*WHAT A PLEASANT SURPRISE..
I just got an email that I'm nominated for an African American Literary Award Show Open Book Award for Best Comic Strip. Other nominees are Jerry Craft (Mama's Boyz) and Aaron McGruder (the Boondocks). The award show is tonite in New York City. Wish me luck. If you're a drag queen living in New York City, feel free to accept the award on my behalf if I win.
Here's a full list of the categories and nominees.

*WEST HOLLYWOOD BOOK FAIR THIS WEEKEND...
..So git yer ass on over there, 'kay? It'd be great to see some folks, considerin' I'm new in town.
It's Sunday, Sept. 30th, 10am-6pm. 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. (North Hollywood Park) THIS IS A FREE EVENT. I'll be in the Comix Scene section.

*LETTERS OF THE WEEK...

(RE: Jena, LA K Chronicles)

Keith-

I really like your strip, but wanted to protest your use of
"Jebediah" as a stereotypical racist hick name. It's just a little too
close to my name for comfort...


Thanks,

J.

(It's true, I screwed up. It felt contrived as I was writing Jebediah in the comic strip. Hypocritical. Thanks for calling me on it. I'm gonna change it when the strip is reprinted in book form.-kk)

(RE: K Chronicles/Harvey Award Win)

Dear Keef,

Way to go man! I am so happy for you. To think (no pun intended) that a
cartoon with as much life and reality and honesty as yours can be recognized
makes one believe that at least some people really do "get it"!

Sincerely,
Mark Whitley

(RE: Random Kindness)

Keef (if I may take the liberty),

This is the second time I've written you a note...how weird is that to
contact a total stranger????....but you freakin' RULE!!!!! Your stuff
is so incredibly funny and lively and life-affirming. If I had a
million dollars I'd buy everything you've ever written, and if I had 2
million I'd give you a grant.
Keep on keepin' on, man. What you do makes me happy.
May love surround you,
V

 
*EMAILS OF THE WEEK..

(Re: This week's K Chronicles (about Confession) )

Keef,

Classic. Of course, we'll lose half our advertisers, but I think we'll
run it anyway.


T.

(Ha!!  This is from my editor at the Sitting Duck up in Olympia.-k.k.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Re: The last Life's Little Victories strip (which was all about the Boston area)

Hello, Keith


I am a huge fan of the your work. I'm also a proud fellow Maldonian. In

fact, I once took (wait for it) break dancing lessons from you at the Malden

Studio of Dance on Highland Ave. back in my Girls Catholic High School days.


The steps you taught me came in very handy at Dance Factory (rip) and The

Palace (rip) back in the day. Today, I occasionally amaze my friends when I

bust a move to "Rockit."


Anyway - your Life's Little Victories are my faves and your reference to the

Squire in today's strip was FUGGINAWESOME. It reminded me of the old, skinny

black-haired Squire stripper who was a regular customer at Mal's. Thanks so

much.


Go Tornadoes,

K.

(Man!! She's really reachin' back!! This is back to my Michael Jackson impersonator days!!-k.k.)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Keith,

It's wonderful to find out how far a state education can go!

Congratulations on your success, and I can benefit by telling my kids I know
someone famous.

My name is K. and I attended Salem State college from 87-92. I remember
you in Bowditch Hall and around the commons.

I think you were there also, but if I'm wrong make a cartoon of a stranger
claiming to know you.

-K.

(hmmm..a lot of Boston folk comin' out of the woodwork..-k.k.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(RE: The Purple and Green people strip)

Keith,

I'm not prone to send fan-mail of any sort, but your cartoon "Who the heck
are all these green and purple folks white people are always talking about?"
really struck a chord with me. I'm a professor of Political Science who
occasionally teaches Ethnic Conflict (and I'm white, too!). I've been
overheard frequently while asking rhetorical questions of my students or
pontificating on some larger point saying something along the lines of your
recent cartoon. Needless to say, your work had the effect of holding up a
mirror, confronting me with the absurdity of my statements. My first
reaction was to LOL, but then quickly gave way to a momentary wave of
embarrassment. Touche! And, kudos!

But, while driving my daughter to the store this afternoon, I think I
figured out why white people talk so much about the green and purple folks
so much. Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People" came on the radio and
I felt compelled to share with you where I think the origins of liberal,
white, misplaced-rainbow silliness reside:

Sometimes I'm right and I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
The butcher, the banker, the drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah
There is a blue one who can't accept the green one
For living with a fat one trying to be a skinny one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh sha sha - we got to live together
I am no better and neither are you
We are the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me you know me and then
You can't figure out the bag l'm in
I am everyday people, yeah yeah
There is a long hair that doesn't like the short hair
For bein' such a rich one that will not help the poor one
And different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby doo-bee
Oh sha sha-we got to live together
There is a yellow one that won't accept the black one
That won't accept the red one that won't accept the white one
And different strokes for different folks
Anyhow, keep up the good work. I've read your strip religiously for years
and don't plan on stopping anytime soon (although I may think twice about
lecturing on Skittle-colored people in the future).

