It has arrived.

Yes, after a long wait, Pleiades has arrived.

I was immediately disappointed to see that it needed another correction.

I was also so displeased with the quality of one of the illustrations, that I intended to remove both of them. My editor disagreed with me on this one, and we debated on it for a while. I acknowledge that I might have a more critical eye than anyone reading it, but said that I'd never be able to rest easy knowing that 'poor quality' image was included. I argued that it didn't look like something that would come from a proper publisher (though in hindsight, I take that back). Finally he said, "don't let perfection be the enemy of good."
He really liked the illustrations, and thought I'd be diminishing the quality of the book by removing them, not improving it.

So I conceded, provided I could put a frame around the image to seperate the illustration's "white" background from the white of the page.

So here's hoping the next "final test" will be the last one, and that it won't take 52 days to get here.

Two New Faces

I've got two newly finished heads to show you, from the BJD webcomic Emmy: Self-Titled.

The two most major characters besides Emmy herself: Dr. Mike Saterlee and Morgan.

Saterlee

Morgan, profile

Morgan

They've got finished bodies (except for Saterlee's feet...) too. All that remains is to put some paint and clothes on them and finish the set, and I'll have another few pages to put up on the web SOON.

A delay in Pleiades

Well, as those of you following the Facebook or Kickstarter pages already know, Pleiades has been on hold pending the arrival of the final proof in the mail. Yesterday I emailed Lulu (they request you wait up to six weeks before reporting an error) and let the know I hadn't yet received it. This morning I received an email apologizing for the wait and informing me that they were sending out a new copy today.
Finally... I'm really looking forward to being able to send this out! Hopefully it won't take more than another week.
Until then... we wait.

But in the meantime, it's time to continue work on Emmy.

I'm living in my parents' basement temporarily (so long to my lovely little house...), and have my workspace set up again. I want to complain about how hard it is to keep things up to date when I'm moving around like this, but I know the story of Lotte Reiniger, who managed to produce 12 of her revolutionary stop-motion paper puppet films in 11 years while on the run from the Nazis. So I can't whine. It's actually rather inspiring.

Thank you for staying tuned. I promise I'll have a worthy update for you very soon. I'm dying to show you the comic... it's going to be so cool (if I say so myself).

Pleiades: eBook now available

Yes, finally, the eBook version of Pleiades is available! And since it's only 99 cents, you've no reason not to treat yourself to these seven short stories.

Get it on Smashwords.

If you're not convinced, Smashwords offers a sample (the first 30% of the book). You can also download a free chapter at the Pleiades website.

Now that the eBook is finished, I can finally get the print copy published and mailed to my dear Kickstarter.com backers.

(Pleiades cover image by Jessica Tam http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessicatam/ )

New Book Website

In anticipation of the book's release, I've completely revamped the Pleiades website.

 

In addition to the existing sample chapter pdf, you can now listen to an audio file of one of the book's chapters for free directly from the website.

Pleiades: Seven Stories of Unhurried Solitude will be available as an ebook, audiobook, and in hard copy on December 1st, 2012.

Don't forget to subscribe to this blog to receive the latest updates about Pleiades and other projects from We Are Seven Studios.

Pleiades Illustrations

The publication of Pleiades: Seven Stories of Unhurried Solitude, is still on schedule, but the parts I thought would take the most time have been the fastest to complete, and the parts I thought would be a breeze have taken me the longest. The audiobook still isn't finished and available, but the final editing took very little time at all. In fact, what ended up slowing down the book's release (though not beyond the expected date) was the insertion of the illustrations.

Although I originally planned to have a total of five, for various reasons I ended up having to cut the number. I chose the two I liked best, and, unless I'm absolutely unable to put them in the book without distorting them, the following two images will be the final illustrations.

Pleiades, chapter 7 illustration

Pleiades, chapter 1 illustration

Hope you like. :)

And now back to your irregularly scheduled Emmy

Are you ready for a super-condensed update? I certainly hope so.

Pleiades is still on schedule (recording begins Tuesday, barring any catastrophes).

Emmy: Self-Titled is now up on Blogger. emmyselftitled.blogger.com

That's all for now. Expect more substantial updates on both topics within the next week.

Thanks folks. Have a great night.