We’re doing something DIFFERENT for this group of reads because we’re headed into the spooOOoOoOOoky season so I thought I would, instead, lay out my list of intended reads and publish this post and update it as I go along. If you have any of these and want to follow along with me or pick up a few be my guest! Some of them are a little bit Out There and have been collecting around in my periphery for a while.
This is also gonna stretch from like Mid-September to Maybe November because October is a hectic month for me but I find I’m the type of person that sometimes needs to force myself to sit down and read when things get crazy just to maintain my sanity.
BUT HERE THEY ARE IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
NIGHTBITCH — RACHEL YODER
THE LAMB— LUCY ROSE
THE STARVING SAINTS — CAITLIN STARLING
LEECH — HIRON ENNES
TENDER IS THE FLESH — AUGUSTINA BAZTERRICA
YOU WEREN’T MEANT TO BE HUMAN — ANDREW JOSEPH WHITE
CARMILLA — SHERIDAN LE FANU
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL & MR HYDE — ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON
FIND ME WHERE IT ENDS — CASSANDRA KHAW
GIRL DINNER — OLIVIE BLAKE
ROTTENHEART — KAT DUNN
CARNALIS — TIFFANY MORRIS
THE WOODS ALL BLACK — LEE MANDELO
(if i’m still scratching the itch):
THE UNHAUNTING — MICAIAH JOHNSON
WRETCH — ERIC LAROCCA
YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN NICER TO MY MOM —VINCENT TIRADO
HERCULINE — GRACE BYRON
(and for those wondering: I’ve read these this year they would be good additions to a weird/spooky season romp):
84K — CLAIRE NORTH ugh..well DNFed this one. Not for any of the same reasons as most would. I actually liked the writing style but part 2 was….slow… and its slowness started really underlining a lot of political things it was trying to do and failing at. I stopped reading 100 pages to the end. I couldn’t make it. Let me know how it ends if you read it lol.
anyway.
HALF HIS AGE — JENNETTE MCCURDY oops we’re back with this one, I didn’t realise the author of I’m Glad My Mom Died was one and the same and both these books were on my list. Suffice to say her writing style continues to be gripping. I admittedly wasn’t sure where this one was going to end up and maybe it’s wrong, but I’m kinda glad it ended up where it did.
AXIOM’S END — LINDSEY ELLIS uh oh… yeah… this one was a DNF 44% in… uh… it just really wasn’t what i was expecting… but it probably should have been? I think this is really starting to put me off of: if you have cops/cia/fbi/some sort of American policing org in your book I’m just probably not gonna read it lmao. Anyway, alien abduction was pretty much right there without all that nonsense if you wanted to do a Beauty & The Beast/Phantom of the Opera But Aliens take.
THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS — URSULA K. LE GUIN ….. i really tried to like this one but I’m afraid this has put me off her writing for a while. Maybe it was a wrong-timing type thing. I had this one on hold for like 16 weeks on Libby so i might have missed my interest window.
LAURA DEAN KEEPS BREAKING UP WITH ME — MARIKO TAMAKI & ROSMARY VALERO O’CONNELL I had to go back to something I was familiar with that I know i genuinely enjoyed because I was hitting so many duds (my current read is …okay. but more on that later). This one… hMM idk it just hits a lot of the good teen-drama arcs I enjoy in movies that fit this niche? Plus Rosmary’s art is just incredible. Her use of negative space vs details is suuuch a huge envy of mine. <3
THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION — QNTM uh… man i think this was like decent in concept at the get-go but I ….didn’t like the ending. Also–dear writers you can’t sit here and TELL ME that your story is so ABSTRACT in said story over and over and expect me to believe you… this was so hamfisted. The most literal ‘abstract’ story I’ve read this year alone lol. Safe to say… not really for me.
KISS NUMBER 8— COLLEEN AF VENABLE & ELLEN T. CRENSHAW this one actually stands the test of time, (at least its been a good 7+ years since it was released). Really just a story about being so unapologetically bi?? God we get so few of those. The story Venable weaves through this whole thing is such a yummy stack of miscommunication & hurt feelings. The text DOES get a bit wordy for a comic, this is also a real lesson in “too much text on a page really makes the art suffer” especially when Crenshaw’s artwork is absolutely incredible.
