Hey, look! The new Sonic Chihuahua zine has finally come out! And in it, Han announces the exciting college decision. Woot!
Subscribers, watch your mailboxes this week. Anyone else want a copy? Let me know in the comments and watch for my reply.
(Also, please note: if you are interested in contributing to the summer issue this year, I’m extending the deadline past June 1st to June 5th. You can find the guidelines at the Sonic Chihuahua page here on the blog.)
…and I’m sorry it’s late. It has been quite a season thus far, and Han and I both needed some time to hunker down for a bit over the holidays and in January.
BUT the new zine is out now! Subscribers and regular readers, it’s on your way to you (if you don’t already have it!).
You’ll note an article in here informing you about all the exciting changes coming to the zine this year, like a new production schedule, themed issues, submissions guidelines, new subscription rates, and ad space. Plus, this issue has all kinds of goodies like fiction, poetry, art, and a recipe for The Best Soup That Has Ever Been Created. (That’s my unofficial title. It’s Han’s lasagna soup, and it really is extraordinarily delicious. Way better, in fact, than actual lasagna. Try to change my mind.)
If you want a copy, drop me a line in the comments! (If you’re already accustomed to getting the zine, it’s probably on its way to you now, but feel free to double-check with me if you want to.)
The latest issue of my zine, Sonic Chihuahua, has dropped. (Get excited!)
If you’re in the Houston area on Saturday, November 12th, you can get this and many of the still-available back issues at Zine Fest Houston, where I will once again be a featured zinester. (I’ll also have my books and stationery available for sale that day.) Click the link for all the details. (Note: I will be there until only about 4:30 p.m. due to another show that evening. Busy day!)
Here’s is the official Table of Contents for the new issue:
* The Pep Rally I Cannot Forget
* NeriSiren’s Coffee Grotto
* pumpkin cream cheese muffins (seriously!)
* convo with renaissance man Olen Rambow
* voting information
* a Top 5 List not to be missed!
* fiction and art
Fabulous changes are coming in the year ahead. (Get excited again!)
See the official Sonic Chihuahua page here for submission guidelines and subscription rates. Woot!
The new issue of Sonic Chihuahua is here! Subscribers should see it hit their mailboxes this week. If you want to be on the distribution list, let me know.
There are all sorts of goodies in this issue, including poetry, art by Han and Megan Martin and Aeryk Pierson, the thrilling conclusion to the “Embracing My Inner Goth” essay series, an interview with author Tanya Aydelott, and her recipe for a delicious one-pot pasta dinner. Plus more! So much more!
ALSO…
I have created a new page here at Sappho’s Torque just for the Sonic Chihuahua. You can find it here. It will contain a listing of all issues: their colorful puppy-pile pictures and official tables of contents. Check it out if you have a moment and let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
So it’s a known fact that I no longer teach summer school. I haven’t for many, many years, because I need that time to focus more on my writing. However, I will be teaching some brief Creative Writing workshops this summer for three marvelous CW organizations, and YOU can take them! Yes, that’s right! And since I’ve had a fair number of questions about them, I’m just going to distill all the information into this post now for you. I will list them in order of when they begin. Enjoy.
CLASS #1: Creating a Zine (a.k.a. “Zines: The Ultimate Adventure in Creative Control”)
WHEN: 4 Thursday evenings, June 9-30, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
WHERE: Writespace — IN PERSON — in Houston
DESCRIPTION: Have you been looking for a way to share your short writings, including ones you’ve created in other Writespace workshops? The subversive, underground art form of the “zine” (short for fanzine) has been the literary world’s best-kept secret for nearly a century. From its roots in science-fiction and fantasy to its established presence in the modern world as a place for art, poetry, and politics, these informal magazines are the ultimate adventure in self-publishing. And best of all, zines are for everyone, every interest, every ability level, and every subject! You need not be a great or experienced artist. Come explore the wide and diverse world of zines through creative writing, art, and craft with award-winning published author Angélique Jamail, the creator of the popular zine Sonic Chihuahua. In this course, you will create your own zine filled with whatever your imagination will allow! This class is appropriate for all skill levels. Attendees will also have an opportunity to participate in Zine Fest Houston, a welcoming mainstay of the zine community, in November.
