Hey @BethWagner ... the last few years, I've been invited to hang out at Action Lab's booth at Fan Expo. It's been really nice of them to let me sign and pitch in. I haven't had my own table there for years. Are you going?
Pretty unlikely for me. I can't get into the pro wall at FanExpo, and i found the regular artist alley was a waste of time when I went two years ago. I think there were maybe under 10 other tables selling comics or zines and the rest was crafting and fan art. I heard from a number of people who said they don't go into the regular AA assuming there are no comics in it.
Sitting at a publisher booth would be different, of course.
I'm not sure I'm going to be doing many more of the pop culture shows anymore, to be honest. I'm not sure if it's universal, but Informa's putting the invited pros in a different section from paid artist alley give an impression of AA not being the "comics section".
Back when I was doing shows regularly between '95-'06, I always had to pay, but I could end up sitting next to or across from big-name pros. It was kind of annoying the year the line for Warren Ellis sitting across from me was looping back and forth in front of our table, but my first Chicago Comic Con I was a few tables down from Al Williamson. There wasn't a distinction between the comped and paid tables. There were fewer print jockeys in those days those, though....
@DinoCaruso I am! But I won't be in Artist Alley, (I don't think so anyway), I'm sharing a table with a couple of other authors, one of whom has been doing the show for so long that she's had her table grandfathered in (or so she tells me).
I'm not a fan of Informa, they seem to be all about the money and don't really care about creators, or even vendors for that matter. But, I haven't done any shows out east and I figured that this would be a good opportunity to be able to get some networking done out there while the show is going on.
I'm in agreement with you @Craig_A_Taillefer but there will likely be a couple that I will still do, mostly because I can group it under visiting family and retailers while I'm there. I'm also going to be shifting to more reader's conferences as I am now publishing novels as well as comics.
2020
Anthologies
-2 stories published in "Heroes Need Masks"
-story published in "Best of Indie Anthology 2019"
-story published in "Go Southeast" issue 1
-story published in "Go Southeast" issue 2
-story published in "The Phantom Strikes" issue 3
Comics
-Crossroads one-shot, self-published
-Courage issue 1
-Sunshine Variety - my online anthology where I'll be collecting old stories and posting them on my site. I should have 5ish stories posted by the end of the year. More stories being posted periodically after that.
-Blue Binder Comics - I started my own little imprint for digital publishing. Yay!
2021
At least three anthology projects are booked.
A 20 page one-shot from Caliber Comics ("The Piece").
Hopefully more issues of Courage.
A 20 page one-shot from Blue Binder Comics.
A few other things are in the hopper, but no guarantees yet.
It's time again for the annual look back/look forward.
-----
2020
-----
2020 didn't exactly work out as planned, though I haven't gone back to animation yet (with no immediate plans to), so that is a win.
I had big plans for the year, though. And like everyone a good chunk of them got cancelled. I was booked for a number of cons and the first scheduled one was cancelled with less than a week to go with the rest following suit.
I'd planned to visit LA for a week or two (we have family to stay with) and try to get into the DC offices and meet some editors while I was actively working for them.
What did happen:
I inked issues 18-23 of Books Of Magic between February and August. I quite enjoyed the gig and was sad to see it end, but the original writer leaving with issue 18 gave them an excuse to reboot. I have no idea if they have a relaunch in the works or if that is a victim of Covid and the downsizing at DC.
Post BoM, I spent a few weeks revamping my website, then I got back to work on my creator owned stuff. I finished lettering the 12 page Sci-Fi short and inked over half of it as well as tightening up the layouts to, and lettering, the previously mentioned Wahoo Morris 8 pager and have done a lot of thinking about what comes next.
I would have got farther but I rounded out the year doing a lot of long put off house renovations.
-----
2021
-----
The short term goals are:
1) Finish inking the Sci-fi short. It will round out a 48 page one shot.
2) Pencil and Ink the Wahoo Morris Short. Not sure what I will do with it other than maybe publish on Patreon.
3) Pencil and ink the (previously talked about) Sian 24 page one shot.
I'd like to get all of that done by the end on March, or at the very least 1 and 2 done, and 3 pencilled and in the process of inking by then.
