If you look on the interviews page you will see a brief Q&A I did for an Egmont promo leaflet on my book. And speaking of Egmont - they are currently selling RO at just 4.99 (that's £2 off!).

Elyssa and I went to see Toy Story 3 on Tuesday evening. I absolutely loved it - the quality hasn't diminished once throughout this series.

I've just finished reading Jason's latest book, Werewolves of Montpellier - wonderful, understated and dryly funny as ever. Did you know Jason has a blog?

A. F. Harrold very kindly sent me a copy of his new novel. I haven't had a chance to get reading it yet, but the back cover made me chuckle, so that's a good sign. It's called The Education of Epitome Quirkstandard.

And now, or as soon as I've cleared my current crop of book and t-shirt orders, I'm going to get as much work done as I possibly can before I hit the Edinburgh Festival!

A huge thanks to everyone who braved the rainy morning to come along, I really appreciate it. And another big thanks to library staff Sue Young, who put in all the effort to get it organised, and Sophie Worthington, who looked after me so well all morning.

Also today, the Forbidden Planet International blog put up a piece about the process I go through to make a page of The Rainbow Orchid - all my secrets revealed! You can have a look at it right here.

After trying to fit too much comics conversation into too short a time, Ellie and I went to Bella Italia on George Street for a late dinner, then got back onto the now-clear motorway, and home.

* Sarah McIntyre is holding two of her fabulous Comics Jam Sessions at the Cartoon Museum in London next Thursday (12 August) - see here for more details. And don't forget that I'm doing my own Adventure Comics Workshop at East Grinstead Library on Tuesday (10 August - details here).

I've also come back to a clutch of extremely nice reviews for The Rainbow Orchid volume 2, which is just about as lovely as having a fabulous holiday!

Down the Tubes (full review here):

"Ewing continues to bring his growing readership a superb adventure story that leaves you guessing wildly at how that many plot threads will be resolved in the third and final volume..."

Pornokitsch (full review here):

"This is a heart-warming book crafted with painstaking devotion."

Christchurch Kids Blog (full review here):

"I have just discovered my new favourite graphic novel ... If you love old-school adventure stories, with detailed illustrations, quirky characters, narrow escapes and car chases, then you should try The Rainbow Orchid."

Mirabilis (full review here):

"This is a book worth a million dumbly hip, smart-aleck zombie-killer comics. Because the author takes the trouble to make his characters live and breathe, we connect with them and so we care what happens next."

Bear Alley (full review here):

"Like the work of his European influences, Rainbow Orchid is one of those stories that can be enjoyed by children of all ages, the action and humour broad enough for youngsters to enjoy and the plot complex enough for adults."

Sunset Over Slawit (full review here):

"It lives and breathes and stands proud on its own two feet - Garen's book deserves to win every award going for graphic novel artwork and storytelling. Truly, if you don't like The Rainbow Orchid, you don't like life!"

I'm so grateful to have such nice things said about my book, it's a privilege to have such support. And if that wasn't enough, there's a fantastic twenty-minute section on The Rainbow Orchid as part of the latest Small Press Big Mouth podcast (33 minutes in) hosted by Lee Grice and Stacey Whittle (warning: somewhat-more-than-fruity language occasionally present - not for children!). Ginormous thanks to everyone for these reviews - they're a real boost.

On September 26th I will be appearing at a comics festival in the Netherlands for the launch - I believe this is De Stripdagen in Houten. It'll be a somewhat hectic weekend as I'm at the Bath Children's Literature Festival the evening before! (So, fingers crossed again...)

I'm delighted to be working with Silvio Van Der Loo and his team at Silvester Strips, and I understand that I'm lucky enough to have one of their best translators, Mat Schifferstein, working on the books. A huge thanks to Oliver Munson, my agent at Blake Friedmann, for making this deal happen.

You can read the press release here.

