Portrait of the artist as a young man...
(aka "...I've been some places...")

Derek McCulloch is an award-winning writer of graphic novels and other stuff. Check this site regularly for news on upcoming projects and appearances.

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New Stuff:

2012 Best Ofs

Pleased and proud to see Gone to Amerikay making some Best-of lists for the previous year.  I already mentioned our appearance on School Library Journal's list of Best Adult Books for Teens.  Since then, GTA showed up on CBR, in Greg Burgas' list of the Best Comics of 2012, and this blogger picked GTA as THE best comic of 2012.  Thanks to everybody who's been so kind in their estimation of our little book.

SLJ Accolades, New GTA Page, and More!

* As often seems to be the case, my "New Stuff" is pretty old -- but I was still quite proud a month or two back when School Library Journal included Gone to Amerikay on their list of the Best Adult Books for Teens for 2012.



* I found this out completely by accident last month - apparently there's a Spanish edition of Gone to Amerikay coming out in February.   Unless I'm completely forgetting something, this is the first time my work's been translated into another language, and I'm thrilled and a little disoriented by it.

* And domestically, the paperback edition of Gone to Amerikay will be released this summer.  It's already up on Amazon for pre-release orders, so if you were waiting for the soft cover version, here it is.

* And speaking of Gone to Amerikay, which is all I seem to be doing -- I've resurrected a page of notes I wrote for the original release and posted them on a page here.  It's a discussion of the historical characters who form the background for the 1870 and 1960 segments of Gone to Amerikay.

December is Stagger Lee Month

Stagger Lee shot Billy on Christmas night, and over on my Facebook page I'll be discussing a different version of the song every day for the month of December.  Go look!

Another Week of Gone to Amerikay!

It was quite a first week for our little book.  The launch party in New York was a great success, with good company, good music, good food, and a good bit of money raised for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.  In its first week of release, Gone to Amerikay got great reviews, great responses from fans, and cracked the Diamond top 50 Graphic Novels list for the month of March.  Some highlights are below.

* Ain't It Cool News gave Gone to Amerikay what can only be described as a rave review.

* Page 45 kind of liked it too.

* Vertigo editor Karen Berger posted some of Colleen's unpublished sample art (a piece I'd completely forgotten existed) and my historical notes (which got cut from the book for space).

* We got a great plug in the Pogues forum!

* Comics Bulletin, the site of GTA's very first review, ran interviews with both Colleen and me.

* CBLDF ran an article about the book launch, with many photos.  Photographer Paul Flannelly has put up a page of photos from the event as well..

* Ten lucky winners got free copies of Gone to Amerikay from Goodreads.  Congratulations to them!  Hope you all like the book.

* The Irish Sunday Times ran a big article on GTA!

* Largehearted Boy ran a "Book Notes" column by me.  This is where an author describes a "soundtrack" for their book.  In my case, I discussed all the songs that are quoted in Gone to Amerikay, and select versions of each for your listening pleasure.

* I did a podcast interview with Comic Geek Speak.

* A store in Northampton, MA, is doing a book club night for GTA on April 26!

* And, last, there was an article about the GTA book launch in The Irish Echo.

I think that's everything.  And if it isn't everything, it's enough for now!

Trosper and Ignatz Picks Gone to Amerikay as Best Comics of 2012

School Library Journal Names GTA one of 2012's Best Adult Books for Teens

Comic Geek Speak Podcast Interview with Derek

Derek McCulloch's Book Notes on GTA, in Largehearted Boy

Irish Sunday Times Article on GTA

Paul Flannelly Photos of GTA Book Launch

CBLDF Article on GTA Book Launch

Comics Bulletin Interview with Derek McCulloch

Comics Bulletin Interview with Colleen Doran

Page 45 Review of Gone to Amerikay

Ain't it Cool News Review of Gone to Amerikay

Wall Street Journal on Gone to Amerikay

Comics Bulletin Gone to Amerikay Review

STLtoday Stagger Lee reading review

KDHX on Stagger Lee reading

Stage Left - Chuck Lavazzi on Stagger Lee reading

iFanboy Pug Review

ComicBookCollectorsBlog Pug Review

Ain't It Cool News Pug Review (scroll down to "Cheap Shots" section)

iFanboy Pug Preview

Comics Bulletin Review of Pug.

Pacifica Tribune T. Runt! Article

Interview with Derek up on Newsarama.

Interview with Derek and Shep up on The Pulse.

Interview with Derek up on Comics Bulletin