Howdy Brave Being,
Welcome to the first newsletter of the rest of your life! Totally joking, but in all seriousness thank you so much for checking out my newsletter. I’ve been toying with the idea of starting one of these things for a looong time, and finally decided to just start writing one and see how it goes. I’m going to attempt a weekly schedule—one update and three interviews with comic book creators—and hopefully it’ll be exciting when it pops up in your inbox.
In it, I’ll probably laugh at myself a lot, crossing fingers that you’ll laugh with me, and there will be puns because I’m a punny person, okay. No shame.
Here goes…
What I’m Working On
Since I’m a scribe, I spend most of my days writing and lately planning this newsletter (btw hoped you’ve subscribed, badum tsh). During the day, I write for Marvel.com—a gig I’ve had for just over three years and I absolutely love it. Often, I write about Marvel’s characters, such as the latest article, Who Is Sylvie Lushton, AKA Enchantress? Plus, I get to interview Marvel’s creators and pen pun-filled video scripts for Marvel’s Top 10 series—the latest being Top 10 X-Women.
In my spare time, I edit comics, something I’ve done off and on since 2011 starting with THE INTREPIDS. Most recently, I had the pleasure of editing the following comics, two successfully funded on Kickstarter while the others are forthcoming:
SUPER BEST FRIEND #2
AMELIA SKY #4
Something I’ve been sharing far and wide that’s near and dear to my heart is the all-ages adventure series, MIRANDA IN THE MAELSTROM vol. 1 by Riley Biehl et al. I had the honor of offering developmental edits to Riley at the very beginning of his journey to publication. It’s now available through your local comic shop or digitally on comiXology. I’d love to know what you think of it.
But wait, if you know me, I bet you’re thinking, “Doesn’t Brittany write comics too?” Why yes, I sure do! I’ve been writing comics since 2017. Shameless plug: Check out my shorts available on Gumroad for just $1. But lately, I’ve been coordinating the production of a short comic for the Western anthology OFF INTO THE SUNSET, curated by Brentt Harshman. In case you missed it, it was funded on Kickstarter and I’m working with artist Jen Hickman (Lonely Receiver) and letterer Taylor Esposito (Bunny Mask) on a 6-page short that I wrote, entitled BURN THE BREEZE. Here are a couple previews:
Both Jen and Taylor sent me process updates and have just done an absolute phenomenal job! Also, as of this writing, our short is totally finished and off to Brentt. Be sure to stick around for the start of the thrice-monthly series, The Making of a Comic featuring Jen Hickman.
Tips & Tricks of the Trade
The trade is really trades, as in both writing and editing. But honestly, where to start?! For today, since I’ve been toiling over whether to do a newsletter, I’ll leave you with this general tip that inspired me to finally execute it: If you want to do the thing, do it. Don’t wait for others to do it for you or wait on people to join, just make it happen, whatever it is.
“If you want to do the thing, do it.”
For next month’s update, I think this section could be more open-ended and conversational. So if you have questions about editing or writing sequential comics and fiction (I mean, this is A Matter of Fiction, right?!) leave ‘em in the comments and tell me what you’d like to know more about. If no one gets back to me, I’ll come up with something.
Things I’m Digging
Check out the latest things I’m digging, reading, and loving:
My husband Ross (who also named this newsletter because he’s a secret creative genius) introduced me to a coffee-shop background noise generator, and I wish I had this a year ago, haha!
I’ve started watching Twitch. The streaming platform is for gamers and all kinds of things, really. It has a sweet chat feature which makes the experience feel more community-oriented but still at your leisure. Here are a couple streamers that I’ve enjoyed:
ArtofJamieJones: Artist and writer Jamie Jones (The Baboon) shares his process creating comics and talks about writing, too. P.S. Jamie did all the artwork for Miranda in the Maelstrom #3.
LianaKangas: Artist Liana Kangas (Trve Kvlt) streams her freelance projects, draws warm-ups, and co-hosts the Comics, Inebriated Podcast with Matt Emmons where they chat about the comic book industry over light drinks.
Recently, I borrowed Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab. I say yes to everything and often don’t have great boundaries in my personal life, so I figured I could learn a thing or two. I fear I’ll become an old dog who doesn’t want to learn new tricks, and I just can’t live with myself if I don’t try to grow, ya know.
Merry Musings
I think the world is a wonderful (and simultaneously terrible) place where community and connection are vital to our survival (for all the good and not so good bits). How are y’all connecting with people lately since the pandemic has had us all torn asunder?
Thanks for reading and hope you got something good out of it. Take care out there!
Mercy buckets,
Brittany
P.S. The title of this post was originally a contender for this newsletter’s name in a poll that I ran, as penned by writer/artist Kelly Brack. While it didn’t make the cut, it certainly felt appropriate here, so thanks for the suggestion, Kelly! Follow Kelly @brackcomics for his amazing art.