Live Q&As

Ha ha....who wrote this?

I wear a huge black stretchy shirt over a princess mini skirt. No kidding. It's inspiring.

It's not my real life PER SE.....(legal words)....but it's based on real life.  What happens to Lizzue happens to me about 50% of the time.  The lines that come out of the mother's mouth are 100% my mother.

Yes! Yes! Yes!  And created all sorts of things out of nothing!  And wrote a ton!  My parents refused to buy toys....we had no choice but to create from whatever was around.

Oh no....this question will get me in trouble.  I'm scared to read comics.  I'm scared to get influenced.  I also stopped reading all the genres that look anything like my writing.  I have a fear of being accused of stealing something. 

I am not allowed to comment on this. 

Actually, I am allowed to comment - but I really hate this discussion...it makes people crazy...personally, I would love to buy collections of old strips and see new content. But that's just me.

HAHAHAHAHA!  Great question!

Without compromising the personal health information (PHI) of myself, my family or my friends, I'll just say YES! One of my favorite topics is OCD...sorry to those who don't find humor in it.

Lizzie will have men in her life.  Whether the men are boyfriends will probably be the topic of discussion...because, really...what defines a boyfriend?

Lizzie is a high up kinda person at a public relations firm.  Don't be surprised if she occasionally (sp?) has to market a concept that she doesn't quite believe in....it's her job.

Awwwww...thanks!  My fans in Baltimore!!!!  Say hi to the kids (even the ones in New Zealand)....and kisses to you!

Loved the Archies.  I would have hung out with Betty...even though I had darker hair like Veronica.  I mostly related to Velma on Scooby Doo... Velma and I would have been BFFs.

I KNEW I would get this question!  This is what I ALWAYS hear!!!!  "Reply All is the new Santayana...blah blah blah"

If I hadn't gone into law, I probably would have been a stripper (or a variation) sooner.  I struggled between the choices of law or writing.  But I felt very strongly about wanting to pay my rent and never ever ever have to go home again.  So law won.

I LOVE the whole Charlie Sheen thing!!  I think Charlie Sheen is the new Oprah!  He's asking for more money today to go back to the show!  Good for him - he's not stupid - he realizes that whether he's bad or badder, it HELPS the show....I hope he becomes the king of the network.

Comparisons to Cathy are inevitable since Cathy is a 'chick strip" - although 50% of my fans are men (including metrosexuals).   Cathy was great.  I loved Cathy.   I just didn't relate to the female character.  I got the issues and I got the concepts - but I needed a character who was, in most ways, pretty amazing - but her own worst enemy.

Well....since you asked SERIOUSLY....  I am VERY compartmentalized.  No sex in the kitchen....sex in sex places....eating in the kitchen.  Bathroom stuff in the bathroom.  Law when I'm at work, strips when I'm at home....and, for the past few years, not much of anything else.

I LOVE METROSEXUALS.  If I ever get married, I'm sure it will be to a metrosexual.

Sure! Bring on the products!  A Reply All case for carrying feminine products!!  And lipstick cases!  And condom cases!!  For those who overshare!

And yes, there are more characters....but the strip's only been out there for a day (half a day)...we have to give them time to be called upon....

HAHAHA...ironically, I've always been famous in my family.  They have always thought I'm a celebrity.  They're in Baltimore and I'm in DC and you'd think DC was NY from the way they talk.  When they visit here, it's like they're going to see a Broadway show. 

Are you saying that my strip doesn't make people lose their breath laughing?.....uh oh....need to strip better....

And the serious answer is that most anything makes me laugh...which is why I try to remain highly compartmentalized.  I laugh in places and at times when it's really not so funny...or not supposed to be funny. 

No topical....we're running strips in advance.  Prepare to see Valentines Day jokes around Labor Day and snow shoveling jokes around Memorial Day....I write em and whenever they post isn't my problem....hee hee hee.

It's not DC but it's probably not rural Nevada either.  Lizzie is everywhere....but maybe not some places.  But she's somewhere near a city...she's in a MMA...Major Metro Area....let's just say.   God forbid Lizzie was in DC...how much of a total humor-suck would that be?

In the beginning, there were about12 million characters.  Later, after I met the love of my life, Amy Lago, there were about five.  We took the characters that were most relate-able (sp?)....

I hope Prince Valiant comes along!!  And if he does, he'll probably live with Lizzie somewhere between their first and second date....and it will be intense....and then he'll remember that he was signed up to climb Mt. Everest....oops!