THE OGRE GODS: PETIT — HUBERT & BERTRAND GATIGNOL this one was wilddd. You want weird? Lets get weird. I gotta say between my partner and I’s current reads I’m looking at a whole lot of cannibalism? Themeing? This spooky season which is wild. The artwork in this one is superb, the story/panelling did lose me a couple times but idk if that’s mostly a translation issue (yeah yeah I know its French originally I just had the English translation on hand) dug it though!!
STAGES OF ROT — LINNEA STERTE stunning artwork, what a fascinating concept, playing with rot as evolution, as a cycle, if we were just bacteria in a bigger greater scheme of life (we are, i feel like people forget that a lot). Absolutely gorgeous.
Okay look I tried to get to 10 before jumping into #myoctoberscaries challenge and i just didn’t make it so you’ll have to deal with this half-baked nonsense because August really punched me in the throat with 2 DNFs to start.
hhhhOOOOo we’re back at it again, folks. I couldn’t stay away too long. I really am starting to feel… the ITCH. And it seems like I can’t get myself on the straight and narrow without setting up parameters.
WE’RE SETTING UP 2 CHALLENGES.
To be fair, its less a challenge, more I miss the habits and the only way to bring back a habit is to try and do it daily for a little while (for ME, anyway).
HERE ARE THE RULES.
WRITE: 500-1000 words per day. Anything counts.
DRAW: for at least 30-60 minutes per day. Anything counts.
WEEKENDS ARE FREEEEE.
That’s it. That’s all I got. Nice and Simple. So let’s get to it.
DATE
STORY & WORD COUNT
TYPE & TIME DRAWN
AUG 06
ENCELADUS — 515
SKETCHING — 30 MIN
AUG 07
xxx
xxx
AUG 08
ENCELADUS — 572
AUG 09
ENCELADUS — 638
AUG 10
ENCELADUS — 2,501
AUG 11
xxx
xxx
AUG 12
THUMBS — 30 min
AUG 13
xxx
xxx
AUG 14
xxx
xxx
AUG 15
ZOETROPE — 522
AUG 16
SKETCHING — 75 min
AUG 17
ZOETROPE — 500
AUG 18
ZOETROPE — 519
INKING — 75 min
AUG 19
ZOETROPE — 575
AUG 20
xxx
xxx
AUG 21
ZOETROPE — 671
AUG 22
INKING — ~2 hrs
AUG 23
INKING — ~2 hrs
AUG 24
xxx
xxx
AUG 25
ZOETROPE — 525
INKING — 55 min
AUG 26
ZOETROPE — 507
INKING — 45 min
AUG 27
ZOETROPE — 515
AUG 28
ZOETROPE — 583
AUG 29
AUG 30
AUG 31
ZOETROPE — 3727
AUGUST 11
Starting off strong by finishing my first draft of a potential collaborative project between my partner and a friend and I: ENCELADUS. I say potential because I’m still waiting to hear back from the friend and hope that they like the script enough to want to move forward! Finger’s crossed!!
The script itself I’m really proud of. I think its some of my best writing for comics so even if this friend isn’t feeling it. I think I might have no choice but to try and finish it myself somehow.
As for drawing… I’ve been picking at some things but nothing particularly concrete, and not for long enough to make a difference. I’ve got a knot in my shoulder I’m trying to shake and it’s not quite moving, alas. I do want to start on a project here, maybe I should chip at more of my myth about myths redraws…I was having a lot of fun with those before the project started to overwhelm.
We’ll see!
AUGUST 25
PHEW i can’t believe we’re already a week away from the end of August? I’m pretty sad this month seeped through my fingers like it did. This week is going to pass like a blur, my birthday was yesterday and today I’m looking at calls and meetings and housekeeping and then we’re seeing the Odyssey one more time tomorrow before it leaves theatres.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHALLENGE–uh hopping back into it was a bit of a stumble but I think it’s going pretty well! Especially considering how hectic it’s been (and its only about to get MORE so… in the next month with wedding prep and things ;;A;; so!!
WISH ME LUCK!
I’ve also been editing my ENCELADUS draft because I have to sprint it before the end of the month so i can get it into the art phase!!! So that’s occupying some brainspace!
