January Bottleship

Hello, Ships and Bottles! 

WELP, it's a new year. Even though we're all carrying our fair share of scrapes and bruises from 2017, it's important to remember that there's a lot to fight for and be hopeful about. Here's a selection of delectables for you in this first month of 2018.

• I tend to take current trends in "productivity thinking" with a grain of salt, because it's a great marketing tactic to tell people you've found the ONE QUALITY that will GUARANTEE success, but I enjoyed this take on keeping resolutions. Gratitude over grit! (I particularly like this thesis because it casts a more positive role for the addiction to each other that Alan Jacobs talks about in this intriguing essay.)
• Writer Bonnie Burton was kind enough to quote me in this CNET article about Imposter Syndrome and its many guises. We always need reminding that we're not alone.

• My spring convention schedule is now live on my website! You can find me in Vancouver (WA), Seattle, Juneau, and Toronto. More dates to follow. (100 Demon Dialogues should be making its debut at Emerald City Comic Con. You can still pre-order the book and plush toy here.)
• Speaking of events: I'm really looking forward to attending BackerKit's new conference, Bond, in San Francisco in March. It's specifically about "the realities of running your creative practice as a business on the internet". YES PLEASE THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I WANT. Tickets are live, lots of great people are speaking, and there are even subsidized passes available if you're still finding your way. Register now.

• The Ashley Book of Knots is a legendary tome among nautical enthusiasts, and the New Bedford Whaling Museum is currently hosting an incredible exhibit on its author, Clifford W. Ashley. I don't know that I'll be able to make it across the country before the show comes down in June, but if any of you are in the area, please go and tweet me pictures.
• [CW: Cancer] Rachel Vorona Cote wrote this beautiful, heartbreaking essay about grief and her mother and her inability to stop buying sweaters. In addition to this piece, I've been consistently floored by her openness, vulnerability, and transparency on Twitter while grappling with the impossible inevitability of loss. This winter is challenging me in many ways, and I often tend to back away from sharing when life gets hard. Rachel is a beacon of humanity who inspires me to stay open.
• I love Luis González Palma's fanciful bedspread boats.

“If a man must be obsessed by something, I suppose a boat is as good as anything, perhaps a bit better than most. A small sailing craft is not only beautiful, it is seductive and full of strange promise and the hint of trouble.”

Go embody your best Small Sailing Craft Selves.

Love,
Lucy

​P.S. If you'd like to support my efforts in 2018, consider buying some comics, joining my crew of supporters on Patreon, or forwarding this newsletter to someone you think might enjoy it. Thank you!