Coffee, Rain and Sniffles

So it's nearly 3am on Friday morning, it just started pouring rain and I'm sick. My cup is also empty, so it's about time for a refill.

Now, any of you who know me know I'm not a coffee drinker. In fact, normally I hate the stuff. Never did drink it, not even in college. But a while back while working on the first Haven catalog I downed it like water for a weekend. I still wasn't addicted and dropped it for a long while. But tonight I needed the help to stay awake to get some work done.

I can tolerate it black, but I don't like it. So I usually put a little sugar in it, sometimes cinnamon. I watch a lot of Food Network TV, so I got inspired tonight. I added a teaspoon of cocoa, a little sugar and a dash of cayenne pepper, topped with a dollop of cool whip.

Yep, you read that right... cayenne pepper. I watched a recipe on hot chocolate using some heat like that, and cayenne pepper is what I had on hand, and it does indeed leave a burning sensation in your throat, which I like on occasion. So it turned out pretty good I have to say. And it gave me just enough buzz to stay up a little longer and get some stuff accomplished.

As for being sick, I was pretty much bed-ridden for the better part of two days earlier this week and thought I had shook it. In fact, I had woke up Thursday morning completely energized, bouncing off the walls and feeling productive. I even bragged about it to Chuck Moore on IM. But that thing about speaking to soon? Yeah, it's true. Not much long after that the fever hit me again full on. Then later... I don't know really how to describe this, but you know that feeling when you feel a cold coming on, when you breathe in and the air tastes and smells a little different in the back of your mouth and nose, and you just know you're getting sick? Well that's how I felt tonight. Right now the fever has settled down, but I still have that taste and smell. So we'll see how Friday plays out.

I am so sick of rain. Granted, at the moment, in the middle of the night, as the rain patters down on the roof, it is peaceful. But Kentucky weather is really awful and more times it's dreary than not. I so long for the beach. Even if it was raining, I just love that environment. Cali, one day I will make it there.

How's work coming, you ask? It's coming along. Covering the Comic Related site through the con, then getting sick immediately after put me a little behind, but I've gotten caught up on most of it. Just a couple of things I'm straggling behind a bit on, but I'll make it up.

I was supposed to go up to Florence for a CXP meeting this weekend, but we postponed it until Monday night and made it a Skype conference call instead. I always look forward to going up to Florence, and I would have stayed the night with Darren and crew this time, which would have been a blast. But I have to say after a very busy week last week and over the weekend, then being behind this week, the weekend to myself to catch up and recuperate is looking awfully good. Now if I can just get through Friday!

Sometimes I think I've spread myself too thin with all the obligations I've gotten myself laden with, but I still feel it's worth it, and every single one of them I'm glad I have. I believe Haven, Comic Related and CXP are all going somewhere someday, and lettering has been my door to the industry, and I've had the opportunity to work on some really cool books. So I can't be ungrateful or regrettable about any of that in the least. Quite the opposite in fact. Things could be better, but things are good right now. I've got good friends, I've got some steady work, other not so steady work, and despite whatever problems I face I can usually find the positives in them. So I'm good. Still, it'd be nice if Wannabez would sell like gangbusters! =)

On that note, I think the coffee has worn out, the sniffles are getting worse, and rain is still pattering away. Probably time for a little shuteye...

Busy, Busy, Busy...

I'm not even gonna apologize for my silence this time. I've been extremely busy and still am!

This morning I finished the DC solicits for posting later this afternoon. I also finished designing the background for a blog over at Comic Related. And I recorded the now weekly Warp Wrap podcast recapping stories from the past week on Comic Related.

I am now finishing lettering the Corrective Measures Vol 2 TPB. I got a later start than I intended today (wasn't feeling well late into the night last night), which has to be completed by the end of the day! I will pull it off, but I'm having to go completely silent to do so, but I wanted to get a blog post up before I did.

I'm also producing about 5 pages a day for Suicide Note from Hard Way Studios, though I missed yesterday. I'll probably miss today as well and have to make up the difference tomorrow to stay on task.

Descendant #3 from Image is also on the slate as I have to get that complete by the end of the month at the absolute latest.

I have a few logos I have to work on at some point, of course still plenty of Haven stuff to do on a near daily basis, and various other jobs that I don't have time to list.

Compound with that the fact that I have to prep Marvel solicits for tomorrow to post. Those take me about 3-4 hours to do because I do them up real nice.

The latter half of this week I need to have my schedule as clear as I can make it because I'll be covering the site with reports coming in from San Diego Comic-Con to post.

So it's yet another busy week for me. I've got to go letter now. Be cool.

Craziness All Around

I had to take a short break from everything I'm doing just to let it all out and get out of my head for a moment, so bear with me.

It's been an extremely busy month this past month, and things don't look to be letting up yet. If only I was getting paid enough to match all the work I'm doing I'd be very well off. But alas, yon freelancing isn't what it used to be. But I'm surviving.

I've briefly explained it before, but all at once several things slammed me at once and collided into one another and left me gasping for air. I'm pulling myself out of the workload slowly, but surely, but it has taken its toll on me.

As soon as I catch up all this stuff I've been working day and night to clear out, I'm taking a short break. No internet, no work, no nothing. Just a couple of days of vegging out because I haven't been able to do that in a LONG time.

If you are waiting on work from me, please know that it is coming. It's the blessing and curse of a freelancer that there will be times when there's no work to be found, then there will be loads of work to the point past exhaustion. That's where I've been. Sadly, I'm in the phase where I have tons of work and no money coming in, which is never a good scenario. But again, I'll survive.

Added to the craziness swirling around me, Michael Jackson passed away nearly a week ago. To say I took it hard would be a gross understatement. Say what you will about the man, and believe what you will believe of the allegations, but he was the greatest musical entertainer that ever lived in my opinion, and he was a huge inspiration on me musically and creatively. I grew up on his music and his influence on the music industry will be felt forever. He was an innovator and musical genius. I am saddened by his troubled life, but I am glad he has hopefully found peace now.

Don't you hate it when you order food and they take forever to get it there. And when they do it's not only cold, but it's wrong after an hour of waiting. Then when you request them to fix it you're still sitting here nearly two hours later waiting for the correct thing to arrive so you can finally eat after having not eaten all day. And today I've been up since 3am. That's a LONG time going without food when you've been working nonstop. I'm ready for some food!!! I better get something free out of this!

I want to thank some close friends for all their support for me as I trudge on day to day. You know who you are. Thank you.

July will be rough, but fun. August will be very interesting. I'll explain later.

Alright, I've wasted enough time. I need to do something. Either get back to work or hop on the phone to see what's up with my food!

Mad Rush to the Finish Line

I'm feeling a bit pensive today and a little disconcerted. Pensive in that I'm reflecting on a lot of things right now, disconcerted by behaviors and situations surrounding me. I guess I'm also a bit antsy with projects nearing deadlines as well.

If you haven't guessed, I'm back from Heroes Con and the pressure has hit me. I had a great and rejuvenating time at the show, but coming back was arduous and what awaited us all was frustrating and aggravating. All of us have our own reasons for that.

For me, I have two or more lettering projects needing to be worked on, but at the same time the Haven catalog has to be finished by tomorrow night! So the coffee was flowing today, even though I'm not a coffee drinker. I had very little sleep and I've been working all day on the catalog.

I won't discuss what's specifically bothering me, but it's funny how the general mood over the weekend was so "up" and how the general mood from all sides afterward is in drastic contrast.

This weekend is supposed to be a Comic Related retreat of sorts. Several members of ComicRelated.com will be heading over to Chuck Moore's house for a Transformers filled weekend and some discussion about the site and where it's headed. But the way things are going I'm beginning to wonder if that won't be postponed.

The status of Zone 4 for the moment is also being debated as technical issues, time constraints and formatting issues are becoming a problem. The show will stick around, but there will be changes and there may be a hiatus, I don't know yet.

I'm not sure what to think of some recent happenings, and my brain is too heavy laden at the moment to try to figure them out.

The onset of Summer is having the affect of Winter, and that's not a good thing. Hopefully that dread that has seemingly set in all around me will lift. Oddly enough, I myself have been pretty upbeat all week until late yesterday when a couple of things hit me. But I'm still the most "up" of those around me it would seem.

I should really be working right now, and I'm not sure how to close this. Just felt like saying something and getting it off my chest a bit. I know it's very vague and maybe even cryptic, but it is what it is. Nothing to worry about, just an odd feeling in the air right now. I'm sure like any flurry it will pass soon enough and all will be back on track.

For now, the Haven catalog pages are calling, not to mention the lettering clients. Onward and upward!

Heroes Con 2009

Tomorrow I leave for the better part of five days heading down to Charlotte, NC for HeroesCon!

I've always heard great things about this con over the years, but I've never been. I am looking forward to it though, so I hope to see you there!

I'll be going along with the crew from ComicRelated.com, so I may be doing an interview or three throughout, and I'll be posting to the site live from the show.

At some point, we'll be recording a special episode of the Zone 4 podcast from the show as well! Granted, my fellow regular Zone 4 'casters can't be there, but Chuck Moore, John Wilson and Darren Mueller will be filling in.

I'll also have some copies of Wannabez and Zombie Cop there if you want to swing by the CR table (in the podcast area) and purchase some copies. :)

We're heading out at 7am Est tomorrow and won't be returning until Monday afternoon/evening. I should have internet access, but I don't know how often I'll be able to access it. So if you can't get a hold of me, this is why.

