Some Recent Work

I figured I'd share some of my recent work for lack of anything better to post about this morning.

Here's a banner I did up for Haven. Simple, but effective.

And here's a banner I did for a blog discussing the current state of America. All the art is original digital art by yours truly. It's supposed to fade into the forthcoming white background of the blog, hence the fade into white, in case you were wondering.

Here's another piece of original digital art based on a reference pic, that will be used for a comic company logo.

And here's a logo I did for a film company.

Sorry, I can't show any lettering right now as I haven't acquired permission to yet. When I do I'll post it on the Comic Related forum thread where the Zombie Cop stuff is.

I'm trying to wrap up a couple of things today, but I'll try to post again later. I mentioned starting something on here last week, and I hope I'll have time to get that started today, but we'll see. It may have to wait until next week, or even after Christmas.

Remember, more of my samples can be found at www.gonzogoose.com!

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Still Here

I've been trying to catch up on work from when I was sick, and I've made a lot of headway. There are still just a couple of things I'm behind on that I hope to catch up today, but other than that everything is flowing along swimmingly.

You may notice the new banner up top. It's a PW ad in hopes to gain some extra cash through it. The buttons in the sidebar have done really well (the square, not so much), but obviously the payout is pretty low as the min. bid is $0 on those. So I've been trying to do a little more. We'll see how that works and how intrusive it becomes when it changes from Wannabez to something not linked to me and my stuff.

I've been scouring messageboards and freelance sites trying to find some extra jobs to get some Christmas cash, but as of yet I've been unsuccessful. There are plenty of jobs, but either their beyond my expertise, someone else gets chosen, or the pay just isn't good enough to justify the work. It's a shame this huge lettering gig I have starting next year sometime doesn't get an early start!

Though I'm currently working on a couple of graphic novel projects, the pay is on a completion schedule, so it's not upfront, and the bulk of it will come after Christmas, which doesn't really help me all that much at the moment. But hey, at least I'll have some money coming in the new year.

What little money I had set back for Christmas is steadily dwindling away on groceries and gas, and I have yet to buy the first gift! In fact, none of us have bought any gifts yet! Two weeks to Christmas and nada. It's hard because what my brother wants and needs will take up the bulk of what I have (or more), and so I'm not sure what route to go. I keep hoping some job will come up that will take care of it. We'll see.

I've said this before, but I know Christmas isn't about the gifts, and I could really care less if I get anything honestly. I just LOVE giving and seeing faces on Christmas morning when it's beyond expectations. It just gives me great joy to make that happen. But every year that it's been tight we've somehow been blessed to make it work, so I still believe things will work out...

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I'd be doing a post about Christmas movies soon. Did I already do that once? I can't remember, but I do recall talking about a couple of specific Christmas movies, and I don't want to be redundant or bore you all if I've already discussed the topic. So let me know!

With that said, I better get back to work.

B-Out

Work Progress

My sleep schedule is soooo off! I am sleeping a decent amount of hours, but I'm going to bed at a different time every day and it's throwing me off.

Right now I'm sharing my computer with my little brother and we keep on trying to alternate so that while one of us is asleep the other one is up. The problem is we both keep going to bed at different times, and so inevitably he gets up before I'm done and vice versa.

Granted, my work takes precedence, but with everything he's gone through recently I'm trying to compromise.

That said, work progress has been slow since Thanksgiving. I finished Corrective Measures #9 and am awaiting pages from #10. I did not complete Venger #2 before Thanksgiving as I had hoped, and have not made much progress thus far.

Really my focus has been on a writing project and lettering En Garde, which needs some additions to pages already complete, and some finishing touches on the last two pages I have currently.

It's around 4:30 am as I type this and my brother will be up soon (he went to bed around 8:30 last night) and I'm getting tired (I got up around 2:30 yesterday afternoon), but I have not accomplished nearly as much as I had hoped. So hopefully this afternoon I'll get to do a little on the writing end, then through the night I'll be catching up on lettering.

The goal is to have En Garde completely caught up by Wednesday, and also have a good start on both Venger #2 and a project for Visionary.

Later in the week I've got some work to do on the Haven cart, but I may not get to that in depth until next week.

I've still got a couple of other lettering jobs as well as the APA site, which we hope to finish by the end of the year.

I just feel like I'm walking in place. I was in such a groove prior to the holiday, but since I've just been in slow motion. Maybe I'm just weighed down by turkey and pumpkin, or maybe it's because I haven't felt good, I don't know. But I have to do something to jolt myself back into action fast!

We'll see how today and tonight go, then I'll attempt to set some solid goals for the week to accomplish.

B-Out

The Feat

Just so everyone knows, what I'm attempting to complete before Thanksgiving is:

Complete Corrective Measures #9
Complete Genesis #2 (thought it was #1, but I think I was mistaken)
Letter Venger #2
Write at least a fourth or half of the music artist descriptions (so, 25-50).
Finalize Wagon Wheel Comics logo (waiting on feedback)
Make corrections to En Garde pages 1-5
Letter En Garde pages 6-7
Haven work
Work on Visionary logo
Lay out Visionary lettering project

Those are the things I at least want to get done. Whether my health and time will allow it remains to be seen.

B-Out

Eyes Crossing

That sounds like a cool location in a story, doesn't it? "Eyes Crossing". Maybe spelled differently, maybe not. I think I may use that someday in some meaningful way.

I got up about 8 this morning, though I didn't really want to, but I was too cold to go back to sleep. So I got up, checked my email and then ate some cereal while I watched some wrestling I had taped yesterday. Then it was time to start my day officially.

Today I worked on some logos, did a bit of writing, did some Haven work, and started working on something for Comic Related. I also prepped some lettering files and downloaded some new files, and that's about it. Doesn't sound like much, but from about 10 to 9 I was working on the computer, save what time it took to make lunch (a cheese sandwich) and try a recipe, which I'll elaborate on later.

At 9 I popped some dinner in the oven and watched True Blood. I've really gotten into that show, and I hate that it's done for the season. But at least it'll be on in the summer when everything else is on hiatus. It's a very addictive show.

So after that I worked a bit more and checked emails again, and now here I am trying to wind down for a bit before working some more then heading off to bed. After all, Thanksgiving is coming up, and I'd like to get as much done as I can before Thursday so I can enjoy some of the long weekend.

I'm making a dessert and possibly a drink for the holiday. I'm always trying to find something new I can contribute every year. Years ago I made featherbed rolls, which we hadn't had since my Nana was alive, and everybody loved them. They are very involved though, so time is against me on those this year.

Last year I made a pumpkin black olive dip with green and red peppers for the dipping, which was a big hit I was told (I wasn't there). And the year before that I made these red pepper pecan cheddar poppers as an appetizer which everyone also loved. One year I attempted to make a pumpkin cheesecake after getting the recipe from someone at work (theirs was delicious!), but it didn't turn out. And once I made pumpkin bread, which was pretty good.

This year I'm making a pumpkin gingerbread trifle and possibly homemade egg nog. The trifle uses gingerbread, gingersnaps, pumpkin pie filling, cool whip, cinnamon and vanilla pudding, and it looks very delectable in the picture. And I have clear trifle bowls as in the picture so the beauty of it can be admired. :)

Now, I recently found out that my cousin Jay has gone completely vegetarian. He's never cared that much for meat and has never liked eggs, but occasionally he would eat some kind of meat (though very rare) and would eat stuff with eggs in it. Now, though, he won't eat anything made with eggs. So, I got this bright idea to experiment with the gingerbread, which calls for an egg, to substitute the egg. I looked it up online and tried applesauce this go around. It didn't alter the taste too much, but it also didn't give it that light fluffiness eggs do. And before it cooled it made the middle moister than it should be. After it cooled, it wasn't as moist and tasted better, but it was heavier than it needed to be. So I'm going to try some other substitute. I know you can use a banana or water and baking powder or corn starch, but I'm not sure which substitute will give me the texture I want.

As for the egg nog, Jay used to love it, but they don't sell eggless egg nog around here. So I looked up a recipe and I'm going to try it tomorrow. I love egg nog too, but I hate eggs and can't stand most things that taste like eggs. I'd say before long I'll be just like Jay in this respect. I lost my taste for red meat over a decade ago, and chicken grosses me out from time to time also. So it's only a matter of time, I think, before I'm a complete vegetarian. Not today though, I will be eating turkey this Thursday.

See, I always try to make something Jay can eat because he's my boy. We grew up like brothers, even living together for a few years, and I feel his pain. Since I stopped eating most meats there was many a family function I'd go to and there would be absolutely nothing for me to eat. So I started understanding what he had gone through for years. So I always try to bring something that everyone will like, but that Jay and I can eat also. But he's really not a sweets person, so even though the trifle will be edible for him, I thought I'd try the egg nog as well. We'll see.

Mom was debating on making a pear cobbler too, which he'd probably eat. He and I prefer fruit dishes over richer choices anyway. I'd take a cherry pie, for instance, over anything chocolate or even caramel anyday. That stuff is just too rich for me and I feel sick after eating it.

That said, pumpkin pie is one of my vices, so I will definitely be digging into that!

If anyone knows any really good, really cheap fruit or vegetarian dishes to make I'm all ears!

Man, I've got so much I want to do and my brain is just constantly moving towards fifty directions, but I keep trying to get things finished so I can focus on those other things. It's a challenge, because those other things pay the bills, and I NEED those other things. lol. But rest assured, big things are on the horizon. My mind is swirling with so many things right now I'm just so excited about them all. But as I've noted here before, many times I look at the big picture and see all these things I want to do, then see where I'm at and get overwhelmed and stifled. I'm trying really hard right now to focus on the tasks at hand and just keep those other things in the back of my mind ready to leap out when the moment presents itself.

Comic Jobz is hopefully going to really take off next year, but right now I really see a lof of Comic Related in my future. I'm really enjoying contributing to that site, and I haven't felt this inspired since my days of running SBC. I just really want to push CR as much as I can. I feel like - no, I know Chuck and everyone else there are just so for edifying each other and giving back, and so it makes it easier to want to do big things there. Not for any hope of anything back, just because a community like that that is concerned with helping and promoting each other is the kind of positive momentum we as struggling creators all need. As the saying goes, no man is an island to himself, and many times when we're out there all alone surrounded by our own problems we can become very discouraged in our creative endeavors. I know I have in the past. And Comic Related is a place I can go and be inspired and uplifted just simply by being surrounded by the creativity and drive present there. DW is like this in some parts too, especially the lettering forum where I hang out a lot.

Speaking of Digital Webbing, you all need to check out Fist of Justice and other titles they're producing. DW has tapered off a lot lately and there were doom and gloom fears (unfounded naturally, at least for now) for a while there. They were once a great resource for many, and still are for some (namely me), and they need our support. If it wasn't for DW I may never have found the tools I acquired that brought me to the point I'm at today. I owe a lot to that site and the people involved with it.

Well, I'm off to do something or the other, so I'll bid you all goodnight for now unless I think of anything else to ramble on about.

B-Out

What I Got Done - Thursday

Well, today was, again, not as productive as I had hoped, but I still got some stuff done.

As I mentioned last post, the first half of the day involved some family drama. Then cleaning house became the issue early evening as some furniture is coming in from my uncle tomorrow morning, so we had to get the house in order.

In between those two events, I did manage to work on some logos, as I briefly mentioned last post.

I made great strides in the Visionary logo first draft, so that's a plus.

I also nearly finished the first take on the Wagon Wheel Comics logo. Just have to refine the graphic in it, but I finished enough to show.

I completed the revision of the Usen Wareagle signature, so that's wrapped.

I nearly had a scare with Zombie Cop though. Apparently there was some misunderstanding on my part and I ran the prose two pages too long! They're going to adjust it as such, but I still feel bad about it.

On the plus side, I just discovered that Jeff Mariotte mentioned me in an interview with CBR yesterday when he totally didn't have to. It's just a small mention towards the end, but seeing as how I'm the letterer, and letterers are usually 'invisible' it was nice to get the acknowledgement. So thanks, Jeff!

Let's see, I did some minor Haven work, but not much.

I chatted with a couple of clients about jobs, but did no work on them.

I compiled and sent off the high res files for Genotype Prime to Hard Way Studios.

And that's about it. Not a great deal, but still progress.

Got some more cleaning and redecorating to do tonight, then bed, and back at it again tomorrow!

B-OUt

What I Got Done - Wednesday

Well, I finished Ellium and sent that in, and no corrections are needed, so I did good. :)

I kind of ran into several roadblocks with the APA site and so I got stalled quite a bit on that.

I did a little bit of Haven work.

I laid out some prep work for some other stuff, then called the day early to be honest.

Today, so far, I've redone the Usen Wareagle signature and made some strong headway on the logo for Visionary, which is a very ambitious logo. It has a lot of design elements to it, so it's taking quite some time.

We also had to deal with some family stuff for the first half of the day up to lunch time, so I haven't been able to get a lot done today.

I've not received Corrective Measures #9 yet, so I haven't been able to work on that. So I'll probably shift some of next week's lettering work to tomorrow unless it comes in, and use today to work on logos and do some corrections.

Tonight or tomorrow I'll be putting up a temporary landing page for APA.

And that's that.

B-Out

Zombie Cop Press Release!

Click the title of this post to see the first official press release for the Zombie Cop graphic novel from Shadowline/Image - the first Image title I've worked on!

