Whoas and Woes

Well, I went to the dentist yesterday, and good news is they can help me. Bad news is it's going to cost me $1410 over four months just for some temp work, meaning I have to have 25% down this week ($352.50), which I don't have!

I've been trying like crazy to find some freelance work to raise the cash to no avail so far. I just used a few of my last dollars to put up some ads through Project Wonderful in hopes they'd bring me some work, so we'll see how that goes.

So needless to say, I'm currently for hire for lettering, pre-press, banners (no Flash), logos, or even writing or editing services if anyone's interested!

Contact me at gonzogoose@brantfowler.com or brant@brantfowler.com for rates and all that good stuff.

Here are the ads I put out in case anyone comes across them so you'll know who they're from, like you couldn't tell. :)


It's cold here today! Yesterday it was a little nippy, about 60 degrees or so, and the wind was really high, but today I woke up freezing! We had to turn the heat on to get the chill out. That's the crazy thing about Kentucky weather. It can be 75 one day and 40 the next all year round. No consistency, no dependability, just a mess.

Because of the cold, a bit of my congestion came back overnight. I'm still up and at 'em and able to work and all that, I'm just congested and still occasionally coughing is all.


Not much else to talk about really. I've only been up for about an hour, so I'm still half asleep. Maybe I'll check back in later, maybe not.

B-Out

Fun Day, Monday

Ok, so when is Monday ever fun, right? I'm trying to psyche myself into believing it is, though, so I'll run with it.

The weekend was enjoyable, though I do sincerely regret eating pizza leftovers Saturday. Once in a blue moon it's ok. Two days in a row, not so much. So I won't be trying that again anytime soon.

Thanks to everyone who's been visiting this blog this week. My numbers went up about 40% this week, so I appreciate all of you out there.

This weekend I put to bed the full issues of Mayden #1 and Twilight #1 lettering-wise. Actually, there are two more pages of Mayden, but I'm waiting on script revisions for those.

I've got a decent plate of stuff for this week, but with room to add more if anyone out there is looking to hire a letterer, editor or writer. :)

I'm starting a new script this week as well tentatively called Dowry: The Beginning. It's a horror story and I'll be working with Ellium artist Jason Moser on it. So I'm excited about that one. More details on it in the weeks to come. This is actually the first time I've ever even put it out there to my recollection. So you're hearing it here first.

I'm also doing a bit of PR work for Digital Webbing this week, and some stuff for Haven Distributors, along with some lettering, editing and logo work of course.

I also snagged an occasional typing gig for some extra income, but nothing on the plate as far as that goes presently.

I'm still waiting to hear back from a few people about potential jobs. And I've got some lettering work in the pipeline in the coming months.

Now for some sad news. Wannabez no longer has a publisher, at least for the moment. Unfortunately, we had to part ways with Nifty Comics, our now former publisher. I won't go into the details, but I will say that Mat Nastos was very kind in our parting and offered any help we may need down the road.

As an aside, I will still be editing Nifty Comics books as far as I'm aware. I have edited a few issues of Cadre already and will be editing a Cadre/Dyna Girl crossover this week.

Back to Wannabez, we are actively looking for a publisher again, so ANYONE out there who is interested in the property, please don't hesitate to contact me. My contact info can be found via the "contact" link in the header of this blog.

Over the next couple of days I'll be re-lettering Wannabez #1 as I'm not happy with the lettering as is seeing that I lettered it so long ago and can painfully see the flaws in it. I might also be doing some on the fly revisions of the script while I'm at it. But we'll have a full package to look at of at least 5-10 pages of issue 1 sometime this week. We have a few publishers we haven't tried yet, and one or two we may try again, but we are open to any and all interest at this point.

If you're not familiar with the project, be sure to hit the Wannabez Blog or MySpace page for details!

I still have a couple of things in the works as well. One of which is going smoothly and progressing quite nicely if I do say so myself. I am very excited about the venture and see mad potential in it. I still can't talk about it yet, but keep watching!

