A Little Bit of Good News for Tarantula: Authors and Art
Starting the work week enthusiastically on minor improvements
Dear reader,
We wanted to share some news with you and invite you to be part of our process while we work on some house keeping and minor improvements over here!
First, we are happy to share with you that Tarantula: Authors and Art has been accepted into a Substack Go program, which consists of four weeks of support for writers and structured guidance. Substack is this very platform where Tarantula: Authors and Art has been publishing, and the program is designed for “writers looking to supercharge their publishing efforts.”
At the beginning of this month, we felt a bit low because the artist we were going to feature this February became too busy, and rightly so! We will keep the “why” she couldn’t collaborate with us a secret for now as we hope to introduce her to you very soon, and her reason is so so good. However, that caused a bout of doubt in how we formulated the digital publication and a sense of failure.
“Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.” - C.S. Lewis
We all heard it before, without failure it is hard to grow, and without support the road that C.S Lewis writes about can be quite long and windy. Thus, it was perfect timing to become part of a program and to join a group of perfect strangers. Despite having the same goal, 6 strangers meeting for the first time in virtual breakout groups can be scary and was scary for the first 5 minutes, but what a gentle and supportive group it turned out to be!
Strangers from New Mexico, Canada, New Jersey, Malaysia, India and Sweden selflessly giving advice and helping each and every member to become their very best at the given moment. Coming from different countries, and writing about diverse themes and subject in our unique voices, led us to the decision to name this group The Gumbo Group, a recipe that definitely restores faith in humanity!
gumbo, an aromatic soup-stew characteristic of the Creole cuisine of Louisiana, combining African, American Indian, and European elements. It takes its name from a Bantu word for okra, one of the dish’s typical ingredients, which is prized for its ability to give body to a sauce.
Here are some of the things that we have been saucing up during the first two weeks of the program:
The next time when an artist, or something else doesn’t work out in the moment, how can we raise out of the situation like a carefree and beautiful phoenix instead of going through all the uncomfortable emotions?
That lead us to questioning what form should this publication take? What articles should we focus on, what new things should we add, etc?
Should we write longer or shorter form, you get the picture.
While the Gumbo Group has been a blessing, as we go forward we would like to involve you, our most devoted readers. Tell us what you liked so far, is there anything you would like to see more or find out more. You can either send us a message in the comments or if you have exactly a minute, please take this survey.
Click on Survey
Since we also received some new readers in the last few weeks, this February, you can expect us to be a work in process as well as going back a few steps to share with you a little bit about what inspires us. Have you ever wondered why we chose the name Tarantula: Authors and Art?
At the beginning of this New Year, instead of making resolutions, resolutions seemed to have found us!
I would like to send a shout out to our Gumbo Group, and share with you the links to their newsletters in no particular order. They are all so different! Please check them out, such a nice group of humans!
HopeMail
The Year 2049 comics and newsletter
SHOW AND TELL
THE LOVE BLAST FROM KATHLEEN SMITH!
BRAZENFACE
As this post wasn't about art or stories, although it is a story in itself, here are some links of inspiration how people entered art into their daily lives! Quite impressive, I must say!
Next level parenting with an art dedication in Brown Bag Art Dad