I was finally able to squeeze a couple hours into my schedule this weekend to finish inking another page. I'm still way behind on my plan to get another sizable buffer together before I start posting again, though. Another option, which I may default to, would be to not worry so much about a lengthy buffer, and instead to just try to maintain an even level of productivity, posting work as it's ready. My friend and studiomate Les, for example, works with a pretty short buffer, but his updates are steady and frequent. If I could manage to put more steady hours in each week I might be able to get back to a regular schedule without more than a page or two of buffer. As always, we'll see how it goes.

Also, I'm starting to plan my convention appearance schedule for 2009, with Emerald City Comicon and Stumptown Comics Fest already on my schedule for April. Any other conventions I should know about or try to make it to? Tell me about it in the forums and I'll see what I can do!

Sad news today, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this so quickly, but I have to take a break to build up a buffer again. As of today (Oct. 17) my buffer, which started out at close to 30 episodes, has dwindled to zero. Work and home life have conspired with my own laziness to keep me from drawing as much as I'd have liked, and there are no more finished updates ready to go for Monday.

I have the next page pencilled, and will be inking it this weekend as part of 24-hour comics day, so it's possible that I could get it posted by monday, though it would be uncolored. I could conceivably continue like that, posting new uncolored material as it's available, and coloring them in and replacing them in the archives as time goes on, though I'd prefer to only post colored material in the first place.

I'm curious to know what you all might think of that, though, so I've gone and set up a poll in the forum. Let me know what you think!

Hey! For what it's worth, I finally finished coloring and shading page 10 today! Which means it's time to start drawing some more pages, of course. The updates will continue unabated until at least mid-October (which is coming up a lot sooner than I thought). I'm going to spend some time this week roughing out the next couple sequences in the story, which will allow me to draw those pages soon. I feel like I have a good handle on where the story is going (which is to say I have the entire thing plotted out in rough outline form, broken down into four Acts of roughly 32 pages each), but I don't have most of the dialogue written, nor are the pages laid out yet. Coloring remains the most time-consuming part of the process, and if need be I'm prepared to just post the finished inks with coloring to come later after I'm adequately caught up.

Anyway, there's a long road ahead, and we're just getting started.

Hey! I made it into double-digits! I know, it's a small victory, but it's one I always like to commemorate somehow. Tomorrow I'll scan it in and begin coloring pages 9 and 10, which should keep the update buffer running well into October.

Sad to report that there just hasn't been much odd news the last couple weeks, since the hubbub about the fake Bigfoot died down. Where are the ghosts, the specters, the chupacabra sightings and crop circles, the psychic predictions and the freaks of nature? Do you hear me, world? Give me something WEIRD to believe in!

Rolling around a couple ideas for potential merchandise, including membership buttons/cards for the 11th Street Irregulars, and custom-drawn historical 'Souvenir Portraits', where I'll draw you (or anyone you know) as a character from Ellie Connelly, complete with period costume, on a 4x6 postcard. Thoughts? Share them in the forum!

This is just a simple update to say that I've finally finished coloring page 8! It's a small benchmark, but it's significant to me for reasons I won't really go into. What it means to you is that the comic will continue updating uninterrupted until the end of September at the least. And that is reason enough to celebrate, I think.

Coloring went much faster than usual this time - about 4 hours to flat the whole page, and about three hours for shading. This is good news, as it means that I could potentially finish about two pages a week including scripting, pencilling, inking and coloring. This number is merely an excercise, though, since I can't afford to work on the comic full-time, not yet.

Thanks to everyone who's been helping spread the word about Ellie Connelly, though! I noticed nice little mentions on the Top Shelf blog, which led to a mention on Comics Reporter, which in turn led to a mention on my friend Jeff Parker's blog. Word-of-mouth advertising is my favorite way to promote anything, since it's not just a matter of me pushing on people all the time, and I can focus on making my projects better. So thanks to all of you!

Hey! I finally set up a basic forum for readers to leave comments and start discussions. It's called the 11th St. Irregulars, and the idea is that it's a gathering place, a club for friends and allies of Ellie Connelly. It's inspired by the group of followers, experts, and informants who would gather regularly at Ellie's home on 11th Street in Greenwich Village. When I finish re-skinning the forum it'll be a lot more evident.

Also, a progress report - started flatting out colors for page 8 last night. I'm trying to make the process of coloring go faster, but it just doesn't seem to happen. It didn't help that i had a pretty lousy scan of page 8, which meant a lot of cleaning up the inks before I could start coloring. If it weren't for the desire to have actual original pages, I'd consider doing the whole thing in the computer. Time-limits and deadlines may force my decision, though.

Actually did a little work on the actual comic a few days ago - i wrote out rough dialog for the next 2-4 page sequence. I'll have to see how it shapes up in the rough layout process, but I'm going to try to do this next sequence as a whole before moving on to the next.

I've been trying to figure out the best process for me on this project. My tendency has always been to do one page at a time - writing, pencilling, inking, coloring if the project demands it - before moving on to the next page. But it's been recommended to me to work ahead as far as I can in the earlier stages. The idea of pencilling the entire book before I ink any more pages frankly has me concerned, because it means an even longer delay before I can show any of it, which will likely result in my losing interest in the project before it's even done.

I think what I'd like to try is sort of a compromise - working the story out in small chunks, say 8 pages - and releasing them as they're completed. There will likely be pauses in between each 8 page chunk, and there won't always be a natural action-break, but it will allow me to continue to post the new stuff as quickly as I can without the fear of not knowing where it's going. That said, I do hope to rough out the dialog and layout of the entire book as quickly as I can so I can spot any major trouble-spots or plot holes before it's too late to fix them.

I spent some time last week working on the website, getting the archives to look the way I want them to, and making the formatting for both News and One Step Beyond entries look the way I want them to. I don't know yet what will happen with these other categories, the Progress, Misc. and Victoriana entries. I'd like to do something different still, but no real inspiration yet.

As for what those categories will be used for, Progress will simply be a place for me to post updates on the writing, inking, coloring or posting of the ongoing comic. And Victoriana will just be a place for me to post links to interesting things I find as I'm researching this time period. There's so much odd stuff out there pertaining to the turn of the century all over the world, and I want to share my interest in it. I'll try to include pictures as much as I can.

That's all I've got today!