And while I'm here, I'd like to give a shout out to a few people who have been really supportive over the past several weeks just because. In random order:

Cary Kelley - Bro, thanks for your support and friendship.
Jason Berek-Lewis - My brother from another mother, I appreciate you, mate.
Chuck Kennedy - Dude, you rock! Thanks for being there, man.
Ray Hickson - Thanks for the emails and constant encouragement, bro.
Jenny Goguen - Your support, help and friendship are greatly appreciated. Words aren't enough.
Chuck Moore - Your site rocks, and so do you, man. Thanks for being supportive of me, indy comics, and much more.
Scott D.M. Simmons - You're my boy, Scott, and I appreciate everything you've contributed both creatively and personally over the past couple of years.
Lance Stahlberg - Though our relationship is just business, you have been understanding and supportive more than most employers would ever be. I appreciate that, man.

I'm sure I left a few out, and I apologize. These are just the people off the top of my head that I have been in the most contact with over the past couple of weeks.

Now, with all that mushy stuff out of the way, there's not much else to say right now except for you to try and go enjoy your Monday!

B-Out

Progress in Lettering and Logos

Since this whole drama was realized about the gallstones my attempts at keeping to the schedule, as reported previously, kind of went out the window. However, since I've been back from the hospital and getting somewhat back to normal I have put a huge dent in that list. So here's what I've gotten done so far:

LETTERING

Ellium #1 - Complete
Genotype Prime pages 1-3 - Complete
Karma Game #1 Corrections - Waiting for feedback from publisher
Mayden #1 - Half Complete - have had to ask for text reduction in some pages, so it's taking longer
Night of Ninjas Corrections - Complete
Rabverse and Marcus Midnight PDFs - Complete - this included lettering a 6 pager, then resizing, reordering and compiling multiple PDFs and updating credits pages

Still to do:

Alien Passage - 8 pages - Waiting on pages
AOH #3 Pages 8-22
Applicants #2
Merc 43 - Sort of on hold waiting for text revisions
Shelter - 5 pages a week
Twilight #1 - Waiting on script

LOGOS

Got Dealz - Complete
Haven Thumbnail Corrections - Complete
Journeymen - Complete
Night of Ninjas Redesign - Complete
Urban Twist - Complete
Wolalina - Complete

Still to do:

Alien Passage
Golden - in progress

EDITING

Nocturnal Essence #2 Compilation - Complete

Still to do:

Cadre/Dynagirl Crossover
Nocturnal Essence #6 - second wave
The Veil #2

So I've covered quite a bit of ground all things considered, and will continue to beat it down this week.

I'm also possibly designing a website if terms can be agreed upon, and I've got some writing to do as well.

I've also had a couple more reviews posted over at www.comicrelated.com, which I'll post about later sometime.

I'm also now the PR guy for www.digitalwebbing.com, so look for press releases on their upcoming releases soon.

And I'll have a big hand in the newsletters for Rogue Wolf Entertainment and Haven Distributors in the near future.

So busy as usual, but still loving it all.

B-Out

Tentative Schedule for 3/3-3/9

Another week, another schedule. Some carry overs, some new ones, but still most are self-imposed deadlines. This is just to show you guys what I'm working on in general throughout the week. I'm also working on other stuff, such as Wannabez and other stuff I still can't talk about. So the schedule is a little misleading in that respect.

Regardless, posting the schedule here for the world to see is helping me stay on task and follow through better, which was my motivation for posting it in the first place.

Without further ado...

EDITING & DESIGN JOBS FOR MARCH 3-MARCH 9
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #3	March 8, 2008
Applicants #2	March 6, 2008
Ellium #1 (Second Batch)	March 4, 2008
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	March 5, 2008
Mayden #1 (Last Batch)	March 5, 2008
Merc43 #1	March 9, 2008
Night of Ninjas Corrections	COMPLETE
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	March 7, 2008
Shelter (Third Batch)	March 8, 2008
Twilight	March 5, 2008
Logos
Praire Fire	March 5, 2008
Haven Corrections and Thumbs	COMPLETE
Journeymen	March 9, 2008
Night of Ninjas Rework	COMPLETE
Banners
Edison Rework	ABORTED
Editing
Nocturnal Essence #6	March 6, 2008
The Veil #2	March 6, 2008

B-Out

Final Schedule Update This Period

Got sick the past few days, but still managed to get a little done. The rest was extended to this coming week. Note that the majority of these are self-imposed deadlines, so there is a little give.

