Lost in the Dreamworld

Yeah, um, about that little smidge of history I was gonna post in the 'placeholder' Dreamworld page...

Well, I got to thinking (a rare but potent risk), if I'm going to slap some history up, the least I could do is include links to the old website' 'ryuu-neko' and 'flo-wood'' etc. pages.

A lightning fast addition - couple of old links, done deal. I'd pull the job off and be outta the vault before the cops even got the call. But... Well, if I'm going to post up the old pages, I could just as easily move their text and images into the new website format while I'm at it, right? Totally innocent. And as I was working with the text, I realized it really needed some brushing up, and - ooh! What if I made rollover images to use as the links from the Dreamworld page? And Fort Knox - how hard would it be, really, to clean them out? They're right next to the ATM machine, after all.

I know I'm only supposed to be doing drive-by web design on the way to glorious Volume 3 completion, but that's exactly what motivated me to do a thorough job on the 'Dreamworld' page. I realized that whatever I finished here and now would be staring accusingly in my face for the next year or longer, so I might as well make it pretty. Nobody wants to be glared at for years by a skunk-ugly web page.

So things snowballed out of control, I did not pass 'Go', and I spent two solid weeks finishing the 'Dreamworld' pages with Liz. Voila! Go check it out! Interactive map, technology pages, ryuu-nekos, and a big pile of Anduruna history. Especially in a fantasy story, it helps to have some context for the events, so I'm hoping these pages will help people anticipate the scope we have in mind for Dreamkeepers.

Still on my plate are the corrections and fixes on the old Volume 1 and 2 files, a necessary detour on the way to digital book sales -although with the Halloween contest coming up, I wouldn't look forward to those being ready for another month at least.

Working on the graphic novel 'characters' page has been scrapped for now, because I really need to get cracking on V3 again once those digital sales are set up.

So, yeah! Dreamworld pages up yesterday. Oh, and that same day I insulted a stranger while wearing a striped tie and a bright red fedora. And then I was given his sandwich as a reward. And then the Venture Brothers season 4 first episode premiered online. And I got to paint Halloween beads and watch Beetlejuice.

So...

Yes.

It was a good day.

V3 Sneak Peek #6: Totally unrelated.

It's been awhile since the last Sneak Peek for Volume 3 - sorry about the delay. Kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel during a discrete fact-finding trip to Latin America, I wasn't able to post an update until I'd fashioned a lock pick from a chicken bone, and surreptitiously made my way back to the States disguised as an illegal immigrant.

Well... Perhaps that story is only partially true - in the sense that it's not at all. But admittedly, it does sound cooler than my actual excuse - and it certainly carries more machismo.

...I was working on my web-site. HTML FTW!

There, I said it. I hope you’re happy. I was content with the ’escaping from drug lords’ storyline, but you had to have the “facts“. Well, persnickety one, prepare to be entertained.

I switched gears in September to focus on web design, and the effort was more work-intensive than anticipated. With the Halloween Fanart contest coming up again, I realized that it would be roughly the one year anniversary of the new gallery pages of the site... And correspondingly, the one year anniversary of nearly every gallery being labeled as ’Under Construction’. Fearing the truth would be revealed, and my fallacious usage of the phrase ’under construction’ exposed for the lie that it is, I figured it was time to get some web pages done.

The Fanart, Commissions, and Tutorials galleries are now open for viewing. I’m also finishing up the Prelude cast & storylines pages, more placeholder history for the ‘Dreamworld’ page, and I hope to get the digital book sales (finally!) set up in October, as well as a primary ‘characters’ page on the website.

Once all of that is accomplished, I’ll have - for the first time ever - a relatively complete and functional website for Dreamkeepers. I’m rather looking forward to it! Then I can jump back into Volume 3 production, with no diversions. And even though my penciling has stalled out over the last month, the colors are still moving forward in that 1st half of Chapter 7 - so once I’m back on task, some fully shaded and completed pages won’t be too far off.