This week, on a very special episode of "Saturday the Book"...

First off, sorry about the absence of a "Saturday" post last week.  I'll try to make it up to you with this post.

These panels are from pages 14 and 15.  It's Friday afternoon, and Fred and Elizabeth McGreevy have been fighting for most of the week.  They've passed through the angry, frustrating, and awkward phases after their argument.  And now they're each trying to figure out how to make it up to the other.

Elizabeth is doing so from home:

Fred, on the other hand, is doing his cogitating at work (it's hard to be productive when you're distracted):

These panels are from two of my absolute favorite pages of "Saturday".  I love them because we get to see how Fred and Elizabeth's minds work.  India's imagination, after all, had to come from somewhere.  I also like that Fred and Elizabeth clearly like each other.  A lot.  But they're not perfect.  They're humans, prone to the same mistakes and lifelong battles with pride and idiocy as the rest of us.

But mostly I like these pages because of the slightly crazy ideas both Fred and Elizabeth come up with as part of their making-up strategies.  Of course, you'll have to wait for the book in order to see what they come up with.

Hey, speaking of the book: I'm currently working on page 29.  Again, I think there will be 34 pages total.  That's right around 85 percent.  I'll have some editing to do after that.  And the cover.  And probably a laundry list of other elements.  But I'm getting closer to finishing, which means you're closer to reading it.  And I can't wait for both.

Cheers.

Sometimes Fridays never have an end.

It's finally Friday.  The bulk of the week is behind the McGreevy family.  Of course, it didn't exactly pass them by and tip its hat as it did so.  It kind of shoved them down and walked right over top of them.  But now there's only Friday left to get through.  Fridays have a reputation for flying by, but this one is going to drag its feet heavily.  And it's going to start before India even wakes up:

When I'm having a bad day, I know there are at least two things I can look forward to: One of them is that day being over.  The other one is lunch.  Lunch seems like hitting the "pause" button on a bad day.  Granted, I'm a big fan of eating my emotions, but there's more to it than that.  Lunch can feel like a little island of sanity in the middle of a sea of awfulness.

Of course, even on the island, sometimes the waves wash up and soak you:

As far as the timeline for "Saturday" is concerned, I just started page 29.  In fact, I'd better get back to that.  Less talk.  More draw.

Cheers.

Burned Souffle and other indicators

It's now Thursday evening and everyone is back at the McGreevy homestead.  The week has taken its toll on everyone.  You can see it in the distant, deadpan stares and the slouching of the shoulders.  Everyone's a bit...distracted.  And that preoccupation seems to be causing some problems of its own.

 In the words of Baron St. Fontanel: "A woman happily in love, she burns the souffle.  A woman unhappily in love, she forgets to turn on the oven."  Unfortunately there's no comparable quote for a man in the 1954 classic, "Sabrina", otherwise I would include it.

In terms of the book, these panels take place on page 13.  I'm currently working on page 28 of what will probably be a 33 or 34-page book.  After all this time, I'm still excited to work on the book.  Perhaps even more excited than ever.  But I'm also excited to finish the book and share it.  Those two impulses are a bit contradictory (the former makes me want to take as much time as possible in drawing, the latter makes me want to abridge the process).  The former will probably win out because drawing is totally, like, my favorite thing ever.

Cheers.

Uncomfortably Numb Thursdays: Don't Forget Your Towel.

India McGreevy has officially reached Thursday, one of the most stagnant days of the week.  It's not a milestone like Wednesday and it doesn't have the promise of Friday.  It's just there.  To be gotten through.  Slowly.

Like Arthur Dent, India McGreevy and her family never could get the hang of Thursdays.  But unlike Arthur Dent, India doesn't have a Ford Prefect to take her away from it all (she would think that was supremely awesome, though).  And so there's nothing to do but wake up and face it.  Or, as is the case this morning for India, to not really wake up at all and mostly sleepwalk through it:

I've never poured orange juice on my cereal because I don't really drink orange juice.  But about once a week (for serious) I pour a bowl of cereal and then put the cereal box into the refrigerator and the milk into the cupboard.


You know how it feels when you sleep poorly and then only wake up half way?  It makes the day drag by exponentially slower, but in a way it can be pleasant.  Like Novocaine,  you know things are going on and you can sort of feel them, but there's a buffer between you and the unpleasantness.  This can be great because:

1.) There is no pain you are receiving, like a distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
2.) People are only coming through in waves.
3.) Their lips move, but you can't hear what they're saying.

And so, in that fashion, you soldier out of your house to heroically meet the day.

If you're India and it's Thursday morning, the noble steed of the district school bus takes you to your fate, with palpable anticipation in the air:

Cheers.

Stuck in the middle with you.

If you're just joining us, it's Wednesday evening in the McGreevy household.  They're right in the middle of what's already been a long week for everyone.  When you feel like you're stuck in some kind of quagmire it can help to try something different to escape (I'm talking about metaphorical quagmires here.  I'm not exactly sure what to do if you're stuck in a literal quagmire).

And trying something different is just what Elizabeth McGreevy has in mind in these panels.  I'm not going to get too specific here.  If it seems like I'm being coy about the story, I am.  Sharing panels here is really just to give you an idea of the look and feel of "Saturday".  I'm saving the bulk of the story (along with the most fun and detailed illustrations) for the book.  Seems like the really good stuff should be a surprise.

So, with all that in mind, here are three panels from Wednesday evening:

Cheers.

The Universe Wants Your Lunch Money...

Most of the time, you have one bad day and it's uncomfortable and crappy.  But it passes and you shake it off and move ahead, doing your best to forget about that bad blip on the radar of your life.
If you have two bad days in a row, it feels like a really bad coincidence.  Three, and it can start to feel like the universe is picking on you.

Well, it's now Wednesday in India McGreevy's world, and the universe is starting to look like that kid who used to call you "porkie".  You know the one.  He had a mustache when he was eight years old.  The universe is super old.  You would expect a little more maturity.

Nonetheless, the universe bully seems to have picked India McGreevy out of the herd this week and given her special attention: Rain, awful school lunches, school lessons that will just NEVER be applicable anywhere in real life, and the dreaded principal's office for wayward children.

Why don't the fun weeks last this long?
 

My mom called it "Beef Boogy-Woogy"...

Everyone has bad days.  They can range from marginally annoying to catastrophic.

Because we spend a lot of time either at school or at work, a lot of the things that make for a bad day happen at school or at work.  And home is usually the sanctuary where the slings and arrows bounce harmlessly off your roof.  It's a place where there are nourishing, nurturing things, like stew:

But every once in a while, whatever it is that's bothering you sneaks into the house with you.  You think you left it outside and you start to forget about it and then you realize it's in the house, like a wet leaf that you tracked in on the bottom of your shoe.

And when that happens, this happens:

Even a relatively small problem can start to feel big when it seems like you can't get away from it.  Hopefully, you're not in this situation right now.  But if you are, here's a recipe for Beef Bourguignon.  It usually makes me feel a little better.