The best way I can describe the humor in "squinkers" is somewhere between the irreverence of "Calvin & Hobbes" and the real-life mayhem of "For Better or For Worse". The strip involves a rural family running a bed & breakfast and trying to keep their dysfunctionality to a minimum. The main characters are Phoebe, a nine-year-old prima donna, her grandfather, Jack, and her mother, Susan. Phoebe and Jack have a basically "kill or be killed" relationship, while Susan has accepted her role as disaster victim with varying levels of complacency. Other characters include Phoebe's friend, Quentin, who has an annoyingly intellectual/spiritual bend, and two pigs from the social elite. Occasionally, an alien by the name of Glyx drops in to expound on the future of mankind.

I have been writing "squinkers" for over six years now and it has certainly taken on a life of its own; which is good because I don't have a life. I have come close to the Big Time of newspaper syndication a couple of times, but the Gods of Perfect Timing were adjusting their watches and failed to present any contracts with dotted lines to sign on. Maybe that's a good thing; six cartoons a week for twenty-five years can kill you. All that fine dining and exotic travel is bound to shorten one's lifespan.

As mentioned in my bio, I am a mother of three teenagers, and so "squinkers" is written from a parental point-of-view; very pragmatic and somewhat cynical. I don't think the typical "young-male-computer-gamer-types" will find it worth learning how to read, but I am told it is quite hilarious for all us old farts who have suffered the humiliation of having our kids program the VCR/DVD for us (for the seventh time). Anyway, have a look at the samples/demos and see if it makes you smile.