This was so close to becoming another draft in the draft folder...

AND MAYBE IT SHOUDL HAVE?

Hi there!

We are approaching the halfway point of the year 2026 and I realized that I’ve only sent one newsletter out this year when one of my goals for the year was to write 8-10! Don’t worry, BB, there’s still time.

I sifted through my drafts folder to see if I had started anything worth sharing and no, it was mostly just variations of me freaking out about how hard it is to make a graphic novel. I don’t think that’s what any of you subscribed for (if it is, by all means let me know!) So I guess I’ll write something from scratch, which is always better anyway. Words get stale in the draft folder.

Let’s see, some updates… I didn’t win the 2026 Oregon Book Award for graphic literature (Big Jim and the White Boy did, congrats to David Walker!) but it was still a huge honor to be one of the finalists. And also so cool to see my buddy Michelle Sumovich pick up the prize for best in Children’s Literature for her fantastic picture book I Have Three Cats!

The day after the book awards ceremony I scooted off for my first interstate school visit, where I was hosted by Jefferson Elementary and Hamblen Elementary in Spokane, Washington. What an incredible trip! Marin, Alec and Bear were awesome hosts, and as a bonus I got to hang out with my brother too (who was visiting from Wisconsin!) Let me tell you, when I started down this career path as an author I didn’t realize that presenting at school assemblies was a possible part of the gig. If you had told me, I probably would have shuddered at the thought of giving a talk to 300 students. But it’s actually become one of my favorite parts of the job… the energy, the enthusiasm, and the imagination that these students have is so infectious. The kiddos at Jeffereson and Hamblen were no exception, and I felt so lucky I got to spend some time with them!

Anyway for fun, let’s review the rest of that 2026 goals list and see how we are doing:

2026 GOALS

1. Finish current graphic novel… ✅! (See last newsletter.)

2. Sell my next book… 🫠 Not yet, but working on something!

3. Book 10 school visits/workshops… ✅ (but still open to booking more, if you’re interested!)

4. Creative collabs! … 🤞 Nothing material yet but there’s been some light brainstorming.

5. Publish 8-10 newsletters… 2️⃣ down, 6️⃣ or 8️⃣ to go (leaning towards 6 though!)

6. Record 5 new songs… 🎵🎶🎵 I thought I would have done more of this, but it takes a lot more time and mental space than I actually have. I have made one new song though! I’m gonna share that in a future newsletter…

7. Develop 1 new youth program. 👶 I started planning something new, but it’s backburnered at the moment. But the year is still young!

8. Don’t give up. ✅ 💖 I haven’t! And I hope you haven’t either!

I don’t know, man. It’s tempting to save this one as a draft too (doomed to languish in the drafts folder for all of eternity). What makes a newsletter worth sharing? What makes anything worth sharing? I don’t know, I’m not going to overthink it. Thanks for reading!

BB