Newsletter May 2022

Well, howdy! It's been a minute. I won't beat around the bush! Let's get to some updates!

Jamie

I am going to lead with good news! I have begun working on new content for Jamie :D It truly felt like this day couldn't come soon enough. As much as I've enjoyed the adventure that is traditional publication, I miss my roots. I miss YOU all.

In April I was able to dedicate 1-3 days a week to working on Jamie and I don't think that'll have to change anytime soon. While I know that doesn't seem like a lot for now, with all my experience on these other projects I've gotten a lot more efficient in my workflow. It also helps that in the time I've spent away from Jamie I've made some breakthroughs with the direction I wanted to take the plot and so I am feeling very confident in taking these next steps!

So this means that if all goes well, I should be able to start posting new pages starting July or August! Can you believe it?!

In chapter 6-8 we get to meet a handful of new side characters, but in the meantime, you can check out my Instagram where I've been posting dev art of them. 

Contractual work

I mentioned them before, but I have been working on a couple graphic novels that'll be published with Harper Collins and Macmillian. The Dog Knight, is an adventure graphic novel for middle grade kids and it will be 3 books, and Northranger, which is only 1 book and is catered more too teenagers. I have completed nearly all my work for book 1 of The Dog Knight, and all of Northranger, and both books are going through final editing and cover art. They should be out sometime at the beginning of next year, but I'll be sure to mention when I have final dates.

I still have 2 more books to complete for The Dog Knight, but all the hard work is pretty much out of the way. That includes character design, setting design, workflow development, and file management - basically all the work that needs to be done before I actually got to draw the first book. It also helps that my publisher agreed to hire a colorist, so that takes about 3-5 months of work off  my plate for each book, and that is just good for everyone. This means that the 2nd and 3rd books should come along much faster and I should be able to juggle Jamie and these at the same time without pulling deadlines too tight. But this is also the reason I have only been able to dedicate 1-3 days a week to Jamie, but 1-3 is better than none at all, haha.

Personal Updates

The last few years have been tough, and I've already gone over it before in past newsletters but to recap quickly: in late 2019 we were nearly homeless and had to move into a spare room of a family member. Queue covid, and we were kicked out. We were really lucky to have found an affordable studio apartment due to covid having pressured landlords to lower their prices. 3 months later we heard from affordable housing that an apartment was ready for us. We moved all our belongings 3 times in only 6 months! It was incredibly taxing on our mental and physical health, but we are okay now, and actually thriving! Tami started working with Tapas as the Early Access Manager, and I really got into the groove with my publishing work. We both found time to prioritize our mental and physical health. I started therapy and began doing a lot of work rebalancing my priorities. I feel like an entirely new person, but this is only the beginning! 

We also adopted another cat. Her name is Zelda, she's 2, and she used to live on the streets! She had two babies who have good homes together and now she lives with us and Riley, her big sister! You might think she would be pretty tough and untrusting from such a hard life but she is so kind and sweet. She is also very talkative, and we love to hear her voice ;u;

But other than that, I'm just taking it day by day, and working on staying present.

With all that being said, I want to express that I'm so extremely grateful for all of you that support me both financially and emotionally - I don't think Ill ever be able to truly express how much it means to me. But I am forever trying to do more and make changes for the better, so thanks for allowing me the freedom to do so.

Collecting Questions from YOU!

I mentioned wanting to return with updates sometime between July and August, and so when I make that public announcement I'll also start collecting some QnA from fans to answer during the final 10 day count down. I'd like to give you all the floor now to get first dibs on asking some questions I might answer. These can be directed at the cast, or to me or Tami. So please share them below or send me a PM so that I can add it to a document.

I think that's all for now but if you have any general questions feel free to send them my way as well <3

Have a good evening!