It's been six months since my last confession...

"Where the hell have YOU been," you might ask? (Photo by David Nevin)

When last we met, I was announcing a show of drawings from my Graphic Novel NARCISSA at Rutgers University, and a signing\slideshow presentation in New York of THE BOHEMIANS anthology for which I created illustrated biographies of Claude McKay, Katherine Dunham and Pearl Primus... I thought for sure that I'd be there in the flesh for both last spring, but an unscrupulous lowlife publisher (who shall remain deservedly nameless) put a kink in my plans by deciding to play fast and loose with the money they owed me for a recent book. And this, after working so well together our first time around. (...sigh...) Blindsided by this, I had to cancel my trip home, which wouldn't have been so bad, had I not been forced as well to miss my nephew Sean's graduation from art school in May. (Boo hoo, I know... but for me that's going to be pretty much unforgivable.) I'm glad to report that all events and affairs went off without a hitch for my fellow learned participants, but its finally dawned on me that I've spent the last several years putting my spin on other writers' vision, for modest return, and another Graphic Novel that I can truly call my own is long overdue. So...

I've mentioned THUG MIDWIFE before, but now it's really taking shape. I'll be posting regularly again and if you're interested... it's going to be an unforgettable story, I promise.

Over the last few months, I've found time to continue drawing my THELONIOUS MONK bio, written by David Berger for Duke University Press, and to illustrate a graded reader for Cambridge University which happened to be written by the very talented Nicola Prentis. A couple of color (sorry, colour) pictures follow from that.

 I'll let you know where to find it when it arrives... they thought so highly of my work in England that they graciously refused to credit me for it on the cover!

I'd like to share a couple of Lancelot-Links with you before dashing back to work... 

I illustrated the already quite vivid poetry of Gwyneth Box and her must-have ebook AROUND THE CORNER FROM HOPE STREET. Check it out while you've got a minute!

Deborah Cowell, the most capable Editor I ever worked with, not to mention the person most responsible for NARCISSA ever seeing the light of day, posts @ MEDIUM occasionally, in addition to writing beautiful prose elsewhere when it strikes her fancy... 

Some art from my ill-fated adaptation of Octavia Butler's masterwork, KINDRED has found its way into NEAR KIN, a collection of poetry and prose inspired by the works of one truly magnificent author.

I also generated a few images for the exciting MUSIC LIBRARY site, so please check them out too! You'll find the musical content there to be pretty amazing and, no me digas... their site's bilingual!

Hey, I've been Pinned HERE and HERE, whatever that means!

Hope you're having a great summer so far! Watch this space... It's about to get hotter!

Lance Tooks
Happy Birthday, Pop!