The Days Slip By...

Its been a while since I posted a non-business-y blog here so I thought I'd write to everyone a bit.

First of all, the looks at the site and the downloads of the Morning Show podcast have been steadly increasing. I thank all of you for coming out and also staying interested. Even in the downtime of me not releasing anything new, I try to keep good content coming like podcasts, blogs, daily FB and Twitter posts. So thanks. I will be retooling the sit a bit soon and making an all new COMMISSIONS and ORIGINAL ART SALES section. Also promoting my FB and Twitter links more. Give me some time on that. But I appreciate the attention. So much on the net is trying to gain your interest but you keep coming back. I thank you. I'll always continue to keep up my end of the bargain.

Today we went and picked up our cat Jake's ashes. I couldn't help but get a big lump in my throat upon seeing the tin its in, which finally developed into a bit of tears when I got home. I guess it sort of cements the reality a bit more in my head. See, I wasn't here the day we had to put him down. So its always sorta felt like he was simply upstairs sleeping somewhere. Other than the little reminders of him not coming down at 7pm on the dot asking for food or rubbing on my legs when I did put the food down, it just felt like he was here. But now its more of a "reality" that he's not. That sucks. Its one week now, to the day that he's been gone.

Mostly its been out of my mind. I've been keeping busy with laundry, deep cleaning things around the house, rearranging my office a bit. I haven't got much work done beyond some small commission stuff. I am hoping to get into a rhythm this weekend of solid production on my own stuff. I got a list growing a mile long and I am tired of the distractions.

I've taken some slow personal time to listen to podcasts to keep me laughing. I watched some Tom Baker Doctor Who and finally sat down to watch Iron Man 3. I missed it in the theater. I still haven't seen Godzilla (2014) and don't really have the drive to go to the theater to go see a flick. I've just been on autopilot really. The thoughts on my mind about the things I need to work on that I learned at C4 have got my brain in a good place. I know what I got to do, now its just a matter of doing it.

Things are on the rise. My step-mom's cancer is shrinking, so that is great news. I'm almost sold out of my new print run of Pleasant Life books. Those commissions I have done have come out quite satisfactory and I apply for new gigs daily. My head is in the game and I am doing it. I got my goals set and a plan in motion. I simply just have to put the car into gear and hit the gas pedal. It will happen. It always does.

One thing I want to do immediately is do a quick kids' book about Jake. I already got the style and plot laid out. A simple 12 page thing resembling a kids' book. Maybe put it together and sell it as an all ages book at the shows. All my life I dealt with my problems through my comics. Mom's death was in Pleasant Life, Milo was in Anna Pocalypse... and certainly Jake will be no different. Its theraputic for me to do so. So I hope you enjoy it when its done. Soon. Very soon. It will be good for me to do that, I think.

As we approach mid-year, I reflect back on 2014 and what a bummer of a year its been. From the very beginning of January with my dad's heart attack, crap winter, step mom's cancer, James' surgery, money woes, freelance struggles, lack of shows, lack of sales, Jake's death and other stuff... its just been a weird 6 months. But there's also been some great times. The wife and I get to get out of the house once in a while now. We've made some great new friends. We spend time together now and I still am improving on my work. Plus I got all my books back in print and our Kickstarter was funded. Its been equally as good. I don't focus on the negative all the time. I am fully aware of what is going right for me too. And we've got nowhere to go but up. Onward and Upward as I always say.

Thanks all for caring and the emails/messages you all have sent. They mean the world to me. But we're okay. We're rockin'. Pedal to the metal. You'll get a lot from me very soon. You haven't seen anything yet.

Cheers, T

New Stuff and Goings On

Hey everyone! Some new copic samples for ya. Mostly Doctor Who related.

This week I re-submitted ANNA POCALYPSE to Ka-Blam. Reason being when my books were shipped, a couple of them were damaged in the package. Also one of the narration fonts was not embedded and came out different. Its not too bad but they offered to reprint the entire order for me for free if I sent them new files. So I took advantage of the situation and went back on the advice of the podcast review I got last week from GEEK LIFE and played a bit with the hue saturation on the pages. So the colors are a bit dimmer and not so "on the nose" as it was in the first print run. Also fixed a couple minor things such as a few right eyes being too high on the page, again on their suggestion. SO, I should have those redux issues in the next couple weeks. However, they are letting me keep these previous ones, so the book is still available. Not to say the version I have is bad at all, so don't worry. I'm just glad Ka-blam is being cool about it. And now I can make the colors somewhat "match" what will come in ANNA 2. The color pallate in ANNA 2 will be much different than ANNA 1. Because I've learned a lot in the years since I first published the book. You'll see.

Meanwhile, I am working on new pieces for con season and maybe a couple new print ideas. I will be giving away free prints to anyone who buys books at my table. Also gearing up for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY on May 3rd at Clem's Comics in downtown Lansing, MI. I will be at the table from 11-2pm at least and possibly a bit after. Come see me!

We did some spring cleaning around the house and did a crapload of laundry. My oldest son came to visit and we had a great time as well. Now life returns to normal and I am busy trying to score new clients for commission work to keep me afloat. Things have sorta got slow in this first quarter and book sales are sorta so-so as well. Now that I got Mayhem at the printer and off my plate, plus the reprints of Anna, Pleasant Life and I got the Artbook done, I can focus on everything else now. Prints, new art pieces, coloring better, Starslam pages, and then finally ANNA 2! And somewhere in there finish this Porn Store book. (Also for the fans of the ADULT section of Idiothead.com, I am planning more PORN WORLD WEEKLY strips. Just give me time on them, thanks.)

SO: Shit is crazy around here. Lets keep up the pace and keep crack-a-lackin!

Cheers, T