I want to start this with the disclaimer that 50 000 words is a lot, and I am not pushing myself very hard to get there by the end of November. I think I’ve taken this as an opportunity to take on a novel that I had honestly been meaning to write for several years, and that it would simply be fun to work out this story once given the impetus needed to start in the first place.

Alright.

So! How’s it going, you ask? Well, the word count is small. My character, Lomy, is growing on me – and I’ve made the awkward but exciting descision to give her interior life page room, which is fun. All my author-based character fantasies can still find life in Lomy’s fantasy world, with nothing but adorable consequences. I’m hoping she’s still pretty likeable – I’ve given her a pretty short temper and pretty tall insecurities, but half of the fun is watching her grow out of it.

I have to admit that writing isn’t half as fun to me as drawing, but it is a lot faster, and I suppose I do have the opportunity to take this ‘novel’ and draw it out as a comic later. I simply keep imagining scenes visually, which doesn’t translate well to my word count yet.

I’m also at the point where I have a whole lot of characters to invent, and I can see how authors get confused. I’m already stuck looking up character names and misspelling them half the time. It doesn’t help that most of the cast is going to exist as an online avatar and as a person. I don’t know how Gibson does that so well. Gotta wrap my head around it.

I’m also still mentally struggling with how much to set this in reality. Do I use real metal bands? Do I situate these characters in Toronto? Do they go to real clubs? Do they meet real scene celebs? So much descision-making to do!

Anyways, what I’m trying to say is, it’s a fun challenge, but I don’t have the time to dedicate to it that I wish I did.

I still have to draw the comic for Expozine…

November is going to be a busy month for me, guys. First off, I’ve joined NaNoWriMo! You can follow my progress, or nag me about not making any progress, here.

Secondly, I’m hoping to have a new minicomic ready for Expozine. I went into the studio today to brush up on my drawing skills, but all I brought home from it was this drawing of the Depew Amtrak Station:

Thirdly, I’ve finally started work on a top secret project I’m doing with a friend of mine. Here’s a hint: it combines my two favourite things. Here’s a little idea sketch:

So yeah, stay on me about all this and hopefully I’ll have some fantastic stuff to show in a little while!

As for those thank-you cards, well, they’re taking a long time. As one might expect. I’ll keep you updated.

Look what I found in my parents’ basement!

This was where it all began with comics AND videogames, for me. My brother ordered this from Nintendo Power at some point, and I got my hands on it and that was it. Next step was Inu Yasha and it’s all been up from there.

Anyways, just wanted to share the nostalgia!

Hello readers – sorry for the long radio silence. In the interim, I’ve been working on two things:

Firstly, I’ve put together an official portfolio website, over at http://www.portablecity.net/ – this is my official “I’m an artist!” site, and hopefully it looks like it. Feel free to let me know how it bugs you, and if there’s anything in particular you’d have me change about it.

Secondly, I’ve assembled and installed a solo art show over at the Victory Cafe, in Toronto. There are eight paintings there, and they’re all 14×20, acrylic on wood. Here y’go:

If you like what you see, you can purchase a very lovely, high quality, archival print from me over at my Etsy store. You can also just download one and use it as your desktop, until the aching sadness overwhelms you.

So now I think I might actually really do that zine! In which case I should see you all again soon.

Living With Birds

India ink and watercolour, 9″ x 12″

2007

A single page comic about pets.

Waiting

Acrylic and india ink on canvas, six panels, each 8″ x 8″

2006, Sold

I miss this painting.