08 / 13 / 2007 - New Content!

Haven’t done a State of A:U in a while, and considering my recent PC death and resurrection, and new content, I reckon it’s a good time to share ‘what’s up.’

Ozoneocean from Pinky TA stopped by one of my Viral Epic posts and commented about my problem. Considering I blamed them for the clusterfuck, he responded very kindly. I no longer hold Pinky TA accountable for my 2 week hiatus/brain-fuck.

I wrote this massive Primer about Apocalypse Eternal (the war, not the game) this spring, but ended up getting distracted by the novel and webcomics. To make it more digestible, I broke it into 3 parts: the wind-up-and-Jensen-Almay, the war, and the aftermath. I always learn something new when I do these, the 12 major powers being the most fun part of the war to detail. I could spend forever going into the politics and ownership of planets, moons, and continents. That’s the most fun part of world building, aside from the characters.

I also have a new Creating article up, a part-1-of-X about common themes I like to use. It helps, as a writer, to be aware of replayed strings and decipher what role they play in the stories. Being lazy is certain failure, but I use repetition for effect more than a lack of new inspiration.

All that being done, I still have more to put up, but I reckon I’ll wait a week before getting into more primers and some short stories.

It’ll be nice to post some comics tomorrow and get back into a rhythm.

That’s all I got for now. I hope people enjoy the new back-story.

— comment —

05 / 21 / 2006 - Focus

Time to level with you all in a little heart-to-heart. Nothing bad, just a belated April/May site news.

I got a lot on my plate. That being said, I rarely mention that and never bitch about it because: this is all shit I choose to do and enjoy doing. But this is a solo project, this being Anatali, AD, DB, the reviews, my gallery, etc

The internets aren’t just my playground, they’re my real job. So I feel accountable for production as much as taking time to move this stuff along on a consistent basis. Keeping up with the webcomic schedule has not been hard, but adding anything to Anatali:Universe and bi-weekly reviews has been troublesome. Time passes by.

I’m also a writer, as I like to remind myself. I finished my 2nd novel last Monday, and while the retiring Miss Snark always says “don’t mention your unpublished novel,” I don’t mind saying “fuck that.” I put in the goddamn hours, the thing took 14 months, and I may as well share the fact it exists whether people care or not. If anything it reveals the hugantic time-sink that is gobbling up my current days. An explanation of mystery time lost so people don’t think I’m just fapping to 4-chan six hours a day.

I’m not overworked or overwhelmed, I’m overextended. I can deal with that, have been for almost 5 years. So it comes down to focus.

Focus rotates. March/April was a heavy webcomicky month with lots of Debasement buildup, features, advertising, and reviews.

This ain’t March/April.

As Anatali was been seemingly left to the wayside, I’ve been quietly mulling over the last few chapters of Survival/Ragnarok trying to tie it all together. Now it’s done. Now I edit. Then I submit.

With some primers, side stories, and hopefully some summer gallery pics, A:U will get some attention. Edits are going fast enough, maybe too fast, so I expect a reprieve in June from all this lovely sci-fi nonsense that I’ve been missing.

Rest assured the AD/DB update schedule will continue unabated, and there will be reviews, They just may be quieter, less rants, more content--more focus. That’s the only difference. Everything still gets done, I just talk about different shit more often.

I’m taking down the Survival sub-index and replacing them with choice chapters like I did with Eternal. Don’t think anyone will miss an incomplete story.

I updated the shit out of my goddamn Myspace, and I could really give a fuck about being presentable anymore. The old version wasn’t an act, per say, but it was outdated and a bit stilted in the language you’ve come to expect from me.

— comment —

03 / 31 / 2006 - LOL Webcomix?

As is my custom, site news at the end of the month:

I’m not sure if I actually accomplished anything this month. Then again, I posted:

6 New webcomic reviews.

9 Episodes of Aarin’s Desk

14 Episodes of a new comic, Debasement.

Sorted a new links page

Wrote an AD/DB Glossary

So it’s been a webcomiky month. The featured project has been Debasement, since that’s where all the time, coding, and photos have been going. Setting up the framework wasn’t difficult since I obviously used AD as a template, but I still had to create a dozen banners from six backgrounds and hours of new html linkage. Time intensive, in any case.

