Other People's Business

If you’d like to read the summary for Issue 9 of OPB (The wrong place at the wrong time), head over to the OPB Livejournal.

Hello, everyone! It’s been awhile since I updated, so let me tell you some things in a helpful numbered format.

1. I am working on the summary for Issue 9, and that’s about half done.

2. You all have left the best, sweetest things in my ask box and I will reply to you guys as soon as I can. I’m sorry I’ve been so lax. Work, you understand. :(

3. Speaking of work, in my off-time, I am still working on Cat Sick, the new series. I will tell you some more about it tomorrow.

I hope you all are doing well!

If you’d like to read the rest of Issue 8 before it’s up on the site for download, you can head over to the OPB LJ, where it is currently waiting for you.

Hello, busybodies,

So, a quick ETA of where we are:

- I just finished summarizing the rest of issue 8. It’ll not be as info-dump-y as future issue summaries, mostly because I’d already started the process of converting it into a proper script before I realized “that will <i>also</i> take me ages.” So hopefully that’ll be posted next week. As mentioned before, it’ll be posted both on the OPB website in downloadable form and on here.

- I definitely won’t finish summarizing the comic by the end of the year. Ah ha ha, how naïve I was.

- The LJ will always have the most up to date status / information about the comic, so drop by if you’re wondering how things are going.

- So what comes after OPB? Two things, actually. I’m working on a new comic, Cat Sick, that should debut at the start of December. I’ll tell you more about it soon, possibly later this week or early next week, so you’ll know why I chose such a ridiculous title. Additionally, I’m working on something that’ll start up some time next year that is ridiculously brightly colored and fluffy; I’ll be working with a friend to ensure that it is, in fact, brightly colored. It’s meant to be the mirror of Cat Sick in more ways than one, and having them running alongside each other feels right.  A “dark day to my bright night,” sort of thing.

I hope you’re doing well! Take care, folks.

Hello, busybodies!

God, how awesome are you guys? Seriously, seriously awesome. That is the answer to a question you thought was rhetorical, but no. There is an answer, and if I could give you a non-awkward hug right this second, I would. Thank you guys for the responses, for the ideas, and for the general support. I’m still trying to catch up on replies, and I’m sorry if I haven’t gotten to you yet.

In the spirit of being a little more open than I have been, I’ll go ahead and admit that I’m going through a pretty big depression and it’s… well, it’s getting harder and harder to cope with things. Feeling isolated doesn’t help. And for a while, having OPB hanging over me didn’t help, either.

What did/does help is having you guys be so wonderfully supportive of me during this time; it’s really lifted a big worry off my back. For the record, I am so sorry that I can’t continue OPB in comic form. I know that it really sucks when you invest your time in something and find out it won’t be going on – like a show you like getting canceled midseason. I am going to do everything I can to give you guys some closure.

In the comments of the last post, a few of you had a really great idea. “Hey,” you said, “isn’t it just going to stress you out more to have to convert the scripts into something readable? Why don’t you just summarize it all, post that, and be done?”

Which, you know, dang. That is a great idea. So that’s what I’ll be doing, I think. I’ll probably post them both here in post form and on the main site in .doc downloadable form, and if you want me to elaborate on a scene, ask away and I can post explanations or bits of dialogue.

I’ll get working on those. Let’s see how long it takes me to finish up the first issue, and fingers crossed, maybe we’ll get these exposition dumps finished up before the year ends. :)

Thank you guys again.

Hallo, busybodies,

First off, thanks to everyone for your kind words. I still have some comments to catch up with, but I’m trying to reply to everyone, and I will get to those sooner rather than later.

So I’ve been thinking about OPB and what to do, and the short story is that I think I can’t go on and am going to have to end it.

Let’s talk about that.

Honestly, I like it, and I hope you like it, too. I think it’s a good story. I just can’t draw 200 more pages of it.

So the story’s complete, which is what I’ve been telling you guys for a while, I think, and I want to give that story to you in some way, shape or form. That way, you can have closure, and I can have the satisfaction of having completed this story.

What I’m wondering about is how to do it. What do I have? I have the equivalent of rough scripts, mostly dialogue as they’re written for me to draw off, which means – well, here, I’ll show you a page from this issue:

22
D: We’re just friends.
M: Really?
—
D: He’s like my mentor in the world of crazy crap. I’m Harry Potter, and he’s, um, Gandalf.
—
M: *unimpressed face* Frodo. You would be Frodo.
==
D: …Did Frodo ever want to touch Gandalf’s wiener?
—
M *unimpressed*
—
D: I’m sorry, that’s an unfair question. Who wouldn’t want to touch Gandalf’s wiener.
==
M: Why do you try to ruin the things I love?
D: I note you say tried.
—
M: *looks away with a small smile* Yes, yes I did. Elen síla lumenn’ omentielvo. <3

That is kind of hard to read. I’m not going to turn it into a novel, because that’d be a lot of work and not the same thing at all, but I’m thinking of either two things:

1. Keep the scripts as is and post one page at a time along with a really roughly sketched thumbnail page so you can tell what each panel was supposed to look like.
2. Polish them up into actual scripts and post them (either as one page or as a complete document) so you can read through them and have a better idea of what was supposed to be going on where.

