Liz Prince talks as part of a panel on her new graphic memoir
TOMBOY.
This book takes a look at fitting in during her preteen and teen years and remaining true to herself even years later.
Liz Prince Talks TOMBOYHow she started -
I came into prominence in the comic scene with books that are comprised of short, autobio gag comics, and those are something that are fairly easy for me to make; that doesn’t mean that they are worthless, they make a lot of people, and myself, very happy, but they are instant gratification for me as an artist. I can draw a short comic about my cats and post it online immediately and get some likes and “LOLs” and call it a day. These are the things that my fans have seen over the years. But behind the scenes, I had a few false starts on some larger projects.Why she did this book -
I drew this book because I was actively courted by the publisher, who was looking for non-fiction graphic novels by women. Other publishers have invited me to pitch a project to them before, but none had come to me saying that they really really wanted one. It took me about a year to have a project worth pitching: Zest Books is a teen/young adult publisher, and none of my other ideas for books would have worked for them, so it wasn’t easy for me to come up with a concept that I felt excited to work on, that would also fit the audience. And before I was confident in pitching this project, I had to be sure that I could actually fill a book with it. Tomboy is my story of growing up with gender identity issues. For the first half of my life I wanted to be a boy; this book deals with the reasons why, and the reactions to, my staunch refusal of being a girl. Before I pitched the book, I did an outline of what episodes I would discuss, and how long I felt the book would be. I guessed around 150 pages. I was presented a contract which gave me less than a year to complete the book; I signed in June 2013, the finished book was due March 15th, 2014. I was someone who had never successfully completed a graphic novel before, and I just jumped into an agreement that would have me completing one in about 9 months.How she feels about the book -
It ended up being more personal, and more about gender politics than I imagined it would. I know that people will feel very strongly about this book, both in a positive way, and in a negative way, but I take solace in knowing that both reactions will spark discussion on what gender should mean, and what it shouldn’t. I’ll put myself on the chopping block as a sacrificial lamb, if it can help us move forward, as a culture who can eschew gender stereotypes.
TAKE A LOOK! ZEST BOOKS IS SENDING ONE LUCKY WINNER A COPY OF THE BOOK!
Check out some other bloggers as they talk about Tomboy.
November 5th
November 8th
Thanks to Zest Books for inviting me to join the Little Fish blog tour and share a story about a time when my life was in transit. Stick around and enter to win your own copy of the book and a matching swag pack!
Little Fish by Ramsey Beyer
ISBN 10/13: 1936976188 | 9781936976188
About the book:
To eighteen-year-old Ramsey Beyer, the transition from a high school in small town Michigan to freshman year of college at a bustling art school wasn't entirely easy. Like most college freshman, Ramsey experienced an entire range of emotions through the year, from being painfully homesick to gleefully independent - and everything in between. And yet, overall, and in Ramsey's own words, at college she felt "limitless . . . like I'm challenging everything I thought I knew." Little Fish artfully tells the story of that different kind of year.
My Little Fish Memory:
Just Keep Swimming
I had almost the complete opposite experience than Ramsey did at that age, and yet we faced some of the same challenges as well: experiencing new things, feeling homesick, and defining who you are as an adult. When I was 18, instead of going to college in the United States as I had planned, I found myself boarding a plane back to the Philippines. I hadn't been there except to visit since I was about 12. I was incredibly unhappy to be returning--I had spent all of high school planning for my big university experience, buffing up my grades and extracurricular activities--all that hard work for nothing, it seemed.
And yet my parents had a good point: I had to come home to repair the withering bond between me and my younger siblings, who were growing up without me. My family had returned to Manila a few years before and left me in California where I had wanted to finish high school. To my brother and sister I was a face in a photograph, a distant voice on a scratchy long distance phone call at holidays. Even as I begrudgingly deleted my application to Yale, I knew I wanted to be more than just a vague memory of someone an ocean away.
There were lots of things I really loved about going home. I had missed my family and now I could see them every day. No $3-per-minute rushed phone calls at holiday time--we could just spend all day together, eating and talking and laughing. I love cooking for my family and that's hard to do when you're 7,300 miles apart. I didn't have to work (aside from cooking and laundry and the usual at-home chores). My brother and I played video games ad nauseam and listened to Pinoy rock music. I learned my little sister's autistic quirks. I may not have loved every moment of my time there, but those are some of the really good things I don't regret.
Going back to school, however, was a really different story. It took hours of commuting back and forth to get to my classes (a 15-minute walk to a jeepney, to another jeepney, to a bus, to a jeep again, and finally either a tricycle ride or a really long walk to my building--and all that in reverse at the end of the day). Talk about culture shock. People dressed differently, and had cliques that were hard to break into. I spoke Tagalog enough like a native speaker, but I spoke English like an American and found it hard to switch back. I think I alienated a lot of people (some of them on purpose). I considered joining the international students club, but a lot of the people I met there were really temporary visitors--here for a year--while I was home to stay. I didn't really have friends beyond people who needed help with math. I felt like a complete moron in my French class (where I kept pronouncing things in Spanish--the second language I'd taken in high school). I was a fish out of water. I missed my friends and got really depressed.
I missed my independence, working at a bookstore, and delving into schoolwork that meant something to me. I missed Yale (I've never been there, actually, but that missed opportunity is still a huge gaping hole in my life that I try not to look at or think about, most days). My mom recognized that I was sad, more than just sad--clinically sad. She let me go "home" to Los Angeles and I'm eternally grateful for that. I couldn't have imagined I'd be doing what I am today: creating, writing, and still swimming along. I don't know if I accomplished what I set out to do by going back to Manila, but I do know that those formative years were crucial in shaping the person that I am today. For better or for worse, I wouldn't change a thing.
Okay, to be honest, I'd change that part about not going to Yale. I really wanted that.
You can check out some pages from Ramsey's new book on her Tumblr!
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What a fantastic story! It's so interesting how the unexpected twists and turns in our lives end up shaping us in ways we never could have imagined. Thanks for being part of the Little Fish Blog Tour!
Thanks for inviting me!
Thank you so much for sharing your unique story. We really are shaped by our choices and our experiences, and it was great to read that you "wouldn't change a thing." But maybe you could take some Open Yale Courses? Or still find a way to go there for study, if it is such an important dream? Don't stop dreaming!
I love your little fish story. Sounds like a huge challenge and, as with so many experiences, a mixed bag. I can resonate with a move at that age and a hard transition. Glad you are where you want to be now! Also, the book looks great.
Someday! For now I'd be super happy to get in to a ceramics class at my local community college. You think Yale is hard to get in to... with the state's budget cuts, seats in Ceramics 101 are hard to come by. :P
Thanks, Danielle! Actually in my family the term "fish stories" refers to tales that are a little too good to be true (i.e. "sounds fishy!") vs. stories of little-fish-in-big-sea-ness, but I'm happy to report the above is the latter.