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What I Got Done - Tuesday

You know, I need not say I'm going to post something, because inevitably something happens to where I can't when I say I will. Like these daily updates. I was fine until I said "yeah, I'll give a daily update on this schedule thing" and then I miss the very next day! Sheesh.

Anyway, I got most everything I intended to done yesterday.

I finished En Garde! pages 1-5 (though I have some changes to make to them now).

I finished the Usen Wareagle Signature (though I have to make changes to it now).

I did the Tainted page 56 correction and page 61 (I updated the schedule post to reflect this - I don't have page 62 in hand yet).

I did Corrective Measures #8 page 13 (the one page of that issue I was waiting on to wrap it - just over inks and I still need the colors to properly wrap the issue - now I have to make a minor correction on that page).

I got a good way into the Ellium #2 rework before getting too tired and crashing. I'll finish that up today.

I did Academy of Heroes #3 pages 14 and 17-22 (pages 15 and 16 are being inked still).

And finally, I made some progress on the Haven cart before it all went to naught.

Basically, between my edits and Lance coming in behind me and doing edits we managed to mess it up really bad, and so it was down for a period last night. So someone else came in and fixed our mess and actually put it in the colors I was trying to with my buttons I created (www.havendistro.com then log in with the user/pass combo of guest/guest to see it - the Coldcut logo and colors are finally gone).

So I'm no longer working on the Haven cart. heh.

As you can see, I got a little preoccupied and didn't get a chance to post. Not to mention the fact that the first half of the day I still wasn't feeling well. I got a bit better and had a good night's sleep, and now I'm decently ok for now, so it's all good.

TODAY I will be finishing up the Ellium #2 rework, working on the APA site and maybe finishing up some Haven work. I'll probably shuffle the Visionary logo to tomorrow since I have some of Ellium to do, and I suspect work on the APA site will take some time. But we'll see.

B-Out

Tentative Schedule for This Week

Ok, I'm looking through the list of things I would like to accomplish this week with next week being a holiday week, and so here is a tentative list of what I hope to complete this week. This list is subject to change, however.

Monday, November 17
En Garde! Pages 1-5
Academy of Heroes #3 Pages 8-13
Usen Wareagle Signature Logo
Some Progress on Haven Cart Redesign

Tuesday, November 18
Ellium #2 Rework (12 Pages)
Academy of Heroes #3 Pages 14, 17-22
Tainted Pages 56 Correction, 61
Corrective Measures #8 Page 13
Haven Cart Work
Special Project


Wednesday, November 19
Atomic Pop Art Site Work
Logo for Visionary Studios
Special Project

Thursday, November 20
Corrective Measures #9 Pages 1-11
Finish Wagon Wheel Comics Logo
Special Project

Friday, November 21
Corrective Measures #9 12-22
Haven Cart and Submissions Work
Special Project


I've left space on most days to add other stuff in as I need to, and I may move stuff around. I'm also expecting some more pages from other projects throughout the week, so I'm leaving the weekend open for that.

Again, this is all subject to change, but this is what I'm hoping to get accomplished at the least.

B-Out

PW is Live!

Well, as you can see over in the sidebar, I've begun adding Project Wonderful ads to the site. I figured I'd start out slow with a couple of buttons and see how well they do.

I moved my own little Gonzogoose Design button down a bit to make room for the new ads, plus it was larger than the buttons.

I am probably going to redesign the layout of the blog in the near future to better accommodate things as everything right now is just kind of haphazardly placed.


Today I've been working on a number of things, but got a late start and thus haven't gotten quite as much accomplished as I had hoped to. I'm going to try to work through the night tonight, taking a break this afternoon and hitting it back late tonight to knock some stuff out before the weekend.

Pages for En Garde! have started to come in, and I'm excited about that project, mainly because I finally get to work with a new friend, Sean Forney, whom I worked with briefly in the past. Very nice guy who's not too far away. I met him for the first time in person at Mid-Ohio-Con and he's got a lot of projects going on. Luckily they needed a letterer and that's how En Garde! came about.


And sadly, there's not much else to talk about today. This weekend I'll have plenty to talk about I'm sure, with the Comic Related relaunch. And I'm told that our podcast will go live November 19th on the site, so be sure to check that out. Of course I'll link it on here and the Wannabez blog, among other places.

I'll check back in late tonight or in the morning. So be watching!

B-Out

Busy Day!

Well, if you wondered why I was so quiet today after several posts over the last few days, simply put, I was really busy!

Today I finished up the additional Zombie Cop pages I mentioned (title page, back cover and dedications page).

I also finished the second half of Corrective Measures #8.

I did two pages of Genotype Prime #1 and 5 pages of Tainted.

And I re-did two pages of Spud with revised text.

Not to mention I compiled the Haven newsletter today, which took about an hour and 45 minutes total.

I also did a few small things here and there to round everything out. So as you can see, it was a pretty full day. Especially since Spud had a LOT of text, which was very challenging. And I still have to make one more change to that and a page of Tainted. And I believe 2-3 more pages of Tainted hit my email today as well.

The week will continue to be busy, naturally, but this is a good thing.

Pretty soon you'll see Project Wonderful ad boxes popping up here on the blog as I got approved as a publisher today! I've also applied for Gonzogoose.com, so hopefully that one will get approved as well.

Comic Related relaunches in three days! It's exciting. I promise you'll love the new design!

And Top Chef debuted tonight, but I missed it, so I'm about to catch the replay in four minutes. So I bid you adieu.

B-Out

Winding Down... Or Not

While the week may be reaching its end, my schedule is not. However, I have made tremendous headway in the past 24 hours.

Barring any coming edits, I've wrapped the lettering on two projects this morning - one a small one, one a large one.

The first is Spud, a Small Press Idol contender #0 issue I was asked to do recently. It was a very text-heavy 12 pages, though, so it took me longer than normal. But I just sent in the final three pages, so that's one more to add to the completed list.

The second is one of the funnest projects I've worked on, and that is Jeff Mariotte's Zombie Cop for Shadowline (Image)! 96 pages of sequentials followed by 124 pages of prose, all laid out by yours truly. And it was so much fun! They all seemed rather pleased with my work as well, which means the world to me. This is the first book I've worked on for a top four publisher, and the experience was amazing.

Zombie Cop was the biggest current project I've been working on. I have a couple more graphic novels coming up soon, and one 100 pager I'm about half way through, but the rest have been single issues and short stories for the most part lately.

I still have plenty to do, of course. Yesterday I updated my MySpace page with the current list of projects I'm working on, so you can see (if you head over there) what all I've got on my plate. In fact, I may just add that list to the sidebar of this blog as well...

Today I haven't decided what I'll focus on. I know I've GOT to get some work done on these logos I have (about four of them I haven't started on). I also need to do a postcard up for Wannabez to send to retailers through Haven. Aside from that, I'll probably work on Corrective Measures #8 and some more pages that came in that I'm filling in on for a friend, then go from there.

Tomorrow, more of the same, as well as some cleaning house and menial chores like that. Then Saturday it's off to our interview, of course, which should be a lot of fun.

Saturday is also my cousin's birthday, so Happy B-Day, Jay! For the next four and a half months I can make fun of you being older than me! :)

I was watching a bit of some news channel last night where they had relatively young representatives of each party (Republican, Democrat and Independent), and the three were going back and forth arguing with each other about who was doing what right and wrong. The funniest part was the Republican rep. passed McCain's losing off as him and many other "stars" of the party not being true conservatives, and thus not properly representing the GOP. He just made a fool of the entire Republican party with his comments, and the other two were pretty much constantly laughing at him while making points for unity among the parties. Probably the most eloquent and well informed of the three was the Independent rep.

I'll be honest, I am technically registered as a Republican, and I voted for Bush, both times, and his father before that. I don't regret voting for Bush the first term, and I feel he handled that term extremely well with what was put upon his shoulders. The second term, I still think he was a better choice than John Kerry ever would have been, but I'm not happy with his actions in that term.

I also was against Clinton and Dukakis, and I stand by my decisions on those.

However, I don't consider myself a Republican or Democrat, and really wish I was registered as an Independent. I do think the Democratic Party does represent themselves better and as for ALL people where the Republican Party, like many of the religious folk they strongly represent, are very separatist regardless of what they claim. At least that's how they come across, and truly that is why they are losing support.

One fact was noted in this news panel, and that was that Lincoln was Republican, BUT it was at a time when the Republican Party was the liberal side, NOT the conservative side. I thought that was a very interesting note indeed.

Anyway, the buzz this week, naturally, is all about Obama's win and what it means for our country. I'm eager to see what changes he brings, and how fast he brings them. Our economy needs dire help, and needs it fast. If he addresses that in earnest I'll be happy.

The weather here has been great this week! Sunny and warm, but not too hot. It's a nice change from the weeks of cold we've been getting, though I know it won't last. Me, I wish it would stay nice up until Christmas week, then have snowfall for through New Years, then return to that comfortable weather. If only...

Oh! I finished five installments of my new column now, so soon it will be ready to go live! I'll keep you informed.

B-Out

It's November!

You know, I forgot to mention last month, but October of this year marked two years I've been posting to this blog! So I've now passed the two-year mark, and I've loved every minute of it.

Turkey Day is only a few short weeks away, which is my cousin's favorite holiday. Not just for the food, but because my whole family gets together and it's a very special bonding time. We do at Christmas too, but it's a different vibe. Christmas is my favorite time of year, but the holidays in general bring us all closer, which is always a good thing.

Well, I didn't feel too well last night, but I'm recovering. I still got plenty of work done yesterday, so it's all good. Today I'll be working on a submission package for Victor Carungi (Pencilneck), and more Zombie Cop. If I have time after that I'll be working on some logos, maybe, and Corrective Measures #8. So much to do...

Yesterday I caught up on Haven work, and was given some more responsibilities, so that should be fun. I've got to remind Lance to get me the info for the newsletter, though, as it needs to go out soon!

Election Day is in a couple of days, but I'm not going into it here and now. Just thought I'd mention it for the sake of it.

Last night I watched Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. It was okay. What prompted me to watch it was my little cousin sent over the series of books, which I'd never read. Then I realized we had the DVD for a while, but I had never watched it (picked it up at a flea market for like $5). I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. It had potential, but I don't think it was realized.

And because of Jim Carey being in that movie, it made me think of something. Remember when he played the Grinch? Remember the little girl that played Cindy Lou Who? Well, I just recently found out she's on this show called Gossip Girl these days all grown up. Man I feel old. I wasn't that young when that movie came out! I think I was like 24. Man.

I started to watch this movie on G4 called The Host, which is a creature feature movie, but the subtitles got on my nerves. It looked decent though for that type of movie. I wanted to try to watch something scary, but I couldn't find anything to get into. Oh well.

Oh, in one week...

I have yet to write the first installment of this new column I mentioned a few posts back. Don't worry, though, I'm planning on having five installments written before it goes live just to be safe.

Don't forget to set your clocks back tonight!

What would you do-oo-oo for a Klondike Bar? Me, nothing, I hate the things. I don't know, just because...

I have too much junk, and not enough stuff. Ever feel like that? I wish I could just throw everything out and start over. All my furniture, accessories, most of my clothing... everything. I'm just bored with it all. Most of my clothes don't currently fit, and they're just not me anymore anyway. Sigh, one of these days.

Speaking of, we're about to paint in the house. We've been dealing with drab white walls for over four years now. It's time for a change. We're going with a pale green in the kitchen, which looks better than it sounds. And in the loft upstairs it'll be a tan with a thick black stripe (yep, I'm gettin' creative). My room is going to be black and silver, though I'm not sure how I'll do it up yet. I used to paint houses and apartments, so I know what I'm doing somewhat. I hate cutting in and doing baseboards though - don't have the patience for it anymore. So I'll be doing the rolling and letting someone else do the tedious stuff.

You know what sucks? I have an HD cable box and no HDTV. My brother has an HDTV in his room (got it off my uncle), hence the boxes, but I get HD channels (what handful my sad cable company offers) but they do me no good. Sigh.

I may be having lunch with a local creator sometime next week, but I haven't heard back from him on when, so we'll see. He had asked me to lunch a looong time ago, but at the time I couldn't, then I forgot about it. I remembered recently and contacted him and he seemed game. It'll be cool because aside from Chuck Moore I don't know many locals into comics.

So, a lot to talk about, yet I haven't said much at all really. Ponder that.

B-Out

Happy Halloween!

I've said it before on this blog, but Halloween is not really my holiday. But I hope all of you who dig it go out and have some safe fun tonight!

Check out this cool interview over at CR about a town that's Halloween all year round!

I went and got my hair cut this morning, and man, do I feel better... and worse. I feel better because it looks better shorter, and it was getting on my nerves how it kept falling in my face. But it's also getting thinner, which is no fun.

I have been up all night again, mostly working, though I did take a little time to read and watch TV. Had to watch Supernatural, and I caught up on some comics. Mostly I worked though.

I'm completely caught up on Genotype Prime and Tainted (pages kept spilling in throughout the week). Zombie Cop is also on schedule, and I've started on the prose section of the book now, which is fun.

I've still got plenty to work on though, and still have stuff coming soon as well. I just hope I can stay awake to do it today! I took a nap yesterday afternoon, so I've been up since about 7:30 last night, so about 16 hours as I type this, and I'm starting to get tired.

