Animated Brain: Artists' Mental Health Resource Needs Our Help

Description: Cover for the book "The Animated
Brain: An Anthology of Mental Health Experiences
In The Animation & Comics Industries"

Kiernan Sjursen-Lien, also known as Zanko, is a writer on BOOM!'s Over the Garden Wall comics and a prolific artist in both the comic and animation industry. They recently announced a new project aimed at helping professionals in comics and animation: The Animated Brain, which aims to be an anthology of mental health experiences and advice for both career artists and those new to the creative field.

Regarding the content of the anthology, Sjursen-Lien said, "It contains comics about mental illnesses from anxiety to bipolar disorder to dissociative identity disorder to some recipes to make when you’re having a bad day. We tried to cover our bases!".

To help make this anthology a reality, they've started a modest Kickstarter campaign.

THey're getting close to the initial funding goal, so they've announced that all additional proceeds aside from the printing of the actual book will go to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMI, Autistic Advocacy, The Selective Mutism Center, and 4 Paws for Ability, who help kids get service dogs to assist with their mental or physical disabilities.

Multicultural Steampunk Anthology Wants YOU!

Steampunk WORLD ANTHOLOGY COVER

Sarah Hans, editor behind the award-winning anthology Steampunk World, is currently looking for short fiction for its follow-up, Steampunk Universe.

According to her website, the type of work she's looking for:

Your story should take place in a non-Western culture. I’d love to have a variety of stories that take place in the diverse cultures of Central/South America, Asia, and Africa.

Your story should contain a character with at least one exceptionality. It should be a major element of the story, providing the character with extra challenges but maybe also special insight or abilities. I want to explore how steampunk technology changes the lives of people with exceptionalities, for better or for worse.  I’d love to see characters who are also members of other marginalized groups (such as LGBTQ characters).

Your story should contain steampunk elements. I get a lot of submissions with steampunk exoskeletons and dirigibles, but not many with spaceships or submarines. I’d really like authors to stretch themselves and instead of just writing alternate history, set the story in a parallel universe or on another planet. Read Tobias Buckell’s excellent story “Love Comes to Abyssal City” for an example.

All submissions are due by June 1st of next year, More info can be found  here.