2022 Newsletter – Katherine Montalto

Some Highlights from 2022.

I have been consistently publishing this newsletter every month for five years. One of the things I’ve learned from starting this newsletter and keeping up my website is just how much we forget. It’s been nice to look back each month and take stock of the things I’ve accomplished. It’s also created a sense of structure to my creative work and helped me manage and maintain goals. Now, with the way many social media companies are imploding, it’s more important than ever to carve out a space of one’s own on the internet. No matter what happens I have this website as a record of the work I’ve done. Of course there are still many other places to follow me online.

I finished working my way through the book 102 Haiku Journal and everything I posted in 2022 can be found here along with other poems I wrote throughout the year. I’ve been on mastodon since 2018 but the amount of activity has exploded in the last few months. One of the fun things is I’ve found a great community of writers who share haiku prompts everyday. I try to keep up and enjoy reading what others have written.

I created illustrations of the birth flower for each month this year. Aside from some illustrations for invertober 2022, flowers were all the illustrations I did in 2022. I didn’t create abstract sketchbook art every month this year but here is what I did make. Here is the holiday card I made for 2022. It can be purchased on stuff here in my redbubble store.

I produced podcasts for both MIWarren and The Detroit Socialist this year. Those five podcast episodes can be found here.

Watching the ways the publishing industry has been imploding the last few years has sort of changed how I feel about my own writing and how I want to share it with the world. For some reason, unlike my art which I share freely and only try to monetize through print-on-demand and licensing, I still try to get almost everything I write published. I send stories to lit mags and have been published in a few and had stories in anthology books. The thing is I rarely make any money from this and if I do, it’s nothing that could be considered an income. I don’t really think it gets more people reading my stories either. None of the stories I’ve had published have been edited any further so it seems what gets published has been edited enough by me to be publishable. I am involved in many writing communities online and am a part of a local writers group that I share all of the stories I want to have published with. So is this last step of trying to get published really necessary? I just want people to read my weird little stories. I feel like I’d do better to build an audience on my own and do something similar to what I do with art, create a print-on-demand option for anyone who wants to support me and have a physical copy of my work. You can read all the stories I self published in 2022 here.

As always, I published zines of all the work I created in 2022. Print them out for free and learn how to fold them here.

I participated in one art show this year, KC Zine Con 2022. I like participating in shows but it’s not a top priority of mine. I plan on mostly making art for myself and monetizing it on my website and print-on-demand sites. I am of course always open to anyone who is interested in purchasing original pieces or licensing work I have already created. I will continue to be open to commission work but it is not a priority and it is not work I will seek out.

If you’d like to support me on a continuous regular basis you can set up a monthly donation to my art supply fund. There are levels of regular donation you can contribute, everything over a dollar comes with rewards. If you’d like to make a one-time contribution go here.

All of my original artwork, writing, and music are available for purchase and for licensing. I am available for other creative services as well. See them here. If interested please contact me here.

2022 in Lists

My 2022 Tumblr Top 10.
https://katherine-montalto.tumblr.com/post/706087730097045504/2022-tumblr-top-10

Books I Read in 2022

The Elementals Michael McDowell
Play It as It Lays Joan Didion
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes Anita Loos
102 Haiku Journal Lisa Ann Markuson, Daniel Zaltsman, Erick Szentmiklosy
Writing Habit Hacks Workbook: How to Create and Maintain Smart Writing Habits Kate Krake
The Seeds by Ann Nocenti illustrated by David Aja
Unsettling Micro-stories Daniel Canals Flores
I Hope This Helps: Comics and Cures for the 21st Century Panic Tommy Siegel
101 Horror Writing Prompts Kate Krake
Anne of Green Gables: A Graphic Novel by Mariah Marsden illustrated by Brenna Thummler
Contact by Carl Sagan read by Jodie Foster
Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver illustrated by Rebecca Kirby
Writing Haiku by Bruce Ross
Great Catherine by Carolly Erickson read by Davina Porter
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe illustrated by Maia Kobabe
Goblin Girl by Moa Romanova illustrated by Moa Romanova
Amelia Bedelia déchaînée! by Herman Parish Part of the Amelia Bedelia series
Freaks’ Amour by Various Authors illustrated by Gary Panter
Amelia Bedelia voyage! by Herman Parish Part of the Amelia Bedelia series
Press Enter to Continue by Ana Galvan illustrated by Ana Galvan
Creepy Archives Vol. 1 by Various Authors illustrated by Various Artists
The Light Ages by Seb Falk read by Seb Falk
Twilight by Katherine Mosby
Dracula Bram Stoker
Detroit: I Do Mind Dying: A Study in Urban Revolution by Marvin Surkin, Dan Georgakas
Ghost Tree by Bobby Curnow illustrated by Simon Gane
Lorna by Caroline Sweater illustrated by Caroline Sweater
Lighter Than My Shadow by Katie Green illustrated by Katie Green
I Left the House Today! by Cassandra Calin illustrated by Cassandra Calin