Tonight I'm not doing anything special. My brother may or may not have plans with his friends, and some of the family is getting together at my aunt's to have chili. I'll probably be here working a little and catching some scary flicks on TV for the fun of it. Why not, right? I can't eat chili anyway. And I'm trying to stay away from the candy!

Why are Comicraft fonts so expensive?! I get that they're famous and popular and really good and all that, but I find Blambot's prices much more reasonable! And they're fonts are just as good. Just sayin'. I do love a lot of CC's fonts though. But who has $100-200 for a font these days?

Today, if I can stay awake, I'll be working more on Zombie Cop, as well as a fill-in for a friend, and then a submission packet. I'm hoping to work on logos this weekend, and I've still got an issue of Corrective Measures I need to finish over the next few days. Then more Ellium, and a few other things.

So, I guess I better get to it before I start snoozing!

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Still Up and Going

Well, aside from a two-hour power nap yesterday afternoon, I have been up since 2:30am yesterday morning! I got really tired around 4 yesterday and laid down, then got up at 6:30 or so and worked a little bit before Heroes came on. Then I worked through the night, and I'm still up and at 'em.

I made a dent in both Tainted and Genotype Prime yesterday, as well as did some more work on the project I worked on over the weekend, so I feel good about my progress.

Today I'm mainly focusing on Corrective Measures and Zombie Cop, but Tainted and Genotype Prime are in there as well.

I've also got Ellium and a couple of other lettering projects I'm working on as I can get to them. So everything's on schedule.

Logos are a different story. Still haven't made any headway there yet, but I will!

While I won't say I'm motivated to start exercising today with everything I have to do and what little sleep I've gotten, I am motivated to start this week, and I will. I'm just going to make my mind up to do it and to get back to my healthier eating habits I had picked up and just go with that. I'd really like to drop at least ten pounds by Thanksgiving, being realistic. Then I'll tackle the other ten, or at least try to between the holidays.

Just as an asides, keep an eye on www.comicrelated.com. If you've never visited the site before, you definitely need to start checking it out. And in just 18 days the entire site is metamorphosing into something very dynamic. I've seen a peek and it's going to be great!

And that's all I have in me at the moment.

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A Big Thank You!

Thanks to all you faithful readers out there who have stuck with me through thick and thin! The past few weeks the number of hits I've gotten on this blog have been steadily climbing regardless of the lack of consistent posts on my part. So I just wanted to take a minute to thank you all for continuing to read me. :)

Not a whole lot going on at the moment save still working my butt off. Things are going steady and well with all current lettering projects.

Scott and I are gearing up for Mid-Ohio, which is now less than a month away. Hope to see you there! We'll have a b&w version of Wannabez #1 for sale! We'll also have copies of MVA #5, which has Wannabez #0 in it on hand.

Oh, and Haven Distributors will be carrying Wannabez! So retailers, come October you will be able to order it from them!

Thanks to some friends who recently helped me out.

New TV season starts soon. Hopefully something good will finally be on TV. Not that I don't have plenty enough to keep me busy aside from watching TV, I just love sitting back and watching some good TV. Nice escapism and relaxation and all that.

Speaking of TV, I don't know how familiar any of you are with the UFC (possibly the only real sport I really like - basketball and boxing are okay too, but I don't watch them that often), but I read that Chuck Liddell got KNOCKED OUT! by Rashad Evans last night. I like Evans and I'm not a fan of Liddell, so that was really nice to hear. :) But I'm REALLY looking forward to the upcoming Randy Couture/Brock Lesnar fight. I'd love to see that one.

One book I lettered a while back, Lightning Squirrel #1, just went on sale. You can find it at www.indyplanet.com.

And I guess that's it for now. Thanks again for reading, I'll try to update again real soon.

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Visionary Comics Studios

I've recently hooked up with Visionary in hopes to widen my lettering clients, and so I thought I'd do a little promoting of the studio as they have a promotion going on. So check out the banner and the following press release for all the details. If you like wrestling, then you'll really dig this as it's about the book Headlocked, which is all about wrestling.

Please Help Us Get the Word Out: Visionary's Money Back Guarantee to Retailers!

Visionary Comics Studio wants retailers to try our debut series Headlocked, so much so, that we are offering a money-back guarantee on the first issue of our new mini-series, Headlocked: The Tryout. We understand the economics for retailers of trying something new and being left holding the bag, so we’re making it completely risk free for any retailer to try Headlocked!

Visionary Comics Studio will offer a full refund on up to five pre-ordered copies of Headlocked: The Tryout #1 if they haven’t sold within 60 days. Simply pack up the unsold copies and return them to us with a copy of your invoice from Diamond and we’ll send you a full refund.

The book, published by AAM/Markosia and listed in the August Edition of Previews, also features a fully painted cover by WWE Hall of Famer, Jerry “The King” Lawler. It is the follow-up to the critically-acclaimed series debut, Headlocked: Work of Art.

Make no mistake. The money isn’t coming from Diamond. The money isn’t coming from AAM/Markosia. This is coming from our own pockets. That’s how strongly we believe in this series.

Diamond Order Code: AUG083662 (Headlocked: The Tryout #1)
Check out previous Headlocked Comics on Wowio…
http://www.wowio.com/users/searchresults.asp?nGroupId=[408]

Also, if you are a retailer that takes us up on the challenge, let us know by emailing us at cedwardsellner@aol.com with your store's name and web-site, we will add you to our links list for retailers! We will be posting the details for returns on our site's Contacts Page closer to the 60 day deadline and will email every retailer that let's us know they are taking the challenge with the information once the deadline hits.

Corrective Measures Reviews

Users on Amazon.com have given Corrective Measures some pretty cool reviews and I thought you guys might want to check them out. Just click the title of this post.

You may recall that I lettered the last chapter of the book, which contains 6 chapters, and it is now available through Arcana Comics, and obviously through Amazon. So check it out!

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M-Theory

Click the title to read an interview with Dwight MacPherson about his new book, M-Theory, from Shadowline/Image, which I am lettering issues 2 and 3 of!

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Don't Know What to Call It

I couldn't think of a clever title, so that's what you get.

Thanks for all the concern about my tooth. It was so swollen they could only give me meds, so I go back on the 19th to have it worked on. The meds have kept it at bay, thankfully.

In a couple of weeks the family might go away for a day or two to some lake. I guess that would be around Labor Day. Makes sense.

Not that I get a chance to visit too many anymore (mainly Digital Webbing), but forums are getting on my nerves these days. Every discussion somehow turns into an argument at some point, or people just insult other people all the time. It just gets old. There's no true conversation, just a bunch of jockeying and posturing, and it frustrates me.

Lettering work has been very progressive the past couple of weeks. I finished M-Theory #2 (though I'm waiting for four pages to be colored to apply the letters to really wrap it up) and Shadowline is pleased. I've also completed several other projects and made headway on others. So all the work has been fruitful.

I have some gigs and some potential gigs coming up next month, so I'm looking forward to those.

I won't be going to Baltimore. I thought I might, but I won't. The next one for me will be Mid-Ohio, and I'm kind of sad about it. My cousin's wedding is the same weekend in Illinois, and my mother got mixed up and told her and her parents I was going to be there and they got all excited. Now I feel doubly bad for having to miss it as I really wanted to be there. But what are you gonna do?

WW Texas is still an option and one I'm hoping to make mainly to meet and hang with Cary, and to meet some more of the Ronin Studio folks that will be there. We'll see how that all plays out.

I've been writing letters back and forth with a former Sunday School student of mine who is in Basic Training in Oklahoma. I think of him as a little brother, and he of me as a big brother. I hadn't seen or spoke to him in a couple of years before hearing he was in BT. We're planning on hooking up and hanging out when he gets home, so that should be cool.

My brother got all his curls cut off! His hair's so short in comparison it's wild. As soon as I can, I'll get a picture of him and post it up. He just got tired of fooling with it, and having to comb all the tangles out every day. He also wanted a change, and man, did he get one! He looks great, though, everyone thinks so. The salon he went to were going gaga over cutting his hair, and loved the result afterwards. Plus my brother, who was a little scared, loved it.

I finished the The Crystal Shard finally. Pretty good book. So good, in fact, that I'm now reading Homeland and Streams of Silver. Homeland is the first book in the prequel trilogy that precedes The Crystal Shard, and Streams of Silver is the next book after The Crystal Shard. Both are good so far.

I am so bored today. I have plenty more work to do today, but where I've been working so hard the past couple of weeks, and it being Saturday, I just don't feel like doing it. I probably will because I have no life and nothing else to do (save watching TV, which I only do when there's actually something on, which is not often in the summer).

Speaking of TV, if there was one reality/game show I'd want to be on it would be The Mole. I was so thrilled when they brought it back (it just ended this past Monday) as it was one of my favorites. I'd love to be on that show. It just looks so fun, and I love mystery and games like that. So much better than the Amazing Race for my tastes.

WWE Summerslam is tomorrow, but I won't be getting it. Only one or two of the matches sound appealing, and then not that much.

I've seriously been considering writing a book, a novel, lately. I've started a couple before, but never finished them. It would most likely be a fantasy novel because that's what I most enjoy reading. I've also been thinking again about doing a children's book, but the ideas aren't really flowing. I just so want to take my writing seriously again, and let it be the focus. It's just hard because it's lettering and logo design that pays the bills. The only writing I've ever been paid to do is like article writing and press releases, which is not the kind of writing I really want to do in the long run.

If (when) I ever become wealthy I'm hiring a maid! I hate cleaning. I cleaned my bathroom a few days ago and hated every second. I used to clean my church every week and didn't care for that either, though surprisingly, it was more tolerable than cleaning at home.

I have not caught any of the Olympics. I missed the only events I was interested in, so the rest is just a waste. But I was talking to my mom the other day remembering how when I was a kid the Olympics were so much more of a big deal. They were on the whole summer and took over all of the local stations. This year, I didn't see any commercials for them until right before, and then they only take up one local channel and a couple of cable channels late at night. It's just not the spectacle I remember it being.

I've not been eating healthy lately, and I've been paying for it with my gallbladder. It's mainly been -just buy something quick and cheap- which, whether fast food or grocery, isn't usually very good for me. I've been getting braver, eating peppers and stuff, and it hasn't sat well with me. I'm just so sick of bland food. Plus I'm pretty picky, and of what I'm supposed to eat there isn't much that I could even tolerate. I so hate this.

I hate routines and ruts, and I seem to be in them now. I need to get out more. haha

Well, now I'm running out of things to rant about, so I guess I'll go find something else to occupy (read "waste") my time today. :)

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Read Final Shadows #1 For FREE!

Final Shadows #1 from Alterna Comics and Hard Way Studios (lettered by yours truly) is now available on Wowio for free! So go read it by clicking the title of this post!

If you're not aware of the recent changes/relaunch of Wowio.com, it now costs $.99 to download an issue, but you can read it online for free.

From the Wowio page, here's the description of the book:

When evil is done to someone we care about, the dark desire for revenge consumes us. We are driven to balance the scales with their wicked blood. The Shadows are an elite band of mercenaries that go from routine to ruin. As blood is spilled on a botched mission, the three surviving members - the Final Shadows, seek to right the unforgivable wrong. The path to payback will be fought by having to deal with survivors guilt, rage, and heartbreak. But will the shocking secret behind the death of a dozen brothers-in-arms break them, or will blind rage send them to their dead brothers? Will they seek justice or vengeance, and will it be worth it?

So what are you waiting for? Go check it out!

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Zombie Cop

Click the title of this post to see a speed paint tutorial of a Zombie Cop character by artist Szymon Kudranski, the artist on the book, Zombie Cop, written by Jeff Mariotte, and lettered by yours truly! The book will debut in February of 2009 from Shadowline/Image!

More info as it becomes available.

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Doors and Windows

Well, I finally heard back from that potential employer I've been hinting at for a while now. They are putting the new proposal I mentioned on hold right now. Apparently, con season is slamming them, understandably, and they are restructuring a bit. So they'll contact me who knows when about the new job, but I gathered it wouldn't be anytime soon.

The company is Tales of Wonder, and they are an online graphic novel and statue retailer. They're one of Marvel's top 10 online sellers, and they offered me a pretty good starting salary with some perks to be their marketing and con guy. There were some issues with the con stuff, an aspect I wasn't particularly crazy about, but more than willing to do, but they decided ultimately that I was a better fit for another position they had in mind.

Unfortunately, I have no idea when I'll actually hear about that new position, and thus I have to move on for now. I will certainly entertain it when it does come across my virtual desk, but for now I have to entertain and seek out other offers and opportunities.

Lately I have been picking up some small freelance writing gigs though. Mostly SEO keyword articles and blog posts and the like. I'm decent at it, and it's fun, and the pay's a nice side income. So that's working well so far.

I also did sell all those comics I listed over a couple of posts recently. Every last one of them and a few more are gone, gone, gone, in the mail today. So that was a welcome surprise!

Wizard World Chicago is looking better as a possibility. There are still just a couple of things I need to work out before I can commit to it, but I'm hoping I'll be able to make a decision by early next week if things pan out. I'd love to go as I know (in the online sense) a LOT of people who will be there, and it will be really cool to meet them all.

I had to go to the dentist twice this week due to some complications, but it's all good now. On a bad note, though, it did set me behind schedule on some things, so tonight and tomorrow, and throughout the weekend is going to be pret-ty busy indeed.