Other goals:
4) Kickstart the Sci-Fi one shot. I'm in no real rush though.
5) Kickstart the Sian story, either as a 32 page one-shot, or a 48 pager paired with the original Sian story. I have not decided if it will be in colour or remain in B&W.
And.... find some WFH.
That one is a little more wish fulfillment. I've done inks for DC now, but I would like to prove to myself and the world that I am good enough to get work at a mainstream company as an artist in my own right.
I'm really not sure how to go about that one though other than the blind submissions I've been doing sporadically. I know a grand total of one editor and he doesn't have anything for me at the moment.
Barring that, and assuming I manage to get the first tasks done, then it's a toss up of starting a new Sian issue, rinse and repeat. Or starting a new Wahoo Morris GN. Or... do a bunch of short stories for a portfolio type one shot.
I have ideas, I just need to get the discipline to get things organized and done while I have the freedom to do so.
Happy New Year to anyone who's still coming here. I like this thread a lot because it gives me a place to reflect on my completed work in the last year.
2021
Anthologies
-Two stories published in ELSEWHERE V2 (Zane and Operation: Spinney)
-story published in BLOOD-DRENCHED CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE, issue 3 (Grace)
-story published in WELCOME TO MINA'S (Wherever You Hang Your Hat)
Comics
-Gyrfalcon, one-shot (published by my little imprint "Blue Binder Comics")
-The Piece, one-shot (published by Caliber Comics)
-Sunshine Variety (my online anthology) - added a few more short stories to it.
-Courage, 3 issues (of the four issue series) published by Amazing Action Comics.
2022
-So far, one anthology story has been published in the Bizarre New World Anthology on Webtoons. My story is called "Soar Spot"
-At least four more anthology appearances are coming this year, and I'm still waiting on a few more decisions from some others.
-One more issue of Courage.
-A second series seems likely from Amazing Action Comics, but no guarantees yet. My partner and I have a couple issues in the can. B/W action/adventure/superhero.
-80 page slice-of-life project. Line art is done, pages being gray-toned. We'll see what happens with it. I'm happy with it.
-@ShawnRichison and I will be pitching a project we co-wrote that's been gradually heading toward completion over the last few years.
-I have this odd little series of one-pagers that I'd like to pitch as a backup strip to someone else's series. We'll see. Art by Alex Diotto.
- @ShawnRichison and I also have a chunk of pages from another project that we're going to repurpose into a pitch.
-Some other stuff in the hopper.
I signed in here for the first time in years because google told me my password had been compromised. The site was down for a while and I thought it was gone. Not only is it not gone, but a bunch of you psychopaths are still posting here!
Edit: oh shit, I forgot that it doesn't do... whitespace... anymore? WTF?!
Psychopaths!!
Anyway:
2021:
1 published short story, The Heart of Iron, in an anthology featuring Holmes/Watson variants from other cultures or eras. Mine is set in Apartheid South Africa, with a Jewish Watson and a Japanese Holmes, who is investigating a missing steel shipment as an honorary white. (This was a real thing).
That's it. My whole year. That and was a judge for two national comics awards. And I sold my house and bought another one. And my city endured the world's longest Covid lockdown. At the same time. I had other stuff lined up but it all got delayed. I had to back out of something really cool (an SFWA bundle) because something better came up, and that still smarts. But I did work my ass off and this year looks bigger.
2022:
* I have a new greenlit comic series! Wrote the first issue last year. Am working through editor's notes now and it should be announced in March. It's... well, it's Frankenstein, but I think and hope it will be nothing like the endless rehashes you've seen before.
* Gourmand Go is done, done, done, and I've been sitting on it for two years. It's proven too short to attract a publisher (although I had a couple of close calls) an I've been reluctant to self publish with no conventions happening. And I'd rather eat glass than Kickstart. This year I will self-publish it or eat glass.
* I have a second issue of Smiling Damned mostly done. Also waiting for convention season. I am scheduled to be a guest at one in March, so... we'll see if it goes ahead or gets cancelled like most of 2020 and 2021.
* My new novel, X-Dimensional Assassion Zai Through the Unfolded Earth, should be out in September from IFWG, provided the publishing industry doesn't fucking run out of paper again. It will be distributed in Australia, NZ, the US and Europe, I assume to largely the same extent as Faerie Apocalypse.
