I'm totally thrilled to have a piece in this month's Dirty Comics Show at the Center for Sex and Culture! If you're going to be in San Francisco this weekend for Alternative Press Expo, you should definitely make a side trip and see all the queer and sex-positive artwork from 30+ artists. Hot!!!

So...this week's page concludes the book Bits and Pieces--hope you've enjoyed reading all 99 stories over the past two and a half years. Today also marks the end of the weekly update schedule for a while. I'm taking some time off from the updates--from the demands of the internet in general--and resolving to spend more free time with friends and family. My next comics project is going to be a bit of a departure and I want to give it time and space to coalesce. In the meantime, my plan is to keep maintaining the site, and keep posting content (albeit on an unscheduled basis).

Anyway, readers, if you want to get in touch with me (or buy my book!) the "Email" and "Store" pages above are still active, and I'd love to hear from you.

Warm regards,

Michelle

Hi y'all,

Just wanted to let my lovely loyal readers know that there won't be a new comic posted on Thursday the 14th. (Cause I'm hitting the beach!) The update will be posted the following Thursday, the 21st.

Thanks for reading,

Michelle

I'm very pleased to announce that my book, Bits and Pieces: A Girlfiend Comics Collection, is now available in the new store. (Due to some continuing issues with the printer/distributor, I will be filling orders myself for the time being.) Order your copy today!

Hi readers, and thanks for visiting! Some of you might have noticed a few changes to the website. Actually, there's been a lot of changes, but the biggest ones aren't visible. See, for the last couple of years I've been hosting the site off a modified (read: nerd-rigged) Blogger.com platform, with domain-name masking and a few other work-arounds. That worked pretty well, but left me vulnerable to outages and the sorta vague terms-of-service clause at Blogger. So, Sarah's been working real hard to port the Blogger template-based design into a stand-alone html/css document, and move all the content to my own hosting service. And voila! I think it looks great.

One change regular readers might like is that you can now view all the stories from the upcoming Bits and Pieces book on one big archive page, as thumbnails. So if you remember a particular story or character that you liked, you can easily revisit it even if you don't remember the title. I've also added the back catalog of Girl Trouble to the archive--it's a short-format strip that began when I was 16 or so and ended when I finished college.

Hope everyone's enjoying the updates (well, besides those of you who contacted me a couple of weeks ago over that one story.)

Cheers and queers,

Michelle

So, I finished the book--actually, I finished it back in like, October, but it's taken a while to get all the layouts and formatting done. Here's the front cover! The title is Bits and Pieces: A Girlfiend Comics Collection and it's going to be a handsome 8" x 10.5" softcover of 114 pages. I'm super excited about this release, in case you couldn't tell.

I was hoping to have the book available by the end of the year, but unfortunately I ran into a couple of snags with the printer I chose and had to switch to another print company. It's nothing major, though, and Bits and Pieces will be coming to you in hopefully probably not more than a few weeks!

What's next? Well, updates will continue as usual through the spring of next year while I run through the rest of the Bits and Pieces material. Then...we'll see. There's good things coming, but I'm not sure what form they're going to take, or what the update schedule will be. I'm already hard at work on a second book that somewhat of a departure from what I usually write. For one thing, it's a graphic novel, and the draft is already clocking in around 200 pages. I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to serialize it here on GirlfiendComics.com, or divide my time between the novel and another kind of update. Stay tuned!

A problem with my cable company prevented me from posting my Thursday update this morning, but it's up now. Thanks for reading, y'all. (If I was "hip" and "with it" I'd be posting this from my "smart phone," but I've only just learned that Starbucks has free wi-fi.)

Not much time for blahgging lately, but with good reason--I've been keeping really busy with all kinds of stuff. I started a new job three months ago, and that's going well. I finished the book (yay!) and am now embroiled in the tedious process of editing it for publication, and also laying plans for a second book. Also, I'm getting a lot more weekends off from work now, so I'm getting to spend lots of time with Sarah--here's us celebtrating our anniversary in Galveston a couple of weeks ago.

Girlfiend Comics was recently profiled in an online lesbian magazine, The Pink Elephant. Check it out here. (Illustration is the one I did for the article.)

