President Donald Trump has twice now advanced the flawed theory that China nefariously continued to allow flights out of Wuhan, the city where the COVID-19 outbreak originated, to Western cities while blocking flights into other cities in China.

The post Trump’s Flawed China Travel Conspiracy appeared first on FactCheck.org.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly misstated the facts at the White House coronavirus briefings. In this video, we feature five examples from April.

The post Video: Trump’s Repeated Coronavirus Claims appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Dismissing concerns that states are reopening too soon, President Donald Trump incorrectly said that a newly revised model projecting 134,000 COVID-19 deaths by August “assumes no mitigation.” In fact, the model assumes states will keep their existing social distancing measures in place, unless suspensions have already been announced.

The post Trump Falsely Claims COVID-19 Death Projection Assumes ‘No Mitigation’ appeared first on FactCheck.org.

There's no evidence that Bill Gates ever visited Jeffrey Epstein's private island in the Caribbean, contrary to a viral Facebook post claiming he went there numerous times. The "flight records" cited do not show that.

The post False Claim Targets Gates Using Epstein Connection appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Claims on social media have been spreading the falsehood that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention significantly lowered the COVID-19 death toll. There has been no such reduction. These claims confuse two different measures of the number of deaths.

The post CDC Hasn’t ‘Reduced’ COVID-19 Death Toll appeared first on FactCheck.org.

The first installment of a documentary called "Plandemic" stormed through social media this week. But the viral video weaves a grand conspiracy theory by using a host of false and misleading claims about the novel coronavirus pandemic and its origins, vaccines, treatments for COVID-19, and more.

The post The Falsehoods of the ‘Plandemic’ Video appeared first on FactCheck.org.

The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed that there are enough COVID-19 tests for states to begin reopening their economies. While that may be true for select locations, experts say more tests are needed, even if they don’t agree on a particular number.

The post How Many COVID-19 Tests Are ‘Needed’ to Reopen? appeared first on FactCheck.org.

A new Trump campaign ad claims that President Donald Trump took "fast action" in regard to testing for the novel coronavirus. While “fast action” is subjective, pandemic experts say the U.S. did not move quickly to set up an adequate system and in fact lagged behind other countries.

The post Trump’s Misleading Ad on Coronavirus Testing appeared first on FactCheck.org.

Thanks to Crayola for animating one of my Broken Crayon pieces! Special thanks to Crayola's Kate Loffio for being so supportive of me and my work.

Meanwhile, I am sooooooo excited about the upcoming launch of GURPLE & PREEN, a broken crayon picture book written by Linda Sue Park and illustrated by me, published by Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers! I'll be posting more info on my Broken Crayon resource page when it's available.

The best way to get young people to invest their time in reading is being willing to invest time in it ourselves.

At the beginning of every year, I reevaluate my reading habits. I love to read but sometimes I find that reading gets put on the back burner more often while other activities take priority. Sometimes these activities, especially family-related and work-related, NEED to take priority, but I find there are still ways to find more time to read. How do YOU make more time to read? Answer my survey here. I'll post results in this blog.

This year, I've signed up for Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge. I'm starting out with a goal of 100 books. This includes picture books, so I'm actually aiming for MORE than 100. In addition to being realistic, however, I also don't want to be tempted to speed-read. With picture books, for example, I want to start going through new and not-so-new picture books and read them more thoughtfully, both for enjoyment but also more analytically (how the text and illustrations interact, etc).

Anyway....I've updated my post below in case one or more tips might help others. You might also want to check out what parents suggested in my "Finding Time To Write (Even If You Have Kids)" survey.

1. I have multiple print books on the go, and keep them around the house. I usually have print books that I'm in the midst of reading in our bedroom, my office, living room, dining room, etc. Print books have the advantage over ebooks here in that just SEEING them reminds me to read them.

2. I read books on my iPhone. Yes, the screen is small but I enlarge the text to make reading comfortable. This is super-handy for reading when I may only have a few minutes, like when I'm in a line-up or waiting for someone. Or when I'm in a super-crowded subway train and am holding onto a support pole with one hand....but I can easily reach into my purse, pull out my iPhone and flip through pages with my other hand.

3. I read books on my iPad. I have an iPad Pro and find it a bit too heavy to hold for reading unless it's propped up somehow, but I find that using a pillow or my knees works fine. I prefer print books for the esthetic experience (turning print pages, feel of of a physical book etc.) but I do find that the backlit screen on my iPad enables me to read even in places with dim lighting. Some are ebooks I've bought, some are borrowed from the Toronto Public Library.

4. I read books on my Kindle. Because the Kindle is lightweight and loaded up with a lot of my ebooks, I can avoid angsting over what book to take on out-of-town trips ("I'm 3/4 of way through this book so if I finish it on the plane, what do I read next? Should I bring an extra just in case? But I'm trying to travel with just carry-on augh" etc.), I just take my Kindle and I have access to many books-on-the-go.

5. I listen to audiobooks. I remember avoiding audiobooks in the beginning because I never considered it REAL reading, plus I didn't think I could really enjoy a book by just listening to it. Then my husband played an audiobook (I can't remember the title...something about divers and scavenging in deep waters) on a long car trip and I was surprised to find it an immersive reading experience. The narration is important, though -- a bad narrator will totally turn me off a book, so I make it a habit of always listening to a sample first. I have an Audible subscription but I also borrow audiobooks from the Toronto Public Library. Whenever I'm at certain stages in book illustration, I listening to audiobooks as I draw.

SUMMARY:

As long as the story is good, I am willing to read it in any format. I do make a point of buying books from indie bookstores but I have found that my appetite for reading makes it impractical (from a budget standpoint) to buy all my reading material. The Toronto Public Library is a wonderful resource, with print and ebook and audiobooks available.

Also, I squeeze in reading whenever I can. While I'd love to save my reading stints for when I have an entire afternoon to curl up on the couch with a good book, reality is that if I always waited for The Perfect Reading Day, I wouldn't be reading nearly as many books as I do now. Before my recent eye surgery, I also found it a challenge to read a regular print book.

And as summer approaches, consider participating in Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge!

SURVEY:

How do YOU make time to read? Answer my 3-question poll here.

OTHER RESOURCES ON HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR READING TIME:

11 Ways Busy People Make Time To Read - by Eva Lantsoght on Lifehack.org

The Best Way To Find More TIme To Read - on FS Farnam Street's blog

How To Read Even More In 2019 by Strand bookstore

5 Ways To Find More Time To Read - by Kristin Wong on Mentalfloss.com

25 Expert Tips To Reading WAY More Books This Year - by John Rampton on Inc.com

Finding it a challenge to carve out time for your writing because of other work or life commitments? I encourage you to join me in my Daily Writing Challenge. Even 100 words a day adds up! I also have an Inkygirl Daily Writing Challenge Facebook Page.

