Passport is Coming!

My graphic memoir Passport is coming! It’s wild to me that the past 5 years of my life have been dedicated to this project and now it will finally be a book I can hold and share. I have be devoted to the practice of making comics for a while now, but this is by far the biggest endeavor of my artistic career, both in terms of the literal work that went into writing a 300 page comic book and in terms of how much the project means to me personally. I cannot overstate how excited I am. I did write an essay about my process and the nature of memoir here and Kirkus reviewed it here.

Passport is available for pre-order where ever fine comics and books are sold, both in trade, hardcover, and ebook! Official on sale 11/30/21.

passport_littlecover.jpeg

Spring 2017 Round Up: New Course, New Comics, New Reviews!

I'm teaching an 8 week course at The Loft Literary Center this Summer starting June 14th. As of this posting you can still sign up and join my class in exploring how comics work and how to write visual narratives. I'm thrilled to be part of The Loft community. If this is something you've been thinking of doing, consider doing it now! All pertinent info here.

Also, in some welcome, if belated, news, My comic The Nightstand was shortlisted for Best Web Comic for the 5th Annual Cartoonist Studio Prize. I was beyond flattered to be listed alongside Glynnis Fawkes, Lauren Weinstein and my friend Jess Ruliffson, amongst other remarkable talents. 

Here is a long overdue review round-up as well from my post SPX media frenzy. Kidding. I'm really conservative about sending out my books, just because the costs really add up. But I was reviewed by Robert Clough on High-Low Here and Jonn Seven for The Beat over Here.  I was also interviewed by Alenka Figa for Women Write About Comics. All those sites and writers are awesome resources that you should be checking out on the reg. Lots of good stuff.

I should add that my solo show Passport came and went at The McGuffey Art Center this past March. I got excited by the number of people who really seemed to get what I was trying to do. I am just now today scanning the last pages of the first installment of this long form auto-bio comic. I'm excited to have this part of the story which covers my life in Athens Greece as a child together and packaged in a book, but am also reminded as I wrap this phase of the project up how far I have to go. I'm excited and nervous, which is agreat place to be.

SPX 2016 RECAP

First of all, WHHHHAAAAA! SPX IS OVER. And it was too short and way too much fun and I met all the good people and all the old friends. Everyone talks about how overwhelming the show is so I'll try not to beat a dead horse, but I came away from the show with a host of regrets: people I failed to reconnect with, books I failed to buy, trades that were not traded, drinks that were not drunk. BUT I also believe in everything in due time and there is only so much of that. The people I did meet, the books I managed to get my paws on: It was all meant to be. Andrea Tsurumi's Why Would You Do That? was the only book I planned on buying and I was not disappointed. It is so good: funny and dark, whimsical and true. In terms of aesthetics and tone it is almost as if Gary Larson cross pollinated with Shel Silverstein, but then again it is entirely her own and I loved every bit of it. 

Here is me eating breakfast with my official "SPX Comix Haul." Confession: this is staged. This is actually my husband's breakfast. I ate too many ribs last night so I could only handle coffee. AND while the coffee is mine, I don't drink it black. I just put it there for show. I had to take it back into the kitchen to add milk and sugar. My coffee tastes like a milkshake. Anyways, included in my haul is The Ultimate Laugh because I discovered Sara Lautman at SPX. And by discovered I mean we sat next to each other and I became slowly aware that not only was she an Ignatz nominee but also insanely talented, funny, prolific, learned, and wise. Don't worry, I totally kept my cool and now have to buy all her comics because I ate all of The Ultimate Laugh and I need more.  Also seen here is Meghan Turbitt's hilarious SELF, the harrowing and hopeful Flocks by L. Nichols, the ingenious The Film Empire Records From Memory by Cyn Why, and the deeply moving Wallpaper by Whit Taylor. Not pictured: A true regret. I forgot to get a copy of the new 3:00 Book from Beth Heiny. So that sucked.

There are more people and more comics than I can list here but ... what's that? You want to know about my book? Well, I have finally updated my Etsy and Store Envy shops with the new book, Over Ripe. It is a collection of short comics and the cover might be misleading. It's a sloppy gooey mess on the outside and fuzzy textured thing on the inside. Like an inverted puppy.

I also made these cute "hand bags" (get it) inspired by the hamsa. It's all part of this hand project I am working on and there will be more bags and stuff so if this design doesn't do it for you check in later.

Move Etc.

