Well, the buzz from the Comics Fest has completely died down, I paid the remainder of my outstanding bill to the Convention Center, so it's officially finished. Phew! I was grateful for the chance to talk to people like Paul Chadwick and Kazu Kibuishi about crafting graphic novels, structuring a plot, and selling to publishers. I look forward to making good on all the excellent advice they gave me.

In the weeks since the Fest, I've finally returned some of my personal comics projects to the Front Burner. As I continue to move forward on Ellie, I'm also going to be toying with two other projects. One is a grand-scale contemporary philosophical drama (for lack of a concise description), following events in the lives of several childhood friends as they reunite and re-evaluate their lives. I'm hoping not to simply retread familiar territory, and at the least I'm hoping it will be therapeutic for me as I continue to deal with my nearly-annual mid-life crises of spirit.

The second project I'm working on is actually going to be a whole bunch of mini projects. Basically, i want to get into minicomics again. I've lost the ability to tell a short, clear story, opting instead for much longer epics. So, I'm charging myself with creating a new short comic every month or two and, at the end of the year, collecting them all into a single volume. It's an idea I had several years ago while thinking about the way that songs are written, and music albums compiled. It struck me that albums were, with some exception, analagous to collections of short stories, and wouldn't that be an interesting way to present comics? So, i'm approaching these stories with the mindset of a songwriter. They won't all be poetry (though the first one most definitely will be), but I hope they'll have a similar feel, an internal rhythm, a hint of visual music. I'm hoping to have my first 'single' done in a couple weeks, and will post it here when it's finished.

Actually, The Night I Flew should be considered the first 'single'. I need to post that in the comics archive.

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