I like a book with a big back cover.

Howdy!

Welcome to the latest update of "Saturday" (the book), where things are a-happenin', let me tells you. But where are my manners? If you have no idea what any of this is and are interested enough to have read past the first sentence, allow me to explain: "Saturday" is an illustrated book about a little girl named India that I've been working on for approximately a billion years.

Actually, there's a pretty good description of things on the back cover, which I just finished:

It's got an ISBN and a barcode and everything. This book is totally, actually, like, for reals happening. And, what's more, the edits are (probably) done. I put that "probably" in there because I still have to take one or two last looks at the pages to make sure I didn't forget anything. Kind of like when you're checking out of a hotel room or some kind of mental asylum. Let's see: Keys? Check. Wallet? Check? Doll made from human hair? Check.

In a way, wrapping up "Saturday" does feel a bit like when I left the asylum; exciting, a little scary, and a little wistful. I looked things over and and a flood of memories came back: the first time I failed a Rorschach test, my first metal cafeteria tray heaped with jello salad and creamed corn, the first time Nurse Ratched had the guards haul me to shock therapy. But I also realized that nostalgia wasn't going to helpful. Mostly because those same guards were bound to discover my escape at any moment and I had to run for it.

But I've said too much.

Anyhoo, a few scaled fences, a cross-county run from the search dogs and an assumed identity later
brings us to the present, where I'm just about to wrap up the second mental illness-fueled section of my life: A children's book with enough detail to drive a sane man to crazy town and a crazy town resident to super-duper crazy town, which is in an adjacent county.

The edits are pretty much done. I have to format the files and send them to the printer. Once that's done, there will be a proof and then the books will be printed and shipped. Probably sometime in mid-September. In the meantime, I'll be starting up the second Kickstarter campaign to get the books out to you. This will probably be mid-August.

I don't have everything figured out about the Kickstarter campaign yet. It's not going to be just the book. Not that the book is anything to sneeze at. It's the best work I've ever done. But if you decide to get the book through the next KS campaign, I'm going to make sure it also comes with some cool stuff. I just don't exactly know what that stuff is just yet.

But we're getting there.

By the way, big shout out to the Chief for throwing that marble fountain through the asylum wall and making this whole thing possible. And also to everyone who has supported and continues to support the book and the crazy guy who's been working on it. Thank you.

Cheers.

Look at this Dummy.

Hello!

Welcome to the latest update of "Saturday" the book. If you're just joining us, Saturday is an illustrated book about a creative little girl named India McGreevy, her odd but well-meaning parents, and their trudge through a swampy week in search of sunny, dry ground.

If you're reading this in the United States, you're likely recovering from the July 4th holiday weekend and may never want to see sun again. But fear not: Your Oompa Loompa complexion, barbeque-swollen gut and scalded hand (from that thing you did that the label CLEARLY told you not to do under any circumstances) are all proof that you've celebrated Independence Day precisely as our forefathers would have done themselves. I'm pretty sure there's a painting of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin wearing sleeveless t-shirts from Old Navy (back then it was just called "Navy") and drinking Miller High Life.

Where was I? Oh, yeah: So, good news! This post does not require you to: 1.) Stand in the awful, unforgiving eye of the angry sun. 2.) Eat another delicious, ghastly, mystery-filled hot dog. 3.) Wear a shirt without sleeves. More good news: I'm on page 26 of the edits. 9 pages to go. The second Kickstarter campaign is probably not going to happen in July, but running it in early August should work out fine.

So...I have something a bit different to share this week. Take a look at this:

Do you know what this is? It's a dummy. A blank one, of course. The printing company sent it to me for approval. This is what Saturday will look like. Hardcover, 11" x 17", 35 pages. Hopefully the printing will be as beautiful as this dummy. I'm surprised at how exciting this is for me. I mean, it's just a blank dummy. But it's also tangible. Being able to hold this and open it up and feel the weight of it makes me realize how close we are.


I'm excited and nervous for you to have a copy after all this time. It feels like a first date. Or the first time I held up a convenience store. What if I've built it up too much and you finally read it after years of waiting and you're like, "Meh."? Or worse, "Blech. I've read more interesting stories from the stalls of public toilets."

Well, fingers crossed that's not your reaction. On the plus side, with a book this size and quality, there are plenty of alternate uses:

-Live in a bad neighborhood? This handy home defense book will take down the most prison-hardened criminals! Try to hit them with the corner. Take that, crime!

-Do you have a table or chair with a wobbly leg? Simply wedge this book beneath that leg and watch those wobbly problems melt away like fat in some kind of Ron Popeil gadget. Or, open the book and set it in front of the short leg. Now you can't see it! Problem solved.