Top row (l-r): Joel Meadows' new Tripwire magazine (no.54) is out now and it's absolutely packed full of great reading - visit the website to learn more and you can order a copy there too. This issue also includes a short interview with me; the latest Cinebook release from Leo is Betelgeuse vol 3: The Other - I think this is a fantastic series and I snap these up as soon as they're released, though this is the last in the current saga; NBM's latest Dungeon release is Twilight vol 3: The New Centurions - one of my favourite series (as I mentioned in Forbidden Planet International's recent Bastille Day piece).

Second row (l-r): Mw by Osamu Tezuka - I'm only a little way into this 582-page manga but am pretty gripped already; Fantagraphics recently translated Tardi's stunning and harrowing It Was the War of the Trenches; Alex Milway's new book, part-comic, part-prose, Operation Robot Storm - chock-full of Yetis!

Third row (l-r): Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi - I bought this after reading the author's autobiographical A Drifting Life, this is an early work and fairly crude by today's standards, but still an excellent (if unsurprising) read; Darryl Cunningham's brilliant Psychiatric Tales - highly original, wonderfully drawn, educational (though not at all preachy) - a very readeable and important comic - I think everyone should get themselves a copy (and it's published by the marvellous Blank Slate Books); Wilson by Daniel Clowes - bought after seeing Clowes and Chris Ware at the Brighton Corn Exchange a few weeks ago, a darkly enjoyable read if a little monotone - good though!

Richard Bruton wrote up a lovely review of The Rainbow Orchid volume 2 for the Forbidden Planet International blog (I should say another lovely review, here's his piece on volume 1), and there have also been really nice mentions by long-time supporter Jez Higgins and also over at Robot 6 on Comic Book Resources.

This week the Bath Festival of Children's Literature programme went out, and amongst all the many fantastic events is a panel on comics (Graphic Novels: The New Revolution) where I'm lucky to be appearing alongside two amazing names in comics - Dave McKean and Robin Etherington. It's on Saturday 25th September from 6-7pm at the Guildhall, and is accompanied by this fabulous description:

"A very special and exclusive event celebrating the best artists and authors at work today in the genius world of graphic novels and comics. Dave McKean is an award-winning artist whose distinctive illustrations have graced several children's books including The Savage by David Almond and The Wolves in the Walls by Neil Gaiman. Garen Ewing's Rainbow Orchid series represents cinematic artwork and classic storytelling at its very best and Robin Etherington is one half of a brotherly duo that has contributed Monkey Nuts to the DFC Library and to the Transformers and Star Wars comics. If you like comics... you'll love this event!"

I work in the genius world of graphic novels! I like it!

At a more local level, I will be doing an Adventure Comics Workshop at East Grinstead Library on Tuesday 10th August from 10-11.30am. It's a free event but with limited numbers, so you'll need a ticket (available from the library). I'll be rustling up some promotional stuff for that next week, so more details to come!

Lastly, I want to remind you to pop over to the Super Comics Adventure Squad blog, the home of all the marvellous comic creators who were - and are - involved with The DFC. Despite the last issue appearing well over a year ago, everyone is still as busy as ever. Apart from the recent releases of the first wave of DFC Library books, and news of sightings of advance copies of the second wave, many creators are still working on all kinds of exciting projects - have you seen Emma Vieceli's Dragon Heir, Patrice Aggs' Midnite Owl, or the Etheringtons' Lore of the Things? See, it's worth keeping an eye on!

To end off, I just thought I should mark the occasion as I'm currently writing the last few pages of script for The Rainbow Orchid volume 3 (it'll be finished in time to watch the world cup final on Sunday), bits of which have been floating around my head for the best part of 14 years. I wonder how my readers will react when I reveal the fact that Julius and Evelyn are brother and sister, and Sir Alfred is their father? Only joking! Right - back to the genius world of graphic novels!

Thanks very much for the generous comments that have already come my way about volume 2. And to top off such niceness, go and see this fabulous Julius Chancer drawing by Etherington brother, Lorenzo - lovely! (check out more marvellous fan art here - and I'm always delighted to receive new additions!)

