january 2008

jan.02.08!

Home safe!!

Eww, did I seriously leave you guys an un-linked link? Here's a more proper announcement:

Good ol' Ms. Contino asked me about GWS Volume One, as well as Volume Two (also coming out soon) for an interview at The Pulse, and it can be found right here. Enjoy!

Meanwhile, I'll be spending all day tomorrow (well, today rather - we got in super-late) drawing and writing and creating, so new GWS updates start Thursday morning!

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got two baby kittens who'd like to be re-acquainted with their mamma.

jan.03.08

While most people are just getting up for work...

Boy, I have a lot to say, but not much time to say it. I laid down for a nap at 11:00 last night and set my alarm for midnight to get up and work on today's strip, but for the first time in my life I slept right through it and, thus, did the strip at around 5:30 this morning.

So you'll have a nice big post tomorrow. Happy Thursday!

jan.04.08

Things to say.

So I have things to say, and I'm gonna say a few of them right now. Here's the news:

Signed & Sketched GWS Volume One books

The books are finally in! My weekend is booked, so I'm going to start sending them out next week. Just thought I'd let you guys know that, while Lulu did a fab job on them and they were packaged VERY lovingly, they were not delivered until the 2nd. They're in boxes in my living room right now, acting as a makeshift coffee table. I'll be signing & shipping them out in the order that they were purchased.

Web Cartoonists' Choice Awards

Not so much for me, but for my pal Jamie and his fabulous, totally unique webcomic In His Likeness. I'd REALLY like him to win! So if you do a webcomic, and you like In His Likeness, would you vote for him at the link below? Aww, thanks, you're a pal!

MySpace HACK!

Thanks to everyone who contacted me (some even by phone!) regarding suspicious MySpace bulletins and comments coming from my account. Unfortunately my account was hacked the very day I left for Christmas vacation, so I didn't get around to fixing the problem until yesterday. Sorry for the confusion!

And despite the adult cartoons that were solicited by said hacker via my MySpace page, NO, I am not starting my career in hentai! Jesus, people, don't you know me??!! If I wanted to dispose of my dignity, don't you think I would have drawn Jamie nakie by now?

Vacation

I feel weird that I'm even bringing this up, but I feel weird not talking about it, too. I was nervous about telling y'all where I went for my Christmas vacation - the freaking BAHAMAS - because I was afraid you'd think I was spending all of your generously-donated money on living some rock-star lifestyle. Truth is, I was invited to join my boyfriend on a family trip - not necessarily my blood-related family, but a very nice family that adopted me for a week - and spent all of $30 (mostly airport food) the entire trip. When I told you that the donations drive ONLY covers my bills, I meant it.

That said, I really want to share some of the photos with you guys. I miss sharing photos! I'll try to process them and turn them into wallpapers this weekend.

Resolutions

I've narrowed down some good resolutions for 2008; an important one for myself, and a handful for GWS. On Monday I'm going to share the GWS resolutions, because I really want you guys to keep tabs on me. It's a short list of some reasonable goals for GWS this year, including new GWS books and merchandise. If I surpass my expectations, great, but for now, I just want to make sure I hit the ones that you fantastic readers deserve.

That's it! Stay tuned for photos and resolutions next week! And remember to tune in Sunday for another color Sunday strip! Meanwhile, enjoy this merry and belated Happy Holidays photo from my family.

jan.07.08

Things to say, cont'd.

Here's everything I was gonna say last week. But first, a note about Sunday's strip!

Sunday's strip

If you didn't catch Sunday's strip, click the "back" arrow below today's comic strip.

I was pretty thrilled with this one, particularly because you early birds (ie. those who woke up before 3 pm yesterday) got to see the difference between the strip with just its base colors, and the finished strip with highlights and shading. And even if you DID sleep in past 4 pm on a beautiful Sunday, you still get to see the difference! I put 'em side-by-side for comparison. Click below.

It seemed just wrong to go a single New Year's Eve without a NYE-themed GWS strip. And I do hope you'll note the grafitti in the bathroom. Food One, for instance, wuz here.

GWS Resolutions

Now, I'm going to have to find the right place to post these, but for now, here are my resolutions (well, goals) for GWS in 2008.

    1. Put out Valentine's Day cards BEFORE V-day
    2. Switch over to ComicPress in order to fascilitate the following:
       -RSS feed
       -Comments section on website
       -Automatic updates
    3. Make GWS shirts available
    4. Finish revisions to GWS Volume One and slap an ISBN on it,
       sell via Diamond, etc. (deadline: end of April)
    5. Make GWS Volume Two available (deadline: end of April)
    6. Make GWS shotglasses available (deadline: end of June)
    7. Make McPedro plushies available (deadline: end of August)
    8. Make GWS Volume Three available (deadline: mid-November)

While I'm sure at least one of them will fall through the cracks, I think the majority of these are reasonable expectations for y'all to have of me this year. First up, Valentine's Day cards. Wish me luck!