If you're going to be there I hope to see you. If not, I'll tell you all about it when I get back. :D


On other matters, I have been completely swamped for the better part of two months. Figures every time I make a declaration here that I'll start posting more I get so busy I just can't. But hey, at least I'm here now, right? Right?

Lettering is steadily being caught up, though I'm once again working on the Haven catalog, so time is being eaten up by that as well.

Wannabez is stalled for the time being.

I'll have more updates soon, but right now I've got too much to do before tomorrow gets here!

Happy Memorial Day!

Not the most original title of a blog post, but it is what it is, and I mean it. Today is a celebration and remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Those who gave their lives to defend this country and what we believe in and stand for. And as such, let's honor those fallen heroes on this, their day.

That said, I hope everyone out there is enjoying the holiday and is spending time with family, friends or loved ones and is having a good time. Here it's nice weather (a little too nice given that my AC is on the fritz) and the grills are out and people are making the most of it. Me, I've mostly been working all day, but I'm still enjoying it as I do love what I do.

Things have been kind of stressful of late, work wise and personal wise, but I won't bore you with any of that. The important thing is good things are always on the horizon. As I look ahead at the year planned out before me it should be a lot of fun, and hopefully a little fruitful, everything I'll be doing. And I'll get to hang out with some really good friends, which is the best part of it all.

Summer officially begins in less than a month, and this holiday is always seen as kind of the kick-off to the season, so with that, I wish everyone a happy, safe, fun and blessed summer ahead.

Now, I've gotta get back to work, but don't worry, I am taking out a little time for some relaxation today as well.

Been Very Busy...

Sorry for not popping in, folks, it's just been very hectic. I've had so much going on that I've fallen behind on a few things and I'm daily struggling to catch up.

It's true, it seems I took on a bit more than I could handle, but it wasn't intentional. The way these things go with freelance sometimes is that you'll have several things lined up, but delays will happen, or things will come through early, and then you're left with a whole lot of things hitting your plate all at once and it's very hard to keep up.

This is what has happened to me for the past couple of months. I've got a grip on it, though, and am once again making my way through the pile piece by piece.

Inevitably, what follows an event like that is a long lull where I wonder where the next gig will come from. Hopefully that won't be the case here and things will stay steady. We'll see.

It doesn't help matters that I got sick again this week and am quite under the weather as I type this. But the world goes on and so do my responsibilities, so here I am.

I just wanted to give you all an update on where things are with me. I'm low on money so I have to get these gigs finished and try to find some new ones. So I'll be toiling away constantly until everything is finished as much as I can stand it and stay with it until this cold clears.

I did manage to get out and see some movies recently. I saw Wolverine and Star Trek. Wolverine was pretty good, Star Trek was awesome! Best movie I've seen in nearly a year hands down. Of course, for me Dark Knight and Iron Man were better, but this movie is fantastic. Thank goodness matinee prices are cheaper here than up north or out west.

I also saw Yes Man on DVD. Red Box $1 rentals are nice! It was an ok movie. Had some funny parts in it.

The comic strip "It's All Related" on ComicRelated.com is going well. We've had three strips go live so far and everyone's digging it.

Podcasts are also going well. We've got a growing fanbase and our numbers for the show so far, which is only 8 episodes in, are really good. Keep listening!

My next trip will be next month to Heroes Con in Charlotte. I'm hitching a ride with Chuck Moore and crashing in his room as well, and getting in as press, so I couldn't pass all that up. Always wanted to go, but could never afford to make the trek on my own.

Wannabez seems to be at a stand still at the moment. Hopefully things will work out where we can get that ball rolling again, among other things.

Aside from all that, all is well.

Free Comics and Movies

Man, I had this nice, long post going and my browser crashed and I lost the entire thing! Sigh, been one of those weeks.

Anyway, today, as I've mentioned before, I will be in Florence, KY at Comics 2 Games for Free Comic Book Day, and I'll have Wannabez copies there, so swing by!

I was supposed to go see X-Men Origins: Wolverine afterward, but last night Scott, who is my ride home, said the movie was off with no explanation or reason. When I asked him why he never responded, so who knows? It bites though because at first I was a little stressed about it because I didn't really have the funds for it. Then I got a payment and was really looking forward to it. Then boom, out of the blue at 10 at night or around there I'm told it's off with no explanation. Bummer.

Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go see it by myself Sunday afternoon. Sigh.

This has been a long few weeks as I explained, I believe, last post. I still have to finish up lettering on Descendant #1 from Image Comics, but after that I'm taking a day or two off to just regroup and relax. Believe me, I need it.

Speaking of the past few weeks, a bit of announcement about the Haven catalog. As you may know, the catalog comes out later this month, but in June the catalog will be available ONLINE for FREE! That's right, now everyone will be able to see my handiwork and what gave me many sleepless nights putting it together. And you'll also, of course, be able to see all the wonderful titles Haven distributes.

Plans are for the online version to be available in three formats including PDF, CBZ and some kind of dynamic comic reader app. There are also plans for it to be available on mobile devices. So there will be options.

Man, for some reason our air conditioning hasn't been working properly of late. It will kick on occasionally and blow out really faintly, then shut down and we can't get it back on. It's been nearly 80 degrees in the house for the past three days and the only fan we have is this little bitty thing that makes a ton of racket and doesn't do much good.

But that's not your problem, is it? Heh.

Okay, I'm leaving in just over two hours as I type this and still have to shower and gather things together. And first I need to wake up a bit as my eyes are still puffy and I'm still tired. We recorder a podcast last night and it ran late, so I got into bed close to 1am and got up at about 5:30am. So yeah...

Speaking of podcasts, if you haven't noticed, the latest episode of Zone 4 is live and on the site, so please give it a listen. You can also subscribe to it via iTunes (though for now you have to do an advanced search to find it) and via RSS feed.

Oh, and one more thing I MUST mention. TODAY, my new web comic goes live on ComicRelated.com! It's called "It's All Related" and is written by myself and Darren Mueller with art by Jackie Hernandez and Darren. It's a fun, comical strip featuring the staff, members and some fans of Comic Related as if we were all in an actual office. Fun stuff, and the first strip is hilarious. If you're aware at all of CR's transformation previously you'll totally get the gag. If not, well, I'll be on here explaining it so you will. :)

And with that, I have a long day ahead of me and hopefully it will be fun. I'll be among friends talking it up and hopefully moving some Wannabez, so we'll see. We had planned to have a minicomic for free, but Scott sliced his finger, so that put a halt on that. Oh well. At any rate, should be a fun day.

It's Done!

Finally, the Haven catalog for May is complete, and I can try to get back to normal. Well, at least until work on the next issue begins!

This has been a long ride, but a very fun one, and we've produced a catalog that I am very proud of and have my mark on in a huge way. I think people will really be impressed by this once it's out there.

For the remainder of this week I will be working on the Image comic I'm lettering, and then I'll be up at Comics 2 Games Saturday for Free Comic Book Day, my first one ever. Should be fun. Then Scott and I are going to see the Wolverine movie after, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

I've got a few things I'm again behind on because the Haven catalog pretty much consumed my life this month. Then Haven is the closest thing I have to a steady job outside the regular freelance ilk, so it had to.

Also, in case I haven't mentioned it before, I have been doing daily short podcasts on ComicRelated.com for the past couple of weeks. This is in addition to the weekly Zone 4 ones we're doing. It's called The Related Warp Wrap and is basically a 5 minute or so recap of the previous day's news, columns, reviews, etc.

Soon we'll be doing a new weekly review show under the Zone 4 banner as well. I'm really having a lot of fun with the podcasts.

Ok, back to work for me now. I'll try to post again soon.

Zone 4 Podcast Episode 4

Zone 4 splits into its own feed from here on out, but can still be found at Comic Related. Check this week's out by clicking the title of this post. It was a blast and you'll be laughing and will be entertained. So take a listen and give us some feedback!

And you can always subscribe to the podcast's RSS feed by clicking the icon below:

Soon, Zone 4 will be available on iTunes!

Wannabez Video Interview

I hate watching myself on this, and I need to lose some weight and get some sun! But anyway, here's an interview with me and Scott from Gem City talking about Wannabez:

One More Time

Ok, so my most recent eBay auctions end tonight. One of them, Zombie Cop, which I lettered, has already ended for the third time with not one single sell. I'm not putting it back up there, so if you'd like to purchase a copy of that for a substantial discount from store price please hit me up.

For those not aware, it is an Image Comics title about a cop who sets out to find the cause for this disease that is turning everyone into zombie like beings. Problem is the cop has been infected as well and he slowly turns throughout the series while eating criminals to sate his hunger. 96 page sequential story followed by 30 or so pages of a prose story with spot illustrations taking place in the same "universe" as the sequential story. By Jeff Mariotte (look him up!) and Szymon Kudranski (fantastic artist).

I have 18 copies I'm willing to sell for $10-12 apiece (regular price is $15). So please, buy a copy!

The other auctions can be found here: http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/gonzogoose777_W0QQ_dmdZ1QQ_ipgZ50QQ_sopZ12?_rdc=1

And while you're in a purchasing mood, by all means order a copy of Wannabez #0 if you haven't gotten one yet. I still have plenty of copies of that!