One of my goals in 2020 is to not only be more diligent about writing something FIRST THING in the day, but also not to be so picky about what I write (social media posts don't count, though :-)).

Reason: Last year, I was always trying to work on my middle grade novel first thing in the morning. While my goal of morning writing worked sometimes, there were many mornings when I just had too much going on. I'd be distracted because I'd be on the road, or have morning appointments, be stressed about book illustration deadlines.

As a result, I ended up NOT writing many mornings. That fed into my growing overall frustration at my lack of progress, and eventually I just gave up.

Keep in mind that I never have trouble focusing on contracted book work. If someone is expecting work from me and I have a deadline, that's one thing. My middle grade novel project, however, tend to always be shoved to the back burner. Part of the reason, I know, is psychological. In the stupid part of my brain: "Once I finish writing and revising, I'll have to start sending them out into the world, and what if I end up getting nothing but rejections again?" 

But I'm also aware that I've spent so many years focusing on illustration work that my writing muscles still feel rusty, and that's feeding into my whole "but what if I can't write anymore" insecurities.

The solution, I think, is that I need to write a LOT more, and on a daily basis, even if it's not writing for my middle grade novels. I like what Jeff Goins said in his post, My Morning Routine In 10 Simple Steps. After breakfast every morning, he writes something.

From the Goinswriter.com article on a morning routine:

This can be a blog post, book chapter, article, or just some random notes to myself. For me, it’s not about what I write as much as it is important just to write. Usually, I wrote around 1000 words; sometimes less, sometimes more.

I've started to do this as well. Sometimes I write by hand in one of my Rhodia hardbound journals (also an excuse to use one of my fountain pens), sometimes I write on the computer. Sometimes poetry, a sentence or two from an imaginary story that doesn't (yet) exist, stream-of-consciousness first-person of one of the characters in my book, sometimes a blog post.

Do you do morning writing? Do you have a life that makes finding writing time a challenge? Feel free to post below.

Happy launch day to DIANA: PRINCESS OF THE AMAZONS, the newest in the DC Zoom line of graphic novels for middle graders. Written by Shannon & Dean Hale and illustrated by Victoria Ying. Thanks to Michele Wells at DC Kids for sending me a copy!

For more of my book collages, feel free to browse my BookADay Padlet as well as my BookADay and Book Recommendation archives. I read a lot more books than I have time to post, especially now that I've joined the Goodreads 2020 Reading Challenge!

Advice for those who are trying to get published or who want a longterm career in the publishing industry: you need to develop a thick hide when it comes to criticism. 

No matter what stage you are in your career, if you are putting yourself and your work out there for people to see (whether it's agents or editors or art directors or reviewers or other readers), you WILL get criticism. It might be criticism in the form of critiques from a trusted group of writer or illustrator friends. It might be a form rejection letter or detailed rejection letter. Even after you get a contract, you will be getting feedback and change requests from your editor or art director. After your book comes out, some people will not like your book -- and some of those people may be reviewers.

If you are sensitive to harsh judgement, you need to find a way to cope with this early on if you want to stay in the game. Just don't do it in public!

For critiques of your work, never make changes right away. This is especially important for those who are insecure about their own skills! Let the feedback sit for at least a day or two (longer if you can wait), THEN come back to it with more objectivity. Do you agree with the feedback? Don't blindly make a change to your manuscript if you don't agree or understand why.

And never, ever respond to negative reviews in public.

Some useful resources:

Gail Carson Levine has great advice about how to take criticism, particularly from a critique.

11 Writers On How They Deal With Criticism - by Jason Diamond.

6 Top Tips For Dealing With Criticism Of Your Writing - from WritersEdit. This piece advises AGAINST reading all (if any) of your reviews in Goodreads and other places geared toward readers; I've heard this piece of advice from a prominent author in her workshop as well.

Deal With Criticism Like A Pro - by Bryan Collins on WritetoDone. This advice is mainly geared toward negative feedback from an editor; Bryan is a nonfiction freelance writer.

Writers & illustrators: It's tough sometimes (especially on social media re: publication news, book lists, awards etc), but try very hard to RESIST COMPARING YOURSELF TO OTHERS. Focus on enjoying your own journey. You may be luckier than you think.

Happy launch day to Marcie Colleen, whose THE BEAR'S GARDEN with Alison Oliver launches from Imprint/Macmillan today!

Marcie Colleen is the award-winning picture book author of Penguinaut! (illustrated by Emma Yarlett) and Love, Triangle (illustrated by Bob Shea), as well as the Super Happy Party Bears chapter book series. She teaches Writing Children’s Picture Books for the University of California at San Diego both online and on campus, and runs her own Study Hall conducting a month-long online critique group dedicated to the crafting picture books. Find out more about how you can study with Marcie at thisismarciecolleen.com and on Twitter at @MarcieColleen1.

*UPDATE: Marcie has also launched her SUPER HAPPY Book Club on her YouTube channel, especially for families at home during school closures!

Launching March 24, 2020, THE BEAR'S GARDEN is written by Marcie Colleen and illustrated by Alison Oliver. You can read reviews of the book on Kirkus (starred review!) and Bookroo.

Author: Marcie Colleen
Illustrator: Alison Oliver
Publisher: Imprint/Macmillan Children’s

SYNOPSIS: Inspired by the true story of a community garden in Brooklyn, New York, picture book The Bear’s Garden is a testament to how imagination and dedication can transform communities and create beauty for everyone in unexpected places.

A little girl sees an empty lot in a city and imagines what it can be:

a place to grow,
a place to play,
and a place to love.

With the help of her stuffed bear, the girl brings her community together to create a beautiful garden.

Q. What inspired you to write this book?

The Bear’s Garden was inspired by the real-life Pacific Street Brooklyn Bear’s Community Garden in my former neighborhood in New York City. The name always puzzled me—I mean, we didn’t have bears wandering around Brooklyn last I checked!

Come to find out, the garden was named for a teddy bear that was found in the weeds when the workers began to create a garden in the abandoned lot. Of course, immediately I started thinking of that little bear. How did he get there? Did he belong to anyone? Was he placed there on purpose?

The Bear’s Garden is my imaginative story about how the teddy bear came to be in those weeds. It’s also a love letter to my former neighborhood and the power of community that I felt while living there. I am the girl who finds love and beauty in every inch of that urban paradise

Q. As an experienced author, how do you manage your time in terms of balancing your creative work time with the business side (promotion, admin, school visits etc), yet still have a life outside work?

