February 20, 2007
Visit, and an update
I had a really wonderful visit at the Bacon Memorial Library in Wyandotte last night. Lots of people showed up and we had a really fun, productive evening. I really hope they'll have me back again someday, because the attendees were really eager and ready to draw and everyone participated really well. It's so much more fun when the audience gets into the act with you!
In other news, I've completed the forward narrative. I spent the weekend scanning in the last twenty pages and adjusting them on screen with Photoshop, then finalizing all the dialogue balloons. I got about 90% done, and tonight and tomorrow I hope to place the dialogue balloons on the images, flatten them, and get them slotted into InDesign. There's still quite a bit of work to be done, but I think I can see the finish line. Granted, I have to use binoculars, but I can still see it.
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February 14, 2007
Anniversary
It was ten years ago this month that Vogelein was created.
Yeah, it took me a while to wrap my head around that one, too.
Set the wayback machine to February of 1997: It's cold and gloomy, and my buddy Jeff and I were both in the post-collegiate pre-real-life doldrums. We decided to cheer ourselves up by making a recipe from the "Little Irish Cookbook" -- the kind displayed at the bookstore cash register, designed for impulse buyers. The recipe in question was "Dublin Lawyer" and its preparation is the stuff of legend: sharp knives, gore, and lobsters that refused to die, even after being split in half, and split in half again. We also lost our common sense somewhere along the way and, doubling the recipe, used a full cup of cheap irish whiskey for the sauce. Yeah, you can see where this is going.
So, heady with whiskey fumes and post-Valentine's Day angst, we sat around and brainstormed up our newest story: a clockwork faerie. The rest, as they say, is history.
I wish I could be like one of the cool kids and do a bunch of neat promo images, or a fan art contest with spiffy prizes, or even write something more philosophical and erudite, but the truth of the matter is, if I take my eyes off the finish line for even one minute between now and June, the new book will not come out on time. And I figure, the best thing I can do for my fans is to give them a new book as soon as possible. So I hope you'll forgive me the lack of fanfare and celebration and cool new images.
Still, it's a really big deal for me to know that I pushed two entire books through to completion in ten years. That's pretty awesome, and is one of those things I always hoped I'd be able to do. Hooray for stories, hooray for characters that make you want to write, hooray for good friends who set the ball rolling.
Ten years. Wow.
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February 6, 2007
Forward narrative!
I've got the penultimate batch of pages on my desk; a group of six all pencilled and inked and awaiting toning. This is the end of the forward narrative, and the one pickup page I had left. Once these are done, I'll finish scanning, cleanup and lettering, then drop them into the layout program. After that it's writing notes, adjusting earlier pages for text and content, and completing the cover image.
And then the pesky final scene. I really hope my resource comes through soon.
Once that's in the bag, we're off to the races. Beta readers, watch your inboxes!
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