In other news, I'm still plugging away at the catalog. As I closed the last post, yes, I was being literal, and yes, I did get ill last night. Then I crashed and slept way too long, so now I'm scrambling. And that's where I'll be for the rest of the night, save for one hour dedicated to LOST.


I am toying with adding a weekly podcast update to the blog just to let you know my status on things. I attempted this once before a couple of years back, but I didn't know how to edit them then, so it was way too long, way too big of a file, and filled with tons of dead air, so I took it down. Now I have an idea of what I'm doing and thought it might be fun.

I've also toyed with doing the video journal thing and posting it up on YouTube and posting it here. The problem with both ideas is I have a feeling I'll start them, get busy, miss weeks at a time and never have too much interesting stuff to say in them. So I don't know. It would be fun, but I have to really consider if it's worth it, if there's any interest (FEEDBACK PLEASE), and if I can keep up with it. We'll see.

No more puking today (at least not yet), but tons of work to do, so...

Canned

Apparently for some reason my blog has been tagged as spam and is in danger of being shut down. Blogger's supposed to review it and (hopefully) clear it, but in case it disappears that's what happened.

I really hope it doesn't get canned. I'm nearing my 1000th post, and this has been a cathartic online home for me for several years now. So cross your fingers for me!

Buzzed on Monster and Full Throttle

I have been burning the candle at both ends for the past several days and still will be for a while. Right now I am on my third or fourth wind (who knows, I lost track) thanks to Monster and Full Throttle energy drinks as well as some chocolate and iced tea. Yeah, I know, not a great combination and terrible on my "diet", especially considering I've eaten pizza three times in the past week!

I am working solely on the Haven catalog, which has proved to be a lot more time consuming than I anticipated. I wish I had been able to start it sooner, but I have been completely swamped for the past month or so and will be at least through April, maybe through May if a certain project comes along. Good problems, yes, but I'm really reconsidering my low rate at this point...

Anyhoo, I have to finish the catalog this week as the 15th was actually the deadline, which I'll narrowly miss.

I also recorded a podcast tonight, which took an hour too long thanks to technical problems with Skype. And I still have to edit and post that puppy before Friday! I did go ahead and record the opening and closing already, so all I have to do is add the music, edit the main conversation (which is in, I believe, at least five different files - fun), and then put it all together. Yeah, this is a busy week.

Not to mention I was supposed to drive up to Chicago Thursday for the C2E2 Launch Party (the new Reed comic convention coming to Chicago next year) with my buddy Chuck "Crazz" Kennedy who lives in or near Chicago. He had a plus one on his RSVP and asked me, and I really want to go. But as things are looking right now I'm not gonna make it. One, I don't know if I really have the time to be spending Thursday and Friday on the road. Two, I don't have a reliable enough car to make a trek of 12 hours or so, and Three, it would take just about every cent I have right now to rent a car and make that trek. So as much as I would LOVE to go, I just don't see it happening sadly. Such is life.

This weekend I also have to have Corrective Measures #10 lettered, and #11-12 soon after. Next week I have to finish up the first issue of the current Image project I'm lettering. I have a couple of jobs that are about half finished I need to catch up on. And all the while I've still got Haven submissions coming in and stuff to post on Comic Related! Busy, busy, busy.

Somehow I need to come up with my half of the money for the convention in Chicago in August as well... pretty soon too. And I have to save up for a hotel and spending money there also. And I'll finally get to meet Cary Kelley in person after all these years as he'll be there.

As a matter of fact, this year is potentially very busy for me. I've already been up to Florence a few times, and to Gem City recently. Next month I'm doing Free Comic Book Day in Florence, then in June I may tag along with Chuck Moore to Heroes Con in NC. July, I think, is the off month, but my mom and brother have a birthday that month, so...

August is Chicago, then September is Pop Culture Con in KY near Cincinnati. October is Mid-Ohio-Con, and then November and December are the holidays.

Man, I better start making more money!!! I still have to print books, pay for hotels and tables, etc., etc. All I can hope for is that the cons are successful and I either get some work out of them, or sell a lot of books. Haven't done too great at the too regional shows I've done thus far, but then they are smaller shows, so we'll see. We also have yet to have a fully finished, 22 page story to sell. It's either been the 12 page #0 or the 12 page #1 preview. Hopefully the full issue #1 will sell better than those have.

Plus, the Image book I'm lettering comes out in July, so maybe I'll have some of those to sell in August, I don't know. The last Image book I lettered hasn't sold well for me yet. I put them out at the con, and I've had them up on eBay and have only sold one copy so far (at the con).

But that's what's up. I'm doing ok, just been really busy. I have so much on my plate, and yet monetarily it never feels like enough. I think I need to take a lesson from a guy I met at Gem City and write a 145 page novel, distribute it in the book market and sell 4,000 copies for $13 apiece. That would be a good start! Yeah, I'm really considering that...

Now if you'll excuse me, before I get back to work, I think I have to throw up...

Happy Easter!

If you celebrate this special holiday, have a blessed day of remembrance and fun. If not, enjoy the long weekend and do something special anyway.

For me, Easter is a very special day with a lot of great memories and of course the original purpose for the holiday, which I am so thankful for.

So may God bless you all, regardless of your beliefs.

HAPPY EASTER!

Zone 4 Podcast Episode 2b

The second part of this week's long podcast is up! In this one Chuck and I do some reviews. Check it out by clicking the title of this post!

And just an FYI for all you out there, we are taking sponsors for the podcast. Check out the details here: www.comicrelated.com/ad.php

New eBay Sales

Also forgot to mention that I have some things up on eBay for sale right now (click the title of this post for the list). It was to raise some money for a trip this week, but now I need it for more important things. So if you see anything you like please consider buying it. Thanks!

Spy6teen

By the way, I forgot to mention I think that a project I'm lettering called Spy6teen is in this month's Zuda competition. Please go vote for it! Click the title of this post to check it out!

Zone 4 Podcast Episode 2

The second episode of our weekly podcast is now live! It's a two-parter this week, the second part coming tomorrow. Click the title of this post to give part 1 a listen!

Lots Going On

So Gem City was fun, we sold some books, and if you head over to the Wannabez blog you can see a bunch of WBZ related photos from the event. Ignore me in all pictures - I'm currently attempting to lose some weight and I hate those pics of me!

Scott and I had a good time Monday as well. Got to hang out, play Star Wars Stratego (first Stratego game I ever played, and I won!), hit a comic shop and hopefully sold them on taking some Wannabez copies, and had dinner before heading home.

This week I've been catching up on the Haven catalog and some lettering, and I'm still buried deep in it. It's scheduled to go off to the printer Wednesday, so I'm going full steam ahead to get it done.

Tonight I'm heading over to Chuck Moore's so he can show me some pointers on editing podcasts so I don't spend six hours doing that again! Hopefully what he shows me will streamline my archaic approach to it. The next episode is supposed to go live tomorrow so we'll see how this all goes.

Chuck doesn't know this yet, but he may make it on this week's episode! :D We'll see what happens when we get together tonight.

Speaking of the Zone 4 podcast, we are taking sponsors for each episode. Check out www.comicrelated.com/ad.php for rates and contact/payment info!

Next Thursday there is a slim chance I'll be in Chicago for a night, maybe two. We'll see how things pan out over the next few days and I'll keep you posted. Why would I be in Chicago? I'll tell you about that later.

First weekend of May I'll be attending my first ever Free Comic Book Day at Comics2Games in Florence.

Then in June there's a possibility I might tag along with Chuck and John to Heroes to represent Comic Related. Again, we'll see how that goes.

Then of course there's all the lettering I'm doing. Like I said, lots going on.

Gem City Aftermath

Right now I'm chilling at Scott's house in Amelia, OH while he's sleeping the morning away and his wife is getting ready for work. Last night we were looking at pictures from the con and playing Lego Star Wars on the PS2. Fun times.

Yesterday the show went ok for us. We sold about 8 or so copies of the issue #1 preview, about 3-4 copies of the #0 issue of Wannabez, and I sold a copy of Zombie Cop. Scott did sketches on the back of all the WBZ #1 preview issues that sold, which will go up on the WBZ blog soon. He also did several sketch cards and sold some of his art. So while I still probably spent more than I made, it was a good show. We had a crowd all day long, did a couple of interviews (we were interviewed by Underground Video and Comic Related), got to hang out with some friends, and afterwards several of us went out to eat. So it was good.

I may have landed a lettering gig on a small project with an industry pro, so we'll see how that goes. He was a really cool and friendly guy and I hope it works out as I'd love to work with him.

Scott and I will be hanging out today, then sometime tonight I'll make it home where I will relax the night away before hitting work hard tomorrow and throughout the month. Tons of stuff yet to do, and I see many sleepless nights ahead of me in my immediate future.

Next show is Free Comic Book Day when I'll be back up at Comics 2 Games. After that I may crash with Chuck and hit Heroes as part of team Comic Related, we'll see. Chicago looks like the next show Scott and I will do together. Hopefully we'll have the full version of issue 1 by then!

Long Weekend

I'm heading out the door for a weekend full of fun. First up, the Lexington Comic Show in just a few minutes. Then it's off to Florence to Comics2Games for the Sketch Card Event for Cancer.