MONTH WRAP-UP
WRITING TOTAL:12,915 words DRAWING TOTAL:~ 9 Hours
Look, we’re building habits. I feel like drawing could have used a bit more focus, a lot of the calculations were approximates. BUT–We did step a little bit back into drawing. I never thought I would feel like this part of me was so alien… but it’s been a bit weird these past few months so things got a bit haphazard. We’ll get back into it, I think.
I DID finish 2 writing drafts so there’s SOMETHING happening here.
Will this even show up on the website lets find out…. Oh cool it DID. You know what… to save me the psychic damage of coming up with an Actual first post…. I’m just gonna leave this here.
Our first show of the year kicks off with a bang. There were a lot of ups and downs (admittedly a lot more downs than usual, sorry this post is going to get a bit more Honest) but I went into it knowing there were going to be a lot of “Moments”. I think its important to establish that Calgary Expo is one of the many conventions bought by Fan Expo Canada so needless to say that since the pandemic started its only been getting more and more corporate.
Which honestly? Is really frustrating when you’re an exhibitor. But I digress.
Admittedly we were really nervous going into this weekend. The convention locked us into a really unreasonable contract we couldn’t get out of without losing the money we paid into it. The convention itself didn’t release the health and safety measures until two weeks prior to the convention despite this rigorous contract stipulating that we were going to get this information a whole 30 days prior to show opening. Their safety measures consisted of, ‘wear a mask if you feel like it,’ and ‘if you’re sick we recommend masking,’…. which didn’t satiate anyone’s attitude towards us while we were there and still opting to keep our masks on the entire time.
We weren’t fools, we knew Alberta’s health and safety guidelines were atrocious and they had done away with masks since January. Our main reason for visiting the province at all was to get to visit with my partner’s parents (and honestly that whole part of the trip was really nice). Tas had seen them November of last year but I hadn’t been back since the start of the pandemic (likely early December 2019). The change of scenery was really nice, even if Calgary has only grown ever more hostile over the two years we’ve been away.
THE SHOW ITSELF
We’ve done this show, twice before this I believe and in my time doing it the show has always been four days long Thursday-Sunday. This year’s schedule dropped us right back into insane work hours with Artist Alley/Vendor floor opening hours being:
(I don’t really remember Thursday & Friday being quite this terrible hours-wise but I’d have to find my old badges to confirm).
My opinion is the same every year with Thursday being an honest waste of time for AA/Vendors with such a quiet turn around of attendees and being several hours far too late for people to even want to BE at a convention on a week day!! It starts a lot of us off at this show absolutely exhausted and honestly feeling a little wary with so few sales being made for both Thursday AND Friday. I was was humbly surprised in my calculations after the con to find that this time the Thursday was pretty generous to us so I only take back a LITTLE of my angry bias towards it.
We’ve also found that if you tell people they don’t HAVE to wear masks you’re likely going to be at a 60-75% maskless crowd. The first two days were probably the most unnerving days I’ve had in two years but after this you get used to it. I’m still personally favouring masks at big public events (like conventions) even after we have the ok to go maskless because I err have done a couple now with masks and found that I don’t get as cruddy feeling overall when the event is over. (Almost like having a barrier is kind of a good thing? Shock and awe /sarcasm).
Calgary Expo is divided into two main buildings on the stampede grounds the BMO building and the Big Four. For my first year artist alley and Vendors were separated into the [favourites] and the [we have to fill this other building ig]. A few shows that year did the same thing which is honestly an atrocious way to make things work. In years since the Expo has decided to split the show so that vendors are in the BMO and Artist Alley is in the Big Four (and with some of the cute remodels to the Big Four I’m honestly glad for it). The Big Four is a nice and inviting building with all the string lights suspended throughout the space. Its one of the nicer venues I’ve tabled at (even if the staff/set up was a nightmare… who in the world doesn’t number tables during set up)?? Plus all the food trucks are right outside making it extremely accessible for artist alley folks who can stretch their legs and dart for a snack, but it also drives foot traffic to the Big Four which is the smaller of the two buildings.
