2012 Update: Oakland! Etc.
Sat 2/25/2012
As predicted, this has been a very busy semester for me so far. Since I'm almost half way through, I thought I would quickly post a few updates:
1) Claire and I have decided that we will be moving to Oakland, California! There are a few toy companies in the bay area that Claire is interested in, it's relatively close to both our families, we both have friends there, etc. etc. etc. Anyway, it feels good to finally know WHERE we are heading. The plan is to move at the end of this school year. I'll be back in WRJ again for a good portion of the summer to help out with the CCS Summer Workshops, but come mid-August that will be our home for the foreseeable future.
2) After even MORE hemming and hawing, I decided at the very last minute to NOT apply for the last Xeric grant. I won't go into all the details, but basically after researching everything, I realized it would not be feasible to self-publish the book the way I want it to be made. Instead, I am now going to attempt to get Basewood traditionally published. For now, that means staying focused on the French edition, which is due out later this year. I am working with the gang at L'employé du Moi on the book design, a suitable cover image and dozens of much-needed art corrections. Once I have that all sorted out I can try to figure things out on this side of the Atlantic.
3) On the scripting front, I finished my third draft of the Isle of Elsi story. It only needs one more round of corrections before it will be ready to draw, which I should be able to get done by the end of the semester. I also finished the script for the first part of my big Weezer story. So I'll have a nice big stack of stuff to dive into and draw this summer.
Okay, that's it for now. I'll do my best to post again if anything important pops up. Otherwise, I'll get this blog back on track this summer.
2012 Blogging Hiatus
Thu 1/12/2012
Last week I went home to Seattle for a few days, to visit my family. I'm back in Vermont now, and as far as I can tell, that trip was the calm before the storm.
This semester is going to be my busiest yet at CCS. In addition to co-teaching Publication Workshop with Jon Chad and Senior Thesis Seminar with Steve Bissette, I am also going to be standing in as Acting Director this semester while James Sturm is on sabbatical.
This position is a lot of responsibility, and it is also going to require a lot of my time. I've been trying to figure out some areas of my life where I can cut back this semester, and sadly, I feel that this blog is one of them!
So instead of breaking big news up into separate blog posts as I usually do, I thought I would just do one big MEGA-post tonight, outlining all of the stuff I am going to be working on this semester and my plans for the future, and then I can take a blogging break until this summer. Without further ado, here is just such a post:
1) Basewood! The story is done, but there is still a lot of work to be done to make it into a book. Max has finished the translation and we are currently working on all the production ins and outs for the French edition, which should be out from L'employé du Moi before the end of the year. It is going to be big and beautiful and I can't wait to hold it in my hands. "But Alec!" I hear you ask, "What about an English edition?!" Well...
2) After some serious hemming and hawing, I have decided that I'm going to toss my hat in the ring for the very last Xeric grant. If I am awarded the grant, cool! I will self-publish the book and put it in people's hands. If I am not awarded the grant, I will start exploring other options...
3) Meanwhile at my drawing table, I am going to be scripting new comics projects which will hopefully be released later in the year, or in the near future. They include: A) a two-issue run of Phase 7 all about my favorite band, Weezer B) a fantasy webcomic for kids that I'm working on called Isle of Elsi and C) a picture book I am illustrating which was written by my sister, Galen Goodwin Longstreth.
4) I will also be finishing up the colors for Aaron's second Walker Bean book this semester, though who knows when that will be released. Big publishing moves pretty slowly.
5) I'm still going to create paintings for the 100 Watercolors challenge on my illustration blog. I need to keep up with that site, because I might need to start freelancing again soon...
Aha, yes, you see, the BIGGEST news of the bunch is that Claire and I have decided to move back to the west coast at the end of this semester (!?!) We're not sure exactly where yet, but we both want to be closer to our families (in Seattle and Santa Fe respectively), so it'll be somewhere over there in the West. Claire is all set up to attend Toy Fair 2012 in February, so hopefully she'll be able to do some good research and networking, which may give us some hint of where to head next.
Annnnd, I think that's about it! As you can see, it's going to be a very busy time. If you're dying to know what I'm up to, I'll still be updating my twitter account, which also reposts on the homepage of this site. Of course, now that I've said I won't use this blog until the summer, I'm sure something really exciting will happen and I'll be tempted to post... I'll get to it if I can, but I might be too busy!
Happy Holidays!
Mon 12/26/2011
Wow, TWO full weeks without a post... I guess I've been taking a real winter break up here in Vermont. Here are some of the things I have been doing since the big haircut:
1) Packing up Basewood orders and mailing them out. All subscriber copies have been mailed and they have arrived safely as far away as Paris and Brussels, so if you have not received yours yet, drop me a line!
2) Claire and I went down to Boston for a weekend, to celebrate our friend Liz's 30th birthday, at an excellent '60s-themed party thrown by our friends Maris and Joe.
3) While in Boston, we went to the 7th Annual Yule Ball, which had tons of great wizard rock bands, including one of my favorite bands ever, Harry and the Potters.
4) On the same day we left for Boston, my copy of The Pinkerton Diaries and Alone III arrived in the mail, so I spent my bus rides to and from Beantown listening to new (old) Rivers Cuomo music and pouring over all 237 pages of his diary entries, photographs, sheet music, essays, articles, letters, charts and lyrics from 1994 -1997. As a Weezer fan who has always loved Pinkerton, it is an incredible glimpse into Rivers's creative process, and some of the horrible stuff he was going through during the album's conception. Also, my photo with Rivers is featured on page 184!
5) Back in Vermont, I built a new sketchbook.
6) A few days later, Claire arrived back from Boston along with her father, who had flown in all the way from Santa Fe. We have been hanging out with him ever since - eating lots of yummy food, watching movies, going for walks, drinking tea and just in general taking it easy.
With Christmas over and done, I'm now looking towards the new year... 2012 promises to be a very crazy year for me. The Spring 2012 semester is going to be my busiest yet, and there are a lot of big changes on the horizon as well. But more about that later!
For now, I hope that everyone is having a happy holidays. Let's all do our best to make 2012 a good year!
-- Nicolás Goldbart