Super excited to announce that my newest graphic memoir “Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag: A Memoir” has been nominated for a RINGO Award! The Ringo Awards are the top award for independent comic creators and as they say… it’s an honored to even be nominated!
If you’re a comic fan and/or comic creator (including comics, graphic novel, graphic memoirs, webcomics, etc.) then you can vote in the awards! If you’ve had a chance to read “Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag: A Memoir” please make sure to give it a vote before voting ends on 8/7/2023 (and if you haven’t read the book yet, then make sure to give it a read!)
This book has truly been a labor of love that I have spent years working on and writing, and rewriting and rewriting, and changing formatting, etc. Originally, like my first two books, this book began as a strictly prose memoir, but as I began editing the story and steadily falling in love with the medium of graphic memoirs, I began to see that I had to turn the story from strictly prose, to prose and illustrated.
Eventually, after I changed my memoir into a graphic memoir, I was able to partner up with the talented artist Chai Simone and we got an agent together, the amazing Matthew Carnicelli, and then we got a book deal with the cool-as-hell indie publisher Street Noise Books!
Anyway, today is publication day for my book (or as authors call the day, their “book birthday”) and I think you should order a copy and give it a read. I know I might be biased here, but I believe it’s an interesting, humorous and informative book and that you should give it a shot. Whether you’ve read something of mine before and enjoyed it; are into graphic memoirs/novels and the comic form; are interested in the specific subject matter in the book; or just looking to try out a new book, order a copy today and give it a chance!
If you haven’t had a chance yet to pre-order a copy then make sure to order today! Or you’ll have to regular-order like everyone else!
Seriously though, pre-orders help with some algorithm stuff on amazon. I don’t know the specifics but I do know that it helps authors rank higher in search results.
Check out the book description, our early blurbers and trade reviews. I think you’ll enjoy the book!
You should purchase a copy based on these awesome blurbs just click right here on this book cover!
One of the most stressful things in publishing a book is asking other authors/writers/illustrators to blurb your book (if you’re not familiar with what a blurb is, it’s those comments that typically appear on the cover, back cover, and inside first pages of a book where other writers and media types praise the book). It always feels weird/awkward to approach someone whose work you respect and then ask them to read your work and hopefully enjoy it enough to comment positively on it (not everyone agrees, and not everyone comments positively).
The first is from Tom Hart, an amazing graphic memoirist who wrote the heartfelt, and heartbreaking NYT best-selling graphic memoir Rosalie Lightning (read this graphic memoir when you’re in need of a cathartic crying session). Tom also wrote the book The Art of the Graphic Memoir: Tell Your Story, Change your Life, which was a book that I devoured while writing my own graphic memoir, so it was amazing to hear that he would actually be reading my book and that he was willing to provide a blurb (truly, an amazing guy).
Tom’s blurb for Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag: “A charming, often hilarious look at how love is actually the worst.” It’s a short and sweet blurb and exactly what an author is looking for, it’s also the blurb that made it on the front cover of my book!
“Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag offers a lot to chew on — not just the carnivore/vegetarian/vegan debate, but also questions of war, speciesism, ethics, and religion. The meat of the book, though, is a star-crossed love story, and Anthony’s confident, self-aware narration, spiced with Simone’s engaging art, makes for a fulfilling meal.” It’s another excellent blurb that made it onto the back of the book.
And last, but not least, a blurb from Global Vegan Magazine, an amazing company and magazine based out of Canada, but reaching globally, to spread the word about veganism and animal rights (two themes touched upon in my book).
“Arefreshing, skillfully-illustrated novel that provoked all the ranges of emotions. Michael’s ability to write with humor quickly draws you into his personal experience as a meat-eating boyfriend learning about compassion for animals in the midst of a schemey plan. His perspective of a military veteran offers readers the opportunity to learn compassion from a different lens.” And there you have it, another great blurb that made it onto the back cover of my newest book.
I’m honored that these individuals took the time to read my work and felt strongly enough in it that they would lend their names to the blurbing and promotion of it.
If you’ve read and enjoyed any of my work before; or are someone who loves graphic novels/graphic memoirs; or are someone who loves books on veganism and animal rights (don’t need to be all three) then I think you’ll enjoy this book (and if you’re doubting it, then just reread what those blurbers had to say!)
I cannot believe it’s been five years since my last book Civilianized: A Young Veteran’s Memoir came out! I guess it’s time for another! This November 8th I have a new graphic memoir coming out and if you’re not familiar with graphic memoirs they’re this amazing–newish–growing medium that combines graphic novels (illustrated story-telling) with the honesty and self-reflection of memoir.
“A rough-and-tumble Iraq War veteran is young and in love, and the last thing on his mind is food and the ethics of eating meat. But when his girlfriend becomes a vegetarian and animal rights activist, suddenly food is all he thinks about.
A true story of how love and vegetarianism can triumph over all else. Love, heartache, and the rest of the ingredients that make a reader laugh, smile, stop-and-think, are all found in this enthralling graphic memoir. Amidst the stories of love and frustration, there are treatises on food, vegetarianism, and the ethics of the animal rights movement (some of it juxtaposed against Michael’s graphic wartime experiences). Told with Michael’s sardonic perspective and the delightful artwork of debut graphic novelist Chai Simone, this is a journey of true love gone temporarily astray.”
I think it’s some of my best work yet and I’m super-stoked and honored to have worked with the amazon artist Chai Simone and the amazing Indie Publisher Street Noise Books (more on them both later).
Anyway, if you’ve read any of my stuff before I think you’ll definitely enjoy this book, and make sure to pre-order it on amazon or at your local bookstore (pre-orders help with some sort of algorithm for books and stuff, so make sure to buy a copy today!)
Super excited to announce that my newest graphic memoir “Just Another Meat-Eating Dirtbag: A Memoir” has been nominated for a RINGO Award! The Ringo Awards are the top award for independent comic creators and as they say… it’s an honored to even be nominated!
