Art-ing and Writing

Koreatown is done (?) but I’m having trouble figuring out the cover, so it’s a bit of a work in progress.

I’ve really committed to doing my own covers in recent days, and it’s been frustrating, exciting, and kind of hilarious. I have a perfectionism problem. I’ve made a ridiculous amount of thumbnails and sketches.

On the writing– I went back to Willow and Lira’s story, of all things. I like the chapter I’m working on today. I think I might try to finish it by the end of the day and then maybe get some art up.

False starts and some thoughts about covers and art

I usually have at least a week of false starts after I finish writing any long project. I finished the second Fox and the Rose book and then… flailed. for like 2 weeks straight. I always have way too many WIPs in the pipleline, and whenever I finish a book, I am usually excited to get back to one of them.

Usually, the next thing I write doesn’t end up being the thing I thought I was going to write.

I was really excited to revisit Mouse and Charis in a tentative story I’m working on, set between Fairytale and First Aid.

Ah, another false start. I’m back to working on Koreatown, and maybe this will be the one I finish.

I’ve also been making a lot of art. I probably owe a longer post to this, but I’ve been increasingly… idk, disturbed by gen AI and what it’s doing to the cultural and fictional landscapes. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably noticed that I have some AI covers on my books. I don’t love it. I go back and forth on it.

Often, I think it’s what I need to do in order to make sales, in order to produce books that are pretty enough to gain an audience. I am small and fleshy and made of meat and unfortunately I need to pay rent and pay for medication and buy food. And yet I do on some level think that every piece of AI art makes the world worse.

For years now I’ve gone back and forth on the idea of illustrating my own covers. Something in the idea must appeal to me, because why do I keep ending up here, time after time, year after year? But the process is so big and daunting. I don’t know how to have time to be a “professional” artist in that way and also to be a writer. The indie output schedule is brutal. I am never really keeping up.

Anyway, I don’t say any of that to make you feel sorry for me, or to excuse myself from anything, if there is something to be excused for. Just… this is where I’ve been at. I’ve been drawing a lot lately, making a lot of frankly very bad drawings of my characters, and also a few good ones when I get lucky. I’ve been thumbnailing covers and trying my best and just… trying.

Artist: jonasgoonface on Tumblr

I spend a lot of time thinking about this comic by jonasgoonface on Tumblr. I think about this whenever I make another bad drawing. I can be worse!! Maybe in a world full of AI, every bad drawing means more, if nothing else as an act of very human mark-making.

I’ve been working hard, and I’m quite tired. Feeling kind of wrung out but also like there is so much more work to do.

Mostly, I want to lose the AI covers because I feel like they cut me off from a community that I love and care about, a community that supported me when I was in fandom and that (understandably, laudably) loves their artists deeply and wants to defend them.

I don’t know that I can change all of my existing covers—certainly not overnight, not right away, and maybe not for a long time. But I can think hard about what I’m going to do moving forward, and i can try to do some things differently.

A screenshot of a drawing program with a half-finished line art drawing of a slender teenage boy falling through space
Trying to draw my favorite disaster prince, Nice.

The Fox and the Rose, vol. 2

I’m finishing up the edits on the next book in The Fox and the Rose series, and I can’t wait to show it to you. I’m excited to continue writing in the next book in the series, but also I am looking forward to taking a short break to finish off Koreatown.

I might be doing the cover art for this one myself! Here’s one sketch for the book cover. I might post the other thumbnails I did later if I can dig out my sketchbook (paper, like it’s 2004) in better lighting. <3

Sketch of Laurel and Shigeru for The Fox and the Rose, vol. 2 book cover

My art isn’t where I’d like it to be yet. I wish I could make more stunning illustrations! But I think I’m coming to realize that if I don’t start now, I’ll never get to where I’m hoping to go. So maybe we just enjoy the process.

Hibernation Station

I’ve been hibernating lately. I had a bad couple of weeks, and now things are better-ish. I feel pretty good.

I’ve been cross stitching a lot, and (related) watching a lot of The Rookie (2018 cop TV show) of all things. It is not that good! I have binged like 4 seasons in a few weeks!! It’s possible at this point that I am only watching this because I am somehow incredibly invested in Tim and Lucy getting together. I don’t even ship het. What is even happening.

I’ve also been drawing and painting a lot, and writing a lot, too. I started working on the sequel to The Fox and the Rose again, and I still love this project as much as I ever did.

I’ll show you some of what I’m working on sometime, but for now I’m going back to writing. ✌️😚

Edit: This is now lowkey a liveblog

11:11pm – I am lowkey obsessed with how Lucy is insane levels of jealous every time anyone is nice to Tim or Tim is nice to anyone. Aaron looks like an excited puppy getting to ride with Tim. Lucy looks like she’s about to do a murder.