May 16, 2008 - In the span of a single day, Amal calls off his arranged marriage, comes out to his conservative parents, promptly gets disowned, goes on a bender... and wakes up the next morning to find TJ, a lanky, dreadlocked vagrant, frying eggs and singing Paul Simon in his kitchen.

TJ claims that the two have made a drunken pact to drive all the way from Berkeley to Providence. As it happens, Amal promised his sister he'd be there for her graduation from Brown University. And TJ, well... TJ has his own reasons.

The agreement is simple: Amal does the driving; TJ pays the way - but a 3500 mile journey leaves plenty of time for things to get complicated.

When does the comic update?
Tuesdays, about two pages every week.

Is TJ and Amal available in print? When is the book coming out?
Yes; this story is intended for print. It will be published in three volumes, hopefully later compiled into one large book. Volume 1 (containing Chapters 1-13) and Volume 2 (containing Chapters 14-29) are currently available for purchase. Volume 3 will probably be out some time in early 2014.

Can you ship the book internationally?
Yes, with a couple of caveats. Sometimes customs officers will open or confiscate international mail. If your order doesn't arrive within two months of purchase, please let me know. Note: due to the adult content in Volumes 2 and 3, there are several countries where those books will not be able to be delivered. Before you order the book, please make sure LGBTQ media is legal in your place of residence.

Is an RSS feed available?
Yes. It should publish text links that will take you to the new pages.

The signed editions are sold out. When will you have more?
I usually restock these every ten days. If you have a special request (e.g. to sign the book "to Ashley"), please use the "Note" field in Paypal when placing your order.

Hey, when will you have TJ & Amal [keychains/t-shirts/stickers/doilies] for sale?
Buttons and prints tend to stay in stock with minimal breaks. Keychains get restocked every few months. T-shirts... are not happening for a long time, sorry. I'd like to do t-shirts, but these days I can't spare the resources necessary for that particular undertaking.

I want to buy the book/other stuff, but don't have a Paypal account. Help?
I can still take checks and money orders. Shoot me an e-mail and I'll pass you the PO Box info.

Will you be at [convention]?
CONVENTION & SIGNING SCHEDULE FOR 2013:
Indie Creator Night - March 28, 2013 - Austin, TX
ComicPalooza - May 24-26, 2013 - Houston, TX
Tentative: San Japan - August 16-18, 2013 - San Antonio, TX
Tentative: Ikkicon - January 2014 - Austin, TX
Tentative: Toronto Comics Art Festival (TCAF) - May 2014 - Toronto, ON, Canada

Past conventions: Staple!Austin 2013, Ushicon 8, Ahn!Con 2013, Webcomics Rampage 2012, Small Press Expo 2012, Stumptown Comics Fest 2012, Staple 2012, Ushicon 2012, STRIPcon 2011, Staple 2011, Ushicon 2011, NYCC 2010, Stumptown 2010, Staple 2010, Staple 2009, Ikkicon 2009, Ohayocon 2009, Ikkicon 2008, Matsuricon 2008, AnimeFEST 2008.

If you'd like to see TJ & Amal at a convention near you, please ask the con organizers!

Why can't I leave comments on the comic pages?
Since TJ and Amal is a long-form story with lots of plot-important details, I prefer not to have extra material that will distract the reader from the comic pages.
News is always posted in the center column of the front page, and author comments can be found in the notes.
If you need to contact me, please e-mail ek[at]tjandamal.com.

Will you link to my website/comic?
Sorry, probably not. I link to comics I come across on my own, not on request.

Why do you only update once a week? Why just two pages a week instead of a bunch all at once?
I have a full-time job, so comic work is done in evenings and on weekends, which means the volume of my output won't match that of pro comics artists. Sorry.
Even though the story is meant to be read in one long go, I update bit by bit for selfish reasons: having a regular schedule and a manageable goal keeps me working at a steady, comfortable pace. ("How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.")

How long have you been working on TJ and Amal? How long will it run?
Since October 2007. (Comic pages started going up on the web in December 2009.) I estimate the story will end some time in early 2014.

Hey, on [page], is that a reference to [book/film/TV show]?
Quite possibly. I've compiled several pages of notes and credits; check them out if you like.

About translations...
If you want to try translating TJ and Amal, please feel free! If you would like to send me translated pages, I'll put them up if there are more than 70.
All translations are done by fans on their own time, for fun. Since I am fluent only in English, I am unable to make corrections or check for accuracy, and am not responsible for translated content.

Is this story "yaoi"?
Maybe? Probably not? Dudes kiss and all, but... hmm.
Nobody sparkles, anyway.

Who's "top" and who's "bottom"?
Please don't ask this.

How do you make the comic?
First, I hand-write a script for each section - Dialogue still changes as the page comes together. Then I do a bunch of thumbnail sketches to decide on the layout of each page. After thumbnailing, I draw each panel to scale on a separate sheet of bright white paper.
I draw the first rough pass in Col-Erase Pink, the second pass in Col-Erase Carmine Red, the third and fourth passes in mechanical pencil and ink, then shade with 2B and 3B soft pencil lead.
I then scan the artwork and import it to Photoshop, where I extract the Red channel so that only the black and gray lines are visible.
After that, I piece all the panels together into a single page, do retouching and corrections, and add panel borders, balloons and lettering on new layers. Then it sits in the buffer for weeks and then I come back and obsessively fix the old art right before the page goes up
Original pages are 4125 x 6300 px. I drop the web-version pages to 645 px wide before posting.
A single page takes anywhere from 10 to 25 hours, start to finish.

What font are you using for the dialogue?
Cloudsplitter BB, from Blambot.

Can I make icons/wallpapers/sig images from your art?
Sure, have at! Just please use your own webspace (or a service like Photobucket) for hosting them, and please give credit or a link back to this site if you can.
I'm generally fine with folks using my drawings for stuff as long as they're not being sold or plagiarized.

Do you have any banners?
Yup! I currently have these on Project Wonderful, as well: #1 (125x125px square) - #2 (125x125px round transparency) - #3 (468x60 banner)

E.K. Weaver was born during disco and grew up in a town full of rockets. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Brett, a big dopey dog, a cat who hates everything, and a kitten who will not get off the drawing table stop chewing on my panel sheets no don't knock over that pencil jar awww crap

E.K. is a chaotic neutral Libra with a +3 heat shield. Her weak points are used CD shops, font collections, and seeds.

TJ and Amal is her first comic.