The Rainbow Orchid volume 2 is out on Monday - 5th July 2010. Order from Amazon here.

The Rainbow Orchid volume 2 is out on Monday - 5th July 2010. Pre-order from Amazon here.

You can also read a new interview with me over at Sketch Maven.

The Rainbow Orchid volume 2 is out on Monday - 5th July 2010. Pre-order from Amazon here.

They're the full-bleed cover illustrations for the first two volumes, A3, and on a nice shiny paper. These aren't the quality of the giclée prints (thus they'll be a much lower price), but they are very good indeed - I wouldn't put anything in the shop unless I'd want it myself!

My next big event is at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. On Monday 23 August I'm doing an Adventure Comics Workshop at 5pm in the RBS Workshop Tent:

"Discover the tricks of the trade and design your own classic adventure with this hands-on comics workshop led by Garen Ewing, author and illustrator of The Rainbow Orchid series. His books are often compared with some classic adventures we all love, from Conan Doyle's books to old-school Belgian comics like Tintin - come along and discover your own style."

And on Tuesday 24 August at 1pm, also in the RBS Workshop Tent, I'm doing a schools-only event rather brazenly entitled Comics with Garen Ewing. I'm not entirely sure what this is about yet, but going by the description it looks like I've got a bit of work to do!

"Garen Ewing's The Rainbow Orchid series of comics combines the visual look of Tintin cartoons with the excitement of Indiana Jones-style adventures. Join him for a tour of the world of comics, looking at how writing, illustration and design has developed over the years."

For slightly younger readers, make sure you check out Sarah McIntyre's workshop events (Monsters and Aliens Let Loose!) on Tuesday 24th August. Moving into September, I will be appearing on a panel about comics at the Bath Festival of Children's Literature on Saturday 25 September. As they haven't published the programme yet I won't give any more details, but I am rather excited about the other creators with whom I'm sharing the table!

In case you're not aware, earlier this year SFX Magazine launched a new periodical all about comics called Comic Heroes, and the second issue has just come out. This edition includes a little supplement titled Sidekick, previewing a number of new comics including Bryan Talbot's new Grandville book, Ben Dickson and Warren Pleece's Not One Minute of Silence, Karen Rubins' Urban Beasts and the first five pages of The Rainbow Orchid volume 2, among others.

I should also mention (only because I'm drawing attention to the publication) that there is a rather so-so review of volume 2 in the main magazine (3/5 stars). The reviewer's criticism echoes that of the three or four other less-favourable reviews I've had, citing the slower pace and many plot strands. I'm totally fine with that because I happen to love such stories, but not everyone does, and we all have our own tastes. I'm actually pleasantly overwhelmed by the number of people who have cited these same elements as things that they also like, which gives me faith that not everything is going the way of stories told in a series of bite-sized hooks, an explosion every other page and nothing more complicated than a lumbering zombie or a man with a drink problem and a gun. Multi-stranded storytelling is fine, as long as it's told clearly, and I take great efforts to do that. Comics are a great medium for stories of that nature, they give the reader plenty of time to digest everything they need, and not all adventure comics have to be Tarzan rescuing Jane - the reader can cope! I must say, however, it was a thoughtful review, and I do take it all on board.

(To balance things out a bit, here's a lovely review by Kim Harte that appeared in Inis, the magazine of children's books in Ireland, and here's another nice mention by Neil Elkes over at Speech Balloons. And there are more reviews here.)

I do sometimes wonder if three volumes was the best way to go with The Rainbow Orchid as it's meant to be read as a single book with its story-flow steadily rising throughout. If I'd have planned it as three separate books the build-up and pace would certainly be different for each volume with a more rapid rise in each. But with the three separate volumes, at least it's available right now and with volume two imminent, time will fly by. Before you know it, volume three and the story's exciting conclusion will be upon us.

I'd better get on with it then!