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‘Other Boys’ Available for Preorder Wherever Books Are Sold

April 22, 2021April 22, 2021 by Damian Alexander, posted in journal

Look for it at your local independent bookstore September 7th or preorder at the links below!

INDIEBOUND
BARNes & noble
amazon
target
Books-a-million

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I decided to start a Webtoon in the new year about these characters I’ve had in my head since the summer after high school. I was kind of inspired by girl group stories I liked as a kid like Now & Then and Baby-sitters Club, but with queer guys (cause I was a lonely youth). I thought of making them a book for years, except there isn’t really a beginning, middle and end to their story, but a series of events about that awkward time period when you’re new to being an adult and still feel like a kid. Anyway it’s called “Totally Crushed!” and I’m trying to post a new one every Tuesday! I’ll share the link in my story cause this one is hard to type: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/totally-crushed/list?title_no=712970
One of the fun things about graphic novels is that you can sneak in small details that aren’t really important to the story and that the reader might not notice, but they add a bit of depth. In this panel you can see a “The Berenstein Bears” book laying on the floor, which many people realized later was actually spelled “Berenstain” and we all misinterpreted it. I wanted the misspelling because the illustrations in the book are showing what I saw as a child, rather than the narrative text primarily explaining what I know now. You can also see that little me is drawing left handed, but I’m actually right handed. When I was really little I wanted to be left handed, so I kept practicing. ✍🏻
Here are some real photo to illustrated panel comparisons from Other Boys! ♥️ One of the things that was difficult while working on Other Boys was thinking it might be compared to works of fiction, rather than seen as a memoir. I never actually wanted to make a book about myself but it just kind of happened? I was nervous the entire time because I’ve seen reviewers who are critical of “orphan stories” and “sad gay stories” so my heart had a constant nervous pitter patter knowing that I was making my real life sad gay dead mom orphan story. I think it’s important though to realize that orphans are real people, and many LGBTQ people really did have sad childhoods. When writing fiction about a made up person you can just make up the next part that fits perfectly, but with Other Boys I found myself constantly rearranging the order of memories to try and make things work as a single narrative (which was a lot harder than I was expecting).
New sticker available in my Etsy shop 🥰 I also posted a bunch of my original art as well. I’m trying to downsize to make room for new paintings. etsy.com/shop/DamiAnimatedShop
Fun fact: At some point while working on Other Boys little me had looked a little different (left). I ended up rounding the face for consistency with previous pages.
Betty White's passing sure is the worst way to end 2021. 💔 Golden Girls was a huge part of my childhood. I used to watch the reruns all the time with my grandma.
A few people have told me they got or gave Other Boys as a gift and it warms my little gay heart ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜 Here's a little snippet from the book about one of my favorite gifts! 🎁
I wanted some big wall art, but nothing really matched the aesthetic, so I decided to paint something. I was inspired by retro/atomic ads from the 50s and painted it entirely with POSCA pens 🥰🖌🎨
I found this horribly mangled Barbie while thrifting and wondered what her journey to there was like. 👱🏻‍♀️
The tree is all set up! 🎄 There’s still time to gift a copy of Other Boys to your loved ones this holiday season💋 How many references seen in Other Boys can you peep in this tree? 👀
Other Boys is on the Chicago Public Library’s “Best of the Best of 2021” and the Evanston Public Library’s “101 Great Books for Kids List of 2021” 😌📚
What do you think they’re so afraid of? 👻 I don’t post many of my personal drawings much lately, but I liked how this one came out. I’ve been thinking of writing a spooky story with a lot of lines and darker colors 🤔
The majority of my childhood was in the early 00s but I have this nostalgia for the late-80s/early-90s pastels and shapes aesthetic because my little life was filled with hand-me-downs. Most of my childhood I was very out of the loop, partially because I was raised by my grandparents. You’ll see a lot of these colors, patterns and hand-me-downs sprinkled through Other Boys. ✨🌈
This was one of my favorite panels to draw from Other Boys, even though it’s sad. 🥰😭
Other Boys has been out in the world for a whole month! 🌈📚 I’m so thankful for all the kind words and to anybody who has picked up a copy already! Here is some snipped of my post about the color choices made throughout the book. You can read the whole thing at DamiAnimated.com ✨
🌈 GIVEAWAY TIME!! 🌈
Now that I have a book out in the world I am forced to seek it out in any bookstore I pass for the rest of my life 😌 🌈 ✨
Other Boys received a 2nd starred review ⭐️ in the Oct 15 issue of Booklist! 📕
Just little pandemic things 😬
Come out at your own pace, at your own time, whenever you see fit and are comfortable ✨ 🌈
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