Where I’ve Been

Hello all!

Long time no speak. I do apologize for my long absence. I wanted to write a quick post about what’s been going on and the future of Asexual Artists.

The short of it: I burned out. Between the shenanigans with the college,  having to deal with people on Tumblr tagging me in posts about how I’m not doing enough, and artists contacting me to demand my personal time and energy (not for interviews. Mostly for updating and changing things in their interviews, without providing any links. I’ve interviewed over 900 artists, hunting through links can take up to an hour or more), I completely burned out. This site takes a lot of time and effort, which I don’t mind at all, but I also have my own life.

I’ve decided to take 2020 off from Asexual Artists. I’m sorry. I know that there are some artists who have given interviews and are waiting for them to be posted. Rest assured, they will be eventually (definitely in 2021, maybe earlier if I find the time). It was either a year long hiatus or shuttering the site completely. Completely abandoning this site was not even an option in my mind. I still truly believe there needs to be a database of asexual artists and I plan to keep this site running.

I hope you lot continue to follow this site and please follow me on my social media (I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram). I’m going to be releasing my 6th book this year, likely in the summer. With the time off from this site, I’m going to be doing a lot of traveling to conventions. You can find me at ACE Comic Con shows, my favorite convention to table at. Here’s my 2020 convention appearances schedule (there will probably be a few more):

February 28th – March 1st: C2E2 (McCormick Place, Chicago)
March 20th – 22nd: ACE Comic Con Northeast (Boston, MA)
April 10th – 12th: WonderCon (Anaheim, CA)
April 16th – 19th: MegaCon (Orlando, FL)
May 21st – 24th: Phoenix Fan Fusion (Phoenix, AZ)
July 3rd – 5th: Denver Pop Culture Con (Denver, CO)
September 11th – 13th: Rose City Comic Con (Portland, OR)

If you’re going to be at any of those shows, please stop by my table and say hi. I absolutely love meeting followers of these sites.

I miss all of you terribly. Again, I’m sorry for the hiatus, but I need to focus on my writing for a while (being an author is my passion and what I do for a living).

Thanks everyone! 🙂

Interviews to Resume

Hello all!

Thank you so much for your patience while I was taking a break. I think I’m ready to resume posting interviews to the site. We’re fast approaching 1,000 interviews and I’m still only one person who is currently very swamped with things (my upcoming novel, my part-time job, con appearances, etc.).

In order to keep this site running, I need to make a couple changes to how I do things.

If you want something changed or removed, you must contact me at the email address provided in the blog description. I will not reply to asks or comments.

Also, you will need to provide the links to your interview and the artist pages you’re listed on. I will only change things if links are provided (I simply don’t have the time to hunt through every listing to update/change information).

There may be times when I go away for a bit and I apologize for this, but I am super busy at the moment with a number of things. I’m going to take the months of September and October off to finish up work on my book and then start work on the next two in the series. These absences can’t be helped and I ask for your patience. This site is important, but it doesn’t pay the bills. However, whenever I take a month off, I will still be accepting interviews (I just won’t be posting them until I’m “back”).

I have about 24 or 25 interviews that need to be uploaded and scheduled at the moment. I’m going to try to get through most of them today, but I don’t know how many I’ll manage (hopefully I’ll be able to get through the ones going up next week). My plan going forward is to upload/schedule interviews for the coming week on Saturdays and Sundays, along with any signal boost requests I receive. I still plan on posting new interviews Monday through Friday. I will let you know if that will change.

I think that’s about all for now. Thank you again for your patience.

See everyone Monday 🙂

Important

Hey everyone.

If you submitted to the exhibition I co-curated, please check your art when it’s returned. An artist who was part of the exhibit found that her work had been damaged. Apparently, they were putting adhesive on the back of the artwork without my knowledge (and tearing it off).

If your work was damaged, I recommend sending an email to Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. If they don’t respond, reach out to me and I’ll give you an email to contact.

If they ever hold another conference like this, I don’t recommend submitting to it. You won’t get paid, whoever is curating it won’t be properly reimbursed (and in the unlikely event that they are, it won’t be in a timely manner), and there’s a good chance your art will be damaged.

I’m so, so sorry about this everyone. I’m upset and…I’m enraged. This isn’t right. YOU DON’T F*CKING DO THIS TO ARTISTS!

