Killing Gone Girl

 Gone Girl Comics is Dead

I wrote last August about the origins of Gone Girl Comics (here).  The long and short of it is that I created a manuscript under the title of Gone Girl and failed to copyright it.

Now that there is a famous mystery novel and movie by that name, I don't want any confusion with the book's author or her intellectual property, so I'm killing the title Gone Girl in my images, books and web presence moving forward.

For the curious:  I did NOT receive a cease and desist letter, or encounter any other legal issues.  I'm just doing what makes sense to me for the long run.

 

New URLs All Around

I'm unifying everything webby under NoelFranklinArt and changing the blog and book title to Girl On The Road.  If you are reading this blog now, you've already found me - I've archived all the previous blogs here under noelfranklinart.blogspot.com and created a rudimentary redirect page at the old URL.

As much of a pain as this is, I'm happy to be doing it now and not later down the road.  A full list of my current social media links is building on the sidebar.  ==>

I will still be selling previously created copies of Gone Girl Comics #1 and #2 but will likely not self-publish more short stories collections anytime soon, as I'm focussing on a full-length graphic novel.

 Girl On The Road posts about comics, publication and community on Tuesdays.

The Hurt That Heals

Update #1:  

Thinking about my 2015/2016 in terms of John Porcellino's "The Hospital Suite" gives me hope I can turn this thing around, yet.

Update #2:

In a long late night conversation with Mark Campos, we came up with the idea mining the wound hard enough for the art might just retrieve the bullet and allow you to heal.  And maybe the bullet is diamond pointe and maybe the wound shines like glass on a ruby lake.  

At least it only took 'em 1 try
(as apposed to 8, yes 8!) to set the IV this time

This week's blog is going to be short and....sweet?  Not so much, as I've been spending more time in hospitals that outside of them over the last couple of months and last week was no exception.

Lets start out with some of the good parts.

OK! OK! OK HOTEL!

Artist Jeff Milhalyo and Royal Room
co-owner Tia Matthies.

I wrote last week about my much-anticipated enjoyment of the OK Hotel Family Reunion.

Seattle's Royal Room, whose owners also ran the OK Hotel from 1987 - 2001, is a great venue.  The shows were perfectly booked, well attended and I sold a lot of my little illustrated histories of the venue.

I also got to acquire some art as well, in the form of a limited edition vintage calendar from back in the day, produced by the lovely and talented and full-hearted Jeff Milhalyo.

I attended 3 out of 4 of the nights before I fell ill again and was back in the hospital on Monday, just getting discharged this morning.

The Hurt that Heals.  If it doesn't kill 'ya.

Debbe Penne, whose death on the crash of Alaska Flight 261
is part inspiration for "Girl On The Road"

Don't get me wrong.  Art can be this amazing, joyful, fun activity that is a celebration of all good things.  But a lot of what I work with is dark material--things that have hurt me physically and/or emotionally in the past.  The graphic novel that I've working on is created from several of these incidents, and digging far enough into them to make a comprehensive, cathartic yet funny and page-turning story means feeling a lot of that hurt again.  

I'm starting to realize that the work going into the art is bigger than the art itself, and I'm going to need a lot of support around it.  It means building up this concept of self-care, which was completely foreign to me until I nearly killed myself from lack there-of.  And, of course, enjoying my friends who are still here.  I have this lovely creative community.  I may possibly be misguided by the notion that if you use art to cut deep enough into the wound, it might just heal you--and done well enough, heal others as well.  I have no proof of this hypothesis, but I'm working on it.

The Grants Game Part 2

Gone Girl Comics has moved!  And will also be sunsetting the name "Gone Girl Comics" pretty soon here.  HOWEVER, things are kicking up in 2016.

FUNDED!  Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle - City Artist Project Grants 2016

I'm happy to report that my graphic novel has been selected as one of the 30 projects funded by the Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle for 2016.

This is the second grant the project has garnered, after the 4Culture Art Project award.  I was very nearly certain the proposal would not be funded, because the application requires you to select either literary or visual arts, yet comics incorporate both.  In the spirit of "Don't Ask, Don't Get," I went forward with the application.  You can learn more about the Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle here.

Both grants support the creation of the full script plus sample chapters and require a public presentation, so I've got A LOT of work to do.  It will be worth it, though, because I should have what I need to shop the book to an agent or publishing house when I am through.  

Awesome women's comics inside!

The Anthology Game Part 3

I had a fair amount of anthology inclusion in 2014 & 2015.  The highlight for me, hands down, was being included in The Strumpet, Issue #4, "The Friendship Issue."

The Strumpet is an anthology of quality comics by women only, and it publishes in both London and New York!  Issue #4 "is all about lady friends -- from best friends forever to friend with a question mark. [It] explores the highs, the lows, the joys, the sorrows, the awesomeness and the awkwardness of female friendship."

Many of the stories in this issue rocked my world, including one by Casandra Grullon that made me cry.  You can read more about The Strumpet here, and you can buy the current and back issues at Editor Ellen Lidner's Etsy shop here.  

I also have a comic in the most recent issue of multi-medium literary magazine Raven Chronicles as well as Connections, a comics anthology to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Moving forward, I have a 3-party collaboration with Seattle Cartoonist Mark Campos and Seattle Musician Amy Denio, to be featured in the pending 11th Dimension Press' "Rock is Not Dead" anthology with accompanying music CD.  Mark conceptualized the story based on the Throwing Muses song "Not Too Soon" and Amy Denio recorded a cover of the song and had Mark and I play "trash percussion" utilizing only a wash basin and mallets. 

Detail from "Not Too Soon."
Gone Girl Comics with Mark Campos and Amy Denio.

Starting the sample chapters of my graphic novel leaves little room to work on other independent project, unfortunately, but I AM collaborating with writer Anne Bean on her story "Coyote and Butterfly Woman."

The story is a modernized version of a tradition Nez Pierce story, and I get to have fun drawing anthropomorphic characters.  Anne has also joined into the grants game, and this comic collaboration is made possible in part by an Artist Trust GAP grant she secured.

Next Week:  Tabling In Honor of a beloved Seattle institution, The OK Hotel.

 

C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

DUNE & Ex City Part 2 + INTRUDER

Covers from four of the month DUNE compilations.
I'll add artist names as I learn them.
I only know one now.  ;)

DUNE Revisited 

 

Last week I wrote about DUNE, a collaborative comics event that happens every third Tuesday at Cafe Racer at 5828 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle. 

Deep irony:  It is occurring as I type.  But I did not go for, well, reasons. (Read Down) 

I did want to follow up on last week's post.  Cafe Racer has long fostered creative communities, and hosted a comics hang-out called Friends of the Nib (hosted by revered cartoonist Jim Woodring) and Bureau of Drawers.  I was too new to the scene to know the difference, I didn't even know how important an artist Jim Woodring was at the time.  I just showed up and made some drawings.  But both folded and morphed in succession and then I  stayed home to draw after that.

There's another story here, one that includes a shooting at Cafe Racer.  I am so sad for those we lost, and so grateful we didn't lose more.

After that, some 33 or so months ago, Cartoonist Max Clotfelter started up DUNE.  You show up, you draw a page (or two), you leave your coveted originals with Max along with $3 and leave.  Next month, you show up again, and you get your coveted originals back along with a minicomic compilation of everyone drawing in the building at the same time as you.

DUNE is pure art.  BECAUSE no extras are run to be sold--only enough compilations of the drawings from last week to give back one publication for each--there is no commodification of your work.  It's just the joy of comics.  Pure and simple.

I don't make it out to DUNE more than once in three months.  Partially because I work solo, A LOT. 

Yes I was the first person down the fire escape
in my pajamas.  Why do you ask?

Today I am working on literally six projects, and also my apartment building caught on fire, no joke.

However, I do make it to DUNE, because I get to say hello to amazing people and take home an entire community in a saddle-stitched zine.

I asked Max a few questions to illuminate his process, and here are the responses:

Gone Girl Comics:  Why did you start DUNE?
 

Max Clotfelter:  I was part of this local anthology (INTRUDER) where participation had to remain pretty exclusive just because of the logistics of deadlines and the high cost of printing. It was just too hard to invite everyone we wanted to participate. We were also meeting lots of new local comics folks who wanted to get involved with a group project. So I tried to think of the easiest way to make an open invitation anthology project and DUNE grew from there.

Gone Girl Comics: Why do you run DUNE the way you do, with copies just for participants?

Max Clotfelter: It's all about keeping it as simple as possible. Everyone has to finish their page in one night at the Café, just so I don't have to deal with a bunch of emails from people sending me stuff later on. The minute the clock strikes 11pm the contents are finished and all I have to do then is take it down to the copy shop and make the book. Also, I only make one copy per participant because it keeps the cost down and doesn't leave any room for the debate over what to do with the extra copies. Anyone who wants a copy is more than welcome to participate no matter how well they can draw!

Gone Girl Comics:  What do you think it does for Seattle comics?

Max Clotfelter: Hopefully it gives people a place to hang out and meet each other. It's also fun for me to sit down and force myself to draw a comic page in 4 hours. I love it when people collect their pages into their own mini comics. I also hope it inspires similar kinds of events around town."

INTRUDER poster art by Seth Goodkind.
Seth is also the curator of
Exterminator City
and
worked on EXTRUDER
a comics compilation of INTRUDER artists.

I, (GGC) myself, would like to add that this seems replicatable in the same way that Slam Poetry grew up in Chicago and was dispersed to become a National phenomena.  Could be good.  But remember to honor the founder, as slam should still honor Marc "Slampapi" Smith.  More about DUNE here.

INTRUDER

 

Speaking of Marcs, Marc J. Palm is the founder a INTRUDER, a free Seattle-based comics newspaper.
In this corner of Seattle comics, Intruder bridges the DUNE comics night, many of the artists that work with Push/Pull Gallery as well as the comics tabling event Exterminator City.  When asked, he referred me to the website, http://intrudercomics.com/  

"INTRUDER is a free, quarterly, co-op, comics newspaper that started in March of 2012 consisting of 16+ Seattle based, darkly comedic cartoonists. Subscribe to get yours $12 for 4 issues! (cheap) paypal - swellzombie@hotmail.com"

He then added: Intruder was started because there was nothing like it in Seattle at the time and we felt like comics were still important here.

Here here.

Exterminator City, Saturday!
Poster art by Bunny Lee.

Exterminator City #4

Did I mention that Exterminator City, one of the nations only neighborhood comics events, is happening this weekend, Saturday August 22nd, at Push/Pull Gallery?  (8537 Greenwood Ave N, underground in the Greenwood Collective, to be exact.)

Did I mention there were not one but two awesome shows related to both comics arts and twin peaks on the walls?

Did I mention that INTRUDER will be there, with free comics as well as their compilation, EXTRUDER?

Did I mention I've spent 3 nights in a row staring into the abyss of my own ghosts to come up with a new poetry chapbook in addition to the comics I'll have for sale?  (Gone Girl Comics #1, #2, Jezinkas and the poetry chapbook:  The Essentialist.)

It includes 25 poems--half of which have been published before and half of which have just hung out in secret, waiting to see the light of day.  No comics in this one, but half of the reason why I stayed home tonight was to draw a kick-ass cover.

So, come see me Saturday at Exterminator City, 11 - 4, Saturday August 22nd.

Until next week (When it's all about me, really.  I have been working on the graphic novel.)

C-log posts on comics, publication and community on Tuesdays.

Gone Girl - Origins

The NYT best seller.
Image from Wikipedia.

Sometimes if you begin a manuscript, stamp a title on it and then let it percolate for a decade, someone else publishes a New York Times best-selling book under the same name before you get yours underway.  OK, I'm sure it doesn't always happen that way, but that is what happened to me.

 

 Gone Girl the Prose Memoir

In 2006, I participated in National Write a Novel Month (NaNoWriMo) with the goal of creating a minimum 55,000-word manuscript.  I took a blood oath to complete the project along with two fellow artist and writers.  By November 30th I had written 77,000 words of a memoir outlining the years leading up to and after a friend's death.  I meant it to be an interesting travelogue that just happened to include a tragedy.  

Toast to our lost friends!  Taken on November 29, 2006
after typing the last words of my NaNoWriMo draft.
(It really was that cold in my apartment.)

It was not the Great American Novel, which is forgivable from an unedited manuscript written in 30 consecutive  late evenings.   The process did get the raw material onto the page, though, and--while I pushed the project aside to work on professional projects--it started a process that I hope will eventually lead to a work worthy of the subject.

The 1995 Cover.

 

 

Gone Girl the Poetry Chap Book

The obvious reason for titling my manuscript Gone Girl is that the book included two female lead characters and one of them goes away.  The less obvious fact is that I was falling back on a title I had already used in 1995.  It was the title of one of the poems I used to read on Portland, OR Spoken Word stages and later used as the title of my first poetry chapbook, which is copyrighted 1995.  

One night I was going to perform at Portland's historic Cafe Lena, and I told the poet Douglas Spangle that I was nervous.  When they called me to stage, he yelled "You Go Girl!" and when I walked off after reading he shouted "You're GONE Girl!" It stuck with me.

 

Gone Girl Comics - Then and Now

Gone Girl the poetry chap book also contains my first comic.  It's a four page silent comic that only has two word, GIMP and HEAL, spelled out in sign language at the beginning and end of the story.  Ten years later, I drew my second comics story--an illustration of a poem by David Lasky--and another 5 or so years after that I published my first all-out minicomic.  

Gone Girl, the novel by Gillian Flynn, came out shortly before I put out Gone Girl Comics #1, and I was unaware of it.  When people started referencing it, I didn't pay much attention.  Lots of things share titles.  Then her book sold very, very well and now the movie.  

Page 1 of 4 of my first comic.

I am disappointed, because all of the comics work I've done up to date has been preparation for
converting my initial manuscript into a full-length graphic novel under the title Gone Girl.  I have friends who pseudo-jokingly goad me to sue for the name, since I published first, but there's very little chance Gillian came across my 600-run self-published poetry/comic hybrid, to begin with.  And I'll leave fame-via-litigation to former Jerry Springer contestants er...special guest speakers.

On top of everything else, I've had women roll their eyes at me without even masking their condescension when reading the title of Gone Girl Comics.  Even if it lived in my mind first, and I'm attached to it, some faction from the Court of Public Opinion will always judge against my use of Gone Girl as a title for anything literary.

 

One cover image from the
Real Gone Girl site.
Courtesy Miriam Libicki

 

Other Gone Girls

My Gone Girl is gone.  I've changed the title of my pending graphic novel to Girl on A Road, which is a song by Ferron, suggested by cartoonist Mark Campos.  But it's worth noting that Gillian Flynn just might have lifted the title Gone Girl from a short story of the same name by noir writer Lew Archer.

I'd also like to mention Real Gone Girl comics by Miriam Libicki.  Miriam lives in Canada and creates beautifully rendered and well-written autobio comics about her service in the Israeli army during the second Intifada, among other things.  Though our comics have shared a similar name, I can't imagine a much more different life than mine, and I'm really happy that the whole copyright issue led me to discovering her stories and artwork. Be sure to check her work out here.

C-log posts on comics, publication and community on Tuesdays.

Portland Zine Symposium (PLUS)

This week I had planned on writing about why I continue to publish under the moniker "Gone Girl Comics" when there is a salacious New York Times best-selling novel with the same first name. (Spoiler Alert:  I used it first.)

I'll be slinging Gone Girl Comics
with Mark Campos here.

However, I've been gearing up for the Portland Zine Symposium instead.  Fire up your long-neck staplers, ladies and gentlemen!  We're going south.  You can come find me at the Ambridge Event Center, Table 35C.

Tabling, Festivals, Tabling. . . 

I've been publishing comics for two years, and I've tabled less than a handful of events. I've learned to pack lots of water, a handful of snacks, a "bank" of change--even if you do have one of those credit card readers--and maybe a friend who can break you so that you can check out all of the other awesome cartoonists.

Me and Annie Murphy at
Lineworks NW.  

Happily, my first tabling experience was Short Run.  If you haven't experienced Short Run, Seattle's Comix and Arts Festival, it's worth checking out.  I've written about the event before,.  It was packed, shoulder-to-shoulder, throughout the day and I moved more than 90 minicomics.  Phenomenal.

This year, Short Run occurs on Friday, October 31st, and the organizers have moved it to the Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center, with ancillary events and special guests abounding.  More information here.

Other festivals I've tabled include the first annual Bellingham Comic Arts Festival (BellCAF) and the Olympia Comics Festival.  I also attended Northwest Lineworks 2015 as a spectator, another Portland event, and came home with stacks of books including some by exceptional artists such as Nicole Georges, Hazel Newlevant, Annie Murphy and SO MANY MORE.

Poster for the upcoming Exterminator City.
Poster Credit:  Bunny Lee.

Exterminator City and Other Events.

One of the most unusual and unusually effective tabling events is Exterminator City, a neighborhood comics market in the Greenwood district of Seattle. Organized by cartoonist Seth Goodkind at Push/Pull Gallery, the event is as grass roots as it gets.  And packed.  And I made a mint at the last Exterminator City I participated in.  OK, over $100, which is not bad when you're selling merch at $5 or less for half a day.

Exterminator City kicks up again August 22nd, 2015 and is still accepting applications until July 31st. APPLY HERE!

While I don't have anything on the books after Portland Zine Symposium, I'm setting my sights on the next CAKE in Chicago and possibly LA Zine Fest 2016.

OK! See you at Portland Zine Symposium!

And tune in next week for Gone Girl Comics: Origins.

C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

The Grants Game

Gone Girl Comics has been gone for too long.  There's actually some really legit reasons for dropping off the map, but that is a comic for an entirely different day.  TODAY I want to catch C-Log up to speed on artistic developments.

4Culture Art Project Recipient - 2015

 

I will be returning to a weekly blog, not only because I actually love it, but also because I'm now legally obligated to.  No, it's not part of a parole agreement.  I am blessed and lucky enough to have received a grant for 4Culture, the cultural services agency for King County, Washington.  It's in support of creating my first graphic novel, and blogging the process is part of fulfilling the grant.

I want to sincerely thank 4Culture for everything they do.   More about 4Culture, plus a full list of 2015 recipients here.

Danielle Davis of Ladykiller (left) and I and at the I Heart Comics Art Award
Ceremony.  Photo Credit Kristina Moravec.
 

I Heart Comic Art FTW

 

Notification of the 4Culture award came on the heels of Gone Girl Comics winning the I Heart Comics Art award at Emerald City Comicon.  The award is sponsored by female entrepreneur Danielle Davis' promotion firm, Ladykiller, who organizes the contest, raises money and prizes for the awards AND throws a blow-out party to give the awards away.

ALL of the finalists were fantastic.  Absolutely.  The best part about that is Ladykiller works with their finalists all year by curating shows and hosting us at their Emerald City Comicon Booth in 2016.  If you are a PNW cartoonist, I suggest you get involved with next year's contest.  It's been a great experience.

Graphic Novel, I'm Coming For Ya!

 

An idea is just an idea until you secure the resources to make it a reality.  I woke up this morning and realized that the graphic novel is now real.  It's been an idea for so long that having resources, a contract, defined deliverables and a timeline is almost frightening.  Almost.

Graphic novel project binder, with working title, now that
"Gone Girl," my original title for the work, is already in use.

Once I started thinking about a graphic novel in terms of fulfilling a grant contract, my project management brain kicked in.  It's a job now, and for some reason thinking about it that way gives me enough emotional distance to tackle it in pieces and parts.

Today, I created a project binder.  Now it's real, right?  And I wrote this blog.  Next week I'll get down to the nitty gritty of the story I'm about to tackle.

 

Take Away:  APPLY FOR THINGS

 

If you are a creator, research opportunities and apply for them.  Ask for money, for shows, for residencies.  Someone gets them, why not us?  Don't ask, don't get.  

If you are living in Seattle, there's a grant coming up from the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Cultural Affairs.  The deadline is July 22nd and you can find details on it here:  http://www.seattle.gov/arts/funding/individual.asp

I'll post deadlines as I hear of them.  Until next week!



C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

The Anthology Game Part 2

I have great news regarding anthology publication this year.

 

In November of 2013 I became determined to get comics short stories published in anthologies.  I figured this would keep me drawing regularly, get my art out there, sometimes bring in money and ultimate make the case for signing a book deal on a graphic novel.  This post is an update on an earlier post about starting my adventures in publishing that can be found here.

I'm working with a super-secret comics collaborator to create a
story for Rock is Not Dead.

My efforts have resulted in acceptances from nine different projects:  one local weekly paper here in Seattle, two United States publications and six international journals.

Here are some updates you might be interested in:

Canadian Anthology "Rock Is Not Dead" is seeking more stories inspired by rock songs!

One of the publishers I am working with - Canada-based 11th Dimension Press - is putting together an anthology of straight-forward prose as well as comics short stories inspired by rock songs.  NOT ONLY THAT, but they will be having independent bands cover the songs and put out an accompanying CD's.  It's a short turn around, but pitch your stories.

Here is the link to the 11th Dimension Press call for submissions.

 

Only 2 MORE DAYS to pre-order The Strumpet.  Eight dollars gets you A LOT of story! 

The Strumpet is an anthology of women cartoonists that publishes in both England and America, and is currently edited by a fabulous cartoonist in her own right -  Ellen Lindner.  It features over 50 pages of work by 18 female artists.

This is Issue #4 of The Strumpet and it is themed around women's friendships.  I LOVE this because so much of what is represented in the media are not reflective of women's voices or actual experiences around friendship.  The story I created for The Strumpet is the most difficult work of art that I've tackled to date, because I had to smoosh dacades worth of friendship into three pages to tell the story of my friendship with fellow female artist and carpenter, Lisa Mei Ling Fong.

Check out The Strumpet Kickstarter page here.   And if you miss out on the Kickstarter, it will eventually be available on Ellen Lindner's Etsy Page.

Free or "Pay-What-You-Can" International Anthologies

While several of the anthologies I'm working with are still in the process of being published, I have works running currently in two publications that you can access for free.

Outre Press out of Norway is a free online journal that features themed issues.  Issue #4 is "Silence" and can be downloaded here.  They ran a super sweet Creator Spotlight for me on their blog here.

While I only did a 1-page illustration for Outre, I created a 17-page rendition of a dark Czech folk tale for Blood Root #3, which also features work by Haan Lee, Ram V and Kishore Mohan.  You can purchase the lovingly designed print edition here.  You can also find free and pay-what-you-can titles from Sawdust Press here. 

Well, there is SO MUCH GOING ON in Seattle comics right now, and so much more in motion with anthologies, that I could keep writing forever.  However, until next post. . .



C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

Kickstarting Comics! The Final Day

Screen shot as of 9:30 this morning.  Come on over and join the party.  http://tinyurl.com/ngrovan

Success!

Gone Girl Comics is going into the last 12 hours of what has been a fabulous Kickstarter campaign.

As it stands, going into this last day, I am only $175 dollars short of the project being funded at 275%.  

I am humbled and amazed by surpassing my original goal, and also by the fantastic list of individuals who chose to back my campaign.  I couldn't be more excited about the diversity of friends, colleagues and strangers who are interested in me continuing to put out story-based, image rich comics short stories. 

I absolutely cannot wait to write the love letter that is going to be the Thank You message at the end of this campaign TODAY, October 27th at 10 PM Pacific Standard Time.

One of five images from
"The Lost Originals" postcard set.

I am going to do a full blog about my experience with Kickstarting Comics tomorrow, after the grande finale.  Until then, I am here to ask you to help me finish this campaign strong.  There is a big difference between a $850 campaign finishing at 250% and, say, a $10,000 campaign.  ($22,875 worth of difference, to be exact.)  Additional money from backers is being put back into backer benefits or directly into larger print runs for a series that sold out three runs last year!

So, come join the party.  I'll send you awesome drawings.  Oh--and I've been designing the postcard series this week, the ones I'm packaging as benefits.  Since it is the last weekend before Halloween, here is my "Monster Mash" from the story Cat Door Monster, in it's soon-to-be-postcard form.

Until tomorrow!




C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

Kickstarting Comics! Gone Girl Comics #2 Takes Flight.

Cover Image for the Kickstarter video.
Come on over to the campaign site and check it out!

Last week, I started a new chapter in my creative life.  I launched a Kickstarter campaign for Gone Girl Comics #2.

It was something of a last-minute response to the theft of my portfolio that I wrote about earlier.  I planned to partially fund the printing of Gone Girl Comics in time for the Short Run comics festival here in Seattle with the sale of the artwork inside.  With that gone, and time ticking (Short run is November 15th!) I decided to bite the bullet and launch the campaign.

 

And so it began: Gone Girl Comics #2 and & The Lost Originals! 

It launched exactly one week ago, and - as of this morning- is funded at 60% !!

 

The internet is rife with articles on how to run a Kickstarter, and Kickstarter themselves offer excellent "How To" guides, but my super-secret weapon is the expert advise of fellow cartoonists who have run significantly larger Kickstarter campaigns and lived to tell the tale.

I promise to spill all my secrets about running a successful Kickstarter campaign.  If my campaign is a success.  I still have two more weeks - until October 27th @ 10 PM Pacific Standard - to find out. 

What I CAN tell you already is this:

For a once-upon-a-time Slam Poet
I  had a rough time with my
video voice - over.

• I simply didn't have time to get a videographer, so I taught myself Garage Band and iMovie and made my own video.  Should I ever crowd fund again, I will get some professional help.
• I set my goal realistically, but did a cost-benefit analysis.  Glad I did, or I would have LOST money on meeting my original goal due to the cost of mailing printed material!
•  I have been sending out personal emails and FB messages to folks every morning, asking them to support.  I'm keeping track of people who share my video as well as those who give.  Non-cash supporters will be thanked as well

I did do one unconventional thing, which is launch my Kickstarter and drop off the grid for three days - no phone, no internet access.  I was OK with it.  I figured, no need to make a pest of myself at the beginning of my campaign, and when I come back I'll see if the campaign has legs of it's own.

Happily, on my return it was nearly 50% funded, and so now I will be here, at my computer every morning for a designated amount of time.  Designated, because otherwise this will eat up my entire attention span, and I won't get any drawing done. 

The cover from Blood Root #3.
I have a 17-page story in this issue,
and am offering it as one of the benefits
in my Kickstarter campaign.

So come on over to the Gone Girl Comics #2 & The Lost Originals Kickstarter page.  With you're help I'll write about the successful campaign in two weeks.  And you know you want to have an awesome comic published with your name on it!

A Quick "Anthology Game" Update

 

Back in July I wrote about beginning my adventures in seeking publication credits, in a blog I titled "The Anthology Game."  At that time I had three comics accepted for publication in anthologies.  Now I'm up to 8 new projects and hope to have some stunningly good news on that front SOON.

Tune in next week and I'll give you the full story, including listing new calls for submissions that I am aware of as well as what I've learned moving forward so far.

C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

Serbian Anthologies, Stolen Art & Other Stories

The poster I designed for Seattle Busker Week. 
Check out their full schedule Here.

If you hadn't noticed, Gone Girl Comics has been....gone, for a late summer hiatus.

Much of is has had to do with the unusually sunny weather here in the Pacific Northwest coinciding with being given access to an honest-to-god log cabin to renovate in a huge forest on Whidbey Island.  This is amazing, because I am a below-poverty-level artist right now and the gift of a rugged but amazing place to escape to is beyond surreal.  I have spent weeks cleaning and repairing the cabin, and harvesting huckleberries and wild chanterelle mushrooms.  Which leads to extensive, long baking and cooking sessions.

Then there is paid work.  The poster for Seattle Busker Week was part of that, and--if you are in Seattle, you can see artwork in The Seattle Weekly and also attend the festivities.  Combine that with drawing on intense deadlines for comics anthology submissions, and my blog schedule got thrown off a bit.

Image of "Chicago Picasso" in the SKULPTURA? anthology.

But behold!  The submissions have been paying off!  Not only have I been accepted for publications in seven new projects this year, but some of them are actually in print now, including SKULPTURA?, a comics anthology centered on Sculpture that I wrote about last month HERE.  My story "Chicago Picasso" is in it.

I was just informed that only 300 books were printed, and they were distributed to attendees of the 16th Biennial of Art Pančevo in Serbia.  So, it looks like my one contributors copy is all I'll have...and I'm going to cherish it and guard it with my life.

This image, which launched my
comics career, was among
those in my missing portfolio.

Unfortunately, I should have had the thought "guard it with my life" stuck in my head much earlier, as I foolishly left one of my portfolios at a restaurant in Downtown Seattle after a client meeting.  Though I noticed it missing just a few minutes later, when I went back to the restaurant (Tulios) it was GONE.  I filed a police report and have been checking online, where people sell art...in it was the original first page of "Chicago Picasso" along with some work that was very dear to my heart.

I created a Facebook album for the stolen images.  You can view it HERE.  If anyone comes across something--my style is fairly recognizable--do let me know!  But I fear these are gone.  Live and learn.

RETURNING TO THE POSITIVE, I look forward to posting more about new creative pursuits and anthology publications.  The next publications to come out will be Indie Ladies Comics 2014 - Blush, as well as an illustration I did for Outre #4 and then Blood Root! 




C-log posts on comics, publication and community that publishes on Tuesdays.

Shout Out for Short Run! (Artists Apply Now!!)

Photo Credit:  Alex Stonehill

Short Run.  It’s for everyone.  But I want to open by saying this:

If you create comics/zine/craftsy self-published items AND you live anywhere near Seattle OR have the means to travel to Seattle, then:

APPLY TO SHORT RUN!! DEADLINE JULY 31st, 2014

Though the main event happens on November 15^th, 2014, artist applications are due in two weeks.  And you’ll want to apply, because:

Short run is an amazing dream scape where light streams through the high windows of historic Washington Hall to illuminate the bazilliondy people who cram every aisle SPECIFICALLY TO BUY YOUR PRODUCT.  Short Run feels like it has as much traffic as all of ETSY, only in one action-packed day, and the customers are there in the flesh, with clutch purses and/or hipster facial hair and a budget set aside to purchase indie comics!

The view from my table at Short Run 2014.
I do not know the people holding my comics.
Audience development in action!

I am not exaggerating.  At last year’s Short Run, I sold over 90 copies of Gone Girl Comics #1, and this was after I had done a book release party earlier.  This means that almost all of my sales were to people I had never even met before.

Part of Short Run’s draw for honest-to-god comics buying audiences is that the festival’s organizers are so good to the artists.  Short Run is able to attract a large pool of diverse, talented and enthusiastic creators.  There’s just a lot of good products, a lot of good people and an increasing amount of good activities.  (The killer combination of reasonable tabling fees coupled with the organizer’s ability to garner good press doesn’t hurt.  Artists, are you reaching to click the “Apply” link yet?)

Short Run has a great website where you can learn everything you need to know about the festival.  (Check check.)  But I asked one of the organizers, Kelly Froh, to share some information about what’s new for Short Run 2014.  

  

The women who make Short Run happen.
 (Left to right) Janice Headley, Eroyn Franklin and Kelly Froh
Photo Credit:  Alex Stonehill

Attendees and participants can look forward to:

• A featured appearance by John Porcellino, of King Cat Comics fame,
• A showing of "Root Hog or Die", a documentary about John Porcellino by Dan Stafford,
• International guests artists. Short Run is working with home countries and granting organizations to bring artists from abroad, and
• Site-specific arts performances during the festival.

Satellite events will include:

• A night of International Comics at the Seattle Public Library,
• An art show at Joe Bar,
• A pre-festival party, art show, and readings at Fantagraphics Bookstore &Gallery, and
• A mural that will be made that week and available for viewing all throughout the process.

Short Run 2014 Poster
by guest artist John Porcellino

I have several regrets about my participation in Short Run last year, which include not having a more diverse product line (I only had two mini comics to choose from), not baking anything for the fundraising bake sale (I am hoping they feature baked goods again!) and not planning breaks to see other exhibitors and events that would take me away from my table.  There were things I didn’t see and cartoonist I love that I didn’t go meet.

So, if you exhibit, arrange breaks to check out other artists and the things on the program you absolutely need to see.  Anyone else, I envy you.  You get to enjoy Short Run at your leisure, (FREE OF CHARGE, by the way, for attendees) experience some great time/site specific art and walk home with an armload of excellent comics and zines!

The Short Run website will feature updates as the 2014 festival develops.  ALSO look for Short Run sponsored events throughout the year, including the ladies-only Making Night hosted at Hollow Earth Radio throughout the next few months.



C-log posts on comics, publication and community every Tuesday.

Cat Door Monster – A Gone Girl Comics Issue #2 Preview

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Gone Girl Comics, my first mini comics offering.  Issue #1 - “Some Seattle Stories” - received great reviews from The Comics Journal and The Comics Bulletin, and I’m working on Issue #2 as we speak.

In keeping with themed publications, Gone Girl Comics #2 will be built around “Urban Animals.”  While I haven’t always lived in gigantic cities, it’s safe to say I’ve spent most of my life in paved environments, surrounded by buildings.  My primary contact with nature has been via creatures that can survive in the fragmented habitats that urbanization creates. 

A page from "Cat Door Monster."

So I have comics about spiders, beetles and birds, including a story about my very weird encounters with crows.  I’m especially excited about a story involving beached whales.  Yes, whales do beach themselves on the shores of the  “citified” coastal American Pacific Northwest.  Sad as this is, what excites me about the whale story is that it is a collaboration with Tracy Lang, an artist who is renowned for her printmaking skills and also happens to be a fantastic writer.  It’s a story that will break your heart open.

On the more humorous side of tragic, Gone Girl Comics #2 features "Cat Door Monster."  It’s a story about fear disguised as a story about cats.  It’s an awesome artistic achievement for me because it dispatches with the obligatory cat comic and the obligatory monster comic simultaneously.

You can read the entire story here, on inkt|art.

It's worth taking the time to check out the rest of the inkt|art site as well.  inkt|art showcases women comics creators—specifically those who work from a fine arts perspective.  I love the editorial focus of inkt|art and think it adds another much needed perspective to the dialogue that’s happening around women in comics.

I mentioned that "Cat Door Monster" was both comic and tragic.  Most of my work is autobiographical and the cats in the story are real pets.  As the story is one of my first attempts at humor, it pains me to report that the “1,000 year old cat” (Grey Kitty), who makes a guest appearance on the first page, passed away just a few weeks after I finished these drawings.  His elderly owner played “Taps” on the trombone when they buried him in the yard. 

Rest in peace, Grey Kitty.  I hope you’d find your appearance in Gone Girl Issue #2 a fitting tribute.

Next Tuesday:  New developments (and free downloads!)  from Los Angeles, California-based Sawdust Press!