Incredible Hulk comes out tomorrow! TOMORROW! Yeah, I know, the first one was a borefest, but what I hear from people who saw an advanced screening is that this one is SO much better. And Tony Stark from Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) makes an appearance, and it's rumored that Captain America does as well. We saw Cap's shield in Iron Man, so it'll be fun to see where the pop in the Cap appearance. And if I can make it to the theater in any way this weekend I am definitely going to go see this. Have my soda and junior mints waiting for me, usher!

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Today in the Life Of...

My cable was cut off early today thanks to some lack of communication and stuff. We obviously got it back on, or I wouldn't be typing this right now. But it put me behind in contacting everyone today, though I still managed to get some correspondence out.

Michael Kasinger, one of the artists I was going to work with for the CBC had to drop out due to his workload. But that's cool because the story I came up with for him is a really good one, I think, and without that push I might have never come up with it.

I haven't heard back from Jason Moser yet, so at this late stage (with just over a week to go) I doubt that one will happen either.

On the other hand, the one Scott and I are working on may just happen. And even if it doesn't we are still going to work on it as I mentioned before I believe.

Still waiting to hear about that potential job. I thought for certain I would have heard something by now, but nada. I've got a couple of other leads, so I hope they hurry up before I take something else!

One venture I was very excited about is now not going to happen. My partner had some doubts due to recent events, and her points were valid. I'm saddened by it, honestly, but I understand and all is good. It just wasn't meant to happen I suppose.

I finished up a small writing gig today and got another one, slightly larger, so that was cool.

I was adding up numbers for Wizard World Chicago, and it's going to take some doing for me to be able to make it this year. I have two options, one going for the whole four days, and one going just on the weekend. The latter is the cheaper of the two options, but it's a bit more of a hassle with all the logistics. So we'll just have to see how things go. I might not be able to do either.

I found - or rather they found me - a local music group that sounds pretty cool. It's hip-hop/r&b, but it's two white boys from Kentucky! Needless to say, I was surprised how good they sounded. I'll get a link and give them their own post here soon.

I reconnected with a friend last night via telephone and chatted for about 30 minutes, which was cool. We used to hang out all the time, but haven't for three or four years now.

The past two or three days I've not felt well, and I've just been sluggish and not very motivated. I've pushed through it and made quite the progress on things by and large, but I just haven't felt myself. I don't know what it is. Well, the not feeling good I know what it is, but not the other. I'm just frustrated with a lot of things this week, and the unknown in a lot of areas is probably the biggest culprit. So all of that has just got me out of sorts I guess. I'll bounce back, though. I always do, glory be to God.

And I suppose that's it. It's almost 2am, I'm tired but not sleepy, and though I have a ton to do, I'm bored and restless out of my mind! lol. So I think I'll try to lay down and watch a bit of TV and try to doze off if I can. More soon.

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Corrective Measures

Corrective Measures, from Arcana Comics and written/created by Grant Chastain is now up on Wowio.com! It's 147 pages, full color, and you can reach it by clicking the title of this post.

Now, why am I telling you about this book? Two reasons. One, it's really good. Two, I lettered the last chapter of the trade. :)

The book is about a maximum security prison for former super-villains, and the trials of keeping those inmates in check. But it's not anywhere near what you think it would be. This isn't The Vault, The Raft, or Arkham Asylum. This is like a real world prison. In six issues super powers came into play I think once.

See, it's not about the powers, and it's certainly not about tights and capes in the least bit, so far. This is a prison drama that takes a very real world, innovative look at super criminals. It's very well written with beautiful artwork that really tells a unique story. And it doesn't end with this trade either. I know there are probably two more trades worth of material in the works, which yours truly will be lettering.

All that said, this is a very mature book for violence, sexual innuendos, and intense language. I don't normally find myself pulled to that sort of material, but this book is very well written, as I've already said. I can't recommend it enough for the story and the characterization alone.

And if you buy the trade, it looks gorgeous as well. I was sent a copy a couple of days ago, the first time I'd seen the whole story, and the production value of the trade is nearly flawless. I'm sure it can be found at Arcana's site somewhere, or on Ronin's.

And if that's not enough to convince you, check out the trailer below:



So download it or buy it, just make sure you read it!

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Moving Away, Then Not, Then Maybe...

Well, folks, as most of you know, last week I went out of town. What most of you didn't know was why I went out of town, so let me break it down for you.

A few weeks ago I was contacted by an online comic retailer about a possible job opportunity. Basically they offered me the job based on my online work that they had followed, and wanted to fly me down and put me up for a week. So I went and spent the week down there checking the place out and learning what the job entailed.

The salary they offered was decent, and parts of the job were fun and exciting. Other parts were not quite as glamorous, but still a pretty cool experience.

So, after a week of wrestling with the decision to move away and take this job I accepted the position last Friday morning. They were thrilled, and thus a new chapter of my life was to begin.

24 hours later that changed a bit. I had emailed them to discuss a few details, and one arbitrary sentence at the end of the email I typed at 3am caused them to reevaluate things and they took the offer off the plate.

So, after emails and phone conversations trying to straighten all this out, now instead of moving down immediately (like tomorrow) as was planned, I'm waiting to hear, probably for a couple of weeks, whether this is still the direction they want to go or not.

All that said, it is still possible that in a few weeks I'll be moving away to take a nice job with some perks moving away from my home of the last 26 years. Then again, it's possible I won't. So I'll keep you posted. Not that it affects any of you, but in the transition there would definitely be some lag time for lettering projects and so forth.

The job itself is twofold. One side of it, the side I like, involves marketing, interviewing creators, managing content and so forth as I am familiar with and have done for the past two plus years. The other side is working convention booths, specifically the register and managing people, at twelve cons throughout the year. Not to mention driving the con truck to all these places. This is the part I'm not as crazy about, but is still pretty cool.

So anyway, I guess I'll have to wait and see what the final decision is, even though I had already accepted and they had already offered. I guess that's the way things go sometimes though.

In the meantime, I'm back home catching up on all my emails and starting back to lettering work today and tomorrow. I'm also looking out for other opportunities both locally and abroad just in case this falls through as last week's trip showed me that regardless of what happens I am ready for the next chapter in my life, and I'm ready to spread my wings and start more actively pursuing my ultimate goals.

If this particular job doesn't happen I am still doing my best to make preparations to make it to Wizard World Chicago at the end of next month. I'm not sure if it will work out or not, but I know a lot of people who will be there and I'd like to hook up with them if I can. And if I do get this job I'll be there as well, but I'll be stuck at the booth through the duration of the event.

So, that's what's up, people.

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Morbid Myths Needs Sales!

Morbid Myths Volume 1 from Hard Way Studios and Alterna Comics is needing more sales or Volume 2 might not be published. I wasn't directly involved with Volume 1, but I am lettering all or most of Volume 2, which won't be published if Volume 1's sales don't improve.

So, if you haven't checked out the book, please do so. It's a really cool anthology that has gotten great reviews across the board.

Read more about Morbid Myths by clicking the title of this post.

And check out some reviews here:

http://geeksofdoom.com/2008/03/30/comic-review-morbid-myths-collection-1/
http://www.comicrelated.com/review/morbidmyths1.html
http://forums.jazmaonline.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=354

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Gonzogoose Design Has Launched!!!

Today, my new website, www.gonzogoose.com, the new home of Gonzogoose Design, has officially launched!

Gonzogoose Design is the new home for all my lettering and logo design work. I will no longer be using my main site for lettering and logo work as it will serve as a hub for all things Brant W. Fowler.

I have a lot of new stuff up at the new site I didn't have on my main site, so please check it out! I'm really pleased with how this site turned out. I think it really shows another side of me, and it embodies the fabled Gonzogoose!

And the latter is in no small part attributed to Wannabez artist Scott D.M. Simmons who took my rough sketches and created the wonderfully zany and totally accurate GONZOGOOSE!

Eventually I plan on doing a web strip with the titular character, but for now he serves as a mascot for all things lettering and logos by Brant W. Fowler... me!

I felt taking this step was important in both separating my lettering from other things I do, as well as helping to further brand myself in the world of lettering.

That all said, there are still a few things left to be finished, and there are some minor kinks (mostly colors being off here and there), but as I said before, I'm pretty happy with the site and I hope you are too!

In closing, if it's not implied by this whole spiel, Gonzogoose Design is open for business, and I'm available!

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Dental Funds Update

Well, out of the five ads I placed, and the four forums I posted in, I've had 116 unique hits or views, plus how many ever saw it on MySpace, ComicSpace, Yuwie and DeviantArt, and I've not had one single inquiry or job offered.

I did manage to make some contacts via email and have come up with a good chunk of it, though, so we'll see if all that pans out.

I have a suspicion the lack of response may be due to my website, which needs an overhaul, or the current samples I have up there, which are 6 months old in some cases, older in others.

The sites the ads are on are high traffic like Jinxworld and the ComicGeekSpeak forums, but nada. I'm going to try to hit some more places today, so wish me luck.

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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.

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In and Out

Well, after missing like two weeks of posting, the other day I tried to make up for it with three or four posts in one day, but then I disappear for a few more days.

Sorry, I just haven't really felt like being online more than I have to the past several days. This past weekend I didn't feel well, and plus my sleep schedule is all messed up again. I literally go to bed at a drastically different time every day, and I rarely sleep more than three hours at a time. Ugh.

I honestly haven't gotten a lot of lettering done in the past week, but I plan on making up for that the latter part of this week and the weekend. I have one small 5 page job to get done over the next couple of days, then another after that, and then some stuff for Hard Way Studios.

I'm also working on a website design (why, I don't know. lol), which is starting to come along. I did the forums first, now I've got the home page done, but we're considering trying a different look now, so... It's just a basic site as I know no Flash or anything, and it will be largely forum based, but it's still time consuming.

Haven't watched any movies recently surprisingly enough. I have been keeping up with my reality cooking shows though (Top Chef and Hell's Kitchen), as well as Ultimate Fighter and BSG. And of course wrestling. Aside from those, not much TV either, and no video games. I'm reading a little, but not much. Mainly I just work and sleep, and where the rest of the time goes I have no clue. lol

My secret little project I've hinted at for a while is off and running, I think. I may have scared someone involved with too many details, but we'll see.

Finances are rough at the moment, but I'm surviving as always. That said, I won't beg, but if you got jobs needing to be done that I'm capable of doing...

This year is going by so fast. I can't believe it's almost May already! Before I know it, the convention will be here, and then WW Texas if things work out on that front. This will be a cool year if things pan out.

I mentioned the Wannabez site going live a few days ago, and I believe I also mentioned the store. Yeah, I know, CafePress may not be the best avenue, and it can be pricey, but it's a start. That said, we want to add more stuff (specifically more images to go on the stuff), so let me know what you'd like to see. What characters you'd prefer on the products, what products you'd consider buying, and so forth.

With that, methinks it might be nappy time as I've been up since early last evening. Man, I gotta get back in a rhythm!

Quickie

It's the weekend, so I thought I'd post a quick little ditty here.

Comic Book Resources (CBR - www.comicbookresources.com) relaunched their site earlier this week with a brand new design, and I have to say it looks pretty spiffy. Good luck getting it to load, though, I've tried since yesterday morning with little success. Supposedly they're on a new server that's making things run smoother... or was making things run smoother...

Comic Related (www.comicrelated.com) has become one of my daily visits as it's just a cool site that is updated every day of the year. For the month of march they had 1.2 million hits, so they are growing steadily and have great content and a thriving forum community.

Battlestar Galactica returned for it's final season last night picking things up right where last season left off. It was a solid and entertaining episode in my opinion. Things seem to really be coming to a head on all fronts, so I'm excited to see where this season goes.

I'm still enjoying the book I'm reading, The Servants of Twilight, by Dean Koontz. I'm 53 chapters in and things are still keeping my interest.

Iron Man is less than a month away!

On the lettering front, everything's going smoothly, progressing nicely. I'm available for jobs if anyone's hiring!

I wish I could figure out how some of my contemporaries are making money online through blogs or whatever, but I just haven't been too successful myself. Some of the methods I have employed have not yet been that fruitful. I'm going to keep trying though...

Nothing on TV tonight, whatever will I do? What's that you say, get a life? What's that? :)

Health wise I'm doing ok. Had a semi-rough day yesterday, and allergies hit me this week, but nothing major and no attacks. I'm still watching what I eat, though I have gotten a bit braver in small increments, testing stuff. I've discovered a few things I can't do (like peas), and I'm still largely staying away from pop and most sweets and snack foods like chips. Gall stones bite!

My picks for American Idol right now are the two Davids (Archuletta and Cook), Carly Smithson, Brooke White and Michael Johns for the top 5. Beyond that it'll be tough.

Digital Webbing's talent search feature took a hit this week as scammers have made a residence there, forcing Ed Dukeshire to reevaluate the system. For now, all talent search links go straight to the Help Wanted forum. It's a shame a couple of idiots have to ruin a great feature for everyone.

And I guess that's about it for now. I hope you all have a wonderful, fun-filled, and/or relaxing weekend!

B-Out

Pencilneck Optioned for Film

I just finished lettering Pencilneck #4 and will be lettering the second half of #3 this week. Well today news broke that the property has been optioned for film by Benderspink (click the post title to read the article)!