* My mate Jason Fischer and I started a publishing co-op, Argonautica Press, to bring older work from dead publishers back into print, entirely on the basis that we share the same name. Middle of last year an American publisher approached us about taking on our entire current line, which has never been distributed in the US. It took... well, months... to negotiate that contract but it's all signed off now, so I have a couple of backlist titles coming out in the US, finally! I hope they'll get a better shot than the original publishers gave them, or that Fisch and I could manage. No contract signed yet but they also want the sequel to one of the boos I wrote last year.
* Commissioned short stories for anthologies. I completed two last year and I'm wrapping up two more right now. All horror. I think they'll all drop this year. the one I am most proud of is in an anthology with Ramsey Campbell and Dacre Stoker. I am also involved in some weird crime fiction project which... I don't fully understand yet... but a colleague has won a government grant to do the thing, so I guess it's happening. Some sort of choose-your-own-adventure mystery set in Tasmania. I think there is a component of mentoring some new writers.
* My first academic publication should be out... soon? I wrote the paper 18 months ago based on research I did for my Masters 2 years ago, but anyway.
See you creeps next year. We'll see how much of that actually comes to fruition.
I was the only one to post last year, so I didn't bother at the beginning of this year.
Anyway, 2021 was a bit of a wash. We did a major renovation of the lower half of our house (50% of our floorspace) which involved moving all the contents that we couldn't cram into the upper level of the house into a storage unit. It lasted about 4 months the two of us working in my office and eating in front of the TV (the only other room useable other than the bedroom) and then several months of moving back in, organizing and building shelves, painting etc. I was doing most of this by myself. I was project manager, then mr.fixit for a good chunk of the year.
I did finish off the year by inking two issues of Refrigerator Full Of Heads for DC/Black Label again over Tom Fowlers pencils. I was just helping out a deadline crunch, so no further involvement planned.
-----
2021
-----
What I've accomplished so far in January and the first 10 days of February.:
1.) I finished inking the 12 page sci-fi story. It's posted in the portfolio section of my website. www.craigtaillefer.com
2.) I wrote the outline to a new Wahoo Morris graphic novel and wrote the first draft of the first chapter (which is a bit of a standalone short).
3.) I thumbnailed the 24 page Sîan one-shot and am in the process of pencilling it right now. I expanded pages 9 and 10 into 4 pages yesterday and I think I might do it again to two other pages so it's probably going to end up being 28 pages. The goal today is to pencil pages 16 and 17.
I gave myself until the end of March as a rough deadline to finish it including colour, but I'm moving slower than I'd like, so I'm thinking inks are still doable.
Plans for the year? I've done this so many times and failed so I hesitate to say anything out loud. I'm drawing comics 9-5 right now and intend to for the remainder of the year.
But...
1.) I would like to get the sci-fi/fantasy one shot (that the 12 pager is for) published either through Kickstarter or a small run for cons if they ever come back in a safe way.
2.) Publish the Sian story as another fat one-shot with the original story. Kickstarter or equivalent again. Do I do it in B&W or colour it? I don't know....
3.) Start the next project. If I don't have anything else ready I'm thinking I'll draw the first chapter of the next WM book. If I choose to wait on the book itself it's a short for the next anthology.
4.) Find some more WFH. I'm a little ambivalent about this as I think I'm too old for the monthly grind. I can ink monthly books, but probably not do full art without a major simplification of my style.
Anyhoo, maybe I'll update this partway through the year with new plans as I check off the current work.
Elsewhere V3 - 2 short comics "The Time Machine Security Guard" & "Apple Pirates"
Bizarre New World - short comic called "Soar Spot"
Twisting Time - short comic called "The Deck"
Containment Breach (Myth Reborn) - short comic called "Mature Pursuits"
Monstrosities - short comic called "Seeing Red"
The Bebop volume 2 (Bao) - short comic called "Nonna's House"
Comics
Courage issue 4
The Backdoor Pilots episode 1 (regular backup feature in Bullet Adventures)
2023
Anthologies
Concrete Arcanum - short comic called "Strong and Free"
Go Southeast Anthology - short comic called "Ghosts In The Rafters"
Hopefully something in Elsewhere V4
Maybe more...? We'll see.