While everything I do, such as teaching and creating Teacher’s Guides, falls under the umbrella of being a full-time children’s author, I have struggled in the past to find time for my own creative writing. It seems my days get quickly overrun.

However, about a year ago I paired up with a fellow author friend, Kirsten Larson, to prioritize our writing projects. We get up at 5:20 every morning to write for an hour. The alarm goes off, we text each other a quick “Good Morning” and share our project goals for that session, grab our coffee, and set to write until 6:30 without distraction. At 6:30 we check in again with our progress. It’s been a game-changer. I think I have written more in the last year because of it. And it’s a fantastic way to feel accomplished no matter what the rest of the day brings.

Q. What advice do you have for young writers?

I have always loved reading and writing stories.

A few years back I found a book I had written in elementary school. It’s called Rainbow Hunt. And in the back of the book I found an Author’s Note I had written. It said,

“Marcie Goldstein lives in Liverpool, NY and loves to write books. Someday she hopes to be a successful author.”

So, my advice to young writers everywhere would be, know that your dreams can come true. Even if people say it’s a long-shot. I’m living proof. So keep reading, keep writing, and never stop dreaming.

Q. Anything else you'd like to mention? What are you excited about these days?

Despite the recent global health crisis that has left us all indoors, I am excited to see how we will learn to build more community within our lives—even virtually. The creativity and innovation that has developed in the last few weeks has been extraordinarily inspiring. Like flowers between the pavement cracks, we will find ways. And a lot of beauty is going to grow from this.

 --

For more interviews, see my Inkygirl Interview Archive. Also see Advice For Young Writers and Illustrators, a compilation of tips generously offered by children's book creators I've interviewed over the years.

Donalyn Miller's #BookADay Challenge is usually in the summer. After talking with people on Twitter and Facebook, Donalyn (happily) decided to hold a Coronavirus social distancing #BookADay challenge, so that readers who miss talking with other readers can gather and share.

You can see the "official" #bookaday guidelines on the Nerdy Book Club blog.

GIVEAWAY (U.S. only): Karla is giving away a copy of Marie Curie And The Power Of Persistence, written by Karla Valenti and illustrated by Annalisa Beghelli! *** ENTER HERE ***

Karla Arenas Valenti was born and raised in Mexico. Since then she has put down roots in a number of countries she now calls home: Japan, France, Germany, and the U.S. where she lives in the Chicagoland area with her husband and three kids. She writes picture books and middle grade novels. You can find out more about Karla at www.karlavalenti.com or connect with her on Facebook or Twitter @KV_writes.

I asked Karla to describe her book, and here's what she replied:

My Super Science Heroes is a picture book series for children ages 4-8. The series focuses on key scientists, but rather than defining those scientists by what they did (their achievements), we are choosing to highlight who they were (the traits that made those achievements possible).

This distinction is important as it allows readers (young and old) to re-frame what it means to “succeed” - in other words, you do not need to be a genius or Nobel-prize winner in order to be a hero in your own life. Arguably, what makes someone a hero is how they make use of their own “super powers” in pursuit of their dreams.

And what are these super powers?

The first one we chose to highlight is persistence.

Throughout her personal and professional life, Marie Curie encountered many societal and institutional limitations that threatened to block her progress. Rather than telling our young readers about these challenges, however, we chose to show them. Enter Mr. Opposition, a character designed to embody these counterforces and give Marie a chance to prove her persistence to all her fans and readers.

In this way, Marie’s ultimate success and notable achievements are not presented as the inevitable result of a gifted mind. Rather, we are honoring the tremendous effort she exhibited in never giving up on her dreams, a super power indeed.

Our next book focuses on the power of curiosity, exemplified by Alan Turing and his minion, Miss Enigma (due out Jan 2021).

My Super Science Heroes is unlike any other children’s book series focusing on historical figures, and we hope it will inspire countless of young scientists (and non-scientists) as they develop their own super powers.

Q: How did MARIE CURIE AND THE POWER OF PERSISTENCE get published?

This is a story about the unexpected surprises that come our way when we are open to any (and sometimes unconventional) opportunities.

I was living in Europe at the time, and a friend forwarded an open call for story submissions run by a non-profit science association. The Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) was looking for a creative way to raise funds to support their science initiatives, so they launched a contest for picture book submissions. The topic was a story about Marie Curie, but told in a way that would excite young readers about science

As a fiction writer, I was hesitant at first to submit a story on a non-fiction topic. However, I also viewed this as an opportunity to flex my creative wings, so I took the challenge and wrote a story about Marie Curie... the super hero.

As I researched her life, it became clear that, while she certainly accomplished a great deal as a scientist, her most notable achievement was her unwavering persistence in facing a number of challenges throughout her life. Persistence! A skill highly valued in the scientific community (and one present in all of us).

What if the book was about Marie Curie using her power of persistence to achieve great things in the scientific world?

What if she had an evil nemesis who lived in a craggy cave deep underground, and whose sole purpose was preventing the spread of knowledge?

What if he sent his minion, Mr. Opposition, to stop Marie in her heroic journey?

Thus was born the My Super Science Heroes series.

It was an unconventional premise, but I decided to submit the story. To my tremendous surprise, I won!

Working with Micaela Crespo Quesada (a super scientist herself) and the MCAA association, we identified the perfect illustrator for the project, Annalisa Beghelli. Her artwork brilliantly captured the super hero themes we wanted to explore. In a true collaboration, the three of us worked to bring this project to life.

Initially, the project was going to be funded exclusively through a global crowdsourcing campaign. Not only did we exceed our goal by 20%, but a couple weeks into the campaign, we received an offer by Kelly Barrales-Saylor at Sourcebooks for world rights.

Fast forward to today as we celebrate the world publication on April 7th of Marie Curie and the Power of Persistence.

Q. What advice do you have for young writers?

In a perhaps not-so-ironic twist, the most valuable piece of advice I can offer is to believe in the power of persistence. And I hesitate to say this is only relevant to young writers (since I myself only learned this as a writer after many years).

The journey I have taken to get to this point has not been a short (or always-joyful) one. Indeed, it has been more agonizing than not, more heart-breaking than uplifting, and certainly taken a lot longer than I expected.

There have been plenty of opportunities for me to give up and walk away (and if I'm honest, there have been moments in my life where I've had to do that). However, I am fiercely proud of this story because it feels like a real badge of honor; a testament to the courage it takes to pick up your "pen" and keep putting words to paper, despite everything standing in your way.

The truth is, we all have our own version of Mr. Opposition, and we all must do battle with the nemesis that intends to bring us down. But word by word, line by line, we can persist. That is no small thing.

--

For more interviews, see my Inkygirl Interview Archive. Also see Advice For Young Writers and Illustrators, a compilation of tips generously offered by children's book creators I've interviewed over the years.

