Hi all!

Welcome, especially if you joined this list from Ontario Arts Book Fair or LA Queer Zine Fest! Here are some photos from the first ever LAQZF — including a drag queen potato and a hot dog eating contest.

Creative Climbing Retreat

I’m co-hosting a Creative Climbing Retreat on July 18th with my friend Amanda L. Andrei who is a playwright, translator, and community archivist. We’re planning a container where folks can spend focused dedicated time on their creative projects, and then get on the walls for some climbing projects in a supportive social setting. Plus: Oracle cards, consults with me and Amanda, intuitive research prompts, and community time.

I started climbing on my lunch breaks when I worked at a design firm around the corner from a bouldering gym back in 2014. I met Amanda back in 2018 at an artist residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and we reconnected when I moved back to LA in 2024. We’ve been climbing together nearly weekly ever since, and it’s been great to stay up to date on each other’s creative projects and to be able to give each other both climbing beta and artist advice over time.

We’ve been trying to find more creative climbers! Do more of us exist in this venn diagram intersection?? Our half-day retreat on July 18th in Pasadena, CA is one experiment towards that goal. More details on our Eventbrite page, and registration is open now!

If you are interested in this kind of event, but can’t make this one for whatever reason (date, location, imposter syndrome, or price), please reply and let me know — so we can gear future events towards those wishes and desires!

In other news…

🎨 I just posted a Summer Solstice studio update over at Patreon recapping all the comics published and all the goings-on that happened in my creative life the past few months. Check it out for free.

🌈 For my June zine-of-the-month, I shared a mini-zine with mini-comics about two birds in love called Bill & Gru. (Patrons get early access. Post unlocks July 1 for everyone else.)

📷 Comics! I have added the comic essays Love Improbable and Sharing Photos to my main website. These were Patreon exclusives first. Thank you for the support!

🌟 If you are a creative in transition who wants support that tends to both your tender spirit and your pragmatic brain, I’d love to help! I offer 1:1 coaching and free 30-minute consultation calls to see if we’re a good fit.

Happy summer,
Christina