.png)
About
Hi there! My name is Samantha and I'm a midwestern comic artist, visual storyteller and children's media enthusiast.
My debut middle grade graphic novel, A TALE AS TALL AS JACOB, was published by Andrews McMeel in 2021.
I graduated from the University of Missouri with a BFA in drawing and earned a Master's of Library and Information Science from San Jose State University.
I worked as a children's librarian for 5 years before pursuing bookmaking fulltime. I am currently working on a JACOB sequel that will hopefully be announced soon!
FAQs
(These are ACTUALLY the questions I get asked most. Kids are so nosy ðŸ˜)
Q. Which of your siblings is your favorite?
A. My diplomatic answer: "I love them equally." My real answer: "My sister Grace."
​​
​
​​
Q. Are you married?
A. Kids always wanna know. And they're always shocked and horrified when the answer is "yes."
​
​
​
Q. Did the events in A TALE AS TALL AS JACOB really happen?
A. Yes...and no. Every big event that happened in the book actually happened at some point, but not necessarily in that order or with those people. I have a VERY big family and had to leave a lot of people out, so many stories were adopted to feature Samantha and Jacob that actually involved other family members IRL. Things also didn't happen exactly in the order the book depicts. I moved a lot of events around chronologically to make the story work. And even if you have a good memory of your childhood, you still have to use your imagination to fill in lots of the gaps! So yes, sort of!
​
But most importantly. Everything that Jacob does in the book, he REALLY did in real life. All of it. And there's so much more wild stuff he did (see the last question for further details.)
​​
​
​
Q. What's your biggest piece of advice for aspiring comic artists?
A. Don't stress about drawing hands well. Nobody is paying attention to them. In fact, don't stress about drawing well at all. Make it funny and nobody will care how bad it looks.
​​
​
​
Q. How old are you?
A. I was born in 1992, you do the math!
​​​
​
​
Q. Do you have any pets?
A. I am a cat person and try to have at least 2 in my house at all times. I always name them after cartoon characters.
​
​​
​
Q. Do you have any kids?
A. please refer to the answer above.
​​​​​
​​
​​
Q. What is the hardest part about making comics?
​​
A. Trying to make money off of it... And shoulder pain. In that order.
​
​
​
Q. Is there going to be a sequel to A TALE AS TALL AS JACOB? And when will it be out?
A. Yes. And probably by the time you are too old to want to read it :( Graphic novels take a long time to make.