Here's where we're playing....
Aug. 19 Pittsburgh with Surrender. at Zach's house. I'm not sure of the address
Aug 20 (maybe)Athens OH 35 Brown St
Sept 16 Baria KY, maybe
Sept 19 Ida work party, Tennesse (they need more people to come to this work party. check it out at www.workhardstayhard.com
Sept 21 Chatanooga - probably at Sluggos
Sept 23 Asheville NC, Buccannen St house (I don't know how to spell it)

I am so glad someone is doing this zine! I have been trying to find time to try and put together this exact thing!
Please submit!!!
It's Down to This

For info and submissions contact: responsezine@gmail.com

“It’s Down to This” is a new zine compilation that aims to give space to step back, take a deep breath and reflect on where we’re at.

Reflecting on our experiences with community accountability processes, survivor support, or general efforts to cultivate community response to sexual violence- this is a space to talk about our experiences with this work, what we have learned, where we want to go from here, what we feel, what we want others to be able to hear, see, think about, engage with.

It is an attempt to further give voice to our efforts and experiences in doing this work, to give space and voice to silence. To know and hear how we have survived in this work, how we have sustained this work, or why we burned out. To further document our attempts at figuring out what community accountability looks like, or what it even is. To be able to reflect and grow from our mistakes and epiphanies.

SEEKING: stories, essays, interviews, comics, artwork and thoughts reflecting on working around accountability and community response to sexual violence:

What has it looked like? What has it entailed? What could it look like? Who does it involve? In what ways? How is a community responsible? How is a community involved? What can an accountability process look like? What has it looked like? What works? What doesn’t? What were the fuck-ups, the successes?

*These questions are asked with the assumption that confidentiality will be respected and that stories will not be shared if they are not yours to share.

*The word ‘community’ is used with the awareness that it is often used problematically.

Looking for submissions that:

- explore the importance of accountability and support work as an act of community building and collective liberation, that express the importance of this work within social justice movements.

-reflect on the support, empowerment, recovery and growth that have come out of this work

-reflect on the pain, trauma and frustration of this work or which is inherent in this work.

-develop ideas and methods of sustainability around this work

-look at the social and political contexts in which community accountability and response to sexual violence and partner abuse grows and exists.

-share our stories

Anonymity and confidentiality will be respected.

DEADLINE: October 22nd, 2010

For info and submissions contact: responsezine@gmail.com

Feel free to send in ideas/proposals and ask for feedback!

This is a zine an amazing aquaintance of mine is putting together.
Please send your stories to: polypatriarchyzine@gmail.com, or mail them to 4951 Catharine St., Philadelphia, PA 19143.


Polyamory and Patriarchy Zine Questionnaire

These questions are for a zine I’m writing about polyamory and patriarchy. So often, people feel either that polyamory is the only revolutionary way to be intimate, or the worst way. I’d like to hear what you’ve learned from polyamory – ways it felt liberatory, and ways it may have felt like familiar oppressive gender roles dressed up in revolutionary language. My agenda isn’t to discredit polyamory, but to identify how much we have to learn about truly liberatory relationships.
These questions are fairly personal and ask you to revisit some painful memories, so please take your time, answer only what you feel comfortable answering, and let me know how you want your anonymity protected. Please use pseudonyms! Do give me contact info, though, if you want to review how I use your material before the zine is published.

1. Let’s start with gender. What gender roles did you learn from your family of origin? From the media? From your chosen community? How do you express gender now – is it different than how you were socialized to express gender?

2. What were your reasons for first trying polyamory? Was it your idea or a partner’s? Did you have any models in your community for successful polyamorous relationships?

3. What was the most empowering experience you’ve had in polyamory?

4. What was the hardest situation to handle in a polyamorous relationship? Looking back, what would you have done differently, if anything?

5. What kinds of insecurities did polyamory raise? Did they concern your gender or body image? How did you handle these insecurities?

6. How have you felt most empowered in polyamory? How has it felt expansive, liberatory, or healing?

7. Do you have a different kind of intimacy with lovers than with friends? Who are you more likely to turn to for emotional support?

8. How do your expectations change based on what kind of relationship you’re in? Do you have different standards of behavior for partners and lovers?

9. Has polyamory ever made you feel silenced, or unable to ask for what you needed?
What have your relationships with your lover’s other lovers been like? How have you handled feelings of jealousy and competition? How have you handled your partner’s jealousy?

10. Tell me a little about your best relationship, polyamorous or otherwise, and what made it work so well.

11. Today, what is your ideal relationship?

12. Do you want to see the zine before it’s published? Do you want a copy mailed to you? If so, let me know how to reach you.

Please send your stories to: polypatriarchyzine@gmail.com, or mail them to 4951 Catharine St., Philadelphia, PA 19143.

I also welcome your analysis and thoughts about sexual politics, polyamory, and this project – thanks!

I have a bunch of new zines and some new books for the distro! at riot grrrr distro
Including SCAM! The First 4 Issues!

Also, I just looked at Mimi Distro, and it is so great! Check it out at mimizinedistro.wordpress.com

I'll be teaching a workshop Nov. 13 at the Queer Influx conference in Columbus!
Check it out at http://queerinflux.wordpress.com/convergence-schedule/

Two call for submissions: one about being a survivor - and how did you survive
and one about Gender
see links and descriptions below.


dear sister anthology


Many survivors already know this: that after you are raped, you are never the same person again. More specifically, someone has died and new person is born. And like a newborn, the new person must learn first how to survive and then eventually, live.

The five stages of grief is a psychological theory. It outlines and supposes five stages of emotional battle the can occurs in the aftermath of loss.

The first stage is denial.

Survivors may tell themselves it never happened. It wasn’t rape. The person who did this is my friend, my boyfriend, girlfriend, relative, lover, spouse, neighbor. It wasn’t rape.

The second stage is anger.

Survivors can live in a room full of anger, resentment, bitterness, self-blame and self-loathing for weeks, months, sometimes years. They have recognized what has happened and the emotions are often overwhelming.

Bargaining is the third stage.

Bargaining is giving ourselves false hope because we cannot deal with our reality. We look to recover what was lost or taken. We lost our sense of wholeness and cannot deal with our brokenness, so we jump into a relationship, alcohol, drugs, work, sex…believing that if we do something, we will get what we once had. Bargaining looks different for everyone, but regardless of what the behavior is, the hope is trying to get back what cannot be recovered.

Fourth stage is depression

Nearly every survivor will combat depression in some form. Disinterest in previously enjoyed activities, frequent crying spells, trouble sleeping, sleeping too much, changes in appetite. There are numerous symptoms of depression and most survivors will describe it in two words: dark numbness.

