Good-bye 2011

(calendar idea totally stolen from Troy) 

So, another year has passed and here I am not letting you guys know what's been going on for me for the last half of it. Sorry about that! Let's begin from August where I left off. First up, I'd like you to meet my newest roommate, Sawyer.

 During the first week of August my sis Carolyn & I got looking at the Humane Society's website and saw there was an abundence of kitties up for adoption. Honestly, Sawyer first caught our eye because we had just finished watching LOST, haha!

At first our old cat, Meem, had a hard time adjusting to the new cat, but in time they managed to work things out. :)

 In September, I flew down to Dallas, TX to meet up with my wirepop buddy Kristen McGuire (of the webcomic "Enchanted"). Together, we took on AnimeFest 2011 and shared some good laughs. Her & her husband, Greg, and their two little girls were so good to me while I visited and I am forever grateful for their kindness!

After Dallas, I hopped a bus to Austin TX where I stayed with my online friend of 10 (plus!) years, 'Sabel. It was so awesome to finally meet her after all these years, and the pile of old, ugly drawings I sent her over those years came back to haunt me, haha! Most memorably we goofed around at the Texas Capitol building, had tempura fried icecream at a sushi place called "Mikado", cooled off at the Schlitterbahn Water park, and drove waaaaaay outta town to get some of the best beef jerky.

Returning to the red soils of Prince Edward Island once again, I prepared for a "duel" book launch with my friend Christina that was happening in October. (I misspelled "dual" for "duel" on our posters... But I think it gave the event an edge :))

 Christina had just finished writing and self publishing her own novel Magic High around the time In the Air was being published, so we thought combining our release parties would be a fun idea. The event was held at Timothy's World Coffee in Charlottetown, and the turnout was better than either of us expected!

November then rolled around and while I was lurking on Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant! webcomic, I saw that she posted about a book signing in Halifax right on my birthday! My boyfriend, Troy, and I took the 3-hour trek over to Strange Adventures comic shop to meet Kate, and awesomely enough, we ended up being first in line! (best birthday gift ever since the lineup was craaaaay-zay long!)

Later in the evening after we got our books all signed up, Troy took me down by the water where, to my suspicion, he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring! Sorry Kate, but at that moment this had become the best birthday gift ever - an engagement ring from the man I love!

Now on top of everything else, I'm making wedding plans for next year. I'm really happy about everything that happened to me this year, and I'm looking forward to an amazing 2012!

Speaking of things not shared on this blog about 2011, I've mentioned before that I've begun a new comic project. It is another personal project resurrected from some vague ideas I had back in high school (like In the Air) and it follows the misadventures of Tatian (pronounced ta-shin) Elfiore, a very reluctant and lazy prince from the kingdom of Elvania. The working title of the comic is "Halls of the Turnip King".

 I'm going to keep the plot a mystery, but it's one self-contained story in one book. The script is 15 pages long (with things constantly being added/deleted as I come to the drawing). Currently I'm drawing from page 7 of the script, and the grand total of pages drawn and inked so far is 40. I'm planning on making this a full colour book, and so far 10 colour pages have been completed. I'm estimating the book to be anywhere from 115-130 pages long.

 The comic is pure comedy, with a cast of colourful characters (or, at least, I'm hoping you'll find them colourful!) I wanted to draw a comic with a completely different feel than In the Air and so far I'm loving the change.

In the Air will resume updates sometime in 2012. I've gotten some writing done for book 2, jotting down a basic outline of what I'd like to cover in the next 200 pages of the story. Until then, I'll balance my time with more Halls of the Turnip King as well as looking for some actual paying work (getting a job is my New Year's resolution)!

 I'll keep you posted on the progress of HOTTK and ITA. Please look forward to it!

Thanks for sticking with me 'til the end of this post, I know that was a lot of stuff to talk about. All the best to everyone in their upcoming 2012~!!

ps: I played & finished LEGEND OF ZELDA: SKYWARD SWORD and I have to just tell the world that I thought it was awesome.