Liz Argall

Patreon update, we are teasingly close to $100. Patronage is an amazing and powerful form of support that gives me the confidence to do things like print collections and collaborate with fabulous folks.

This SATURDAY at the Push/Pull Gallery Hello World will be released into the world. That’s from 12pm-6pm. It is a 36-page collection of the Things lovingly curated and edited by J.D. Lunt (editor/cartoonist When I Returned, Monk Funnies, Watching the Stick, Coping Mechanisms). It will also be for sale in my shiny new web shop! 

Isn’t it amazing how getting things done leads to getting things done leads to getting things done! Patreon, comic, web store, oh my!

 

There is an alchemy that happens when you create in service. For me, it gives me a freedom as well as a responsibility. I may be stretched and asked for things that are a little beyond my comfort zone. I must hit a deadline, create the best experience, use my doubts to fuel energy, research, doing and completion, rather than letting those same doubts spiral down into self-defeating anxiety.

You can tell the difference, the alchemy when you look at this reflective blog post (nice, sure, but I’m burying the lead, I’m guiding you into something rather than bravely just going for it) and the blog post I wrote for Uncanny Magazine that went live today! In that post I get straight to the heart of it.

I am Liz, creator of the Things. Thank you so much to everyone who nominated me for a Hugo, simply making it to the long list was one of the best feelings I’ve had this year.

I am launching a Patreon. Patronage does so much! I would love your support. Thank you for supporting me, and thank you for supporting Uncanny Magazine.

^ Only more eloquent, because I was writing it for them, not me. Here is what I wrote for them

THIS IS A VERY LONG WAY OF SAYING my Patreon is live. Through that website, you can nourish creators like me for as little as $1 a month. I can already feel how it’s motivating me as a creator, I want to book more shows and reach out to my neighbors more. I would love your support. Thank you for reading this and go check it out!

On August 22 I will launch my Patreon. I’m so excited about it.

Patreon is a nifty place where folks like us can support creators we like

I’m excited about how it can be a central platform, bringing together stuff I do at Thingswithout.com, here and in other places. I’ll do logistical updates here, but Patreon will be a fun place to share cool stuff, creative stuff and create a great space for you to give feedback.

I’ve been sending a process diary to a few friends and you’re very welcome to subscribe if you’d like to be included.

Here’s how I made myself do an introductory video!

Upcoming dates:

• Saturday, August 19, Urban Unglued, Tacoma!
• Tuesday, August 22 MY PATREON WILL LAUNCH!!!
• Saturday, August 26, Exterminator City Ate (Underground Comix Market), Push/Pull Gallery, Seattle

Seattle 2017

Homepage

I’m resting up (and working away) in Chicago until we head over to Wiscon in Madison Wisconsin, for a most excellent convention (and then I head home and swear never to leave the house again, until next time).

I’ll be around the con (I need to figure out how to print more Things stuff as I ran out at the Nebs) but there will be two places in particular you should look for me.

First is the FRIDAY NIGHT UNCANNY SPACE UNICORN PARTY

8:45pm until midnight

?
I am going to brush off my old balloon animal skills (cultivated by obsessively watching a clown in Commonwealth Park in Canberra as a child and then pulling apart and putting back together the balloon animals he made for me) to make balloon unicorns. The horn is the trickiest part, because to give it the correct shape you have to make it backwards… or use two balloons… I just remembered you can use two balloons!

So come and enjoy the Uncanny Party and I will make you a balloon unicorn (supplies limited, you wouldn’t believe how fast a few hundred balloons go!).

Saturday Night – COME TO MY GROUP READING!

I even drew a poster for it!

The Persistent Rats, 10:30pm in Conference Room 1 on Saturday

Thank you for reading. In gratitude here is a pic of me super excited to have arrived in Chicago by catching the midnight train from Pittsburgh. TRAIN!

#SFWApro

Happy 40th birthday  Norwescon!

Norwescon this year is on April 13–16 at SeaTac, WA

Come say hi, I’ll be on programming, running a workshop for anyone who wants to create comics and my autograph session will be on Saturday.

Make sure you pop by the autograph session if you would like me to draw a Things sketch for you, it’s always lovely to meet folks who love the comic.