I know I was going to post a few more interviews before taking a short break, but I just can’t. I’m exhausted, completely exhausted, people. I’m so sorry. I need to get reimbursed for my travel and I need to make sure they don’t f*ck over the artists who were part of this show. I need to make sure this artist gets a proper apology (it’s the least she deserves).

Interviews will resume in July.

Again, I’m so, so sorry about this.

See all of you in July.

Sorry and an Update

Hi all!

I know I’ve been super inactive for a while. I’m going to explain part of the reason why.

I went to the art show in Vancouver in April. It went really well. We had a lot of great submissions and showed some beautiful art.

Me subtly being Lady Loki at an academic event

I thought the panel on writing was also really well put together. Everyone was very nice and I was super happy with how it went overall.

Then I got home and the university started trying to back out of paying me for my flight home (something that was agreed upon beforehand). I still have yet to be reimbursed for my flight home and it was not cheap. It was the cheapest I could get and it still cost a lot of money.

Because I don’t know when or if they’re going to reimburse me (like they said they would), and because I have to start traveling to more cons to sell my own series, I’ve had to get a side hustle to off-set the costs of travel. I like my job, it’s a good albeit challenging part-time gig, but it frequently leaves me feeling tired. I’m still adjusting to it.

The reason why this has affected my work on Asexual Artists: I’m just tired, people. I’m worn out and I feel so used. I know I mentioned I was struggling with feeling burned out in an earlier post. This situation has just pretty much just doused whatever embers I had managed to reignite during the weeks I took off. I put a lot of time into this art show, time and emotional energy, and I feel like the university took advantage of that. I hate saying that because again, the people I met were incredibly nice. I got to meet a friend from online for the first time ever and that was thrilling.

I don’t often cry, but this actually made me cry. Because they didn’t just take advantage of my time, they took advantage of me monetarily. I feel so damn stupid for not asking for the travel costs up front. I should have done that (if I ever do something even remotely like this again, I will definitely learn from that mistake). I’m hurt and angry, but mostly I’m just tired.

I have interviews that need to be uploaded and scheduled and I’m going to do that, but I really need to take the month of June off. I really need some time for myself, to do the things I enjoy doing, to let loose and unwind a bit. I need to put work into my own projects.

I hate saying that because I know how important this site is to people, but I’m a human being. I can be hurt and I need breaks too. I love this site and I love that people get so much from it (I hate that there are people who take advantage of it and of me, but I know they’re a very small minority).

I’m going to try my best to dredge up the energy to upload and schedule the small batch of interviews that have been sitting in my inbox for months now. I’m really trying my best, people.

Again, I’m going to be taking the month of June off. However, I will still respond to any emails that are sent to me (so keep sending interview requests, please).

If you’re interested in my travels during June (or just want to keep up with me, I will be posting pictures on my Instagram (laurenjankowski27) and Twitter (lauren_jankowsk).

Thanks, everybody! I hope to bounce back soon 🙂

An Announcement

Hi everybody!

Sorry for being MIA, but there haven’t been many interview requests lately. I have a couple that are ready to posted and I just need to schedule and upload.

I had a wonderful time at ACE Comic Con and I am still on cloud nine. It was one of the best experiences of my life. It was incredibly busy and as a result, I am worn out (in the best possible way).

I hope you lot don’t mind, but I’m going to be taking a week-long break from posting just to rest and recharge my batteries (and smile as I remember the amazing experience I had).

I will still reply to any emails I receive and please (PLEASE!) keep sending me interview requests!

Interviews will resume next week. And I’m going to have a special announcement very, very soon (involving an art show specifically for ace-identifying artists).

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. I do love this site and chatting with all the asexual artists who contact me.

Thanks, everybody!  🙂

Just a Small Reminder

Hi everybody!

We’ve surpassed 800 interviews (less than 200 before we reach a thousand! AH! That’s so exciting! Seriously, people, keep those interview requests coming)

So I’m terrible at asking for any sort of help or support, but I’m trying to get better at it (being a starving artist, that’s a skill I need to hone). I run this blog entirely by myself and receive no reimbursement. It’s very time consuming and requires a lot of energy: replying to emails, uploading and scheduling interviews (including writing introductions), organizing the links pages, and setting up the occasional signal boost.

This is all on top of my usual job: being an author (an indie author, which requires a ton of marketing).

A while ago, I set up a page about how you can support the Asexual Artists blog (Support Asexual Artists: Tumblr & WordPress). It has a link to my Square store, I believe where you can pick up a copy of my books if you’re in the US. If you’re not in the US, there’s a link to the Snowy Wings online store. And they’re also available as eBooks through Amazon.

