New GEMINI Forthcoming

As most of you probably know, before I started this blogging thing, I did something really old-fashioned--I wrote and published a zine. For those of you not in the know (like me a couple of years ago) zines are small, independent, handmade publications that can cover pretty much any topic on Earth, although there is a pretty big universe of mama-zines (this is where I drew, and continue to draw, my inspiration). I love, love, love making my zine.

I work in a job where everything, everything, is done by committee, every word written gets re-written three or four times. I learned a long time ago to have no ownership or emotional investment in anything I do there, so it's fine, but I think that constraint is why I get so excited over having TOTAL CONTROL over my work in my zine. Sometimes I have contributors, sometimes my husband reads over it to edit it, but it's still MINE ALL MINE! And I love it much more than my blog, because I spend a lot more time and energy writing and laying out everything to just my specifications--while the blog is much more spontaneous, but also a lot sloppier. And I also love that I send my zine directly to my friends and other zinesters and they can curl up in bed and read it that very day, and no one has to go out of their way to look for me on their computers. My favorite part, is picking up that box of crisp, freshly stapled and folded booklets from the printer. It all looks so REAL, like I really do something with my time, that doesn't end up gathering dust or getting thrown into the compost bin. I may as well admit, I also really love re-reading my own work, finding things I wrote funny, or poignant, and being pleasantly surprised by that. I also like finding my own typos, because I'm weird like that (I should have been a proof-reader). So, blog or no blog, I'm going to keep on zine-ing for as long as I can afford the printing and mailing costs, and for as long as I have a captive audience who likes reading what I have to say (or who all lie and say they do).

To that end, I have nearly completed GEMINI (that's what my zine is named) Issue #7: Word to Your Mother. Inside: I discover the library, the twins learn to talk (oh so slowly), M becomes a money-grubber, and I disclose one of my darker mommy secrets (hint: it has to do with a very popular children's author), plus poetry, haiku, cartoons, book reviews and more.
If you're on my zine list, you'll be getting one in a week or so. If not, leave me a comment and I'll send you ordering information.

I'm also thinking about putting back issues on this site, but to do that I have to a) scan in some "artwork" that I originally cut-and-pasted and b) make a decision about how much personal info I want to reveal here on the internets. Since I only have about four readers, and I'm one of them, I don't think this will be much of an issue, so stay tuned.