Tomorrow I'll be heading up to Dayton, OH for Gem City Con trying to sell copies of Wannabez #0 and a Convention Special Preview of #1.

Monday, Scott and I will be hanging out in Cinci, then I'll be home to rest up before returning to work Tuesday.

So if you can't reach me, that's why. I am taking the laptop, but I don't know if I'll have internet access or not. We'll see.

If you haven't caught it yet, the first Zone 4 podcast is now live on Comic Related featuring the conversations of myself, Jason, Cary and Chuck. So check it out (click the title of this post)!

Well, I'm off!

Journey of a Wannabe - The Challenge is Set

New column is live and on the site! Click the title to read it.

This week I talk about the challenge being set to graduate high school two years early surrounded with tragedy and hope at the same time. This proved a distraction for artistic endeavors, but would set a path for me that effectively changed me forever.

Comics For Cures

The sketch cards for the Comics for Cures event up for auction on eBay now. You can find the four I did here. The proceeds go to the American Cancer Society, so please bid for this special cause.

If not on my cards bid on some of the others. You can find them all here.

Click the title of this post to read more about the event.

This Saturday, April 4th, Comics 2 Games in Florence, KY will be having an event in the store where all the cards will be on display. Last year they had a huge turnout and raised a lot of money for the ACS. This year we all hope it's even bigger and better!

Again, this is for a good cause, so please bid. Cancer has taken several family members from me, including my Nana, whom I was very close to. I fully support what this event is doing, and even though my cards aren't nearly as good as many others up for auction, they still go towards finding a cure for this tragic disease.

About my cards, I chose to do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in honor of their 25th anniversary as I mentioned in a previous post. The TMNT were a big part of my childhood, so it was only fitting. Hopefully somebody will get some kind of enjoyment out of them at the same time helping out a great cause.

Superman Retires

Straight from Rocky 3, Mr. T challenges Superman in this nice piece of editing genius:

TMNT Sketch Cards

You may or may not know that Comics2Games in Florence, KY is hosting Comics for Cures, a sketch card event where all the cards are auctioned on eBay and the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Well, I am participating, limited though my art skills may be.

Today is the deadline, so it's too late to join in, but the event will take place at the store April 4th and I'll be there. Click the title of this post to find more info about it.

For mine I decided to do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles since this year marks the 25th anniversary of the "heroes in a half-shell", and because I was a HUGE fan of the Turtles back in the day. Plus some people over at Comic Related liked my rendition of a Turtle before.

So, I scanned them in today and you can find them in my forums here:

http://www.comicrelated.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4266

They're not as polished as I would have liked, as I state in that thread. And I wanted to do something much more artistic with the "25 Years", but time constraints forced me to merely scribble it on. In hindsight I probably should have just left it off, but oh well, them's the breaks.

Anyway, I hope you like.

Oh, and thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.

Happy Birthday to Me

So the birthday was pretty good. I practically slept most of the day, which was certainly a nice change of pace. I also watched a movie, watched some wrestling, and just chilled.

I don't know if you guys know what an ice cream cake roll is, but that's what I had. I don't get those very often and it had been years since I had one, so it was a nice change as well. My aunt used to make me a cheesecake, but hasn't for a few years now.

I didn't get much, nor did I expect much. I got some gangsta Popeye pajamas and a box of girl scout cookies (more Caramel Delights!), which was just fine with me. I also had pizza again because, hey, it's my birthday and I wanted to enjoy it! And since I couldn't afford to go to Outback Steakhouse (love their blooming onion and bbq chicken!) a green pepper, red pepper, onion and black olive pizza was the next best thing!

So now I'm just winding down preparing myself for tomorrow when things go somewhat back to normal. I'll probably still find some time to relax, but there will be work done as well. I have some APA and Haven stuff I need to do and some lettering (Red #1 and Elite #2) I need to work on.

For tonight, until I'm tired again I'm just gonna watch TV, maybe read a book, or even play a video game, which I've yet to do. I guess I'll see where the night takes me.

Today's the Day

Yep, today is my birthday. Today I'm 32 years old. No milestone or anything, just another day, another year. Send gifts via Paypal...

Just Kidding.

Not really though.

Anyway, today I'm just gonna chill and take it easy. I might watch a movie or two, maybe even play a video game, something I haven't done in quite some time. Or I may just sleep, who knows? I'm just gonna take one day to be a lazy bum and try to enjoy myself.

Last night I headed over to Chuck Moore's house for a night of fun and business. We started off with a tour of the 10 acre property seeing the horses and Chuck's huge comic collection from his former retailing days. A whole wall in the garage of short boxes! Then we started talking business a little bit.

We talked about a podcasting idea myself and a few friends had and are planning to start up soon. Chuck gave me some pointers and explained logistics to me and thought what we had planned was really cool. So I've just got to get a few things in order and get together with the guys and get things rolling!

We then talked a bit about ComicRelated.com and I got access to post on the main site, so that will be cool. I love the site and post all the time on the forums, so this is just another opportunity to contribute to my online home away from home.

After that we ordered pizza and watched Dollhouse. Then we shared some humorous stories between the three of us in between watching the cats chase a laser pointer all over the place.

Chuck tells me the cats usually don't come out when company's there, but last night all four were out and about and the three house cats were very interested in me it seems. Luckily I had taken a Zyrtec before I headed over there or I would have been miserable, but I was fine.

When it was all said and done I headed home to catch the replay of the Battlestar Galactica series finale. It was pretty good and I'm pleased and intrigued by the mysterious ending to the wonderful series I will now miss.

I then crashed and got a few hours of sleep before waking up in time to post this little message. Now I think I'm gonna go back to bed for a while. So if you need me, well, you'll just have to wait! Happy Birthday to me! :D

Journey of a Wannabe - Death Befalls Us

My latest column is up on the site. Check it out by clicking the title of this post.

This time I get real personal and talk about some serious stuff that was going on in my life at age 15, and how that stifled my creativity for a while.

My Eating Habits

For those who expressed concern over my eating habits mentioned in my last post, I should clarify a few things.

The Subway subs I've been eating have either been turkey or veggie, mostly veggie, containing lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, black olives and provolone cheese with mustard. Occasionally I'll add green peppers when I'm feeling brave, but not very often.

I've also been eating a lot of fresh fruit, mainly strawberries, grapes, peaches and pears.

I drink plenty of water and gatorade, though sweet iced tea is still my vice.

When I snack it's typically graham crackers or pretzels, though recently I did purchase some girl scout cookies, which are nearly gone now.

The soup I mentioned was vegetable soup.

As most of you know, I hardly eat any meat. I eat turkey very rarely and I eat chicken somewhat regularly, at least a few times a week. I prefer it baked or boiled, or grilled on the Foreman grill, but sometimes I do eat it fried.

I do have an affinity for cereal as well. Generally that consists of some form of Chex or Honey Nut Cheerios, though recently I've gotten on a Golden Grahams kick.

I also eat yogurt somewhat often, typically Yoplait. I prefer the Thick & Creamy kind, but sometimes get the Light as well.

So, to calm any concerns for my eating habits, know that by and large I do eat pretty healthy. I do slip up and eat some sweet confection occasionally, or some fast food item that I quickly regret. I can't do a solid square three meals a day, I would be stuffed all the time if I did that to be honest. I've never been a breakfast person and usually just eat a small bite of something if anything for breakfast. I'll snack on the aforementioned items a few hours after awaking and then sometimes I'll eat a light lunch (a quick sandwich or a bowl of cereal, something like that). Then I'll snack a bit in the afternoon and eat something like a sub or soup or chicken or pasta for dinner.

So no worries, folks. Yesterday was an exception, and one I don't intend to repeat for quite some time.

The Load Has Lightened

Well, only slightly, but I did get quite a bit done today thankfully. I managed to turn in a good number of pages on three lettering projects today and do a little bit of Haven work, not to mention send my column in for the week. So I'd say it was a successful day today.

I'll be starting again early in the morning working on other lettering projects and maybe some pre-press stuff for APA as well. I also have another project I need to work on badly by the weekend.

During the weekend I'm hoping to be caught up enough to resume work on my website, but we'll see.

It looks like Chuck and I are still on for Friday night to talk podcasting, Comic Related and whatever else strikes us. It'll be the first time I've been to his house despite knowing each other for over a year and living ten minutes apart. Should be fun.

Lost tonight was awesome. The whole time travel bit had me questioning things, but the ending of tonight's episode was so wicked I had to forgive any problems I had with things. I can't wait to see what comes of that. Next week's episode looks to be intense.

Barack Obama is following me on Twitter, and I'm pretty sure it's the real one. How insane is that? I think it's due to this service I signed up with where users are automatically added to your following and followers when you sign up. I don't know, could be a fake, but still, it was kind of wild to get that email notification.

I have GOT to get started on my sketch cards for the Comics 4 Cures event! The deadline was extended until, I believe, next Monday the 23rd, but I'm definitely cutting it close here!

This Saturday is my 32nd birthday. Yeah, I can't believe it either. It feels like yesterday I was complaining on this blog about turning 30. My, how the time flies. The scary thing is my brother's dad was my age when he passed away. It's very surreal.

