To accompany the brand new Shame Issue of Kiss Machine, we have two web extras. Ottawa's Christian McPherson has allowed us to print his punishing tale of the perils of smoking cigarettes. Toronto's Andrea Lau pokes fun at that online purity test we know you've all taken. Read on:

• A POEM! Purity Test by Andrea Lau
• A STORY! Smoking by Christian McPherson
  

Why devote Kiss Machine's eleventh issue to shame? Because we are all flawed. We all have moments we wish we could take back. Shame keeps us in check, makes us humble, fuels our nightmares and spurs us to creative heights. It shapes the most fascinating parts of us. Normally, we only reveal our shame to trusted soul-mates. In KM#11, contributors expose and sometimes even laugh at it.

Sequential Tart, a "web zine about the comics industry published by an eclectic band of women," interviews SKIM creators Mariko and Jillian Tamaki, and gives it a 9 out of 10 in this review written by Suzette Chan!

Toronto's Eye Weekly loves Skim: "author Mariko Tamaki encourages us to let our freak flags fly." More press for SKIM will be posted here shortly, so check back!

Stories published in Kiss Machine are in hot demand these days. A short story from KM #9, by the talented McKinley M. Hellenes, has been selected to be part of the 17th annual Journey Prize anthology! She’s in the running for a $10,000 prize. Also, part of Camilla Gibb’s story, “The World As We Know It,� from KM #10, will appear in an upcoming issue of Geist magazine.

On Friday, June 10, Crushaleptic presents Tainted Love, a goth-themed launch party for Mariko and Jillian Tamaki's comic SKIM (Kiss Machine Presents...) and Mariko's novel FAKE ID (Women's Press) featuring the techno stylings of Ina unt Ina.

Words by Mariko Tamaki
Art by Jillian Tamaki

It's 1992. The jocks are suicidal, the popular girls are in mourning, and the goths are bored.

It seems like everyone but 16-year-old suburban witch Skim Takota, and her best friend Lisa, is freaking out. It's a weird time to fall in love, but a witch has to do what a witch has to do.

The second Kiss Machine Presents... publication is a 24-page excerpt from Skim's diary--a gothic romance for geeky goths and the people who love them.