The fifth stage is acceptance.

Acceptance doesn’t mean that we’re happy or that we don’t revisit the other stages from time to time. Acceptance means acknowledging that something has lost and we are not the same person as before. A new way of living must be learned and while the road is long, a first step was taken.

As a survivor, do you remember a certain stage you may have experienced? Do you remember moving through that part of your life? What got you through? When did you turn the corner? Who helped you?

In your letter, remember that the survivor is in a raw place, perhaps not even certain of what just happened. Focus not on the darkness, but what brought you to the next place, on what acceptance looked like for you. What brought you into the light?


call for submissions for Alex zine.
alex zine

why gender, and what is alex looking for? gender is something everybody has and few understand, despite the volumes written on the subject already. alex is looking for personal essays, poems, or other forms of expression that get at what gender means to YOU and how do you LIVE gender. topics could be about anything, and might gesture at: what is gender? how does it affect you? do you feel like you have a gender? how do you want others to see you and how do you see yourself? do your thoughts on your own gender shift? what is getting dressed like? what is it like to walk around as you? how do your political ideas about gender enter your daily life (or do they)? what else springs to mind when you think about the topic? tell some stories. this is a good chance to write something a “normal” editor wouldn’t take on, something you’re still sorting out. this is a great chance to write about something that scares you.

new zines to my distro!

Keep Track: Pocket Calender
This is my little calender. It should be out by Dec 15! Fits in your pocket! You write in the dates. There are two pages for each month, then four pages for notes between months. Perfect for if the Slingshot calender has too much space for you.

All I Want is Everything #1
Well written, articulate personal/feminist zine. The first article is about getting out of a long-term abusive relationship. There are articles about victim blaming, refusing to live in the past, pop culture, and much more. It's really good!

Love Letters to Monsters #3 / Alabama Grrrl #9 split
I haven't even finished this yet, but it is my favorite loveletters zine so far, and I'm so excited about Alabama Grrrl too!
Ciara's side is more memoir like than usual, still political, but not as much indignation. The first story is partially about her mom. I have a number of friends who's mom's are homeless or close to homeless, kind of crazy or really crazy, and there is something so confusing about mothers needing care, and when to draw the line. I struggled with it a lot with my mom, and felt so alone. I am always really grateful when people get the courage to write about their complicated relationships like this.
She writes about community and how overused that word is, and wanting laughter. writing, mental and physical health, running a distro. It's like a long story. It's good.

Alabama Grrrl is about being queer and punk in the late 90's in Pittsburgh, "Things I wished I would've known before going to grad school," a love-letter breakup letter to the violent/misogynistic scene that is happening in her town, hoping it will energize new kids to create a safer place.


Cometbus #51 The Lonliness of the Electric Menorah
A story about two bookstores in Berkeley that were started in the underground in the 60's, and we were forever trying to get our zines into. Why didn't they support us? It was strange.
This zine is almost like a fable, and is about a lot more than just these two bookstores. It's about how partnerships come together and how they get subverted. Based on long interviews with a zillion people.

Cometbus #52 The Spirit of St Louis
a story of a group of punks, how they try to make or unmake a life and scene. It's second title is "How to Break Your Own Heart, a tragedy in 24 parts.

Kerbloom 85These little pretty zines have been coming out forever, every two months. They are done on letterpress, which is the kind of printing press where you have to put each letter in one at a time.
This is my favorite one in awhile. "I would say that each of us is a star, that we form constellations, and that these constellations change."

Sassy and Peanut

at my distro click here for distro

the ovens. CDR
Featured band of the season! The Ovens! Two peice feminist band from Chicago! Check it out by clicking here!listen to This Disaster Was Brought To You By Heterosexuality

Keep Track: Pocket Calender
This is my little calender and pocket organizer! Cute drawings! Fits in your pocket! There are two pages for each month, with four blank pages with little drawings for taking notes and making lists.
The calender part has blank spots for you to fill in the dates, so that you can start at any time, but if you want me to fill it in, I will.

When the Crash Meets Something Solid Issue #002: Hewers of Water
stories, essays, and poetry about drug addiction; sex work - which she did at first by choice, and then how it got twisted; abuse, and survival
powerful and good

The Worst: A Compilation Zine on Grief and Loss: Issue 2
A new issue of this beautiful zine, thick and full of stories and articles about grief and dealing with death.
I read it a month ago, and I can't remember for sure, but it seemed like this one had more stories from people who were a little older and had more time/distance from the deaths they were writing about, where as the first issue seemed more immediate. Both are so useful! Both have a wide variety of stories.

Truckface #14
Excellent zine! about her second year of teaching high-school. very funny, extremely tragic, inspiring, depressing, politics, comics, everything you could ask for. I love this zine!
It also has stories about life outside of school - starting a feminist band (the Ovens), bad roommates, and more!
Every new teacher and everyone thinking of becoming a teacher should read this, plus everyone else should too!

Truckface #13
Thick little zine about LB's first (hellish) year of teaching highschool. In which she gets named "The Nose" by her students. Deals with a class of 8 bad apples - and how to teach, how to stay sane. Almost decided to not continue teaching. Deals with the religious right protesting at the school (for having a Gay-Straight Alliance), this zine is great and has a million funny/sad stories.
I wish all my friends who were going into their first year of teaching could read this zine! and everyone else too!

Truckface #12
"How do you become an authority figure when you yourself are anti-authoritarian? Questions that should have been asked prior to enrolling in teaching school."

student teaching in Chicago - dealing with bitter, assimilationist teachers; desperation and violence among students (24 students murdered this school year... and school authorities decided that tucking in shirts is the solution); dancing in class with the students, students talking about racism and discrimination, immigration, bravery.

When Lanugage Runs Dry #3:A Zine for People with Chronic Pain and Their Allies
another issue of this great zine. Issue #3 has a beautifully written peice about brain injury; an article about parenting with chronic pain; a comic/theory about Fibromyalgia and invisible illness; a conversation/interview between a step-mother and daughtor about what it was like to have a step-mother who was experiencing chronic pain; and an article about the workbook Living Beyond Your Pain: Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to Ease Chronic Pain

Here is Microcosm's statement and my response.

Microcosm's Statement:
It has been way too long since Cindy Crabb asked us to write a public statement regarding allegations of Joe Biel’s history of emotional abuse and manipulation. It is not because we have chosen to ignore this issue. On the contrary, we have spent many hours discussing this topic. But we are not writing today to provide excuses. We hope to provide some answers and to encourage more questions.