Right now I'm trying to wind down so I can get a little rest before rising up to work again. I didn't get much sleep at all last night, but the two nights prior I slept at least 6 hours each, which is good for me. So I'm not feeling really fatigued or anything right now. And I'm not feeling too bad physically either. I'm stuffed because I ate a bit too much today (got up at 7:30, ate soup around 1, ate a sub from Subway between 5 and 6 and ate a sub from Dominos around 10:30. I did have a few Thin Mints cookies in between, but that's all.). I'm hoping the overeating doesn't affect my stomach tonight. I was just really hungry today. I had basically been eating one meal a day for the past week eating a Subway sub for an afternoon dinner and eating pretzel sticks and graham crackers as occasional snacks throughout the day. I also hadn't been drinking pop too much, maybe one every three days, instead opting for Gatorade or water. Sadly, I have not lost one single pound. Luckily I've not gained any, but still.

I guess that's what I get for working at a computer all day long and relaxing by reading or watching TV, or blogging on the computer. Yep, I'm turning into a stereotype. Gotta do something about that!

The Pressure's On

Man, it seems like forever since I posted, and it actually has been several days. I've just been so busy lately and I can't seem to find time to keep up with this at the moment. But never fear, all my faithful readers, I haven't forgotten about you, and I'll still be posting as often as I can.

I've slowly been picking the pace back up on lettering projects, though I've still got plenty to do. In fact, that's what I'm doing right now.

Truth is, the Haven work just kind of consumed the better part of the past couple of weeks or so. I'm now handling just about the entire catalog, meaning I'm gathering the solicitations and cover art, plugging them into the templates I created, and getting them ready to be proofed then printed. We're far from there yet, but that's what I've been doing.

Plus I'm still handling all the submissions and fielding any questions about those, not to mention prepping them for the online cart. And if that wasn't enough, Lance Stahlberg recently found out he has a torn rotator cuff and is in severe pain, so now I'm fielding his emails as well for the time being.

So suffice it to say, Haven has been keeping me very busy.

Physically, it's been a rough week. I've had one or two gall bladder attacks and a bit of a cold or allergies possibly, can't tell at this point. I've also been very fatigued and even slept until lunchtime today. But I'm ok and not as bad as I've been. I'm certainly not bed-ridden or too bad to do work or what not. Just feeling a bit sluggish and at times frustrated and cranky, but it'll pass.

If you haven't been following the Wannabez blog, it looks like a full issue 1 is out of the question by Gem City Con in two weeks. One reason is finances, the other reason is time. I'm not sure what Scott's going to have time to finish, and even if he finished the entire issue and I could afford the grayscales I doubt Ross would have time to finish them. So, what we'll probably do is a black & white ashcan of whatever pages we get done so we can have something new to peddle at the con. I'm thinking a smaller size, not quite full standard comic size, but we'll see how it goes. At whatever the next con we do is we plan on having that full issue.

For those who don't follow me on Twitter, I checked out the new series "Kings" Sunday night. I didn't know much about the series before watching it, so I had no idea it was more or less a modern telling of the King David story. It was pretty cool watching certain similar events unfold that paralleled that classic tale. I'm going to stick with it as now I'm pretty intrigued by it. It's a very creative endeavor.

That meeting with Chuck I mentioned has been pushed to this Friday for now, so I'm looking forward to it. Chuck has been real busy with work and stuff for Comic Related and Comics XP, so it's totally understandable him having to push it back. I know whenever we meet it'll be a good time and I'll learn a lot about podcasting.

Well, I've got too much work to do to keep rambling on, and since I've run out of interesting things to talk about at the moment, it's back to work I go.

Where Does the Time Go?

Man, things have been busy lately. I've got a lot of work presently and for about a day or so I was just completely overwhelmed. Today I dug myself out of enough of it to not feel overwhelmed, but still be pretty busy. We'll see how much more I can get out of the way before the day's end.

Tomorrow is the deadline for Haven solicitation materials for the catalog, so it will probably be a busy day as those come rolling in under the wire. I have been buried in Haven related work since late last week and today is the first day I've not (yet) worked on Haven stuff since. If you haven't checked out Haven or are curious about the new catalog, head over here to check out the new logo/name and samples of the interior pages.

I did sneak out to see Watchmen the other day. It was a pretty good movie. It was a lot more graphic than I was expecting, but it was still a good movie. Not as good as Dark Knight, but good.

Tonight I was supposed to go over to Chuck Moore's house to talk about podcasting and some other things. Sadly, Chuck came down with something and had to leave work to hit the bed, so we have to reschedule.

Why would I be talking with Chuck about podcasting? Well, because myself, Jason Berek-Lewis, Cary Kelley and Chuck Kennedy will be doing a new podcast very soon. We haven't definitively decided on how often or when it will launch, but we're all pretty excited about it. The four of us at times live in four different time zones, so it should be interesting trying to get us all together, especially Jason who lives Down Under. But it will be fun. This is something the four of us (who have become very good friends over the years) have talked about for a while now, and now we can make it happen and have a place to publish it thanks to the generosity of Comic Related, which will be its home.

We're supposed to be getting a rain and snow mix tonight. Fun. Just a few days ago it was in the 70s. This morning it was in the 20s. As they say in Kentucky, if you don't like the weather here, wait five minutes. I so wish I lived in a consistent climate.

And on that note, I've got more work to do...

Comics2Games Grand Opening Recap

By the way, had a great time at the Comics2Games Grand Opening Saturday. I wasn't really myself the whole day for some reason (maybe it was the onset of this cold (see previous post) and I just didn't realize it at the time), but I still had a good time even if I didn't show it much.

You can find some pics of the event by clicking the title of this post. You'll even see a couple shots of my gorgeous, if a little hefty these days, mug in there. (Man I've gotta lose weight! According to a weight calculator, for my height, age and frame I'm about 40 pounds overweight!).

And if you're interested in seeing where C2G came from, you can see images of the old store and the new store here.

We got to partake of a lemon Watchmen cake (very tasty) and chat it up about all things comics, including my upcoming comic strip "It's All Related" coming next month! Wannabez was on display, and I met another Fowler! First time I've ever met anyone not related with my last name (who knows, maybe he was related?). So all in all a good time was had by all, me included.

Not Feeling Great Today

I'm not feeling so well today, folks. Feeling sick to my stomach and kind of nauseous and light-headed. I've also got a headache and a slight earache (the earache was worse yesterday, but it still hurts when I swallow).

Not sure if it's the change in weather recently or just a bug or what, but it's affecting me a lot this morning. Hopefully it will pass as I've got a lot to do.

I fell a little behind the latter end of last week and haven't quite caught up yet. Haven catalog stuff kind of took precedence with a tight deadline for some things, and some of the lettering took the hit. So today I'll be playing catch-up as best I can, and continue throughout the week.

That said, I'm not terribly behind schedule, just a couple of days off, and most of it's self-imposed scheduling, so it's not too bad. I plan to be back on track by the end of the week. That's the plan anyway.

Today I hope to catch a flick if I'm at a stopping point and feel well enough to. We'll see. Haven't been to the theater since... wow, probably Dark Knight in fact. Everything else I saw on DVD or TV.

Anyway, that's what's up.

Zombie Cop On eBay

Please check it out - I've got copies of Zombie Cop straight from the printer, never read, up on eBay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320348099591

Comics2Games Grand Opening

I know I haven't been around too much lately and I apologize. It's just been very busy with lettering and Haven work lately I haven't had much time to blog. I've made a few Twitter posts because they're short, but anything more than that just requires too much time.

Anyway, in about 45 minutes or so Chuck and Katie will be picking me up to head up to Florence for the Comics2Games Grand (re)Opening. The new store has been open for a few weeks now, but this is the official party to start it off right. And I'm told pictures will be taken, and interviews will be given, and discussions will be had. Should be a lot of fun.

The festivities don't start until 6pm, but we're leaving at noon, which means we'll get there around 1:30. Friends will flow in throughout the afternoon so there will be plenty to do and talk about. Plus it's a cool place just to hang out.

So that's where I'll be today/tonight. Tomorrow I'm gonna try to go see Watchmen, and then I'll be chained back at the desk to put out some more work. Busy, busy, busy, but never to busy for new projects, so be sure to hit me up!

Journey of a Wannabe - Birth of the Sketch Pad Comics

As always, click the title to reach the latest column. This time, see some of my early superhero and comic drawing!

'Tis a Better Day

So Wednesday I was having a tough time with things. In fact, after the post I made I kind of had a breakdown of some kind. I won't say it was a nervous breakdown, but I was just at the point where I couldn't take it anymore.

Without going into things, let's just say there was bad news on top of more bad news, then the work was piling on, which blew my schedule out the water. And to top it off, there was some fighting on the home front that got really personal. And after I got off the computer around 1 or 2pm I just blew up.

With nothing else to do, I went for a drive to clear my head, prayed a little on the way, and then came home and took a long nap. Once I awoke I was feeling much better, and that feeling continued immensely through the day Thursday.

Today I am great, if not a little stressed because now I'm behind again, but it's not that bad and I'm not sweating it as much. I think I had just been staring at this computer for too long and just had it. With all the other stuff amassing on top of it that was just the last straw.

Luckily I've had the house all to myself for about 16 hours now and things are rolling along smoothly. I got to relax a bit and get some work done, and goof off some, and now I'm ready to hit the ground running and knock some of this stuff out.

We all have these kinds of weeks where everything just piles up and we need a release, and that's all this was. So no worries, folks, it's all good.

