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  • An Elaboration of 2020 and a Career Shift

    Comics work
    Part of a print in progress on the drawing board

    An Elaboration of 2020 and a Career Shift.

    After years of putting it off, I’m stepping down from being solely an author. “Solely” being the operative word. The book publishing industry rewarded me in the ways I needed, taught me the things I wanted to learn, and helped me meet the types of people I wanted to meet, both creator and reader alike. And while true that since I’ve been back from being ill, I’ve taken on the mantle of writer/artist instead of just writer, I thought it’d be a fair thing to tell you what the current road map looks like career-wise so I don’t accidentally mislead you.

    This is the general plan:

    2020 is a year of rebuilding hence Project Rebuild. Throughout the course of the year–with the very end of the year being the ideal-but-flexible deadline–I’ll be bringing my book list into the 21st century and will release a new thing or two along the way. And it will take the whole year or potentially more because I have a lot of titles and all this takes time.

    Going forward in 2021, I have a few books that are done that need releasing so those will be tended to as well as finishing off some works-in-progress to wrap them up.

    While the above two are occuring, I’ll be spending most of my time and energy devoted to making comics. Comics are what started me on the publishing path and are a great love of mine. In short, writing books will be a secondary thing compared to the comics.

    All I want to do is finish the last bit of my book publishing life and make comics going forward.

    For Axiom-man fans, don’t worry. Lots of prose adventures coming. I’m referring to my non-superhero work.

    I also need to point out something to my readers that needs to be taken into consideration: I’m still sick. I’m much better than before, but even when I started up again at the end of last August, I was operating at around 65-70% capacity. Going hard at 1000mph has dropped me to about 50% on a good day, 40-45% on every other day. Each day I come to the keyboard, I’m not healthy on multiple levels, but I work anyway because making art and stories is what I do and it’s what helps me survive. All I’m saying is I’m changing things on various levels so I don’t keel over and die one day in the middle of a script or while drawing something. It is also important to point out that my shift to comics isn’t about accommodating for being unwell. It’s about looking ahead to my deathbed when I’m lying there and looking back. I know I’ll regret it if I don’t do comics and since time is the most valuable thing on this earth, I want to spend it doing something I love.

    Thank you.


  • First Batch of Releases 2020

    Creator Retreat 2017 GMB Chomichuk Art
    Mug art by G.M.B. Chomichuk

    First Batch of Releases 2020.

    With Project Rebuild underway, we’re getting into that season I’ve been talking about for the past while: release season.

    Though the project list between new stuff and the reissues is long, here is the short-term release schedule with an estimate on timeframe. (Times to be locked down next week so the below is a rough guide. Things will probably happen faster but I’m giving breathing room just in case.)

    Current Project Rebuild titles:

    Blood of the Dead – later February 2020
    Possession of the Dead – later February 2020
    Redemption of the Dead – later February 2020

    New release:

    Gigantigator Death Machine – First half of 2020

    We’ll revisit this list as time goes on.

    Also note Gigantigator Death Machine is currently airing on my Patreon as a serial novel. You can read it early by going here (just a buck a month plus it’s a way to support me as a creator; new chapter every two weeks).

    The method to the madness here is seeing where things are at after the first round of reissues. This will inform the timing of the next batch of reissues and the next new release, but for now, let’s focus on First Batch of Releases 2020.

    There are more cool things happening behind the scenes but I haven’t gotten into them publicly. Some details are still being ironed out (involves other people) so if/when I’m able to talk about it, I will. Regardless, these processes behind the scenes are working and all is on track.

    Have a good day.


  • Nearly Ready for the Winter Season

    The winter season is nearly here, which means this week I’m putting the final touches on getting ready for Heavy Broadcast Mode, which starts November 1. Believe it or not, a lot of planning and organizing goes into making books and comics for public consumption. It’s not just me writing a story and sending it out all willy nilly. Every creator works their own way, but on my end, I need to have certain mechanisms in place so I can publish a story and get it into your hands properly. This ranges from the actual publishing machine itself to the promotion side of it to even making sure I have copies here at the Central for you. Then add on the need to make and have all those systems in place all the while keeping a roof over my head and, well, yeah. Busy times.

    This isn’t over-complicating it. It’s just planning things out so, once all is up and running, I have the greatest resource of all when it comes to creating stories and sharing them: Time.

    Everything takes time. Some things take a mere minute, other things take hours or days, and the only way to have that time is do all that I’ve been doing behind the scenes here at the Central. (Speaking of behind the scenes, a new behind-the-scenes entry is going up on my Patreon this Friday. Join the journey to check it out.)

    To find out more of what it takes to keep the creative machine running, please join my free weekly newsletter, The Canister X Transmission. It’s a letter from me to you week after week. It’s a chance for all subscribers to have a common meeting point each week to take a load off, escape the stress of the world, have a read (maybe even a laugh), and just breathe after busting butt all week. It’s also a chance to bring you up to speed on all that’s happened here at the Central, things not always covered on this blog. Pull up a chair. We always have room for one more.


  • On Scheduling

    It’s important for every creator to make a schedule for their creative time. The idea of “creating when inspired” or “in the mood” doesn’t work. (Been there, done that.) Not very long ago I was mocked on-line for suggesting a creative schedule to someone who was having trouble creating. The answer I proposed to their problem was to treat it like a job and just do it. Most seasoned creators will tell you that you have to create whether you feel like it or not if you want a career in this business.

    The formula is simple: Approach this casually, you’ll get casual results. Approach this diligently, you’ll get diligent results.

    There is no way around this. And, usually, once you get going on a project after deciding to start working, the project starts to flow on its own anyway.

    Schedule out your time. Schedule out your projects.

    It’s worth taking the time to do this step. In fact, it actually saves you time later in a multitude of ways.


  • The Magic of Blogging – An Invitation

    The magic of blogging . . .

    Once more I’ll state my belief that blogging is not dead, just misplaced. In a world of quick social media posts and soundbites, it’s easy to forget the Web is loaded with websites chock full of information, entertainment, and news. Many folks are dissatisfied with the way social media has gone and how it affects their mental health and overall well being, so I encourage you this coming week to spend time web surfing to see what you’ll find. Check out articles you’ve been meaning to read, creator websites you’ve been meaning to go to, topics you’ve been meaning to in