So I might have Cancer...

I recently got some pretty scary health news: It’s likely that I have thyroid cancer. I won’t know for sure until I have surgery to remove the infected half of my thyroid.

But it’s not as bad as it sounds--thyroid cancer is one of the most highly treatable cancers with a 98% survival rate. Treatment usually simply involves surgery. I’m feeling very confident that I’ll be just fine. I’m mostly just dreading the surgery, and laughing at my luck.

Many of you who know me personally are aware that I have struggled my entire life with a range of chronic illnesses, like Endometriosis, PCOS, systemic inflammation, and gut issues. So to add cancer to the mix is, in a dark way, quite comical.

Thankfully I have been fortunate enough to have access to incredible health care that has relieved me of my chronic pain from Endo, healed my gut, and lowered my inflammation. So it’s not like I’m getting hit by all this at once – it’s more like I’m playing whack-a-mole. And I’m once again poised and ready with my mallet.

Though I will admit that it’s discouraging to be hit with yet another diagnosis, after all the work I’ve done to get healthy. It’s taken a harder toll on my mental health than I expected and has unfortunately made life and work exceptionally difficult for me lately.

So keep me in your thoughts and prayers!

The surgery is scheduled for August 17th, a week from today.

For some time now I’ve been planning to set up an online shop to sell my original inks from Carmen Red Claw. My initial goal was to open the shop at the end of September to coincide with the release of the hardcover edition. But in light of recent news, I’m considering opening up as early as September 1st in the hopes of recovering some of the costs of surgery.

Prices will range from $200-$400 for pages, and $1000-$1500 for covers. I’ll have some lower-budget options as well, including prints, stickers, and signed book pre-orders.

Please indicate below if that is something that would interest you!

And if you know someone you think might also be interested, please share my newsletter with them so they can get notified when the shop is live! (I’m ONE subscriber away from 300 btw)

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I’m working on a short story. It’s kind of my own version of Fahrenheit 451, but much more light-hearted and satirical, and instead of being about burning books, it’s about AI. It’s a story about hope, the importance of community, and the idea that even in a future where the world is half-eaten by a sprawling data center, art is not dead but is in fact alive and well.

This has been brewing on the side for several months. And very soon I’ll be sharing the story with you in short installments, accompanied with illustrations. So stay tuned!

I’ll be tabling at LightBox in October, and Dragon Steel Nexus in December!

I’ll have copies of Carmen Red Claw, Manderfield Devil, and some new things I’ve never tried before, like enamel pins and even hats! I’m very excited, so I hope you’ll come say hi.

That’s it for now. Thanks for being here!

<3/ Rae