-Tailing someone and need something inconspicuous to hide behind? Look no further than this giant, lavishly-illustrated children's book. Suspects will never suspect!


But that's just silly. You're going to love this book, right? (He asked with a desperate look in his twitching eyes while he grabbed your lapels and the sheen of flop sweat began to form on his forehead.)

Right?


Cheers.

Just about.

Almost there. Getting there, anyway. But there's no new information that I haven't already shared. So instead of the usual gum-flapping, how about this page instead:

I'll let you know more when there's more to know.

Cheers.

In Brief

Hiya.

Short post this week. I mean, not that anyone could possibly get tired of these wordy, meandering updates wherein I reveal yet again that the book is not done. (Spoiler alert: The book isn't done.) I imagine these are about as entertaining as a cover of a Human League song played on Harpsichord and Bagpipe. And, after this much time, probably as welcome in your inbox as a phishing scam.


Dear Persons,

I am a represent of large totally-not-fake bank in other country. We haves book for your reading pleasure and financial good, but book is stuck in bureaucratic problems. Please wire all the moneys to ensure the transfer of valuable book to your hands.

Sincerely,

Dr. President Trustworthy



Seems legit, right?

Anyhoo, progress report: Editing page 20 at the moment. Editing will completed by the August 1st printing deadline. The arrangements have been made with the printing company. The second Kickstarter campaign will be sometime in July (or early August at the latest). Right now, I'm focusing solely on the edits and I'll move on the business of the Kickstarter campaign when they're done, like an OCD kid who eats all the chicken, then all the potatoes, then all the vegetables. There will be no mixing or variance in the order of things, he said rocking back and forth in his chair.

That's alls I gots. Lots of work in front of me, but we're getting there. And in the not too distant future, Saturday will actually be available. Not a ton of copies, but good-quality. And a decade's worth of work.

In the meantime, here's one of the panels I edited recently:

Cheers.

All the print that's fit for news

Hello!

Welcome to the latest edition of the Saturday update, hot off the presses of my only somewhat-credible brain.

After what must have seemed like two years of torpor, things are moving and moving fast. In actuality, I've been working fairly diligently all along. It's just that some phases were interesting and engaging (both to work on and to share) and some were pretty comparable to re-runs of "Empty Nest"; you'd watch it, but only if there were absolutely nothing else on. And even then you'd only be half-watching while you looked around the room for something better, like a Highlights magazine word search.

For instance, the search for agents and publishers has been about as interesting as a brochure on congressional bylaws. After a sending out a whole heap of cordial letters in an attempt to find one or both and getting rejected or ignored, I've pretty much thrown in the towel on the traditional route. It turns out that Saturday isn't a traditional book and is, as such, unattractive to traditional publishers.

Which brings us to Item No. 1:  I've signed a contract with a company to print Saturday on my own. It's official. They're a company with reputation for creating high-quality, beautiful books and I'm excited to have them working on Saturday.

Item no. 2: What's that other part of the process that has about as much sex appeal as a hair-clogged drain? Editing. Trust me, I know how boring it probably is to read that I'm still editing. It's important, of course, but sometimes "Empty Nest" reruns sound engaging in comparison. Well, good news: I have to have all the editing done by August 1st. Yeah, the one coming up in the not-too-distant-future. Meaning that's the point where edits, talking about edits and thinking about edits stops.

Item No. 3: I gave that printing company with the good reputation all the moneys I had up front. It was a fairly painful process considering that I buy off-brand ketchup. But it turns out they still need more of the moneys. So I'll be running a new Kickstarter campaign to pay for the other half. I'll probably be kicking off the campaign in early July. It will be for quite a bit less than the first one. If it doesn't work, I have a backup plan that involves selling one of my lesser-used organs.

The new Kickstarter campaign will actually let you get your hands on the book. It will also let me actually get my hands on the book. Which is pretty exciting. After feeling like the process has been out of my hands for some time (what with the cordial letter campaign and all), it's nice to have some agency back.

 This whole process has been a pretty interesting one. And not "interesting" like detached scientist looking at cells under a microscope interesting. "Interesting" like you've just gotten back to your car after being chased down by a herd of angry, rabid vampire llamas and the car won't turn over interesting.

So, just to recap: In between now and you having a copy of Saturday in your hands for your very own are:

1.) Me, feverishly working to finish the edits before August 1st.
2.) A Kickstarter campaign to pay for the second half of the printing so they don't take my thumbs.
3.) 2-3 months for printing and shipping after I have the edits done.

