These people coming out so late in life have been married with kids. Lately, we’ve been seeing feel-good articles where men and women in their sixties, even some in their nineties, are coming out of the closet.

Here’s the thing: While it may or may not include bingo, this is someone’s life. There’s such a humanity they show in all the characters. Jenn and Joy breathed life into my words and I am forever grateful. Joy San had placed her link in the tweet and Jenn knew of her work and, as you can see, that was definitely one of the best decisions I made. It was during this time that I also put out another ad looking for a colorist. Immediately Jenn started taking the ideas I sent her for Hazel and Mari, the queer grandmas of Bingo Love, and came up with some beautiful concepts that made me cry. I then remembered that Jenn and I were going to work on a YA series I was writing, and asked if she was free.

They’re so talented! I put out a tweet looking for artists who were available for a paid gig on a romance comic - many submitted, but it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for. I am extremely blessed to have Joy and Jenn help bring Bingo Love to life. How did you hook up with Jenn St-Onge and Joy San? What they bring to the story is immeasurable. I totally zoned out after that, I grabbed my notebook and started to jot down ideas for a story which turned out to be Bingo Love. I instantly thought how dope that commercial would be if they were looking at a woman instead of a guy. They turned around to look at him and just started to giggle like high school girls. These women were sitting on these brownstone steps and started to sprint walk, while walking, an older black gentleman was walking the other way and smiled. I’m sure it was a lazy day - as I have those from time to time, because self-care is important to me - and while I was watching TV, I saw a heart hospital commercial featuring two older black women. Where did the idea behind Bingo Love come from?

Tee franklin bingo love