Now this next part doesn't really apply to most of you, but I wanted to address an anonymous comment left on my last post. I don't know who made it, but I know it was one of a handful of people from my not so distant past, and they mean well and were trying to help. I think I was short with my reply to them, so I wanted to take this opportunity to address them properly. If this is not you feel free to not read any further if you like.

So, to address your comment, whoever you are, I appreciate the concern, really I do. And advice to let God lead you is always good advice in my opinion, so it is taken as a given. However, I want to assure you that I have not forgotten or forsaken for one second the calling on my life or my love for God. Things have changed in my life, yes, but that has not. I love God, I always have, and I know what my path is. So please don't fret about me in that sense. It's all good.

And with that, I'm off to another day of doing the work I love to do and that is better than any office job I've ever had or would ever want to have.

Will This Week Ever End?

I can't even express to you how badly this week is going for me. It's just one thing right after another, and I'm stressed to the limit about it all.

To sum it up, first I find out I didn't do so great a job on something I thought I had done a great job on. That was disheartening and made me feel lousy.

Then some family drama cropped up and has been ongoing for the past couple of days, and it's just really got me mad, hurt and stressed.

To add to the flame, I've not been able to be on my computer as often as I need to to keep up with my schedule. And that's only worsened by the fact that a client needs a lot of work a lot sooner than I anticipated, and I'm expecting another project to hit today that has to be given priority.

Then there are a whole bunch of little things that are gnawing at me, and so much stuff I just can't get to... it's just not a great week.

I'll survive it, and next week a lot of this drama and so forth should be cleared out, but I can see that the remainder of this week is going to be trying to say the least.

First Tease

I posted the first teaser image for my new website design on the forums. Click the title of this post to check it out!

Changes Afoot

I'm finally doing it. Slowly but surely, I'm doing it. And I started last night and more this morning. It will be a long, slow process in my spare time, but I'm doing it.

What, you ask? Redesigning my websites is what. I have been wanting to do this for months now and it's high time I did something about it. I can't wait until I have money to pay someone to do it, and I can't let them go as is because I'm bored with them. More than that, I'm not happy with them.

Well, let me clarify that last statement. I'm not happy with certain things about them, namely functionality, secondarily the dated layouts and styles. It's time for something new and fresh and dynamic.

I tried to get the ball rolling yesterday since it was my "day off" that I had given myself. But one thing led to another and I just couldn't get into it. Early this morning, however, I was able to make somewhat of a breakthrough and I'm really happy and excited with where it's heading.

I'm not ready to share just yet, but trust me you'll love where this is all going.

And it won't just be this site I'm redesigning. I'll also be redesigning the Gonzogoose site and the Wannabez site. The latter more just taking the basic look of it and applying that to a format that is more functional behind the scenes, but still it's a change.

And with all these changes this blog may very well change also. If what I'm going to try to do works out I may end this blog and start fresh on the homepage of the new site like my friend Cary did. We'll see how that goes though before I announce anything official.

We're on the brink of entering a new universe, folks!


As for other things, work is going well. As of right now I'm dead on schedule, so I'm pleased about that. Up until Saturday I was about a half day behind, but I'm caught up now and didn't even really have to do anything yesterday. Hopefully the rest of this week will continue to flow on schedule and all will be well. Especially since I'm about to be adding another freelance job to the mix. More on that later.


Keep an eye out for updates on the changes. As things progress I'll be updating this thread in my forums with pictures and stuff. I'm really trying to make use of my forums, so please check them out. I've already put a lot of stuff in there you won't find here or anywhere else.

Back to the Monday grind, folks. Wish me luck!

How It's Going

So far so good on the new schedule. A couple of people asked for things quicker, but it's all good. I'm currently about a half or fourth of a day behind, but I should totally be back on schedule by tomorrow night.

Chuck and Katie stopped by to drop something off today. It was great chatting with them for a minute, even if it was a brief visit. They'd had a long day and it was cold outside, so they headed on home.

I'm caught up on Haven work at the moment. I'm waiting for a couple of people to send me info and I'll be pretty much done for the week save a special little project I'm doing as I have time.

I've got to finish the Suicide Note pages tonight (they're about half done at this point), but I'm gonna wait until after Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles and Dollhouse, and of course BSG (yep, a 3 hour block of TV for me tonight), before picking it back up.

You'll notice in my Tweeter update in the sidebar that I've got dinner about done and I'm ready to relax a bit.

I was up all night last night working since I fell behind, and got the En Garde pages off first thing this morning. Then I took a nap for about 5 hours and hit everything again. Now I'm ready to eat and watch some TV.

Regrouped... Somewhat

Well, I spent most of the day in bed yesterday and wound up doing very little. I was able to wrap my mind around things, though, and formulate a plan this morning on how to better tackle everything.

The schedule I've devised will only work for the next couple of weeks, though, as Haven work will pick up in March, and I have some more lettering jobs coming in around then also. So I'll really have to further define my scheduling by the hour when that time comes.

For now, though, I'm sticking with loose general dates of completion of groups of pages per project. Theoretically I've allowed myself enough time to do this all. I've only been able to be on the computer in a work capacity about 6-8 hours a day tops for a while now (long story) and that's still the case currently. That should change soon where I can devote more time to work, but for now it has to do.

This schedule I'm about to post may seem light, but note that it revolves around Haven work, updates for APA and Comic Related, writing, and life in general. And it still gets clients their projects by the end of the first week of March, or a good portion of them at least, so it works.

So here is the tentative schedule for work I will attempt to complete between now and March 5th.


Lettering
En Garde! (pages 9-16) February 19, 2009
Academy of Heroes #3 (pages 15-16) February 19, 2009
Suicide Note (pages 1-10) February 20, 2009
Tainted (pages 71-80) February 21, 2009
True West (balloon templates) February 23, 2009
Academy of Heroes #4 (pages 1-11) February 23, 2009
Ellium #4 (pages 1-10) February 24, 2009
Elite #2 (pages 1-7) February 25, 2009
Wolalina (Intro - pages 1-5) February 25, 2009
Red #1 (pages 1-5) February 26, 2009
Tainted (pages 81-90) February 26, 2009
Venger #2 (pages 1-7) February 27, 2009
Suicide Note (pages 11-20) February 27, 2009
Academy of Heroes #4 (pages 12-22) February 28, 2009
Ellium #4 (pages 11-20) March 1, 2009
Elite #2 (pages 8-14) March 2, 2009
Wolalina (The Hidden Ronin - pages 1-5) March 3, 2009
Red #1 (pages 6-10) March 3, 2009
Tainted (pages 91-101) March 3, 2009
Venger #2 (pages 8-15) March 4, 2009
Suicide Note (pages 21-30) March 5, 2009

Logos
Pinpoint February 20, 2009
Imaginarium February 24, 2009
Jack the Rabbit February 28, 2009

If any of these dates don't work for you (the clients) please let me know and we'll see what we can work out to shuffle things around.

Thanks to everyone for being patient with me. As you can see, I'm working on a lot of projects right now with more on the way!

Taking a Day

I am beside myself today. I had several things hit me at once yesterday, and not feeling well on top of it just made matters that much worse.

That said, today I am taking a day to regroup, refocus and reflect on all the stuff I need to get done so I can crack down on it all for the remainder of the week.

There are one or two specific things I'll be working on today, but aside from that I'm taking a breather. I didn't sleep at all last night, I'm still not feeling well, and things have been tense on the homefront. So I need to step away for a minute and just release some of the stress.

A day isn't really enough time to do so, but it'll have to do. Once I clear the queue again I'm making a point to take a longer break like a week if I can afford it. But that's a ways off right now.

So, I won't be on AIM today and I probably won't respond to emails right away. I'm not taking calls either, so don't bother unless it's an emergency.

Thanks for understanding.

Journey of a Wannabe - Opening the Door

The latest column is now live! Click the title of this post to check it out!

Making a Dent!

Ok, so this morning I FINALLY wrote some strips for the upcoming Comic Related webcomic, five in fact. We want to get 10 in the can, so I'm halfway there on my part! Very exciting stuff.

The working title is "It's All Related" as it will be based around the fictional Comic Related offices. We've been bouncing back and forth tons of ideas, and these first five kind of follow chronologically some events that have taken place with a spin on them. Should be fun, I hope you enjoy it.

It will be a weekly strip, though I'm not sure what day it will be updated yet, and I'm not certain what the official launch day is. I know what we're shooting for, but I don't want to speak out of turn. Regardless, it will be soon.

I also lettered a page of Black Paw this afternoon, something I hadn't been able to get to for a while. It's the only page of it I had, but I had so much other work in front of it (still do) that I couldn't get to it. Today, however, my time working on the computer is a bit limited, so I thought I'd try to knock out some small stuff instead of trying to tackle bigger projects today. That's what tomorrow's for, right? Right?

Now I'm working on a Pinpoint logo for Alfred Paige. I've done a couple of logos for him before for War's Chosen and Pinpoint/Blowtorch: Alien Passage.

I wasn't feeling well when I woke up this morning, and I'm still not feeling great, but it does feel good to get some of this stuff out of the way.

Chuck Moore, Tracy Duty and I have also been working out the APA forums on and off this weekend. They should be up in full capacity soon, hopefully by tomorrow, but we'll see.

