This week and next week, my blog posts are coming a bit early (I usually post new blogs on Wednesday on jmdesantis.com and Tuesday on chadhiyana.com–though the latter may officially change), as next Monday, July 13th, is the “scheduled” release date for issue one of Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows. I put scheduled in quotations, because if you’ve been keeping up with the recent Chadhiyana news, you know that my publisher (Rosarium Publishing) is actually ahead of schedule with the book’s release. Read more… ›

Sometimes Christmas comes early, and this year (for me) it has. Little did I know what was going to happen when I woke up today and got in the studio, but you know it’s got to be something big if I’m posting a second blog entry in the same week. A little over an hour ago I got some surprising and exciting news from Chadhiyana’s publisher, Rosarium Publishing… Read more… ›

About every two years I replace the image on the standing banner I bring to conventions. It all started with my original 2011 purchase which featured my painting Goddess of Sand–this was the very banner of which people kept asking about the Indian woman depicted and which prompted the creation of Chadhiyana. Chadhiyana, of course, has been featured on my banners ever since. If you’ve been following me on social media, you’ve seen shots of art work for my new banner as it came together. On Monday, I finished it and as promised, it’s time to show it off. Read more… ›

The school year has only just ended, and with that the summer begins. Yet, as I take leave of my teaching duties for two months, my life is only about to get busier. Indeed, this summer may prove to be one of the most tiring and exciting yet. Honestly, if it weren’t for how busy I’m going to be and all of the things that are coming up (fairly soon), I would have reserved this week’s blog post for my reflections on my second year of teaching. Instead, I’m going to have to double up on this blog post. Read more… ›

It’s been a good run of successful conventions this year, so it was bound to happen that one would prove a disappointment. While Eternal Con wasn’t an unsuccessful show by any means, it wasn’t quite as successful as the last few shows. Again, I’ve heard a lot of great things about Eternal Con over the past two years, so perhaps this year was just a fluke. After all, the word is the layout was changed this year and artist alley was scattered throughout the Cradle of Aviation Museum, making the artists extremely difficult to find.  Read more… ›

This Saturday and Sunday I will be appearing in Artist Alley at Eternal Con for the first time ever! I’ve heard a lot of great things about this show, so hopefully the long (long) commute to Long Island will be worth it for me. It’s been a great convention season so far, and I’m only halfway through. I’m hoping for yet another successful show–especially with the replenished stock (since I was nearly cleaned out in White Plains) and the brand new items I’ll have on the table this weekend. Read more… ›

If you don’t follow me on social media (then you should be!), you probably missed two big announcements in the past couple of weeks. First and foremost, the first issue of my graphic novel series, Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows, has been given the tentative release date of July 13, 2015 by Rosarium Publishing (pending no delays). As written in the past, the publisher opted to release the book digitally first in single issues. You’ll be able to find them on Comixology every other month (and–fingers crossed–Amazon?). I know it’s a bit of a wait, but really it’s just around the corner. That said, the book was also recently reviewed, for the first time, by Colored Books for Colored Folks. Honestly, if nothing I’ve said in the past has sold you on it, I think this review will. Read more… ›

After a little indecisiveness (on my part), it has been officially confirmed that I will be exhibiting at the White Plains Comic Con this Saturday. This is the first year for the show, which is being held at the White Plains Library in White Plains, New York. Though I know nothing of the venue, I have high hopes it is going to be a success, especially after my last show (Bronx Heroes: Women in Comics Convention). Read more… ›

Although my lack of social media posts on Saturday may have some thinking otherwise, this weekend’s Bronx Heroes: Women in Comics Convention was a lot of fun and a great success. Unfortunately, the area of the Bronx Library Center where the convention was held did not have good reception, so I couldn’t post about the many new Chadhiyana fans and others who dropped by my table to purchase prints, books and even my last copies of Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated! It seems to be a growing trend this past year or so, but of my three Bronx Heroes Conventions, this was by far the best yet. Read more… ›

If you’re in the Bronx this weekend, or planning to be, don’t miss you chance to see me at the Bronx Library Center this Saturday, May 2nd for the Bronx Heroes: Women in Comics Convention. Admission is free, as always for Bronx Heroes, and this time the focus of the convention is women creators and women characters. A perfect fit for my medieval Indian fantasy heroine, Chadhiyana! Read more… ›