As we’ve already mentioned, this weekend (April 24 & 25) is the annual Stumptown Comics Fest, Portland’s very own showcase of creative greats in illustration from near and far. If you’re looking for something different and memorable to fill your two days off, there will be ALL kinds of colorful, dynamic, sometimes-book-sometimes-not entertainment. Here are the details:

PLACE: Lloyd Center Doubletree Hotel in Portland
TIME: 10 AM to 6 PM
OUR TABLE: #30 (Come buy a brand-spankin’ new copy of the newest Kid Beowulf title Song of Roland and have it signed—and illustrated!—by its creator, Alexis E. Fajardo, who will be here all weekend.)

And if you want to jump-start the festivities, here are several events going on tonight and throughout the weekend:

• Song of Roland launch at Grendel’s Coffee House (729 E. Burnside), 5 to 6:30 PM
• Stumptown Launch Party at Guapo Comics & Books (6350 SE Foster Rd.), 7 PM
• D’Merde Salon Multi-media Event at The Know (2026 NE Alberta), 8 PM (Featuring Courtney Taylor Taylor, Hot Gun, The Moonshriners, Seantos McDonald, and more…)
• Dr. Sketchy’s Anti-Art School at the Bossanova Ballroom’s upstairs lounge (722 E. Burnside), 8 to 11 PM
• To see more Stumptown events, click HERE

The following is food for thought in light of April and the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22nd.

“In our way of life, in our government, with every decision we make, we always keep in mind the Seventh Generation to come. It’s our job to see that the people coming ahead, the generations still unborn, have a world no worse than ours—and hopefully better. When we walk upon the Mother Earth we always plant our feet carefully because we know the faces of our future generations are looking up at us from beneath the ground. We never forget them.”

~ Oren Lyons, Native American (Onondaga) Faithkeeper

We have shared the incommunicable experience of war.
We have felt, we still feel, the passion of life to its top….
In our youths, our hearts were touched with fire.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes

In March, we at Dame Rocket Press were sad to hear of the death of Mr. Pink, an instrumental character (and true “Guy” Rocket) in our title Magic Gardens and the life of its author, Viva Las Vegas.

Here’s an excerpt about him from “Ring of Fire” in Magic Gardens:

For a while Mona, Pink, and I were inseparable. We were the Three Musketeers, broke as a joke but living for adventure and off of plunder and booty. I burned pretty hot on my own, but with these two pirates by my side we were an absolute conflagration.

It’s good to be on fire. All ya gotta do is burn. Some people wait their entire lives and never get to experience it, so don’t go about doing it half-assed. Don’t worry about the inevitable burnout. Don’t worry about anything at all. Just burn, baby, burn.

Mr. Pink was a trusty block of good dry wood. He was whipsmart and misanthropic to the extreme, the perfect foil for Mona’s grandiosity and my naïveté. He was filled with sarcastic bons mots, had a cozy shoulder to cry on, and never let his life be upended by something so pedestrian as love. He was a solid block of good dry wood, very predictable and instrumental in a fire.

Here’s to you, Mr. Pink, and to all who knew and loved you. Thank you for the role you played in this world and in the life of our beloved Miss Viva. May we always think of you when building our own light in life and in the stars, too. You will surely be missed.

The good folks managing the Idaho Magazine Fiction Contest recently informed Morgan’s Pasture author Wallace J. Swenson that he has a “winning entry.” We here at Three Muses Press have long known he is a winner, but we are mighty curious about the results of this annual short story contest featuring Idaho writers. Readings and an award presentation will take place on April 10 (1 PM) at Barnes & Noble in Boise, Idaho. Good luck, Wally!

MORE GOOD NEWS: Poet Ana Callan (Duet with Hummingbird) has been invited to present “The Gift of Aging” as part of Multnomah County Library’s monthly series, Perspectives on Positive Aging. “What matters in a life? How does one savor life in the face of mortality and the challenges of these tumultuous times?” Bring lunch and enjoy an inspiring hour with Ana on May 5 from noon to 1:00 PM. Click here for more information.

Kid Beowulf and the Song of Roland has arrived! Fresh from the printer, these books will be the hottest thing on the shelf come April 28, the official release date. If you can’t wait until then, be sure to head out to Stumptown Comics Fest on April 24 and 25 in Portland (Oregon), where copies of the book will be available early. Kid Beowulf creator, Alexis E. Fajardo, will also be on hand for autographs and sketches!