neighborboy

General update

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 02:13:09 -0700

Just a quick update as I realized I hadn't done anything to the front page in six months. I DO have art to show off, though - specifically, the album cover for my band's new EP, Ghosts and Legions, which is now available on iTunes, Amazon, and all the other big music retailers. I designed the cover (though my good friend Andy from Incogneato! designed the skeleton and pattern a while back for our t-shirts), and I'm really happy with it. Recording was intense, but I think the end result is something truly amazing - check it out for free at www.myspace.com/shadowatmorning. On a similar note - the band played our first headlining show at the Showbox in May, and that was fabulous. (Remember how I said last time that opening for a bill there in January was the culmination of a lifelong dream? Well imagine how it felt to see us on the marquee out front, between Ladytron and Stephen Marley.)

As always, there's much more, but for now, I'm out. If you're bored, why not watch this video of "Janus" live at that Showbox show?

Things continue apace

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 17:27:20 -0700

There's been a ton of stuff going on the last few months, but I'm not feeling particularly talkative at the moment, so I'll just post this portrait I did of Amy for her birthday. I'm rather proud of it.

The craziness continues

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 03:49:19 -0700

There's a bunch of awesome news to relate, so I'll try to go fast. First and foremost, I've been having a run of good luck with fiction recently. Remember how, a few months back, Aberrant Dreams picked up "Dreamcatching" for its website and The Awakening, and Clean Sheets bought "Fling?" Well, in just the last few days, I've sold two more pieces - "Will The Last One Out Please Turn Out The Lights?" is going to be featured in Canada's renowned Kiss Machine, and the piece that I feel is probably my finest work to date, "Miscarriage," managed to make it into the Machine of Death anthology. (In case you haven't heard, the latter is Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics' latest venture, and I'm incredibly excited to be included in their book... out of almost seven hundred submissions, less than thirty were chosen.) I've also been doing some really neat freelance work for Pathfinder, but more on all of that down the road when I have pictures and links to show off.

In addition to all of that, the band is kicking ass (come see us play - we've currently got a bunch of shows set up for August), the last magazines have been put to bed at Paizo (making Planet Stories and Pathfinder my full-time gig), and... and... okay, there's actually a bunch more, but this was really supposed to be just a quick doodle before getting back to work on my freelance. Oops.

Take care, everybody!

The Further Adventures of Our Hero!

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 04:55:23 -0700

Just got back from visiting Amy in San Francisco, where I got a chance to do some much needed relaxing and accompanied her on some of her capers studying marine seabirds. While I've always known, intellectually, that she's a field biologist, this was my first chance to see her in action... and what I never realized before was that she is to biology what Indiana Jones is to archaeology. We're talking serious National-Geographic-style stuff, here. In just one day of following her around, I was attacked by gulls, got way closer to elephant seals than is normally advisable, and nearly capsized when our inflatable raft met heavy seas in the middle of the Red (or Bloody) Triangle - a small patch of the Pacific off the coast of SF, dubbed such for having the highest incidence of great white shark attacks anywhere in the world. Plus I got to wear a ranger hat and help her monitor birds on both Alcatraz and the Ano Nuevo island. The latter is a wildlife preserve which is closed to all but a select few marine biologists, and where researchers compete for years for the honor of being allowed ashore... and where I got to spend the day collecting data and holding baby gulls and rhinoceros auklets. Sorry, actual scientists, but you should have spent less time earning degrees and more time courting hot biologists ladies!

Speaking of which - that's supposed to be her in the sketch up above. I tried experimenting with some different brushes and styles, and when I was finished I realized that I was having trouble focusing my eyes on it... If you zoom in, the lines are actually perfectly sharp and defined, but the brush pattern makes it seem blurry and out of focus at this size. Which, I decided in a fit of hubris, is kind of cool.

One other item of note - my story "Dreamcatching" has gone live at Aberrant Dreams, and is available for you to check out if you feel so inclined. I've also been informed that it's being collected into their anthology "The Awakening," which comes out in October in both hardback and trade paperback versions, and which will sandwich my story between new work from folks like Alastair Reynolds and Henry Kuttner. How's that for awesome?

Sketches

Sat, 19 May 2007 19:14:38 -0700

Holy crap, has it really been two months since I've posted? That's insane, but it makes sense, given my life recently. A couple of things that have happened since then:

*My metal/hardcore band finished recording our demo (check it out at www.myspace.com/shadowatmorning or www.shadowatmorning.com) and played our first show at El Corazon, which was a rousing success.

*I started (and completed) my largest freelance writing project to date - a standalone adventure module called Seven Swords of Sin, which Paizo is releasing just in time for GenCon. I benefited significantly from work done by my coworkers from this year's GenCon delve, but 23,000 words is still a heck of a lot.

*The first of those fiction pieces I sold at the start of the year has gone live - you can read "Fling" at Clean Sheets here, but be warned that it is NOT worksafe.

*My wonderful girlfriend and housemate Amy moved to San Francisco for 5+ months to study seabirds on Alcatraz and Ano Nuevo... something that is simultaneously difficult and TOTALLY AWESOME. I mean, come on - Alcatraz? That's hot.

*I've been working a ton since Paizo and WotC announced that the license for Dungeon and Dragon was not going to be renewed, finishing out both magazines while simultaneously getting my new jobs at Pathfinder (our monthly adventure path books) and Planet Stories (sci-fi/fantasy novel reprints) up and running.

