Currently reworking some of the art I felt was a little rushed trying to make deadlines for the WINTER TOWN ARC. Last week, I reread the full script again to look for any errors or pieces that weren’t sitting well, to change in time for the final hardcover print. I gotta say, there was a time where I couldn’t wait for everyone to meet these characters and this world I’d come up with, in fact for the past year I’ve been thinking that, but this last week of rereading, all I could think was “oh no, not this scene again,” and “is anyone going to like this at all?” The amount of time I spent writing it and then reading it over and over, by now I just want out and onto the next project! I’ll just tell them to skip this book and I’ll put out the next one.

I’m sure with a little space, my enthusiasm will return. Of course another problem could be the fact that we just had epic amounts of snow for the past month and the whole winter wonderland thing is suffocating. I can only hope we have a scorching summer and everyone will be excited for a nice cold little book by fall!

My, how fast a month can drag you down!

I spent November of last year for the most part SICK. Then December I spent under a flurry of deadlines trying to wrap up final rewrites and art for the WINTER TOWN ARC. By the time January hit, it was like the light at the end of the tunnel, I handed in all my work and had TIME! January typically feels like a time for rejuvenation but for me it did moreso than most years. I had a list of things I wanted to do for this year. This list includes: start book #3, get a contract for it. Redo my website (check!), do book trailers for HAPPYFACE and WINTER TOWN. Do some more animation. Start up LEMONS again, and publicize it so people know it exists. Blog weekly, at MINIMUM! Exercise, join the gym, cook more.

It all fell apart fast though. It very quickly stops feeling like a new year, and more like a tag-on to the last year. I’m still doing WINTER TOWN work, I have no time for exercise and cooking. I’m doing LEMONS but have no idea how to publicize it. It’s difficult to blog or have anything to say after working all day and having writing work to do at night.
But alas, I’m making an effort, and that’s the best I can do. It’s only mid-February! I still have all year to catch up. I’ve barely had time to start thinking about a followup to WINTER TOWN but I do really hope to be writing it under contract at some point this year. As for gyms and cooking, who knows. I keep expecting some big change to happen but I think I’ll just need to make room for it somewhere.

Anyway, if last year is any guide to follow, I won’t know what to expect tis year anyway! That’s the good thing, even if things don’t go according to plan, there will be plenty of surprises to make up for it!

And with that, it’s back to work on WINTER TOWN…

Here’s a few of my potential author photos for WINTER TOWN, to tie into the behind-the-scenes author photo comics on LEMONS recently!

So basically, unsure in late December if we’d get any more snow (ha!), my friend Cori and I set out after a light snowfall to take some potential author photos for WINTER TOWN. We took some in her back yard, and some at a nearby park. We’ve had about twelve metric tons of snow since then so we might go back out and take some more pictures before the photo is due. Here’s a handful of contenders, anyway!