EDITING & DESIGN JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	ON HOLD BY CLIENT
AOH #3	EXTENDED
Applicants #2	EXTENDED
Ellium #1 (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Final Shadows Corrections 1-5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	EXTENDED
Mayden #1 (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Merc43 #1	EXTENDED
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	COMPLETE
Nocturnal Essence #5	COMPLETE
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	ON HOLD BY CLIENT
Shelter (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	COMPLETE
Wannabez #0	COMPLETE
Logos
Absolute Edition	OUTSOURCED
Caggies (contest)	COMPLETE
Epsilon Realm (send)	COMPLETE
Final Shadows	COMPLETE
Haven	COMPLETE
Journeymen	TECHNICAL DELAY
Night of Ninjas	COMPLETE
Banners
Edison	COMPLETE
Editing
Cadre #6-8	COMPLETE
Nocturnal Essence #6	EXTENDED

B-Out

New Schedule

I made some progress today and added some stuff to the list. I still have more to add to it, but this is a start.

EDITING & DESIGN JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	February 28, 2008
AOH #3	March 1, 2008
Applicants #2	February 29, 2008
Ellium #1 (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Final Shadows Corrections 1-5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 28, 2008
Merc43 #1	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5	COMPLETE
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	ON HOLD BY CLIENT
Shelter (First Batch)	COMPLETE
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	COMPLETE
Wannabez #0	COMPLETE
Logos
Absolute Edition	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	COMPLETE
Epsilon Realm (send)	COMPLETE
Final Shadows	COMPLETE
Haven	COMPLETE
Journeymen	TECHNICAL DELAY
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008
Banners
Edison	COMPLETE
Editing
Cadre #6	March 1, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #6	March 2, 2008

B-Out

Rogue Wolf Entertainment

This is a company I letter and edit for, and I found out today that Lance Stahlberg, one of the owners, did an interview over at Jazma in which he mentions me briefly.

Did I mention that we also have Sean Taylor, who writes some of the Gene Simmons comics over at IDW Publishing, working on one of our books? That's pretty cool if you ask me, and he's a cool guy too.

So, if you want to check out Lance's interview click the title of this post!

B-Out

Back on the Saddle

Wow! Nearly THREE WEEKS since my last post, I can't believe it's been that long. I kept telling myself, "tomorrow". Oh well, I'm here now!

I've been keeping myself busy between lettering, editing, typing and logo design lately, and I think I've gotten quite a bit accomplished, but still have a ways to go at present.

I picked up another pretty much permanent lettering gig. I did issue 6 of the series and the guy liked it so much he offered me pretty much all the upcoming issues, so that was really cool. It was a fun book to work on.

I also picked up a couple of small jobs and a couple of logos, so I'm working on all that plus what I have left of the backlog.

I got some exciting news from a client non-lettering related that I can't talk about yet, but it's pretty big, at least I think it is. I'll talk about it when it's official and the press release is out.

Young Explorers, the book I'm assisting in the operation of, is going along smoothly. It won an award and it's not even published yet! It'll be in the April Previews, so I'll keep you posted about that one also.

I've got a phone meeting about an endeavor tomorrow night, and hopefully things will go well with that. It's time, but I can't talk about it yet either.

In the meantime, this weekend I've really gotten into this Facebook thing. I got invited by several friends and finally dove in. It's quite a different experience as compared to MySpace with all the games, quizzes and activities you can participate in. It's pretty fun, I just hope I have enough time to devote to it. :)

I also got into Yuwie a while back. With that one you make a little bit of money for posting, adding pictures, adding friends and so forth. So if you guys check out that link and like what you see be sure to sign up under me!

The weather seems to have calmed down now. Over the past week we've had rain, snow and tornado watches! But it seems pretty mild today.

American Idol started back up last week amidst some controversy about a former contestant saying they had entered a decline. While I still enjoy the show, I have to say so far it's the same old stuff we see year in, year out and it is getting a little old. I sincerely hope they have some really, really good singers this year...