I wanted to post about the big changes that have been going on this summer, namely my move out of Charlottesville, Virginia and into Morgantown, West Virginia. It's a, big but exciting shift. Judge is now a professor at West Virginia University. I'm so thrilled for him and us. The move has meant leaving a remarkable cadre of friends and that for the first time in a while I'm not teaching. It feels weird not to have to worry about courses this semester, and I miss being in the classroom, but it's also an opportunity to double down in the studio and get the kind of work done that was challenging to tackle when I was overloading myself with 4–5 courses.   

Also I'll be SPX September 17–18! Find me right next to Birdcage Bottom Books  at table J10. I am so excited and if I keep on track I will have a ton of new and weird stuff to share this year. If you're in the area come out and and be part of what I now consider the absolute best comics show of the year.

In the meantime check out my store as it's newly stocked and I dropped some prices. SPX very well could be the last show I take The Lettuce Girl to because I doubt once my current stock runs out that I will take it back to print. SO if you aren't making it to SPX I would buy a copy soon. Notmany copies left from it's latest and potentially final run... 

Also in a last shameless effort in self-promotion I might as well mention that without a regular teaching schedule I am more focused on my freelance work. Obviously I'm always around for illustration and comic work, but something I advertise less if that I also specifically do a lot of work with self-publishers helping with their print and digital book production needs, interior design of manuscripts, cover design etc. So you know, I'm around.

See you at SPX. xo.

SPX: Where I'll be

SPX: Where I'll be

WHAT I'VE BEEN DOING. WHERE I AM GOING.

2014 was big for me. I finally finished The Lettuce Girl, got married, ran around the world, quit my job in publishing, and left New York City. We are now snug as bugs in Charlottesville, VA. It was semi-terrifying to leave the city where I had spent the last eight years of my life (for the record I'd never lived anywhere else for so long), but I shouldn't have worried, because things have been wonderful on the other side.

First of all, my comics heart never despairs as I am only a few blocks away from Telegraph, one of the best comic shops/print galleries in the country. Secondly, though it sucks to have to miss my NYC people, I have met and reconnected with truly brilliant, kind, talented, and funny people here. But perhaps the biggest news is that I have achieved my long time goal of full time teaching in higher education, as I am now adjunct faculty at James Madison University as well as Piedmont Virginia Community College.

Here are some highlights from the past six months:

I was interviewed by the talented Martha Woodruff for WMRA. You can listen to the interview here.

The Lettuce Girl Pt. IV made a couple of "Best Of" lists last year too: Robert Clough's for TCJ.com and John Seven's for Vermicious. I was also honored last fall when Andy Zeigert wrote a piece on the entire Lettuce Girl series for Festival Season.

My comics were also featured in a couple of gallery shows last Fall, including Comics at Columbia curated by the venerable Karen Green and We Tell Stories at SVA.

Looking forward to the next few months, I have a lot on my plate. I'm wrapping up my first semester with a full course load, which I'm not shy to admit has been intense and intensely consuming. But I have to finish up my new comic in time for festival season as well, so it's a juggle. I am attending MoCCA in NYC (table 216B - Second Floor) and TCAF in Toronto. In the much nearer future I will be on a Panel at this weekend's MACROCK festival in Harrisonburg discussing DIY Zines and Comics.

Viva VA.

The Lettuce Girl Pt. IV sitting on a shelf all the way out in Chicago Comics. Photo Credit: Dave Kelly

The Lettuce Girl Pt. IV sitting on a shelf all the way out in Chicago Comics. Photo Credit: Dave Kelly

LOCUST MOON!

I just wanted to write a quick post about the show I am attending this weekend. I couldn't be more pumped to be exhibiting the second Locust Moon Comics Fest. It looks like such a beautiful and fun show. Will this be the prettiest space I have exhibited at since MoCCA retired the Puck building?  Probably. And it's being run by such charming and helpful people: Josh O'Neill and Chris Stevens, the folks who run Locust Moon the comics shop in West Philly. I've probably pestered all my Philadelphia people to death about this show already but all the details are below:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 5
10 am – 6 pm
@ The Rotunda
4014 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 

mini poster!

mini poster!

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a very useful table guide if you would like to find me: 

find me!  

find me!  

I will have my usual comics and bags and now I have pretty digital prints on nice archival paper. I think thats all the info I have for now. Check back here next week for a full report on how the show went! 

SPXPO

Who's excited to go to the biggest baddest craziest SPX ever? And has freshly printed comics? This girl. 