Thursday

Escher Girls & the Hawkeye Initiative

9:00pm – 10:00pm @ Evergreen 1&2

I have to put in a special plug for this one, the last Escher Girls panel I did a few years ago (at Wiscon) was so much fun. I think the moderator was afraid we were going to sprain something! 

Our heroines are too often subjected to hypersexualized poses and crimes against anatomy—for reasons irrelevant to their character or kickassitude. Jim Hines’ book cover project, Escher Girls, and The Hawkeye Initiative are just three of a number of movements humorously deconstructing these problematic images. Let’s point and laugh, and talk about how to fix things.
Jeliza Patterson-McGuire (M), Lee Moyer, Liz Argall, Marta Murvosh

Friday

Worldbuilding: Alien Cultures that Don’t Dehumanize

8:00pm – 9:00pm @ Cascade 10

Set a cowboy-and-Indian yarn on another planet. Swap the cowboys for space rangers and the indigenes for monstrous aliens—the premise for countless space operas of the pulp era. The metaphor is clear: Native Americans are monstrous. How do you mirror alien societies with their Earthly counterparts without portraying non-Western races and religions as inhuman themselves?
Liz Argall (M), Stephanie Weippert, K. M. Alexander, Rhiannon Held

Grounded Sci-Fi

9:00pm – 10:00pm @ Cascade 10
Liz Argall (M), Crystal Connor, Wendy N. Wagner, Marc Gascoigne
Join our panelists as they discuss Sci-Fi that isn’t set in space, and the unique benefits and challenges such stories present.
Liz Argall (M), Crystal Connor, Wendy N. Wagner, Marc Gascoigne, Ian McDonald

Saturday

Fantastic Foldies for the Comic Creator or Zine-ster In All of Us – Creative Workshop with Liz Argall

12:00pm – 1:00pm @ Cascade 12
All you need is a piece of paper and a pencil and you can make an unfolding mini-comic that doesn’t need staples, has hidden surprises and gets your story out into the world fast. Once you’ve created your original piece, foldies are one of the fastest and cheapest zines to get out in the world as all you need is one page B&W double sided printing. This workshop is suitable for anyone who wants to play around with visual storytelling, from people who aren’t sure how to draw stick figures, writers who want to collaborate better with artists, to visual artists looking for a different way to play with the form. Some art supplies will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring pencils, pens, or erasers.

Presented by Cascade Writers. Ages 13+. To sign up, email workshops@norwescon.org with the title of the workshop in the subject line.

Autograph Session 2

3:00pm – 4:00pm @ Grand 2

I’ll have have paper and brushes if anyone wants a sketch as well as an autograph!

Catska Ench, Cory Ench, Ethan Siegel, Ian McDonald, Marc Gascoigne, Mike Underwood, Nancy Kress, Alexander James Adams, Cat Rambo, Dale Ivan Smith, Erik Scott de Bie, Evan J. Peterson, Jeremy Zimmerman, John (J.A.) Pitts, Jude-Marie Green, Kristi Charish, Laura Anne Gilman, Liz Argall, Django Wexler, Frog Jones, Raven J. Demers, Spencer Ellsworth, Susan R. Matthews, Morgue Anne, Brenda Cooper, Lisa Mantchev, Bella la Blanc, Mark Teppo, Claudia Casper, Susan diRende, Kristy Acevedo

Sunday

Collaborating

3:00pm – 4:00pm @ Cascade 12

What are the pitfalls and benefits of writing with a partner? How do you share the process? Are two heads really better than one? Our panelists will share their own examples of what works and what doesn’t.
Marta Murvosh (M), Manny Frishberg, Liz Argall, Jack Skillingstead

See you there!

 

Mayara, the tamarin the size of a tamarind seed, brings you her response to “Monster Girls Don’t Cry” by Merc Rustad over at Uncanny Magazine.

Go check it out!

“Monster Girls Don’t Cry” contained a lot of what I was soul food to me when I was teen, speculative fiction with enough teeth, hope and strength. It reminded me of what Merc has said about her mission and vision when she writes stories (you can read more about that from my interview with her over at Lightspeed for her story “Finding Home”).

Don’t forget to sign up for our e-postcards if you would like to get interesting doodles, sketches and links that only subscribers receive!