The Perfect Thicket

Ugh.

Hey everyone. Sorry for the HUGE gap in...well, everything. I've used the phrase "perfect storm" before when describing deadlines. Storm doesn't work this time. Storm would imply motion and movement--no, I am in the perfect thicket of deadlines. These deadlines have long roots, it's going to be months of hacking and slashing before I get out of this tangle. I've been buried in it for a good eight or nine months now. There's no end in sight.

The famous story in my house is that I had forty minutes of rest between the end of the graphic novel interiors and the phone call for the bible job. Not a full hour--forty minutes. I'm now through the Psalms in the bible job, by the way. During the holidays I juggled both the bible pages and the extra graphic novel stuff (remember that?)

We went absolutely bonkers with the extra goodies on these graphic novels. Wait until you see them. Each book has custom endpaper maps, spine, cover details--it's really nuts. I turned the bibliography into a comic. They are jam-packed with information, there is barely a blank spot in them. They'll be out this year, I'll let you know more as we get closer to release (this summer.)

I'm happy to say that both graphic novels are now in China and printing. We tightened up every possible loose end last week. We are now in talks for book 3 and 4.

Oh, and I'm still sick. The stomach bug everybody had last week morphed into a head cold for everybody this week. Weirdest bug ever.

I'm trying to get back to a place where I can post daily. I rarely missed a day for the past two years, so you can imagine how frustrating it is for me to look back on the past few months. Especially last week. Yuck.

I'm not doing the Picture Book Marathon this year. Not this February anyway. We're sticking with Taco Hell to the end! And it does have an ending--in case you were worried. I know exactly how it all wraps up. I just haven't had the time (or energy) to keep the posts coming.

We're going to get through Taco Hell, then the posts are going to be much simpler. Nothing but Naming Games and Pinniped Parties until July.

July is when the bible job ends. I'm hoping for a fifty minute break between the end of that job and the start of graphic novels 3 and 4.

The Great Sick Week of 2012

Hey everyone. We're just going to make a clean break with the whole week. See you Monday. Should be put back together by then.

One More Day

Bear with me for one more day. Three out of the four people in my house have some kind of bug or other. It's no fun.

Should be back on track tomorrow, though.

Sick Days

Never in all my years of blogging have I had a story with so many interruptions. I'm currently fighting the stomach bug that's going around. I hope to be up and posting tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Taco Hell Drive Thru Part 2-6

Taco Hell Drive Thru Part 2-5

I don't want to leave you all hanging here over the weekend. So come back tomorrow, we'll do a special Saturday edition because of the two days missed this week.

Taco Hell Drive Thru Part 2-4

Eyeball Massacre!

Okay, so my appointment this morning was a screening to see if I was a good candidate for LASIK surgery. My eyes have been bad my entire life--really, really bad. I've worn glasses since third grade, contacts for years, etc. I've wanted LASIK for as long as I can remember.

So I set up this appointment at the high-tech Moran Institute at the University of Utah. I thought the screening would be a five minute sit-down talk with an eye doc. Boy, was I wrong. They tortured my eyeballs for three and a half hours! EYE carumba! (Get it? EYE...never mind) I stared deeply into at least twelve laser beams, had yellow goo dripped into my eyes, stared up, stared down, etc. They did NOT use the worst machine--that wicked thing that shoots the puff of air into your eye. So, at least there's that. But they used everything else.

And guess what? I DON'T qualify for LASIK. The doctor said my corneas are too thin. According to him, LASIK is "Out of the question!" I do qualify for super-awesome corneal implants--which I would totally get, if they weren't, ulp, $4,000 per eyeball. (by my math, that's over $12,000 total!)

So I'll be wearing my glasses and contacts for a few more years, until the price drops.

My eyes were so blitzed that I had to drive home with crazy dark glasses. When I got home and looked in the mirror, they looked like this:

The light on my face is bright afternoon sun. That's some crazy dilation.

Needless to say, I don't want ANY extra staring at the screen time today. So you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the next part of the Taco story.

Late Post today

I will have a post up today--just later on in the day. I've got an early morning appointment that's messing my schedule up. Watch for the update this afternoon/evening!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

I thought I just announced several weeks of no holidays. I was wrong. In any case, Happy MLK Jr. Day. See you tomorrow.

Taco Hell Drive Thru Part 2-3

Taco Hell Drive Thru Part 2-2

Taco Hell Drive Thru Part 2-1

Taco Hell Drive Thru Part 2

TACO TUESDAY!

Hey guys, I know everyone's excited for the second half of TACO HELL. I'm not drawing it out to build suspense. Well, I am--but not on purpose. My bottomless deadlines have chased me through the holidays and I'm still catching up. A big one ends Monday, so next Tuesday will be TACO TUESDAY.

(scary voice) T-a-a-a-a-a-co Tu-u-u-u-esda-a-a-a-y.

Last One, I Swear.

Donut, Unicorn Horn, Goggles and Bunny Ears.

Okay, I think I've gotten it out of my system.

Also a Hat and Clown Nose.

Blue-feathered Star-Faces LOVE clown noses and bowler hats.

Okay, okay, enough already! I just like this little guy so much--he's so fun to accessorize!

A Monster with a Banner

Woops! I forgot something important--the banner! My site's not called Space Nathan. I had to put the STATION banner in there. That's better.

Space Nathan, out.

Happy New Monster!

Brand new year, brand new monster!

Mr. Turvildog has retired with the year. We have a new banner mascot! Say hello to the Blue-feathered Star-face!

I had a great break over the holidays. I'm looking forward to getting back into my blogging groove. This is my favorite time of year, the January to April corridor, no holidays, no school breaks, no nonsense, just a clean, unbroken set of weeks--it's beautiful!

What do we have lined up in the coming months...let's see...we have the Picture Book Marathon next month. That usually comes with a journey to the Land of Doom. I've got another Rick Walton spoof waiting in the wings (remember when we did Frankenstein?) I've got a big LEGO project on the horizon. And, of course, we have the exciting conclusion to the Taco Bell story--that will most likely start later this week.

I'm going to push my books more this year. 2011 saw zero books released from me, but 2012 will be a record year--THREE books will be coming out this summer/fall. You'll be hearing a lot about those.

So, off we go!

Name That ELF! Day 7

And here they are--everyone's elfs!

Yesterday's winning name was "Dean," by Shannon Hale. Santa is a big fan.

That's it! Have a Merry Elf Christmas everybody!

I'll be back in January! Maybe I'll post something over the break--but I've never needed a break so badly, so I might not. In any case, big things are coming in January. Starting off with the second half of Taco Hell Drive Thru.

Thanks for a great year of comments!

Confused Elf Day

Hi guys, one more day to enter your elf--tomorrow I'll post it and we'll call it a year!

Reverse Elf Name Day!

Oh this should be fun. We're flipping the tables for this elf.

You name and describe it first, then I--I mean SANTA--will choose the one to draw for tomorrow! Name that Reverse Elf!

And keep naming yesterday's light-hanging elf. I--I mean SANTA--didn't get a chance to choose a name for him yet.