Howdy friends! 🐌 Last night, I dropped January's newsletter off at the post office, so here's a little preview as to what's inside the envelopes. I also added a bunch of Snail Mail Society digital perks that I've begun rolling out! More on those later, but first... coming via snail mail:

• All Snail Mail Society members are getting this month's catmothcrow chronicle, of course. In January's newsletter, I chat about my goals/resolutions/wishes for 2026, and share my ideas for Kansas City transit mascots.
• Snail Sustainers and Stars are also getting access to a playlist I put together called "The Tay-Tay Gateway". Don't wanna wait for the snail mail to arrive? If you've been a member of one of those tiers for a few months, you already know the password to the playlist portal page and can listen to it now! 
• Snail Stars are also getting the first issue of my catmothcrow revists minizine. Each month this year, I'll be revisting a movie I used to love but that I haven't watched in at least 10 years and writing a review zine about my thoughts on that flick now. Do they hold up? Have my tastes in movies evolved? Is nostalgia a trap? 
  Issue one is about the 2003 Club Kid biopic Party Monster. In classic Dayna fashion, the review sorta ends up being like a mini perzine. Make sure to fold it open and flat after you read  — there's more inside!

NEW! Digital Perks

• I've begun recording behind-the-scenes videos and chatty vlogs for SMS members! All tiers can now access a video tour of my home studio and I'll be uploading chatty vlogs for SMS Sustainer and Star members from time-to-time (and the first chats already been posted.)
• Snail Stars will also soon have access to the catmothcrow archives: once or twice a month, I'll be uploading scans of my out-of-print zines. For January, I'll be sharing Subtweets and Affirmations (a zine I published ten years ago!) and Friendship Bracelets for the End Times (an unpublished minizine I made at Zine Club last year.)

On Monday, the catmothcrow shop will reopen (and don't forget - Sustainer and Stars, y'all always get 20% off shop orders!) and I'll be drawing one Snail Mail Society member's name and sending them a free snail hat! Here's a pick of me wearing mine (buttons not included, but I highly recommend putting buttons on your snail cap!)

All of this is to say, that if you've been "on the fence" about becoming a Snail Mail Society member, now's a great time to join. (And if you join before 1/19/26 at, let's say, 12pm CST you'll have your name entered to win the hat!)

And if you're already a member: THANK YOU! Starting the Snail Mail Society has given me the motivation to write more zines and the confidence to really put myself out there and share more of my art and words with the world. Y'all's support means the world to me. 💗

The worlds a fucking mess and talking about my art and zines can feel really fucking frivolous. Like, fascist goons are literally kidnapping folks outta their homes and shooting anyone who stands in their way... and I'm over here doodling snails. It can feel really pointless. But then I remind myself that we all need moments of levity so we don't fall into dispair. Making zines and drawing and writing are those moments for me, and having y'all as an audience gives me the motivation to do and make more.

And sometimes making zines gives me hope, too, even if I haven't figured out yet how to keep pace with how quick shit shifts and changes. I made a zine last year documenting first-hand accounts from the folks emprisoned in the South Florida Detention Facility, and I'm hoping to make more zines like this, zines that spotlight some of the shit that's been happening that either isn't making headlines or that the general public might have already "moved on" from as other atrocities are spotlit by the media. I think its important to document what is going on now, so there's a written record of what happened, to disrupt the lies and whatever narratives the fasc want to craft.

Okay, I have gotten way off topic and super rambly (wouldn't be me if I wasn't rambling!) but yea, that's that. Hopefully this month's catmothcrow chronicle finds its way to you soon if you're in the SMS, and thank you, all of you, for your support and eyeballs!

Oh! And PS: got a suggestion as to what you'd like to see from the Snail Mail Society? Lemme know about it! The idea to share a tour of my home studio came from SMS member Charlie, and I'd love to give y'all more of what you want outta your memberships.

Hey snails! Greetings, as usual, from my desktop. I'm dropping this month's mail off at the blue box tonight, so here's a little preview of what you can expect in your mailbox:

• This month's newsletter features some 2025 favs, how I spent my birthday, and a Christmas cookie recipe.
• This month's playlist has one song I enjoyed each month this past year (oh my god how is it almost 2026?!)
• This month's Star Exclusive mini is about tech-y things I miss from the early aughts.
• And Stars will also get a new mini zine, Mail Snails, that I made for Roll for Zine (episode coming soon to Youtube!) 

And that's not all! This month, I also plan on recording a behind-the-scenes "studio" tour just for y'all. And last, but not least, in celebration of a merch drop that'll be coming the week after Christmas, there's gonna be a raffle, with a chance to win some snail merch.

I'll have more to say on that later, but for now, thank you SO much for your support.

This month's snail mail is currently (hopefully!) sprinting through the USPS system and headed your way! In addition to this month's newsletter, Sustainers and Stars are getting a Halloween mix to listen to, and Stars are also getting 3 new zines: their exclusive mini about my favorite horror movies, the newest issue of catmothcrow (my perzine), and a web design how-to mini I created with my friend Nash for KC Zine Con #10 (we taught a workshop about HTML and CSS basics.)

In other news, I was hoping to have the shop back open now, and stocked with copies of catmothcrow three, but KC Zine Con #10 sold me out! I made so many trades and so many folks picked up my zines that I'm outta almost everything! So it's gonna stay closed for a while longer while I print/fold/staple a buncha titles.

I hope October is treating y'all well! Stay spooky, Snails!

Howdy snails (and the snail-curious!) 💌🐌 I can't believe August is almost half-way over. It feels like it just began.

Yesterday, I dropped this month's snail mail off at the post office. Here's what you can expect in your mailbox:

• This month's chronicle talks about both summertime magic and summertime SADness, as well as the dissonance of feeling joy amongst all the ongoing horrors.
• Sustainers and Stars will get a playlist (scan the QR code on the tv) entitled "Tom Radio" that is accompanied by a nifty visualizer I cut together. (It'll drop here, in the SMS Virtual Void, tomorrow if you wanna listen in early!)
• Stars will also get a sticker featuring Ruby or Snoopy collaged into wild situations, as well the DESTROYA mini zine I created in Roll for Zine ep2, and a mini zine that documents the lived experiences of folks currently being caged in Trump's concentration camp "Alligator Alcatraz". I want that zine to be read/spread widely, and will be posting a PDF of it to my blog in a day or two. Please print, copy, distribute it. I feel it is the responsibility of zinesters to document and shine a light on the horific things that those with power are doing, to make sure that they cannot be brushed underneath the rug and forgotten. It's one of the many ways we can push back.

Ruby must've realized I was using her likeness on this month' stickers, because she hung out on my desk while I got everything packed up. Consider her the Snail Mail Society's quality control inspector. 😉

See y'all here, in the Void!