Another Bit From Jenny Lawson!

(I love the top piece, but after reading the story, I also love the second one! Wouldn’t they be great to color? -A.)

Another project I will start and probably never finish, but will enjoy until I forget to do it again. by Jenny Lawson (thebloggess) Read on Substack

Hello love!

It is spooky season and so I’ve been doodling dark little things. Last year I started writing and illustrating an eerie little children’s book that I will almost certainly never finish because I am the queen of distraction. I have a true crime story about my family I’ve written but has never published. I’m working on another weird project now about invisible women that I suspect will never find a publisher but is a passion project I can’t let go of. And then this week I started doodling and found myself accidentally making an alphabet book for dark children.

Will any of these projects ever get further than being shared with friends like you and then packed into a box for my maybe-grandchildren to be baffled by when I am gone? Doubtful. But still, I create. And I hope you do too. Because there is such delight in seeing something strange come out of your head and become real, even if no one ever sees it but you.

The doodle above this sentence came with a story in my head about a monster named Fred who was sad that none of the tiny beings ever built a hat on him. I wanted to find a way to show him licking the little boat but every time I tried to draw a tongue coming up from the water it looked like a penis and that’s not really the story I wanted to tell (but is one I’d read) so instead I’m imagining that his tongue is under the water and is keeping the little boat afloat because the man inside doesn’t realize there’s a hole in the bottom of his boat. He floats along…keeping his eyes peeled for sea monsters…unaware that he’s only alive because of one. There’s a story there. Maybe one day I’ll write it.

But not today because today I’m doing final-final-final edits on my new book (did you know that you have to do edits over and over with different types of editors?) and I’m STILL finding stuff to fix. I’m so worried about this book. It’s so different from anything I’ve written before. I hope it finds a safe harbor, with people who will love it even though it is so very strange. But no matter what, I’m giving myself a high-five for finally (almost) finishing a project. Celebrate those wins, y’all.

Hugs,

me