Not too bad, really. But I'll need your help to make it happen. And if we can make it happen, I hereby solemnly swear never to talk to you about editing again.

That having been said, here are some edits:

And, regardless of what happens, thanks for sticking with me for so long.

Cheers.

Happy Money's Day. Mother's Day. I meant Mother's Day.

Howdy!

Welcome to a very special Mother's Day edition of the "Saturday" update. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, "Saturday" is this illustrated book I've been working on for, like, forever.  Entire universes have flared into existence and been snuffed out while I was working on this book. When I first started, readers were young and wild and carefree and now they think earnestly about insurance premiums and have grown to like PBS shows set in the Elizabethan era.

 If you're a mother you might well be gagging your way through a plate of congealed scrambled eggs and burned toast while you beam at a hand made card replete with yarn and glitter accoutrements and poor spelling. I know my mom always loves the poorly-spelled yarn disasters I give her every year. At least, she says she does. She's less thrilled that I also pack the envelope with scrambled eggs before I mail it to her. Well anyway, think of this update as your second present! I can see your probably grateful face as you say, "Oh...thank you. No, it's...uh...great. Really."

Progress Report: I'm editing page 12 right now. The pace of the edits is picking up and there's maybe only one or two more pages that require moderate editing (character models, etc.). The rest of the pages will need very light editing or none at all (some grammer and typose but nothing too extensive). I've received a couple more rejection letters since the last post (don't worry: I was fine after a good cry and some peach schnapps). I've also started talking with a printer. There's a company in California that prints beautiful, quality books and I'm super excited to work with them.

I will probably run another Kickstarter campaign to fund the printing. I still feel mixed about asking for money again, but if I wait until I have the all the money saved up, those of you who were around from the beginning will probably either riot or die of old age. It's going to be like Walter Donovan at the end of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" after he drinks from the wrong cup and turns to dust. And then that old knight guy will kind of smugly say, "He chose...poorly."

A couple of things to think about the campaign for printing:

-An actual, totally real (and hopefully beautiful) copy of the book will be one of the rewards that you can actually really totally have in your hands to look at and smell (I smell books sometimes for reasons that are beyond my understanding).
-I'll be putting a painful amount of my own money into this right along with you.
-The goal amount will be less than the first campaign.
-If you already have a book coming to you, it's still coming. But if you want more than one, that's totally cool. You can buy as many as you want, he said with desperation on his breath like garlic from lunch.

 I don't know exactly when I'll start the campaign. I have to get more information from the printer about the total cost and the timeline and then I have to start assembling stuff for the new campaign. But I'm pretty excited about it and I'll keep you updated. Whether you like it or not.

In the meantime, here's a recently edited panel from page 12:

Original:

New Sketch:

New Final:

Anyway, if you made it this far, thank you. Seriously.

Cheers.

Yakkity-yak, please talk back.

Oh, hi.

Welcome to this edition of the "Saturday" update. If you've inadvertently stumbled on this page after searching the vast, savage jungles of the interwebs whilst looking for something else, here's the skinny: This is a weekly update of "Saturday", which is an illustrated book about an imaginative little girl named India McGreevy, her equally imaginative and somewhat neurotic parents, and a crummy week wherein everyone's patience and imagination is tested.

And speaking of everyone's patience being sorely tested, if you're one of the saintly people who not only helped the Kickstarter campaign to succeed but also stuck around for this long, thank you. I'm going to do something a little different this week: I'm going to invert the proportion of yakkity-yak to drawing. Usually, it's lots of the former and a smidgen of the latter. Not so much this week.

A quick update: The editing process is starting to pick up steam and I'm working on the last few pages that will need moderate editing (as I get deeper into the book, the pages need fewer edits). Which means the editing is getting close to being done. As far as publishing goes: I heard from another agent who said what I had heard from several other sources: "Saturday" doesn't exactly fit neatly into any particular category and as such, can't be easily sold by publishers.

So it looks like I'll be printing and selling the book all by my lonesome. I'm still considering running another Kickstarter campaign. Only this one would be for a lot less money and the book would be one of the rewards. I don't know yet, though. I feel weird about asking people for money again. It's a pride thing. Everyone was already so generous. But another campaign would theoretically (if it succeeded) speed up the printing process exponentially because you wouldn't have to wait for me to save the Benjamins. So, if you have an opinion, please chime in and let me know. If enough people want me to move ahead, I'll do it.

Ok. Even that was too much yakkity-yak. How about an entire page to wash out the taste of all that chatter: