Work in progress. I shall share one incomplete page:



I just power-comicked four pages while listening to "Poker Face" by Lady Gaga on repeat. Play count is at 80 and rising. The shame in this room is palpable.

Also, dear god, I so don't need to spend any of my hard-earned dollars on old school Star Trek 'zines. I'm a responsible adult. I need groceries and things. ...And yet my finger won't quite come unglued from the "buy now" button. Nnnnngh... Must...resist!!

The Couscous Collective reviews Happy Birthday Michael Mitchell

I might also mention that the article's author Leia Weathington is a particularly brilliant essayist (not to mention comics writer), and has been detailing her most recent exploits in writerly form on her blog.

I've been following these essays since day one, and I admit to loving them like a fat kid loves cake. They're frank, witty, and never cloying. Leia's planning to collect these into one volume, but for now they're all free on her blog. Enjoy!

In Memoriam: Harry Roland

I was so sorry to hear this. Harry was a friend of mine, and though I didn't see him often, we'd had the chance to chat on the ISG message boards (where he used to tease me about how I've never seen a single episode of Doctor Who), and the opportunity to sit together at a comic convention or two. He was always supportive of me and my art, and he will be greatly missed.

Scoop reviews Happy Birthday Michael Mitchell

Cheers,
~Jo

EDIT: Fixed link. durh.

"RAAAAR I'M HELL'S OWN PROCESS SERVER, RAAAARRR...!"


Yeah. I was cranky yesterday, so instead of drawing pictures of Star Trek characters making soppy eyes at each other, I found I had to draw something much more mood-appropriate. Funny how that works.

Speaking of Star Trek, seeing as I'm worryingly mired in the fandom now, I've watched a few of the original series episodes. I'm cherry picking for now, but I find it charming in it's weird taking-itself-seriously-yet-hokey-as-hell-ness. Also, I sort of wish I had a tribble.

Anyway, this weekend is looking to be cookout and badminton funtimes, assuming I can get the house cleaned up in time. I've volunteered to make the fruit salad, and am wishing I could remember the recipe on the really popular one I made for a potluck in college. I do recall it contained mangoes, starfruit, and walnuts... but I never can remember when starfruit is in season. Bah.

Hooray, Happy Birthday, Michael Mitchell just went live on Tor.com!



READ IT HERE.

I'm super excited about this, because it's been rather a long time since I've sold/published any of my own writing, and though I still have a lot of room to grow, I happen to feel a teensy bit proud of myself. This is also the first time in a long time that I've handled every part of the process, from the writing to the lettering, and I think the story is better for it. (Also, I've never colored comics before, and while I was sweating bullets over that particular aspect, I certainly learned a lot.)



Anyway, please give it a read, leave some feedback, and share it with your friends if you've got the notion. I'd love it if a lot of people were able to see this story, because I feel like I've been out of the game for awhile, and I'd love to get back to making comics full time again. (Also because Tor.com is a really cool website, and deserves your attention in general.)

Peace,
~Jo

SO!

... Bugger what I'm supposed to be doing. Here's Mr. Spock.


I can now officially attend nerd graduation.

(Yeah, so I've fallen victim to the Spock love. Thanks a lot, J.J. Abrams. Also frecklegirl. Also, while I'm at it, any future Bones love will be blamed on attributed to maypirate.)

( S'more inky arts 'neath the cut. )

Oh, and Tor just informed me that Happy Birthday should be online early next week. I will of course be providing links.

Adios,
~Jo

JUST SAW STAR TREK!

LOVED IT!

AM TOTALLY FIRED UP.

... I also have been reading a bunch of Roald Dahl's collected short stories, and am consequently feeling more inspired than usual. I love good writing and good stories, what can I say?

Whoooooo got all her stuff finished and submitted on time? ...Me, that's who. I'm appropriately tired but pleased.

At the moment I still have four days of teaching left before summer vacation starts in earnest, a bunch more car issues to address, and a bunch more furniture to move into my new home. However, I'm all caught up on the freelance/art/comics front.

