It will come as no surprise to anyone if I confess that 2023 was a painful year. It seems to be the prevailing theme since COVID hit, and that certainly rings true for me. There was plenty of good as well (and I’ll get to that) but this past year was dominated by sorrow and disappointment.
I lost my mom in June of 2022, with whom I was very close, and the remainder of that year, along with most of 2023, was going through all the motions and emotions that came with that; dealing with mountains of paperwork, cleaning, funeral arrangements, and of course the crushing waves of grief.
Thankfully, I had plenty of support from my family but it’s still a daily, weekly, monthly grind on top of trying to keep my new-ish writing career on track and being there for my kids and my wonderful wife, who was brave enough to go back in school full time. And then, in quick succession I tore my shoulder in a bad way and a project that meant a lot to me, and one I’d invested real time and money into, fell apart. It was a huge kick in the gut while I was struggling to get up and I’m still feeling incredibly burned by the whole thing. But then along came Bongo, our rescue dog from Mexico. He came to us with a shattered upper leg/hip and found me with a broken heart and we’ve been pretty much inseparable ever since.
Little by little over the last couple of months I began to find hope again - the light creeping in when I least expected it.
My wife was close to finishing school, progress was being made on other books, and LOTUS LAND, my current mini-series with BOOM! Studios was out and well received. So regardless of everything that had transpired over the year, I’m headed into 2024 feeling cautiously optimistic.
LOTUS LAND will continue to be on shelves from now though April 2024 when the sixth and final issue hits shelves. And we’re looking at launching PRECIOUS METAL soon after that which, as I’ve mentioned before, is undoubtedly the most ambitious thing I’ve ever done. And then my graphic novella with Erin Connally and Aditya Bidikar, THE CUTTING GARDEN will release shortly after that. So it’s quite possible that I’ll have something on the shelf ever month next year, which will be a first for me and a trend I’ll be working to maintain with at least two new projects in the works that I’ll announce here sometime next year.
All in all, despite all the hardships and disappointments, I tend to get out of bed every morning determined to make the most of my day. Some days I skip downstairs for a cup of coffee, and an early walk with Bongo, and some days I push myself off the ground in what feels like round 12 in a weight class I don’t belong in (hello, imposter syndrome). But I DO get up. Thanks for sticking with me. I’ll do my best to make it worth while.
ON THE SHELF!
The second printing of LOTUS LAND #1 is in shops now. Get it because it’s the start of something very special. And because the cover is by LOTUS LAND co-creator Caio Filipe, and he is amazing.
LOTUS LAND #2 is in shops THIS WEDNESDAY, Dec 20th. Do not miss it!
And finally, FINAL ORDER CUT OFF for LOTUS LAND #3 is on Monday, December 18th, and on shelves mid-January with gorgeous covers from series regular, Alex Eckman-Lawn with variant cover from Aaron Campbell and Sebastian Fiumara.
Oh, if you’re still reading I’d like to ask you a favour. I currently have just over 300 subscribers to this newsletter and I’d love to hit 400 by the end of the year. So if you know someone who might be interested in keeping up with some cool comics, and occasional life updates by their writer, then maybe you can recommend subscribing.
The bigger our little club gets, the more time and effort I can focus into making this something special.
Happy Holidays, everyone. Be good to yourself. xo, Darcy