Comics
more Backdoor Pilots
Origin Point
Smash Atom?
Community Service
Kitchen Nightmarez
What Lies Beneath
Happy New Year!
Looking back at 2023:
How did your year go?
I didn’t get a lot of actual writing done. I spent most of the year organising various manuscripts.
But I got back in the habit of daily drawing.
What (if any) major obstacles frustrated you?
Obstacles? I guess I would say not planning for the unexpected and not changing things up quick enough.
What was the highlight of your year?
I’m really happy with the way that the hardcover editions of Crystal Crown and The Guardian of the Sword turned out.
I also finally got my comics up on my online store (now I just need to reformat the graphic novels)
Looking forward to 2024:
What are your major goals?
Publish 4-6 of my Dad’s novels, try to get one of my own manuscripts ready for an editor, and get enough comic pages set up so that I have at least six months worth of lead time for my comic sites.
What’s your plan for preventing last year’s obstacles from striking again?
I am planning on using if/then planning it order to be able to switch to another project if there are major issues with the initial plan.
What single thing would make 2024 feel like a success even if the year goes mostly sideways?
Even if everything else goes wrong, I’d like to fill one notebook with words and one sketchbook with comics/artwork (that’s assuming the worst)
2023 was a slower year, but there was plenty going on behind the scenes.
2023
Short stories featured in "Bullet Adventures" - Backdoor Pilots is my ongoing backup feature. A few more episodes came out in 2023.
Anthology - "Concrete Arcanum" - 8 page story called Strong and Free
Anthology - "...And Out Come The Comics" - 2 page story called Ticket Trick
Anthology - "Horror Comics, issue 27" from Antarctic Press (2 stories)
And that was all the output. I was working on a bunch of things behind the scenes, and hopefully that'll be ready for this year. I did table at a couple of cons, including TCAF, which was so much fun. It was my first time having a table at that show, and it was such a positive experience. I hope to do it again someday.
2024
@ShawnRichison and I co-wrote "ORIGIN POINT", which will be in Horror Comics (Antarctic Press) issues 30-33. We worked on this a long time ago, and have been chipping away it to get it completed. Happy it's finally ready.
I'm almost done with another project that I've been chipping away at for many years. It's an 80-pager called "Community Service", but there could be a title change coming for that one. Hopefully it'll be out in some form this year.
More instalments of Backdoor Pilots.
Two anthology appearances are already set up for this year, and hopefully a couple more will follow.
More writing!
Comments
Sitting at a publisher booth would be different, of course.
I'm not sure I'm going to be doing many more of the pop culture shows anymore, to be honest. I'm not sure if it's universal, but Informa's putting the invited pros in a different section from paid artist alley give an impression of AA not being the "comics section".
Back when I was doing shows regularly between '95-'06, I always had to pay, but I could end up sitting next to or across from big-name pros. It was kind of annoying the year the line for Warren Ellis sitting across from me was looping back and forth in front of our table, but my first Chicago Comic Con I was a few tables down from Al Williamson. There wasn't a distinction between the comped and paid tables. There were fewer print jockeys in those days those, though....
< End Rant >
YMMV
I'm not a fan of Informa, they seem to be all about the money and don't really care about creators, or even vendors for that matter. But, I haven't done any shows out east and I figured that this would be a good opportunity to be able to get some networking done out there while the show is going on.
I'm in agreement with you @Craig_A_Taillefer but there will likely be a couple that I will still do, mostly because I can group it under visiting family and retailers while I'm there. I'm also going to be shifting to more reader's conferences as I am now publishing novels as well as comics.
Anthologies
-2 stories published in "Heroes Need Masks"
-story published in "Best of Indie Anthology 2019"
-story published in "Go Southeast" issue 1
-story published in "Go Southeast" issue 2
-story published in "The Phantom Strikes" issue 3
Comics
-Crossroads one-shot, self-published
-Courage issue 1
-Sunshine Variety - my online anthology where I'll be collecting old stories and posting them on my site. I should have 5ish stories posted by the end of the year. More stories being posted periodically after that.
-Blue Binder Comics - I started my own little imprint for digital publishing. Yay!