I've only gotten one vote on what I posted about in the previous post, but that's cool. Yesterday was V-Day for most of you, and today's Sunday, so I'll forgive you. :) But please vote and help me decide what to draw!

Nothing more to report at the moment really, just wanted to let you all know I'm picking up steam!

Comics For Cures

I've been debating on what to draw for the Comics for Cures sketch card event and the deadline is only two weeks away. So, in my forum I started a poll. You guys tell me what to draw. Check it out!

What's Up Tonight... Me!

Can't sleep tonight. I'm restless. I've been up since a little before 6am and it's now a few minutes past 3am on Friday the 13th. Ooohh, I'm scared. Yeah.

So anyway, I've been listening to podcasts from NYCC, playing some online games (pool, sudoku, stuff like that) and watching a little bit of TV. Just not in the mood to work right now, but morning will be here soon enough and I'll be back at it.

I've found through listening to these podcasts that listening to other creators talk about their stuff feeds my own creativity. And I've learned that I've missed a LOT in Teen Titans! Haven't picked up that book for a LONG time now sadly. Probably not for 30 issues or so in fact.

Things have been slow progressing around here lately. The HOPE stories came back to me this week with new pages and color files to switch the letters to, and some corrections to be made. Also been working on the APA site, which is now live. And the forums are also live over at Comic Related, though there's nothing there yet. The site's pretty basic and to the point, but it's what the publisher wanted after several other designs, and it is clean and good and clear I think.

Then of course there's been Haven work, which I haven't done a lot with this week, but it looks to be picking back up.

I've been trying to get what pages of En Garde! done that I have, but that's been slow going as well.

And I just got a whole bunch of pages from three different projects the other day, so I've got plenty to do. But it's 3 in the morning and I'm just not up to it at the moment.


Ok, so let me share a moment of freak-outedness with you. When American Idol started this season I wasn't really into it. My interest has been waning over the past couple of years for a number of reasons, one no doubt being my age progressing past the age limit a few years ago. But more than that, it just became stale, and this year didn't look too promising at the beginning either.

However, I've found a favorite in Danny Gokey and think he could go all the way. But what I really discovered was my new crush in Casey Carlson, a very cute and chill young lady that just really caught my attention. While they didn't show her much throughout the whole process, I am still a fan and am looking forward to her singing next week.


Now here comes the freak out part. I think this girl is just cute as can be and am just really smitten with her. So I kind of let it slip to my mom and what does she say to me? "That's what I used to look like when I was younger." What? Oh-no, she didn't! Needless to say I was then scarred for life. And upon her pointing it out I have to admit that she does bare a resemblance. I've seen pictures of my mom in her early 20s and she was a thin, beautiful woman who nearly stumbled into a modeling career at one point, but didn't go for it. She's 55 now and she looks much younger than she is.

Still, despite the saying of guys wanting wives like their mothers, the prospect of being attracted to someone who so closely resembles my mother at a young age is just frightening. Has it lessened my crush on the girl? Not a chance. But it still grossed me out. :)


I'm having a hard time getting myself back into healthy eating habits and exercise. Every day I tell myself that today will be the day. Then every day I happen to find Crunch and Munch, donuts, Doritos, ice cream and various other naughty snacks that I can't seem to control my will power around. I don't like my current weight, which is what it was before I lost the weight early last year. I've gained it all back and am currently one pound shy of my heaviest weight ever. I want to lose weight, and I want to stop eating the junk, but working from home, sitting all the time, and all this stuff being at my fingertips is a little too much to resist. If I lived alone I just wouldn't buy the stuff and that would make it a little easier. But that's not the case, so ya know. I'll figure something out, though. I'm not going through summer carrying these extra 40 pounds.


Much is in the works, but I don't want to jump the gun on anything. So just stay tuned and maybe some of these things will pan out.

I can't decide now whether to just stay up or try to get a little sleep. I'll probably end up staying up. But rest assured, all you concerned folks, I have been getting more sleep the past few days. Last night I got about 6 hours, so don't worry too much. As long as I'm functioning and the fatigue isn't hurting me I'm fine. I appreciate the emails and posts here and on Twitter, but I'm good, guys, really. At least right now.


Tonight I have a TV scheduling conflict. Friday Night Lights comes on at 9, but the new Joss Whedon (Buffy, Firefly) show Dollhouse comes on tonight following Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I really want to check it out. I didn't watch a lot of Buffy, none of Angel, and sadly I missed Firefly (though Serenity I loved), but I'm curious about this one. So I'll probably miss FNL and hope it pops up on Hulu or NBC.com or something.

Then of course there is BSG. Yep, I have no life but Sci-Fi TV on Friday nights right now. But it's all good.


And on that note, I'm running out of things to blab about, so I'm gonna stop before I just start rambling. What? I already am? Ok, I get the picture...

Surviving the Weather

Well, we came out of the touch of bad weather somewhat unscathed. Our power went out three or four times through the night. The first time, as I mentioned before, I was in the tub, and the lights stayed off for about 30-45 minutes and came back on.

The second time was a flash for just a couple minutes.

Third time it was out for about another 30-45 minutes, and after that the winds calmed, the rain stopped, and we thought all was well.

About 10 after 8, right during American Idol, the winds kicked up again and with them went the power for about two hours causing me to miss AI and Lost.

But I'm thankful they didn't stay out longer than that. They came back on a little after 10pm and have been on since.

We almost lost two pieces of vinyl siding though, and may have (I haven't checked this morning). We kept hearing a banging on the back of the house during the outage, and upon inspection discovered a piece of siding flapping against the house trying to come off. It was too high up to reach so we didn't fool with it. Later in the night one on the side of the house started doing the same thing.

The last time we had really strong winds and tornado warnings like this two or three houses across the street lost several pieces of siding that they found littering the neighbors' yards the next morning.

Luckily today isn't trash day or I'm sure there would have been Herbies downed and trash scattered across the street. I was only outside in it for a couple of minutes, but the wind was so forceful and cold I can understand why the siding wanted to vacate the premises.

But anyway, we made it through and luckily in our area there were no tornadoes. I know others in other cities or even other states (like Oklahoma) weren't so fortunate, and my thoughts go out to them.

Right now the wind is still blowing heavily, but not as heavily. Weather or not we'll see anymore strong gusts I'm not sure, haven't checked the forecast for today. But as of right now I'm back at the computer doing my thing.

Oh, and my column has been sent in. Chuck, living near to me, also was without power for a couple of hours last night, so I'm sure he got behind on things as well. but I'm sure it will be up as soon as he has a chance to mess with it, which may or may not be before week's end, but it's all good considering how late I was in sending it off.

No Smallville or Supernatural tonight, so no shows to miss if the power happens to go off again. Wrestling's on, but it replays Saturday, so I'm not worried about that.

So that's that, I better work while I can, folks.

More Bad Weather

Well, today we are having strong winds and tornado watches, and our power keeps going off. I was in the tub when the power went off for about 30 minutes or so and had to feel my way out as there were no windows in there. That was fun.

So I don't know how long we'll have power. If I'm not responding this is why. Don't really want to leave the computer on in this kind of storm too much anyway.

SO... Tired...

This weekend has been a bear. I have been working around the clock trying to finish the APA website for launch today. It's close, but the store is still a work in progress at this stage. We had several missteps and stumblingblocks, but it's getting there.

I also had to letter a couple of pages last night in the middle of that for a pitch this morning. Luckily they were pretty simple pages, so it didn't take very long.

I had also committed myself to posting NYCC con Twitter posts in the CR forum through the weekend, and occasionally updating the CR MySpace page as well. These updates only took like 20 minutes at a time, but I had underestimated how much time I had to do them, so they put the crunch on a bit as well. I did them when I had to take a break from the coding and stuff that was making my eyes cross.

Today I'm supposed to have 5 more pages of Lightning Squirrel and I think 4 or 5 pages of En Garde complete and I just don't see how. I'm going to try, though. I'll probably be on this computer all night again, but I'm going to try to deliver.

I don't think Haven work is going to keep me nearly as busy this week, so after today I should be able to focus mainly on lettering for a bit. I've got stuff coming up and I've got to clear some of this out.

Right now I want to collapse for a few hours, but I can't just yet. I need to reach a certain point before I can stop then I'll try to grab a couple of hours before hitting it hard again.

Oh, how I wish I had been in NYC at the con having fun with the rest. Then again, had I gone, when I got back all of this would have been waiting to hit me in the face and it would have been doubly stressful. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't go!

Another Busy Day At the Office

I've been hitting it hard since I woke up and I'm finally ALMOST caught up on all things Haven. Whew, it's been a busy week for Haven. Submissions, solicitations, newsletter, and various other things.

And now Lance is in New York for the con, as are a bunch of the Comic Related staff (check the link for live coverage), and poor little ol' me is stuck at home working. But it's all good.

In between working on Haven stuff I've been posting some Twitter comments from comic pros at NYCC in the Comic Related forums, and updating the CR MySpace page. Fun stuff.

Speaking of CR, I realize my column is really late, and it's my fault. As I mentioned before, I totally forgot about it last week, and this week Chuck was prepping for NYCC, so I didn't want to put anymore on him. It'll go up next week, and I may even do one the next week since it's been several weeks since the last update.

I've got a ton of lettering to catch up on this weekend, but I've also got to finish the APA site. Yeah, I know I said it was all but done, but with Haven I kind of got behind on the finishing touches. Basically I need to get the store working and then go back through everything and make sure it's all good. The deadline is Monday, so that's going to take a chunk of my weekend as well as the lettering.