(Apologies to all those who really want to take this class but who live outside of Houston. If there’s enough interest in my offering a Zoom version in the future, let me know, and I’ll see about making that work. You can leave a note in the comments section of this post or contact me about it directly.)
CLASS #2: Daily Dose of Poetry
WHEN: (one night only!) Monday, June 13th, 6:00-7:30 p.m. (central time)
WHERE: ON ZOOM through Write About Now as part of their weekly poetry workshop series
DESCRIPTION: In this class participants will use short poems and exercises as models for writing poetry and poetic fragments, and will practice techniques to increase observation and lyrical thinking. We’ll look at mentor texts and have a discussion on language and form. We’ll also have exercises in metaphor and imagery. Attendees will get a chance to write short form poems and use the techniques covered in class to enhance their daily writing practice.
CLASS #3: Poetry: Grounded in Place But Not Confined
WHEN: 4 Tuesday evenings, June 14 – July 5, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (central time)
WHERE: ON ZOOM through Grackle & Grackle
DESCRIPTION: Michelle Brittan Rosado wrote that poetry of place “can be a way to dissolve the self into an anonymous landscape” as well as “a map to find ourselves, a space in which to reassemble the annihilated and recover the displaced.” How often has your childhood home been the setting for your dreams? How often have you returned, in your writing or art or imagination, to the site of a notable first experience? What are the landscapes, real or metaphorical, we have inhabited? What liminal spaces inspire, motivate, or even unsettle us? The places which have mattered most to us live in our subconscious mind long after they stop being physically part of our lives. In this four-week class, we will look at poetry grounded in places both real and imagined. We will dissect both what makes a poem resonate with a reader and what makes particular locations so important to us. In this generative workshop, we’ll use a variety of prompts to experiment with form and style. You can expect to write new poetry each week and have at least two of your poems workshopped in a collaborative and respectful setting.
Grackle & Grackle also offers discounts to those who need them. (The following discounts are followed by their promo code words.)
15% sun
25% squawk
35% sweat
SO! I hope to see you at any and/or all of these fun workshops. And please do spread the word about them to anyone you know who might be interested. Thanks!
Look what’s hot off the presses this weekend! Subscribers, expect it in your inbox this week. Everyone else, let me know if you want a copy. This one is selling out fast!
Hello again! I’m a bit late getting this announcement out on the blog, but the first Sonic Chihuahua issue of 2022 (volume 3 issue 1) is out! And we are hard at work on volume 3 issue 2 (March/April). Here are some details for the January/February issue.
What’s in this glorious issue, you ask? Read on…
* Embracing My Inner Goth (part 4)
* monsters and how we deal with them
* NeriSiren’s Coffee Grotto
* guacamole (seriously!)
* convo with Kristen Bird
* a Top 5 List not to be missed!
* poetry and art
I have copies of this and all back issues still available for sale, if anyone would like them. Just let me know!
As of today, the December issue of the SONIC CHIHUAHUA is ready to go out the door and to a mailbox (or eagerly awaiting open hand) near you!
So how are things going, eight issues in, with my little zine?
Well, frankly, WELL.
I will be the first to admit that restarting this zine after a twenty-nine-year hiatus was an impulsive lark. It was a decision that I made quickly, even if the seeds of that decision had been planted and quietly sprouting for a couple of years or so. And for the first couple of issues this spring, I was very much feeling my way (again) around the mechanics and logistics of putting a project like this together.
Every month. With paper and black pens and scissors and an adhesive roller.
The first issue ended up being almost twice as long as I’d intended, but it was a good length and is one I’ve stuck with. Figuring out the layout of the zine and the formatting of the content that was printed involved a fair bit of trial-and-error, but I got there. During our pandemically deprived social life, the Sonic Chihuahua became my new Friday night jam, and I loved it.
And even better was the reaction I enjoyed from nearly everyone I sent it to: excitement, enthusiasm, eager support, encouragement. Even, occasionally, someone giving me money for it! (Though financial contributions have always been optional.) There were even a couple of months when the income earned from the zine surpassed the royalties earned on my books!