2021
At least three anthology projects are booked.
A 20 page one-shot from Caliber Comics ("The Piece").
Hopefully more issues of Courage.
A 20 page one-shot from Blue Binder Comics.
A few other things are in the hopper, but no guarantees yet.
It's time again for the annual look back/look forward.
-----
2020
-----
2020 didn't exactly work out as planned, though I haven't gone back to animation yet (with no immediate plans to), so that is a win.
I had big plans for the year, though. And like everyone a good chunk of them got cancelled. I was booked for a number of cons and the first scheduled one was cancelled with less than a week to go with the rest following suit.
I'd planned to visit LA for a week or two (we have family to stay with) and try to get into the DC offices and meet some editors while I was actively working for them.
What did happen:
I inked issues 18-23 of Books Of Magic between February and August. I quite enjoyed the gig and was sad to see it end, but the original writer leaving with issue 18 gave them an excuse to reboot. I have no idea if they have a relaunch in the works or if that is a victim of Covid and the downsizing at DC.
Post BoM, I spent a few weeks revamping my website, then I got back to work on my creator owned stuff. I finished lettering the 12 page Sci-Fi short and inked over half of it as well as tightening up the layouts to, and lettering, the previously mentioned Wahoo Morris 8 pager and have done a lot of thinking about what comes next.
I would have got farther but I rounded out the year doing a lot of long put off house renovations.
-----
2021
-----
The short term goals are:
1) Finish inking the Sci-fi short. It will round out a 48 page one shot.
2) Pencil and Ink the Wahoo Morris Short. Not sure what I will do with it other than maybe publish on Patreon.
3) Pencil and ink the (previously talked about) Sian 24 page one shot.
I'd like to get all of that done by the end on March, or at the very least 1 and 2 done, and 3 pencilled and in the process of inking by then.
Other goals:
4) Kickstart the Sci-Fi one shot. I'm in no real rush though.
5) Kickstart the Sian story, either as a 32 page one-shot, or a 48 pager paired with the original Sian story. I have not decided if it will be in colour or remain in B&W.
And.... find some WFH.
That one is a little more wish fulfillment. I've done inks for DC now, but I would like to prove to myself and the world that I am good enough to get work at a mainstream company as an artist in my own right.
I'm really not sure how to go about that one though other than the blind submissions I've been doing sporadically. I know a grand total of one editor and he doesn't have anything for me at the moment.
Barring that, and assuming I manage to get the first tasks done, then it's a toss up of starting a new Sian issue, rinse and repeat. Or starting a new Wahoo Morris GN. Or... do a bunch of short stories for a portfolio type one shot.
I have ideas, I just need to get the discipline to get things organized and done while I have the freedom to do so.
2021
Anthologies
-Two stories published in ELSEWHERE V2 (Zane and Operation: Spinney)
-story published in BLOOD-DRENCHED CREATURE DOUBLE FEATURE, issue 3 (Grace)
-story published in WELCOME TO MINA'S (Wherever You Hang Your Hat)
Comics
-Gyrfalcon, one-shot (published by my little imprint "Blue Binder Comics")
-The Piece, one-shot (published by Caliber Comics)
-Sunshine Variety (my online anthology) - added a few more short stories to it.
-Courage, 3 issues (of the four issue series) published by Amazing Action Comics.
2022
-So far, one anthology story has been published in the Bizarre New World Anthology on Webtoons. My story is called "Soar Spot"
-At least four more anthology appearances are coming this year, and I'm still waiting on a few more decisions from some others.
-One more issue of Courage.
-A second series seems likely from Amazing Action Comics, but no guarantees yet. My partner and I have a couple issues in the can. B/W action/adventure/superhero.
-80 page slice-of-life project. Line art is done, pages being gray-toned. We'll see what happens with it. I'm happy with it.
-@ShawnRichison and I will be pitching a project we co-wrote that's been gradually heading toward completion over the last few years.
-I have this odd little series of one-pagers that I'd like to pitch as a backup strip to someone else's series. We'll see. Art by Alex Diotto.
- @ShawnRichison and I also have a chunk of pages from another project that we're going to repurpose into a pitch.
-Some other stuff in the hopper.
