Odds & Ends: Luck of the Draw

Blake Alb (Snowcrow, The Fairgrounds) is a North Dakota native with a passion for stories that stray from the beaten path. He has an MS in psychology and has worked extensively in the field of mental health. He attributes his psychology background as playing a significant role in providing a wellspring of ideas for storytelling. Blake Alb has a penchant for all things geeky, including but not limited to: Japanese anime/manga, fantasy, science fiction, and video games. He also enjoys British comedy, word-play, and performing improv comedy. He has published a variety of short stories and novels.

Brazilian native Lieh Pena has been drawing as a hobby since childhood and professionally since 2009 when he illustrated his first book, “Zamba’s Journey” (“A Jornada de Zamba” in Portuguese). He also illustrated “The Little Cowboy” parts 1 and 2 — a Northeast Brazilian parody of “The Little Prince”. His illustrating works also include covers for other books, academic text papers, and a health booklet. In the field of comic books, his works include a few independent productions (yet to be published) and a political comic, plus his own comic project (yet to be finished). He also has a degree in English Language Teaching & Literature from the Universidade de Pernambuco (UPE). However, his love was always Sequential Arts in any form (cartoon, manga, graphic, etc.). For that reason, as a self-taught artist, he always tried to develop abilities related to such media, like penciling, inking, digital coloring, and lettering.