I have a Ko-Fi page set up. I know money’s super tight, but even a few bucks is helpful and so very appreciated.

Thank you, everybody! Keep being your awesome selves 🙂

Plan for this Week

Hello all!

Well, C2E2 was a blast. I got to hang out with a lot of really good friends. The panel went okay, though I wasn’t exactly … pleased that another panelist on the panel basically put me in a position where I was forced to reveal I have a learning disability. There’s really no excuse for that.

However, meeting and talking to so many wonderful asexual identifying artists more than made up for that small bit of unpleasantness. I really can’t say this enough: I love meeting and talking with asexual artists. All of you are so wonderful and generous with your time and I love hearing you talk about your projects 😀

I hope some of the artists who attended the panel contact me because I want to feature you on this site and share your awesomeness with all the other aces out there.

Okay, so as fun as the convention was, it was also exhausting. I’m completely worn out, people. I need today to recharge my batteries so to speak. My apologies.

Later tonight, I’m going to write up a small signal boost for Kai, who could really use some support at the moment (if you’re so inclined, please visit his YouCaring page and donate if you can: https://www.youcaring.com/kaicollart-1160920). That post will go up tomorrow.

I have no interviews scheduled, so I’ll post another call for interviews on Wednesday.

The Kindle eBooks of my first two novels are still on sale through today (Sere from the Green & Through Storm and Night)

Thanks, everybody! 🙂

Reminder of Site Rules

Hi everyone!

This post is aimed at allosexuals (non-asexuals) who visit this site, but it’s also a general rule.

People, please don’t leave comments prying into artist’s lives and relationships. This site isn’t about debating asexuality or their feelings on sex/relationships. Don’t be gross. Nobody wants to hear your opinion about asexuality and it’s SUPER inappropriate for you to expect ace artists to educate you or correct your assumptions.

This site is about celebrating the contributions of asexuals to the arts. It’s not a 101 site. It’s not a “correcting the public’s ignorance” site. This isn’t an “explain asexuality” site. There are hundreds of sites out there that do this and that have answers to your questions. Google is your friend.

If you have a question about an artist’s response to a particular question, there are ways you can contact them. Most of them have links. But keep in mind that it’s entirely up to them if they respond.

ONCE AGAIN: THIS IS A SITE ABOUT ASEXUAL ARTISTS! NOT ACE 101!

If you want to leave a comment on an artist’s art, that’s appropriate and acceptable. Please don’t hesitate to do so. That’s what this site is about.

If you leave an “Ace 101” type question, it will be deleted and you will be blacklisted from this site.

I created this site because aces were not often given the chance to be both asexual and artists. Most interviews with them were highly fetishizing or just plain demeaning.

Asexual Artists is for aces and for celebrating the amazing, unique art that they create.

Allos, please respect that and recognize that this site is NOT about you!

Thanks everybody!

Notice

It has been brought to my attention that a former interviewee took part in GamerGate and harassed people like Zoe Quinn. This blog has a strict “No Bullying, No Bigotry” policy and as such, that individual’s interview has been taken down and their links removed from the site.

I apologize for any harm the feature may have caused people. Had I known about this person’s involvement in GamerGate, they certainly would not have been featured and would have instantly been blocked from the site.

Asexual Artists is going to NWSA 2017!

Awesome news, everyone!

Thanks to a very generous donation yesterday, I not only reached my fundraising goal, I surpassed it! Check it out!

ASEXUAL ARTISTS IS GOING TO BALTIMORE IN NOVEMBER!!!!!

(I’m probably going to keep the fundraiser up until the start of October. I have a busy couple weeks coming up and I still have to write a couple thank you messages to donors.)

I’m absolutely overwhelmed at everyone’s generosity and I . . . I literally have no words! Gah! I’m sorry everyone! You know when you’ve gone through a rough patch and then receive unexpected good news and have like . . . no idea how to react or what to say? That’s pretty much me right now.

Happy dancing gifs aside: I promise you, that I will do my very best at this conference, on this panel. I promise that I won’t take this opportunity for granted. This site has always been, and will always be, for and about ace-identifying artists. It’s a way to amplify your voices. I take that responsibility very seriously.

I just . . . I’m so happy I have this opportunity. Rest assured, I will bring plenty of business cards with information about this site with me.

Thank you everyone! Thank you so very, very much! 🙂