I will be sharing a table with fellow cartoonists, Meghan Turbitt and Taline Alexander. You can find us here at table F6A: 

I worked super hard on that.  

Alright, I had a nice, fat, informative blog entry before fucking Squarespace ate it so I will keep this last bit brief: COME BUY ALL MY COMICS AND MY CUTE BRAID BAGS TOO! I'm beyond excited for the biggest baddest most radical SPX to date. Catch me at the table, on the floor or at the Gary Panter talk on Saturday.  

And if you cannot make it to Bethesda this weekend come to the New York Comics Symposium on Monday night to see a talk by Zeina Abirached. I'll be covering the talk for The Rumpus as I have done here and here. If you have never attended one of the symposiums before you should start as soon as you can.

Go comics.  xoxoxo.

THE PROJECTS II

I just wanted to write quick post about The Projects which is happily happening again this year! I was lucky enough to be in Portland last fall for their inaugural show and it really was a singular type of comics event. Definitely more festival than convention, it is collaborative, exciting, and a breath of fresh air in this world of cookie cutter shows. No one is trapped behind a table. You are free to wander and paint and connect and discover. I loved it. I can't go this year, but I can encourage people to support the show, either by donating to the kickstarter, or by just getting the word out there on your tumblrs, twitters, blogs, burn books, bathroom stall tags, mountain tops or what have you. Here is all Pertinent info:

KICKSTARTER

TUMBLR

Happy posting! xo!   

Quarter Moon Magazine, Reviews, Summer, and Totes

I have been running around like crazy. I was writing/drawing a comic for Quarter Moon, the phenomenal Locust Moon quarterly comics magazine (due out July 19th) and then there was Grand St. Comics Fest (a total success - Read the best review here), followed closely by CAKE, an extended stay in Chicago, and then more of life's wonderful distractions. As with all things, there is now BEFORE June 2013, and an AFTER June 2013. I got a lot done that needed getting done.  

So this is an entry to rave about how pleased I am to be part of  Quarter Moon.  I got to take sneak peek at what is to come and it is beautiful. I love it when I am part of awesome books! You can read about the First Issue of this Locust Moon publication here and here. It is launching at their anniversary party on the 19th of July, so if you are Philly based you should go celebrate and check it out.

I can also share the two cool reviews I garnered for Lettuce Girl Pt. III. The estimable Rob Clough at Hi-Low (a little over half-way down) and the very cool Sheena McNeil for Sequential Tart. I have a lot of motivation to finish the series this year and these interested and encouraging reviews are not the least of them. I love feeling that what I make actually goes out there and is alive somehow.

In shop news I updated my Etsy so now you can get your mitts on my silk-screened "Braid Bag". I only have a handful left after my small flurry of shows, and I won't be re-printing this particular design so if you saw, liked it, and you wanted it, this is your chance: BRAID BAG.  

Otherwise I have a few more projects lined up for the summer and I have begun sketches for Lettuce Girl Pt. IV. I have rarely felt so ready to get something done as I do to conclude this series of comics. It feels like rounding off an amazing meal.

Sketching at CAKE. Phote Credit: Kenan Rubenstein, 2013

Sketching at CAKE. Phote Credit: Kenan Rubenstein, 2013

New Convention, Review, and Honorable Mention

Happy Almost June! ​

I have a few pieces of news to share. First up, my first review for The Lettuce Girl Pt. III is in. John Seven has reviewed it for the North Adams Transcript which means it appeared in an actual, honest-to-goodness, newspaper. That in and of itself is pretty cool, but his review is really insightful and I inadvertently get lumped in with Tom Gauld too! You can see a clipping below or read it online HERE.

Next up, I have been invited to ​participate in Locust Moon Comics Festival this October 5th and I couldn't be more excited. It is an excuse to go down to Philadelphia and see all the Philly Pholks and finally check out the Locust Moon storefront. So if you are in Philly on October 5th you MUST come. More details below and HERE.

And lastly, although I did not secure a SAW micro-grant this go 'round, I was very happy to included in their list of honorable mentions. Check out the winners and the other cartoonists who were mentioned.​ It is a very strong line-up so I was humbled to part of it. There is no doubt that there was a hole made in the wake of the the Xeric Grant and so it is good to see something like this being set into motion. In fact the whole of SAW is one big heart-melt for anyone who cares about independent comics, art comics, comics in general or just the arts. Support SAW, take a class, check it out. It's an arts education revolution in Florida! 

