The Creepy Case Files of Margo Maloo

Howdy y’all! So the Margo book is officially launched! Immediately go out and buy it! You can get it from any good comic store or bookshop, Barnes and Noble, or Amazon, of course.

My September has been a blur of hospitals, nursing homes, day-long drives from Virginia to Georgia, and vice versa, raucous school visits including signing books for hundreds of kids, the Small Press Expo, and now Eleanor and I are back at my mom’s house in Virginia.

My mom officially left the nursing home the other day, and we’re trying to figure out what her life is going to look like for the next couple years. A Parkinson’s diagnosis is a real crap-shoot, and everything is especially confusing in the wake of a pretty debilitating bout of pneumonia. She could get better enough to live some more years semi-independently, or… not. So, we’re going to be in Virginia a few weeks at least, trying to set up home health care visits, finishing making her house more accessible, etc.

How’s this going to bear out on Margo updates? I’m still not sure. We’re trying to set up a little away-from-home studio here at the house, so we can get back to drawing. I really miss it – the only drawing I’ve done for the last couple weeks has been on the title pages of peoples’ books! The book launch and all the related promo is also a job just on its own. I’ll let you know as soon as I can.

Hey all, just a short note on what’s happening: I’m up in Virginia at my mom’s house. She’s in the hospital, recovering from a serious case of pneumonia. She was the sickest I’ve ever seen – unable to sit up in bed, and at times unaware of where she was. She’s recovered a lot since then, but still there’s a long path to go to get her back on her feet. She was also seen by a neurologist, who thinks some of her physical responses she’s showing suggest Parkinson’s symptoms. It’s a little atypical, since she’s never had any type of tremor, but we’ve noticed she’s been physically slowing down for a while, but haven’t had any kind of diagnosis to pin down. Getting a diagnosis is good, since we can start meds that could possibly improve things for her.

It’s been a rough week of hour-long drives to and from the hospital, but the worst is past. The next couple months might be a little complicated, as we try to figure out care plans for her, short-term and long-term, while the Margo book launch and book tour stuff that is happening concurrently. It’s going to affect how many pages I can get done, no way around it. I’ll try to keep everyone updated! And in the meantime, get your elderly loved ones checked out if they have a “cold” or “flu” that lasts a little too long.