In fact, my new story with Tor.com should be going live in just a few days... I'll keep you posted.

Hello LJ.

I come to you with a bottle of wine, and a bunch of expired userpics. (Yes, I've been away, and my LJ has been languishing.)

Well, I'm here to say that I'm not dead, I'm just in a dead zone, currently. Meaning that I have so little time that I don't make it onto the internet much, except for the occasional utilitarian excursion. (i.e. google.)

I'm muscling through the day job, a second lettering gig, the Tor gig, and the fact that I've got to be moved out of my apartment before the end of this month. My social life is also on the rise (except for this month of forced work exile) and that's a good thing, but it limits my internetting time, which is a strange change. Who knew that missing so many of my friends LJ entries could stress me out so much?

I miss posting art for you guys, but I guess it's an okay thing if I'm too busy producing it to have time to post it? Maybe?

Anyway. Here's some other points of interest, that may or may not be interesting to anyone other than myself:

-I must laugh at the fact that the movie Pineapple Express has essentially the same basic plot/themes as Roadsong, if one were to substitute "Music" for "Marijuana". (Too bad for me that weed is funnier than busking.)

-Also regarding movies, I also watched The Secret Life of Bees, which has only served to reaffirm the fact that I have a real thing for works of fiction that address civil rights issues.

-In feeling so cooped up, I have been going out walking and/or jogging every night. I've been feeling sort of weirdly old and decrepit lately, (I'm only 28 gadammit), and somehow exercising makes me feel magically younger-ish?

-Ooh, ooh, also I have a new car. :) It's a '07 Saab Aero. Station wagon baaaaybeeeee. I have always wanted a good shleppin' car. And I do believe that feels_like_fire will destroy me if I do not post pictures soon.

-I am working on my black green thumb with the help of Mr. Keith, and we have quite a lot of vegetables growing now. Also, we have planted a Baobab seed, which must never touch the cold winters of Ohio! .... I have named him "Babybab." O, Babybab! We have much in common, in that we both love Africa, but have never been there.

-On the extremely nerdy front (for me, anyway), I have seen that Christian Bale is in the rumor mill to play Roland Deschain in the Dark Tower movie. This had better be only a rumor. I love Mr. Bale and all, but my associations with him are extremely separate from my associations with DT, and I'd like to keep it that way. J.J. Abrams, don't let me down on this one. I promise to go see your new Star Trek movie soon! Swear, swear!

-Ummmmm, I draw comics for money? It's good? I want to break free of this short-story cycle and do a longer project, though. It's been awhile. There's at least 3 options in the works now, but I'm still playing the waiting game. Booooooo.

-See ya!

PS. I earnestly dedicate this post to ribby, who has been emailing me going, "Jo? Are you okay? You're not ill, are you? You haven't actually fallen into a hole, have you?" ...And also to maypirate, who has had to resort to texting and emailing as primitive forms of communication with yours truly.

Okay, okay. I don't want to write a dadburned novel at the moment, and I don't want to get too much into my comics baggage and lack of productivity or artistic inspiration... but I'm trying to relax my way back into it, and have spent a lot of time and focus on enjoying the life and the world that exists outside of my head. It's been good. Really good. I went backpacking at Red River Gorge with Keith for spring break, and wanted to share a few choice photos... so here goes!


Ha. Okay, packing up our crap was an adventure in and of itself. I think most of the supplies spent most of their time laying on the floor of Keith's room and various other surfaces. We pack good.

( More pics after the jump. )

When everything is right with the world, I like to go for drives.

When everything is wrong with the world, I like to.......... go for drives.

Today the weather was just awesome, so I went for a drive, regardless of right and wrong. Nothing quite beats the feeling of tooling along at dusk with all the windows down and the music all cranked up. I'm reveling in my newly regained voice too, so I sung along with my favorite mixtape, and had a grand ol' time.