Cindy is right that collectives need to confront abuse in all its forms by members within their collectives, even if it is just a collectively-ran business, but especially when that business lays claim to radical politics. It is for this reason that we want to say that we do recognize Joe’s history of emotional abuse and manipulation. Not just with Alex, but within other relationships as well. We know that Joe has been involved in one failed mediation attempt with Alex. We also know that he was involved in a more recent process that fell apart (this was outlined in posts by Cindy and Alex). Unfortunately, the collective was made aware of this latter accountability process only shortly before it fell apart. We, the collective and Joe, have recently started working with a counselor who is helping us to reconcile many issues within the collective. We do not believe this is a replacement for a larger accountability process, but we do see it as an important first step for our involvement and for the betterment of Microcosm as a collectively-ran company.

We recognize and agree with the statement put out by the Athens Support Network, who mediated the last accountability process.

“Joe is in therapy, and we feel that he is making progress through therapy. He has identified a large number of behavior issues and has done work and continues to do work to change them. He believes that he honors Alex’s experience. We, however, feel that he still has extreme problems with control, manipulation, defensiveness, and portraying himself as the victim.”
We have noticed some positive improvements in Joe’s behavior, but he does have a long way to go. We do believe that he can work through this and therefore choose, at this time, to continue working with him. We welcome suggestions on how we, the collective, can better facilitate this process. In the meantime, we will continue to work through this and figure things out as we go.

Cindy also pointed out that she would like more transparency about how things are run at microcosm. For that reason, we will soon be releasing some information on our website about how we run things. We honestly want to be a more transparent organization (which is why we’ve started posting annual financial statements). Over the past year, we have begun to change and implement a lot of new policies to help spread power among all of the collective members. We are excited about these changes and equally excited to share them with you.

Alex was right in that we need to hear from you. We know that Microcosm could be better and we want it to be so. For that reason, we need to know what it is that you think we need to fix. We’ve already heard some great things and we’ve worked to improve those. We’ll share more about that later, though. We want the focus to stay where Cindy and others have asked us to focus it for now - on Joe’s accountability.

Thank you Cindy, Alex, Ciara, and everyone who has put pressure on us to make change. It is a wonderful example of collective action. And we hope it proves that while we may be relatively large in the zine world, we are still just a small group of people who still love the community we are a part of and hope to make it a better place.

With sincerity and humility,
The Microcosm Collective


In response to Microcosms statement about Joes manipulative and abusive behavior.

This statement is to let it be known that despite Microcosms recent public statement finally acknowledging Joe Biel’s abusive and manipulative behavior, I will not be distributing Doris though Microcosm any longer. They published Doris 23, the Doris Anthology, the Support zine and Learning Good Consent, so I don’t have control of those publications.

In July, 2010, I asked Microcosm to write a statement, or have each collective member contact me with a personal statement, as a precondition to my continuing to work with them. I was following my sincere belief that organizations should have a chance to admit to the abusive behaviors of members, and that as long as they show a commitment to change, they should not necessarily be shunned. Below is part of the statement I made.

I believe that collectives, even when they are just collective businesses, are responsible for confronting issues of patriarchy (and other forms of domination) within their collectives, and working on change and transparency. I believe that Joe's behavior stems from patriarchy … the communication/manipulation models he uses are … patriarchtical.
In order to feel comfortable continuing to be published by Microcosm, I would need to know either from each collective member or from the collective as a whole (with a minority dissenting opinion) that they don't think Alex was crazy or that the attempts to deal with the situation are a witch-hunt. I would need to know from each member, or the collective as a whole (with a minority dissenting opinion,) that the collective recognizes that Joe still has issues with control and manipulation… I need to feel like the collective takes this seriously and does not put the burden of instigating change on the survivor/s, or on people negatively affected by Joe's behavior.

I do believe there are good people who work at Microcosm. I don’t want those people to suffer because of Joe’s behavior. I wanted to give the workers at Microcosm a chance to show their commitment to confronting Joe’s manipulative behavior, and a chance to make a strong stance against abuse. The statement that was recently released by Microcosm is too little, too late. I can’t believe it took 6 months to write a statement that could easily be summed up as “we agree with the statement made by the Athens Support Network.” Microcosm’s statement gives the impression that Joe has made more changes than he has.

I was hopeful that Microcosm might be able to take a strong stand against abuse. I feel like they failed. If this statement had come out immediately, and they had followed up with concrete examples of change months later, that would have been great. If they had waited six months and come up with a statement that firmly placed the responsibility of change on Joe’s feet, discussed concrete changes the collective was making to deal with his abusive behavior, and took a strong stand against abuse, that would have been great. This statement is very weak, particularly considering that Joe’s abuse has been known for years.

There have also been a number of incidents and issues that have come up since I made my request for a public statement that have contributed to my decision to not work with Microcosm anymore:

- I had asked that a public statement be made or that each collective member contact me with a statement about their beliefs. I received two statements, both of which referred to problems between Joe and Alex; neither called it abuse.

- Joe wrote a statement about his behavior, which I found extremely disturbing. Among other problems, it was very minimizing of Alex’s experiences of abuse, and minimizing of the extent of his current manipulative behavioral problems.

- I had a number of business discussions with people at Microcosm, where the communication was unclear and I felt like I was being manipulated.

- I was told by someone at Microcosm that they were unclear what exactly Microcosm would need to do for me to continue working with them. This was months after I had made these conditions known. Often, in accountability situations, the perpetrator and the people who benefit from continued friendship/relationship with the perpetrator want to know exactly what needs to be done to fix it. This need for an exact recipe puts the burden back on the survivor/people who support the survivor.

All of these things have added to my feeling that the collective is not taking Joe’s abusive patterns seriously.

I would like to take this chance to clear up some misconceptions about the accountability process I was involved in with Joe:

In late 2009, Joe told me that he had been in intensive therapy, had changed, and had no way of clearing his name. I helped set up an accountability team that was designed to confirm that Joe had recognized and changed his behavior; to help him deal with rumors, and to help him make amends. It was not designed to be a full accountability process.

Early on, it became clear that Joe still had very abusive/manipulative behaviors and that he was unwilling to own up to most of it. Joe had lied about the level of changes he had made. Because of this, the accountability process was disbanded.

I am disgusted by Joe’s abuse of his former partner, disgusted by his continuing manipulative behavior. I do not think he has even begun to make the kinds of fundamental changes necessary. I take abuse very seriously and while I think there are some people in Microcosm who are committed to working for a world without abuse, I also think there is complicity within the organization. I have been disturbed by my recent interactions with people working at Microcosm. I am glad they made a public statement, and that they have a counselor helping them deal with internal issues but am skeptical about their priorities, since they have not posted their public statement on their website. I feel mistrustful of the organization. I have a hard time not thinking that most people just signed on to the statement, hoping to save their pants. I understand that they have been working to be more transparent. I hope that they are able to change. I, however, will not be working with Microcosm any longer.

