Happy 2022!

I realized, just recently, that I haven’t updated my web site or my blog since…well, since a month before the pandemic really descended upon us.

I’d imagine that’s relatively common for most of us, as we’ve seen our lives demarcated into two specific eras: Before Pandemic, and In the Years of the Pandemic (wish I could write “After”). So many of my normal routines were disrupted, and I’ve found myself trying to reflect upon what I used to do in 2019, and who I used to be, and what I used to enjoy or value. (Even something as simple as going out to eat or going to see a movie…how often did I do that?)

In any case, I wanted to start the new year with a few links to show what I’ve been up to. Yes, I’ve been writing and drawing, though much of what I’ve produced is still in that frustrating stage of either “in progress, don’t look at me!” or “I’m ready, someone publish me NOW! what’s that? you want me to wait six months before you give me a response?…got it.”

Just recently, though, I’ve actually had three comics published in three different journals.

The first is called “Self-Away,” and it’s part of my series of Black Mirror-esque tales of technology destroying relationships. It’s ink and watercolor (very colorful), and it’s here at 805 Literary Arts.

I also just had a piece published at Booth, the literary journal of Butler University, and this has been one of my “bucket list” publications for a short comic for probably a decade. Super exciting to see it published online. It’s called “My Pandemic Garden,” and it’s part of another series of comics I’ve been playing with, all of which are horror/fantasy tales that stem from (you guessed it) the pandemic. Don’t worry. It’s not triggering. There’s a killer tomato. You’ll love. It’s black and white, just ink on paper.

I’ve also got a comic called “Melt” (pandemic horror, too) coming out in an anthology called Hindsight, so I’ll update you when that arrives.

Recently, I was also a guest on Orange County Commissioner Emily Bonilla’s talk show Emily Tells All. You can watch via YouTube, or even add her Roku channel and watch that way. Video below.

And you know what? It occurs to me, here in 2022, that I never shared my comics memoir from early 2020, which I wrote and drew during lockdown. It’s called “A Day in the Life of a Stay-at-Home Professor,” and it was published on the UCF web site. It’s interesting to relive that period of my/ our lives, though it’s also a time period that I am extremely happy to be distanced from.

Finally, this is also a little late…but for anyone who’s read my campus history of the University of Central Florida…you might be interested in this piece about the history of UCF Homecoming, and our Homecoming Court. There’s a little interview with me (you’ll find it close to the end) and it was a lot of fun to participate. Wait, didn’t you know that I was UCF Homecoming King back in 2001? Don’t I strike you as “royalty”?

Learn something new every day, don’t you?

Until next time, world wide web! Enjoy the comics!