APHRODITE: GODDESS OF LOVE is out! Today!

What more can I say?

Sneak Peek at the upcoming Olympians poster

Long time no post! Been super busy working on Olympians Book 7-- Ares: God of War, and this bit of work below. Behold the pencils and inks for the Olympians family portrait poster that will be packaged with the upcoming Olympians boxed set.

My New York Comic Con schedule

If anyone is going to the New York Comic Con this weekend, or will be in New York City, I'm going to be making a bunch of appearances, at the show and all over town. Here's my schedule:

Thursday, 7:00pm Location: The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 236 East 3rd Street, NYC 10009

"Comics: Not Only, But ALSO For Kids" w/ Calista Brill, Tony Cliff, and George O’Connor

Description: an informal discussion of the universal appeal of comics, the breaking down of boundaries between kids and adult comics, and the role of sequential art in both education and entertainment. The evening will then continue with "Comics & Pop Music", a conversation on the long-standing relationship between music and comics, the two forms' shared history and common inspirations, and the new wave of music-centric titles that are poised to reach an audience beyond that of traditional comic readers. Complimentary cocktails and light refreshments will be offered throughout the panel programming, and then at 9pm, a selection of DJs and musical acts will perform. They had me at "complimentary cocktails." For more info click here.

Friday, 3:00 PM NYCC at the Javits center Dare to Draw Table in Artists Alley, table #D11

Dare to Draw is an awesome non-profit organization dedicated to mentoring comics artists that I am lucky to be affiliated with. I'll be doing portfolio reviews at their table alongside a great list of other comics pros. Check out more about them here: http://www.bigcitydare2draw.com/

Friday, 6:00pm – 8:00pm Location: Books of Wonder, 3 West 18th St, NYC 

"NY Comic-Con at Books of Wonder" w/ Cat Valente, Tony Cliff, Frank Cammuso, and George O’Connor

The above authors and I will be chatting and signing, maybe arm-wrestling, who knows? This will be my second NYCC related appearance with Tony Cliff, so we'll either be best friends or mortal enemies by then.

Saturday,  New York Comic Con at the Javits center
 Exhibit Hours: 10:00am – 7:00pm

I'll be avoiding this place on Saturday like the bubonic plague because it will be so ungodly crowded. I'll probably be home, sleeping.

Sunday, 10:45 AM – 11:45 AM Location: room 1A17
NYCC at the Javits center 

"The Magic of Storytelling"

 Description: Entertain your reader with stories of ghouls, time traveling weenies, lurking monsters, outlandish outlaws and the intrepid teens that keep them all in line. Join Lemony Snicket (When Did You See Her Last?), David Lubar (Weenies series), Matthew Cody (Will in Scarlet), Shannon Hale (Ever After High: The Storybook of Legends), George O’Connor (Olympians), and Scott Campbell (If Dogs Run Free) as they discuss crafting stories rich with humor, adventure, and mystery for young readers with M.D. Payne (the Monster Juice series). LEMONY SNICKET! It should be interesting to see if anyone even notices me sitting there next to LEMONY FREAKING SNICKET!

 afterwards...

Sunday, 12:00pm: George O’Connor Signing (Olympians) / Autographing Area 21

I'll be the short line somewhere next to Lemony Snicket's immensely long line. and in case Mr Snicket's long line totally blocks your access to me, at

Sunday, 1:30pm: George O’Connor (Olympians) signing at the First Second Booth #2237

 Come by and tell my editors how awesome I am :)

Check your spines...

Just got my first hardcover bound copy of Aphrodite: Goddess of Love. Something interesting is beginning to appear...

Where I'll be at MICE

Here's some of my schedule at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo this weekend in Cambridge: Saturday at 2 PM I'll be performing in the Carousel live comics slideshow with Jess Fink, Jon Chad, Sophie Goldstein, Kriota Willberg and the legendary R Sikoryak-- for more info go here Then, Sunday, at 2:30, I'll be on the "Reinterpretations of the Classics" panel alongside the aforementioned R Sikoryak, Gareth Hinds, Chris Duffy, and moderated by J.L. Bell. The rest of the time I'll be hanging out at my table, signing books, giving free sketches to kids and just being Georgish. Hope to see you there!