I'm working on doing more selling zines direct to stores, and since I haven't been traveling around much lately, I need your help! Let me know if you know of any stores that carry zines! I already sell directly to some - like Woodenshoe, Red Emmas, City Lights, Powells, Bound Together, Needles and Pens, Downtown Books and News, Quimbys... but I know there are a lot more stores out there that I don't know about.
Thanks!!

New zines! at click here for distro

Filling the Void: interviews about quitting drinking and using
Super inspiring! A great resource for people trying to quit. Not spiritual or straight-edge. 8 interviews with people who have quit drinking and/or using. Frank discussions and stories about the positive and negative roles drinking/using had in their lives, why they decided to quit, what they struggled with and how they managed to do it.
interviewees include Erick Lyle (Scam zine), Artnoose (Ker-bloom zine), Cindy (Doris zine), and John Geek (The Fleshies). Interviews conducted by and edited by Cindy and Caty Crabb

Protective Playing Cards
the most beautiful, coolest work of art I have ever seen. A real deck of cards, each card has a different amazingly beautiful drawing of protection.
you can play cards with them, keep them by your bed and look at one a day, page through them whenever you need to remember that you are not alone.

When the Crash Meets Something Solid #003
vinettes about addiction, Goddard College, pills to heroin, being in an abusive master/slave relationship with the owner of the massage place she worked - and getting away.

We Shut the City Down: Six former Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM) members reflect on the mass direct actions against the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.
On August 1, 2000, thousands of activists from the global justice movement took the streets of Philadelphia for direct action against police brutality and the prison industrial complex during the Republican National Convention. Hundreds were arrested, and many were held for several weeks. While helping to plan the protests, members of the Student Liberation Action Movement (SLAM), a multiracial radical activist group based in the City University of New York (CUNY), argued for the focus on police and prisons, issues vital to communities of color in the U.S. The interviews in this zine, with 6 people of color who participated as SLAM members, were conducted in July 2010. They reflect a range of perspectives on direct action, strategy and tactics, racism in the movement, reaching beyond activist scenes, and direct democracy.

My band Snarlas is going on tour this summer out West! Late June, early July. Does anyone by any chance want to lend us your van or car? We're coming in to the Bay Area Mon 27, and then going South and back up to the Bay July 2. so that's one part.
then up North, to Portland (July 6) and up and back to Portland (July 11).
so, it would be really dreamy if someone in the Bay Area would lend us a van or car for the Southern part (June 27-July2), and if someone in Portland could lend us one for the Northern part(July 6 - July 11).
I know it's probably a long shot, but I just thought I'd ask.
xx
cindy

A number of people recently have talked to me about feeling like my (and previous) generation hasn’t passed down the lessons we’ve learned from our own experience and activism. Here are few books that are full of great essays.

That’s Revolting! : Queer Strategies for Resisting Assimilation, edited by Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

I’m reading this right now and it is so excellent! A really wide range of essays. Stories from the 60’s to today, all of them really relevant. This should be on everyone’s reading list. It’s a great introduction to radical queer politics, and a great reinvigorator for those of us who have gotten comfortable in our own lives and taken a break from dealing with the world. There’s so many great essays in here, it’s hard to pick out a few to highlight, but I did really appreciate the two on Gay Marriage, one by Carol Queen. “Certainly, oppression in any context is wrong. Naturally, queer folk are irritated when straight people get benefits denied to same-sex partners … pissed off queers making a point can cause the culture to shift.” She argues that instead of trying to “squeeze our asses onto the park bench of Normalcy” it would better serve the world and ourselves if we celebrated and fought for our wonderful diversity – for more choices rather than fewer.
Another great essay is a conversation between Marlon Bailey, Priya Kandaswamy, and Mattie Udora Richardson called Is Gay Marriage Racist. They discuss all kinds of questions people pose in support of gay marriage (questions I’ve had myself) and provide alternative ways of looking at these questions.
There are so many other topics covered in this book. Rural queer teens, activism from the 60’s and today. Performance Art, Protests, Pipe bombs, Sex, Films, Queer Radio, more and more and more.

Uses of a Whirlwind: Movements and Contemporary Radical Currents in the United States, edited by Team Colors Collective

I’ve heard the Team Colors has a pretty theoretical and hard to understand website, and this book does start out with a pretty inaccessible introduction and first essay, but after that, it is really useful. The essay A Look at Resistance to Interstate 69 by Earth First, discusses lessons learned about positive and problematic roles activists play when they come into a community they are not from to organize and do direct action – lessons I’ve seen activists have to learn over and over, so I’m grateful someone has written about it! Another essay I really liked was Harvesting Solidarity: Farmworkers, Allies and the Fight for Fair Food, which talks about a successful campaign for Florida tomato workers against Burger King and Taco Bell. It discusses tactics and how the coalition between farmworkers and students worked.
There’s an essay about queer activism (an autobiographical essay about why the Human Rights Campaign sucks and why pushing for hate crime legislation is not the answer), and an essay about current art activism. There’s a section on theoretical analysis. This book is a little disjointed and has more theory than I generally am drawn to, there are some essays that seemed like they were written for an audience that doesn't know much of anything about alternative culture, but I would hate to see it lost to the theory heads, because there is a lot of great info in here that I think would be particularly useful to younger or new activists. Also important for seasoned activists to get us thinking of how to think about and articulate our experiences and what can be learned from them.

From Act Up to the WTO
I must have leant this out, because I can’t find it. I’ve leant it out so much and everyone loves it. It is a history of Queer activism from mainly the 80’s and 90’s. So much of our history, even our current history, gets disappeared, and this book helps

I'll be in Chicago for the Chicago zine fest - reading on Fri 25, doing a writing workshop Sat at 11 am, and tabeling. Come visit!

Doris 28 is finally out!!!!
you can order it though my website at doris distro
or by mail, 2.60 to
cindy crabb
pobox 29
Athens OH 45701

horray!!!

also, we're starting a Girls Rock Camp here in Ohio this summer!
check it out at
athensrockcamp

There's a ton of new zines in the distro! doris distro
Fifteen

if you want a story that will make you suspicious of every teenager you meet!" This is the best written zine I've read in awhile. It's Mia's first zine. She wrote it when she was 15. I'm not sure if it's truth or fiction, but it's really good, disturbing, bitter. sex, drugs, getting locked up, the hypocrisy and blindness of adults, and of herself. Not for the light-of-heart or the easily offended.

I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself:a series of rants

another great zine by Mia (of Fifteen zine). This one is about being mixed race. Articles about hair, and the lack of representation in the media, dealing with racism and stereotypes, and more. Really good!

