Introducing daily diary comics

Yes, I'm excited to announce the launch of my new thing... DAILY DIARY COMICS, published every evening over on my growing Instagram account (followers have doubled in a week, which is very promising!)

You can follow @zara.m.cartoons and hit that all-important notifications bell to see them daily in your Instagram app... OR subscribe to my weekly Substack newsletter to get a weekly update every Sunday, where I'll be adding a link to a weekly round-up of diary comics here on my blog, just like this one!

Without further ado, here is a week's worth of them:

Instagram caption: I was naughty, I know, but hopeful it made you smile 😊 I wonder what tomorrow's diary comics will be about... probably something equally insignificant, but that is the beauty of these things, after all

Instagram caption: Here's my next daily diary comic instalment... I'm enjoying this! There's something very satisfying about completing a comic strip. I did indeed submit my first batch of 10 to The New Yorker - and only one of them was a cartoon of myself - I was very restrained. It was fun drawing different characters for a change. The only thing is, I don't think they contact you unless they want to publish your work, so how will I know when I'm free to submit them somewhere else or show them to you lot? If anyone knows... 🙏

Instagram caption: I had big plans to grow all my own veggies this season, but the only edible thing I have to harvest so far are a few blueberries that appear to be forming on a plant I bought from the garden centre, so I think that counts as cheating

Instagram caption: I have been wondering why my diary comics were tricky to draw, and I realised it's because my panels are in portrait orientation, whereas they should probably be landscape or square. I feel like I can't change them now though, so I will just have to come up with inventive ways to use the space. I can do that. I'm a creative, right?

Instagram caption: Some might say it was bad luck... Friday 13th, but I'm just thrilled that The New Yorker actually emailed me 😁 it feels like a positive step in the right direction, and everyone gets their first cartoon submission rejected, right? Okay, not everyone, I have read about some witty genius getting a first cartoon accepted -- but its not usual! In fact, there are cartoonists who submit cartoons for YEARS before they got their first O.K. (wasnt Bob Mankoff one of them?) So this is definitely a win in my book 👍💪📖 Now I have to come up with 10 more...

Instagram caption: I think this might be my ideal Saturday! I'm a bit of a loner, I like my own company and spending quality time with my pets... I might even prefer animals to humans... well, let's be honest here, I certainly do! My favourite place to relax, aside from bed, is definitely the bath, and I'm really into books about cartoons, cartoonists, comics and graphic memoirs at the moment. Pizza is without a doubt my chosen comfort food. What bliss 😊👌💚🐾

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