Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

Every year I draw up my own holiday card and mail it out to family and friends. They are all centered around a theme of children and Christmas. Since this was such a big year for me and When I Was Little... I decided to do up the card in the style of my children's books. Have a very merry and safe Christmas!

- Justin

Interview from the Mid-Ohio-Con brought to you by Comic Related.

I had a great time recording an audio interview for Comic Related @ The Mid-Ohio-Con. My interview starts at minute 13.

Deadline to submit is October 30th!

Hi all,

The date to submit a favorite childhood memory is October 30th because on October 31st, I'm going to pick the submissions I want to put into the new book. If you are selected, you will receive an email and a disclaimer asking if it's okay for me to turn your memory into a When I Was Little... page. So if you haven't already, email me, or hit me up on the facebook group and tell me what you did when YOU were little!

A shout out to Freestyle Komics!

Hello,

If you haven't checked these guys out, click here and take a look at the amazing work put out by Freestyle Komics! They were the ones that hosted the sketch battles and were nice enough to let me participate. Check out their comic, Hotshot...it's crazy awesome. Well they mentioned me in their Mid-Ohio-Wrap Up so I thought I'd give them a shout out like I did Mutant Cactus! Thanks guys for mentioning me and my little book project!

A big shout out to Mutant Cactus...

...for mentioning me in their recent blog post about the Mid-Ohio-Con. Check out their custom buttons and their Tales of Awesome. These guys are great! And I'm proud to wear the mutant cactus button on my messenger bag. Thanks guys!

Mid Ohio Con 2009: The Swag

Here's some of the stuff I picked up by some of the best people in comics. Take a look!

Our Superman and Lois sketches, as well as the Giant Size Collection of Patrick The Wolf Boy by the insanely great Art Balthazar


The Dreamer by the very talented Lora Innes


Custom buttons by the good folks over @ Mutant Cactus


Once Upon A Time... by the awesome Eric Rampson


The Machinist by Ryan Claytor of Elephant Eater Comics


Selected prints and The Chase: A Twist of Fate by Jay Jacot of Comics Obscura.


Jay Brant of headsupstudios.com

Mid Ohio Con 2009: Wrap Up

Well I'm back from my trip to the Mid Ohio Con. It was my first time there and only my second convention. Nic and I had such a great time and the convention was a success. I nearly sold out of my book stock, networked with a lot of great creative people, and did some really great commission work for people. I am definitely coming back next year and hope to attend S.P.A.C.E.D. as well. A lot of people I talked to, especially the good folks @ Comic Related told me that I'd fit right into the atmosphere of the S.P.A.C.E.D. convention, so I look forward to doing that too. Well here are some pics of the con! I plan on posting what I ended up walking away with as well as links to all the talented people's sites. Enjoy!

Mid-Ohio-Con 2009 Creators' Common

Hi! The list for this weekend's Mid-Ohio Con 2009 Creators' Common is up. It's on Oct. 3rd and 4th. The show is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

I'll be making an appearance there. Stop by table CC20 and say hi!

Some small updates for ya!

Hello all,

Progress on When You Were Little...or as I affectionately refer to it as, Book You, is moving along nicely. I'd like to show you some sketches but I really don't want to give any of the pages away as they are some of the funniest I've drawn.

Also, I've uploaded the site with some quick links to Amazon over there on the sidebar, so check it out! Nifty right?

And lastly, I'd like to remind everyone that I'll be attending the Mid-Ohio-Con this year the first weekend of October. It's my first time attending and I'm really excited to be in it.

I'll be doing sketches, selling prints, and my books.

Well that's all for now. I'll be sharing a link to this post on my facebook group. So please tell your friends about it. If they'd like to join the group and maybe submit an idea for the new book, all they have to do is find the group page and send me a request. I'm not sure when I'll be no longer accepting submissions so get them in while you can. I'm still deciding on a definitive cut off date.

Well that's all for now! Happy (....maybe?) Monday!

PS - Stay tuned for another big announcement within the next couple weeks or so!! Catch ya later Bills & Teds :P

WIWL meets Space Sheriff and his Happy Space Boy!

Just a quick post while I take a break from work.

While at Wizard World I met Spanky Cermak, creator of the series, Space Sheriff and Happy Space Boy. If you've never read it, follow the link. You can read the issues there, order shirts, and check out all his other projects on the site. It is awesome. While at the con he asked me to do some fan art for his website. Check it oot!

Well, thats all for now. I do plan on sitting down and really updating you on the status of the new book. I've been laying out some sketches for the new pages and been writing up the book's intro (in my head of course). As soon as I start laying down some pencils I'll keep you posted.

Later Gators!

Chicago Comic Con 2009 Report

Hello! Sorry for the late update but it takes me quite a while to get back into work mode and I've been so busy lately that I haven't had time to talk about my first comic book convention appearance. I thought I'd share the When I Was Little... side of the Comic Con where as I'll post (hopefully soon) a more detailed NERDY version with more pics and more sketches on my sketch blog.

I was a bit nervous...who am I kidding...a LOT nervous right from the start but by the end of Day One I was feeling a bit more confident. It helps having a support team there and that was my incredibly wonderful girlfriend and my awesome older brother who would check up on me once in awhile. I can't thank them enough for watching my table, getting me lunch, picking up TPBs, and just being there to support me and my art.

