Heading to SPX this Weekend!

Hey friends! Just a reminder for those of you in the Washington, DC area I will be at the Small Press Expo this weekend selling comics–including my limited run of the Ignatz nominated CARRINGTON’S WORLD! I will be at Table W63 with Ellen Lindner, Jennifer Hayden and Robin Ha!

Please be advised: Due to COVID-19 restrictions only two people are allowed at the table at once, so we will be taking turns at the table–if I’m not there when you get there, there will be a schedule posted! My stuff will be there–including the gorgeous 2nd printing copy of All the Sad Songs!

As for the Ignatz Awards: Voting is now closed and so we will find out on Saturday night who wins. THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to vote for CARRINGTON’S WORLD. I really appreciate it!

Those of you not attending the comic fest who would still like a hard copy of the comic fret not–I will be putting the remaining copies in the shop when I return!

See you there, I Hope!

Small Press Expo

Saturday, September 17, 11am-7pm, Sunday, September 18, 12pm-6pm

Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center
5701 Marinelli Road.
North Bethesda, MD 20852

Carrington’s World is Nominated for an Ignatz Award!

Well, bust my buttons! My mini comic Carrington’s World is nominated for a dang Ignatz Award for best Mini Comic! I guess this means I’m going to have to reprint it and actually go to SPX in September! I’m taking a break from social media right now for mental health reasons, so I was late to find out. Actually, it was so nice to hear about it from a friend than a tweet!

It’s my first Ignatz nomination and even though my experience as a juror back in 2016 taught me that being nominated, while an honor, is also a miracle (considering the sheer volume of submissions and the anonymous system of ranking and voting among the jury members), I always hoped I would get a nomination. I am so pleased that something made it through the meat grinder of that process. Thank you to the Ignatz jurors!! I hope you still like comics after that giant job!! If not, Comics still likes you and will wait for your recovery and return!

This mini was something I threw together last spring when I thought I was going to go to MoCCA, but didn’t. I’ve always wanted to make a mini about the artist Dora Carrington and now I have and now I get to be nominated for something that is like an Oscar to me! Well, there you go!

If you’re going to be at SPX on Saturday, September 17th, you can vote for me while you are there or any of the other amazing cartoonists nominated (seriously, what a list!!!!!). CORRECTION: I just found out that they will not be doing on-site voting this year, so if you want to vote you can! All you have to do is request a ballot here! If you’ve read the comic please consider voting for me! Thank you!

New Comic: Raymond Briggs

I have a new comic up on my Patreon about the amazing cartoonist and children’s author Raymond Briggs, who died on Tuesday at the age of 88. As a way to honor and celebrate this amazing artist, I’m temporarily removing the paywall for the next week. Come on over and read it!

He was blooming marvelous!

Happy Bloomsday!

Years ago, I sat in the archives of The New York Public Library and drew a picture of Vladimir Nabokov’s copy of ULYSSES. When they brought it out to me it had so much life to it, it seemed to glow. Every single page was heavily annotated and marked up in mostly red pen that the book was soft like a pillow. As you can see, Nabokov had even written the date of Bloomsday on the cover in pencil. It was a wonderful object to spend time with and to look at. It was a wonderful object to draw.

Happy Bloomsday!

A Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher in New York

Last night my mind was blown when I got a RARE sighting of a bird normally found no farther than Texas in a cow pasture 30 minutes from my house in New York! And what a bird! The scissor-tailed flycatcher is probably as glorious a bird as there is. I only saw it fly a couple of times, but with that tail it was hard to miss! 

Flycatchers are my new favorite bird (don’t tell woodpeckers) and I had put the scissor-tail on a dream list. I never thought I’d see it so soon! It was surreal and oh so magical. Only the cows were not impressed!

Rainy Day Music

Yesterday totally spontaneously, I made a twitter thread about one of my favorite things to study–rain in comics. Growing up in California, rain was my only association with “weather” and I learned to draw it by studying Tintin comics. Ever since then I’ve had a fascination with how cartoonists and illustrators draw and evoke this atmospheric weather pattern. It was a strangely fun thing to do and people shared some of their favorite depictions of rain in comics. Rarely, is Twitter that pleasurable! I finished the thread last night with this comic I made two years ago when I was experimenting with pen lines, so I thought I’d share it here in case you aren’t on twitter–and who wants to be these days?

New Comic in latest issue of NEW CITY Magazine!

I have a new four page comic in the latest print issue of NEW CITY in Chicago! It’s an outtake from my memoir and is a story about visiting my mother at her job building the set and stage for The Rolling Stones Tattoo You tour. Don’t live in Chicago? Not a problem! You can order it here!

Get it while supplies last!!!

Some Recent Thrilling Sightings

Here’s a sketchbook spread of some recent thrilling bird sightings. Actually, since drawing the list, my birding has gotten even MORE thrilling. It’s my first migration season and it’s absolutely incredible out there. Birds! The best anti-depressant I have found!

4 page comic on Daphne Du Maurier on Patreon and All the Sad Songs Featured on Backlisted!

It’s Friday which means there is a new comic on my Patreon! This week it’s a 4 page comic on the British writer Daphne Du Maurier’s obsession with the estate Menabilly. Menabilly was the inspiration for Manderley in her world famous novel, Rebecca. You can access it now along with many other comics and posts for a modest rate!

New comics are still coming every Friday along with occasional posts about my memoir in progress and thoughts about comics as a creative practice. I have really been enjoying having a space to share what’s been happening in my world–come on in! It’s colorful there!

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL!

On Monday I had the delight and shock of my life when I discovered that ALL THE SAD SONGS was featured on my favorite podcast Backlisted! Some of you might remember me gushing writing about Backlisted in December when I shared my sketchbook spread of Queens of Crime. Imagine my shock to hear Andy Miller, writer and editor and co-host of Backlisted sharing ALL THE SAD SONGS as his pick of what he had been reading and loving this week! WHAT?? IS THIS REAL??

It’s hard to adequately say what this means to me. That podcast has done more for refueling my inner life in the last year than anything else has in years. In some ways it has recommitted me to a life of reading and writing in a way that I had forgotten was possible. Andy and John Mitchinson, and their array of guests, are so smart, funny, generous, and engaging that it’s truly infectious. To be included in that show and to be read (and praised) by Andy Miller is just…mind blowing (to say the least), and (dare I say it?) deeply affirming. Not all attention helps refuel, but I have to admit, this puts some strength in the heart for me. In the words of Tom Waits, I’m going to take it with me when I go.

It’s perfect timing because ALL THE SAD SONGS just went into a second printing! After a brief period of it possibly going out of print in the US, Retrofit decided to do a modest second print run, and I just got the first shipment of new copies. The price will be going up once my current supplies go out, so if you have been sitting on it–now is the time to get it!

Limited Edition of CARRINGTON’S WORLD

I have a super duper limited run of a mini comic I made about the artist Dora Carrington in my shop! (SOLD OUT!!) This comic on the life and art of Carrington and the influence her illustrated letters had on me was published in print form only at New City out of Chicago last year. I had a fantasy of making a Carrington mini to go along with it, so that’s exactly what I did! Then I decided, let’s go whole hog: end papers and a cover–all inspired by this beautiful artist!

I made these when I thought I was tabling for MoCCA two weeks ago, but when I didn’t I gave most of them to my generous top tier patrons over at Patreon. I have around 10 left and once they are gone they will be gone forever–so get them while you can!

7 pages of full color comics, with a 6 page mini insert inside. In my Etsy shop now! $5!! Get them while they are hot! (SOLD OUT!!)

THANK YOU, but they are SOLD OUT!