I totally broke my word on anything Anatali related, but I’m calling this a working vacation that’s just about over. Once Debasement has been officially launched, both comics should be on glide and I’ll be able to return to my actual job, which is science fiction. There’s at least a handful of people (me included) itching for new content.

I’m itching more to finish Survival/Ragnarok. Being stuck three chapters before the end of any novel is fucking tragic. I should just slap the shit out and fix it later. I’ve been trying, but it’s been problematic.

Maybe April will feel more productive. As long as I keep working, these updates accumulate over the months. Six reviews times twelve months equals seventy-two reviews O_O

I really need to learn PHP/MySQL by 2009--either that or tweak Wordpress to suit that need.

As a graph junkie, I offer a self-congratulatory link to 12 months progress. Grow little bars, grow!

— comment —

03 / 17 / 2007 - Debasement

There’s no problem with the comic I already have, it just takes a while to do the little things I want to do. I’m sure Aoi and The Chips could debate nuances of porn for years, but that’s not the focus of Aarin’s Desk. As a story-driven comic, the focus should remain on the story and characters.

Enter Debasement [NSFW]

I really couldn’t help myself. And no, it’s not all about porn, just often about porn.

It is a one-panel gag-a-day about a cast of three. They explore the history of the things we don’t throw away, but keep stashed for no clear reason. I wanted to try something more rapid, focused, and humorous. It will be perverse--oh yes--perverse. But don’t expect anything more explicit than I’ve already done. There may be AD cameos a gogo. This is my playground.

And to clarify, I’m not abandoning AD or making it more serious. Sister comics in the same universe, that’s all. If anything, I hope they compliment each other. As of yet, I’m not pimping this beyond those who already follow AD. Once I get an archive of a dozen to twenty, I’ll branch out as I did with my first.

Updated twice a week, I hope it’s both provocative and something you’ll get a chuckle out of.

— comment —

02 / 28 / 2007 - Fab Feb

Hello!

We’ll start with the blog. This new listing will be updated with webcomic reviews as they go. I’m ninety-percent ready to commit to two-a-week since the backlog is growing, rather than shrinking. It’s been a lot of fun and response has been positive in e-mail.

I’ve been featured on Panelled.com, a fledgling review site, since I posted Enchante. Their mission is to foster visibility and point out quality (or lack there of) in the comic-verse. They’ll be growing constantly as they add new review sites. It’s definitely a cool resource and I’m happy to be affiliated. There’s a lot of ranking sites, but none that track actual reviews.

Aarin’s Desk got its own first review this week. Fesworks of P.S.I. has a nifty mp3-review that showcases one comic a week in sixty seconds. Presented in high-brevity synopsis glory, I felt it was rather flattering since half the comic is about nuance. As always, well-written is the best compliment I can be paid for anything I do. Linky:

I’m still not done with Anatali: Survival/Ragnarok yet. I believe my original deadline was 12/31 2006. Oh well, fuck it. It’ll get done. I’m anywhere from three to six chapters away from the end, depending on how fast it moves.

Marshal’s Cross isn’t going away. I finished Episode 3 and will post it when it’s polished. He’s the only male perspective I’ve written since 2005.

The Bots: Hall of Shame keeps growing! Lately I’ve had to address Anna Kournikova’s cooter, Brittany’s baldness, encoded pornography links and yet more ambiguous pharmaceutical ads.

On the horizon would be more Origins, more Aarin’s Desk, more reviews, more Bot snarking, and hopefully more networking in the communities that support me, and who I support.

If you ever wonder why I don’t beg for comments, forum sign-ups, or quotable fan-mail, it’s the same reason I don’t do google ads or pimp donation buttons. This is your time away from the world, and you’ve chosen to spend a couple minutes here. It’s my pleasure to tell stories and your attention is all I can ask for.

February was a banner month around here, and I’ve a good feeling it’ll start to show. Thanks, as always, for your time and attention. May March develop as well in all A:U's works.

— comment —

01 / 15 / 2007 - On the Desk

Almost feeling better. I have good days and bad days as far as health goes. I tend to ignore being sick and live as usual, sometimes prolonging a simple cold for months. Back in high school I had the same chest cold for ten weeks plus. I try and remember that. My body is still wrecked, but at least my head is clear.

