What's it called, a shenanigan?

What's that thing called that professors take every seven years? A shenanigan, a sombrero--a sabbatical! That's it, a SABBATICAL!

Hey, everybody, turns out that January was one of those things, a sabbatical from all things web-related. I haven't posted here, on my Hazardous Tales blog, on Twitter, on Tumblr or even Facebook--no wait, I posted a picture of my wife shoveling the walk, and a picture of my wife getting her Master's degree in Library Science. Both pictures, I might add, had about 70 more comments and likes than the usual illustrations I post. What can I say, people like Mindy!

I was going to start posting bright and early on January 1st, straight back into my rock-solid five-a-week schedule I once kept so well. Then I had a million loose ends on Hazardous Tales #3. Then I got the stomach flu. Then I got used to not posting. I have to say, it's NICE to take a break from the internet from time to time. A good, month-sized break.

For the past two years or so, the Deadline Status Indicator in the studio has looked like this:

Needle buried. CRITICAL!

Through two graphic novels, then the bible, then a picture book, then ANOTHER graphic novel, it has looked like this. Thousands of pages of illustration. Aye carumba! That critical needle can really wear you out.

Phew. On the one hand, it's been great! Nothing beats being a busy freelancer. On the other hand, Holy Mackerel! Am I beat! I've been flattened like a pancake! Not to mention fattened--my exercise regime took a nosedive and my snack routine doubled. Ugh.

The good news is, for the first time in forever, I have some actual wiggle room. Hazardous Tales #4 has a deadline hovering somewhere in the green.

What am I going to do with this newfound freedom? Picture book marathon? Crazy elaborate blog comic? Some sort of Name-That-Thing game. Nope. Folks, I'm taking a break. You may argue that I've already taken a break from blogging, and you'd be right--but that was an accidental break. This one's on purpose.

I'm taking the rest of January off. When February comes. Boom! I'll try again to harness the power of the five-a-week posts.

But for now, I'm taking a sombrero.

A Little MORE Housekeeping...

Sorry everyone. I'm still wrapping up Hazardous Tales #4. So many loose ends!

{EDIT} Hazardous Tales #3, woops. #4 is far from complete.

A Little New Year House Keeping

I'm ramping up to a big year here on the blog. But I'd like a bit of a fresh start. We're going to revamp the look of things here. New background, banner, etc.

Check back in Monday, January 7th for the new look and the new year of blog posts.

Hazardous Tales Book #3 is in the Can!

Earlier today I turned in the final artwork for Hazardous Tales #3! The final 72 hours were pretty spectacular and will certainly go down in my personal record book. I had an honest-to-goodness 8 page day yesterday. EIGHT PAGES! I had enough caffeine in my system to power a small aircraft.

Last summer, during the London Olympics, Amazon put the Chariots of Fire soundtrack up as a 99 cent download. I bought it for a laugh--you know, you put it on then run through the room in slow-motion--it's a classic joke. Anyway, I ended up listening to it a bunch. It was playing when I finished the bible project this fall. It was great! Today, as I was wrapping the final page of Hazardous Tales #3, I played it again. I know, it sounds pretty goofy, but that music really locks in on the feeling of finishing a monumental task. It has been moved from my "Novelty" playlist to my "Special Occasions" playlist. Fantastic stuff.

I've heard rumors that it is now Christmas time. I'm going upstairs--possibly even outdoors to investigate. I hope there's cookies and egg nog up there.

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

Hey everyone,

Whoo. Sorry for the disappearing act. As you probably guessed, I'm deep, deep, DEEP into a nonsensical deadline. Hazardous Tales #3. It became decidedly knotty in the final stretch. I've had to work all hours to get the final artwork in. The final book is due Dec 17th.

It's 128 pages, the same length as the first two. And it's really good. I'm absolutely delighted with how it is going (I just wish I had finished it a month ago.)

In order to finish the pages (around twenty + the backmatter/Correction Baby/fun stuff) I've dropped basically ALL internet posting.

After the 17th, I'm going to be as lazy as possible through the holidays. I'm going to see some movies, organize some LEGO bins, and maybe take a whack at some of the neglected video games I've purchased over the last two years and never played--seriously, I see a good deal on a game (curse you Gamefly used sales!) buy it, then put it in my cupboard with the others. I have a backlog of at least nine games I've never even played.

I'm also going to clean out my studio, which, as you may imagine is FILTHY. It's like a monkey cage in here (with a cupboard of unplayed console games!)

I'll see you in 2013. I won't promise any holiday posting between now and then (because, as you know, when I promise things on the blog, it is a guaranteed kiss of death for said promised thing.)

Cheerio!

The Blue Streaks of November

I like to keep careful charts and graphs of big projects I work on. Here's my November wall calendar for Hazardous Tales #3:

Each line represents a finished page. When a line touches the top of a day, that means a page is done. So on the 1st, those are three pages I started and finished in one day. Most other pages get spread out. There's a page on the 21st that doesn't get finished until the 26th. The key is to have some pages finishing each day.

I'm also showing this because it is an UNREAL number of pages for me. This is my all time personal record for completed pages in a month. I want to try and hit 60 before December. I'll keep you posted.

Deadline Time, Expect Delays...

Hey everybody,

I had a pretty good streak there for the last few months. Wrecked it this week by missing Monday, Tuesday, and, phew, Wednesday. Yeesh.

There was a big Hazardous Tales book three deadline on Monday. I had a real crunch. That deadline has now been extended for a few more weeks, meaning posting may be sporadic.

I'll try to stay out in front of it. And I need to finish this Sales Meeting story. Just bear with me, we'll right this runaway deadline train.

HAZARDOUS SALES part 6