While I only had a small part in this book, it's still pretty cool to see a title I worked on gain potential success and recognition like this.

The book is about a mild mannered bank manager who gets caught up in a mob war and it could make one really good movie.

Congrats to Victor Carungi and crew for this wonderful accomplishment!

www.paperstreetcomics.com

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

Aches & Pains

Well, this week's schedule has been shot all to pieces. I've been pretty inoperable due to a severe toothache I contracted late Sunday, and which has yet to let up. Actually, at the moment it's a little calmer, but the bad thing is every time I try to lay down it goes haywire. I've had about 3 hours of sleep in the past three days! I'm literally swaying from exhaustion as I type this, and my eyes are drooping. But it won't let me lay down! And I can't get into the dentist right now, so I have to suffer. Pain meds don't help either as it's infected and I don't have any antibiotics. So I'm just out of luck.

So anyway, while I have gotten some stuff done, and I'm still doing what I can, I'm not staying on schedule and getting done as much as I normally would sadly. Just so you know.

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

Somewhat Updated Schedule

I didn't complete as much as I had hoped, and I had to extend a couple, but I still made some progress. I also added some clarification on a few (first batch meaning a set amount of pages).

LETTERING & LOGO JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2, 2008
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)	February 27, 2008
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 28, 2008
Merc43 #1 (First Batch)	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5 (2 pages)	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
AE	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	COMPLETE
Epsilon Realm (send)	COMPLETE
Haven	COMPLETE
Journeymen	TECHNICAL DELAY
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008

I'm still finishing up the first batch of Shelter pages, and I have a few more to add after all these now. Busy, busy, busy. I'll keep you posted.

B-Out

Lettering and Logos Updated Schedule

The schedule is updated with what I've completed yesterday and today.

LETTERING & LOGO JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2, 2008
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	February 25, 2008
AOH #3	March 1, 2008
Applicants #2	February 28, 2008
Ellium #1	February 27, 2008
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 27, 2008
Merc43 #1	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5 (2 pages)	February 24, 2008
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	ON HOLD BY CLIENT
Shelter	February 24, 2008
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	COMPLETE
Wannabez #0	COMPLETE
Logos
AE	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	February 24, 2008
Epsilon Realm (send)	COMPLETE
Haven	COMPLETE
Journeymen	February 24, 2008
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008

So tonight and tomorrow I'll be working on the Feb. 24th items. I'm getting there!

B-Out

Of Letters and Logos

I put together a crude schedule for myself yesterday to keep track of all my current lettering and logo commitments for the next week or so. I need to incorporate my editing responsibilities into it as well, but one step at a time.

For now, it's just lettering and logos, and just contains stuff that's actually ready to be worked on at this point. If you are reading this and you notice I've left anything out please let me know. And if there's been a change and you need anything completed sooner, please let me know!

So, as it stands as of today at 5am, the schedule is as follows:

LETTERING & LOGO JOBS FOR FEBRUARY 21-MARCH 2, 2008
Project Title	Project Deadline
Lettering
AOH #2 Corrections	February 25, 2008
AOH #3	March 1, 2008
Applicants #2	February 28, 2008
Ellium #1	February 27, 2008
Final Shadows #1 Page 5	COMPLETE
Karma Game #1 Corrections/Finals	February 29, 2008
Mayden #1	February 27, 2008
Merc43 #1	March 2, 2008
Night of Ninjas 8 Pager	March 2, 2008
Nocturnal Essence #5 (2 pages)	February 24, 2008
Rabverse & Marcus Midnight PDFs	February 23, 2008
Shelter	February 24, 2008
Teddy & Yeti Page Correction	COMPLETE
The Veil #1 Pages 6-7	February 22, 2008
Wannabez #0	February 23, 2008
Logos
AE	March 2, 2008
Caggies (contest)	February 24, 2008
Epsilon Realm (send)	February 22, 2008
Haven	February 23, 2008
Journeymen	February 24, 2008
Night of Ninjas	March 2, 2008

It's not really as much as it sounds, believe me. And aside from editing, this is all I have on my plate right now, so I've got plenty of time to complete it all. But it will keep me busy. :)

B-Out

In Case You're Wondering...

I'm lettering and doing logos, and have been for a few days, and will continue doing so throughout the week, while also working out some other exciting stuff that I've alluded to here recently.

That's really all that's up with me.

Oh, and watching Lost of course, and American Idol. What can I say, I'm hooked!

B-Out

The Rain's a Fallin'

Man, it is storming something fierce here today! It's so bad it woke me up, and I typically sleep through stormy weather, even intense weather. But the thunder is booming out there, man, and the rain's coming down fast and hard. So, if you don't hear from me (if you email me or whatever) you know the power or internet has gone out or something.

So far, nothing is even flickering. The internet hasn't stalled or anything, and the power hasn't given in to the storm, but it's still early.

We borrowed Rush Hour 3 from my aunt last night, so I finally got to watch that. I love the Rush Hour movies, and the team of Chan and Tucker are just magic, so I was looking forward to this one. Though, I have to say, some of the jokes were getting old. Still an enjoyable flick, but not as good as the first two, and I hope it's a while before another one is made, or that they at least find a fresh direction for the series. As I said, Tucker and Chan are a great team.

Lost is back on for 8 episodes, and it's off to a great start in my estimation. Smallville and Supernatural are also back on, and both are just ok so far.

I made a dent into lettering this weekend completing two shorts, a logo and half an issue, and some other small stuff, so I felt good about myself. :)

I have the feeling that today is going to be a LONG day. Could be the fact that I only had about 3 hours of sleep, and thanks to the storm waking me up, now I can't get back to sleep. Yep, that could have something to do with it...

B-Out

Some Links to My Stuff

I just happened to do a search on myself tonight and found one of the books I lettered for sale here, and one that was given a mini review here (third post down). Just thought I'd share. :)

B-Out

Some Good News Coming

Two pretty exciting things happened today for me, both involving my writing in a way. So I'm pretty stoked. This is the best day I've had in a while.

I can't really talk about either yet, but just stay tuned as hopefully both lead to some cool things.

Man, I have so much in the works for this year it's unbelievable. I just hope the good fortune continues.

I also picked up a typing gig for some extra cash, and of course I'm still doing lettering (finishing up some stuff today, then got a whole issue this weekend to complete) and finishing up some logos.

So things are good and moving along, in case anyone was wondering. Please keep reading, because as things progress and I'm able to talk about it all, I'll be posting it right here.

B-Out

Stories Brewing

I finally came up with the start of a concept for that Shadowline contest I mentioned a couple of posts back. Mind you, I haven't spent a great deal of time on thinking of ideas, but one kind of came to me yesterday, so I may run with it and submit it. What's the worst that could happen? I could get rejected again? Big whoop. Happens to everyone. Regardless, I guess I should at least try for the chance to be published by an imprint of one of the top four publishers. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. Deadline is Thursday.

Not much else going on right now. I'm lettering today and that's about it. I did get to watch the Royal Rumble last night, so if you want to know what I thought, head over to my other blog, Kayfabe.

And that's a wrap for now. More when I have more to talk about.

B-Out

Moving Along

I finished up a small lettering job today that I'm hoping leads to something. Can't talk about it right now, but I'll keep you posted as I can.

I have another 5-page lettering job for a submission to finish today, and some pages of AOH to go. And some others of course. Still catching up, but doing it a steady, don't want to kill myself, rate, so that's always good. :)

I'm sending in a writing resume today for something. I won't say what until I know if it's going to pan out, but hopefully it will also lead to good things.

I'm still contemplating on whether or not to enter that Shadowline writing contest (as seen here) or not. The deadline is Thursday, but I just haven't come up with anything good enough to enter. Not that I've really given it much thought, mind you - just haven't had the time.

This year I am sincerely hoping to do some travelling, specifically to some conventions and so forth. We'll see how that all works out. I'd love to go to Wizard World Chicago and San Diego Comic Con. I was planning on going to Mid-Ohio Comic-Con, but since Roger Price, the guy who runs it, is stepping down, I'm not sure if there will be a show this year (depends on if anyone else buys it, and if they can produce a show in time). It's the closest one to me, so obviously the most logical one to attend. But I have friends in Chicago and would love to go to that one. And of course, I've never been to SDCC, so that would be an experience.

In fact, I've never been to any major con. I've only been to one local convention many years ago, and that's it. So I'd love to go to at least one con this year.

Then there's a possible trip to Australia at some point, but more about that as I know.

Suffice it to say, I'm hoping things work out better this year and I can actually get out and do the things I really want to do (I haven't even been on a vacation in about 5 years!).

So for now, I'll just keep moving along, and pray for a break here and there. :)

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

Taking Off

While there are a couple of things I need to finish up before Christmas (ie, tonight and tomorrow day), by and large, all work is ceasing until most likely the 27th. So if you don't hear from me between now and then just know I'm drinking cocoa, eating sugar cookies, watching Christmas movies, wrapping, singing, and all that jazz with the fam.

That said, there is definitely something I have to finish tomorrow and the day after Christmas, so fear not, I will. And as I said, there are a couple of other things (logos for one) I will be trying to finish tonight or in the morning.

As indicated in the last post, I have started listing some items on eBay for sell to make up for my recent lack of cash flow, and to pay some new debts. So please, if you see anything you like, buy it from me!

I'll post again before Christmas, so I'll save the "merry"s and "happy"s for then.

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!

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Updates for the Day

So far this has been a long day! And it looks like this is going to be a long week.

I've begun listing a few things on eBay to earn some extra cash, but honestly with the items I have I'm not sure the fees are even worth it, even with the free gallery pictures currently offered! So I may nix that whole idea as I have very little to spare on those fees!

I have been working on a potential illustration for children's book I may be involved with, but my scanner is blinking "ERROR" so now I can't get it to the writer for review. Argh.

I did get all the pages of Superworld Presents I had done yesterday, and today I've received more!

I also got a small logo gig, and possibly another small lettering gig, so that's cool. Every little bit helps.

As for Merc43, I'm still awaiting changes to the script on several pages and in the meantime jumping around between random pages.

I've also agree to do a pro bono 7 pager for AC Comics because I thought I could fit it in and it would be fun (this was before the new gigs of course). So I've still got that to do.

And I've still got to finish a pinup for inclusion in the Epsilon Realm: Raven One-Shot, as well as add a logo I did to a high res cover.

I also have to send in some solicitation copy and the cover to Diamond for a book I'm helping out on.

So, needless to say, I've been busy and will stay busy. The sad thing is I still need a LOT more work to cover everything left void from two and a half months of no pay on top of Christmas! Sigh.

Well, I better get back to it...

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Quirky

I'm in a rather odd mood today. I can't explain it really, just odd. I'm sleepy, but I can't sleep. Hungry, but I can't eat. Kind of whimsical, yet kind of bored. It's an odd mixed bag of emotions that leaves me making funny faces at the computer as I type this for no apparent reasons. It's as if I'm trying to find the emotion by contorting my face in bizarre ways.

Anyway... I got really busy yesterday, so I'm sorry I didn't give an update.

First 6 pages of SWP (Superworld Presents, a hilarious and fun comic to read and work on) have been sent off, the next 7 are about halfway done.

I had to request some clarification on some pages of Merc43, so I'm waiting on those. In the meantime, I've finished some random pages of it. Still shooting for the weekend for completion, but it may be a day or two later than that.

Sent off the first five pages of Shelter #1 early this morning.

I also applied for a BUNCH of freelance gigs ranging from copywriting to testing to logo and banner design. Haven't gotten any responses yet sadly.

The bills are pouring in as fast as what little money I have is funneling out, so if you've got some work for hire stuff sitting around, I'm available!

I did get a very interesting email about a potential job yesterday, but I can't share that yet. I'll give more details on that as I can. If it works out it will be pretty awesome for me.

My brother's killing me this year. With funds low (the full-time job just isn't cutting it these days - long story), my brother, who's 15, would have to pick this year to want only expensive stuff. His wishlist this year includes:

Alienware gaming laptop
XBox 360 Elite
Guitar Hero III
Dean Razorback Guitar
Dog
Emerica Nomad Jacket
Money for Clothes
Money for CDs

And that's just the main things. Not one thing under $100 there.

My mother's not much better as she wants a laptop as well, and a GPS device for the car, and she kind of wants the dog too (they both want a miniature Schnauzer). I do have her a bunch of small things I've accumulated over the past several months, and my brother bought her something yesterday. So she's covered sans a big gift, but I don't know what I'll do about my brother. I just can't swing all that, nor can my mother. But we'll work it out, we always do and manage to have a decent Christmas.

Not that it's about the gifts, I'm just the kind of person that LOVES giving gifts, especially after building up how much I can't get them, then if things work out seeing the looks on their faces when they get it anyway. Doesn't happen often, but it's a nice thought. I just love seeing them happy.

So let's see. Nothing special going on, haven't been watching much TV or movies lately, and my life is pretty much boring. Just work, work, work.

I know I saw a couple of news stories I wanted to talk about, but they've completely slipped my mind now.

I will say that I have become increasingly annoyed at the misuse of the apostrophe lately. Maybe it's the editor in me, but for a while now it crops up everywhere, and it's starting to drive me crazy! If you're talking about a decade, the there is NO APOSTROPHE. It's not 80's, unless you're following that with something the 1980s own. And if you leave of the "19" then it's '80s. And when you're talking plurals, it's "CDs", not "CD's". And these are common mistakes that are being made by professional writers all over the place. I don't mean to harp, it's just become a pet peeve of mine of late.

