Well, the secret is out! Mark has jam-packed a book full of information on how you can work with the greatest animation device since the WACOM tablet, a software package called Flash! The title is The Art of Flash Animation: Creative Cartooning, and is now available on Amazon.com, or directly from the publisher, Wordware.com, a software publisher in Texas.

And don't think it's ONLY about Flash. Mark set out to write the manual not only on Flash Animation that he wished he had to begin with, but also a primer on animation from script to storyboards and layout, from character design to inking, scanning, and/or digitizing your drawings with a WACOM tablet.

Mark even goes in-depth to talk about getting a job in animation! In the last chapter, he interviews animators from Turner Studios' Cartoon Network. They talk about the importance of career networking, figure drawing, favorite Disney animators, and more!

And if all THAT wasn't enough, Mark even has a bunch of Tales from Tangent Man, nice little anecdotes about his own experiences getting started in animation. (For instance, can you believe at age 16, he made his now infamously sarcastic remark: "Animation? That's for children!" Find out why, by reading his book... and better yet, what film changed his mind!) He even includes a personal wish list of great animated films STILL not available on DVD!

Hey! What's wrong with you? You STILL haven't ordered a copy of his book? Get to it! (Poor guy's gotta make his car payment somehow! Seriously...)

Mark Smith talks about his latest book, The Art of Flash Animation: Creative Cartooning, while also reminiscing about his career thus far in a great interview at Animated-Views.com.