This is the first official newsletter! There may still be a few kinks to work out, so bear with me.
I've had a lot of my mind lately. I mean, duh. I'm queer, trans and disabled in 2025 America. I already felt uncomfortable in the world, like always wearing a jumpsuit that's 2 sizes too small, unable to take it off, except now the jumpsuit is five sizes too small and I am being squeezed so hard I can barely breathe. The overwhelming despair hit me a few days ago, and I had my first big paralyzing cry-fest of the year. I don't feel a lot of hope, but I must still be feeling SOME, since I'm still making long term plans. I'm working on a webcomic that's going to take at least 5 years to draw. I'm learning how to tattoo. I started the process of scheduling top surgery.
Most of my hope has been from being in community with others. I went to a trans unity rally, where a couple hundred people gathered at the capital building in Lansing, MI and shared our stories, our burdens, our hope. I had things I wanted to share, but didn't get to the mic fast enough. I wanted to talk about the destruction of our literature, our history, and how we can preserve it. I also wanted to implore the general trans population not to fall into respectability politics and leave sex workers and pronographers behind. You can read my prepared speech here, and I hope I'll get to deliver it in the world sometime soon.
I also started my own zine-making group, with the intention of documenting our way of life to preserve it for history, and for writing down resources to share with other members of our community in the here and now. It was a huge success and way better than I could have dreamed, even if it triggered a fibro flare that had me bedridden for a week. Sometimes, that's what you gotta put up with to get things done.
Let's share fun things, though. Can't be all doom and gloom. Joy is a form of resistance when you're being oppressed. So, what has made me happy lately?
Hot pink mohair yarn. Mohair yarn in general. I might actually learn to properly knit, just so I can make more than socks with it. I will most likely just crochet. Oh, that's another hopeful thing I've done. Buying five skeins of yarn means you have to be alive to use them.
I've managed to continue to resist drinking. Both my partners work in the alcohol business in different ways, but this actually works to my advantage, because they also know where to find all the NA alternatives. Lots of hop-flavored seltzers and wheat-flavored soda. Whenever I think about drinking, I remind myself that it will make me feel worse, and I don't want to feel any worse. Go through all the same bullshit I'm currently going through, but also with a pounding headache and upset stomach? Why? No thank you.
My lovely beautiful amazing BFF bought me some stained glass tools that are making the work so fast and easy. I can finally make the kinda stuff I've been trying to make for years, and might finally start actually selling some of it online. The Beetle Bits system is worth every penny. I'm constantly telling myself that I can make do with shitty tools, but once I use good tools, I'm reminded how much that really does matter. I'm so happy that my friend believes in me and invests in me, so it makes it easier for me to believe and invest in myself. Go check out her amazing stained glass work. Imagine if memes and shitposts were immortalized in glass.
In case you missed it, I've been setting up my own internal Patreon-esque system on my website. This is one way I'm building a lifeboat for myself. It's everything you'd get on my main SFW Patreon, but .50¢ cheaper and I don't have to give a cut to a middleman. You'll find posts like:
Chapters of my novel, Cruel Muse. The prologue has been posted, and a new chapter will be posted every month for Book Club subscribers.
Book Club is also where my new webcomic, Magical Women will be posted first. I've started drawing it, and I'm so excited about it. Give me a couple months to get a full chapter drawn before I start posting it, but I'm trying for 3 pages a week.
The art of the month. Art Club members get access to the full color art, the black and white coloring book page, and the calendar page for the month. February's has been posted already. Print Club members get a physical giclee print of the art.
I'm working on building a clone of my NSFW Patreon, which is very much in more danger than my SFW one. It has different needs from my main account, so I need to do more to keep it safe. I'll let you know when that's ready.
I've got a bunch of new stuff in the store. There's puzzles now! Why did I never do this before?
I also have a new fabric design, called To Hell With Love, that you can get on a bunch of ready-made clothes as well as raw fabric if you're feeling crafty. This was one of my more ambitious fabric designs, and I'm very proud of it.
Okay, I think that'll do it for this month's newsletter. I hope the coming month finds you surviving and hopefully thriving. I want every single one of you to still be here for the next one. We will fight for each other so we lose as few people as possible. You are worth protecting.
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