THE WOUNDED HEART
All of this aside, the moments I’ll remember the most at this show are the ones we made with attendees and people who stopped to chat with us. We had a few weird experiences, more hostile than our usual just overall strangeness. But we had a few really good interactions that sent us on absolute cloud nine.
I’m gonna start with the folks out there creating uncomfortable experiences, because I prefer to end on a high note.
Both my negative experiences came from having to Explain Myself Or My Choices In Regards To The Queer Media I Create. And I’m having a hard time with a particular permeating attitude on this. One particular interaction came from a woman who, as normal, asked me about Myth Retold and what exactly inspired me to create these retellings (I love this question, by the way, and I swear I’m not being sarcastic. It will occasionally catch me off guard as I haven’t had a real chance to speak about these stories since creating them). Most folks take my statement at its face value and accept that I am a half-Greek queer person who likes to envision what ancient Greeks of the queer persuasion might have believed or their versions of the god’s stories they may have told. (This wasn’t err… a good enough reason apparently, and I was left feeling really uncomfortable having to justify it).
The second negative experience came from folks in my own community, younger than I am stating bluntly that our books weren’t ‘gay’ enough and that they were just ‘lesbians’ which frankly is just Rude. Hi, I’m an artist at a booth who can hear what you are saying. For what it’s worth, as a queer person you can engage with media that exists outside of your own lived experience to gain an understanding of your peers. Likewise, as my mom always said, if you have nothing nice or constructive to say don’t say it at all (or like, at least walk to the next aisle to trash talk with your friends, conventions are loud but we can still hear you and all of your weird opinions).
Phew. All that off my chest now (I know, its a lot) I feel like I can finally sit in all the good exchanges we had.
THE GOOD VIBES~
First off, this was The First Calgary show we’ve done with Paint The Town Red on the table which was extremely exciting. Most of our table’s stock was new even if some stories were re-dressed with fancy new covers. Folks had really good reactions to them and I shared very many feelings with those who also believed Medusa could have had a much better outcome in her story (for all those who got yourself a copy I hope the read is as cathartic as it was for me to retell the tale <3).
I absolutely live for folks pointing at our short-descriptions for Prism Knights, shout out to all of the sad bisexuals overcoming grief, you will get there one day. We’re all having a chuckle amongst one another but I hope you all find some sort of solace and peace. My most favourite interaction in this regard happened on the Friday I believe. This person is also a writer and felt compelled to re-visit our table after reading a part of Velvet. From one writer to another, you were absolutely right when you said that it was worth coming back and telling me about your positive experience with my work. We don’t always get the feedback but when it’s such a gleaming praise it will keep you on cloud nine for days if not weeks (I am still thinking about your glowing review as I work on my next story, it has really touched me to my core having worked on so many projects throughout the pandemic and getting to hear that others really connect with the work you’ve been making). I know that, now more than ever, a story like Velvet is likely to really resonate with folks, for better or worse. I hope it brings anyone who reads it some peace <3
Interactions like these are great reminders to myself to reach out and tell someone when I think their work is just amazing. When it connects with me so strongly. I want to be better at this. I want to be able to give someone That good experience in a show that may have been, overall, rather dismal.
Generally, throughout the weekend, interacting with people was definitely something I’ve missed. Watching kids grow wide-eyed at our wall of pins, crouching with their parents to show off their knowledge of planets and mythos. Watching groups of friends flip through our books and show one another.
It breaks my heart to know how cruel Calgary has been to its young queers, and brings me hope that some have found themselves in the work we were making. Someone told us we were one of the only two queer tables selling queer stories at this con, a great decline in the dozen-or-so before the pandemic. Keep strong out there. We will keep coming back to you if we can help it <3
We found our table decimated, coming home with only a few (1-2 copies) of only a few of our remaining books. I couldn’t be more proud of us and the work we have put into this small business and this strive to create strong queer stories for those who might need them.
OVERALL
Calgary Expo is a very weird space for us. It feels like we are fighting against the current at a show like this, that at any moment a shoe will drop. This is the first and only convention so far that I have felt weary being openly queer at. The space is pretty, but the hate in this city is thick in the air.
We’re planning on doing the show once more next year, we will likely keep doing it if it keeps proving profitable but there is a feeling here that makes it a little nerve-wracking for our next booth at this show.
