Mostly A Break

HAPPY NEW YEAR, dear readers of the Weekly UpDave! It’s so nice to get to talk to you again. I know my posts were consistent over the holidays, but I wrote all of those in advance, so this is the first time in a few weeks that I have written a Newsletter post. It’s a good thing I had a cache of posts ready to go, too, because A LOT happened during the last few weeks of December that would have prevented me from working as closely on the Newsletter as I usually like to.

When I last wrote to you, it was the middle of December, and honestly, I thought I was done getting any professional writing work for the year. I was focused on reaching out to people, thanking them for the work I did get in 2024, working on a few pitches, but primarily getting ready to relax with my family back in Massachusetts so I could be at full power when 2025 started to fight another day.

Then, what often happens when I feel confident I know what’s going on in my life happens, the universe says “Hmm…I think we need to shake that up a bit.”

Before the winter break started, I ended up being offered and accepted six writing opportunities. All six of which came with deadlines of the first full week of January. I said yes because they were all awesome opportunities, you work when the work comes in, and the idea of getting a head start on 2025 was very appealing to me. It also offered me the opportunity to learn something incredibly valuable which was balancing work and personal time better.

My winter break was broken into three weeks. The first week I flew home to be with my family, but I knew I’d be working for one of my primary clients, so at night after I was done for them I would eat dinner with my family, and then spend a few hours working on the assignments due in the New Year. The second week, which had Christmas right smack in the middle of it, I did not work at all. My time was spent with my family and friends, exchanging gifts, watching movies, reading books, catching up with people in an authentic way, and just being present in my life. I honored that as a week off that I needed, and I told myself I would finish everything I had to the following week.

This sounds pretty basic, right? “You had three weeks and you only used two of them, good for you, Dave.” But here’s how my brain usually works “Get all the work done right now, as quickly as you can get it done, and turn it in as soon as possible to make sure everyone knows you’re good!” That’s an engine fueled by anxiety, my friends. I knew that I wanted to take a break because it’s been a great but long year, I wanted to be present with my family and friends, and the reality was if I had gotten that work done before the New Year? No one was going to be around to read it anyway. I learned a little bit about time management, how much I could do in a given timeframe, and how to make sure I include self-care when I have a ton of deadlines in front of me. I was proud of myself, and I look forward to sharing some of this new work as it develops and goes into its next stages.

How Was The Store Signing, Dave?

I’m so glad you asked, thanks so much!

On Saturday December 21st from 1 PM to 5 PM EST I had my first ever comic book store signing at the fantastic Comics N’ More in Easthampton, Massachusetts. A terrific comic store that I implore you to support in person if you are ever in the Springfield, MA/Hartford, CT area, or buy from them online. They are one of Western Massachusetts, and dare I say by extension New England’s, best Local Comic Book shops.

My brother, the outstanding Josh Wielgosz, who is a massive comic fan and just one of the best dudes I know sat with me at the signing and was my co-pilot. Over the course of four hours we saw so many friends, family members, and new readers. I signed quite a few copies of Man-Bat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black White & Green, Batman: The Brave & The Bold, and a couple DC anthologies. It was an outstanding time, everyone who came through was great, and the folks at the store were awesome hosts and I was happy they were happy with the turnout we had. I would love go back to and sign again there in the future, and maybe I will! Stay tuned!

Creator Catchup! With Julio Anta

Something else comic-related I got to do over the winter break was go on comic writer extraordinaire Julio Anta’s Instagram Live Show Creator Catch-Up! We had an outstanding discussion about making comics, breaking into comics, and promoting yourself. I had the great fortune of working with Julio at DC on a terrific Batman: Urban Legends Story starring Renee Montoya he wrote that was drawn by the stellar Miguel Mendonca.

Last year Julio wrote the awesome This is Our Land: A Blue Beetle Story, drawn by Jacoby Salcedo which I highly recommend you check out. You can also check out his outstanding original series Home that he did with artist Anna Wiesczyk.

If you want to watch/listen to the recording of our conversation click the link below!

What Else is Coming Up?

A reminder that on Wednesday January 25th you can go purchase DC’s Valentine’s Day anthology DC’s Lex and The City which features a Hawkman story written by me, drawn by Howard Porter, colored by Hi-Fi, and lettered by Dave Sharpe called “Heartbreak Lake” I think it’s awesome, and I think you will too. When we get closer to the release we’ll show some lettered preview pages here.

As always these anthologies have some stunning covers. The main cover is by Amanda Conner & Alex Sinclair. The Variant Covers by Saowee and Sozomaika which I have no doubt are going to be incredibly popular, they’re stunning, as is Amanda’s great cover! Buy them all!

That’s it for this week. I am glad to be back, and thank you for reading this post.

As a reminder one of my goals is to get this Newsletter’s subscriber number to 100 this year. Right now we’re at 60. If you could share and encourage people you know who like comics to subscribe to this I would be appreciative. I am going to be making sure that I have a post done every week, and I think we are going to do a lot of awesome things this year. People are going to want to see it.

Thank you!

Stay Safe!

—Dave Wielgosz