For all the return traffic Aarin’s Desk gets, you’d think I’d take this webcomic thing more seriously. Wouldn’t be too hard to update the art/resolutions, organize some standard rant space, and even advertise (perish the thought!) At the moment, for all the networking I’ve done throughout Anatali: Universe, the main site, the blog, and the comic seem completely disconnected, as not many viewers of cross from one bit to the others.

The thing is, in classic artist fashion, the work that gets noticed isn’t always the work we’re invested in. It’s a cliché I’m sure you’ve seen. Artist gets all angsty because the focus isn’t where he/she would like it to be. I may be a walking cliché, but that’s all about lifestyle, not my mindset. I’ll adapt. I adapt so I have the opportunity to keep sharing whatever the fuck it is I do. If it were photography (a hobby, not a passion), I’d go with it. I’d still write, but I can’t choose what gets noticed or ignored.

So yeah, rather than receding, I’ll push it forward, keep making changes.

One thing I’ve noticed is that for a short story website, A:U is lacking in short stories. It’s all setting and backstory, almost 80%, especially since I took Survival off the web. I’m going to start another mini project and try and get something going.

Expect Origins this week, and the new project in January. I hope it’ll be fun. It’ll probably be off-the-hip, but for what I’m planning, there’s no need for much polish anyway. Thanks, as always, for your time.

— comment —

12 / 21 / 2006 - Sick

In case anyone was wondering what the ‘real’ release schedule of Aarin’s Desk is, it’s twice a week in this order: Monday, Friday, Tuesday, Saturday. Then repeat, 2 weeks for a full cycle. If I ever get ahead with the strips, I may go back to Mon-Fri, but I’ve been pretty consistent with this rotation.

I managed to get my Mortality Shock Primer up. Creating this stuff is educational for me sometimes, filling in the Details. Next up are some short characterization pieces I made throughout the last six months, for contests or my own jollies. I should have those up by new years.

There’s things I want to do. Things I want to maintain. Not to be melodramatic, but I’m happy I can do this much, at the moment. I started feeling dizzy last Thursday. I couldn’t imagine why. Since then, I've felt 'off,' but no acute symptoms. Yesterday I melted down at work. My body went numb, my vision blurred, cold sweat, nausea and disorientation. I pretty much collapsed.

The EMTs said it was exhaustion via malnutrition, dehydration, and stress. Now I may not live the healthiest of lifestyles, but a lot of that was conjecture on their part, so I call bullshit. Now that I’m paying attention, I recognize the condition as this weird ass cold/flu I had in 01’. That one immobilized me for 5 days. Assholes should have given me one of those I.V.’s with the electrolytes. I have a decade-long grudge against EMTs, but I try to keep an open mind.

In any case, I hope to bounce back fast enough for holiday cheer.

— comment —

11 / 27 / 2006 - Happy Birthday A:U!

Domain registration renewal arrives December 2, making Saturday Anatali Universe’s first birthday! Back then, it was a terrible newborn, created from MS FrontPage with zero CSS or art, just some MS Paint outlines and buttons, photo-shopped into blocky nav-bars. It was completely unviewable in 800x600 and Firefox.

In April, after a 3-month hiatus to learn a thing or two (think monk on a soul-search), I came back with the current design, 2.0+. I may not have the flash of…flash-sites, limited graphic design, no cool intro movie, but I do have a quick-loading text-site that spoon feeds the stories and concepts I do so love to share.

The WordPress blog, phpBB forums, gallery, and webcomic are all six months old or less. Progress!

Anyway, I’ve posted the completion (Part 2) of The Date in honor of the day, a deleted scene two years in the making. Hopefully, all the interest I’ve received this year will carry into the next, being able to share this with more and more people.

Anatali Universe will always be 100% free, no donation buttons, and no stupid, ugly Google ads. If you’d like to support me, stay tuned, give some feedback, and share the link of your favorite bits to your friends. This is all about community and storytelling, not profit.

— comment —

11 / 10 / 2006 - Motivation

Yay, my Carmichael shoot is finally done. That makes 16 down and 8 to go.

