Good morning!
At last, spring is coming and with it, book events will be coming up soon!
I’ve put in my application for a couple of places to be a vendor. There, you’ll be able to grab more shirts, keychains, posters and everything!
Firstly, I the Tween Q&A Storywriting event will take place March 24th!
THANK GOODNESS THERE’S NO MORE SNOW WOOHOO!!
I have plans for this event! Even if it’s an hour long, I’m excited to have people trying their hand at designing their own characters!
In terms of writing, I’ve been kind of stagnant lately. The recent shifts in the world, the times, and my job have been taking over. However, bits and pieces of book three have been written out. The process is still slow, but it’s been good overall!
Now… What’s this about Animation?
You see, a small indie animation company contacted me via Mysherra’s voice actor. They go by @CherriTeam. They linked me up to their personal Discord group, and showcased a ton of animations, personal projects, and more!
Arutairu is a keyframe animator, some of their work is below!
The colorist, by the name richiie, is the head of CherriTeam. They detailed the terms and conditions of the short 2minute animation based on this storyboard I did of Mysherra’s origins.
At first, I was skeptical, but after getting to see each individual person’s works, I realized that they were literally indie artists like I am– a small party of people seeking ways of becoming part of a bigger picture. I decided to take up their offer, but they would need funding. Animation is expensive!
I’ll be posting another Kickstarter in the hopes that more support comes around to see this animation come to life. With the original audio of the video above, I want to see this brought to life somehow.
The proposed budget by the studio was $3000. No contracts have been made or signed yet– and nothing was spent on my end. I had to be cautious about the offer– I never did anything like this, and the asking price is a lot.
I decided to set a two-month frame of time to try and ready the funding of this. My last Kickstarter failed likely due to rising costs and the closeness to Christmas, but I want to see if I can make this work this time. The price will be less than the previous attempt, but there will still need to be work done to spread the message. For now, this is just a note to everyone to say “Check it out, support if you can”. If anyone has a proposition for cooler rewards for the process, I am always happy to hear them!
To my fans and followers, I am endlessly grateful that you continue to enjoy the series.
Now… A preview of Chapter 1 of Book 3
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There’s probably a lot of stressful things in the world about telling someone about a deeply kept secret. Confessions laid out about murders or crimes are adrenaline fueled nightmares that end quickly—but if the secret has been hidden for so long, does it make sense to tell anyone? Does it become a threat, or is it just something that’s lived with until death?
I’ve read accounts from people who came out to their families expecting the worst. Some got that, some didn’t. Hell, there have been people who were shunned for just dating a person of color. But the apprehension, the trembling fingers, the constant working and reworking of the words in the consciousness. The want to lie, to tell a different story altogether, to lessen the blow with little half-truths here and there. “It just happened,” lightens the load and makes it seem like the world just did it. “I wasn’t in control,” puts the blame on someone or something else. So many excuses could be said to alleviate the reality of something.
Lying can’t go on forever, and hiding until the day I die would mean I wouldn’t live at all.
This was it.
With careful gestures, all I did was draw a circle in the air. Energy conjured at the tip of the pen and burned the air, the blue flame solidifying, held in stasis in the space between myself and Imani.
I avoided looking at her directly, choosing to stare at the hovering piece of flame. From my peripherals, her eyes were wide, her mouth held slightly agape. Her fingers came towards the circle. Carefully, she touched it.
It was warm for a reason. Sunlight was designed to be as intense or as comforting as the weather permitted. As Mysherra was concerned, her breath warmed the cool air around us, breaking the fall chill and creating something akin to a miniature hearth.
And when the energy was expended, it fizzled from reality, crackling and popping into glittering ether.
No one spoke. Not me. Not Mysherra. Not Imani. The silence would have pulled my nerves taut if they weren’t already loosened from the stress of wandering Jonah.
The Dragon's Den 
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