Category: Updates Page 1 of 4

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  –Martin Luther King Jr.

“How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?” –Bob Dylan

“No me asusta la amenaza/patrones de la miseria/la estrella de la esperanza continuará siendo nuestra.” –Victor Jara

“If I can dream of a better land where all my brothers walk hand in hand, tell me why, oh why, oh why can’t my dream come true?” –Elvis (songwriter: Walter Earl Brown)

“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” –Jesus (Matthew 7:15-20)

“Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.” –Maya Angelou

“El pueblo unido jamás será vencido.” –Sergio Ortega Alvarado/Quilapayún

Hey everyone,

Back in 2021-2022, my comic Scoby first appeared on Instagram.

Scoby was written as a limited-series (6 issue) comic.  For the purposes of social media, it was posted a few panels at a time (sometime with cliffhangers) until the entire story had been told.  Publishing on social media was a fun experiment, and I’m really happy with the way everything turned out, but the “definitive” edition of Scoby is the original comic book version.

So, I’m happy to reveal that Scoby: The Complete Collection is now available as an ebook.  This collection contains the full run — that’s 6 regular issues + 1 bonus issue.  The bonus issue collects the skits that originally ran in between regular Scoby issues, along with a never-before-seen skit, bloopers…and more!

The ebook is available on Kobo* and Amazon.

That’s all for now — thanks for reading!

–Justin

[*note: the Kobo version is $2 cheaper, and also available with a Kobo+ subscription.  If you’ve never tried Kobo+, you can read it for free with a free trial.]

Happy New Year, everyone!

Just a quick post to say LOLcraft: a Compendium of Eldritch Humor is now available.

Take care, and have a great 2023!

Justin

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to say my story “He Listens” will soon be published in LOLcraft: A Compendium of Eldritch Humor, from Dragon’s Roost Press.  As the title suggests, it’s a collection of stories that blend Lovecraftian mythos/cosmic horror with humor.

Looking forward to reading the other stories in this one!  I’ll post again when it’s published.

I’m out!  Peace!

-Justin

Hi everyone,

Long time, no see!

Just stopping by with an exciting announcement.  For the past few months, I’ve been working on something totally new for me…a comic!  I’ve had so much fun writing it, and I’m excited to finally share it with everyone.  It’s called Scoby, and you can find it on my new Instagram page.

I plan to post new strips daily until the entire story has been told, so please follow to make sure you don’t miss anything!

Thanks!

Justin

UPDATE: It’s done! The last page of Scoby was posted on July 24th, 2022.

Wow. Sounds a little dramatic, using the full date like that.

Anyway, I always meant for Scoby to be a limited-series thing, no more than six to eight issues total.  It ended up being six, plus a few bonus skits.  If you decide to check it out, I recommend starting with the earliest post and reading forward from there.  Reading posts at random may produce mixed results.

Peace!  🙂

UPDATE 2: The link to the Instagram account was removed, as this account has been deactivated.  Check out this post for details on the Scoby ebook.

Hi everyone,

I have two exciting announcements!

1) Brain Games: Stories to Astonish was released today!  It includes my story “Rock Me Amadeus.”  I’m so pleased to be part of another collection from Third Flatiron Publishing!  You can read the announcement from the publisher here.

2) I wrote a guest blog post for World Weaver Press (the publisher for Recognize Fascism), and it was posted earlier this afternoon.  Head on over to their blog if you wanna check it out!

That’s all I have for now!

Peace,

Justin

Hey everyone,

Recognize Fascism is now available!

The timing couldn’t be better.  We’re only three weeks away from the most terrifying day of the year…and I’m not talking about Halloween.

Yeah.  Scary times.

It’s been a rough four years.  Four years of unkindness and racism and xenophobia and hypocrisy and too many other terrible things to mention.  I sincerely hope there are enough people out there who’ve had enough of it and who will use their voices to demand change.

*steps off soapbox*

Anyway, it’s been such an honor to be part of this project, and I’m glad the wait is finally over!  I’ll be back soon with more news.

Peace,

Justin

Humans in the Wild: Reactions to a Gun Loving Country was released today!  This collection includes my story “Thoughts and Prayers.”

I wrote about the origins of this story in an earlier post.  As I mentioned then, writing a story like “Thoughts and Prayers” is definitely bittersweet, but I’m so happy Swallow Publishing chose to include it in Humans in the Wild.

You can check out the announcement from the publisher here.

Peace,

Justin

Hello!

My short story “Mock Me Amadeus” will be published next month in Brain Games: Stories to Astonish, a sci-fi/fantasy/horror anthology from Third Flatiron Publishing.  I don’t want to give away too many details about the plot, so I’ll just say my story is a humorous dark fantasy that somehow involves Mozart.  I had a lot of fun writing it, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the stories in the collection!

I’m super excited to be working with Third Flatiron again.  They previously published my story “Dispatches From the Eye of the Clown” in their 2018 collection Galileo’s Theme Park.  For more information on that anthology, you can check out my post here.

That’s all for now!  I’d stay longer, but I gotta crank up the boombox and listen to some Falco!

Justin

The Kickstarter campaign for Recognize Fascism ended yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier with the way things turned out.  Not only was the anthology fully funded, but ALL of the stretch goals were unlocked.  So, I have some awesome news to share.

First, there’s gonna be an audiobook!  I’m super, super thrilled about this.  I love audiobooks!  But I have to admit, I’m even more excited about this next part:

The editors are sending a copy of Recognize Fascism to every single member of Congress (that’s right, all 100 senators and 435 representatives)!!  They’re also sending a copy to every member of the U.S. Supreme Court!  How cool is that?

Now, I realize there’s no guarantee anyone in Washington will actually read it.  But I’m optimistic.  And anyway, it’s the act itself that counts.  Sending a book like this to actual, real-life lawmakers who have the power to make change is, to my way of thinking, a form of peaceful protest.  I totally dig it.

It’s hard to ignore all the problems in our world.  I don’t want to ignore them.  More and more, I find myself using writing as a way to speak out.  Sure, I still write plenty of stories for entertainment value alone, and probably always will.  But increasingly, I’ve turned to writing as a form of protest.  My story in Recognize Fascism is one example of that.  And to think that it will play even a tiny part in this meta, mail-in protest…well, it blows my mind.  I’m so grateful to be part of it.

Peace and love!

Justin