I don't suppose I have anything too spectacular to report. I'm finishing up an illustration/design for tragic_frog and ultimatebeaver's wedding invitation, doing a little freelance lettering, and then it's work, work, work on my story for Tor. Somewhere in there I've got to schedule an appointment with a doctor and an appointment with an accountant, and do my best to keep from going all stir-crazy with wanting to go outside and roll in the grass. It feels danged good to be busy again. Sort of.

EDIT: Oh yeah! And I like, totally saw Watchmen. Like, totally. As a fan of the book, I can't say I enjoyed the movie any more or less than I expected to... so it was a generally satisfying experience. I liked that they kept/translated a great deal of shots and scenery directly from the comic, although I couldn't help but think that everything was a bajillion times more effective as a comic than a movie. Movie-wise, the real treat for me was seeing the characters brought to life. (Though that may, in fact, be my favorite part about any movie adaptation.)

So, it's been said to me more than once that I haven't updated this thing enough lately.

Okay, guilty as charged. Really, the only excitement that's been going down for awhile has all been dealing with my personal life, which (as I may have mentioned before) is a subject that I'm never sure how to approach publicly on my journal. ...But I'll do my best.

This hasn't been the greatest winter for me, so I'm happy to wave bye-bye to February and turn my attentions to spring. The winter blahs have faded, and I hope they're going to take my perpetual congestion with them. Out damned spot!

( What else? )

Anyway... something I haven't talked about in a long time is the fate of my story The Misters. Truth is, that project has been in limbo for so long that I haven't known what to say for it. (Blame the economy! That's the in thing to do.) Though now I'm apparently okay with letting the world know that it's in limbo. Currently, no one has any claim to it but me, and nothing and no one can undo the work I've already done on it. So it's safe and warm, but homeless for the time being. Sorry to let down the folks who had been anticipating it's debut... but I guess you've long since noticed that it didn't appear online on the date I originally specified. Whups. I have faith that it'll see publication someday. Just not today.

There are other things percolating, though! Check it out:


Haha, I figured that if Tor was okay putting me on their promotional materials for NYCC, then it'd likely be okay for me to mention it here too... bahahaha. More on this later, obviously.

In summary, things are pretty sweet and I'm happy as a clam. Peace, homies.

Wonderful.

I'm sick again, the accompanying symptoms of which seem to be sore throat, sore throat, and sore throat. I'm hoping this is going to be a 24 or 48 hour thing, and I'm well prepared to spend the day in bed working on the computer and/or continuing the 80's movie marathon that I started when I was sick last week. (I kid you not, I watched The Thing, Robocop, The Blob, The Princess Bride, and all 3 Karate Kid movies. I also saw Mystic River and parts of Heavy Metal 2000, but those don't count.)

Today I think I shall watch The Mist, and giggle over the Dark Tower tie-ins. (Between the fearful cringings, of course.)

At first I thought my sinuses were disgruntled because I was up too early on Friday.

Then I thought it must have been because I drank a bit too much coffee and made myself dehydrated.

After that, I entertained the theory that they were still hurting because of the few cocktails I enjoyed last night.

...But now, I'm finally ready to admit that I have a cold. *sigh* My sinuses still hurt, my nose is running, my lips are chapped all to hell, and no amount of lip balm seems to want to un-chap them. Come to me, vitamins.

In spite of all this, I'm in a pretty good mood, and I think I'm ready to spend the day alternately napping and soaking in the tub. I hope all the other comics hooligans are having a grand ole time at NYCC! ... and that I don't look like too much of a loser for sitting this one out. Whups.

I wish I'd been able to post yesterday, because good news from multiple sources on the job front had me doing the snoopy dance. Unfortunately, things kept getting in the way, and even more unfortunately, I couldn't find an appropriately animated gif of the Snoopy dance to properly express my feelings on the matter.

It's still totally exciting, however!

Today, however, is my second snow day in a row. I have a love/hate relationship with snow days, because while it's nice to have paid days off from work, I typically get lethargic and cabin-feverish, and fail to be productive in any other manner. The snow outside is over a foot deep, and somewhere in the middle of that foot is a nice layer of ice. (I heard it called "weather lasagna".) My car is completely frozen shut (I tried and failed earlier to chip enough ice off with a broom handle that might allow for the opening of my trunk), and even if it weren't, I likely couldn't get out of the driveway. Alas, alack.

