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"This autobiographically-inspired graphic novel explores mental health and schizophrenia in a surprising and emotionally honest story with a fantastical cast of animal characters. Fox Foxerson's got a new roommate. Fox Foxerson's got a new job. Fox Foxerson's got a date. The roommate is only a little strange, sometimes. The job seems to involve ... filing? It's not very clear. The date seems to be more interested in someone else. Fox would rather be making art. As the oppressive weight of the everyday routine beats down on Fox, nothing is going right. And it doesn't seem like anyone can help -- not Fox's roommate, not Fox's friends, and definitely not the nurses and doctors at the hospital, who don't seem to take notice of anything Fox tries to tell them. Fox needs some time and space to figure things out. This quirky, humorous graphic novel tinged with pathos, immerses readers in the constant question: are you okay? Fox is not okay, but Fox is working on it"--
About the author
Christi Furnas is a queer cartoonist, illustrator, oil painter, and disability rights advocate. She has exhibited in galleries across Minnesota and in New York City. Christi’s career includes over ten years of arts administration, teaching art workshops, and numerous speaking engagements. With a Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant Christi created the mini-comic, Crazy Like a Fox: Adventures in Schizophrenia, which she has since developed into a full-length graphic novel. The comic’s protagonist, Fox Foxerson currently has an advice column in Dispatch, a Twin Cities publication covering arts and culture. Christi lives with her partner in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This is her debut graphic novel.
Summary
April 2024 Reads for the Rest of Us - Ms. Magazine
This autobiographically-inspired graphic novel explores mental health and schizophrenia in a surprising and emotionally honest story with a fantastical cast of animal characters.
Fox Foxerson's got a new roommate. Fox Foxerson's got a new job. Fox Foxerson's got a date. The roommate is only a little strange, sometimes. The job seems to involve . . . filing? It's not very clear. The date seems to be more interested in someone else. Fox would rather be making art.
As the oppressive weight of the everyday routine beats down on Fox, nothing is going right. And it doesn't seem like anyone can help — not Fox's roommate, not Fox's friends, and definitely not the nurses and doctors at the hospital, who don't seem to take notice of anything Fox tries to tell them. Fox needs some time and space to figure things out. This quirky, humorous graphic novel tinged with pathos, immerses readers in the constant question: are you okay? Fox is not okay, but Fox is working on it.
Foreword
Major review attention National media, especially targeting NPR, 40 Under 40, Out Magazine, and The Advocate.
Online/social media promotion
Local author tour in the Midwest
Academic marketing
Buzz mailings to LGBTQ rights organizations and mental health advocacy organizations
Advertising in the Gay and Lesbian Review
Potential strategic partnerships: National Alliance on Mental Illness
Promotion through the author’s Instagram account: @christifurnas
Bookseller/Library promotions:
• ARC giveaways through the ABA Advance Access Newsletter
• Blad giveaways to librarians and educators who attend the NY Public Library Programming at San Diego ComicCon and NYComicCon
• Book giveaways at Winter Institute, ALA annual, the Brooklyn Book Festival, Toronto Comic Arts, SPX, MoCCA, and FlameCon.
• Graphic novel panels at ALA annual, San Diego ComicCon, FlameCon, SPX, and NYComicCon.