I finally got to go back to my B&W roots, which is probably the worst pun evar, considering the subject matter. The biggest challenge was securing a dry day in November with the right light. I've been getting home at 5 PM a lot, as the sun sets, casting shadow over everything. Overcast is a photographer's blessing. Shadows are not.

The concepts themselves arrive without much work (with exceptions), as do any manipulation I need after these shoots. I have a good eye—lest you forget, in 1997 I won state, and three months later, fifth in the nation. All I'm working for is a snapshot of a character's personality or lifestyle, symbolized at a glance. The difficult part, as with Cassie's panty shot, is securing the props and location.

Lydia, Bruce, and Nicky will be damn near impossible due to lack of location, props and concept. For one, all I need is a goddamn piano. Christmas is coming, and malls have pianos—maybe then.

**

I've made a push for visibility in the webcomic community about Aarin's Desk, which is where all those vote buttons came from. It's actually become fifty percent of my traffic after the last two months, and I'm ok with that. I enjoy making it. The point of it was seeing if I could pull it off, and young as it is, I'm happy with the top 10-20% rankings and returning visitors. (AKA thanks for visiting, stick around!)

Will it ever be a top 100 or top 20 comic? Not a chance. It's a bit quirky for that, and I'm not nearly skilled enough, so let's just say my expectations are grounded—popularity was never the point, and will never be. I just want people to enjoy themselves here, be it stories, art, comics, the blog, or one day, the community (forums). It has been my yearlong goal to present a full-service website that entertains and stimulates.

The motivation behind that?

I'm a storyteller. I want to share, not for fame, money, or bragging rights, but because I believe my shit is fun. I enjoy expressing myself and providing people with a small escape in this humble corner of the universe. That's just what storytellers do—they get the word out.

**

As far as A:U goes, I'm reemphasizing the bits that are important: Primer, Creating, the Character Gallery, and mini-serials other than Survival. Our one-year anniversary comes this Thanksgiving, and I plan on completing The Date - Part 2 for the celebration, in effect completing Anatali: Eternal, deleted scenes and all.

— comment —

10 / 12 / 2006 - Exposure

Well that was fun. No matter the hours involved, being pleased with oneself is priceless.

I got the Aarin's Desk archives and character bit online. As with everything I do, they'll be tweaked, but initially, it's all about getting the foundation set. Rave part 1 is also online, which I hope is as fun of a read as it was to write. Part two was written at the same time (July) so it'll be up in the next couple days, once I format the text.

I've had my mind set on one thing all year—building a framework. If this place seems quiet, it's for lack of targeted advertising, not lack of traffic. I'm not trying to blow smoke up your ass when I present a cool stat: 350,000 hits in the last six months. For lack of any overt networking, I'm cool with what that suggests. Exposure. Mostly Google searches and forum links. I'm still front page on weird shit searches like Ken Akamatsu, Yaoi, Colonization of Venus, Teraforming of Mars, Jessica Hall (whoever the fuck she is—minor celebrity?), and Tossed Salad (an old subject line from my blog). Some people stick around, some don't.

I'm really excited about sharing more, and receiving more feedback. Hopefully I've done what I needed to create the proper channels, and worthy content. I invite everyone to continue their interest in a new vision of the future, be it Science Fiction, the quest for Exodus, my personal tribulations (blog), or building a community amongst each other.

Thank you, 350k hits.

— comment —

9 / 24 / 2006 - Survival

So yeah, not an empty promise.

I considered dropping Survival from the lineup and work it as a full-time novel, and shop it. Having half or all of it online may or may not be too much for a publisher to accept. I'm going for it, as always. Having it out there is fun enough, so the start of arc two will begin this week. Updates on A:S will be more regular.

I'm still tweaking the Aarin's Desk format. The bubbles should look better soon. It was hard enough deciding on a font. I take everything too seriously, even my slip-shod side-projects.

— comment —

9 / 09 / 2006 - Back to Work (part 2)

So you might have noticed a new addition to this site. I won't say I'm proud to present it, it's more like I'm hiding behind a shield from the expected storm of tomatoes. Anyway, Aarin's Desk came during a DT-spawned hallucination (or at least that's my story) and it concerns the secret lives of the intimate objects I hold captive at my work area. Expect dialogue. Cut & paste comics are for the lazy and those lacking any skill at art--I am both.