According to my table mates and friends from Comic Related, I had a really good first show. Nic and I created a "submissions" box for the new book where anyone could submit a favorite childhood memory and if they did I would draw them a sketch of whatever they wanted. I didn't expect to get any submissions but I was amazed at how many people loved the idea and wanted to participate.

I didn't know how well I would fare in a big guns and sexy woman type of comic crowd but I was surprised at the amount of families that showed up. I got a lot of moms and dads stopping at my table with their kids telling me how great the idea was. It was good feeling especially going in with the mindset that I was an underdog and crazy to think that I could sell children's books at a comic book convention. But thats what was so great about the crowd and being on the other side of the table. I was able to see how well my idea could fit not only in a children's market but a market for art lovers and independent artists. I expected other artists to walk around and dis my stuff but everyone was helping everyone out. When people would stop to look at my neighbor's art they would quickly mention my stuff and sort of pass the on-lookers over to me. I thought that was just so cool. It wasn't about who could sell the most or who's stuff was better it was artist appreciation and respect for their work.

By the end of the convention I had made a lot of new friends and did what I set out to do. Get my name out there. The response to the books was amazing and I didn't expect to get the amount of submissions that I did. I've gone through them and it's safe to say that I can officially start working on When You Were Little.

I'll keep you posted on its progress and let you know of it's release.

Wizard World's Chicago Comic Con 2009

I'll be attending Wizard's Chicago Comic Con 2009 this week where I'll be selling copies of my books, 7 prints, and a limited edition When I Was Little... print created just for this year's convention. I also be handing out my business cards and asking people to participate in the next book by submitting their ideas via suggestion box. I hope to see you there. My table number is 3104A.

Wizard World Guest: Justin Castaneda

That's right folks, When I Was Little... will be making an appearance at Wizard World's Chicago Comic Con 2009 next week from 6-9th: http://www.wizardworld.com/justincastan.html

More deets to come!

Total Geek Moment #2

So a couple posts ago I talked about giving my favorite artist, Skottie Young, a copy of my book.

Now I can geek out that Lori from Amazing Fantasy stacked my signed copies next to The Wimpy Kid Series by Jeff Kinney!! Awesome.

Take a look, here it is on the shelf:

Now head out there and pick it up!

PS - sorry the photo is a bit blurry but the green sticker on their says "signed".

Price Drops!

Hi all,

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July weekend. I wanted to share some great news today to start off the week. When I Was Little... is now going for $12.95 and When I Was Little Too is selling for $15.95 both on Amazon.com, as well as the CreateSpace sites for both books!!!

Don't forget that signed copies are available at a great price courtesy of Amazing Fantasy comic book store @:

20523 S. LaGrange Road
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-469-5092

So what are you waiting for, go grab yourself a copy!

Now Available @ Amazing Fantasy!!

I am very pleased and excited to announce that Amazing Fantasy Books & Comics is now carrying signed copies (that's right) of When I Was Little... and When I Was Little Too!!! Quantities are limited so get them while you can!

The store is located at:

20523 S. LaGrange Road
Frankfort, IL 60423
815-469-5092

It's a wonderful comic book store and I'm very happy they let me have my books in there. So drop on by, check it out, and buy some stuff!!!

And check out their MySpace page!

I gave Skottie Young my book!

So if you know me, you'll know that I'm a fan of the comic book artist, Skottie Young. Who, right now, is doing a run on The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz for Marvel comics. Earlier this month, he made an appearance Amazing Fantasy off of La Grange Rd. in Frankfort, IL for Free Comic Book Day.

I heard two great things before I headed out there:

1. He was creating his own children's book
2. He and his longtime girlfriend, Casey McCauley, are expecting their first kid in November.

I thought it would be a cool idea to give him a copy of When I Was Little... just to see what he thought. Being the cool guy he is, he graciously accepted it. I can only hope that he peeped it out and loved the idea and art behind it. Either way, it was a total geek moment for me.

Introducing "When You Were Little..."

Hi all!

New look, new book!

I wanted to give fans of the book series a chance to give feedback AND participate in the creative process with me!

So, I'm looking for your help, I want to know what you did when YOU were little. Please feel free to email me at wheniwaslittle@gmail.com or just leave a comment on this post.

Let's keep it clean cause its for the kiddies but YES shoot me your "when I was little..." and yours might be picked to be a page in "When You Were Little..."

Thanks so much for participating and I'll keep you posted.

I haven't decided on what the chosen people will get, maybe a signed copy along with a personal sketch!

The book won't be possible without you. So start posting people!

- Justin

PS - Also, I created a facebook group so if you're on there, send me an invite request. Once you join, you can post your ideas right on there.

Speaking of little...

I'm sorry I have not been around lately, but I recently became an Uncle! My brother John and his wife, Jackie gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Please welcome to the world, Juliet Frances Castaneda!

She's so cool she even has her own blog: http://johnandjackplusone.wordpress.com/

Now available from Amazon and Createspace.com!

Hi friends,

My second book, When I Was Little Too, available on Amazon.com and Createspace.com. Click on the links to go there and purchase your copies today!