I meant to update this a while ago, but as the title of this post suggests, the last few months have already been incredibly busy. I’ve exhibited at five different events (with twenty or so still to come this year), I’ve completed more than fifteen new artworks (between fan art, commissions, and some freelance work), and have edited both my next novel and some of the scripts for the upcoming issues of my Chadhiyana series. All of this, and we’re only three-and-a-half months into 2023.

I’d like to keep this fairly short (not my strong suit), and this post isn’t to brag. Rather, I just want anyone coming to the site to know what to expect this year from me—and hopefully get a little excited for some or all of it. I’ve been more active on my social media accounts for the last year or so, and I’ve been putting more attention to my Patreon page (patreon.com/jmdesantis) and my mailing list again (sign up: http://eepurl.com/clqmVv). Though I am still giving attention to this site, uploading new works, and slowly building toward a second stab at opening a store on here.

No, I don’t blog as much as I used. Certainly, the pandemic slowed me down, but even before that time, I decided that keeping up with a weekly blog was too much time spent away from fiction writing (and thus keeping me from better reaching my goals). Still, I plan to update the site from time to time, so you can always check here for news, if nowhere else.

That said, as I opened with, I’ve more than doubled my convention schedule for this year. As it’s always been, I keep the list on jmdesantis.com/events up-to-date. This month I have four shows: two this weekend (Sideshow Horror Market and JSCBS: Spring Fling), Wicked Comic Con next weekend, and then a small market even at the Mahoning Drive-In Theater at the end of the month (before sundown when Freaked is being shown). And every month through November I have at least two events per month, spanning from Maryland to Boston, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Added to this is that I have commissions open throughout the year, and am pushing for more pre-show commissions. I’m continuing to create new artwork, including fan art prints for Bloodborne, Castlevania, classic horror monsters, Cthulhu, and possibly some comic properties I like, such as Ghost Rider, Spawn, and Hellboy. And then of course, I’m working on the artwork for issues 4 and 5 of the long-in-production “soft reboot” (as it were) of Chadhiyana, while issue 3 is finishing its production. (You can find current issues listed for sale on darkfirepress.com/chadhiyana.php.) I’m also getting my next novel, The Kirklyn Horror, ready for publication in August (it was delayed a year). And these are all just the personal projects I’ve committed to; I’m hoping to get to more.

I’ve already had some freelancing work coming in, mostly on the art end, though I’ve been doing some editing work for various creators too—something I found I quite enjoy and apparently do well. Though one writing gig has come in: I was tapped by art Len Danovich to help him in creating a comic strip for the upcoming A Kid and a Comic newspaper publication (akidandacomic.com). Our story is titled “The Beast” and it’s a detective noir (something different from me) with a bit of a horror twist (since Len and I love horror). The newspaper is for sale by subscription and at participating shops and stores. It begins releasing in June, and the monies collected will help fund the Heroes Initiative and the Inkwell Awards. Seven issues are released this year, with not only work by myself and Len, but Mike Lilly, Samuel Vera, Scott Harris, Mark McKenna, Darren Auck, and more. So please do check out the site, and grab a subscription if it’s of interest.

That said, I encourage anyone reading this to sign up for my mailing list (again: http://eepurl.com/clqmVv), follow me on Instagram (@jmdwriteist), Twitter (@jmdesantis), or Facebook (@jmdesantis.writeist), and if you wish to help support my work more, join my Patreon for as little as $1/month (patreon.com/jmdesantis). Otherwise, check back throughout the year. I’m sure this space will continue to update.

Cheers!