Best,

C.

(I wrote back to him and said the Sly excuse doesn't fly cuz he wuz on drugs when he wrote the above tune. And you DO see purple people when you are on drugs...not that I'd know.-k.k.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*NEXT APPEARANCES ARE SET..

Sun. Sept. 30- West Hollywood Book Fair, West Hollywood, CA. 9am-6pm (Tabling)

Thurs. Oct. 11- Barnes and Noble, Bethesda MD. 7:30pm (Slideshow with CWA)

Fri./Sat. Oct.12/13-SPX in Bethesda, MD. 2pm-8pm Fri- 10am-7pm Sat. (Tabling plus a comic strip panel)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*THE IN-LAWS HAVE LEFT THE BUILDING *sniff*
The wifey's parents headed back to Deutschland after a 3 and a half week stay. We rocked it on both coasts and had a great time. Now it's time to grind out a butt-load of comics and gear up for my favorite time of the year: Autumn. Sure, leaves don't change in Los Angeles. But at least it ain't 105 in the shade anymore...

Stuff I'm working on:
*the new K Chronicles collection
*a super-secret project that will be announced soon
*a graphic novel proposal

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*WHERE TO FIND ME THIS MONTH..
I've got a most swanky interview in the Comics Journal this month (issue #285)

I've also got a new Bully Baby strip in this month's ish of MAD magazine (issue #482)

Labels: Emails of the week, spx 2007, West Hollywood Book Fair signing

 
*EXTRA!! EXTRA!! KEEF INTERVIEW IN THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE COMICS JOURNAL!!
The premiere publication of the comics industry just dropped the latest issue. And it has an interview with me by Cartoon Art Museum gallery manager and all around good guy Andrew Farago. Here's an excerpt.

Labels: andrew farago, cartoon art museum, comics journal, interview

 
*LETTER OF THE WEEK...

My name is J., and I am a follower of Keefism. ("hello J!!"-kk)

That and I just really enjoy your series. Ive been happily reading your
strip since Ralph from Alternate Reality answered my question of "I need
something "Different"" by putting a copy of Dances with Sheep in my hands
and telling me to trust him. Id like to say I follow your strip
religiously, but in today's lingo that would mean I pretend to read every
day then spend a sunday morning in silent whining that I have to read it.
To date, Ive missed actually getting to meet you in person twice, both by
one day. The first was when The Prophets played UNLV. It wasn't till the
day after that I realized they had put your band as "Marginal Profits" and
I never made the connection till it was too late. Missed you a few weekends
ago as I didn't check your site until the day after. Any other times you
plan to be in Vegas, I hope I'll be able to meet you.
I could probably be a Keef fanboy, wouldn't mind being called it. I think
your strips are almost too conservative sometimes (kidding!). It would be
fair to say I'm a fanboy actually, as me (some little white guy) turned a
friend (big black guy) onto your comics recently, now he's hooked on them.
Just a bit of role reversal. I bring up the black friend as I would love to
relate a story. Last weekend or so in Vegas was the Renaissance Faire. This
is where white people with too much money, pretend to live in the old times
without the bad cooking, poor plumbing, disease, and ignorance. They do
this by hooking bagpipes up to amps on a big stage and setting up tents
that sell overpriced pieces of metal sorta like weapons, and food that's
been fried way too many times to tell if you are eating a doughnut or an
onion ring.
I do not know if you've ever been to a faire, but I hope you'll go, and I
hope, desperately, that someone is there with a camera. The look on my
friend Anthony's face when two white gals in their olde tyme gettups yelling
"HUZZAH! A MOOR HAS ARRIVED!" and trying to sell him some temporary tattoos
was a look I think only a deer facing a semi could imitate. I assured him
that this is not what all white people do for fun... just the odd ones of
us. He made the observation that with white folk, who could tell what's odd?
If nothing else, the faire was worth it for one sight. We looked over at
the trashcans at one point and saw a unique thing. A dwarf in a kilt, no
shirt, elbow resting against the can (No taller than said trashcan) With a
beer in one hand, and talking on a cellphone with the other. It's just
something one does not often see.

I do hope you got a bit of a chuckle out of my letter, and its been awesome
reading your strip, took me awhile to work up the nerve to write, just
silly nervousness. You are one of my three favorite writers by far. (The
others being Neil Gaiman and Neil Stephenson)

-J. the broke lil college student that picks up the Mercury for a free thrill, thanks mostly to a certain comic.

Labels: letter of the week

 
*EXTRA!! EXTRA!! THE K CHRONICLES WON THE 2007 HARVEY AWARD FOR BEST COMIC STRIP!!
Yee-owww!! Pop that bottle o' champagne!! My ship has come in!! My little ol' self-syndicated comic strip pulled off a surprise upset, winning one of the most respected awards in the industry!! I was up against some of the best in the business, with folks like Garry Trudeau and Patrick McDonnell nominated in my category. I want to thank everybody in the industry who voted for me. And all the readers who have supported the strip for so long.