I'm most creative when I'm under pressure, which is probably one of the reasons I need to work FT (aside from money).   There's something about an overloaded and stressed out brain that makes everything seem silly.  I grew up in a family where we would laugh until we cried...over laundry...over the phone ringing...over very stupid insignificant things.  That incredibly low threshold for humor has really helped me. :-)

I am very lucky in that the material for the strips is delivered to me, en masse, hourly, by family, friends, neighbors, colleagues (who will sue me if I mention them) and, of course, anyone walking a dog.  I would have ten years of material if all I did was watch people walk their dogs.

Now THAT is a scary thought.  Leave the sofa?  I'll have to take that under advisement.....

Quit my day job?  Not a great idea in an economy that's as manic-depressive and generally confused as this one.   Besides, I get lots of material from my job - not because of where I work, but because I work with ....PEOPLE....

I was going to say that I do NOT rewrite up until the bitter end.  Amy Lago is sitting not very far away from me right now (Happy Birthday, Amy!!!) and she has provided an unqualified and enthusiastically disruptive YES.  Apparently I do.

Thanks!!!  And the presyndication strips are fun, I think...very "un-artful" and just fun.

Just tell me who to sleep with....I'm available to sleep with anyone anytime if it means that they'll carry the strip....or buy me coffee.

Ugh....real answer or fun answer?

Fun answer is that a few characters who shall not be named have been quite articulate, from time to time, about their outfits and choice of jewelry.  Aside from that, the folks who inspired the characters are pretty happy to see that I've actually been paying attention to them.

My audience is my mother.  Very easy.  If my mother laughs, it's funny.  If she questions it, it's too complicated.  I love women "of a certain age"  - get a laugh from them and you're gold.

Oh YES!!!!  Housewives are ALL OVER Reply All....we LOVE Housewives. 

P.S. for anyone out there who loves trash tv, I watch Beverly Hills 90210 (original) reruns while I strip. 

That would be a zero....although I do have some narrative arcs, they are almost always postponed while I work on the "laugh of the day"....there is ALWAYS a "laugh of the day"...whatever happened last was funny and makes for good stripping.

I've been trying to sleep with Gene for years now and he hasn't answered my emails.

Awwww.....thanks.....

You know?  I'm not big into labels or credentials....Bill Gates doesn't have impressive academic credentials and he did okay. (correct me if that was wrong)...

To me, it's either fun to look at or it's not.  That doesn't mean it has to be fun to look for everyone -

NEVER a problem.  I am a Grade A, Ultimate, Uber, Professional Sleeper.  The one thing I do very well and all the time is sleep.  Sleep is the last thing I'll compromise in this lifetime.

Pre-publication strips are all over the place - on my website and on FB and Twitter....and tattooed on a place I can't say.

I think the moral to Reply All is get over it.  The information you hold most dear is already out there.  And the information you want others to know is either something they don't care about or they have totally misconstrued it.  You get out of high school and little-by-little you realize that all the stuff you worried about totally doesn't matter....and the stuff that really does matter is too exhausting to deal with.

I work for Homeland Security and that's about all I can say unless I want to lose my job or be sent a copy of the Ethics rules.

Okay, seriously....I am SO READY to do a line of purses!!!  Here's the thing...I carry ten bags on any given day....computer bag, gym bag, purse, mini-purse (for running into Starbucks and to the soda machine).....can't they all match and go together in some artsy fartsy stylish amazing (yet practical) way?

Awwww....I'm prettier than Bill Gates.  That's the best compliment I've ever heard....

Oy. Safe sex.

I'm not sure what Lizzie would say about safe sex or whether newspapers would enjoy that theme.

And, by the way, the safe sex jokes are now just FLYING around in my head...

Coffee is most helpful.  Coke One is also really helpful.

Alcohol makes me very silly, not very funny (unless the other people are drinking) and VERY tired....not much alcohol in my life although I love the IDEA of alcohol and will taste pretty much any drink.  I want to go to a bar or restaurant where they serve yummy "lite" drinks so I can drink all night and not do major damage.

And what exactly would the WP be hiring me to do?

It doesn't take eight hours for a lousy artist to create a strip...:-)

But I would LOVE to just hang out at the WP.  Just go to meetings and listen...that would be kinda fun.

There's a battle of the sexes?  Where the *&^% have I been?

And yes, although I'll just say that I'd represent a male client better than a female client....just sayin'

HAHAHAHA...yeah, didn't you hear?  "Reply All: The Musical!!"

Just like cats....except no cats.  And no music. 

Lizzie is getting some stuff....a dog and then she WANTS to adopt children (or one) but a CERTAIN EDITOR keeps trying to talk her out of it.  Now, please....wouldn't an adoption storyline be FUNNY???? And fun!

