Need for Sleep

I am so very tired but am keeping myself up trying to eek out that last little bit of work.  Work you say?  Why what work would that be?

Currently I am lettering and making the greys on Snow Leopard which will be published in the CAG Manga Anthology With Honor.  The piece was written and created by Henry Covert, penciled by Albie Luciano, and inked by Alex Rivera.  I am simply the lowly letterer and adder in of many skies and snowfall for this one... this team gets all the credit. With Honor Facebook group That is a link to where you can get more info, preview some of the artwork, and become a fan of With Honor.

I am on page 16 (turns out it was page 20 that I had previously completed) of Am I Immortal now for pencils... I think.  It's in my bag so I'm not sure.  I'm really happy with how the pencils are turning out.  One of my mentors once said that a lot of great comics and stories are that one step ahead because the pages show you actions without words... sorta like if you watch a movie in fast forward... you may not get the joke, but you can tell what's happening based on the attitude of the characters within the frame and know one has been told.  I'm trying for that... and my usual one panel I love per page.  Wish me luck!

I made a necklace.... It is pink so I will be selling it, LOL.  It says love on it... and I might be tempted to vomit in its presence if I hadn't created the darned thing.  I'll probably sell it before anything else just because I feel that way.  Always seems to be how it works.  After this weekend I intend upon getting some stuff up on etsy. I will provide a link when I do.

I finished the redesign of my site.  Now comes the tricky part of figuring out how to make it do what I want.  I will have a meeting at some point this next week or the week after with Devin, who is the original designer of most of my sites inner workings.  With any luck... you will see some changes shortly in it's basic function, though the layout will remain much the same.  I will continue with updates on it's progress.

I have started to set blogs up for others who will run under my banner.  Those will play a big part in the main site upon it's completion.  Right now I have mine.... obviously... and have set up Nathan Baker's which is : The Silent Soul .  I know he has some writing up in a link there, so make sure to stop by and say hi, if you will.

I think I turned into a pumpkin hours ago and just haven't seen fit to get up and go to bed.  ARGH!!! I'll rest when I'm dead.  I need ice cream and coffee, that's all.

~S

Haunted

Welcome once more to my night, lost souls.  I am pleased to announce that I have been quite infected with a new tale.  It is unfurling in my mind like a soft petaled cereus and has been filling my head with such evil musings.  A word of warning... this story is not mine, but Godslayer, which belongs to Nathan Baker.  That means you can expect a bunch of steam punkish trippy crap from me for a while and that's not a bad thing at all.  Anyways, my child is still the devil... my husband still patiently waiting for me on the couch... and I have nothing very interesting to say except for an update of events.

Today we got the shots from both graveyards for Am I Immortal.  This means I have the shots for The Crypt as well as all the graveyard shots for Coast to Coast (which is book 4).  I will still need shots from the marina, the highway, the alley behind the radio station, and for the running sequence in mystic.  I know that sounds like a daunting amount of images... but it's not and could all be taken care of easily in one day.  Whilst in the big graveyard in mystic, we came upon a chestnut tree that was ripe, so we looked up a recipe to roast chestnuts cause we wanted to see what they tasted like.  I mean if it sucked they would not have made a song about it at all.  Then it occurred to me that we would be eating chestnuts that came from a graveyard.... is that wrong?  It's the ultimate form of recycling.  Would that be the vegetarian version of cannibalism.  Hmmm.  My my who would have thought that getting a few photos would lead to such a scandal.  Well, if anyone does have an issue... I WRITE ABOUT VAMPIRES... and any woman who doesn't enjoy entertaining a light snack from time to time is just... a nun!

Next comes the drawing part.  I have pencils completed through page 11 now for Am I Immortal: The Crypt.  Normally that would be anticlimactic but I know that I already have page 16 and 24 done...so that means I'm over half way there.  I have the physical cover art completed as well, but was going to make a digital version for the cover itself.  When (yes I said when) I have a gallery opening in the future, you will be able to see Blood River.  I told you about that last week so time to move right along.

Girl parts!!!! My son has a riding lesson on Thursdays and every time we go they have more bones for me.  There was a doe who died there and now she's spread all over the field, but when they find her bones they give them to me.  Right now I have her skull and some of the major bones from her legs.  I really hope for a couple ribs and some vertebrae, or a hip...man that would rock.  Why am I a hoarder of this girl you ask?  Well, she is not my first set of bones.  She however is the first that wanted to be something.  I am going to give her wings and fit the parts I have so that she can become something again.  I rarely work in sculpture and have been moved by her to give her what she wants, to be made immortal.  So look forward to that sometime in the future.