So, it's been pretty great being unemployed these last couple of months. I've been able to do a lot of things that I'm usually to busy to enjoy: hang out with college buddies, cook fresh meals for Sarah, play Age of Empires III, even do some scrapbooking. I'm really, really blessed and happy. But all good things must come to an end, and I've accepted a job and am ready to start in a couple of weeks. It's better hours than I'm used to, and better money--I think it's going to be great, actually.

But I know what y'all really want to know about--the comic. The book is coming along, though I may have fallen behind by a few weeks. It's so close and yet so far. I only have around 15 pen-and-ink pages to complete, but those 15 pages are taking forever. It's been mostly play and no work, for a change.

I've been making all my updates, though! Here's some commentary:

Sweet Sue and Myrtle: So far, this is the only story in the series with a male narrator. I really like how it turned out. I have a great desire to expand the boundaries of the Girlfiend Comics world so it includes more fantasy elements, instead of just dykes talking to each other in coffee shops.

Art Fair Antics: Inspired by the annual art festival in Richardson, Texas, where I used to go every year. I never bought anything, but the people-watching is just out of this world. This year, we made bingo cards to check off all the weirdos and pretendoids. Also inspired by brilliantly terrible art in the movie Art School Confidential.

The Third Wheel: Just some dykes talking in a coffee shop, but I like it anyway. Especially the character designs--you're going to be seeing bald girl again for sure. If I'm hanging out in the bar drawing and someone asks to see my work, this is the page I pull out a photocopy of. Because it's cute and snappy and doesn't have any nudity.

City Gal, Country Gal: It's hard to keep a relationship together when you have drives that are completely opposite. (It also doesn't help when one of you is a total selfish bitch.) One day I will learn how to draw animals.

What Went Wrong (In Four Words): This page was inspired by that special moment in a new relationship when you're called upon to distill your complex and messy former breakups down to a sentence or two. Or even four words. I like the wino in panel seven.

The Skirt: Who doesn't have a lucky piece of clothing that makes them feel irresistible and in charge, no matter what? Grey pencil skirts are universally flattering, but in this case, they're just might be more to it than that. Knowing Blogger, the sexy sheep in panel nine will probably get my blog disappeared for bestiality.

Here's a few pictures from me and Sarah's Alaskan cruise. We had a fabulous time and saw so much, but I'll try to keep it short and sweet. (If you use Flickr, you can view the set here.)



We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard downtown. This is the view out the window.



We took a riverboat cruise in Portland (Thanks for the wedding gift, Ben!) and saw these neat houseboats lining the river.



The captain let Sarah steer the boat under a bridge--man, was that scary!



While in the harbor, we got great views of the Seattle skyline and Puget Sound.



Sarah in the lobby of the cruise ship, looking so handsome for the first formal dress night at sea.



Oh yeah. Michi dressed up, too.



Sarah lookin' a little less classy at the Past Guest Reception party onboard. Free cocktails, anyone?



Michi's serene expression comes from eating the most delicious smoked Salmon in Skagway, Alaska.



Sarah with one of the fancy ladies at the historic Red Onion Saloon in Skagway.



Snow-capped mountains at White Pass Summit, Skagway.



We couldn't resist playing in 20-ft snowdrifts!



A day of scenic cruising in Tracy Arm Fjord. We saw whales, porpoises, grizzly bears, eagles--but none of those slippery seals.



Money shot of Mendenhall glacier in Juneau.



For my birthday, Sarah took me on the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour, aka the Deadliest Catch Tour. I can't believe I got to see a real live king crab!



Eagles nesting in Ketchikan, Alaska.



Michi trying to look pretty--it's hard with all that gorgeous scenery around!



Back in Seattle, chilis at Pike Place Market make me homesick for Texas.

Some people may have had trouble accessing the Girlfiend Comics website this morning, thanks to Blogger randomly misplacing my site. Problem seems to be fixed now.

In case you're wondering: "Sweet Sue and Myrtle" is the update for this week, posted early for your reading pleasure. The next update will be Thursday, June 3 May 27.