(I know this sounds like an acceptance speech..but heck, I wasn't there at the ceremony, so I didn't get a chance to be all-a-flustered!!)

To read more details, google "2007 Harvey Award Winners". They haven't posted the results on the Harvey Awards website yet.

*WHAT WAS I DOING IF I WASN'T AT THE CEREMONIES?
I was with my German in-laws of course. On the road, hitting every single beach in Southern California. And the San Diego Zoo. Where I watched a chimpanzee pull feces from its own ass and eat it. I also had some most righteous tapas at a spot called Cafe Sevilla in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. Git yer ass in there before 6:30pm during the week for half price paella and more!!

Don't believe me about the chimp? I will post a picture soon.

*THE 2008 CALENDARS ARE HERE!!
Hot and fresh!! Get your 2008 Little Vics/Mega-Mix monthly calendar for 2008. A great and useful gift for your friendly neighborhood comics fan, college student or cherished loved one. Exclusively here in our KChronicles.com store.

*JUST ADDED:
Looks like I'll be appearing at the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sunday September 30th. Look for me tabling in the Comics Scene section.

Labels: Harvey Awards, san diego, the in-laws, West Hollywood Book Fair signing

 
*THE UNBEARABLE HOTNESS OF L.A...
Ugh..What a nightmare. I can't describe how horrible the weather's been down here. It's makes me pine for the ol' fog and coldness that is San Francisco.

The worst thing about it is my in-laws are staying with us (for 3 weeks!!), which ain't bad in itself. But all four of us in a one bedroom apartment at 105 degrees with a crappy air conditioner is ugly.

We're still having fun despite the scorchiness.

Shout out to the young lady who recognized me at the City of Culver's Farmer's Market today. She overheard me introducing my in-laws to the German hippie who sells the world's greatest organic heirloom tomatoes, and thought she'd ask if my name was Keith. Cool, huh?

*ABOUT THIS WEEK'S STRIP..
It was prompted by the google alerts that I get about Keith Knight. I suddenly started getting all these "Keith Knight is dead" alerts and started wondering if all the other Keith Knights in the world were at least slightly affected by one of our brethren passing.

*CHECK OUT THE NEWEST ISSUE OF THE COMICS JOURNAL..
Not sure what number it is, but it should be hitting newsracks now. I'm interviewed by one of the nicest people in comics, Andrew Farago of the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco.

By the way, are you going to the Cartoon Art Museum's Pixar fundraiser?

*BOSTON WRAP-UP..
Boston was quite spectacular because the Wifey and I were meeting up with her parents (who were flying in from the Black Forest of Germany, then flying back to L.A. with us!!), and staying at my Mom's house. This was the first time my Mom was meetin' the in-laws, so it was gonna be interesting. Kerstin's parents know little English, and my Mom knows no German at all. But that didn't stop her from yappin' like they understood what she was saying. : )

It was great. Kerstin's dad was showing everybody yoga moves and standing on his head at 6am. Then we took the in-laws up the coast where they tried lobster for the first time.

We went by my world-renowned great Uncle Owen's place where Kerstin's dad drank too much B&B, and ended up singing drunken German songs for the rest of the afternoon.

And we all hit the tennis courts with my little sister's family for some serious tennis spielen. A wonderful time was had by all. I love it when a family comes together...(although a few were conspicuously missing).

*BOOKSIGNING WRAP-UP...

Thanks to everybody who came by my signing at Million Year Picnic. It wasn't the busiest signing I've had there (it being a Saturday morning on one of the last weekends of the summer), but it was fun nonetheless. Had a coupla family members stop by including Cartoonist with Attitude cohort Brian McFadden.

I was sorta out of it anyway because of the party I had the night before. Y'see, it twas my birthday (41!) and my Ma threw a little BBQ for me that turned into a bit of a shindig. Many friends from childhood, high school, college and my old band came by with all their little kidlings. We ate and drank and eventually ended up at the Hong Kong Lounge in Harvard Square, where we finished off more than a few Scorpion Bowls. (We left the children at home..or was it at the bar?)

Anyhoo..Thanks to Tony at M.Y.P., Brianna and Chris, Brian for comin' by..

*APOLOGIES TO EVERYONE WHO'S K CHRONICLES.COM ORDERS HAVE BEEN SLIGHTLY DELAYED..
I'm back and they will be filled.

*DOES ANYBODY HAVE A TICKET TO SEE STEVIE WONDER AT THE GREEK OR IN SAN FRANCISCO? PLEASE EMAIL ME: keef@kchronicles.com

Ciao!!

Labels: booksigning, boston, lobster, Los Angeles, million year picnic, scorpion bowls, the in-laws