Brainscan #26:so what's the deal with you and Microcosm

If you've been wondering what the problems with Microcosm Publishing are, this zine lays out Joe Beils abusive behaviors, failed attempts to hold him accountable, and what can be done about it.

Cometbus #54: in China with Green Day

Aaron goes on tour with Green Day to China! Epic. More than a travel zine. The part I liked best was talking about how selling out is judged, but people just giving up their creative lives and doing nothing really worthwhile is not judged.


Adorn #21

very intense and brave zine about rape, abusive relationships and drug abuse, and becoming sober. There are sweet lists of good things in her life between the painful recollections and despair.

No Better Than Apples #7

really pretty zine, beautiful drawings and layout. I've been missing this kind of zine. a fragmented journey into her life that leaves you wanting to know more. love and tour and unresolved family demons. The helpless feeling of trying to take care of a sick mother. I know this feeling, and how alone I felt in it, how much of a secret it seemed. There is a story in here about visiting one of my all time favorite authors, Kate Millett! There's just so much in this thick little zine.

All Things Ordinary #4

A sweet zine, mostly of letters to people in his family telling them how much they mean to him. It's so nice. I wish we all did this kind of thing more often.

The Apple Pickers Union #2: Tow Chain: A monologue about my Experiences at Camp Trans 2010

Pissed off, funny and intense zine written by Curious Jane, who was an organizer of Camp Trans (outside the Michigans Women's Fest, which is/was a "women born women" space - I think they might have a don't ask don't tell policy now, I can't remember for sure.)
This zine kicks ass! It is partially about a situation that happened at the camp, where a tow truck driver threatened the Camp Trans people with a Tow Chain. I mean scary threatening, and the security at Mich.Fest defended the Tow Truck dude. This zine is a scathing critique of Patriarchy, Second Wave Feminism, and "community".

Snarlas will be playing May 24 in Columbus at the 15th street house, and May 30 in Athens OH at the Smiling Skull. Also, there's a Girls Rock Camp benefit show May 27 at Subama Women's Land, near Athens. It's women only trans inclusive. We'll be in Chattanooga TN for Do You Hear We Fest, June 3-5!

More new zines in the distro doris distro

!!!!!!!!!!Featured Music of the Season!!!!!!!!!!
Wild Miners CDR
singer/songwriter, sultry, beautiful singing. She's in a band called Octopus and Owl now, which should be on tour this summer, so check it out. click here
listen to wild miners

Shotgun Seamstress #5
A zine by and for black punks, queers, feminists, artists, musicians. Articles about bands Death and ESG, interviews with DJ Soul Sister, Aye Naico and Kicktease. plus a critique of corporate sponsored Afro-punk

Rad Girlz: my struggles with sexism, racism and violence
looking personally and critically about how sexism and violence have shaped her life. what it means that all white people are racist, what it mean politically and in her life. She talks about being queer, trying to reclaim her sexuality, dealing with eating disorders and cutting.

When the Crash Meets Something Solid #6: organs of voice and respiration
deals with time spent in the sex industry, drug addiction and recovery and being a mother. Poems and stories and journal entries.

The "T" Word: pass the mission
a zine made by Tranzmission about all kinds of stuff - How to be a good ally, language definitions, poems, personal stories, flyers from events, questioning DIY ethics in the Trans Liberation Movement, transexual prisoners, and reading recommendations. Procededs go to Transmission Prison Books Project

When the Crash Meets Something Solid #007: Widowmaker
continuation of the story of sexindustry and addiction. This one has a section on an abusive relationship she got out of in 2009.

We'll be playing in Columbus May 24, with Pink Houses and Lose the Tude, at the Villa Villa Kula house.
then on may 30 in Athens OH with Street Legal at Smiling Skull
June 4, Chattanooga TN at the Do You Hear We fest!

I only have 8 more pages to write for the Doris Encyclopedia, which is Doris 19-27 plus a bunch of new writing, interviews, and articles I wrote for MaximumRockandRpll and other zines! I'm taking pre-orders on a fundraising website called Kickstarter. click here to link
Spread the word!
thanks so much!!!
It's scheduled to be printed by the end of July!!!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/369768719/the-doris-encyclopedia

New zines to doris distro
Encyclopedia of Doris: stories, essays, interviews
Issues 19-27 of Doris zine plus a bunch of stuff that was printed in other zines and a bunch of new writing! It will be coming out in the beginning of August!

The Papas
this zine by Spoonboy goes with the record of his band The Papas, but I got some zines separately because they are really good and important. It has a really good story/essay about cultural myths - the way masculinity is portraid and taught us; captialism, suicide, queerness and fighting back. also some ways to challenge patriarchy and reprints of really great articles "Masculinity and Homophobia, by Michael Kimmel; I Want a 24 Hour Truce During Which There Is No Rape by Andrea Dworkin; and excerpts from The Will to Change by bell hooks

Eleven Months
written by Paul who wrote the Don't be A Dick zine, Eleven Months is a zine about their "experience teaching in the jail in downtown Seattle. It is a mix of experiences, dreams, analysis, rumors, reflections...an attempt to condense a magnificent, traumatic, grueling experience into something to share with others"

Without Words + Without Kneeling: the first six issues

Written by Tom of Rad Dad zine. This zine is a way to explore books about Anarchism from different viewpoints. I really love it. It's fiction - and the story is about an anarchist study group. Each charater is nicely developed and comes from different perspectives - all of which are really relatable. They discuss the books, but mostly the different ideas and viewpoints come out in their lives and realtionships with eachother. Hard to explain but cool. Books discussed include Crimethinc, Anarchism and it's Aspirations by Cindy Milstein, Pacifism as Pathology by Churchill, The Philosophy of Punk and more.

Virgin #1
This zine is about being a virgin, being ok with it, and how the rest of the world does not seem to think it's ok. It's about being queer, NOT asexual, crushes she's had, assumptions people make, and more.

Virgin #2
Contributor issue: stories and articles dealing with disability, asexuality, rape, the marketing of virginity, self-image, etc

When the Crash Meets Something Solid #008: Something Very Ugly

another installment of Gabrielles zine about time she spent in the sex industry in Minneapolis, her herion/drug addiction and recovery.

Upcoming Reading Tour:
August 11: Asheville NC, Malaprops Bookstore
September 23: Baltimore MD, Anarchist book fair; 6:00
September 24: Philadelpia PA, Wooden Shoe Bookstore; 7:00
September 25: NYC, Bluestockings Bookstore
September 26: Brooklyn, Bookthug Nation
September 27: North Hampton, MA, Food For Thought
September 28: may be somewhere in Vermont
September 29-30: Montreal
October 1-2:
October 3: Toronto
October 4: Pittsburgh