Helloo, newsletter people!

It’s fall! The fall-y part of fall, when it starts to really feel like fall and Halloween plans are on the horizon. (Yes, it is completely intentionally that I don’t have any tabling events in the last two weeks of October. :))

My Upcoming Tabling Events
(subscribing to this newsletter means you get to hear about the events I’m doing as soon as I know about them, sometimes months in advance!) 
10/03 Somerville Zine Fest, Somerville, MA
10/04 Brighton Bazaar: Big Gig Fall, Boston, MA
10/17 Watertown Zine Fest, Watertown, MA
10/18 Brighton Bazaar, Boston, MA
11/07-11/08 Brighton Bazaar Elks Lodge Season Finale, Boston, MA
11/14 Nonfiction Comics Festival, Burlington, VT

No, I don’t know what I have going on in December or late November yet, but I am hoping to do some holiday markets this year!

New Art
I just finished a new minizine, called “Three Thousand Dollar Disco Ball.” It is a poem, which is a new thing for me in terms of zines!! Specifically, this is a poem I wrote several months ago after my fiancee, Zaira, and I toured a wedding venue that offered a disco ball as an optional decoration “add-on” . . . for an upcharge of $3,000. It’s in iambic pentameter, aka the rhythm of the phrase “three THOUSand DOllar DIsco BALL.” Zaira and I started riffing on it in the car on the way home from that venue (which we did not end up booking, for reasons unrelated to the disco ball) and I properly wrote this version and posted it on Discord for our friends a few days later. And now it’s a zine, for all to enjoy!

I was originally going to put together a new zine for October as well, but tbh I’ve had a cold for the past two or three weeks that’s still lingering on (ugh) so energy’s been a bit lower than usual. And I’m happy enough with how “Disco Ball Zine” came out that I think it still deserves to be the brand-new shiny thing on the table this weekend. :)

In addition to a couple private commissions, I recently started work on the cover the independent RPG project The Magipunk Student Handbook by Fiona Shade. This book is a companion to Fiona’s Adventure College Student Handbook, which I fully illustrated. Our digital-only project Dungeons and Datemates was also set in the same universe. I’m not fully illustrating this new book (which is going to be HUGE!! 🎉), but I will be creating the cover art and some maps for the interior. It feels good to be back in this world! And we’re thinking a more action-y fantasy scene the cover, which is going to be really fun. Stay tuned for the Kickstarter Launch page onces it’s up! 👀

Other Thoughts
This week I’m finishing up both of the larger commissions I mentioned having last month, and I’m proud of both of them! I feel really lucky that new projects seem to always come up when I need things to do, since I love always having something to work on.

In terms of personal projects, right now I’m prioritizing revising my graphic novel pitch. After taking a break from it for a bit to focus on other shorter-term projects, I’m feeling inspired and motivated to come back to it. 🩵

I hope you’re as excited for October as I am! Here in New England, fall really is the best time of the year. There’s a reason so many Halloween movies are set up here. I hope you’re also enjoying the season, whichever season it is where you are!

-Ellie