Serious writer.

Anyday.

Never gonna happen....:-)

I would LOVE for the public to meet the real characters!  Guess what....they're FUNNY!!!!  They are all totally and seriously funny....even when they don't try.

Hmmmm..... a WCP interview.....hhhmmmmm....

An acquaintance (sp?) (now a friend) sent an email to Amy Lago...and Amy Lago showed up at my door with flowers two hours later.

True story except for the flower and the door.  Amy emailed me and we began many many moons of discussions and failed humor.

HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No way. I'm a lawyer. I can win any fight.

Sad but true.

I'm available to work on the screenplay...you making a  proposal?  I would love to see Lizzie on the big screen...or small...she makes me laugh. :-)

Get out your violins....I had tons of journals and other creative stuff....and then a BIG BAD FIRE in 1984 (Baltimore, Charles St).   Lost everything. :-( 

You have to wait for the Craig's List adventures to unfold.  Warning (and spoiler alert):  I read Missed Connections and the part where you have to swear you're over 18 just for material.

Any man who doesn't mind that I'm on the laptop ALL THE TIME.  Men have tried...and I salute them (and still love them)....the laptop is a pretty big distraction unless the man loves his just as much. :-)

No problem. I will NEVER be hip.

Work is verboten...other than that, it's all up for grabs!  I'm not a fan of politics....so probably not that.

You kidding? The whole point of the strip is to FREEZE TIME!

Seriously, though...Lizzie and her mom and the others will age....AND have to deal with it....AND hopefully find it more funny than upsetting.

I SO did not drink tequilla and rum in high school. 

Lizzie has trouble being green because there's too much to keep up with.  She can never figure out whether the cup of coffee she's drinking is green or totally anti-green.  Someone just told her creator that single serve coffee makers are eco-unfriendly. :-(

I don't know what Lizzie listens to!!  I'll have to ask her!

Oooohhh....GOOD QUESTION!  She won't be interviewing herself, but she WILL be interviewing others....and asking legal but meaningful and insightful questions!!  The questions we WISH they'd ask in interviews!  Little Debbie or Hostess? Pick!

I do an initial sketch on paper with pen.  Then I transition to Wacom Tablet - I became all digital after I realized there was a future for the strip.  Man, THAT was not easy.

HAHAHA... way too many ways to answer this question!!!

Lizzie's not into secret affairs.  She's too nervous about lying to try it. 

How long to produce a strip....depends....one hour if it's a strip that follows a storyline...but usually anywhere from two to four hours....speed is not my thing.

Amy and I have no conflict.

RIGHT, AMY?????????

Ha ha...thanks for the self-imposed blah blah blah.

I'm a HUGE believer in letting things happen organically.  I think the style questions will work themselves out....my style will evolve (or devolve) over time...and we'll see where it goes and whether it goes somewhere that anyone (including me) cares about.

I would have the best designed house in the world if it weren't for the facts that I'm (1) totally lazy, (2) hate shopping and (3) pretty cheap.   I'm definitely living vicariously through Lizzie.  Help me, Nate Berkus!!!!!

Amy offered me a deal and I accepted.  That came after a long time of me stripping, getting feedback, incorporating feedback, etc.....my overnight success only took about four years.

Lots of naked men on CL...eh?

They all seem to be pretty invested in the visuals.

I'm sorry, did you ask what my website addresses are?

Friend me and like me on FB!

facebook.com/replyallcomic !!

Wow. This sounds pretty cool.  How many waivers are you willing to sign?

Keep reading the strip....that's a topic coming up....SPOILER!!!!

I hate shopping. I never tried it.  Although I wrote to Stephan Pastis (without ever showing him my strip) for advice about how to submit.  Without going into detail, he basically said that I should just send stuff in and it would make a syndicate laugh or not....

My next strip will be about a mixed race gender-confused individual with questions about his/her abilities and disabilities.  PSYCH!!

I'd be happy if Reply All continued to run.  I like writing it and I like drawing it and it brings a lot of laughter into my sad, pathetic life.

Can I think about that?  Wow....so many options...will take that under definite advisement.

I am a 100% BATHTUB girl.

And no....I'm way too busy in the bathtub (didn't mean that provacatively) to think about strips.

Hey. My mom would TOTALLY laugh at consensual adult spanking......in fact, can I use that?

No. I worry about other things.  I worry about parking at a meter that requires 3 quarters for each minute.

Stay tuned.....AND on that note....visit Reply All on FB!  Bring your questions!  Bring your comments!  And, if you ever see me in real life, be sure to say hi -

Thanks everyone!  Youse guys are FUNNY!!!