Oh, and have you all heard of the mail delivery New York Pizza place? Check out www.IWantNYPizza.com. They literally mail you a New York style pizza. The pizza only costs $12.99 to $27.00, but the shipping? $65! Worth it? I don't know, I've never had New York pizza. But loving pizza as I do, if I had that kind of extra cash laying around I would probably try it once.

Another thing I was wondering about lately is why we care so much about the lives of celebrities. Sure, if you become an entertainer of some sort there is a perceived responsibility to the fans in regards of presenting yourself as a figure of respect. But let's be fair. They didn't ask to be role models, they're just doing what the love to do, or what makes the big bucks, however you want to look at it. Yet they are held with an immeasurable and unfair scrutiny more than even the President is under, and that's quite a bit! They don't really deserve it. Do I agree with the life choices of the latest starlet, pop singer or whoever? Not necessarily. Is it any of my business? Not really. So why do we care so much? Are we really that bored? Don't answer that.

If you're really that bored, or just want to see something cool, click the title to find some videos of Christmas lights synced to Christmas songs. I couldn't find the one I wanted to share, but some of those are pretty cool too.

Now I'm just looking into the ethers trying to pull things down to talk about, so I'll spare you of any further rambling.

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Lettering Updates

I made some progress on the lettering front today, but not much. I discovered I still had some spyware and trojans, so I had to spend a little time ridding myself of those. And I'm not going to be near the computer too much tonight, so progress was halted a bit.

That said, I'll have some pages of a new project called SWP done late tonight/early tomorrow (like in the am, but still dark), and hopefully some of Merc43, another new project, as well.

I'll also be sending in some high res Shelter pages late tonight, and if all goes well, I'll be finishing Merc43 this weekend.

On the docket, I've got a logo, some files to finalize, some to update, and a few others upcoming. I'll update more about all those on the morrow.

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Winter Bugs

For those of you I promised lettering to this past weekend, I apologize. Evidently even my computer is not immune to the winter bugs going around. My whole family is ill right now with various things, and the PC is no exception.

Yesterday it just got real slow, then programs wouldn't work and so forth. So I stayed up all night going through code and running scans, rebooting, uninstalling and reinstalling, etc. I finally got it back up and going good, of course now I'm going on no sleep. So, tomorrow things should be back to normal on that front, if not by this afternoon. I do apologize for any delays.

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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

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Lettering Services Offered for Bill/Dental/Christmas Money

I am looking to get some PAID lettering work to pay some bills, get some shopping money, and to get some dental work done, which I need bad at the moment. So if you or someone you know has any work at all I'm available big time right now.

That said, I'm also available for editing and writing.

Email me at gonzogoose @ brantfowler.com and we'll discuss things.

Thanks, and Happy Holidays!

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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!).

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Lettering Submissions

This past week I have submitted lettering samples to several companies in hopes of gaining some good lettering jobs with some established companies. I've only had about 6 responses so far out of around 15 submissions, but I'm confident something will work in my favor.

I've had a couple of nibbles, so we'll see where things go. Today I just sent off samples to Marvel. I know it's a longshot, but we'll see how it goes.

I'll keep you posted on any concrete offers I get right here. 'Til then...

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On the Upswing

Well, the medicine seems to be working so far on my ailment as I was feeling much better yesterday. Today I'm a little more sore than I was yesterday, but still much better than the day before. So hopefully it's clearing up.

On another note, Scott has been updating the Wannabez blog of late with clips of various pages from our #0 story, so check those out. And speaking of, here's another clip from page 2 he didn't show. You'll have to trust me that the entire scene is very funny in context. I can't wait for it to be out there and available for you guys and gals to pick up!



Lettering work is going ok, though I could certainly use some more paid work right now. I have some medical bills and stuff to take care of, and work is still kind of slow going at the moment. I do have a couple of potential small gigs in the pike, but nowhere near what I need. So if you have something...

Let's see, my cousin's 31st birthday was yesterday. I didn't get to see him, but I left a message for him on his myspace page. If you happen to read this, Jay, hope you had a great one. I won't embarrass you this year with old pics like I did on your 30th. :)

I guess that's it for the upswing. I have a few things on the downswing, but you don't want to hear about those, trust me. So here's to hoping those turn around as well.

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Falling Back and Running Forward

Did anyone forget to set their clocks back? Luckily for me, I have digital cable, so both my cable boxes and my computer set back automatically. Of course it threw my sleep off a bit, but in a good way.

Speaking of cable, some of the channels changed in my area, so now I have to get used to those all over again.

And speaking of sleep, last night was the first night in weeks I slept eight uninterrupted hours. Woo-hoo! I don't know why last night was different, but that was definitely a welcome change.

Today has been a pretty relaxing day, thankfully.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and man can my family cook! And I love food. And my family of course. :)

So yeah, my life at the moment is not all that exciting, which leaves me little to talk about these days.

I won't be going to the Mid-Ohio con after all, as much as I wanted to. Things just haven't worked out, and Wannabez isn't ready anyway. Hopefully next year will be con year for me. I've yet to make it to anything but a local con years ago.

I watched Wicker Man today, and man was that eerie. A little predictable after a while, but still kind of spooky as it's one of those things that could really happen. Those kind of stories always make the most terrifying ones to me, you know?

Speaking of horror, on Halloween an ECW wrestler named Elijah Burke went on location with the Ghost Hunters and there was one point this big wrestler got scared out of his pants. It was so funny. Click the title of this post to find the video of that scene.

I am getting some lettering samples together to send out to some companies, so I'll keep you all posted on that. Speaking of, I may get to letter a book at a top 4 publisher soon, so we'll see how that goes as well.

Not much else to report in the way of lettering. I'm a page away from finishing up a seven page submission, and I've got a 12 pager to do by Wednesday. Other than that most of it's finishing up stuff and waiting on other stuff at this point. So if you got a (paid) lettering job, I'm your guy!

I guess that's it for now. Have a good night, everyone.

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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.

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Closing Out the Week

For those of you that care to know, things are SLOWLY being worked out in that certain situation. Hopefully things will begin to progress faster soon. I wait with bated breath...

In the wide world of lettering, today I finished up most of Karma Game #1 for FE Comics. I say most because there are a few pages not colored yet, one I'm waiting on direction for, and two I forgot I had. So technically about 2/3 of the issue is done.

I'll be finalizing the Epsilon Realm Raven one-shot today as well and I may get to Lightning Squirrel.

I've also got some editing to finally get to today if it kills me. Things have been pretty hectic on the homefront, so I haven't spent as much time on the computer this week as I normally do.

On another note, I reconnected with an old friend and co-worker from my Lexmark days some 6 years ago thanks to the wonder that is MySpace. Turns out she's a model now who just signed with an agency out of New York. So things are going pretty well for her these days, and that was good to hear. She's a smart, cool lady and I'm happy for her.

I guess that'll do it on this fine (and unfortunately very rainy) Friday.

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No Pay, No Play

That's the point I'm getting to anyway. If you don't know, don't ask. If you do know, well, then you know. Otherwise, I'm just keeping on keeping on as the saying goes.

I finally decided that my MySpace page didn't have to coordinate with the rest of my site, so I changed it. And what did I use? The classic Marvin Martian! Yay! I love that little guy. I even used a phrase that adorns many a bumper sticker featuring him as my page title: "Alien With An Attitude!".

I just picked up another book to edit for Rogue Wolf. I was only doing two, but the previous editor dropped out, so I got a third book on my plate, and it was welcomed. I may also work out another editing gig soon, we'll see.

This weekend will mainly be chilling and lettering. I might make my first venture into selling on ebay as well since their month long special of no listing fees ends Sunday. Again, we'll see. I'm a little scared...

CBR's Comic Book Idol deadline for entries also comes to a close Sunday. I definitely won't be entering this year. I haven't even drawn a full sequential page in a long time, so there's just no point in it. Maybe by the time it comes around again I'll be ready. Yep, you guessed it... we'll see.

Tonight a new show on CBS debuts called Moonlight. It's a vampire detective drama, and one of the guys I letter for is the Assistant Production Coordinator on the show, so check it out. It comes on at 9pm right after Ghost Whisperer.

Sadly, Las Vegas' 2 hour premiere also comes on tonight (as does wrestling) so I'm either going to have to sacrifice one or two of them, or do a lot of channel flipping.

Yep, that's how sad my Friday nights are these days...

I've only got 11 pages left to read in Dragonlance: Amber and Iron, the second in the small trilogy, and the third part has been delayed until May 2008! Sigh.

My Kroger will not stock more than 3-4 flavors of Yoplait yogurt. What's up with that?

Why do cat's like to hang around my garage? I don't like cats, and I'm allergic to them. Yet they tend to come around quite often. I'm telling you, if a baby with a lightning bolt shaped scar winds up on my doorstep...

You ever get really bored even though you have stuff to do? That's the way I feel right now. I think I need a vacation!

And on that note...

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Winding Down

Well, it has been a very stressful and very busy weekend. I had a big problem that I think is now getting resolved. At least I hope it is. Work got held up because of it.

That said, I completed AOH #2 and am waiting on the script for #3. I finished about half of what I have of Lightning Squirrel #3, did two logos, finished some more edits on Fracture, and some other stuff I can't recall.

I hope to be back to regular posting on SBC tomorrow providing everything works out.

Tonight Heroes season two premieres, and I am so ready for it! I'll be watching Prison Break first, and then I'll be watching the second half of wrestling (since I'm not sure if Heroes will replay on Sci-Fi like it did last season or not).

Last night I finally watched Hustle & Flow. That was a good movie, but not exactly what I expected. I have to say, though, that Terrance Howard is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. I can't wait to see him as Rhodes in Iron Man next year.

I'm about 3/4 or so through Dragonlance: Amber & Iron. This trilogy (The Dark Disciple) isn't quite as good as the War of Souls, and it's definitely not as good as Dragonlance Chronicles, but it's still a decent story. There's some mystery building, which should be interesting to discover as it unfolds.

I guess that's about it for now. Sorry I've been out of touch for so long.

Oh, before I bolt, I just want to publicly wish my cousin, Susan, a belated Happy Birthday! It was yesterday, and I sent her an ecard, but I'm not sure if she got it.

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Waffles, License, Friends and Lettering

This morning I made homemade waffles for the fam. They were very appreciative. I overcooked the bacon (I don't eat it, and therefore don't normally cook it) but they still enjoyed it. It was the first time in a long time we all ate together.

Why waffles? Simply put, I wanted to cook something, and that's about all we had. lol I could have even gone the Eggo route, but I felt like making something special. I even heated up the syrup and put it in one of those silver containers they use at the restaurants. Good times. If only I had some hashbrowns to go with it all would have been good!

I turned down a lettering job this morning. The guy wanted me to send a photocopy of my driver's license, and with identity theft at the rate it is and so forth I just didn't feel comfortable with that. I know it's normal practice with 9-5 jobs, but on a freelance/work-for-hire gig for a self-publisher? I don't think so. I asked around to make sure I wasn't being stubborn about it and everyone I got feedback from felt the same way I did.

Scott (Wannabez) is MIA. Ok, so technically it's only been about 4 or 5 days since I heard from him, but I've sent him several emails (I need to get the man's phone number!) that were mostly rather important. I'm actually kind of concerned. I know he's been busy, and he does have the (good) habit of staying off the PC when he's got a lot of work to do. So maybe that's all it is.

I also haven't heard much out of Chuck or Jason lately. I got a mass email from Chuck yesterday, which was for a good cause. But nothing from Jason. I sent him an email the other day too. He may still be taking it easy though, I'm not sure. I know everyone's busy, and the four of us (Cary, Chuck, Jason and myself) don't get together and chat nearly as much as we used to.

Ray Hickson, thanks for keeping up with the blog, man. I see you've posted another comment a couple of posts back. Thanks for the support.

I hope more than just you four read this thing! Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself!

In the wide world of lettering it looks like I'll have a full day to work on things. SBC's site is down again, which means I can't do my work, which is really frustrating instead of being relaxing as it should be. When I don't do it right away, though, it just tends to build up, and then I end up with a huge workload. Them's the breaks though.

Anyway, I worked up a rough logo this morning for someone, and I'm about to get cracking on the last couple of pages of the Raven One-Shot. Then I've got some more corrections on Fracture and finishing up AOH #2-3, which should keep me steadily busy throughout the remainder of the week.

This weekend providing other work doesn't come in I'll do some work on Lightning Squirrel #3. I've only got 7 inked pages, so I'm not really too behind on that. Plus it's kind of on the back burner for now while a publisher is sought.

More news in the days and weeks to come I hope, so stay tuned!

I guess that's it for now. I have no clever quip to end the post, so I'll just bid you farewell until next time.

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For Those Wondering...

I did finish Redshift, both the script editing and the lettering, just been doing corrections on the latter the past couple of days.

I also sent Scott a couple more versions of the Journeymen logo and got some feedback on that. It's still very much a work in progress at this point.

I may have another lettering job, I just have to send in some specific samples and hopefully things will work out. I meant to do that yesterday, but I got tied up. I'll get them out today.

I'm still waiting to hear about another lettering gig and I'm waiting for some regular stuff to come in. In the meantime I'll be working on the lower priority stuff to get that caught up.