MICE 2013

Attention anyone in the Boston area! I'm a featured guest at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo! I'll be signing and greeting, appearing on panels and even participating in one of R Sikoryak's famed Carousel live comics readings! Also, it's FREE to attend! And I'm giving free sketches to kids! And probably more exciting stuff! BE THERE!

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!!! R.I.P. Ray Harryhausen

Today at Drawbridge (the drawing blog I am a very occasional contributor to) we honored recently departed stop-motion guru Ray Harryhausen, the special effects whiz behind such classic movies as Jason & The Argonauts, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, and Clash of the Titans (I'm talking about the 1981 original-- the recent remake was an execrable pile of something unspeakable).

Release the, uh, me!

Ah, Clash of the Titans, you're not that bad a film.  I enjoyed you as a child, even though I was driven nuts by the scads of mythological inconsistencies.

The top thing that drove me nuts was the Kraken. The Kraken is not Greek!! It's a Norwegian monster, from, like, two millennia later. In the original Greek Myth, the sea monster that jeopardizes Andromeda is Cetus, a giant whale monster. As an adult, I now know that the reason for the substitution was that  Harryhausen thought that a giant squid monster like the Kraken  would be more fun to animate than a giant whale.

In recent years the catchphrase of "Release the Kraken" has become something of a meme. And it is fun to yell-- I especially recommend shouting it while in the stall of a crowded public bathroom. I decided today to draw Harryhausen's Kraken to honor the man and his work, even if it wasn't Greek ;)

Bonus image-- Here's my retelling of the Perseus rescuing Andromeda myth from Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess. I restored Cetus to his proper mythological position. But, somehow, "Release the Cetus" doesn't have the same ring to it.

Come celebrate Free Comic Day with me at Bergen Street Comics

This Free Comic Book Day, Saturday May 4th, at 5 PM I'll be signing at Bergen Street Comics in Brooklyn. I'll be doing a Poseidon-centric presentation detailing my own troubled relationship to the God of the Sea with live drawing (and one lucky fan will get to go home with the original art). To read more about it, click here.

As promised, more lil Olympians

Dug up some sketches to share...

Awesome fan art! Lil Hera! Lil Athena!

Awhile back, I drew up a comic for the ReadKiddoRead awards (Olympians was nominated for best series, and is probably losing as I type). It starred lil Olympians versions of Zeus and Hades. I drew up lil Olympian versions of the whole pantheon, wanting to do something with them in the future, but so far as I recall I never posted any other designs. Imagine my surprise then when I received these awesome drawings of lil Athena and lil Hera via twitter today from twitter user @britters1516. She figured out the underlying design principles behind my Zeus and Hades and perfectly extrapolated Hera and Athena. Amazing!

I'll have to dig up my own designs and post them, to see how they compare.

TOMORROW! Author Unlimited 3! EASILY the most exciting teen lit event on Long Island. Come meet Andrea Cremer, Adam Gidwitz, Jeff Hirsch, Tonya Hurley, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Joe Kelly, Robert Lipsythe, Barry Lyga, Patricia McCormick, Eliot Schrefer, Natalie Standiford and ME,  at St Joseph's College. More info here:

New Facebook Author page

I've been getting a lot of requests for a Facebook author page and I had never made one, but now THAT HAS CHANGED! If you're on Facebook and want to see lots of cool exclusive pictures and stuff, as well as keep up with my various news and appearances, or just want to tell me how stinky you thought my latest book was, here's where you can go: George O'Connors OFFICIAL Facebook Author page!!

I also have a new Twitter handle. Follow me if you prefer me in doses of 140 characters or less:

Watch me talk comics on YouTube-- LIVE!

I'm going to be a guest on the Comics Are Great podcast with the awesomely named Jerzy Drozd on Wednesday, April 16th at 12:30 pm. Now you might be saying-- since when does a podcast have a specific time? Well, Comics Are Great is streamed live over Youtube with real, moving images! You can also watch and/or listen after the fact if you're going to be otherwise occupied. But if you watch live, who knows, I might goof up something spectacularly. Don't you want to see that happen?

More Poseidon Bookstore appearances

I'm continuing to appear around town promoting my latest book, Poseidon: Earth Shaker.

 If you're going to be attending MoCCAfest this year, I'll be signing Poseidon and other volumes of Olympians at the FirstSecond booth at 11:30 on Saturday, April 6th. You can also catch me at the table for DaretoDraw from 1-2:30.

Later that day, I'll be celebrating the launch of Poseidon at the new Powerhouse books in Park Slope. That's Saturday, April 6th at 4 PM.