I've been discovering some pretty neat books through Haven, and getting to read some of them as well. That's been fun.

Speaking of reading, it took me a week, but I finally made it through those five comics I bought last weekend. I'm a little lost since I missed the end of Secret Invasion, but it seems pretty fun so far.

Man, two things I said I was going to do this week I just haven't been able to get to, and I don't know if I will now or not. I was supposed to go through edits on Wannabez #2, and I was supposed to write some strips for the Comic Related strip. There just aren't enough hours in the day!

To give you an idea of how much Haven work I've done, I'm supposed to log about 40 hours a month. I've surpassed that in the first week this month! Actually it hasn't even been a full week yet. So yeah, it's been busy.

Ok, so tonight I've got Friday Night Lights and BSG. Yep, I'm gonna watch them as that will probably be all I get to watch all weekend. No movies this weekend I'm afraid.

Temperature seems to be warming up finally. It's 52 right now and the sun is bright. Nice.

Alright, I've stalled long enough. I better get back to it!

Yesterday Was Difficult

For the past two days I've practically been buried in Haven submissions and solicitations work, not really getting much else done. Looks like more of the same today, but I've got to fit some lettering in as well. So that made things a bit rough yesterday, but that's not what I'm referring to in the title of this post.

Yesterday would have been my Papaw's birthday. As most of you know, he died last year and I missed his funeral and didn't see him for a while before. It was tough reliving all that over again.

Yesterday was also the day, one year ago, my former Pastor's son passed away. I honestly wouldn't have recalled the exact date except that they posted a remembrance of him in the obits section of the local newspaper yesterday, which I've linked to (the online version) of in the title of the post. Michael's life came to an abrupt and tragic end, and it still haunts me, and many others, to this day and most likely will for a long time to come.

So yesterday wasn't a joyous day. I tried to just remember the good times and get on with the day. Never an easy thing, but a necessary thing.

My heart, my thoughts and my prayers go out to my family and the Lee family.

Had a Good Weekend

So this past Saturday I went to Florence to hang out with people at Comics 2 Games and to meet up with Scott about Wannabez.

The day started off bad, but got better. I was up late Friday night finishing up lettering on Elite #1 and so I overslept the next morning. I had intended on getting up at 8 so I could get some things together for the day. I had books to gather up as well as a list of things I needed. I wanted to bone up on Wannabez for my meeting with Scott, and put together some thoughts on the strip I'm doing for Comic Related to discuss with the Ringtail crew who are doing it with me.

Chuck was picking me up at 10, so that would've given me plenty of time. However, I didn't wake up until 9:40! So I jumped out of bed and immediately hopped in the shower and started getting dressed. I had my jeans on when the doorbell rang. So I grabbed a t-shirt and threw it on as I ran down the stairs to answer the door, my hair wet and a mess, barefoot and still a bit damp all over from the shower. Graciously, Chuck waited for me while I finished up.

Because of that rush I forgot my notes and didn't have time to grab everything, so I just grabbed some copies of Wannabez and a notebook and headed out.

It was a pleasant ride up there, though, as I got to meet Chuck's wife, Katie for the first time, and there never seems to be a shortage of things for me and Chuck to talk about, so it was good times. I felt for Chuck and Katie as they had been without power for four days and hadn't had showers. So they were going to drop me off at the store and head to a friend's house and shower.

So we got the store (Comics 2 Games in Florence, KY) around a quarter til 12 and let me tell you, that store was awesome! The place is huge and so open. It used to be a high end bathroom fixture store, and it sets in a little strip mall with various restaurants like Dairy Queen, Subway, a Chinese place and a movie rental shop, among other things. It's got tall plane glass windows in the front and it's very well lit, but not overbearingly, so it gives it a pleasant feel.

When you first walk in on the right is a walk in glass display case that used to be a shower (for showing shower heads) with statues and busts lining the shelves, and to the right of the case is a section of other similar items. On the left is the game section where you can find games for just about every system including vintage ones like original Atari and Nintendo games, but also X-Box 360 and so forth.

Beyond that initial section the store opens up in an array of various sections. You have the huge checkout counter just beyond the game section, and across from that, if I'm remembering correctly, is the Blue Line art supplies section with it's own counter. In between them are models for customizing and novelty items like mugs and stuff, as well as the trade section. On the far side of the counter is a wall of gaming cards and such. Down from the art supply section is an identical section, but for toys and action figures. In the middle there's all the new releases and recent issues, which cover several shelves similar to how you'd find a video game rental store setup, which was pretty cool. On the back wall on the right side were shirts and posters and prints.

On the left across from the toy section is the huge gallery area, which right now is filled with the back issue boxes, but will be the site for various events and signings. It's got two huge openings with a small wall with a window in between, and a half moon structure jutting out on the ceiling.

Then in the back through the door is a whole other section of the store with two or three offices, a full bathroom with shower, a loading dock, a storage room and just extra space.

Imagine all of that with soft classical music playing in the background, and some of us actually found ourselves whispering it was so pleasant. They say it looked even bigger before all the stuff was moved in, but it still looks pretty spacious as is.

Chuck is going to be posting pictures of the place soon on Comic Related. I'll link here when he does.

They're having a grand opening party the first weekend of March, which I'll be attending. I'll also be there for Free Comic Book Day (the first one I've ever attended) in May and the sketch card event for cancer in April.

What's even cooler about the place is when you walk in you find genuinely friendly people who want to talk to you and are knowledgeable about comics and eager to help you find something or chat with you all day long. It's easy to lose hours in that place and not even realize it. That's the kind of environment I've been missing for all these years, and I'm glad to have found this place.

That said, Collectibles, Etc., my home shop for years, is a pretty decent place also, and Tony has always been cool to me. But maybe because I didn't go in there that often or wasn't into the same kind of books or whatever, I still felt a little bit like an outsider there. It was just go in, get my books, say a couple of sentences, then leave. And while I have started meeting some cool people in the area, like Chuck and RD Hall to name a couple, I still love going up to C2G for hanging out and just being amongst people with similar interests, something I haven't had in a long time.

Anyway, after I looked around a bit and said my hellos Scott showed up and the two of us began looking through the new releases for stuff to pick up. I hadn't bought comics in so long I was so behind on everything, but had limited cash to spend. I wound up picking up five books, all Dark Reign related, which ran me somewhere around $15 after discount, and I was done. I was tempted to pick up several other things, but just couldn't this trip. I don't spend much on myself, but I treated myself that day a little.

Once Chuck, Katie and Jackie (they took Jackie with them for some reason I don't recall at the moment) got back we started a series of meetings. Well, first we ate. They had ordered pizza, so everyone but me was chowing down. My stomach had been bothering me, so I didn't want to take a chance on pizza. So Jackie and I headed over to Subway (she only ate one small piece of pizza) and got six inch subs for lunck.

The first meeting, once lunch was over, was about Comics XP, which didn't really involve me or Scott. Scott and Jackie were drawing at the corner of one table, and I just kind of listened with interest half the time, and the other half admired the sketches Scott and Jackie were doing. Speaking of which, Jackie gave me some fan art for the Wannabez site that I'll put up this week.

Once that meeting was over we talked about the web comics coming to Comic Related soon, including, of course, the strip I'm doing. We didn't really discuss a lot about that particular strip per se, but moreso how they would be presented and various other things like that. Darren and I did, however, chat today online and threw back and forth some more ideas and now have a solid opening. I just have to script them up and Jackie will get to drawing them. It's going to be a fun strip, and the plan is to go live with it soon. I don't know if I can announce the date yet, so I'll keep you posted.

Finally after all that it was around 2 and Scott and I snuck off to Dairy Queen to talk Wannabez, and to grab some sweets. Scott got a Blizzard that he let melt and maybe ate three bites of. I got a caramel Moolatte, which I completely downed I'm sad to say. Then the brainstorming (or lack thereof) ensued. You'll have to read soon on the Wannabez blog what happened, but suffice it to say I couldn't remember anything and while we did get some stuff laid out, it was kind of a bust due to my lack of functioning brain cells that day.

Around 4:30 everyone was hungry again, so we hooked back up and went to a Mongolian buffet place and had some Asian cuisine. I wasn't too hungry, so I got some fruit, some rice I didn't eat, and some peanut chicken, which was absolutely delicious. We then all sat and talked about everything from Transformers to Power Rangers to I don't even remember what else. I didn't say much, but I listened and laughed.

Afterwards we headed over to Darren, Krista and Jackie's house to play some MaroKart on the Wii tournament style. I didn't fare too well, but I wasn't the worst thankfully.

So then it was a long ride home chatting with Chuck and Katie again, who we thought were going home to a dark and cold house. Fortunately their power was back on, and mine was still intact as well, so all ended nicely.

Sunday I kind of just chilled. I tried to get a little work done, but I was beat and didn't accomplish much until night time. I had intended to stay up late Sunday night and get some stuff done, but ended up falling asleep around 2 I think, which is not what I consider late.

So all in all, I had a really fun weekend. Considering the fact that I was seriously thinking about staying home to work I think it turned out really well. I needed it. I hadn't been out of the house hardly at all for a couple of weeks and needed to get away and just have some fun, and that I did.