On an off note, please let's remember those that lost their lives 6 years ago today. God keep their families and loved ones that still daily deal with their loss.

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Getting There...

Man, I slept half the night and half the day away! I feel a little better now that I got some rest though. So much for sleeping a couple of hours and working though!

I did manage to send Scott a rough Journeymen logo, though I'm not happy with it yet.

I updated the SBC Reel.

I also sent out the SBC newsletter via ComicSpace, MySpace and the website, all which required different formatting.

I haven't uploaded Redshift yet because I realized I used the wrong font and am going back and correcting all that now. Sigh.

And I haven't edited the script yet, and here it is 8:30 on Saturday night. I'll get to it though, I have to.


On another note, tonight on Spike TV is UFC 75, which I'll most likely tape. I also plan to watch Disturbia sometime this weekend.

And that is all for now.

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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
:)

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The Table is Up!

Well, I finally got the table put together with a lot of help from my little brother (he did most of it - hey, he wanted to!). Not sure where I'm going to put it yet though. Right now it's by my window in my bedroom. I also got this little neat cart for $3 that has a roll away drawer. The shelf on it is the perfect size for art boards. So I'm gettin' it all set. I have all my supplies in now as well.

And don't worry, fellas, I did get some work done too. With SBC's site down today I finished off Godsend and made some headway on the Raven One-Shot. The contract is just waiting on printer ink so I can print it out. And I made some corrections on Gaol County, which wasn't on the list. So from the list the only thing I've got left is to finish Raven and finish Redshift and I'll be in a good place.

Well, it's late and I'm about to turn in. Just wanted to share real quick. I love the table with the huge tray on it and lamp, and the chair, it just feels nice to have finally! Now let's just hope I can make good use of it!

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Final Weekend Update

Well, I got most of it done, the rest I'll finish up over the next 2-3 days.

Fracture lettering corrections (Done)
Godsend lettering (Prepped/Laid Out - Only 5 Pages)
Raven One-shot lettering (Somewhat Prepped - 10 Pages that I have script for)
Review, sign and send a contract for some editing services (Not Yet)
Redshift lettering (way behind on that one) (Half Done)

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Another Update

Blood and Devotion logo revision (Done)
Fracture lettering corrections (Started)
Aroquin script revisions/completion (Done)
Final Shadows lettering (Done)
Godsend lettering (Prepped/Laid Out)
Raven One-shot lettering (Somewhat Prepped)
Review, sign and send a contract for some editing services (Not Yet)
Redshift lettering (way behind on that one) (Half Done)

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Small Late Night Update

Just thought I'd give a status report:

Blood and Devotion logo revision (Started)
Fracture lettering corrections
Aroquin script revisions/completion (Started)
Final Shadows lettering (Prepped/Laid Out)
Godsend lettering (Prepped/Laid Out)
Raven One-shot lettering (Somewhat Prepped)
Review a script for a friend (Done)
Post and mail SBC Newsletter (Done)
Friday's SBC Reel (late obviously) (Done)
Review, sign and send a contract for some editing services (Not Yet)
Redshift lettering (way behind on that one) (Half Done)

So I made some headway today. Tomorrow will be another busy day!

Also, my art supplies came in the mail today! Yay! Art table is still in pieces though. lol

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This Weekend...

... is catch-up weekend! Somehow in the course of a busy week I've gotten behind again, and so I have to once again use the weekend to catch up.

I should have known with it being solicitations week (always a busy week for posting on SBC) I would have fallen a little behind. But man, I hadn't realized how far behind until I realized I hadn't yet completed things I tried to complete last weekend.

So, here's the list for things I'm going to try to accomplish this weekend in random order. Some of them I have to get done this weekend, others I may push a day or two.

Blood and Devotion logo revision (should have already done this)
Fracture lettering corrections
Aroquin script revisions/completion
Final Shadows lettering
Godsend lettering
Raven One-shot lettering
Review a script for a friend
Post and mail SBC Newsletter
Friday's SBC Reel (late obviously)
Review, sign and send a contract for some editing services
Redshift lettering (way behind on that one)

I think that's it, as if that all wasn't enough! Note that not all those lettering gigs are full issues. Most are only 5-10 pages or so. I just hope I can get it all done and soon! I need to catch up on the lower priority stuff at some point. I'll get a handle on all this eventually (eventually meaning as soon as I get caught up to where I can pace myself properly).

I almost hesitated posting this as I didn't want anyone to think bad of me for not being as on top of things as I would like. It's just been crazy, and as you all know, once you fall behind it's hard to get back on top of it. The problem comes when you start getting a bunch of stuff you committed to a while back all come in at once, which often happens to me. Then it becomes a bit overwhelming. But I'm planning on this being a successful weekend where I can post Monday or Tuesday that I got caught up and came up with a plan on how to manage all this (and time) a lot more efficiently!

We'll see...

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Weekend Wrap-Up

Just thought I'd post a quick one today, being Sunday and all.

I just posted the inks for the Wannabez #0 cover on the WBZ Blog (in the sidebar) so check that out.

I watched 300 last night finally. It was a good movie. Very graphic. I never read the graphic novel, so I don't know how accurate it is, but from the cinematics and the poses I can guess it was as accurate as people say it was. I also like that fact that while it was a victorious tale it was also a tragic one. The acting, dialog and direction were all very good as well. I'd give it a 7.5 out of 10 I think.

Today I am finishing up the lettering on Gaol County and a logo for the company publishing it. And if I get to them, the four pages of Final Shadows and a revision on the Blood and Devotion logo. We'll see.

If I get around to it I may sketch a bit today, I don't know. It's gonna rain today, so it might be a good day for it.

I have found that I have an occasional liking for Boca burgers (vegetarian). Never thought in a million years I would, but they're decent. I tried some a few years back grilled out and they were good. But cooked in the microwave or on the Foreman grill not so much. Fried, though, they ain't bad. I ate two last night, with Pepperjack cheese! That was pretty tasty.

Well, I guess that's about it. If I think of anything else, and if I have the time, I'll be back. Otherwise...

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Lettering Updates

Not much to report at the moment actually. I'll be turning in some pages of Gaol County today and finishing it up this week. And I have a couple of logos to finish up. Then I've got four pages of Final Shadows for Hard Way Studios to do this week.

I also have some stuff in the wings (Lightning Squirrel, AOH #2, Redshift, and Raven one-shot) but on most of those I'm either waiting on script, pages, or I'm trying to get priority stuff done first.

Aside from that I'm caught up. I know that still sounds like a lot, but really it's not that bad.

More updates when I have 'em.

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Been a Busy Weekend!

Well, with Comic-Con being this past weekend I had a LOT to post on the SBC site. Not as much as I had expected, but a lot regardless. Plus I had to do some lettering stuff, which proved to be pretty time intensive.

Aside from that, it was a decent weekend. Nothing special or anything though.

The ten finalists were announced for Platinum's Comic Book Challenge, and unfortunately the project I was lettering didn't make it. But I hear some publishers are interested in it, so we'll see what happens.

On the contrary, the project I'm lettering in the Small Press Idol contest (I was brought on a couple of weeks ago when they're letterer disappeared) actually won the contest, so that was cool.

Some good things are on the horizon for me and for Wannabez, so stay tuned!

Getting back to SBC, click the title link for news on the future of the company. In short, the physical store closed down and the store is now completely an online operation, and all the focus and resources will be put towards growing both the site and the online store. Orders should no longer be a problem once this all takes effect.

And I guess that's about it for now. Thanks for continuing to read.

Oh, and there WILL be a new Myth Conceptions tomorrow, so check here then for a link!

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Decisions

Well, I've heard from the other opportunity and they want me too! Now add to that two more opportunities that have arisen, and I have some decisions to make. So I'll be doing some heavy thinking (and some praying, 'cause that's how I do it) to make the right decision(s). I'm just waiting on some more info from one so I can go into the decision making process fully informed.

As for Abiding Perdition, everything's going smoothly. I said I'd have the first issue lettered by this weekend, so today will be finishing up that.

I received the final Harry Potter book in the mail today and managed to find time to read the first chapter (12 pages I think). What's that you say? I'm claiming to pray, but I'm reading Harry Potter? Look, I'm an adult and I know the difference between fiction and reality. And, like it or not, HP has some great universal themes that relate to people of all ages at the very core. It also has a ton of subtle moral lessons throughout the entire series. Plus it's just fun. My brother got into them I think when the second book had come out. He was younger then, so I would read it to him. And I got hooked. Now I've read all the first six and he's only read 4. lol.

The San Diego Comic-Con is this coming weekend, and I so wish I could go. There are all kinds of cool panels there this year, about breaking into various related industries (film, animation, comics, etc.) not to mention the big panels from Marvel and DC, and the many movie and TV panels that will be there. It would just be really exciting experience I think. Plus I've never been to Cali, yet that's where I plan to live one day. Ah well.

Ok, I've been up for a really long time, and I need to get a few hours before finishing AP up. So until next post...

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Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'...

For those of you keeping tabs, here are the latest lettering updates:

Last week (I think) I did a 10 pager for Noble from Dial R Studios (was supposed to do 8 more pages, but I never heard back from him on those).

I just finished up The Applicants #1 Sunday (though I have a few corrections to make tonight).

I did a variation of a logo for Blood & Devotion for FE Comics yesterday as well.

I also finished up Fracture #1 for FE Comics today (pending approval).

I have to design a logo for an indy company today or tomorrow.

I made some progress on the Mojo Smith logo, but sadly not much. That one is slightly stumping me for some reason.

Finishing up Redshift #3 will be the next project, and a logo for a submission.

After that I've still got to do a Nine Unknown Men logo redux (the writer (Troy Bowen) didn't like the first incarnation).

Then Project Menagerie for Matthew McClean (it's an 8 pager I believe).

On the back burner when I get the time or the pages depending I've got Lightning Squirrel #3 and AOH #2, as well as a story for Hard Way Studios, and upcoming I have Channels from FE Comics.

As I find the time I am working on a Journeymen logo for Scott.

Then of course there's Wannabez #0 when all the pages are done, and the Totem GN is coming up.

There are a couple of other things that would jump ahead of some of the latter items in that list, but they're not confirmed yet. As soon as they are I'll let you all know.

I think that's it right now. If I've missed you, please let me know. Chances are I just missed it while listing these.

So that's what's going on in the world of lettering.


Writing is practically non-existent as I catch up on lettering and do my regular job. Thankfully, though the above list does sound like a lot, I made a huge dent this past weekend, so things are going good now.

As for work, I'm about to start my posting for the day. I'm getting a late start today, which is usually the case on Mondays. But it'll all get done in time for wrestling tonight!


I'm still waiting to hear back on that opportunity I mentioned a few posts ago, so I'll keep you posted on developments there.

I guess that's it for now. Just wanted to give some progress reports!

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Less Than 30 Hours!

There are only about 36 and a half hours to VOTE FOR WANNABEZ in the Small Press Idol Contest. So what are you waiting for?

Check these out:

Page 5 Revised
Page 8 Revised
Page 10 Revised
Sample Grayscale Image from #1

Voting ends 11:59pm Est June 10th. PLEASE VOTE!

Now head to wannabez.brantfowler.com and post a YES!

And while you're there, VOTE FOR TOTEM TOO!

Thanks! :)

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Advent Trailer

I don't know how in the world I missed this, but if you click the title of this post you'll be taken to the trailer for Advent, one of the projects I'm lettering in the Small Press Idol contest. It's pretty cool!

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Figure It's Time...

...for another post! I don't really have any updates right now save what you can read over on the Wannabez Blog (see sidebar), but felt I should post anyway.

I had a scare with a lettering project the other day as it seems I lost the entire first two issues and logo, which I moved to disk to make room on the PC. I still haven't located it after frantically going through 40 cds looking for it. It's the ONLY project I've lettered that I'm missing, and I don't have a clue what happened to it. We're trying to see if the printer still has the pages, but in the meantime I had to recreate the logo from scratch. I think I got it pretty close, so we'll leave it at that.

I'm still catching up on some lettering while still waiting on more pages to come in. I've got several small things I have to complete this week or I'm going to fall even further behind. So if I disappear for a while you know where I'm at. Between lettering and work I pretty much have no life as it is. lol.

On an unrelated note, I bought a used copy of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 the other day because I haven't seen it yet. I loved the first one, though I didn't get to see it until it came out on DVD either. I figured with the third one coming out next week I should probably watch the second. And for the price I nabbed this at I couldn't pass it up even used. So I hope to get a chance to watch that this weekend. We'll see.

I can't remember if I mentioned it, but I did finally change my rates on my website. I was going to wait until I got some new samples up there, but for a few reasons I went ahead and posted them. Hopefully they don't scare anyone away!

I guess that's it, really. Nothing much new around here. I'll certainly let you know if anything does come up though. Thanks for reading!

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Catching Up!

Wow, I had no idea it had been over a week since I posted. Sheesh! As much as I try to keep up...

The deadline for round 2 of Small Press Idol has passed and all but 10 of those who advanced made it in. There's still about 6 days of voting left, so if you haven't please come vote for Wannabez (and Totem and Advent while you're there). :) If you have, thank you very much!

