Project Updates

I'm taking a break from newsletter updates and blog posts for a few months while I complete the process of moving to Chicago, but before I do that, a rundown of the projects that I'm currently working on and how they're progressing is in order.

COMICS

Verdant Shadows: script complete, first chapter penciled, first chapter inks in progress, website nearly complete

I'm still hoping to launch this by the end of the year, but that's now contingent on how much I get done while moving - I'm not going to push myself too much! But so long as I do get the first chapter finished (these are much longer chapters than with Corner the Maze, roughly thirty pages as opposed to mostly hovering around twelve), I'll figure that's good enough to launch. I might take breaks in between chapters with this one, too. The website is progressing well, and you can read about the comic and read the prologue there, although the site is still under construction.

WRITING

Errant Mind: revised outline complete, first five chapters drafted, skeleton of sequels in place

I realized partway through this project that I was juggling too many viewpoints and it was slowing everything down, in addition to distancing the story from the protagonist, so I re-wrote from the protagonist's perspective. I got a lot done on my latest train trip, and I'll be chipping away at this through the year. My original goal was to have the draft complete and in form where I could send it out to beta readers by the end of this year, but we'll see where I get!

Untitled supernatural mysteries: characters in progress, setting in progress, mostly ideas

This is where I shipped off some old ideas I didn't end up using for Verdant Shadows and also had a couple new ideas, but it's still all pretty vague yet; I started hammering it out on my last train trip and it's probably going to be on the backburner at least until Errant Mind is finished and possibly until the sequels to that are as well. But if I keep adding to the planning document, I'll be ready to go after that, or if I feel like working on this instead for a while.

Short stories: a few ideas, mostly on hold

I've not given up on short stories, but since my original main goal of writing them was to try and get something published and that hasn't really been going so hot, I'm taking a break on short story writing to reassess my goals and whether I want to continue doing it. Most of my ideas aren't really good for short form, and developing characters quickly is a bit of a weakness for me, so we'll see.

ART

Final portraits for long-running D&D game: finished!

I got the last of these done shortly before leaving for my trip, so that's all done. I might print one or two and put them up near my desk, but I haven't decided yet.

Miscellaneous: in progress

I don't have any other particular theme or series ideas right now, but I'm working on some smaller and less intensive pieces, because when I looked back at 2020 and how I managed to get so many things I wanted to draw drawn then, I realized that a big part of that is that I was working at below-print size and just doing things for fun. And it's really not like I'm going to be printing most of this, so I'm getting back to that. Often I just want to draw a character doing a thing, and I don't need it to be super complex.

RACING

iRacing: mostly endurance races, work on learning the LMP2 better

I'm lightening up my iRacing schedule while moving, so I'm going to concentrate on the big events I definitely want to do – 6 Hours of the Glen, 24 Hours of Spa, maybe a few more as the year goes on – and otherwise put in some time in the LMP2. My goal is to not worry about it so much if I have some bad results, but we'll see how that goes...

PHOTOGRAPHY

Giant Trees trip: photos processed

I finished processing the photos from my last big trip (might post some of those later in the year, or maybe do another photo post next year if I don't get to it), but I plan on getting out and doing some smaller scale experiments, particularly at night. It might or might not happen! I'm not going to worry about it if it doesn't.

And that's how it is. See you next time, probably in a few months!