And I'll be part of a group show on April 20th at NYC's famed Books of Wonder .

Hope to see you there!

POSEIDON: EARTH SHAKER on the NYTimes Bestsller list!

A huge, heartfelt "THANK YOU!!!!" to everyone who helped put it there. Meanwhile, eternal middle child Poseidon celebrates a victory that little bro Zeus's book never quite managed.

Poseidon interview with Geekmom at Wired.com

Well, it's not the actual god of the sea that they interview, but rather me, talking about my latest book. I had a really great in-depth conversation about Olympians in general and Poseidon in particular with Melissa 'Geekmom' Wiley over at the incredible Wired.com. If you're interested in giving it a read, as well as seeing a photo of my Masters of the Universe collection, click here.

I'm an official (MTV) Geek now!

This is just a screenshot-- see me talk and draw at the link below 

I sat down recently with the good folks from MTV Geek for a video interview where I talked about how to draw Poseidon, the Olympians series, and my very own special feud with the God of the Sea. You can see it all here.

Poseidon Bookstore appearances!

Did I mention Poseidon: Earth Shaker has been released? I'm making a few appearances in the next few days to promote it. Here's a sampling:

 March 20th, 4 PM-- Community Bookstore in Park Slope Brooklyn!

 March 21st, 6:30 PM-- Voracious Reader in Larchmont, NY

 March 22nd, 4 PM-- Watchung Booksellers in Watchung, NJ

 March 23rd, 11 AM-- Greenlight Bookstore, Fort Greene Brooklyn!

Hope to see you there!

RELEASE THE KRAKEN!! Poseidon: Earth-Shaker comes out today!

I know, I know, the Kraken isn't really from Greek mythology (in fact, if you've ver seen me in person,  I devote a chunk of my presentation to how bogus the Kraken is) but it does make for a good headline.

OLYMPIANS BOOK 5-- POSEIDON: EARTH SHAKER COMES OUT TODAY!!! GO! GO!! GET A COPY!!!

Please get a copy, that is. I'm very excited :)

Upstate New York appearance list

If you live anywhere in the Mohawk River Valley, thanks to a generous grant written by the wonderful librarian Sue Rokos I will be appearing near you. I'll be doing some Olympians specific demos at some places, some drawing demos at others, and some comics-making workshops at yet others. If you see your library on the list contact them for more info, or write me for the full scoop. Hope to see you there! soon

3/8 Gloverville Public Library, 4:00 pm
3/9 Rensselaer Public Library, 1:00 pm
3/12 Rotterdam Branch Library, 6:30 pm
3/13 Community Library, Cobleskill 3:00 pm
4/1 William K. Sanford Town Library  2:00 pm
4/1 Stephentown Memorial Library 4:30 pm
4/2 East Greenbush Community Library  11:00 am
4/2 Albany Public Library 3:00 pm
4/2 Menands Public Library  6:30 pm
4/3/ Altamont Free Library  3:00 pm
4/4 Voorheesville Public Library 1:30 pm
4/4 Guilderland Public Library 3.30 pm
4/5 Mt. Pleasant Branch, SCPL 11:00 am
4/5 Schenectady County Public Library 2:00 pm

Hades has been nominated for a ReadKiddoRead award!

...so I made this comic about it.

You can vote for me here. It literally takes seconds, and if you vote for me, and tell me, I'll make more zany comics like this. Also? I'll be your best friend.

Win a free copy of Athena!

Just like last week's Zeus contest at GoodReads, here's your chance to win a free copy of Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess. Just click here and check it out, but hurry-- there's only one day left.

Chance to win a free copy of Zeus!

The book review supersite Goodreads is running a contest from February 4th until the 13th in which 5 lucky people will win a copy of my very own book Zeus: King of the Gods. Follow the link for your chance to win!

Zeus on Turtle and Robot

Turtle and Robot is a new(ish) children's book blog run by my old friend (and fellow Books of Wonder alum) Jennifer "Lavoovavie" Lavonier.  Jenn knows her children's books-- in addition to serving as the manager and book buyer of Books of Wonder, for, like, ever, she was the personal assistant to Maurice Sendak. Her blog and its reviews of children's books old and new has become very, very popular, and now she's turned her attention to my very own Zeus: King of the Gods. Give a click, and check out the rest of her site while you're there.