Edit: oh shit, I forgot that it doesn't do... whitespace... anymore? WTF?!
Psychopaths!!
Anyway:
2021:
1 published short story, The Heart of Iron, in an anthology featuring Holmes/Watson variants from other cultures or eras. Mine is set in Apartheid South Africa, with a Jewish Watson and a Japanese Holmes, who is investigating a missing steel shipment as an honorary white. (This was a real thing).
That's it. My whole year. That and was a judge for two national comics awards. And I sold my house and bought another one. And my city endured the world's longest Covid lockdown. At the same time. I had other stuff lined up but it all got delayed. I had to back out of something really cool (an SFWA bundle) because something better came up, and that still smarts. But I did work my ass off and this year looks bigger.
2022:
* I have a new greenlit comic series! Wrote the first issue last year. Am working through editor's notes now and it should be announced in March. It's... well, it's Frankenstein, but I think and hope it will be nothing like the endless rehashes you've seen before.
* Gourmand Go is done, done, done, and I've been sitting on it for two years. It's proven too short to attract a publisher (although I had a couple of close calls) an I've been reluctant to self publish with no conventions happening. And I'd rather eat glass than Kickstart. This year I will self-publish it or eat glass.
* I have a second issue of Smiling Damned mostly done. Also waiting for convention season. I am scheduled to be a guest at one in March, so... we'll see if it goes ahead or gets cancelled like most of 2020 and 2021.
* My new novel, X-Dimensional Assassion Zai Through the Unfolded Earth, should be out in September from IFWG, provided the publishing industry doesn't fucking run out of paper again. It will be distributed in Australia, NZ, the US and Europe, I assume to largely the same extent as Faerie Apocalypse.
* My mate Jason Fischer and I started a publishing co-op, Argonautica Press, to bring older work from dead publishers back into print, entirely on the basis that we share the same name. Middle of last year an American publisher approached us about taking on our entire current line, which has never been distributed in the US. It took... well, months... to negotiate that contract but it's all signed off now, so I have a couple of backlist titles coming out in the US, finally! I hope they'll get a better shot than the original publishers gave them, or that Fisch and I could manage. No contract signed yet but they also want the sequel to one of the boos I wrote last year.
* Commissioned short stories for anthologies. I completed two last year and I'm wrapping up two more right now. All horror. I think they'll all drop this year. the one I am most proud of is in an anthology with Ramsey Campbell and Dacre Stoker. I am also involved in some weird crime fiction project which... I don't fully understand yet... but a colleague has won a government grant to do the thing, so I guess it's happening. Some sort of choose-your-own-adventure mystery set in Tasmania. I think there is a component of mentoring some new writers.
* My first academic publication should be out... soon? I wrote the paper 18 months ago based on research I did for my Masters 2 years ago, but anyway.
See you creeps next year. We'll see how much of that actually comes to fruition.
I was the only one to post last year, so I didn't bother at the beginning of this year.
Anyway, 2021 was a bit of a wash. We did a major renovation of the lower half of our house (50% of our floorspace) which involved moving all the contents that we couldn't cram into the upper level of the house into a storage unit. It lasted about 4 months the two of us working in my office and eating in front of the TV (the only other room useable other than the bedroom) and then several months of moving back in, organizing and building shelves, painting etc. I was doing most of this by myself. I was project manager, then mr.fixit for a good chunk of the year.
I did finish off the year by inking two issues of Refrigerator Full Of Heads for DC/Black Label again over Tom Fowlers pencils. I was just helping out a deadline crunch, so no further involvement planned.
----- 2021 -----
What I've accomplished so far in January and the first 10 days of February.:
1.) I finished inking the 12 page sci-fi story. It's posted in the portfolio section of my website. www.craigtaillefer.com
2.) I wrote the outline to a new Wahoo Morris graphic novel and wrote the first draft of the first chapter (which is a bit of a standalone short).
3.) I thumbnailed the 24 page Sîan one-shot and am in the process of pencilling it right now. I expanded pages 9 and 10 into 4 pages yesterday and I think I might do it again to two other pages so it's probably going to end up being 28 pages.
The goal today is to pencil pages 16 and 17.
