As I was leaving my neighborhood the
other day, I saw a yard sign posted for the annual community garage
sale. Oh right I thought,
That was the thing I was going to do and then realized I
have nothing to actually sell.
The most obvious tell of this is that my single-stall garage stores
my car, not random junk.
What this means is
that a year ago this weekend, I looked at the condo I'm writing this
up in right now and put an offer in for. This was my summer of two
moves, where my parents and I just so happened to buy places to live
at the same time, but my closing was a month after theirs. The first
Owl's Flower was drawn partly at my old house, partly in an
extended-stay hotel, partly at my parents' new place, and partly at
my first “own” place. There was so much going on in my life that
I can't believe I actually was able to get drawings done for the
first of this new adventure of making a light novel series.
 |
| Herne's design comes from an established place (drawings circa 2012/2013). |
I've
wanted to make a book series for a very, very long time. Along with
that elusive illustration degree I have, I also studied and have a
minor in English. My graduation portfolio for my BFA featured all
sorts of characters I had created, both on the spot for pieces and
who had been sitting in my brain for years. The toner-ink warriors,
the desert pirate, the space farmers, the emperor mangoat – they
all had a story to them (which my class was often subject to hearing)
and were ready to go. But, as many will tell you, making
stories happen is hard, especially when you want to write and draw
it. Owl's Flower is kind of a relief in the sense that it's a story
I'm passionate about, and get to work with someone who is just as
passionate as I am. It's satisfying to say that the hurdle isn't
getting the first story out, it's doing the second, the third, the
seventh. That's an exciting place to be.
One of the things
Kara brought up in her post, which apparently I brought up, is that
the first book of the series is kind of...slow. And I don't say that
to complain, I say it as an observation when I was looking at things
to draw. Let's not use the word “slow” and instead say that was
it pretty mellow. Something that I was looking forward to with book 2
and beyond was that things would become more weird and mystical and
open for possibilities. I'm not calling for action scenes all the
time, necessarily, but I'm excited to bring this world of ours to
life as we keep going. More supernatural stuff, more new characters
to meet, and more of Herne's wings and antlers.
Book 3
was discussed the Monday after we had launched book 1 and I had gone
to a wedding. I can remember chugging a latte before taking off for
the airport and Kara and I were gabbing about the plot of book 3,
making jokes while also going “no wait that's a great idea”.
Ghost Fall is the
start of something really exciting and really fun, and I' m excited
to get this all out there for you guys to enjoy.
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