Bonnie Kickstarter begins ... NOW!

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I almost posted "Bonnie Kickstarter BEINGS now" because that's how caffeinated/psyched I am for it! And really, I am 100% a Bonnie Kickstarter Being. ANYWAY. I've created my FIRST EVER Kickstarter in order to get a collected Bonnie Volume 1 printed up, so check it and all the rewards and the video with my (awkward) voice and everything over on the Kickstarter page!

Love you guys and all the support over all these years I've been doing Bonnie! Wait, that sounds like I'm ending it - I'm NOT ENDING BONNIE, SHE WILL BE MY FRIEND FOREVER!

May Autobio Comic

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It's that time again!

It's May and because I've now reached TWO Milestone Goals on my Patreon page, you all now get one autobio comic per month AAAAAND one colorized Bonnie strip per month!

Here's this month's autobio comic:

Lovin' all the support! And if you want to get MORE STUFF from me per month, become a patron today, weeeee!

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Sharks vs. Mermaids!

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YES YES Y'ALL my story Sharks Vs. Mermaids is now out for public consumption in Vertigo's Strange Sports Stories #3!

This is a topic near and dear to my heart - what happens when sharks and mermaids take their ages-old rivalry TO THE RACETRACK! Written by me, drawn by amaaaaazing artist Mike DiMotta. I love it so much! And it's gotten some praise!!

If you become a $3/month PATREON PATRON of mine, I chatted about how exactly I wrote and planned it all out for the artist, since this was the first time I've ever done such a thing.

I think this needs to be a series, right?

April Autobio Comic

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HEY WOO PARTY YAY TIME TWO GOALS REACHED!

For those of you who don't know, I have a Patreon page where lovely fans/friends/supporters can chip in $1, $3, or $10 a month to get extra goodies and support the creation of my comics. As part of Patreon, you set some milestone goals and if that monthly amount reaches those levels, you provide extra fun things.

On mine, at $50 I promised a monthly autobio comic. That goal was reached a couple months ago (for the first one I just added two new Bonnie comics that month) and NOW my second milestone goal has been reached TOO! The second one is to color one Bonnie strip per month, hooray!

So now you all have a monthly autobio comic AND a colored Bonnie strip each month, thanks to the kind folks who are supporting me. This is why I love sites like Patreon - they allow us creators to do more each month and enable you all to be directly involved.

SO ANYWAY thank you all so much. To check out April's autobio comic and to become a patron, click here!

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Motivating Through the Slumps

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Sometimes it seems like all the creative roadblocks are stacked in your way, preventing your access so all you can do is sit there and stew and think EVERYTHING SUCKS. Bad reviews, nasty comments, struggling with a plot bit of a new story, etc etc. It’s tough - you put stuff out there for consumption, and it will be consumed - often in ways you don’t intend or disagree with.

The last few weeks I've felt especially tempted to sink down into some self-whining. One of the reasons is because I'm currently working on story pitches, which can be a bit taxing:

  1. Come up with a super idea!
  2. Explain it perfectly in ways that make everyone excited!
  3. Now throw it into a void and maybe hear nothing about it ever again.
  4. (. . . or only hear about it when it's soundly rejected by multiple people.)
  5. REPEAT! GET EXCITED ABOUT ANOTHER IDEA!

It's hard to write these half-stories, these inklings of fun ideas because (if you're like me) a LOT of your ideas form WHILE you're writing the story, not before. I plan as much as I can stand ahead of time, but it's not until wading through the story with my characters that some things start to make sense. It feels weird to predict what they'll do or where they'll go without going through it with them. That's like cheating!

It's also easy to feel like - why am I wasting my time working on stuff I can't show to anyone (possibly ever) and no one might ever like? That's a larger issue of putting stuff out there to begin with - why bother?

The thing that helps me when I go through these slumpy-slumps is to remember that slumps end. They can be miserable, but also kind of fun in a wallowing way. Enjoy feeling put upon for a tiny bit of time ... and then get over it. Get back to doing what you love to do - CREATE! YOU know why you're bothering, so what if other people don't get it yet. You know there are stories you want to tell, things you want to figure out, things you want to show. Turn off the social streams that make you feel like you're not accomplishing anything. Turn off that voice that keeps telling you you're behind your peers. Remember that when you're in this biz -- or really any creative endeavor -- rejection is part of it. And so is work for work's sake - none of it is wasted. Even the tiny little pitches you keep murdering and burying, stacking one one top of another. Somehow, some day they will all feed into your future work and they will all be valuable.

Slump slump slump .... time's up. Get back to it!

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Five Things I Learned Writing Part-Time Princesses

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The super cool Chuck Wendig let me join in his stellar series of "Five Things I Learned ..." posts to share what I learned writing Part-Time Princesses (available now!)

Check out the article here, and if by some reason you haven't heard of Chuck's blog before, it is CHOCK FULL (Chuck full?) of helpful tips and exercises for writers. His books are AMAZEBALLS and full of crazy twitchy characters I adore.

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Emerald City Next Week!

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It's almost time for one of my favorite crazy big super shows - Emerald City Comic Con! I'll be at Table M-05, which if you were there last year, is the same spot, hooray! (Click the map to see an enlarged version)

That's right, it's happening next weekend, and besides the fact that it's always a super fun show for me .... this year it'll be EXTRA out of control because it coincides with the release of my new book Part-Time Princesses!

WEEEEEEEEE!

So to celebrate, I'll have these limited edition (limited edition because I had no clue how many to print and guessed at a tiny number) posters for sale at my table to commemorate this occasion!

So if you're at ECCC, come say hello and get yourself a poster and it will make my 2015. It will MAKE IT! And if you're NOT at ECCC, please go get my book when it comes out on Wednesday, March 25th! I'll be about to leave for Seattle but not quite, so I'm going to have a private, somber solo book release party. With my cats. My cats better come, the ungrateful jerks ...

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STAPLE this weekend!

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Helllloooo from the depths of the winter tundra in which I currently reside!

I'm planning on burrowing out of here early tomorrow morn and heading on down to the fantastically mild Austin climate for some Staple! action this weekend. If you're in the nearby to Austin area, come on out and see me! I'll have a selection of things, including these things:

OHHH I'll also have a preview copy of my NEW BOOK but no actual copies yet .... ;)

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Hitmen Pin-ups Week 4

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Wee, the last and FINAL WEEK of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is done! This was a super fun challenge - well just the drawing part, finding hitmen was surprisingly easy. Let me know which one you guys think turned out the best. I'll post a mondo huge compilation of all of them, too.

If you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one!

Hitmen Pin-ups Week 3

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Week Three of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is done! This week was the first time I let myself re-draw a few of them, which ALWAYS turned out better than they'd been initially. Which makes me think I should've done that for ALL of them, but whaddya gonna do. This is a daily challenge, and if it takes me too long I probably wouldn't do it!

And again ... to follow along each day, head to my Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr's. And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one! And lemme know whatcha think so far!

Here they are!

Commissions Open, Calling All ECCCers!

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I kind of feel like doing some commissions pre-Emerald City Comic Con this year, WHO WANTS SOME?? It gives me an excuse to do some fun drawing before then and get to see your lovely faces at the show when you come grab your print!

[one_half last="no"]

Monica Gallagher

[/one_half] [one_half last="yes"]

Monica Gallagher

[/one_half] [one_half last="no"]

Monica Gallagher

[/one_half] [one_half last="yes"]

Monica Gallagher

[/one_half] [one_half last="yes"]

Here's the info:

8" x 10" original art, blue (or red) pencil and ink.

1 figure, black & white – $50

2 figures, black & white – $85

**add $35 for each add’l figure in black & white**

All payment up front, via paypal at artemnis at gmail dot com.

Questions? Send me an email at lipstickisspress@gmail.com

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I will also be doing commissions at the show, but those might be a little crazy and coffee/lipstick covered - but hey - AUTHENTIC!

***See all the ones I've done here!

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Hitmen Pin-Ups Week 2

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Week Two of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is complete! Let's see ... this week I learned that sometimes it's better if I just sketch the way I would interpret a character, rather than trying to make it actually look like them. Eh, mixed results.

And again ... to follow along each day, head to my Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr's. And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one! And lemme know whatcha think so far!

Here they are!

Hitmen Pin-Ups Week 1

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Week One of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is complete! So far it's been a fun challenge, even though I'm a little embarrassed at all the flaws each time I post them. BUT every sketch is a one-chance only, no redo's or take-back's, so there you go, drawing style of mine!

To follow along each day, head to my Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr's. And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one! And lemme know whatcha think so far!

Here's a compilation for y'all:

Hitmen Pin-Ups

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I've decided to celebrate the lovey-dovey month of February, I'm going to do a drawing of a hitman a day in my sketchbook! Each one taken from movies, tv shows, whatev's I can think of. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr's to see them! Oh hell, even my Facebook page if that floats yer boat!

And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one!

Up first - La Femme Nikita! The Peta Wilson version, since she was my FAVE. She did love her crazy colored glasses oh so much.

The Book is SO CLOSE ...

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It is so close to all of you out there, but for me MY ADVANCED COPY HAS ARRIVED AND IT IS GLORIOUS AND IT IS SPARKLY:

PTP_Front.jpg

Here's a picture of the back and OH HEY LOOK MK Reed had something to say about it:

PTP_Back.jpg

I'm JUUUUUST a wee bit over excited that my first ever full length full comic written and drawn by me is going to be out in 10 weeks. 10 weeks! March 25th! It's teens! It's an amusement park! THERE MIGHT BE FIGHTS TOO!

Here are some ways you can get the book and therefore support me and become my best friend:

WHATEVER your preferred method of buying and viewing and consuming, you have my deeeeeepest appreciation!

IMMA JETPACK OFF INTO THE BEST 2015 EVAR!

 

End of 2014

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G'wan, get outta here 2014, move along, chop chop! Hey c'mere 2015, come sit down, how you doin'?

I've been so over 2014 for about 6 months now but also weirdly afraid to let it go. Some years are just all about plodding through stuff and making creative deposits for the future, and floating along impatient until stuff starts to take effect. As glad as I am that 2014 is over and sad that the holidays are done, I am nerdy enough to appreciate a good fresh start. However, before you can look ahead and promise yourself you'll eat more veggies, jog 24 hours a day, learn Ruby, and save enough to quit your day job, it's always important to take note of what you have accomplished so far. Then you can meet that future/better/snarkier jerk version of yourself that's got her shit together STRAIGHT in the eyes and say "SEE? Here is the proof I've got this future - a whole list of things I've already gotten!"

THINGS I MANAGED TO DO IN 2014:

SOME THINGS I LEARNED IN 2014:

  • Just keep swimming
    • You will get kicked in the teeth by life, but it's helped me to think that when horrible things happen and you lose loved ones - you appreciate those around you MORE and dwell on people/things/situations you don't have LESS. Keep them close, but also keep going.
  • Writing every day is important for my process as well as my sanity
  • Building/maintaining a comics community is incredibly important in encouraging/inspiring one another
  • Patreon is fun, ads are not fun
    • In terms of trying to make this crazy thing we call comics into more of a paying gig, being able to post sketches and videos and communicate directly with my audience (as opposed to chucking things into a void with each update) is IMMENSELY more satisfying. Plus, enabling people to support me directly instead of depending on icky sticky ads is really nice too. Yay new models for comics biz!

Okay, enough reminiscing about good ol' 2014. ON TO THE NEXT!

COMICS COMING OUT IN 2015:

  • Part-Time Princesses - released by Oni Press on March 25th. GET PUMPED!
  • Short story in Vertigo's Strange Sports Stories #1, March 18th. BIG TIME, Y'ALL
  • Another secret thing to be released March/April timeframe - yay/shhhhh!
  • Bonnie Collected book - I've put this off wayyyyy too long, but yes - I would actually like to collect and post a big book of all my Bonnie strips thus far

CONVENTIONS PLANNED FOR 2015:

  • Staple!, Austin, TX - March 7-8, 2015
  • Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, WA - March 27-29, 2015
  • TCAF, Toronto, Canada - May 8-10, 2015
  • Heroes Con, Charlotte, NC - June 19-21, 2015
  • I'm also planning on spamming comic stores of the states with signings this year, so if you've got a kick-ass store I should put on my list, holler at me here!

Anyway, as always I couldn't do this whole crazy comics thing without you all out there reading my stuff! I mean, I'd probably still do it but it'd be WAY SADDER. A big, hearty, cheesy-face thank you to all of you out there for continuing to support me!

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Podcasty Love

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LET'S TALK PODCASTS!

I know everyone's all about the Serial right now (myself included - only 12 episodes, wha-WHAT??), but I wanted to give a shout out to some of my tried and true faves over the years (as any comicker will tell you, we go through a LOT of podcasts and audiobooks, crammed in amongst pencilling and inking and computerizing hours). I always try out some new ones, so this isn't ALL I'm listening to just now, but these are some oldie reliables:

Stuff Mom Never Told You - A big one for me - Cristen and Caroline are not only informed and thorough when presenting a lot of women's issues, but somehow manage to keep it from succumbing to OH GOD WHY with a good blend of sassy humor. Cristen dons her fake British accent and Caroline talks about everything in relation to her mom Sally and we all learn something without feeling depressed. And - check out how awesome Cristen's youtube channels are - the muppet is strong with this one!

Mysterious Universe - Another one I've been listening to for years, this podcast run by two Australian gents about everything paranormal is a real treat. They dish about all the latest sightings, mock Time Travelling Yowie followers, and admit to ghost encounters of their own that still leave them terrified. If you LOVE paranormal stuff like me but are afraid of the crystal worshippers, check this one out.

The Guardian Tech Weekly - A newer one (to me) that I've been trying out to get my fix of tech news. It always features a panel with a variety of topics, and the panelists are knowledgeable without being boring.

The Thrilling Adventure Hour - Oh man - my obsession with live radio broadcasts began with an episode of Frasier and WILL NEVER DIE. I was so happy to find not only an old-style radio broadcast but one that blends in heaps of nerd culture and amazing storytelling altogether. WITH tons of guest stars. And incorporating the ghost of a pterodactyl who's a deputy private eye. I LOVE THIS.

Jill on Money - Money slash financial podcasts are boring and awful but Jill answers questions, listens, and makes fun of her producer while not making you feel like an idiot AND passing on good advice. She's awesome.

99% Invisible - A design podcast that points out the design in the everyday - I love its subtlety and appreciation of the minute details. Plus I love any podcast that exhibits city planning that was actually, you know, thought about a bit.

RadioLab - Beautifully crafted sounds and discussions around several stories making up one scientific topic - I've had many a walk while listening to all the little bips and beeps Jad throws in the background, which really fill each episode with surprising depth.

StarTalk - Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a hero for all of us, leading the charge to bring scientific discovery back into vogue. His podcast is super informative while being exciting and encouraging, in true NDG fashion. Plus, every now and again he has Eugene Mirman co-host or run one of his live shows, which makes my day every time.

Savage Lovecast - I go through phases where I alternate between his snarky antics and Sex Nerd Sandra's zippy, fun answers to sex questions.

Stuff you Missed In History Class - The latest host pairing has done a great job (past pairings have been UBER awkward) - Holly especially in bringing some heart and feeling (and hella knowledge about historical clothesmaking) to the show.

Stuff You Should Know - A classic, general informy podcast on a wide range of topics with a HUGE back catalog. Josh & Chuck do a good job of balancing hardcore facts with rambly tangents without being annoying. Their banter is genuine, and funny, and rare.

I also go back and forth on WTF, Welcome to Night Vale, and The Daily Show Podcast. What are YOU PEOPLE listening to? I always love trying out a new one to throw in the pile!

 

Bmore Into Comics #5 - THIS SUNDAY!

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It's time for another edition of comics creators hanging out in a local bar in Baltimore, drawin' things, drinkin' things, and selling their books for all to enjoy!

Come on down to The Wind-Up Space this Sunday, December 14th from 12:00 - 5:00pm for the fun and squeeze in some holiday shopping while yer at it!

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