So what do you think? Talk to me. Would you prefer one over the other?

You’ll notice there’s no comic today, either. Hopefully next week will be different? Odds are 50/50, though.

 There’s a reason there’s no comic today, and it’s also the reason updates have been so spotty lately, and I’ll talk to you about that behind the cut, where you can pretend we’re sitting down for tea and cookies (the cookies can be vegan or gluten-free or loaded with candied bacon or however you like, because this is all in your ~*imagination*~) while I pour my heart out to you and possibly share more than I should.

 If you don’t want to hear the long story, allow me to summarize:

 -          Artist is having creative issues and personal issues.

-          Burnout is imminent.

-          Updates will be spotty until this is corrected.

For everyone else who is curious or just wants to gorge on imaginary cookies, I’ll catch you behind the Read More. [Or not, because the damned thing isn’t working. Jesus. Okay, fine, you’re going to have to scroll down to avoid the long story. Sorry.]

So things have been a little tough lately. I’ve moved to a brand new city I’d never been to before, where I don’t know anyone – and I’m an introvert with social anxiety issues. Telling me to go out and meet people is like telling an oven to wash dishes: I’m not sure if I’m equipped to be able to do that. And when I’m stressed about not being able to wash dishes, I end up undercooking the cake I was supposed to make.

Also my metaphors tend to involve baked goods and not make a lot of sense. Actually, that was a simile, wasn’t it? Hell, I don’t even know anymore.

So I’m stressed and also I’m working hard, and it’s clearly having an effect on the comic production and overall how I feel about the comic. OPB started for a lot of reasons. I really wanted to write a long-running mystery comic and challenge myself as a cartoonist. It’s all in the name of growing and having fun, right? Anyway, I sat down, plotted the whole thing over a few weeks/months, and had the story down to each last twist and plot point.

This is part of the problem. I’ve been writing it since 2007, and it’s almost 2012. I am unfortunately a fickle creature, and I write comics that end because I know I’m going to get bored and want to do something new.

OPB’s main story is so tight that I can’t deviate from it much. It’s stifling me, in a way. I have had the next page half-sketched for weeks now and I can’t bring myself to just put pencil to paper and finish it. I am also aware how crazy that sounds, and I appeal to you to be kind and understand that the fact that feeling like I can’t do it is deeply upsetting to me.

OPB may’ve been a good idea, but as a friend put it, “Possibly the fact that you’ve gone through hell while making it has put a damper on your enthusiasm.”  Which is true. I started planning OPB in late 07. In the time since, I’ve been through everything from hurricanes to grad school and a lot of stuff in between.  My personal issues translate to creative issues, and that has been a problem with OPB. As real life eats more of my time, I have to slow the updates down, and as the updates slow, OPB lasts longer, and I get more and more antsy.  

There are about 200 pages left, and right now I don’t know if I can draw them all.

This may pass. I may feel better and go back to 3x a week. Or I may post the scripts to the rest of the issues so you can see read them and get some closure that way. I mean, the story’s done; I just have to pretty it up a little.

God, this is long and potentially overshare-y. Did anyone read this? Does anyone still care? But that’s what’s going on with me.

So how’re you today?

Hello, everyone. Apologies, work has eaten my head, so no comic until next week.

In lieu of comic, I offer the “Coming Soon” graphic on the Cat Sick website.

Hallo, busybodies,

Oh dear god, I am so sorry. I didn’t realize I hadn’t mentioned anything here or on the livejournal. Hopefully you caught sight of my message on twitter and haven’t been too worried.

Long story short: I’m going through some stuff with OPB, and real life is a bit hectic. I’m really getting into my new job, which is fun but like nothing I’ve ever done before, and I’m also getting used to my new home for now*. I’m also working on getting the new comic, Cat Sick, up and running by October 31, so that’s got me a bit busy.

So here’s what you can expect:
-    An OPB page this Wednesday (or Thursday)
-    I’ll be telling you guys about Cat Sick a bit more here
-    An OPB page next Wednesday, probably. 85% probability, let’s say.

And schedule resuming as normal, hopefully, hehe. Cat Sick, for the record, is a bit darker but (I think) a whole lot funnier than OPB. The comic I’ve idly started planning to follow with after OPB ends is, however, possibly the lightest, fluffiest, most cheerful thing I’ve done. So those’ll be a hell of a contrast when they’re running together.

Hope you’ve all been taking care.

*And between you and me, strangers on the internet, wondering if this may be a good place to finally put down my roots.

Good uh, evening for busybodies-in-the-Western-hemisphere, greetings to everyone else, and here is your commentary.

Issue 8, pg 07: Oh God Hilary why.

:: Oh, Hilary.
:: You remember Joe, yeah? You’ve already met him. Pen-bird guy.
:: Awkward moment is awkward.
:: Next week! Mercedes talks to her friend Joe and ignores Hilary.