary tale for bad endings? Since the finale, there has been a LOST-shaped hole in my heart that all the primetime comedies and Daily Show episodes just couldn't fill. I need geeked-out drama for regular consumption. WALKING DEAD came at the right time. It didn't hurt that I also adore the comic book series.

What the series does right:

* It follows the comic book, but is not overly obligated to the comic book. The characters are all there, with a few additions and a few omissions. Can we all agree that Daryl makes every episode better? He's the "chaotic neutral" rogue in this ensemble. And unlike Sawyer in LOST, we don't have to deal with any tortured lovelorn annoyances. Daryl's a bad ass, and everyone's first pick for zombie hunting. Other changes: Shane is still alive, which I think is a smart move on behalf of the TV show. We're at Hershel's Farm, so we're still (more or less) on track. I don't want simply a panel-for-panel reproduction of the comic. It worked for SIN CITY, but with a television series I want to see the story try something new. Only one time did the show get a little too far off the beaten path with the episode TS-19. They started journeying into dangerous LOST-territory, i.e. season finales where we see behind the curtain with some completely new setting. Fortunately, CDC has been vaporized and we can pretend it never happened.

* No mystery, only survival and emigration. With LOST, yes, we were all interested in that stupid hatch. The hatch lead to more mysteries, which lead to more mysteries, which lead to more mysteries, which lead to an awful series finale and the show creators desperately trying to rationalize their decisions. WALKING DEAD writing staff take note. We don't care where the zombies came from nor do we care about a cure. Leave that storyline alone (*cough* TS-19). LOST was a lot of fun when they were trying to hunt boar, build shelters, find water, and not kill each other. Could it have lasted like that for six seasons? Probably not. However, with WALKING DEAD, the show can go beyond mere survival to explore how people adjust to settling in a new world (read my essay in TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD for more insight on this topic). By the nature of this genre, I don't think WALKING DEAD viewers are optimistic about their fate. There's no need to candy coat the series with a happy ending and a miracle zombie cure.

What the series should be careful about:

* Go light on the speeches and monologues. We're only a few episodes into season two, and I start rolling my eyes when they dive into another "hope in a desolate world" speech. I feel like these moments are huge wastes of time. I'd rather know how Carl is doing or how Shane got back with the medical supplies in one piece. The writers are stalling. Speeches and monologues become crutches for characterization and "growth." In actuality, actions-speak-louder and show-don't-tell should be kept in mind at all times. I don't mind the occasional soliloquy into the walkie-talkie at the beginning of an episode. However, then coupled with TWO monologues to Jesus in the church at the end of the episode, the writers are pushing our tolerance for character rambling.

* There needs to be a balance between the brutal and the sweet. In LOST, the smoke monster and the Others are a continual threat. Everyone is desperate for food, water, shelter, and protection. Yet they found time for golf. Even during the more brutal episodes, there were moments of sweetness -- human interactions, a smile and a laugh. OK, the WALKING DEAD is about the zombie apocalypse. The world they knew is over. Everyone is dying and suffering. The show gets bleak. Let's hope the writer give the audience a few moments to enjoy the humanity of these characters, their charm.

What are your thoughts on WALKING DEAD, thus far?

LAST MOMENT TO ESCAPE

I'm not the only writer in this marriage. Truth be told, my wife's blog is much more interesting. This isn't false modesty. She really is a great writer with a natural voice and sense of humor. I'm fortunate to have an intelligent and talented wife. She writes about her life and our life, and all the random thoughts that come to her. For the past few years, I've focused this blog on my writing career and on comics, with the occasional comment on my personal life. I don't know how interesting it is to simply post: "graphic novel X will be out sometime next year and look for article Y coming soon" again and again. My blog is going change. I will try to have a life. So, let's start here: I got married on June 25th.

I usually direct people to this link so they can see the photos. Anne Ingman was our photographer, and she did a fantastic job. While the wedding was a relatively small affair, the photos allowed everyone not able to make it to be part of our day.

