Big summer updates
Newspaper stardom (lol), video chats, & a chance to win BIG!
What’s this? Another newsletter so soon??
Well, yes. There’s so many things happening right now that I need to share with you, dear readers. This is a big month for me. I’m excited, but also BOY AM I TIRED! It’s been feeling hard to catch my breath this summer. Writing this has made me realized I haven’t gone swimming yet this year which is an actual travesty, and something I need to remedy ASAP.
Austin Chronicle cover
First things first, I’m officially a local celebrity! Okay, not really, but I did get to draw the cover of last week’s Austin Chronicle, and was part of the cover story. It was about Inky Eyes (more on that below) and the Austin indie comics scene. I was really impressed with Caroline Drew’s ability to synthesize the yappy and rambling interview that I gave with my co-host Sammy Ness, along with several other interviews, into something so cohesive that really captured the spirit of the event. You can read the whole thing here.
Inky Eyes
Inky Eyes, the quarterly comics reading and drink and draw event that I host with my friend Sammy at Alienated Majesty Books, was this past Saturday. We had a really wonderful lineup of readers. I was pretty anxious this time around at the start of the event, but like always, the attendees and readers were all so cool and kind and interesting, and it ended up being another wonderful night.
Because of the Chronicle feature, there were a good number of new faces. I really hope those people had a good time and that we maybe inspired some new folks to make more comics. Usually, after the reading and subsequent clean up of the space, I’m super zonked and head straight home, but this time my friend Caroline Cash was in town, and I wanted to hang out more with visiting reader Chelsea Akpan, so I had to be brave and stay up past my bedtime. I highly recommend bringing a big roll of paper to cover a patio table with (Macaroni Grill style) to doodle on while chit chatting and drinking your giant corona-rita.
Raffle benefiting the Prairieland Defendants
Something we try to do at every Inky Eyes is incorporate some kind of a community fundraiser or call for donations. Inky Eyes, to me, is at its heart about two things: community and creativity.
This time we’re doing it a little different— we launched a raffle to raise funds for the Prairieland Defendants. If you haven’t heard of this egregious injustice, the defendants are twenty-two people who were arrested, and are now facing decades of prison time, following their involvement in a protest outside of the infamous Prairieland detention center. They’re being labeled “antifa domestic terrorists” and this case is being used by our administration to criminalize dissent and chill further opposition to ICE and it’s other fascists projects. The defendants include parents with small children, trans women being denied their gender-affirming medication, and an immigrant artist who was arrested simply for transporting zines. You can read more about their cases and the ways their community is showing up to support them and fight for them here.
Raffle details:
Prize includes a $100 gift card for Alienated Majesty Books, along with over $250 worth of comics, zines, and print goods from former Inky Eyes readers Anton W. Blake, Chelsea Akpan, Logan Beecher, Ripley LaRue, Chloe Kirkpatrick, Mark Hess, Sol A. G. , Sammy Ness, and also ME!
$5 per ticket, with no limit on entries
How to enter:
Send $5 + to (@) arfranklinstein on Venmo. In the payment description, please include an eye emoji AND your email address, so you can be contacted if you win.
Raffle ends 7/30. The winner will be announced the following day. Winner must live within the US. If you live in Austin, we can arrange a local pick up, otherwise prizes will be mailed.
The Girl Who Loved Monsters & Devilfish Bay Radio
The Girl Who Loved Monsters, the middle grade graphic novel I illustrated in collaboration with writer Insha Fitzpatrick, comes out in 12 days!!! Consider preordering a copy or requesting it from your public library.
To celebrate, we decided to start a limited run video podcast to talk about the process of making the book. So if you want to hear us chat about ourselves, horror movies, the Twilight Zone, the publishing industry, and a whole lot more (and also hear me say the word ‘like’ about five billion times), you should check it out!
Everything else
Like I said, I’ve been busy. I’m working on inks for the sequel to The Girl Who Loved Monsters, which is taking up most of my time. I’m in a big middle-of-the-book slump which is always a bit rough. I’ve also had a lot to do at my bookstore job. If you don’t know, I’m the Children’s Bookselling Lead at local indie. It’s only part time, but lately there’s been so much to do in my new role that it’s been kinda kicking my butt.
Something that sometimes happens when I get really busy is that all of my hard-earned tools that I’ve found to help me function get thrown to the wayside, even though this is when I need them most. For example, I just fully haven’t touched my planner in months. My ADHD butt really needs lists, as well as timers, to make sure I lock in and take breaks, but I’ve fallen out of all those habits. It’s hard and it sucks, and I’m currently fighting my way out of a cycle of not taking care of myself during work, which then trickles into everything else and makes me feel so rotten and guilty. It feels weird to share this, but maybe some of y’all will resonate, and it’ll remind you that you’re not alone and deserve some freaking grace as you, for the 100th time, relearn how to work with your specific brain. Reader, let’s take breaks and drink enough water and make time for swimming and going on walks and reading picture books, okay? Pinky promise?
That’s it for now! Don’t forget to enter the raffle.
Until next time~
I’m so proud of you and everything you have been doing and I miss you and I love you and okay bye!!!