I have now seen all of Battlestar Galactica (the present series) and know all the backstories, so I'm really looking forward to what is probably the last season this March. And I can't forget that Lost comes back at the end of this month! And Smallville and Supernatural are new this week too!

I saw Stardust yesterday, and I pretty much enjoyed it. I wasn't sure if I would like it or not, but it was pretty entertaining.

And I guess that'll do it for another three weeks, right? Nah, I won't keep you guys hanging for that long. :)

B-Out

To the Letter

Over the holidays I've fallen a little behind on editing, logos and lettering, so this is a brief note to all those I owe work.

After the new year, I will be spending all of next week catching up on everything. I won't be taking on anything else until I'm completely caught up on... AOH, Fracture, Karma Game, Merc43, Shelter, Rogue Wolf stuff, Nifty Comics stuff, a few logos, and a couple of others I'm surely neglecting to mention (but have them listed on paper so I can check them off), and not particularly in that order either.

So, for anyone who's waiting on stuff from me, next week you will hear something. Thanks so much for your patience during the holiday season, it's a big time for my family, and I'm sure yours as well.

Best from me to you. Stay tuned here for more updates.

B-Out

A Day in the Life...

Man, this has past week has been a nightmare. Between working and trying to get more work, trying to stuff to sell on eBay, and nursing after the sick, I'm spent!

What's that? Nursing the sick? Yep, my mom has a severe ear infection and some kind of pretty serious abdominal thing. She's literally been in bed for three days. My brother, on the other hand, has an upper respiratory infection, some light asthma, and something else that escapes me at the moment. He missed half last week of school.

Me? Same physical problems I've had for a while, except the stomach thing, which FINALLY seems to have subsided (which makes me think it may have been related to the kidney thing as that's cleared up as well). My stomach hasn't flared up for a couple of weeks now, knock on wood or say a prayer.

Work has been slow going what with trying to get other paying work (and since it really isn't), and with holiday stuff and so forth, and because the site was done most of the day today. But I'll be posting some stuff here shortly.

Lettering is steadily moving along. I finished Superworld Presents (man, that was a fun book!), and I've got a couple of things to finish tomorrow and the next day. Still waiting on edits for Merc43.

Editing has slowed down, though I'm still reviewing art as it comes in.

I have to finish up that pinup today and send it in. I didn't get the children's book thing, by the way. I had scanner issues, then my website (including this blog and my email) was down for a whole day. So I was two days late getting my sample sketch in, and so they said I couldn't meet deadlines even though they knew the situation, and the deadline was self-imposed!

Anyway...

I still haven't found much work save a few small gigs here and there, and the possible job I mentioned didn't work out. But I still have one prospect I probably won't hear from until after the holidays. We shall see.

eBay selling is a bust for me. First, I just don't have the funds to invest in listing fees at this time. Second, the products I have aren't most wanted. And third, they just plain don't sell. So, I've begun putting together my own little storefront gradually in what little spare time I have, just to sell all this stuff I have and no longer need or want. Beware, there may still be some kinks, and I have a lot more comics to add to it, but you can check it out by clicking the title of this post.

All things considered, I'm actually in an okay mood right now. I'm not ecstatic mind you, but I'm certainly not down (though I probably should be). I guess it's just this time of year, which has a lot of emotional, sentimental and spiritual value for me. Speaking of, I was looking at a picture of my Nana holding my brother in her lap this morning. My brother's first Christmas was my Nana's last, so that Christmas was doubly special, and seeing that picture, the only one we have like that, just brought all that back to me. We also videotaped Christmas that year, which I intend on digging out and watching here soon.

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of the year. Not for the gifts as I enjoy giving far more than I do receiving, but just the feeling, the warmth, the smiles and the whole general atmosphere of this time of year. I look forward to it every year, and I mourn its passing every year. But it makes it that much more special when it comes around again.

Ours is one of those families that has all the aunts, cousins, uncles and so forth all together on the holidays, singing songs, opening gifts, playing games, eating and laughing all together. And my Nana used to always have tons of presents under the tree, even if they were small, inexpensive things. It was just the whole magic and mystique of waking up Christmas morning and finding all those presents filling the room. It's just a magical feeling, and one I very much enjoy giving these days when I can.

