My contributor's copies of TOMO arrived! Proceeds benefit teens affected by the 2011 Japan Earthquake

YAY! My contributor's copies of TOMO arrived today!! TOMO (which means "friend" in Japanese) features 36 stories for teens by authors and artists around the world. One of these stories is by me: it's my very first graphic short story, which is sort of a fantasy/romance/horror. Here's the first page:

Looking forward to reading other stories!

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit teens affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Please do consider buying a copy, and tell your friends! You can point them to this online postcard about TOMO.

Find out more about the anthology here: tomoanthology.blogspot.com/ (includes an interview with me)

From Kirkus Reviews:

A broadly appealing mix of the tragic and droll, comforting, disturbing, exotic and universal, with nary a clinker in the bunch.

Buy on Indiebound

Buy on Amazon (On sale for $9.95 right now)

Be sure to visit the Tomo website to learn about our events this March at Boston Children's Museum and the New York Public Library in Manhattan.

Ten Years Ago: Where We Were

Ten years ago, Jeff and I were in Tokyo, Japan, staying with our friend Alison. We were supposed to fly home on September 11th.

Our friend had happened to call her company's New York office 15 minutes after a plane hit the first Tower. We tuned into the English-speaking news channel just in time to watch the second plane crash as it was filmed live by CNN.

The three of us sat in surreal shock, staring at the tv screen. It didn't feel real at first, especially hearing about this in a foreign country.

Our Air Canada flight home was cancelled when the airline (along with other airlines) suspended all operations. Here's what I posted in Blatherings while Jeff & I were trying to find a way home. Apologies for the broken images; they were victims of one of my Wordpress hacker attacks (& one of the many reasons I switched away from Wordpress to Squarespace).

Just before 9/11, I recall feeling wistful that our wonderful trip had to end. The devastating events of 9/11 and knowing we couldn't go home immediately changed the way we felt. We wanted to be home.

Jeff and I sought out cybercafes (like the one above, which was ironically called Canada Cafe) so we could email family and close friends. We visited a makeshift memorial site in Tokyo:

and signed a condolence book:

Through Nissin Travel, my dad managed to get another flight for us, five days after the original was scheduled. We arrived at the airport many hours earlier than our flight was to leave and discovered that other travellers were also desperate to get home:

Ten years later, I still remember the horror, shock and the disbelief. I remember aching for those who had lost loved ones. I remember being so very grateful for what I have.

My deepest sympathies for those who suffered loss on that day.

Do read:

110 Stories by John M. Ford

The graphic I created for the Writer Unboxed site today: