One of my many rejected comics from the New Yorker which I wrote about here.
Please join me to launch Super Boba Cafe at these upcoming events! Mrs Dalloways is at 2pm and Linden Tree is at 11am. Both will have boba! If you can’t make either but want a signed and personalized book, please pre-order from either shop.
Also my 2024 calendars are here! Order yours today, quantities are very limited.
After much deliberation, I am changing my newsletter to a mix of free and paid posts.
Since the beginning of my career in 2009, I shared my art for free. As I continue to grow as an artist and storyteller, it’s time to be paid for my work. I will continue to post long form autobio comics and share behind the scenes process. Additionally, I want to share more personal comics and it scares me. The paywall will be a nice bridge. The paid subscription will be like a backstage pass – comics, process and access to archives.
I will continue to share single comics, updates and news for free for everyone.
Thanks for your support and joining me in this artistic journey.
Last week I finished painting my watercolor picture book and took one glorious day off. I thought about how I spend my time.
Over the past few months, between painting and life, there was little time for my New Yorker cartoon submissions. As the end of the year approaches, I questioned if I should continue. There are benefits from the many months of rejection – like learning to accept rejection and stronger cartooning skills.
Of course the best result would be seeing my cartoon in the New Yorker! But for now, the growth will have to suffice. I don’t want to stop but I know that I need to invest less time into them. I love trying new things – like watercolor, wood burning, and Hindi hand lettering.
For now, I will continue less frequently.
Because in five weeks my next middle grade graphic novel, Super Boba Café, releases! It will be busy!
First up are two launch events in the bay area – Mrs. Dalloways in Berkeley (please register to attend) on Oct 22nd and Linden Tree in Los Altos on Oct 28th. In November, I will be at Yallfest in South Carolina and the Texas Book Festival in Austin.
Kirkus, a professional book journal, shared a wonderful review of Super Boba Café here.
I am so excited it’s almost here!
More soon.
Please check and bid on over 900 items donated to raise money for folks impacted by the fires in Maui. Loads of signed books and manuscript critiques. I’ve donated a set of most of my books, signed, worth $80.
Thank you for bidding and sharing.
I’m working on a soon to be announced picture book. It’s my first time making a book with watercolor, ink and color pencil. It’s simultaneously exciting and terrifying.
It’s also meditative. Calming. I sit away from a screen, in front of a window where squirrels and birds frolic among the trees. I sometimes lose myself in a pattern or color mixing and forget to eat. I forget the hour. I’m consumed by making art.
I make a lot of mistakes. I smear ink, paint inside the lines and it’s less polished. Those mistakes could be fixed on a digital page. But there’s a charm in it. In a painting, minor mistakes add life and warmth.
As I paint, I allow my mind to wander, resettle and focus. Writing, drawing, promoting and earning a living wage as an author is hard. I plan my work years in advance. I often feel that my schedule and demands are non-stop.
But making this book with a brush in hand feels decadent.
And I am full of gratitude.
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Speaking of non-stop schedules, I will be at San Diego Comicon this weekend promoting Super Boba Café! My panels and ARC signings are below.
After Comicon I am away for most of August so I won’t update for a long stretch. I’ll be back in Sept with more.
Until then, happy summer!
I’m home after a whirlwind 3 days in Chicago for the American Library Association (ALA) annual conference where I saw exactly one sight (the bean, on my walk to a luncheon). Instead of sight seeing, I reveled in the joy that is found with people of the book. I signed for three of my books (Super Boba Café, Shark Party and Strong) and attended events in between.
At times, being with authors feels intimidating. Jerry Craft is a Newbery winner for his important and wonderful book New Kid. Joanna Ho received an APALA honor for her recent book The Silence that Binds Us. Samira Ahmed is a NYT best selling author for her many titles including Love Hate and Other Filters.
But at ALA, I never thought about their awards or accolades. We may have met for the first time or the 7th but our shared love of words and art connects us. It feels familiar and comfortable. We talk about how to support each other, share tips that only a select few need (like using illustration board for watercolors to prevent buckling) and enjoy each other’s company. As my author friend Jessixa Bagley said, it’s like grown up summer camp.
On Monday afternoon I attended the Stonewall Awards because our book, Strong, won an honor. I’ve worked on a number of books as an illustrator with limited contact with the writer. This was not the case with Strong. Eric Rosswood and I became very good friends. We were each other’s accountabilabuddies (say that ten times) during the pandemic, sharing weekly fitness challenges and daily 10k step goals. That blossomed into a beautiful friendship even though we are on separate coasts. Being at the awards with Eric was more emotional than I expected.
