The ride I've been on for the last several years has been mostly medical in nature:
"Benign Essential" Tremors (I did not find mine to be either benign or essential. They were quite intense, sending my to the ER twice);
a septoplasty;
runaway blood pressure;
a stroke, which thankfully, has left me with some minor neuropathy, mostly in my left shoulder and ribs;
a detached retina in my right eye;
scar tissue on the eye from the retina surgery, requiring a vitrectomy to follow up;
a cataract in my right eye resultant from the two eye surgeries;
a TIA (sometimes called a mini-stroke) which led us to finding
an aneurysm on my left carotid artery where it branches off inside my brain;
a surgical procedure to implant a pipeline stent in the carotid to try to shrink the aneurysm;
the other retina detached, leading to the rapid growth of the cataract in that eye; and
swelling in the left eye from the cataract surgery.
Dealing with all that, plus my wife's bout with cancer, financial struggles, assorted other family crises and just everyday "normal" life, I have not been left with a whole lot of time, energy, creative drive or clarity to devote to my creative endeavors. I managed to continue to write, create artwork and make music during this time, but it has been a struggle to do so, even in dribs and drabs.
Often, over the last few years, I've made some false starts on various projects I've announced here and on my facebook page. G.I.Jeff, Pig-Fist and Bacon, and Monster Bird are all "in progress", as in, I've done some work on them all, but got none of them finiished. My attempt at reformatting Roadfrogs into a comicbook page format has also stalled. A lot of that was due to difficulties with my vision and neuropathy. Some was because my workspace had become a cluttered mess. And some was the disarray in my mind that prevented me from being able to put myself on a schedule and stick to it.
On the other hand, during this time, in 2013 I did manage to finish the initial Roadfrogs webcomic pretty close to on time. I also finished one novel, which, having gone through several edits, is now in the hands of my first readers, and I have gotten through what I think will turn out to be the most difficult section of another novel. I have entered the Illustrators of the Future contest every quarter for the last six or seven years. Most of those quarters I've entered either new work or new edits of old work to the contest. Most of those works have been renders of 3D computer art. From those entries I have twice been a quarterly finalist and received one honerable mention!
I have temporarily abandoned short story writing and thus have not recently entered the Writers of the Future contest, but I do have two stories that garnered personal rejection letters (as opposed to form letters) from magazine editors. One of my goals for this year is to polish up at least one of those and either enter it in WotF or submit it to a mag.
I've also written a few new praise and worship songs, some of which the praise team at my church has taught to our congregation. At the same time, I've had to put plans for two new CDs on the back burner for now.
But a funny (weird) thing happened when I had my stroke in 2016. Something in my brain changed. The inhibiting fear of rejection or ridicule dissipated. I won't say that it's totally gone. I still doubt my abilities constantly, but I think that now it's only to the degree that makes me push harder to be better at what I do, rather than building to a paralyzing anxiety. Later, in 2019, a few weeks after the pipeline stent went in my head, I recognized that I suddenly had a clarity of thought that was unfamiliar to me. My brain was and is reaping the benefit of the corrected blood flow that the aneurysm had inhibited.
So, all that to say that now, I am hard at work on a project that has rolled around in my head for several years. ANGELS AND HEROES will first be published as a black-and-white webcomic, beginning sometime later this year. I've already penciled the first 20-page chapter and scripted the first two chapters. My next step is to pencil chapter two, then ink and letter both chapters before I move on to continue the story. Eventually, when I have completed the first story arc, which should take about six chapters, I hope to publish a full color trade paperback edition.
I'm really excited about this project! I am writing and drawing better than I ever have! I've actually surprised myself with some of the drawings I've been able to do lately. I've already shared some of the pencils for chapter one on my facebook page. I'll be sharing more pics soon, as well as details about the story.
Finally, a big thank you to all the friends and family who have been praying for me during all this craziness. I'm really looking forward to what the future holds. Don't worry: G.I.Jeff, Pig-Fist and Bacon and Monster Bird will happen, I just don't have any idea when.
I'll try to post here regularly with updates on the webcomics, the novels and whatever other projects pop up.
See ya later, 'bye!