And the zine grew. Oh wow, did it grow. The distribution, which wasn’t small to begin with, is half again larger than it was when it started, and now I have regular contributors sending me wonderful content to include. I’m loving that!
Without putting too fine a point on it, the Sonic Chihuahua has been, for me, exactly what I needed, exactly when I needed it. And I’ve heard from several readers that it has been what they needed, too, and this also makes me quite happy.
In November, Han and I went to Zine Fest Houston. I’d never attended before and was thrilled that Sonic Chihuahua got in. The event itself was excellent — it was a gorgeous day with perfect weather, the fest was in an open-air warehouse space that caters to arts events, the organizers were totally on the ball, and the crowds were big enough for Han and me to be busy all afternoon but not so thick that we felt unsafe. (And yes, we wore masks.) It was a delightfully good day, and we got to browse around and see dozens of other zinesters and their work. I learned a lot.
Putting an issue out there once a month, turns out, is rather more frequent than most zinesters are doing. (In fact, we encountered maybe none who were, besides us.) Add to that the increasing costs to produce the paper zine, and the fact that a few of my readers have told me they don’t always finish reading it before the next issue comes (there’s a LOT in each one, y0), and the other fact that I would really like to finish at least one of the novels I’m currently writing…
You can see where this is going, can’t you? I’ve decided that in 2022, volume 3 of the Sonic Chihuahua will come out every other month instead of every month. I’ve also standardized subscription rates — for those who wish to pay for it — and even added a limited digital option (by subscription only). All of this feels like the right direction to go in, for various reasons which are boring but which I’m happy to expound upon if people want me to. (Leave your questions in the comments, if you have them.)
You’ll see the same awesome content as before. You’ll just have more time to enjoy it before the next issue comes out. Also look for more art in the zine, starting with December’s issue this week.
So on balance, I would say the zine has been a highly worthwhile project for me personally and highly appreciated by those who read it, and therefore I will keep making it. Woot! Thank you to everyone who has subscribed and/or read and/or shared photos of the zine on their social media. I appreciate all of this more than you know!
Happy Small Business Saturday!
I hope you’ve had a lovely Thanksgiving (for those of you celebrating it) or else just a very nice week. Here in the US we have launched ourselves full-force into the holiday season, and the day after Black Friday is Small Business Saturday, a day designated to encourage and buy from small businesses in an effort to shop local and indie. And something useful to remember is that authoring is a business, and therefore every author is a small business owner. (That includes me!)
I have several items that might be of interest to you and yours:
You can order all of these items from me directly. You can also see all of these, plus my handmade jewelry and decorated blank journals, at the Sawyer Yards Market on December 11th.
Although you can buy my books Finis., Homecoming, and The Sharp Edges of Water in bookstores — and I hope you will! — you can also buy them directly from me. Just leave a note in the comments about it, and I’ll be in touch with you, or else email me (forest [dot] of [dot] diamonds [at] gmail [dot] com), and I’ll put your items in the mail to you right away. (I recommend you order from me before December 12th for the best chance of receiving your package in time for Christmas, if that’s what you’re aiming for.) Shipping costs will be as low as I can make them.
Of course you can also get my books from Amazon and Bookshop and other big online retailers. If you’d like to get them from local and indie bookstores — and I encourage you to do so! — I know they’re currently on the shelves at Blue Willow Bookshop (Houston) and The Twig Bookshop (San Antonio). And any bookstore can order it from Ingram if they don’t currently have any copies left in stock. (Interesting note about Amazon: they currently have Finis. and Homecoming on sale, though I don’t know how long that promotion will go for.)
So that’s it! I hope you’ll support your local and indie shops and authors and makers, not just now at the holiday season but all year round. Happy holidays to you! And thank you for your support.
Many of you know that after a 29-year hiatus, I restarted my zine, the SONIC CHIHUAHUA, this spring. It has been one of the best decisions I made this year! I’m pleased to report the zine is thriving and growing far beyond my expectations, and that it feeds a part of my creative spirit I wasn’t aware I needed to be fed. It will continue.
For those of you who are not yet subscribers, here is a preview (i.e. a look at the Table of Contents) for each of the issues that has come out this year.
Sappho's Torque 