Last week's comic takes the form of a conversation with the fabulous Liz Luscious, who's basically a composite character of different strippers/escorts I've met in college and afterwards. Not strictly a queer story, I guess, but there seem to be so many bi/lesbian women who are sex workers that it certainly qualifies. (And Liz, I'm pretty sure, is bi--I'm working on a longer story about her for later.) Speaking of which, I saw a great documentary last week, Live Nude Girls Unite! about a group of San Fransisco peep show ladies organizing to fight unsafe and illegal employment practices in their club. Not a new film--I think it came out in like, 2000--but it was very funny and inspiring.

In this week's "The Proposal," Janice conjures up all sorts of crazy outcomes when Jessi suggests bringing a third party into the bedroom. Uh oh--lesbian drama happening in 3...2...1... Actually, I don't think Jessi really wants to have a threesome at all--she just gets off on watching her lover act all flustered. Anyway, read it quick because next week's update is going to be posted a few days early, by the end of the weekend.

"Surprise, Surprise": This one is about settling, especially in a new relationship. Like, when you can tell right away that the person isn't right for you or is setting terms you don't like, but maybe you haven't had a date in a while so you find yourself inexplicably revising your list of dealbreakers. As in, "Sure, she's an unemployed, chain-smoking Star Wars fan with herpes--but I ought to be able to see past the little things."

"Lesbotron 3000": Uh, this one's about a lesbian robot love slave.

I'm still trying to learn to use Photoshop and draw with the Wacom tablet. These are characters for a new short story project I'm working on.

So, Free Comic Book day was fun, as usual. My best friend Ben and I went to seven stores in total. (Actually eight, but one store wouldn't open their doors at 11:50 for us so we left.) In addition to the regular Free Comic Book Day editions--which seems to be mostly samples and previews this year, boo--Zeus Comics was having a sidewalk sale. I scored some back issues of The Devil's Panties, Books with Pictures, some Andi Watson comics, and issue #1 of Trina Robbins' Go Girl!, which I hope to get signed one day. And some Xena and Tank Girl comics for Sarah. I also discovered a new store for my favorites list, Madness Games and Comics in Plano. It's huge and well-stocked, they have good sales, and the staff is very helpful and friendly there.

...Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday!

Hello beautiful readers! Guess what today is! Can't guess? It's the one-year anniversary update of this lovely rebooted Girlfiend Comics webspace! WOot, woot!!

I'm excited because I have some exciting news: As you might have noticed from some scribbles on the mermaid graphic up top, as of this week, this webcomic will be going to a weekly update schedule. Every Thursday! No more cycling through your Thursday bookmarks/subscriptions and sheddin' a biweekly tear 'cause there's no new Girlfiend. Hooray!

The reasons for this change are threefold:

1. I'm getting much faster at drawing, so there's no need to murder my personal life or sleep schedule in order to make the deadline.

2. My voluntary term of unemployment is offering a great opportunity to stockpile some comics.

3. The new stuff is so nifty I'm in a big hurry to blow through the old stuff.

While I'm celebrating, I just want to say thank you all for the last year. Building a webcomic is a slow, slow process, but thanks to your loyalty and word of mouth, Girlfied 2.0 has gone from zilch to 500+ views a day. I've also gotten some great feedback and encouragement to help continue to develop a kick-ass lesbian webcomic over the coming year.

Cheers,

Michelle

I've always been a hardcore pen-and-paper kind of artist. I relish the simplicity of dragging ink across the page and making a mark with it. I enjoy being able to bring my drawing with me everywhere--being tied to a desk just feels to much like work. I also just prefer the look of an organically drawn line. Nevertheless, I think that the time has come for me to quit being such a Luddite and learn digital drawing. Not saying I'm going to convert, but who knows. I spend a hell of a lot of time erasing pencil lines, scanning, formatting, doing cleanup, et cetera--time that I could be using to create more art if I could just skip those steps. That's a tremendous incentive: To produce more, and possibly to produce better comics.

I've fiddled with Sarah's Wacom tablet in the past, and it's been a thoroughly humbling experience. It really is like learning basic drawing all over again. I'm reminded of the frustration of being a child trying to color inside the lines--you can see where the lines are, but somehow the crayon just goes everywhere, outside of the control of your wobbly hand. And don't get me started on Photoshop, one of the most powerful and intimidating computer programs ever created. There's millions of options, probably dozens of different ways to execute any one visual effect. Should be exciting, but it's mostly just terrifying.

Anyway, all this is to say, I did my first digital webcomic tonight. I hope it gets easier.