I think that's about it for momentous events, but you can see how I'd have been busy. Nevertheless, I'd really like to get back into drawing webcomics, so until my next real post, I give you the above sketches from an art party a month or so ago... the bottom two are an attempt to draw my roommates Arya and Jon, as I have a feeling they will soon become main characters in my neophyte renderings. And as you may notice, I have completely given up trying to figure out a style that is not a Natalie Dee rip-off for the time being. Once I can do that well, then we'll talk.

Whew. Welcome back, folks.

Mmm... unfertilized chicken ova...

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 03:05:32 -0700

I totally had something I wanted to get on a soapbox about earlier, but I can't remember what it is, so I'll once again forfeit my blogging rights, except to say that my laser tag birthday party was quite possibly the best idea EVER. Thanks to everybody who helped make it happen.

Seriously, people.

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 22:43:52 -0800

Not really feelin' the blogging bug tonight, so I'll post the comic and leave it at that. Just remember that I let you off easy this time...

Leave... this... space....

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 02:08:26 -0800

So, hey, the comic's back! It feels like a lot longer than two weeks. Things have been absolutely bonkers around here, and they're not looking to get any saner in the imminent future. Why, you ask?

First, and without doubt the most important, my beloved roommate Jones ships out for a two-year Peace Corps stint in Uganda in two days, and we're all a bit weepy. Jonesy and I have been through quite a bit together (sharing walls, food, family, ladies), and it's hard to imagine him on the other side of the world. Still, the pain is certainly mitigated by the joy of knowing he'll be doing exactly what he was born to do - living close to the land and helping people.

On that same note, Slant is fortunate enough to be adding a new housemate - our good friend Gentleman Johnny, who's a hell of a guy himself. I honestly couldn't be more excited to have him living with us.

After two months of work, the band is finally done tracking the demo and beginning work on post-production. Estimates vary, but as soon as it's ready, I'll post a link. I've said it before and I'll say it again - this is far and away the best musical project I've ever been involved with.

Also, I just received word that I've sold yet another fiction piece to Clean Sheets, a rather prestigious erotica journal. (And lest you doubt that there is such a thing, I'd like to point out their frequently-anthologized authors, their publishing arm, and the operative word sold.) As with the sci-fi piece, I'll post a link as soon as it goes live. With two pieces sold in as many months, 2007 is looking to be the best year yet for James's writing... and that's not even counting the big new gaming project I just tapped for.

Alright, there's probably more, but you get the picture. Hope all's well with you and yours, and I'll see you when I'm 23.

Sniff Test

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 09:22:53 -0800

Yes, I have actually said these words. My Freshman roommate Danny and I learned many things that year, and this was one of them. Other bits of wisdom: the average Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue contains enough nipples to completely coat the walls of a standard dorm room, cleaning can be avoided by naming the dust bunnies, and spraying your roommate in the face with Lysol will not keep you from getting sick. Oh, and before you borrow your roommate's toenail scissors, make sure they're not actually nosehair trimmers.

So in addition to being incredibly busy for the last few weeks, I've been having something of an artistic quandary with these comics. On the one hand, I don't want to be just a nataliedee or xkcd ripoff, but the honest fact is that most of my attempts at a more detailed style are pretty lame. At the same time, I'm also coming to realize that the sloppy first draft of a comic inevitably strikes me as funnier than the more polished versions. In any case, expect to see some variation in the coming strips as I try things out and see what sticks.

Sniff Test

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 04:19:03 -0800

It thinks it's people!

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 23:46:34 -0800

Comic inspired by this video. Seriously, I can't tell whether I'm terrified or enamored - it's just so damn alien. This, of course, prompted a long conversation with Arya on the ethics of genetically modifying animals strictly for the cuteness value. (He, naturally is more concerned with whether or not they'd breed true and teach each other to walk upright than any silly moral quandaries.)

And while we're modifying animals for our own twisted pleasure, how about one of Ro's squidalloons? I haven't been able to get the word out of my head all day. Say it with me, people: squidallooooooooon!

Never been washed!

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:10:56 -0800

Hey folks! So, several pieces of news. First off, my biggest RPG endeavor to date has just hit the newsstands - Issue 144 of Dungeon features "The Lightless Depths," a Savage Tide Adventure Path product written by Wes Schneider and yours truly. Exciting!

News bit number two is that, after much debate, I've decided to rein the comic back to a weekly update schedule. I have a tendency to bite off large chunks of things and then feel guilty when I can't adequately chew them, so I'm going to self-Heimlich while this thing's still new in the interest of keeping it fun and relaxing. Hopefully you'll all still continue to check it out. Remember, with the LJ feed, you never need to check the site itself (though it'd be nice)!

Demo stuff is coming along nicely. Further updates as events warrant!

Never been washed!

Fri, 26 Jan 2007 02:26:36 -0800

Demo stuff is coming along nicely. Further updates as events warrant!

And every tomb they've robbed...

Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:49:07 -0800

I'm so tired I can barely focus on the screen, but it's a good kind of tired. A few days ago I got an email informing me that I've sold my first straight science fiction story to the mag/anthology Aberrant Dreams. It's been a while since I published straight-up fiction, and genuine sci-fi is definitely where my heart is these days, so needless to say, I'm pretty excited. In addition, my band begins recording our official demo in less than 48 hours, with all the craziness that entails. Add in some exciting new projects at work, the occasional comic, D&D, and last night's excursion to see the (third) world premiere of Don Hertzfeldt's touring Animation Show, and I'm pretty well spent. Enjoy the 'toons, and I'll do my best to keep to the schedule in the coming weeks.

Butt-snorkel

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 18:18:05 -0800

Not much news at the moment, so enjoy the comic and I'll see ya'll later this week.