April's family lives in Wisconsin. Our wedding, near Rice Lake, was a two hour drive for them. It was a little risky to place everything in a rural area unfamiliar to us. However, we heard so many good things about the Enchanted Barn and felt good talking with the owner. The rural surroundings had another benefit beyond the aesthetics. It made choosing our vendors ridiculously easy. There's only a few hotels to choose from, and only two that could accommodate our friends and family. Cake? There's one bakery. Bartender? I hired the first person I called. It was a short list. Beer and wine? Ordered from the bartender's friend. Rehearsal dinner? We had one nice locally-owned restaurant or Applebee's. Not a difficult choice. Planning the wedding certainly occupied a lot of our time last year, but even April would agree that it could have been far worse. Busy but not too chaotic.

April and I arrived in Rice Lake a few days before the wedding. We had a chance to settle in and spend some time with our family and friends. On the day before, a group of us traveled to Chippewa Falls to take a tour of the Leinenkugel's brewery. Others were left behind for some last-minute crafting. I heard they had a good time too, but I preferred sampling the beers. Later that day, we had dinner at Adventure's Restaurant--huge family gathering, which was nice.

The day of the wedding I was on autopilot. Mostly. There was an hour or so when I didn't know where to go or what I needed to do. Bridal party was busy. Family members were visiting with other family members elsewhere. My groomsmen were mysteriously off-the-radar. (I get it. You can only handle so much of me.) I sat on the couch in the hotel lobby alone and did nothing. In a few hours, I would be married. In a few hours, I would see my bride and she would look beautiful. There would be vows, rings, toasts, a first dance, cake, drinks, and sparklers. The most anticipated moment of the year, planned out minute by minute, would unfold with hardly any complications. It would be incredible--but I did not anticipate this hour of nothing.

I got restless. Then April's dad, my father-in-law, sat down next to me. He was also lost in the doldrums, nowhere to be and nothing to do. I would like to say the conversation between us was insightful. It wasn't. A few knowing head nods between men, currently useless to their significant others, was all that was exchanged. My father-in-law has always been kind and hospitable, but neither of us were in the mood for profundity. We just sat and watched the Weather Channel (the universal symbol for "don't you have something better to do?").

I'm glad he didn't default to the predictable "now is your last moment to escape ha ha" line. I got that a few times from other people projecting their own misfortune, and it irritates me. Escape? My father-in-law and I are the lucky ones. We know this. Personally, I'd be lost without April. She is a source of continual encouragement and love. If you get so lucky, be thankful. This restlessness was not from anxiety about marriage. I was ready, and I couldn't wait another minute.

After we watched the five-day forecast about three times, I got a call from my brother-in-law. Time to get ready. For everything else, you have the photos.

TRIUMPH OF SMART POP

In the mail, I received my TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD comps. The essay I wrote ("The Hero Wears the Hat") marks my third contribution to the Smart Pop series. If you haven't been to their site, it's an online treasure of all good things in popular culture. Go there. Smart Pop was hip to geeks before G4 ever thought to take a camera crew to Comic Con. Respect must be given to the hardest working publisher in fandom. TRIUMPH OF THE WALKING DEAD is a great anthology and available on Amazon for $10.17. Let's say you're not a fan of WALKING DEAD, but you are a fan of me. You can buy just my essay as a pdf download from their site as well. It's only 99 cents. The essay should be available soon. Until then, you could buy my Spider-Man essay (click here) or my Superman essay (click here).

THAT DAVID HOPKINS DOT COM

It should be obvious, but you are no longer at antiherocomics.com. I switched my site over to thatdavidhopkins.com. Very little has changed about the design. (Thank you David Garlitz for the "viala" wordpress theme.) The content is all here. I did move from Doteasy as my host to Bluehost. Doteasy is a little cheaper, but I get more from Bluehost. It also seems to be more Wordpress friendly. Why the change?

I felt Antihero Comics was limiting as a brand and a URL. I'm not a publisher, and I've had people stumble upon my site with that expectation. Also, "antihero" carries all sorts of connotations that may not always reflect my work. The biggest issue is the "comics" part. In the coming year, I'll continue to write comics, but I'm going to look for more magazine work too -- more anthologies, more journals, and a whole lot of freelance work in a variety of markets. Textbook publishers? Advertising agencies? Copy for websites and corporate reports? Sure, maybe. And of course, it doesn't hurt to have my name in the URL.

