some may think I'm just a fool tilting at windmills, but maybe I'm not
while i work on my fourth book
a gentle reminder
that i have published
(with a lot of help from tara caribou at raw earth ink)
three
count ’em
three books in three years
they are all available through lulu as i am not a fan of amazon.
links are on my love for sale page.
also! you can contact me for an autographed copy 🙂
for some fun summer reading
explore the light & dark parts of me
all available through lulu.com
&
just putting it out there,
if you do like my book
the invisible exhibitionist
you are totally encouraged to review it over on goodreads
in fact
all three of my books
as well as anthologies i was included in
are on goodreads
check out my author page 🙂
i have been brainstorming this comic for a week or more. which mostly means i doodle faces while i binge-watch shows (my kids are at their dad’s.)
it is still very much a work in progress…but i do like to share my process with y’all.
i have decided on five main characters…five reluctant mothers.
fun fact, the working title for this comic was: motherfucking twats & cunts. so i think i did manage at least to make it a little more accessible by changing the name to reluctant mothers.
the characters are based on mythological creatures…but they are everyday mums as well.
as always, if you want to support my art & creations, you are welcome to donate funds towards my struggles. you can find paypal information on my love for sale page as well as my artist for hire page, and a ko-fi donation link is on my me (nutshelled) page.
along with notta not-a-boy, i will be exorcising my motherhood demons along side my gender demons via comic art therapy.
and i have also been playing with the idea of revivifying my old comic weener’s coop to continue exorcising my intentional community demons….
and i am still working on my novel.
oh, and i’m a mom…living in a fixer-upper who needs fixing up…sigh.
stay tuned
okay. another month with only one page to show for it! my tarot cards keep telling me not to waste a gift. is it pretentious of me to assume they are talking about all the awesome comics that i am not getting written?
so i totally wrote a big long thing in my journal about my ending of moses jones: apocalyptic mama…but i forgot to bring my journal to the library (i do not have internet at home.)
i will, as most things in life, wing it….
i started moses jones when i was living in a 30 person cooperative house with my ex-husband & our three children (fourth on the way.) my life was in turmoil as i was about one bad behavior from being kicked out of the co-op. said bad behaviors were in reaction to my ex-husband having relations with other women in our house all while we had an on-again/off-again relationship.
i was losing my mind.
i was also pursing an art degree at uw madison where i was lucky enough to have an instructor who encouraged me to pursue my own style of art & not to worry if it was popular or not.
if you have read my book confusion perfume & other neurotic comics, you know that moses started out as a transformation of my confusion perfume heroine, berny. however, moses quickly became her own woman. a zombie fighting mama. i did not intend for her to be so bitter & humorless, but much like the portrait of dorian gray, she kinda took that on for me i suppose.
as i worked on my final project for my art class, the beginnings of moses jones, my ex-husband noticed that he was missing from the story. we must have been in an on-again stage because i did try to write him in once i started doing pages for the comic. however, like moses, he did not turn out the way i thought he would…& dusty knickers was born. the absent father.
which pissed off my ex-husband. he will now deny that character is based on him.
i have worked on this comic on and off for nine years. it has grown up with the youngest of my children. i did not get the story out the way i planned. the story took its own path. there is a lot i would do different. there is a lot of unfinished i think i should finish…
yet somehow, the story is done.
i need to let it go.
i cried after i finished this page.
moses jones has been a sort of friend for these past nine years. someone i could turn to who i knew would not hesitate to put dusty knickers in the ground.
but i need to move forward now. past this story and on to a new one.
my zen is out of whack & my mojo is worse…. page two, over a month later.
i am hoping to get back into sorts soon & be producing more comics.
fingers crossed.
so i decided to use my ink pen instead of my bamboo pen after i royally fucked up the other page when i went to finish it (posted yesterday pre fuck up)
i love the way this turned out. although future pages might be less laugh-in with less color. i feel the color might be distracting.
i love doing comics.
i know my art journal pages seem to appeal to more people–which is totally awesome…but i’m hoping you can find something to love about my comics as well.
this one is a memoir of sorts.
i was hiking today & imagined its press release a little something like this: THE ANDROGYNOUS ADVENTURES OF NOTTA NOT-A-BOY IN A GENDER-BENDING TELL ALL MEMOIR!
right?
do you feel it?
i have written out a couple of pages of text…which would amount to about 30 more pages of comic…so with a little focus i will be bringing more pages of notta not-a-boy your way.
meanwhile, i will try to not lay awake at night worrying i have offended someone.
this is my story; you don’t have to read it…but i do have to write it.
i have started writing down deep thoughts about my lifelong flirtation with androgyny…which then became an examination of my masculine & my feminine.
then i was hiking the other day, letting my mind run free, and decided it might make a good comic.
of course i have imposter’s syndrome about my history of gender non-conformation…especially since becoming a mother & growing boobs.
but!
i still think my story might be one worth telling.
so here is the beginnings of (working title) notta not-a-boy
making new comics brings to light my neglecting of my baby moses jones…so i did dig her out and am looking at where that story left off.
meanwhile, i have a list as long as my arm of other comics i want to create. i better get my ass in gear. stop moping in my daily journals & start some storytelling!
xo
the ongoing saga of a dystopian zombie fighting mama & her issues….
another page of moses jones: apocalyptic mama.
i have been working on this comic on & off since 2013 when i was in madison, wisconsin, attending university & living in a housing co-op.
my relationship with my ex. my children. and my experiences in a housing co-op have all heavily influenced this comic.
as well as my early exposure to apocalyptic dystopian themes in movies.
one day i hope to publish a collection of these.
one day.
Quixotic Mama 