A few things that have come my way recently, and I would heartily recommend that you bid them come your way too. Go and check out Paul B. Rainey's excellent Book of Lists, a long-time comic classic on the web and now in lovely digest book form. And also get yourself a copy of issue 3 of Rol Hirst's PJANG, back to the multi-story format and looking better and better with each issue.

And great news that Red Eye is back. Now as a PDF download, full of news and interviews (including me) it's a whopping 115 pages and really nicely put together - well worth the measley £1 download fee. If you like comics you have to get it! (it's available from August 1st).

Although the official launch date for The Rainbow Orchid is next Tuesday (4 Aug), I've heard from a few people today who have received their books after pre-ordering through Amazon. Also, if you take a look at the Borders home page, you'll see my comic featured there - I think for this week only (and with a bargainous price too).

I've also got some events to tell you about... Next week, from 4-7 Aug, you can see an exhibition of Rainbow Orchid art, sketches and behind-the-scenes notes at the gallery at Foyles Bookshop on Charing Cross Road. The following weekend (15-16 Aug) I will be at Caption in Oxford where I will be giving a talk on the Saturday afternoon about The Rainbow Orchid and some thoughts on self-publishing and being published. There's a really great line-up of talks and workshops for Caption this year, including creators such as Sarah McIntyre, Asia Alfasi, Jon Spira and Jimi Gerkhin to name but a handful.

On Friday 21 August (7-9pm) I'm having a local book-launch event in East Grinstead at The Bookshop on the town's High Street. Anyone is more than welcome to attend - if you're on Facebook, please feel free to add yourself to the event page there. And on the following Monday 24-29 Aug, the Rainbow Orchid exhibition will be appearing at the East Grinstead library.

But it doesn't end there! Moving ahead into October I shall be sharing a table with the Accent UK chaps at the British International Comics Show (3-4 Oct). And the following weekend I shall be on a panel at the Cheltenham Literary Festival (10 Oct). Then at the end of October I have a table at the London Movie Comics Media Expo (24-25 Oct). I have one more event booked for now - a table at Thought Bubble in Leeds, on 21 Nov.

You can keep up to date on all these event over at the aptly named events page, and if there's any new ones I'll add them as things go along.

If you're a member of the Adventurers' Society, make sure you log in and print out your new membership card - you'll find it on your membership details page. If you're not a member - it's free to register! It'll give you access to competitions, the newsletter and other goodies (and if you see me and have your card, I'll stamp it with the official stamp!)

There have been some very nice preview-reviews of The Rainbow Orchid.

Richard Bruton writes on the Foribidden Planet International blog, Tim Pilcher writes a review on his blog, Jeanette Towey interviewed me for The Phantom Zone, and Win Wiacek writes a review at Now Read This!

By next week I should have my shop in order and, as well as books, there should be t-shirts.

It's two weeks until The Rainbow Orchid is launched (I hope you've pre-ordered your copy!). But it has been available before, of course. Have you got all three editions?

The Egmont edition has given me the opportunity to tighten up the dialogue, re-draw the occasional panel, and even add two extra pages - so that's the one to have!

Edit: oops, should have been more clear - the two earlier editions sold out and aren't available any more - sorry!

Neill Cameron has just finished his A-Z of Awesomeness, and it has completely lived up to its name. Every drawing has been impressive and entertaining and no one can argue against this being the most successful A-Z so far - just brilliant. See for yourself! (You can see my A-Z from last year here).

I also wanted to point you to my brother's resurrected blog, Mewsings. Murray writes wonderfully thoughtful and well-reasoned articles and reviews on all kinds of things fantastical - well worth a read. Recent highlights have included a series on fantasy-themed albums and some thoughts on current vampire literature. Not to mention this terrific drawing of two well-known but unusually-paired adventurers!

I flicked the 'on' switch over at the shop, and while some parts remain dark, and some with the lights slowly flickering into life, one section is brightly lit and fully functional... prints!

I have two A3 prints for sale to begin with - the cover to volume one (sans lettering and logos) and the Tayaut Soviet poster (which also appears in the back of the book). These are not just churned out on my home printer! These are lovely high-quality giclée prints on 308gsm Hahnemuhle Photo Rag paper with ink that will keep its pictorial depth for 70-80 years or more. Each print is hand-signed by me as well. Visit the shop here.

Another quick post, just to point you in the direction of a couple of very nice write-ups on The Rainbow Orchid (only a month until launch date).

On Tuesday, author Jeannette Towey dropped in for a chat about comics and art and writing and things and then went and turned it into a very thoughtful article over at The Phantom Zone.

And I was delighted by this detailed review that was brought to my attention yesterday. Some lovely observations and generous praise in both these pieces - thanks so much (edit: and to Warren Ellis too).