The proof for Volume One is on the way and should be here Friday; the printer has the files for Volume Two and I expect the proof for that will also be ordered sometime today. Volume Three is going to be the sticking point now, as I still need to both write the bonus story, and do some extra art for it. Best case scenario: that gets done tonight and tomorrow. More likely scenario: that gets done by degrees between now and, say, Sunday. But I am now quite confident that the books will be ready to go for AnthroCon.

I love focusing on a project like this, but I can’t sustain it indefinitely. Having the hard deadline of AC is a blessing in that regard: by the end of June, it’ll be done one way or the other and I can breathe again.

Not that I won’t still have plenty to do then … I have taken on commissions for the first time in umpty-ump years and will need to be diligent on getting those out in a fairly timely fashion. Short Story Geeks is still trucking along at a good clip and I want to keep up the momentum there — and of course, I have both writing and art projects that I’ve committed to in the upcoming year, so I’ve got to stay on top of those.

But I like this — having discrete, “finish-able” projects is a nice change from the never-ending treadmill of “need another strip for tomorrow, need another strip for tomorrow” that characterizes doing a comic. It also allows me to spread my wings a bit, instead of being locked into doing the same thing all the time from now until forever.

I do miss the reliable, almost-instantaneous feedback and audience engagement of the comics, and if I could figure out some way to retain that part of it, I certainly would. But the two worlds seem to be more-or-less exclusive.

-The Gneech

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