Manatee Power

I will be at the Maine Comics Arts Fesitval next Sunday, May 22 at Ocean Gateway in Portland. I’ll have all of my awesome books, plus a kid-friendly version of Who is Amy Amoeba? I’ve met a number of parents and teachers who enjoy this story but hesitate to share it because of the language. So the swearing, while adorable, is getting cleaned up for the children of Maine. I don’t know if this will be a permanent change or not – the swearing is really minimal but still kind of funny.

Twice a week, Ray Howell has been posting original short stories on his blog, Tin Stories. Each story is just fifty words long (or in the nomenclature of snack manufacturers, FUN-SIZE). Here’s one story, titled Technical Masterpieces:

By 2052, with unemployment skyrocketing, it was deemed necessary to disqualify the robots. The MANPOWER Act outlawed hiring robot labor and we returned to the assembly lines. Ineligible to build things, the robots spent their time writing music. But we were too busy to listen, and they had no ears.

Some are funny, some are sad, some are mysterious. They are all thoughtful and satisfying. If you are the kind of person who like to snack on stories throughout the day, you should put some of these in your pants pockets.

I’ve been illustrating one tin story every week, with a new drawing of an old story every Wednesday. So far, there are four.

Here is a fifty-word story I wrote just now about Ray:

I became friends with Ray Howell in high school and spent weekends in his basement. The fact that I don’t remember much about what we did down there gives you some idea of what we did down there. I’ve forgotten countless nights of embarrassing conversations, insecure provocations, and relentless creativity.