PROJECT REBUILD has been a long haul. It started mid-August 2019 and is still ongoing. Delays are attributed to bouts of illness and the pandemic. But it makes sense it would take this long. I had eight books to edit or proofread, get compiled and designed, plus cover work.
The first book to go to press last week was GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE. And, of course, there had to be a snag. The paperback is ready but the eBook (though ready here at Axiom-man Central) has put me in a waiting loop as I wait on my printer to transfer files and basically move my whole catalog from Lightning Source to Ingram Spark (LS no longer offers eBook distribution). It is still ongoing as of this writing.
Most of the other books are ready or half-ready for press. It’s this eBook thing that’s holding me back at the moment. I ask for your patience.
What I’m doing is building a publishing machine and doing what I can each day to get that machine built and these books out to the public.
I’m sure it will all work out in the end. Just be patient with me as I wait on the infrastructure to complete my vision.
Ideas are a funny thing. Sometimes they come to you fully formed; other times they’re a few ingredients short of a full recipe.
This happened to me recently.
If you know me, you know I operate on a Loose Skeleton approach to ideas. An idea comes but it’s often missing the main tissues that connects the whole thing and forms a complete picture.
Yesterday (I think), a skeleton of an idea for Project Rebuild grew some muscle and took shape. After, I was able to step back and take a good look at that shape and see if it was viable or not.
It was.
There are still some finer points that need to grow on this idea, things like its skin and overall aesthetics, but the bulk of the idea is complete and, I suspect, the rest will be sorted out on the drawing board.
Here’s the point: Don’t dismiss an idea just because it’s missing its meat and potatoes. Like any meal, it all begins in the kitchen as loose parts that will later be combined to make a dish. Some ingredients you have in your pantry, some are hidden away at the back of the shelf, others you need to go to the store for.
Bottom line: Write the idea down and let your subconscious do the work of adding more things to the pot and getting it cooking. You’ll be surprised as to what comes out.
This morning, I uploaded a new chapter of Zomtropolis to Patreon. In this chapter, we meet the girl of our story. You can start reading the book and also get access to the entirety of Gigantigator Death Machine by going here.
Went nuts yesterday and binged Project Rebuild and crossed a major hurdle. Basically, the galley review of the new edition of Blood of the Dead is now complete.
Today, I plan to do some comic stuff but I’m not sure in which capacity as I have a couple items sitting in Photoshop that need completion.
I also need to take a gander at the new format for The Canister X Transmission because we completed The Long Year Five over the weekend and Year Six starts this Saturday. Please join us by going here.
We also have some backend things to attend to but I’m not sure on the order just yet. One thing at a time.
If you have any questions, please contact me here.
It’s been primarily cloudy up here in the Great White North over the past few days, which suits me just fine as I prefer cloudy days to sunny ones. This isn’t an indicator of mood but rather I find cloudy days cozy.
The ol’ brain is still coming online as I type this so I’m not 100% sure how the day is going to shape up. I might take a break from Project Rebuild today because I have a few items that need to head out the door in the near future, namely the final issue of The Long Year Five for The Canister X Transmission. It’s mostly written but I need to add a bit more to fill the double issue. Though we’re getting down to the wire on it, if there’s something you’d like to see in Issue 260, please drop me a line so I can include it.
We’re still ahead of scheduling in regards to Fredrikus, but I have a fresh page scanned in and prepped for coloring so we might venture into that today. A new episode airs tomorrow so go here to get caught up.
Yesterday, a new article went up on Patreon, this one getting into whether one should keep a creative schedule or not. That can be accessed here via the essays tier.
This morning, we put our effort and energy into Project Rebuild, then we ran a business errand, then promoted Fredrikus on Ello, got a start on this week’s double issue of The Canister X Transmission–in which we celebrate the end of The Long Year Five–then got onto this blog. What’s after, if anything, I don’t know. As usual, we’re still fooling around with new workflows due to COVID-19 and the new paradigm.
Regarding this week’s upcoming edition of The Canister X Transmission, the invite is there if there is anything you want to see in that issue. Please shoot me a note sooner rather than later so I can try and include it.
Sitting on the drawing board, at present, is Episode 18 of Fredrikus. I believe it’s Episode 4 that is set to air this Friday. It’s a two-parter giving more of a backdrop to Fredrikus’s way of life in the After Time of Earth. Go here to get caught up and be sure to tune in this Friday for the episode.
This is just a note to say that Project Rebuild has resumed. A few health lapses put the project on hold as well as a few things outside of my control. The good news is my health is in a better place so I’m able to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to it. The main goal is still to have Project Rebuild be the overarching project for 2020. The only thing that has changed are the specifics to the timeline (like release dates).
Anyway, I’m eager to get back into this because it’s an important piece of my overall publishing puzzle.
We’re a little off today but nothing too bad. Namely just tired.
This morning we uploaded a new episode of Fredrikus both to Patreon and to the main comic site. This episode will air in early June.
I’m also giving thought to Project Rebuild and a loose timeline for it since 2020 as a whole screwed up the original schedule. I have a skeleton of a timeline and I think having a quasi-rigid/quasi-fluid structure to it is a good move at this juncture. I’ll try not to throw out any dates in case 2020 has more surprises but I will do my best on my end to be timely with the whole thing.
On the agenda for today is making more comics and I think I know what next week is going to generally look like as well. In the meantime, need to finish off the current week.
Anyway, here are some links to some terrific creators. You’d do well to check out their work.
Busy making comics. I also need to block out a chunk of time to go over some scheduling items because in the near future, Gigantigator Death Machine wraps on Patreon and we start up the new serial novel. The end of The Long Year Five of The Canister X Transmission is also not far off so I need to double check my numbering to make sure we end on the right issue (which will be a double so don’t miss out on that).
Project Rebuild hit another delay due to elements beyond my control so I need to wrestle that down because frustration is starting to set in. (Remember when this used to be a simple process?)
And today is Good Friday, the day we remember when God intervened on humankind’s behalf to reunite us with Him, and a day marked out as a turning point in history.
Hope you have a good day.
Stay safe.
If you need to get in touch, please send me an email. Thanks.
Driving a tired and sleepy car today, but the show must go on. Did today’s work on Project Rebuild. Now I’m doing this. Then onto something else afterward.
Assuming the world doesn’t explode by end-of-week, on Friday I’m scheduled to speak with someone who understands the Matrix better than me and we’re going to do some behind-the-scenes work on this blog to turn it into the on-line machine I need for going forward (which basically means taking what’s here and doing some back-end stuff to achieve what I hope is the final step in my media machine model). If the blog gets a little screwy on Friday or, potentially, the days leading up to it because I decide to monkey around, just hang tight.
In the meantime, stay safe. Stay healthy. Eat right. Rest right. It’s all any of us can do to ensure we are as healthy as possible for the days ahead.
Side note: The latest Patreon article is written and will be uploaded after final review. The topic is what to do if you’re feeling your arts career is sinking. Part one of two. Read it here by subscribing to the Essays tier. Also gets you access to all uploaded chapters of Gigantigator Death Machine. Thank you in advance for your support.
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.