For years, I've been stalking davidhopkins.com, which is currently occupied. I even asked him if he'd sell the domain name. I used to get a little frustrated because he wasn't using our name to its fullest potential. Hell, I'm a writer. People will visit my dot com! With age comes wisdom, and I now appreciate the Internet as wonderfully first-come-first-serve. He got to the domain name first. It's his. I'm not the David Hopkins as I've seen some people approach the name+dot com issue. I'm even more amused by celebrities who proclaim to be the real whoever. No. I'm simply that David Hopkins. You know him.

Thanks for reading my blog all these years. Or welcome, if you're new. Either way, keep visiting or add me to your RSS feed. I'll try to be interesting.

THE ANTI 9 TO 5

At April's urging, I'm reading THE ANTI 9 TO 5 GUIDE: PRACTICAL CAREER ADVICE FOR WOMEN WHO THINK OUTSIDE THE CUBE by Michelle Goodman. It's a good book, well written, and I plan to read her follow up MY SO-CALLED FREELANCE LIFE. It's amusing to read something written with default feminine pronouns. I sometimes forget I live in a culture that defaults to masculine pronouns. When she writes things specific to her female audience (such as from page 21 "...and unless you're one of the lucky few with a savings account burning a hole in her bra..."), it feels like my high school PE teacher is yelling me at while I'm walking/jogging laps around the dirt track. ("Okay ladies, pick up your pace and start running!") Thus, Goodman's tone attempts to build rapport--but I feel like I should hustle and stopping slacking off. Either way, it's effective.

In other freelance news, I just finished two more pieces for D Magazine, one about downtown Arlington and one about the three new breweries in Dallas.

ASTRONAUT DAD NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

You can now order the complete ASTRONAUT DAD (160 pages, b&w) on Amazon and Createspace.com. We get a little more money per sale through Createspace, so if you don't mind which online retailer you use -- it'd be preferable to use the smaller guys. Since we're publishing this book through a print-on-demand company, this book will not be available through the Previews catalog. Hence, you probably won't find this book in comic book stores. If you want it, you'll need to buy it online. (For local retailers, I might be able to direct order some copies for you. However, I can't sell it on consignment. Contact me to let me know how many copies you want.) I'll post an announcement if I do a signing anywhere in town or have a booth at a convention. Speaking of conventions, this weekend is Fan Days at the Irving Convention Center. I won't have a booth, but Kennedy and I are going for fun on Sunday. As always, they have some great guests -- and with the larger convention floor space, these shows (Dallas Comic Con, Fan Days, and Sci-Fi Expo) should be considered among the top tier "geek events" in the country.

CHESS CLUB FOR KIDS

Tonight, we hosted our first Chess Club for Kids. About 17 young ones were there, ranging in age from 5 to 14, from nine different schools in Arlington. Some were learning chess for the first time (I think I said "it moves like an 'L' " at least twenty times), and a few were experienced tournament players. All the kids received a sparkly chess pencil and a chess piece keychain. From the abundance of remaining bishops and pawns, you can guess which pieces are the most popular! All the parents received... a boring newsletter from me, pleading for their time and resources.

Thank you to the Arlington Public Library for allowing us to use the community room. The room was a good size -- with space for us to grow in the coming months. Since we're only allowed to make three reservations at a time, I will soon reserve the facility for December and January, then I will post it on our events calendar.

A special thanks to the parents who helped out. Because of you, we were able to offer more individual attention to the first timers. As this program develops, I will get a better sense for how to best manage the numbers. Possibly we could divide the room into rotating sections? I want to vary the activities from month to month. I may try to enlist my wife for some chess-related crafting that we could somehow tie into learning about the pieces.

Random trivia: Since the inception of our organization in April 2011, we have hosted chess events in four different locales (J.R. Bentley's, Health and Harmony House, Salvation Army Community Center, and George W. Hawkes Central Library) all within a mile of each other. Next up, Levitt Pavilion? Arlington Museum? UTA campus? I feel like we need to continue our downtown Arlington takeover.