Am I worried this will distract the focus of A:U? No.

Am I worried this will distract me? Not really. As prone as I am for weird-ass side projects, I had this coming. If anything it'll ensure more regular updates around here.

Am I worried this will hurt my credibility as a writer, and A:U's credibility as a whole? Bwahahahaha!

I should probably apologize for even filling internet bandwidth with AD, but it could be a lot of fun. I even have a plot!

— comment —

9 / 07 / 2006 - Back to Work (part 1)

This forum stuff is fun. Now all I need is people! I could always sockpuppet myself with 9 accounts, but that's not really my style. They'd all end up sounding like me anyway. I managed to tweak the CSS to make it do what I want, but just like this site, it'll probably evolve over time. At least the template is sturdy.

Survival episode 10 has taken.almost two months? That won't do. That was a hell of a break I took, in any case. I haven't been having an issue with the direction of the story, just the concentration when I sit down to write. I need some discipline again. The good news is, I'm starting to feel it.

— comment —

9 / 03 / 2006 - Epiphonic

Recognizing patterns doesn't really give me any power over them, just an opportunity to use my power (of choice).

My stay at MTF is much like those in the Sirens, Blurrians/HoW, AoD, my short stint in Game FAQ's. I never catch this shit at the onset, and am left gaining ground and losing it during some play for validation in an environment were little/none exists.

I have learned how to control, moderate and manage an online community (I didn't know that before). I've also learned how to hold my own with my own personality among people with fierce personalities. The online community bit has been a keystone of my vision for a while now, and being involved in a successful, attractive, intelligent one is insight beyond insight.

I've learned other things, little of it about technical writing.

I've finally performed line-by-line crits of both excellent and sub-par pieces.

I've discovered that criticism and praise are unavoidable no matter the content, and the truth of quality lies somewhere between the two. It's an ebb and flow of popular opinion, and all I can really do is the best I can.

I've learned I can't defend my work. People always have their minds made up upon reading it. I can argue a point, describe a nuisance, but it very rarely penetrates.

I've noticed that conforming to people's own style, mechanics, and opinions can really dull a writer's voice. There's a balance between strengthening and weakening a piece, that's decided on one's own. The best guideline about art is to acknowledge praise and criticism, but still make it your own—then shop it.

That was epiphonic.

The core of it all is enjoying the work for its own sake. It flows between the lines.

All that being said. I'll finally open the AU forums, comers or not. I'm not expecting much out of it as ban/lock-happy as I am, but hopefully it can grow and build over years—not days, weeks or months—everything starts somewhere.

Time to switch focus back to work.

— comment —

8 / 10 / 2006 - Haitus

I'm not sure slacking is the word for my recent hiatus; it's more like.recreation. I've been at this non-stop for fourteen months, having done the lion's share of completing and polishing a novel, two versions of web design, 50k words of content into that, and a separate series of short stories.

I'm not burnt out, but I felt the need to refocus. This involved more than sitting around on my ass (I've no patience for that). I've been attending to the mundane aspects of day-to-day life I'm prone to neglecting. I've also discovered a new method of novel pacing which I'll apply to my next WIP (whenever it is I actually choose one). I'm still not sure which direction to go in next, but there's no reason to push it when I have this much time to figure that out.

I'll be back into the swing of things soon enough, but I'll patiently ride the wave to the crest before it all comes flooding to shore.

— comment —

7 / 26 / 2006 - Rave

A bit of varied news. Yes, three new gallery shots are up. Both Pharis and Cynthia took way more time and re-tries than I expected, but at least that means I'm not cheating. The tore-up Cynthia doll was fun as fuck to ruin.

You may notice I reduced the site's width (by about 10%). Apparently, website text 'reads' best at 60-70 characters per line, no matter the white space beside it. Most sites don't bother with that format, but given the huge amount of text on A:U, I felt it best to make the content as accessible as possible. After I got used to it, I felt it's an improvement. Also, it looks better at low rez (aka 800x600).

