We discovered Thom via our Open Submissions process via which new and up-and-coming artists, and anyone else who wanted to get involved in Memories, could have a shot at being in the book. We sent Thom the poem Otherside by Joe Kriss, he responded with some great artwork, and when we saw it we were sure we wanted him in Memories.

Thom dropped us a line and it was clear also that he had a passion for working with us. Here’s what he said: “When I discovered the Memories project, I instantly wanted to get involved. My uncle Charlie passed away after suffering with leukaemia when I was very young, but as I got older I was always told how similar I was to him in looks, interests and personality. So I always felt that he was still around, although I wish that I had the chance to actually spend more time with him.”

I think I know what you mean, Thom. My uncle Chris also died of leukaemia and I look a little like him, particularly if I grow a beard.

It’s excellent to have Thom Lambert on board. The image you see here he created as a t-shirt graphic for a record label. He’s inspired by things like vintage graphics, comic books and Saturday morning cartoons, which no doubt you’ll recognise when you check out his portfolio here. Thanks again, Thom.

Julian works as an illustrator under the moniker Whyisbox and also runs the digital magazine NewSugar which features cool new work by a range of young creatives. He’s helped us out in the past by including info on Memories in NewSugar, so our gratitude to him is doubled now that he’s making an image for our book.

While we’re shouting out our thanks to Julian, we’d also like to mention Publishers Club, an organisation he’s involved with up in Manchester. They do all sorts of creative stuff like their collaboration with Inkygoodness on 12 March. If you’re in the North, don’t miss it. And if you’re in the South, why not hit the Inkygoodness event in Bristol on Saturday 5 March. Might pop down there myself and check it out. The Inkygoodness folks were good enough to blog about Memories last week and a few of their artists are also Memories contributors.

When we went up to the Maggies Cancer Care Centre in Hammersmith to discuss donating the money we make from Memories to their charity, I noticed they were selling a card with an image on the front created by the illustrator Rob Ryan. We all thought it was a great idea to ask him to participate in Memories by creating an image for the book. But Rob is in the upper echelons of the illustration and design scene. His studio is very busy. Could we pull it off?

Well, folks, the dream has become a reality. Rob has accepted our brief and will be creating an image for The Fox Cubs, a story about leukemia survivor survivor Sarah Yates. He also sent over some encouraging words about the project, saying that working for Maggies is a great thing to be doing. We welcome Rob aboard and thank him for taking the time to do this. His work is some of the finest papercraft-based illustration going – he cuts out silhouette scenes, complete with texturing and letter work, from sheets of coloured paper. Intricate, unique and totally authentic are all words that spring to mind, as you can see by the example above, so check it out here.

Firstly, thanks to Alastair Upham, editor of DVD and Blu-Ray Review. He’s with Future Publishing up in London and volunteered to work with Wendy Nichols on her story, about how she has fought off cervical cancer without chemo or radiotherapy. Earlier this week Simon Kirrane submitted the copy he worked on with Sarah Yates, who has survived leukaemia. Both of these stories just need to be subbed and then they’ll be ready.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been working with Frank Joussen, a teacher in Germany who loves writing in English. He’s done a great piece about a young lady called Romana Horn who was one of his pupils. It’s a very sad story as she died in the end from a brain tumour in 1997. Working on the story has been emotional to say the least as Frank has been back through his own thoughts and memories from the time, and has also been speaking to the Horn family who have allowed us to go ahead with the story. They’re pleased that Romana is still remembered. I can only think how hard it must have been for all of them when she was crying out for help, wanting to live.

I don’t want to give too much away and spoil the surprise when the book comes out, but there is some great stuff in Frank’s story that will inspire the illustrators who work on it. Our thanks go out to Frank, Alastair, Wendy, Sarah, Simon and the Horn family.

Later in life this has affected him and his wife a great deal. Once he was married and wanted to start a family the burden shifted to his wife as they needed IVF in order for her to become pregnant. All in all Tom’s story is one of miracles to say the least. I don’t want to give too much away as I’m still working on the text for this but I think when you see the book it will make for a touch of humour as well as the more serious side of what chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant mean.

Alastair is going to be working with Wendy Nichols, who survived cervical cancer a while ago. Meanwhile, this evening I’m hoping to talk to my friend Tom Preston over in Canada about the project. He’s an old friend of mine from school, and when we were 18 he found out he had leukemia. Next thing you know he’s in hospital, on chemo, has lost about 30 pounds and has no hair. That was years ago and he’s OK now, the proud father of triplets! Can you imagine? More on the project soon…

This beautiful image is a piece of artwork by Sarah Yates, who works under the name Fauna Graphic. We’re pleased to announce that Sarah is going to provide one of the ‘memories’ for our book. Three years ago, she was suffering with leukemia and she won her battle with the disease. I can’t wait to hear what she has to say when she contributes to the book. Back when I was young, over in Canada, my friend Tom Preston also survived leukemia and it’s the disease that sadly took my uncle Chris. I’m hopefully going to interview Tom for the book in a couple of weeks time. Anyhow, you can see more of Sarah’s work at http://www.faunagraphic.com.

The writer who has volunteered to work with Sarah on her piece is Simon Kirrane. I’ve known Simon for about 15 years now and he’s currently editing customer magazines with Future Plus. He’s a talented and very well-read writer and I know he’ll do a smashing job collaborating with Sarah and getting her memory down on paper for us. Our thanks go out to him and who knows, I might just buy him a pint of Blue Jay when next I have the opportunity.

Changing subject slightly, we also want to send our thoughts and best wishes to Toby and his wife Kim. Toby has just come out of surgery for a brain tumour. He’s my good friend Paul Tysall’s brother-in-law and we want to wish him a speedy recovery from the operation.