ASTRONAUT DAD, THE COMPLETE STORY

As announced yesterday on Brent Schoonover's blog and Robot 6, we have finally printed a complete ASTRONAUT DAD that will include both volumes 1 and 2, all six chapters. Brent will have copies available at NYCC, and then we should have it on Amazon and an ASTRONAUT DAD website. To give you an idea of how long this book has been "in the making," I mentioned it on my very first post on this website, back on August 17, 2003. Eight years ago.

This book would have never happened without Brent Schoonover. He believed in this story, even though it doesn't feature zombies, monsters, vampires, ninjas, robots, or pirates. (He did get to draw astronauts, but we both know the story is not really about NASA.) He put in considerable amounts of time to get the art just right. He was open to my feedback and truly willing to collaborate. He traveled to Texas to promote volume one. On a personal level, he's been a good friend. He was there at my wedding. When I had given up on writing comics and felt that ASTRONAUT DAD was a lost cause, he worked on my behalf to get a complete version printed and encouraged me to keep writing. I don't know if I'll ever be able to make a career from writing, but because of Brent and a few other close friends -- I'm not done yet.

Justin Stewart, my friend and master letterer, I can't thank him enough for his willingness to take on this project without hesitation. He worked quickly and skillfully, always putting in that extra hour when we were faced with a deadline or needed something changed. Letterers don't always get the respect they deserve, but he saved us on more than one occasion.

This book also never would have happened without Christian Beranek. He agreed to publish ASTRONAUT DAD through Silent Devil. He simply asked me what I wanted to do, and I mentioned this family drama during the 1960s. He approved it on the spot. I've never had an editor put that much confidence in me, and I will always respect and appreciate him for that. It was one of my favorite moments in what can sometimes be a very frustrating industry. Unfortunately, his company lost money on the first volume. It's not uncommon. It's a good book, and we promoted it as well as we could, but the sales/preorders just weren't there. Since then, his ventures have shifted to some great web comics (one illustrated by Tom Kurzanski).

A few months ago, I looked over our contract and realized it expired. Full rights returned to us when volume 2 wasn't printed by the end of 2008. We lost a year because of a literary agent who agreed to represent this project and find a mainstream book publisher, but then he quit his job for other opportunities. That's what freed us up to pursue a complete edition through a print-on-demand company.

I also must thank someone I've never met in person. Sean Akers championed our book, and did most, if not all, of the work to release it in this complete format. He met with Brent and offered a plan to bring this story back. Sean, thank you and I owe you.

And there we go. What started eight years ago, when I hid away in my Dallas apartment for a month long writing binge, back when I thought the best way to get a publisher was to fly to San Diego Comic Con and distribute burned discs with over 300 pages of script, has finally arrived. Available for mass consumption. In the end, it never would've happened without four people who also believed in this story.

16 COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES

What can chess teach us? As a public school teacher, when a student raises his or her hand, asking "When will we ever use this in real life?" -- this is no small question. The short answer is: "It will be on the test and you need to know this to pass my class." And then, I can continue with my lesson. However, the true answer is a little more complex and much more vital. We'll get to that in a second.

Fact is chess in itself isn't that useful in real life. I know. Shocking. Hear me out. If we are so delusional to think that Chess Club of Arlington's objective should be to mass produce GMs like the Russian Chess School, our success rate will be very small. There are only about 1,300 GMs worldwide. (For comparison, Chess.com has about 3.9 million members registered.) Few of them are able to make a career from it. I would like to believe that my knowledge of the Colle-Zukertort System will have real world applications, but its value is limited to the game itself. Keep in mind, a lot of what we learn in school will not be used in real life. My knowledge of geology, algebra, and adverbal phrases doesn't come into daily use like my teachers warned me it would. So, what's the value in learning anything?

Here's the true answer: Learning something difficult, something challenging, helps develop cognitive skills. We improve our comprehension strategies, and we grow as thinkers. In other words, we learn how to learn. Learning anything is beneficial, and not merely for the content itself. Chess is ideal for this purpose, because (1) chess can be taught to a five-year-old and he or she could spend a lifetime mastering the game (2) chess is intricate, deep, and challenging (3) chess allows for individual self-guided learning (4) chess offers tangible ways to measure improvement and learning (5) chess is fun.