My own Resolution

I realize it isn't necessary for me to share my own personal resolution for the year, but I'm trying a new way of approaching difficult situations my life, and I thought some of you may find it interesting.

I've been struggling to come up with a mantra that suits my lifestyle, and I was inspired early-on by those cheesy (but smart!) "What would Jesus do" bracelets that came out years ago. I'd sort of replaced it with different people - "What would Buddha do," "What would Mother Theresa do," "What would Elvis do" - but found that it's difficult to anticipate what other people would have done, even those with lives as well-recorded as Jesus himself. Besides, I've never met any of these people before in my life.

So I found one, though I'm sure I'm not the first to think of it, so I won't claim to have come up with it.

"Everything you do, do with love." Not as easy as it sounds. But highly recommended. What brought this on is a conversation with my father about stress, which is a serious problem I inherited from the Corsetto side of the family. Every time I stress about something, my stomach kicks itself and I can feel the days being torn from my life expectancy. And sure, work is the biggest factor (boy, imagine if I had a REAL job), but things like anger, petty annoyances, and disagreements can affect my body the same way. So far, keeping this saying in mind has proven most helpful. I hope it does the same for you if you decide to try it. I dare you.

Photography!

As promised, here are a few shots of the beach from the Bahamas. No palm trees or coconuts, just some simple beachside photography.

jan.07.08

One quick final note about Sunday's strip...

I wanted to share one quick tip about Sunday's strip: did you notice the reflections on the bar? I was pretty proud of that. Here's how to do it; I copied JUST the colors layers of all of the people at the bar, flipped them vertically, lined them up with the characters and cut off the bottoms so they'd fit in the panels, dropped the layer opacity to 40%, then changed the blending mode to Exclusion. I also used a very soft eraser (at 40% pressure) to let the reflection fade out near the bottom of the panel. Voila! You should do it, too.

jan.09.08

Oye.

I blame any inconsistencies or mistakes in the strip on Vanessa, Katie, and Lauren, for being so kind as to involve me in their evening fun-time. Thank you, ladies. This strip is dedicated to you. And will hopefully be re-drawn later.

jan.10.08

Spayed!

My kittens are getting spayed today (Thursday), so please send your positive energy-karma-wishes stuff!

jan.14.08

Blah.

I spent the majority of my Sunday sick in bed, so please forgive today's lack of update. At least I finished the Sunday strip!

There will be two updates Tuesday to make up for it. Don't worry, you won't miss a beat of this nakie storyline. :)

jan.16.08

*cough*

Thanks for hanging in, guys. I can safely say I've never been this sick before in my life. I haven't been able to walk, stand, or breathe, let alone draw. I now know the true meaning of "bedridden."

This is the first time in days that I've ambled into my studio. If I'm well enough to walk into another room, maybe I'll be well enough to draw tonight. I guess we'll find out tomorrow! If anything, this bout has made me more serious about switching to ComicPress so I can work ahead and not need to be near my computer to update.

Thank you SO MUCH for your kind notes, readers! You've got some mighty interesting home remedies! (Hot Mountain Dew? Whodda thunk?!)

Wish me luck!

jan.21.08

Quickie: GWS Volume One books

Quick note about the signed-and-sketched GWS Volume One books (which are STILL in my living room): After I packed one book and wobbled it around a bit, I decided I didn't trust the envelopes alone, so I ordered some (albeit thin) cardboard backers for a little extra sturdiness before I send your books out. I had everything ready last week, but then, you know, I caught the fucking PLAGUE. Thus, progress will continue this week! Thanks y'all!

jan.23.08

Kitty!

The kitty is BACK!

jan.25.08

Fun challenge.

May this strip inspire readers everywhere whose significant others need to feel "a little more sexy." There is always a coat room.

jan.27.08

Valentine's Day Sneak Peek

I'm going to start taking preorders for these guys this week.
What do you think?

jan.28.08

Valentine's Day Card PRE-ORDERS!

The time has come! I'm hitting GWS 2008 Goal #1: Valentine's Day Cards.

I'm taking pre-orders starting today, so get yourselves a pack before V-day! Here are the card designs again (click to view):

Also, I'm FINALLY getting GWS signed & sketched books out the door. If you ordered before December 10, your book is already in the mail. I'll be working on the next batch tomorrow. Keep an eye on this space - I'll keep you updated!