I am a loving but guarded person. My joke is that I cry four times a year. As we walked up to accept our Stonewall Honor I felt like I would crumble into a puddle.
I spend a lot of time alone, questioning whether the work I do matters, whether I’m worthy/good enough and this moment felt unreal. To stand in front of a room of my community of queer authors, librarians and allies was beautiful. To receive an honor from librarians who champion and share our work is affirming. In a time when Black and LGBTQIA+ books are being challenged, banned and removed from libraries that room represented power, hope and strength.
After the many emotional Stonewall speeches, we signed books. It’s always a joy to work on books but to be there, sharing the award with my very good friend made it extra special.
I rushed to the airport to catch my flight home full of love, with an almost overweight suitcase full of books and fueled up, ready to get to work.
On my Shark Party Tour I
Kids ask the best questions including “what is it like to be famous?” and “can you make a book about a megamouth (he meant megladon)?” One frequent question was “how many books have you made?” and I need to be better about concrete answers. They want numbers. They want FACTS.
I am fortunate enough to have many books out and more waiting to be made, so the number fluctuates in my mind.
But the firm answer is
When I present, I include facts about sharks. I prepared my presentation a couple years ago and I read that there were 400 kinds of sharks in the ocean. Except, like my books, that number fluctuates. Due to new discoveries, the number of shark species identified has increased.
I’m home and looking forward to making progress on my next book deadlines. I still have events through the summer but nothing like a book tour. Over the summer I will
First up is the Fairyland Book Festival in Oakland this Saturday at 1pm.
Hope to see you there!
I’m half way through my Shark Party tour. I visit a lot of schools and I present about my books and my path to becoming an artist. I take requests from the kids and draw live.
At my first school I drew a dragon. At the end of my presentation a child came up and asked to take it home. Without thinking, I said yes. I was wrong. The teachers corrected me (I should know better!) because the dragon would stay at the school for all the kids to enjoy. He wanted to color it in. I told him there *might* be a dragon coloring page on my website.
I checked later. I was wrong (again).
He emailed requesting a dragon coloring page. I told the hubbahubba about the kid and the dragon. He replied “Awww he really wants it! It’s so sweet.”
Thus began my haunting.
I wanted to draw a coloring page for him but I had days of events ahead of me.
I went on to Portland.
Portland was wonderful. I love the soft and lush scenery of the pacific northwest. I visited schools that were kind and welcoming. Most of the kids had colored their own shark princess crowns and were excited to learn about sharks, books and art.
I also had the opportunity to meet cartoonist friends that I made in the pandemic. It was our first time meeting in person and it was joyous! Aron Nels Steinke, Jonathan Hill and Breena Bard all make wonderful, award-winning books (and they’re fabulous people too!) It was a lovely visit.
Still no time to draw a dragon.
I did a set of local school visits in the East Bay. Then I went on to LA.
After a quick two days in LA, I came home late last night. This morning I woke up, took my daughter to school and sat in my studio for the first time in 2 weeks.
There are piles of email, copy edits and two very love-starved cats asking me for attention.
But first, the dragon.
I am no longer haunted! It is here for the kid at my first school and now, everyone.
I’ll be in San Francisco tonight for Vashti Harrison’s Big book tour. Then on to Phoenix, Dallas and Atlanta.
Hopefully the rest of my tour will be haunt-free.
SHARK PARTY releases next week! I hope to see you at my launch event at Bel and Bunna books on May 2nd! There will be treats and fun giveaways.
I will be on the road for a few weeks with Shark Party events in California, Oregon, Texas, Arizona and my first trip to Georgia! I’m still hammering out details for my tour stops, so please check my events page for updates.
In Portland I will be joined by two of my favorite cartoonists, Aron and Jon and I can promise a lot of drawing fun!
I can’t wait to party with you!
My next SHARK PRINCESS book, SHARK PARTY releases on May 2nd. Join me on the 2nd to shell-abrate at Bel and Bunna Books in Lafayette. Come by at 4:30pm – every copy purchased will receive a free print (while supplies last).
I will also have an event in Atlanta at Little Shop of Stories (my first time in Atlanta!) on May 20th as well.
I will update my events calendar as things are confirmed. I’m excited to share SHARK PARTY so very soon!