I gave myself until the end of March as a rough deadline to finish it including colour, but I'm moving slower than I'd like, so I'm thinking inks are still doable.
Plans for the year? I've done this so many times and failed so I hesitate to say anything out loud. I'm drawing comics 9-5 right now and intend to for the remainder of the year. But...
1.) I would like to get the sci-fi/fantasy one shot (that the 12 pager is for) published either through Kickstarter or a small run for cons if they ever come back in a safe way.
2.) Publish the Sian story as another fat one-shot with the original story. Kickstarter or equivalent again. Do I do it in B&W or colour it? I don't know....
3.) Start the next project. If I don't have anything else ready I'm thinking I'll draw the first chapter of the next WM book. If I choose to wait on the book itself it's a short for the next anthology.
4.) Find some more WFH. I'm a little ambivalent about this as I think I'm too old for the monthly grind. I can ink monthly books, but probably not do full art without a major simplification of my style.
Anyhoo, maybe I'll update this partway through the year with new plans as I check off the current work.
Cheers everyone!
2022
Anthologies
Elsewhere V3 - 2 short comics "The Time Machine Security Guard" & "Apple Pirates"
Bizarre New World - short comic called "Soar Spot"
Twisting Time - short comic called "The Deck"
Containment Breach (Myth Reborn) - short comic called "Mature Pursuits"
Monstrosities - short comic called "Seeing Red"
The Bebop volume 2 (Bao) - short comic called "Nonna's House"
Comics
Courage issue 4
The Backdoor Pilots episode 1 (regular backup feature in Bullet Adventures)
2023
Anthologies
Concrete Arcanum - short comic called "Strong and Free"
Go Southeast Anthology - short comic called "Ghosts In The Rafters"
Hopefully something in Elsewhere V4
Maybe more...? We'll see.
Comics
more Backdoor Pilots
Origin Point
Smash Atom?
Community Service
Kitchen Nightmarez
What Lies Beneath
How did your year go?
I didn’t get a lot of actual writing done. I spent most of the year organising various manuscripts.
But I got back in the habit of daily drawing.
What (if any) major obstacles frustrated you?
Obstacles? I guess I would say not planning for the unexpected and not changing things up quick enough.
What was the highlight of your year?
I’m really happy with the way that the hardcover editions of Crystal Crown and The Guardian of the Sword turned out.
I also finally got my comics up on my online store (now I just need to reformat the graphic novels)
Looking forward to 2024:
What are your major goals?
Publish 4-6 of my Dad’s novels, try to get one of my own manuscripts ready for an editor, and get enough comic pages set up so that I have at least six months worth of lead time for my comic sites.
What’s your plan for preventing last year’s obstacles from striking again?
I am planning on using if/then planning it order to be able to switch to another project if there are major issues with the initial plan.
What single thing would make 2024 feel like a success even if the year goes mostly sideways?
Even if everything else goes wrong, I’d like to fill one notebook with words and one sketchbook with comics/artwork (that’s assuming the worst)
2023 was a slower year, but there was plenty going on behind the scenes.
2023
Short stories featured in "Bullet Adventures" - Backdoor Pilots is my ongoing backup feature. A few more episodes came out in 2023.
Anthology - "Concrete Arcanum" - 8 page story called Strong and Free
Anthology - "...And Out Come The Comics" - 2 page story called Ticket Trick
Anthology - "Horror Comics, issue 27" from Antarctic Press (2 stories)
And that was all the output. I was working on a bunch of things behind the scenes, and hopefully that'll be ready for this year. I did table at a couple of cons, including TCAF, which was so much fun. It was my first time having a table at that show, and it was such a positive experience. I hope to do it again someday.
2024
@ShawnRichison and I co-wrote "ORIGIN POINT", which will be in Horror Comics (Antarctic Press) issues 30-33. We worked on this a long time ago, and have been chipping away it to get it completed. Happy it's finally ready.
I'm almost done with another project that I've been chipping away at for many years. It's an 80-pager called "Community Service", but there could be a title change coming for that one. Hopefully it'll be out in some form this year.
More instalments of Backdoor Pilots.
Two anthology appearances are already set up for this year, and hopefully a couple more will follow.
More writing!
Happy New Year to anyone who's still here. :-)