Augh, this took 2 nights. I don’t have it in me to color it!

By me and Elaine.

These videos creep me out but I am obsessed with them! Watch from the beginning!

This is what happens when my editor can’t get to my chapters fast enough.

I probably shouldn’t comment on other YA authors if I don’t like their work, but oh well. Here’s some reviews I wrote on visual bookshelf on stuff I’ve been reading:

FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan – 2.5 stars
This had some really great ideas and some intrigue in the beginning but the protagonist makes me SO ANGRY! God, what a twit! She has no personality at all aside from her disturbing need to go to the ocean. What does she plan on doing there? It’s water, you’re not a freaking fish, you can’t live there! Her undying love for Travis was bizarre as well; he was even less developed than her – he doesn’t have a single personality trait. This girl threw a baby out the window. And why on earth does she fall to her knees every single page? Why is she ALWAYS dizzy and passing out? They need doctors in her tiny village. Aside from all that though, I did like the setting and the basic idea of it. I can’t read the next one though. :\

MAXIMUM RIDE – THE ANGEL EXPERIMENT by James Patterson – 2 stars
I read a little over half of this one. The idea was interesting and it had kind of an X-Men vibe going for it. But isn’t James Patterson like some super writer or something? Why is it so poorly-written? There should be a drinking game for the number of times he describes Fang as “dark,” it could only help the book. It got repetitive and started to drag despite most chapters lasting a page and a half, stopping mid-scene, and then starting a new chapter right where it left off. That kind of threw me off. Maybe it was to make it seem like it’s going by faster? Anyway I’m thinking Mr. Patterson is a big enough writer that he can request not to be edited, which is how I assume he writes 20 of these things a year. You know what, the whole thing annoys me, I’m done with this book.

GUNNERKRIGG COURT by Thomas Siddell – 5 stars
I love this comic! It’s written very dryly and everything is understated, but it has a large mythology to it and a Lost-like charm in revealing and solving these intertwining mysteries. It’s also Lost-like in how the setting is as much of a character as anyone else. It’s charming and cute and very interesting, I hope it keeps running for a long time. I was disappointed to see how little material has accumulated past the 2nd volume, but with the webcomic updating 3X a week, hopefully the books will keep coming!

SMILE by Raina Talgemeier – 5 stars
This is a great comic, I finished it a month or 2 ago and it still sticks with me. The characters are charming, the dental stuff is horrific, the late 80’s/early 90’s nostalgia is like a super bonus. And video game references! This was practically written for me.

ORYX AND CRAKE by Margaret Atwood – 4 stars
This was really intriguing and pulled me through to the end. Despite the book being from the POV of Jimmy/Snowman, Crake and Oryx were the far more interesting characters. The story started off slow but once Snowman heads off to the compounds it really picks up. I’d like to read the followup The Year Of The Flood but I think I need to take a little break from this world.

Some stuff on my current to-read pile: Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami, Incarceron by Catherine Fisher, Amulet by Kazu Kibiushi, Mercury by Hope Larson, The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman.

Here’s my contribution to the Lost galleries!

Here are some VERY CLASSY jam strips I did with http://fienemannroad.wordpress.com waaaaay back in ‘04. VERY CLASSY – you HAVE been warned!

I like how this one came out!