Rachel Terwilliger, also known across local festivals and events as Rachelillustrates, received a CAP Strategic Opportunity Stipend (SOS) to help publish the first volume of her LGBTQIA+ focused, Faerie/fantasy adventure romance comic, “Tock the Gnome.”

Beyond this beginning, Tock's story utilizes the themes of fairy tales and the popularity of the fantasy genre to address and explore problems of self-regard after immense harm, the importance of making amends with love and problems of separation and discrimination between peoples, leading to resolution and exploration of how such things can be healed and result in a true "happy ever after."

With this grant, Rachel was able to cover several essential costs of publication, including copyright fees and ISBN in order to get the book into local bookstores and public libraries - a lifelong dream! 

As Rachel says, "Though having the comic (which was...  Read more