If Chess Club of Arlington had unlimited resources at its disposal, I probably wouldn't turn it into a GM-factory. (Arlington already has one on Hwy 360. Pun!) Instead, I would focus on these 16  strategies, which are commonly cited for reading comprehension. I discovered them through my ELLevate training. I believe the skills transfer.

1. Using prior knowledge and experiences 2. Making connections 3. Making predictions 4. Using visual and context support 5. Monitoring and clarifying comprehension 6. Sequencing information 7. Distinguishing main ideas from details 8. Comparing and contrasting 9. Finding supporting evidence 10. Generating questions 11. Retelling and summarizing 12. Differentiating fact from opinion 13. Drawing inferences 14. Using inductive reasoning 15. Using deductive reasoning 16. Analyzing and evaluation

While learning chess, you're learning how to think critically and creating a framework for further education. With these 16 strategies, you could continue from here and learn anything you want -- anything the real world offers. That's an invaluable education, without leaving anyone behind.

SHOPPING MALL AT THE END OF THE WORLD

My story about Six Flags Mall is now available in the October issue of D Magazine. You can read it online, click here. I'm talking with my editor about two future stories for D Magazine. So, there's a possibility I will be writing more for them. This is a good thing.

Also, in about a month, Triumph of the Walking Dead will be available in stores. I contributed an essay to this anthology. It's my third Smart Pop book. Previously: "A History of Violence" and "Secrets and Secret-Keepers."

In the world of comics, a complete ASTRONAUT DAD, volumes 1 and 2, might be available soon. In time for New York Comic Con? I don't want to make any promises, but we're doing it print-on-demand. And by "we," I mean Brent met a guy in San Diego who took an interest in this little graphic novel and he's been the wind beneath our wings.

Brent Schoonover and I are working on a new graphic novel project. He sent some character sketches, and it's looking good. More information soon, but it's completely different from what I usually write. And unlike the past eight years, it's the only comic book project I'm working on at this moment.

The news is a little late, but yes, if you follow WE'VE NEVER MET then you already know, the newspaper that published our comic was canceled. It's possible WNM might find new life elsewhere. Honestly, the terms would have to be just right. I loved writing it, but I don't want to do it unless we can get it just right. I was spoiled by our previous publisher.

That's all from me. Once again, read my story. I would also recommend buying the magazine, so you might cherish it forever.

FIRST MEETING AT THE SALVATION ARMY

We had a good group for our first Thursday night meeting. About 12 people were there, mostly folks I haven't met before. Some arrived at 7 PM. Some showed up later in the evening. No one sat around for too long to wait for a game. There was a lot of 5 minute blitz (big surprise) and slower untimed games. I think everyone had a good time. In particular, I'm very happy with our locale. After an entire month of searching Arlington for an ideal location, I feel vindicated. During that month, I talked with a lot of people. I made several phone calls. And I put probably 100 miles on my car driving around Arlington. The dining hall at the Salvation Army Community Center is a nice size. It can comfortably accommodate 5 people or 50 people. No one seemed to have trouble finding it. Unless, I discover tomorrow there were countless hordes of chess players roaming the building trying to find an unlocked door. Doubtful. Captain Andy Miller, corps officer for the center, is happy to host our group. I've talked with him, and he absolutely understands my long-term goals for the chess club. They do good work here, so it's nice to partner with them. For next time, I need to figure out how the coffee maker works. Maybe grab some snacks too.

Right now, we're borrowing the chess sets from Martin High School. It'd be nice to purchase some supplies specifically for the club. I was browsing online chess stores last night, putting together my wish list. For only $3500, we could have the most ridiculously amazing club sets. My dream set up. (A more modest set would be $1500.) So, anyone have $3500 laying around? In exchange for your generousity, and indulging my need for fine wooden pieces, I can offer you an ad on our site for the next... four years? Anyone?

I heard a lot of people say they'd be back next week. Score one for Chess Club of Arlington.

Photos have been posted to our Facebook page.