It’s been an emotional past couple of days, and I know there’s a long struggle for human rights ahead of us. As an artist, I don’t know what my role in this mess will be. I know some people believe that being an artist isn’t a crucial or worthy calling, that giving some relief or challenging the way people thought or playing games was not as important as heading issues straight on. All we are, are stories. Every article you read is a story. Every TV show you watch is a story. We intellectually distinguish fact from fiction, but not if that fiction sounds like fact. Stories are important–now more than ever–and they gave me a reason to live when I needed it the most.

The gaming industry, for all our issues, is part of my family, and people I’ve met in SF&F over the past few years are becoming that as well. Now, more than ever, artists of all stripes need each other. Our world may be divided, but we do not have to spread a message of hate. We are the story-makers, and we have that power. It’s time to saddle up, and bring some hope back that is badly, sorely needed. Who’s with me?

I posted a list on Twitter of ways to help your fellow artists, and here’s a summary of what I said:

Many freelancers like myself are worried about health insurance changes. There are a couple of ways to help. They are:

1) Write/share reviews: Many sites employ algorithms that use this as a metric, and reviews influence word-of-mouth sales as well.

2) Support disaster relief funds like The Hero Initiative and the RPG Creators Relief Fund

3) Support artists by talking about what you love, and not only what you “hate”. Yes, issues need to be called out–but so does the good.

4) Drop a thank you or letter of encouragement to your favorite artist. I cannot stress how important that will be and is right now.

5) Support diversity/inclusion by supporting better representation. Buy, read, and recommend books by authors affected. Directly helps!

6) When you see an artist attempting to say something positive as a means of fighting back against the negativity, RT them. It *matters*.

7) Keep in mind some artists won’t share their political views, not b/c they don’t care–but b/c they care TOO much. Have to protect hearts.

And lastly 8) Many of us have a Patreon, Etsy, Kickstarter, etc. We’d appreciate a signal boost even if you can’t afford it. Thank you!