I also managed to write a few more pages of Am I Immortal: The Runaway.  I think I know what the character looks like and I'm really excited about it.  I need to clarify it in my mind a bit more before I attempt to make it.  I mean it took me about 3 months of thinking before I put the goth king down and he turned out OK.  I think this rugged runaway will come faster, but we'll see.

Last news is the Logo.  You see it actually... to the right with my last name over it.  I know, pretty sweet huh?  Shame this blog thing insists on microscopic.  So my work will now have that logo on it even if I am signed cause that's how I roll... or I just really like my logo, LOL.  Also, any other creator whom I work with who wants to be under my umbrella will have that marking, but with their name over it... obviously.  I'll have to see what they are turning out but, I have faith in those I run with.  On that same note I had wanted to mention Liz Ortiz's first book, Rasgal, will bare the mark in it's next printing.  The book is really good (I have a copy of the first printing) and I am so happy that she has been able to push and make her dreams a reality... and in record time!  Congrats Liz on #1!!!!

So with that my darlings I must go about the rest of my evening.  Next week I may only be by once as I have a convention in Vermont.  Bakuretsucon.  I love that con.  It's like a vacation cause we all know each other.  Should be great times.  Stop by if you're in the area!

~S

The New Night

Today begins the new night.  By this I mean... Recently I have become independent.  I am starting fresh under my own name again.  Mind you this is quite a frightening prospect.  I feel this to be the lesser of two evils however.  I have always been better at keeping by my own clock... and have blossomed into something that likes to work alone, much like many of my influences.  Those whom I share my mind with, well lets just say it's like expanding upon my own thoughts rather than compromising with another separate entity.  I hope to offer a home for those who have been disillusioned and displaced, and offer you... those few who crave more than just to be meek the chance to meet those I am shared with.

Now I will share with you what I have been up to:

Am I Immortal (Immortal Gothic) by Shawnti Therrien,  Packt: the Crypt is one third of the way through pencils.  I hope to get the photography done in the next couple weeks so I can beat leaf fall

Am I Immortal (Immortal Gothic) by Shawnti Therrien, The Runaway: Twilight Path is three pages in for writing... and for those of you who are not aware of how crazy I am... that would be book fourteen in the series.

Meth (Atlas Unleashed) by Shawnti Therrien, The Collection is completed.  I am in discussion with Atlas Unleashed about the final details of printing, release, and promotions.  If you want an ad in that book, please contact me, myrretah @ gmail.com,  for rates and sizing specifications.  Any and all support is appreciated.

Static Lullaby (Atlas Unleashed) by Nathan Baker part one is to inks.  The first two pages are completed.  I will finish the pages as I recieve them from the inker, Sean Therrien, and thank Nathan Baker once more for granting us such an amazing concept to work on.

Static Lullaby (Atlas Unleashed) by Nathan Baker part two is in the finishing stages of script completion.  I already have some great ideas for the pages and hope to start on some concepts once the script is fully polished and approved.  I feel lucky that I had the chance to sit down with Nathan at the convention this last weekend to work out the gory details.

GodSlayer (Unsigned) by Nathan Baker is through to the conceptual stage.  I was able to create a couple good images that lend a feel to the world that story takes place in even though they are only of the characters themselves.  Once more it just meant sitting down with Nathan and getting them on the page so he can shop the idea around and find the right artist (more on that coming soon).  I hope to have further involvement in this story even though I will not be the main artist as I love the idea.

Blood River, a painting by Shawnti Therrien is now completed.  I will make a digital version that will be the cover for Am I Immortal book three. 

With Honor, the CAG Manga Anthology is in it's last stages.  Tweaking lettering.  Triple checking the stories.  The printer is still up in the air so I am not sure what size the pages need to be.  That makes things a bit more difficult.  My only hope is to give all the artists the best first impression that they could hope for.  Some are new and this will be their first published work.

How too, Yes I am gonna be in a how to book.  In fact I should be doing that instead of writing this and working on concepts for godslayer...but I have to keep a careful balance in my head of things.  All of the artwork is prepped and ready to go.  I am unsure of what they want for Copy so I am procrastinating.   I should not...

With that said I promise you an update soon.  Thank you so much and I will keep you posted on the horror that is my life as best I can....

~S