On the lettering side of things, I got a couple of Approbation projects done. Today I'm tackling the two pages of Epsilon Realm I have (thought I had more than that) and another Approbation story if I have time. One story, Construct, was canceled, so I won't be doing that one. And Red Shift I've got laid out (the first ten pages anyway, which is all that's done, pencils only so far). The FE Comics projects start in a day or two I'm told, and I've got another one coming in soon that I committed to many months ago. And I did finish Pozers, just waiting for notes on anything that needs changing/correcting before sending in the high res.

So that's where things are with all that. I may have left something out.

Back to Small Press Idol, I finally got 7 pages of the script for next round done! I'm hoping to finish it today, though Scott has already given me notes on the pages I've finished.

I also have a surprise for WBZ fans coming up hopefully tomorrow, and hopefully it'll help us gain a few more votes this round and next! I've got plans for a couple of other cool things to tie in with WBZ soon as well, so stay posted here and to the WBZ blog for more!

On reviews, I have a few things that were sent to me that I have yet to review, but am working my way there. Frankly I haven't had time to read everything yet. I have read the Archaia stuff and the mini comics that were sent, but I still have one or two others I haven't read yet. Soon, soon.

On SBC, we are working towards a newsletter and I'm trying to get some help with the myspace and comicspace pages so we can get regular weekly updates out there. Hopefully that'll all work out soon as we've got some cool stuff coming up.

And I think that's it for now...

OH! One more thing. I am FINALLY going to see Spider-Man 3 today in less than 8 hours!!! Can't wait!

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More Books I Lettered For Sale!

I just received an email stating that two more books I lettered some stories in (they're anthologies, but all by the same writer) are now available for purchase through Comixpress. You can find them by clicking the following links:

Marcus Midnight: Monster Hunter #1 (I also designed the logo on this one)

Sinister Company Presents: Tales from the Rabverse

The writer behind these books is Ryan Brandt, a good writer and decent guy all around. You can find out more about these titles at www.ronin-studios.com.

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Wannabez Round 2 is Up!

If you haven't read the WBZ blog, checked out my emails, bulletins or posts, then let me inform you that the WBZ round 2 thread is open for PUBLIC VOTE!

Just click the title of this post to get to the thread where you will post a YES to show your support for WBZ. It also contains our Round 2 materials in the first post.

If you're not registered you will have to do that (free of course).

We appreciate all your votes!!!

I am also lettering Advent and Totem, so while you're there check them out here and here and slap down your YES vote for them also!

Thanks!

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Lettering Updates

Since it's been a few days I figured I'd give an update on my status as of right now.

I finished up a short for Approbation a couple of days ago and look to finish the rest of those by the end of the weekend if all goes well.

I'll be finishing up The Mantis today, at least the lettering. The logo may be tomorrow.

I thankfully got an extension on Pozers until tomorrow, and I fully intend to meet that deadline as the writer has been more than patient with me.

Construct got put on hold as I'm waiting for the colors now.

Redshift for Rogue Wolf I'm looking to have done by Sunday.

I'm starting Epsilon Realm #2 next week.

Basically, I've got about 100+ pages if I counted undone, about 80 of which are priority. I look to have all of that completely caught up by the end of next week.

After that I just signed on to do three books for FE Comics starting the week after next with the first one, and I'll also have AOH #2 to do for Victor.

Lightning Squirrel #3 is a bit on hold, but the pages are still being penciled and inked anyway.

I may have a few other from a writer acquaintance as well, but I haven't heard back yet so I don't know for sure.

I'll also be contacting Arcana as soon as I can take on more.

On a related note, I will be raising my rates very soon for new collaborators. I'll most likely keep the same rates for those I've already agreed to work with unless I just can't do that anymore, at which time I'd speak with those creators on an individual basis.

I know I didn't properly mention a few of the projects, but for any creators I'm working with on lettering rest assured that I have planned everything I've got right now in the time line mentioned above.

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More Published Lettering!

Hey all,

Not too long ago I found out that a story I lettered called Teddy and the Yeti was going to be included in Josh Howard's Sasquatch GN from Viper Comics. Well, there's a PDF preview of the book online now! The story I lettered isn't in the preview, but my ugly mug is plastered on page 98 of the 106 page preview! If you want to see the preview click the title of this post.

I'm not sure exactly when the book comes out, but I do know it's already printed, so it won't be long. You can read more about it at this blog: http://www.thisisnotahoax.com/

And you can order it from SBC! We have it listed as coming out next week, though some think it might be this week. Go here to pre-order it!

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Keeping Up...

I read a friend's blog the other day about not realizing how long goes between posts when you're busy and it made me feel bad. Here I claim I update this daily (then semi-daily) and then I go for days, almost a week between posts anymore. I get the emails from my sitemeter indicating that views have drastically dropped and it makes me feel even worse. Not because I care about view counts, but because it means people are losing interest or I'm just not providing content to read.

That said, I'm going to try to do better. It's hard when you get so busy and when you get downtime the last place you want to be is the place you work, which for me is the computer. But I started this blog to connect with people, to share things - such as my projects, my thoughts, etc. - and to give updates on my work. Lately all of those have been few and far between. And I know all of you out there understand, and I appreciate that, but I still want to try to post more. So here I am.


Another friend mentioned to me recently how surprised he was at how open I am in this blog, and it's funny because in person I'm not that open. I'm a pretty guarded person actually. I'm not shy and I love meeting new people and talking and hanging out as much of the next guy. But I'm also a loner of sorts, as contradictory as that may sound. I'll put it like this. When I go home or somewhere alone that's exactly what I want to be, alone. I stay up late at night because of the solitude.

I also don't let a lot of people in. I've been hurt by a lot of people in my life that were supposedly close to me, and I guess it built up a wall. I'm not too trusting and it takes a lot to earn my trust. And except for those I'm close to I really don't talk about myself a whole lot when you meet me. If someone asks a question I'm honest because that's all I know how to be. If it's something personal I'll try to tactfully avoid the question. But I'm still a fun-loving, easy to get along with type of guy. It's just hard to get inside and become one of my very, very few close friends. It takes a long time to build that kind of relationship with me.

Which is why it's weird to hear that I'm so open. I'll be the first to admit, though, that in the written word I'm far more verbose than in the spoken word. I'm also a lot more articulate when I write. When I talk I'm just myself, and I don't use a lot of big words as it's usually off-putting to most. Maybe it's because I'm a writer, I don't know.

In any case, I guess this blog allows me an outlet that I don't really have elsewhere. I don't really have a lot of close friends that I can talk to, and you can only talk to your parents about so much. My brother's half my age, so he doesn't get where I'm at understandably. So this is my outlet, my venting if you will. On top of that it gives people a rare opportunity to get to know me better than they would if they met me in person first.

And that's the beauty of the internet. I've developed bonds with guys in different states or continents without ever meeting them in person. I feel open enough with some of them to talk about things I don't post here or talk to most people about. Without the internet these kinds of connections wouldn't be possible, so I guess technology is good for something. I never have had a lot in common with people around me and have never felt like I fit in. Now that I'm older I view that as a good thing in a way, but when I was young it was hard. But thanks to this blog and forums and so forth I can converse with tons of people who share the same interests as me and it's quite a refreshing experience, let me tell ya.

So I'm glad I started this blog a year and a half a go or so.


I have to give a quick shout out to Matt Yocum who gave me some props on his blog. I was supposed to do some lettering for him, but scheduling and computer problems prohibited it. Luckily he got someone else who did a great job. So go check out Devolution, which is a cool story too, and Matt's Devolution column!


Elsewhere in the wide world of comics, I've posted a piece on Marvel's The Initiative at SBC, which lists all the related titles in the story line that have been revealed so far through July. I'm sure there will be more to add after Marvel's solicitations go online Tuesday.

We've also gotten a whole bunch of new writers for the site who have been turning in a lot of reviews thankfully. So come check those out. We've got some great writers on board.


As for my work, I did wrap all the finishing touches on Nocturnal Essence #1 thankfully, and began working on some other stuff for someone else, though I've neglected to update the writer, so hopefully he'll read this.


Small Press Idol round 2 is underway and Scott is nearing completion on our materials for the round. He showed me I think three of our five characters inked the other day, so hopefully this week he'll get a chance to color those bad boys. I did a second draft of the bios, but we're still kicking them back and forth.


I have sadly not done any other writing in a long time. It sucks because I'm so busy I don't have time to do the one thing I want to excel at more than the other aspects of comics. But hey, ya gotta pay the bills, right?


Ending on a personal note, man I had a restful weekend for a change... sort of. Friday I wasn't feeling well (my stomach, again) and took some medication, which typically knocks me out for a couple of hours. Well, I guess being ill mixed with the medication and my near state of exhaustion just kind of teamed up on me because I wound up sleeping for over 12 hours straight! And then I was still tired, but I forced myself to stay awake and work some. Then I crashed for another 8 Saturday! Today I also slept in late and then kind of chilled and watched TV for several hours, something I rarely do. Usually I'll tape most of my stuff and watch it in spurts. But hey, it was a nice change of pace. I may not have gotten out of the house, but at least it gave me some time away from the computer, which was very welcome, and I love the computer. I'm just in front of it way too much.

I guess that's about it. It's after 5am now and I've got a busy day ahead of me, so I'm gonna chill for a bit before tackling it.

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Mid-Week Medley

Sorry for the lack of updates, busy, busy as usual.

I'm wrapping up the lettering on Nocturnal Essence #1, though I still have a few tweaks to do.

I'm also finishing Pozers #2 tomorrow (with any luck). Then I'll have The Mantis and the Advent logo to work on before diving into bigger projects.

I am going to try my best to finish a first draft of the WBZ #0 script and new character bios by Friday or Saturday if all goes well.

SBC Reel was missed Monday, but will be back today (Wednesday technically) super-sized and with my review of the Battlestar Galactica season 3 finale!

Speaking of SBC, things are still going good over there. I'm still enjoying it and getting to talk to a lot of creators through it. Look for some great features upcoming including interviews with a Disney legend, Larry Hama, Jeph Loeb and more!

My cousin, Jay finally joined the MySpace craze and has a page up. He's listed as one of my friends, so you can find his profile there. Though it may be hard to spot him. We don't exactly look that much alike. :)

Got some books from Virgin Comics today to review. One of them is next week's Gamekeeper by Guy Ritchie, so I'm looking forward to checking that one out.

On TV, Prison Break is ending for the season next week, which just reminds me all my shows will be ending soon. BSG, now Prison Break, soon Lost and so forth. But at least Heroes is coming back in a couple of weeks!

I haven't read The Hobbit for several days now due to time. When I do have free time I'm usually not reading right now because a big part of my job requires reading, so sometimes I need a break!

As far as Small Press Idol goes, well the site is down pending money being raised to switch to a new server, so everything is stalled. Sigh. Looking at the bright side, it gives us all a little more time to prepare for round 2!

Speaking of which, finally saw some new stuff from Scott and let me tell ya it's looking good!

I guess that's about it. Everything else is pretty average around here.

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Lettering Update

I finished up Lightning Squirrel #2 yesterday, I just have to make some minor adjustments to the cover and then send the high res files off.

I'm actually starting on Pozers #2 today instead of AOH #2, which isn't quite ready yet.

I'm also finishing up those two small logos today.

So to make a few minor adjustments to the last post, next up will be Kord & Harley #2 (Epsilon Realm #2 I haven't received yet) then I'm guessing AOH #2. I may jump around between the two actually, depending on how it works out.

After that the list is pretty much the same as last post, plus one small gig I might have left out called The Mantis.

More soon...

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Back in Business!

The computer is finally back in working order!

To be perfectly honest it's been up for two weeks as of 6pm today. There are several reasons I haven't notified everyone yet. First, I was playing catch-up like crazy to get to a place where I could handle everyone contacting me all at once, though I still haven't caught up as much as I would have liked. Second, I've had a touch of the flu since this past weekend, and it's gotten worse today, but I'm still here. And thirdly, I have just been so busy I haven't had time to email everyone or post here. With the computer fixed my workload increased, so that's that. There were other reasons also, but I won't go into them.

In the wide world of lettering...

Today I will be finishing up Lightning Squirrel #2, then starting on AOH #2, and doing a couple of small logos.

Tomorrow and Saturday I will be finishing AOH #2.

Sunday I'll be starting on and probably finishing a short with logo.

Over the next couple of weeks I'll have the following on my plate:

Epsilon Realm #2
Pozers #2
Kord & Harley #2
Advent logo
Scott's Web Comic
A few Approbation shorts
MSC logos

And I think that's everything currently on my plate. If I've left anything out EMAIL ME!

It sounds like a lot, I know, but a few of those I am really into a groove on and can finish them rather fast.

As for beyond all this, I know I have three projects to letter in the Small Press Idol contest, but that won't come for a while. I'll be doing some lettering on the character designs in about three weeks, but that's not too intrusive.

As soon as I feel I'm caught up to a point I can take on more I will be contacting people who have previously contacted me and go from there.

Aside from writing I am obviously doing a lot of work for SBC right now, and soon I'll be doing a lot of work for MSC (more details on that soon). Then of course there's writing. I still have to write up my script for Small Press Idol, do my weekly column, I have at least two interviews lined up, a few reviews I have to do this week, a couple of scripts I really need to buckle down on, and so forth.

It really does sound like a lot, huh? I'll manage, always do. And I'll do my best to keep you all updated better now that the PC is back up and I'm able to concentrate on it more. Thanks!

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