So, I won't say nothing can get me down at this time of year, but I'll say I'll fight anything that tries as hard as I can!

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

B-Out

Just a Reminder...

I made up a digital flyer to reinforce my search for lettering (and logo design and editing) work:

To be able to pay bills, get some of the much needed dental work done, and have a few presents under the tree I need to make AT MINIMUM $4,500. So if you've got work or know someone who might, PLEASE contact me at gonzogoose @ brantfowler.com

B-Out

What the Wind Blew In

It's been a busy day. I kind of stayed away from the computer for the most part of the weekend, but today it's been work, lettering, editing, recipe finding, "window shopping" as it were, and other stuff. So it's been a pretty full day.

I finished up a small lettering job on time, so that worked out well. Though I've got two more I've got to finish corrections on before Thanksgiving, so it will be a full week.

I set up some pretty cool interviews for SBC in the coming weeks, so that should be a real treat.

Made some headway on some edits of a script today, more later tonight. Then I've got two more scripts to edit waiting in the wings, possibly three.

No more lettering bites so far. I had to actually turn down one because it just wasn't enough pay for the work involved unfortunately.

Still waiting to hear back from a few people, so we'll see how things go.

Not much TV watching this weekend surprisingly. I did catch The Honeymooners and The Cleaner (must've been Cedric, the Entertainer day), and both were mildly entertaining and humorous.

I played the first video game I've played in many months yesterday, Syphon Filter: The Omega Strain. I've had the game for a loooong time now, but many things have impeded my progress. First, I didn't have the proper controller for it (it required a specific kind), then months later I got that, then got stuck, and so forth and so on. But I finally made some headway last night and forgot how much fun it was to just get lost in games. So that was fun.

Physically, I am feeling much better as far as the infection goes. I barely even notice what's left of the pain. And even though I currently have a head cold and my throat hurts, for some reason through it I feel very relaxed. And oddly enough, I'm not feeling a lot of stress lately. Must be the holiday feeling in the air as I love this time of year.

Let's see, I'm making a pumpkin dip for Thanksgiving that has taco seasoning and peppers in it, and corn chips to dip in it. So that should be interesting. Never made it before, but I like trying new things.

And I will be moving things around as far as all the Amazon stuff sometime this week as I've gotten a lot of good feedback on it. Thanks, everyone!

Well, I guess that's about all that's going today, more later (including cafepress stores!).

B-Out

On Another Note

I finished a few pages of Lightning Squirrel, finalized Fracture, sent off Karma Game for approval, and edited one script, working on another as I type this. So it's been a productive weekend so far. I just don't have much to do at present oddly enough.

I also picked up another lettering gig, though it's a backend profits deal. I know I said I was only taking paying, but the art on this book is gorgeous and I've worked with the writer before. So it's promising. More on that in the weeks to come.

I've probably done a little more that I can't recall at this time. The above just doesn't sound like that much, so surely I've done something else...

We had some drama here this weekend - some pretty serious drama - but I think it worked out for the best.

My other situation is not yet resolved of course, and that still frustrates me a bit, even though I do have a bit of calm about it, mostly from prayer, a little from talking it out with the people involved.

I'm also looking into some other things, so more news if those pan out.

I applied for a couple of lettering jobs the past few days and got turned down by one, never responded to by another, and that one I really wanted. Oh well.

It's been a long weekend, and tomorrow is a holiday. I'm drained already.

I watched The Covenant last night. I don't really like the implications and all, but the movie was fun to watch. It was pretty predictable, but the effects were cool.

I guess that's it. I'm halfway through my second, and last, script to edit today, so I'm gonna finish that up.

B-Out

Still a Little Under the Weather

I managed to get my work done, but not much else in the way of editing, lettering or logos as I got really sick this afternoon well into the evening. I am now going to rest for a little bit more (try to get a couple of hours of sleep) then hit it again.

On the docket for later this evening/tomorrow:

Upload Redshift pages to server
Edit Nocturnal Essence script
Finish and send a rough design of Journeymen logo
Update Friday's SBC Reel
Then some other stuff
:)

B-Out