Liz Argall

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!

Subscribing is definitely the best way to make sure you get a hug for your pocket, but you can have a sneak peak at today’s e-postcard and look at last fortnight’s postcard if you what to check out our newest work in progress http://eepurl.com/ctLf3T

And apologies for the dark blue urls! I shall fix the template!

 

 

Would you like to join us?

Would you like to feel more nourished as you make, create and re-find the spark? I’d like to send you electronic postcards – nuggets of wisdom, sketches, reflections on the craft, and a guarantee you’ll never miss another Things comic. You don’t even need a stamp.

Liz and Things, words to lift you in the good times and sit with you in the bad. Sign up now!

Home from Orycon

It filled me with so much joy to see old friends and meet new fans. You guys inspire me and I will try to work harder for you every day. We have some challenging years ahead of us and it will be important to find a multitude of ways to bring the awesome. I was impressed by the quality of conversations in many spaces at Orycon and I hope to be back next year.

Available for commissions, workshops and consulting

I’ve just finished up a contract at Microsoft, so now is a great time to chat with me about projects. I’ll be using this as an opportunity to treat myself as a client as well, as I have neglected myself a little. It’s an exciting opportunity for me, and possibly for your organization!

Structure, simple goals, getting stuff done! Jessica Abel breaks it down AND you get to see some snippets from my novel in progress.

It’s no secret that I adored my experience at ACA. Through the power of our Master Artist, you can get a taste of it for yourself, look at some pretty photos, AND get a nudge for your own projects.

http://jessicaabel.com/2016/11/17/simple-goals/

Flying home from ACA, inking Things comics I sketched while there. So much deep work. I found new capacity as a storyteller. I was inspired by great people who I got to talk to and listen to and exist in space with. I realized, again, ways I rob myself of my own power an watched myself repeat those behaviors. Compulsions that will take time to balance.

I found/remembered new ways of fun for my practice. New capacity to push into, the raw and muted. To feel and laugh and cry and share full throated Karaoke.

New projects are coming. New approaches are coming that should offer fun for you and me AND help me honor and value my time more!

Looking down at a river of lights. Landing soon and ready to come home, again and again and again.

Master Artist Jessica Abel with Liz Argall, Jenny Blair, Lacy Davis, Robin Ha, James Kettner (Kett), JD Lunt, Stacy Pigg and Keith Wilson.

Master Artist Natasha Barrett with Rebecka Ahvenniemi, Andrew Babcock, Brona Martin, Rob Seaback, Eli Stine, Robert Scott Thompson, Giulia Vismara and Benjamin Whiting.

Master Artist Sanford Biggers with, Jacob Broussard, Jen Everett, Katya Grokhovsky, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Catalina Ouyang, Victor Perez, Megan Reed and Oli Rodriguez.

If you would like more Things in your diet please head over to Uncanny Magazine and check out Things React to Star Trek where we look at love as a tool we use to shape ourselves, and shape our communities. 

Thanks to Mary Anne Mohanraj and Una McCormack for being the muses on this one (go read their essays), and thanks as always to Uncanny Magazine and all the Uncanny backers for creating this space for the Things to come, play and be inspired by the great fiction, non-fiction, poetry and interviews.

http://uncannymagazine.com/liz-argalls-things-react-star-trek/

A brain tumor took Kate Yule from us yesterday.

She was/is (for the quality of character can extend beyond time) an exemplar of so much of what I love about the community of science fiction and fantasy, and why I choose SFF author over author as a label.

The first time I met Kate I felt accepted, included and wrapped up in a community where squee was a normal state of being. Kate was kind, generous, lively, and infinitely curious. Her crafty projects filled me with awe. I loved how her eye lit up in the face of new adventure (be it organizing a convention, untangling yarn or pondering the nature of the cosmos).

The treatment for an aggressive glioblastoma is not a kind one. Last time I saw her the frustrations of aphasia brain fog and overloading were frustrating her, but she was holding up with a grace Olympians would admire. Her strength was remarkable, as was her ability to articulate her aphasia while having aphasia.

Kate was a community maker, an enthusiasm spreader, generous of heart, and with a strong spirit. I spent an hour or two trying to draw her today, so hard to capture a spirit, but it struck me that she only looks anything like herself when she is smiling. I ran out of good paper until I created one that captured a little of her something as I see it.

<3 to David, I’m so glad you had 25 years together, and gratitude for being so open about this difficult journey. <3 to all the people who stepped up to help with caring roles and kept community close.

Vale Kate.

So many fantastic things! Here’s a quick roundup in the life of Liz.

Lightspeed

Kevin J. Anderson & Sherrilyn Kenyon rocked the Author Spotlight for “Trip Trap” in Lightspeed Magazine. I learn so much interviewing people.

Uncanny Magazine

Uncanny Magazine knocked it out of the park twice! They hit all their stretch goals for the Kickstarter AND won a Hugo award for Best Semi-Prozine! I’m so happy to be associated with them. Thanks to generous supporters on Kickstarters the Things will be returning for the next year of Uncanny. So much joy, so much good.

Atlantic Centre for the Arts

In glorious and wonderful news I will be an Associate Artist in Residence at ACA in August-November, with Jessica Abel as the Master Artist in Residence. I am so beyond excited about this. I found out a while ago, but I’ve been so busy with life that I haven’t had a chance to tell many folks. I’ve been working hard to get through various backlogs so that I can have something shiny and new to work on for ACA, not so new I flop around too much, but not so old that I can’t benefit from all the critiquing and workshopping of the concept.

I saw some photos of the place recently and my jaw kinda dropped. I was excited about working under Abel, but holey moley the grounds are gorgeous!

Somewhat secret project

I turned in the first drafts of a project that I’m so excited to be on. I am so curious about what the edits will be like, as it’s a kind of work for hire that is new to me. I hope to tell you all more in a few months, for now I get to be all excited and nervous and relieved.

Things turn 500!

The Things are now 500 comics old, and that’s not including a few side projects that ended up on the website! I’m trying to think of how to properly celebrate it and do some kind of belated birthday party. Maybe more magnets? Maybe custom M&Ms? I really like the idea of more Things magnets with words that you put on the fridge, so you can have hugs and I believe in you and stuff like that. But maybe stuff isn’t the answer, I already have a spoonflower store and a redbubble store. I need to think about it some more.

The fabulous Writing the Other folks have master class series starting soon, each independent class dives deeply into a specific topics! There’s the Sentient Squid Scholarship (<3 anonymous benefactors and the I Should Be Writing and Ditch Diggers podcasts) you can apply for if you need a hand.

They’re pretty fab, check em out!

Upcoming Writing the Other Master Classes:

• Writing Native American Characters: How Not To Do A Rowling with Debbie Reese – August 27
• Writing Deaf and Blind Characters with Elsa Sjunneson-Henry – September 10th
• Writing the Other: Comics and Graphic Novels with Sara Ryan – September 10th
• More than Eunuchs and Extraterrestrials: Writing Positive Portrayals of Asexual Characters with Lauren Jankowski – September 11th
• Writing for Trans and Non-Binary Narratives with Ashley Lauren Rogers – September 11th
• Beyond Belief: Writing Plausible Atheist and Religious Characters with Nisi Shawl and Cynthia Ward – September 27th