I spent most of last week working on a new short story one-shot for an online writing competition hosted by amazon.com. Every month, 4 winners are selected (3 by fan votes, 1 by Editor's Choice). My entry, Rave, is the story of how Calvin and Pharis hooked-up, an action-packed romance that's not quite in the vein of other amazon/gather.com contest entries. Since it's not a travel memoir, or a touching story about motherhood, nursing, or the other chicken-soup-for-the-soul drivel popular there, I'm not expecting much in the way of peer votes.

You're invited to give it a read (the formatting wasn't my fault--everyone's entry looks weird for some reason), but voting/commenting takes 5 minutes to become a free member of their site. In any case, I'll regain ownership of the story eventually, win or lose, and post it here in the future.

I'm toying with the idea of opening the forums, for no other reason than the desire. Everyone I know already likes their own stomping grounds, but the idea of having them open (traffic or not) just seems to fit.

One last blurb for Blogathon 2006, and the fair champion of Planned Parenthood, Jaded Daisey, Jade, Rickabeth (whatever her alias may be). It's all for a wonderful cause; so tune in, donate, and I'm sure you could even finagle a last-minute spot to participate.

That's all.

— comment —

7 / 15 / 2006 - Tweaks

Test one, test two, test the mic, yo, and let it loose.
We got the flavor, the bad behavior, the juice for you to savor.

You'll have to forgive me, but that's how we roll in the 937 (yes, I'm just fucking with you).

In any case, I'm screwing around with all sorts of odd and ends, fonts and linking site news to the blog being the most obvious.

Also, my view on comma use seems to be swinging ala pendulum, leading me to think I omitted a fair 10% that I shouldn't have (not a heinous flaw, just annoying). Text edits go as I see them. Is this a professional attitude towards 'published material'? Not really, but in this medium I can alter just about anything on the fly as long as the content remains true.

The deal with me, and my process, is it's all done with a deep trust in trial-and-error, and with the utmost confidence in everything I do. So while one day I have an epiphany about oxford commas, the next day I'm replacing them, all with the belief that I'm doing is right. It amounts to a lot of backtracking, but little if any second-guessing.

— comment —

7 / 10 / 2006 - WIP

Puttering along this week. I'm jammed between the day job, A:S and basic editing on gallery images.

Survival is officially my next work in progress (WIP). Previously, I was going to double that, Anatali: Eternal's sequel, with a healthy dose of web content. I'm cutting the sequel out and working on Survival full-time until it's finished (I'm already way ahead of the release schedule, but that lets me edit). Besides fleshing out the primer and gallery, this summer should be a smooth ride.

— comment —

7 / 02 / 2006 - Photo

Formatting the gallery (thumbnails and such) took longer than working with the photographs. My shoot-from-the-hip perspective on writing carries over into visual design. Whatever screwed up image in my head is usually executed on the first shot and overlays.

I've always been a darkroom photographer, meaning I had more fun with developing and chemical treatments than I did the 5 minutes it took to fire off a quick snapshot. Post-mortem editing isn't just my specialty, it's a passion.

I'm happy the gallery is finally up. I'll be adding to it over the summer. Stay tuned.

— comment —

6 / 25 / 2006 - Tables

Making my humble links page (it's in the goodies) was interesting as hell. First, that was the most tables I've used in webdesign since my ill-fated A:U v1.0. Secondly, most of those sites didn't have button images, and even when they did, they didn't fit my standard format. That means I got to play in photoshop for a while, which I always enjoy. The experience will go far in making my gallery, which has been bumped up on my to-do list.

Besides that, my newest creating article just explains things I've wanted to say since I started this. I think the first criticism I got from Anatali : Eternal involved an early scene with some thugs on a bus stop. No one had a problem with the thugs, dialogue, or characterization, just the fact my space station city had buses. Indeed it does. I've improved that introduction a long ways since then, but I thought it could still use some behind-the-scenes explanation in case some people still haven't figured out why my setting is the way it is.

— comment —

6 / 20 / 2006 - Sweet Spot

I stubbornly refuse to be delinquent on my own deadlines. Not acceptable. That being said, it's far easier writing outside the box rather than following an outline. By letting the story tell itself, with a clear end but no set path, you'd be amazed at how quickly the lines between points A and B can be drawn. It's the sweet spot.

