What Is The Case of the Wendigo?

Let us rewind to Charlie & Clow.

CharlieandClow_cover_new_small

Charlie & Clow is the story of Charlie, a college student who is walking home from class one day when she encounters a demon. She partners up with Clow, a mysterious goth man, and together they save each other and the city from this supernatural threat.

It was a black-and-white webcomic that aired on October 29, 2014 and then became a book on Storenvy.

Then came the follow-up adventure in 2015, Charlie & Clow: The Bonus Arc. This was the story of life with the punky duo that newsletter subscribers got to read until it, too, was gathered into a book.

charlie and clow the bonus arc cover

On October 18th (next Tuesday), the final installment of Charlie & Clow, The Case of the Wendigo will launch…and unlike the previous two chapters, this new chapter in the story will be in FULL COLOR.

case of the wendigo promo

I’m really stinking excited for this new chapter because there will be romance, and new haircuts, and rogueishly handsome demons, and cosplay, and music, and OH MY GOSH I’m looking forward to making this!

Patrons on Patreon will get to not only see comic updates a day early, but also see how the comic gets made. So if you want to subscribe to The Case of the Wendigo, just check back on the Charlie & Clow site. If you want to SUPER subscribe, check out the Patreon.

Again, the story launches October 18th. Get hyped!

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

On Acceptance

I was originally going to rewrite this, as it started as a journal entry, but I think I’ll just type it up as is. I will, however, add description on a key character.

acceptance essay chaco canyon pueblo ruins

Annoyance with Trump won’t get me anywhere. Anybody can be Trump. He is not unique.

The way to win is not hating them or pushing them to a corner of the internet so they can wallow in hatred for others AND themselves, like Greg.

Let’s talk about Greg: he’s my mom’s ex-boyfriend, who lived in our house for about a year. He was unemployed for nine months of that year, as he got fired for showing up drunk to work and yelling at his boss.

He was, and I gander he still is, an alcoholic.

When mom finally broke it off with Greg and got him situated in his apartment, not ONLY did he get so drunk he passed out on the couch and didn’t help her move his ten-ton furniture – but during Thanksgiving he got so drunk he went outside, fell off a retainer wall by the driveway, and passed out in 30 degree Fahrenheit weather for about 3 hours. He had to be life-flighted to the hospital, wherein he told the doctor, “I don’t have a drinking problem.”

You know, like a liar.

Greg lied a lot, not just about drinking.

Greg is also an avid Trump supporter.

Of all the people I have met in my life, Greg is the most like Donald Trump.

And here’s the thing: Greg. HATED. Himself.

He would moan about how he was such an awful person, and never did a damn thing to fix it.

The problem is the only people who can change them are themselves. You yourself can’t change them or their opinions.

Compassion and forgiveness CAN help – they are not the only cure-all, especially in situations like this, but it’s certainly more effective than relegating these people to sit in the corner, aka the dark hug-boxes for people like them on the internet.

I am reminded of the scenario illustrated in The Zen Book by Daniel Levin, about the priest and the baby. It goes like this:

A young, unwedded girl from the village gave birth to a baby. She said the father was the priest who lived in town. The girl’s parents came to the priest and demanded he care for the baby, to which he said, “Is that so?”

Disgraced by the town, the priest took the baby and raised her as his own child. Years later, the mother of the baby confessed and said the father was not the priest, but a young man who worked in the fields. The parents of the girl came to the priest to apologize and ask for the baby to be returned. And the priest said, “Is that so?”

Only the girl and the parents could change their ideas. No amount of debate the priest could give would change their mind. The only thing he could do was roll with the punches and keep moving forward.

It’s not about trying to prove yourself right in the eyes of others. What matters is that you are right with yourself. Accept the truth when others choose to ignore it.

And here’s the truth: we all have the capacity to be Greg. Or Trump. But we also have the capacity to be Martin Luther King, JR. and Mother Theresa.

It’s up to us how we want to move forward, and to do right with ourselves.

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.

Thoughtful Dinosaur’s KickStarter Run is Done

thoughtful dinosaur comic panel promo

Oh. My. Holy. Banana. Pants.

Thoughtful Dinosaur has been fully funded for its first print run, and we got way over our initial goal! So now backers will get not only the books, but they’ll get KickStarter-exclusive postcards and buttons (or pins, if you prefer to call them that). Pretty. Darn. Sweet.

Further updates regarding Thoughtful Dinosaur will now be happening over on the KickStarter page, and the updates will be public – for the most part. Of course there will be backer-only updates with information that regards them in particular, but everything else will be available for the public. That means you’ll see updates on how the book printing is going, what the buttons will look like, and lots of other fun stuff!

Again, be sure to check the Thoughtful Dinosaur page for more updates.

In other news, I have a timeline in mind for leaving the day job (yes, I have one. If you want to know what’s going on, read this post). It’s not immediate, but the goal is to be able to leave there and get something new going by April 2017.

What’s the plan for work after the day job? Right now my mind’s on freelancing full-time, which means saving back money until I can make the leap, but nothing is set in stone (yet). I want to stay open for new possibilities!

One possibility is doing more gallery work – Patrons on Patreon know I’ve been working on some new illustrations and paintings, as they’ve been getting snapshots of my works-in-progress. There’s a local gallery looking for new artists, and the deadline to submit a portfolio is December… or possibly January. One of the members there told me it changes depending on the weather, literally.

PLUS! I’m getting The Case of the Wendigo ready for launch within the next two weeks! Stay tuned for more updates.

So there’s some excitement on the horizon! Be sure to check back again by Tuesday.

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.