Upcoming Conventions

CONVENTIONS! I love 'em! Which is fantastic 'cause I have three more lined up for the rest of 2013.

First up is GRAND COMICS FEST in its inaugural year! And it is gonna be GRAND. This promises to be a pretty awesome show. Small, but packed with exciting talent. The line up is fantastic. Come celebrate comics with us on June 8-9th! The whole thing is the brainchild/baby of Pat Dorian, and perhaps best of all, the show is FREE. :) So no excuses! Especially you Brooklyn folks. ​

​Further afield is CAKE, which is being held the very next weekend (June 15-16) in Chicago!  Too many good people will be at this too. I don't know too many people in Chicago and I am looking forward to meeting some of the incredible folks out there.

​

Something that makes me happy about both of these shows is that they were "juried" or "curated" and so getting to exhibit at them means more than I had the money to buy a table and the presence of mind to meet the application deadline (though often that is  a coup in and of itself). It feels good to get that sort of reinforcement; that people actually respond to my work. Sometimes you can feel like you are working in a vacuum. I am not a student anymore so I don't get too much feedback from the outside world. For the most part that is fine. I never really felt that I benefited from group critiques and the like. But out of school you lose that structure, those hard lines to measure yourself up against, even if they are arbitrary and potentially hazardous. In the "real world" when I can only make comics in the in between spaces when I am not in the office, often the only feedback I will get for months is from my patient supportive boyfriend. 

So when I do turn outwards and away from my small inside world for support or recognition, it is nice to hear something back. Something more than your own voice calling out to the universe. Actually, for my purposes the "universe" is a relatively small and specific set of grants, anthologies, competitions and shows. And when I put myself out there very often the answer is NO. And while NOs are common in any creative endeavor or ambition, and one should not be deterred but them, sometimes it feels really good to get a YES. ​

​Also coming up is SPX which is ​getting better and better every year I go. I understand why for many people this is their favorite event. I am sitting solo at both my June shows, but I will be partnering up with the fantastic Meghan Turbitt for SPX. And we got a hotel room! No camping out in my parent's house this year. It makes me feel pretty grown-up to tell you the truth. I'll write more when I have table assignments and other details.

See you at the shows! ​

Post-MoCCA Post

It was awesome. AWESOME.  Anelle Miller and the Society and everyone who had anything to do with it really knocked it out of the park. As an exhibitor, especially one paying so much for a table, I was happy and comfortable and as an attendee I was entertained. ​i took no photos, so I have none to share, but guess what, all those pictured of me sitting behind a table look the same and are boring. but thanks to everyone who came out and supported all the cool artists, including myself. I really appreciate the love and support that I felt all weekend. 

In awesome news, I am excited to share that you can now find my comics on the Birdcage Bottom Books SITE. BB Books is now distributing The Deformitory and all three Lettuce Girls books, both in stores and on line. It's awesome that all my books have access to the outside world now, or at least farther than I care to trek around. This also puts my books in the company of some amazing stuff and I encourage you to look around because few other places will offer you such a well curated group of high quality independent comics.  J.T. Yost, the savvy cartoonist who runs Birdcage Bottom Books, has impeccable taste and I am happy to be part of it all. So follow the links:   ​

THE DEFORMITORY

THE LETTUCE GIRL PT. I

THE LETTUCE GIRL PT. II

THE LETTUCE GIRL PT. III

Now available from Birdcage Bottom Books and on my Etsy site. ​

Now available from Birdcage Bottom Books and on my Etsy site. ​

First Post on Newly Launched Site!

Hello and welcome to my fresh new site! Its a funny thing. I'm not sure how to use my blog feature as of yet. My previous blog still exist HERE and I am not sure if i should incorporate it or just leave it there and update here. If anyone has any opinions on blogging through squarespace vs. blogger please weigh in.

As for news there is plenty. I have been immersed in my new comic for months now. It was difficult getting this one drawn. But I think as my hold on the story and my skills in general improve the more I demand of work and the more time it takes. I am just now wrapping up inking. But then comes the painful corrections phase, the mind-numbing scanning phase and the vision-ruining formatting phase. ​Not to mention the cover the printing the binding etc. I love it. It will be done for MoCCA 2013. More on that soon!

Take a look at the work in progress: ​

tearing paper.​

Strathmore,bristol board, 500 series, 4 ply, vellum. In case you were curious.​

and this is what i put on it.​