Survival 6 marks a transitional moment that was tricky to execute. Arc 1 is all downhill from here. Stay tuned.

— comment —

6 / 11 / 2006 - Crank

You have no idea.

I've ran a full text revision and added a new primer article. Took me a day (no, I'm not playing for sympathy) but it turns out every little project I do turns into a total fucking chore. It's all for the best.

Feel secure I give a damn about this place and micromanage the details. Once I sort though my 30 page folder of notes, Survival's moving into primetime. Jessica's going to hate me.

— comment —

6 / 6 / 2006 - Happy 666!

The number of man shouldn't be scary unless you're a character in my story. Mortality Shock is a bitch.

Survival 5 was delicate and a bit creepy, but interesting to balance. I'm not sure when The Date - Part 2 will be up. It kind of depends on request and inclination. As always I welcome those new to the site. I'm pleased with the influx of new faces.

— comment —

5 / 30 / 2006 - Scenes

I'm pretty happy with how 'The Date' reads stand-alone. It's nearly spoilerless and a great character story. It was just an interjection between story arcs, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.

June will be a month of short stories and primer articles. I'm saving the gallery for July. Things are too hectic right now to play with my studio.

— comment —

5 / 21 / 2006 - Motion (part 2)

It's about time to lay off the throttle. The foundation is set. Now it's just adding short stories, primer articles, and goodies, which is a long summer project (lest I forget about the gallery). It's gratifying—if you bust your ass, in time, there's nothing left to do.

— comment —

5 / 17 / 2006 - Motion

Got all kinds of shit it going on—it'll take a minute to sort. I did all the index pages, settled on a Novels template, and wrote up to Episode 4 of Survival. Let's rock it out.

— comment —

5 / 10 / 2006 - Cruise

I'm on cruise control now. This is much smoother with the novel complete. Yet, this is all about building a framework, not the totality of the end. All I have left is Novels, Goodies, Primer, and Gallery, all of which are content-light. I'm very excited!

— comment —

5 / 5 / 2006 - Cinco De Mayo

All the characters profiles are active and updated (no small task), and all they're missing is their artsy photos. The gallery project will be a summer-long deal, and I'll likely change my mind a few times about my products. In the next few days I'm working on my last big project before revision Anatali : Survival, and that's my fat-ass glossary. Should be done by wednesday.

— comment —

4 / 17 / 2006 - Blogalicious

I won't say it's easy, but it's become easier to get shit done around here. I must be getting smarter or something. The blog is up, as is the author's bio, and I'm chipping away at the characters, group by group. I'm ahead of schedual, which is never a bad thing.

— comment —

4 / 14 / 2006 - Reset!

Goddamn. If it ain't one thing it's another, but at least I'm back.

This isn't the official launch of Ver.2.0 yet, but it's close enough. In the nest few weeks I'll be refilling all the holes, trying to get back to where I was.

It's a bit overwhelming and I'm still learning as I go. I just spent an hour deleting the old site off the host site, and I hope I didn't: A. destroy anything important; or B. leave anything that shouldn't be there. It also remains to be seen if my new css skillz actually work, but testing A:U locally with IE6 and Firefox has been a success.

Wish me luck!

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3 / 21 / 2006 - Back to Basics

Been a while. It's good to be working on the site again. I had fun the last time, and hopefully it'll be twice as good with this fresh start. Fresh start? Well, if you hadn't noticed the site got a full makeover, using the best of my knowledge. And while you won't find any crazy java or flash, that really wasn't the point.

Back to basics is all about creating something humble enough to build on—it's all about gaining momentum. It's amazing how much can progress from so little. It's even more apparent on the net. Gotta crawl before you can run, and all that bullshit. Not usually my style, but it doesn't take much frustration for a person to reevaluate their methods, in my case, anyway.

Back to basics serves a double purpose, because often, simpler is more attractive in the first place, unless its an anime fansite, at which point I'm well-prepared for (and maybe looking forward to) blaring midi and sparkling graphics. Not my deal. I'm aiming for functionability and intuitive clarity, all to deliver one thing: exciting content.

So site design is only the start of the road, and that's ok, because I enjoy the trip.

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