As a woman of color, it brings me a lot of joy to be able to write about other BIPOC riders and bring their stories to people who may not have heard of them and the work they are doing. It really helps give my writing a clear purpose, and it makes me feel good to use a skill I have to uplift and amplify. I've recently been approached to pitch to a couple other magazines, so I've been brainstorming what riders, trainers, non-profits and content creators that don't fit Sidelines Magazine's niche and could benefit from the amplification of my small platform that I am trying to grow. Opportunity is knocking, so I am opening the door!

After the controversy surrounding Jake Parker and Inktober, I will not be participating in the trademarked event. Instead I'll be participating with the hashtag Drawlloween and NoirLifestylePrompts (if they release them). This of course means dusting off the ol' art IG account which I've neglected for all of 2020.

I was happy to be included this month as a finalist for Eventing Nation's first diversity scholarship. I don't talk about my horseback riding much on my personal website though my love for horses permeates my portfolio. It's one thing I'm just very passionate about, and being biracial Black means I have the perspective of not being default in the community. I'm glad people are listening. You can read the whole essay here: https://eventingnation.com/lyssette-williams-bipoc-riders-like-me-are-watching-and-waiting/

I had some really big plans for August, I took a week off to work on my writing pitches and also to start inking again. We also almost bought a house. All these plans came tumbling down - work (my 8-5) kept me from actually taking time off so nothing got done on my personal projects. It's hard to feel like I'll ever get ahead with letting my creative career take off when I'm stuck bogged down trying to pay my bills with my steady job. But that is capitalism for you. I'll try again this month.

"When it rains, it pours." - I was internally suffering for a while creatively, and that was also compounded by the fact that freelance work mostly dried up as well. I can't blame potential clients - a pandemic is a scary time to think about paying for a logo or web work. Just like it was a weird time for me to think about drawing comics or writing. But amidst chaos there is some opportunity. I've been writing more about Diversity, Inclusion, Equality and Equity specifically in the Equestrian space on various platforms. Writing opportunities have opened up, I've also been thinking of some more short form comics. With infection cases rising again and things beginning to shutdown, again - there will be more time to mentally pursue creative work now that I have ideas without a feeling like I have to go out and interact with others because things are open. Balancing is tough but I need to continue to push through.

In the midst of all the holiday hub-bub I missed my December blog post about what’s going on. Basically it was all about family and friends – wrapping up working on the Mercury Moon website and finishing up this website!

In January work was a little slow – I illustrated a couple horses, worked on the Mercury Moon logo and wrote a piece about Diversity in Equestrian Media for The Plaid Horse which blew up! I’m glad to get the conversation going even if some of the voices out there are toxic. One step at a time.