I did go for a walk earlier, however. It was difficult, but refreshing. I'm contemplating a second go 'round, and perhaps another attempt to break into the trunk of my car.

Aside from that, excitement has been limited to watching movies (I've seen High Plains Drifter, Zodiac, and The Duchess in the past 72 hours), and drinking vast amounts of coffee provided by the coffee maker that tragicfrog got me for xmas.

As usual, I can't wait to go back to work.

Funny thing: I got on the scale this morning and found that I just now achieved one of my new years resolutions for 2008. Better late than never, right?

2009 Resolutions
(okay, so maybe these are less resolutions, and more things that I hope to achieve in 2009. I feel pretty darn resolute about some of them, though.)

-Lose another 10 lbs.

-Finish writing/drawing another book. (Too many lousy false starts in 2008, that's for sure.)

-See another foreign country or two. (One of which will hopefully be Mexico.)

-Earn more money.

-Take more vitamins.

-Work on getting my teaching certificate.

-Get the SMEG out of Ohio.

Weeks of being absent from LJ and I come back to post lame in jokes (aren't you excited?):

The first is self explanatory... it's just a picture of my and feels_like_fire's character Lupe Flores riding a rainbow unicorn. Extra points because it's a winged rainbow unicorn.



( One more: behind a cut because it contains spoilers for Twilight and The Dark Tower )

Oh hell, you guys. Remember last year when I was tearing my hair out with glee over Danny Boyle's movie "Sunshine"? (It still perplexes me that so few people have heard of Sunshine, let alone seen it.) Well I'd been anticipating his new film, "Slumdog Millionaire" for awhile, and finally got to see it last night.

MAN. All you folks who commented to say you needed more comics/stories with true love and drama and kindness.... See this movie. Just see it. You won't be sorry. I am so thoroughly smitten with Danny Boyle right now. There have been a lot of x-mastime movies that I've been looking forward to, but they're going to have a tough time measuring up to Slumdog Millionaire.

I also saw "Australia" last Tuesday as well, and I actually liked it much more than I'd expected to! I was worried I might be overwhelmed by the cheese factor, but instead it played out like a colorful fairytale, and I ended up mesmerized and floaty, goggling at the cowboys and aborigines. (Also at shirtless Hugh Jackman, shhhh.) I think I could have done without the second half of the movie, though. The wartime stuff. It was okay, but I was not nearly so in love with that part as I'd been with all the deserts and wilderness and cattle-droving. I suspect that's my own preferences at work, though. God knows I love cowboys.

Now here's a drawing:


For future reference, this fellow's name is Mitchell Mitchell. I've been down and out about the state of comics and the state of ME in relation to comics, but spending time writing and drawing about Mr. Mitchell has had a certain healing effect. I hope it keeps up. Expect to see some comics about him in the future. I'm working on it.

...Also, maybe I should have drawn buildings in the background instead of trees, but I think that trees are more funner to ink.

Truth is, I'm no more immune to the angst surrounding the recession than the next person. Masochistically, I've been keeping abreast of all the news and speculation surrounding the publishing industry, and more specifically the comics end of the publishing industry. For example, this article on The Beat: When will the axe fall on comics?

Specifically, I like this bit:

"Deep inside, I suspect that comics will weather the storm just fine. The fat will be trimmed, and a periodic purge is usually beneficial. Graphic novels that offer satisfying, memorable stories, webcomics that make you chuckle, and periodicals that can hold monthly attention will always tough it out. Sincere publishers who want to put out the best books that they can will keep going.

In a world where people can only afford necessities, you must make comics that your audience NEEDS."

So tell me, folks. What comics do you need? What comics are you starving for? What stories are you going to die if you don't have? Go on and answer for yourself if you've a mind.

And be serious now. You can say, "I'd love to read a comic about zombie nazi ski-bunnies", but only if you're seriously needing it, see? Inquiring minds want to know.