Inked Sneak Peek!
Can we have a sneak peek at Inked?
So as I have currently run out of questions to answer, this time I am sharing a sneak peek of Inked!
Inked is a graphic novel I wrote back in 2022 and entered into Hardie Grant’s Ampersand Prize. Jake A Minton came on board and helped turn the world to life.
It’s the story of 12-year-old Sid who discovers a talking octopus in his family’s fish shop. Otto the octopus is obnoxious, demanding and won’t leave Sid alone until he helps Otto get to the ocean… roughly 300 kilometres away.
Sid isn’t interested in Otto’s problems as he has bigger fish to fry. He has to figure out how to get into the art school of his dreams, or else high school next year will be a nightmare.
This story is a result of a lot of things. Watching my neurodiverse child navigating the world and acknowledging that we all feel like a fish-out-of-water sometimes. My concern and love for the environment and the role we can all play in supporting this. There are feelings from lockdown when I couldn’t get to the ocean, even though it was much closer than 300 kilometres away!
At it’s core though, for me Inked is about the importance of connection and community. Knowing there are people you can turn to who understand what you are going through. Those who can support you and you can support them through the difficult things. People need people – or octopuses – to laugh, cry, disagree and connect with.
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for a little while, you’ll know how invested I am in graphic novels and I am thrilled that Inked is the launch title of the Australian imprint Figment.
Read: Inked! Okay, you can’t until April 1st – no joke – but it’s not that far away. You can pre-order Inked now from your favourite local independent purveyor of books, or order online.
Until next time, grab a graphic novel!
Karen
Have a question about graphic novels? Have a graphic novel you love and would like to share? Drop me a line, I’d love to hear from you.
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Pre-order Inked, a middle grade graphic novel by Karen Wasson and Jake A Minton