Gray Sky Holiday

They say it always rains in England, but that's not true. In all my visits there, always in the off-season, I haven't seen all that much rain. Gray skies, sure, but not all that much rain. I do understand why people may complain, though, since my last trip we awoke each morning to clouds, and mist, and often light sprinkling. You think to yourself, "I'm on vacation, I've got big plans, and it's raining". Fortunately for us, the weather usually cleared up by afternoon, and we actually had some nice weather at times.

When walking the streets of London, a bit of rain can make things a bit gloomy. That same weather at Stonehenge, however, or in the Cotswalds, adds what we writers call atmosphere. Hmm... coincidence that 'weather' creates 'atmosphere'? :0)

Anyways, a Holiday is a Holiday, and it's great to get away from the everyday. Of course, my getaway coincided with the release of my book 3 Knights in India,which was not a good thing in terms of sales. Now that I'm back, I'm anxious to get to work on some new projects, which brings me to today's discussion, and please, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the following.


I was talking to another Creative the other day, and we were discussing newspaper interviews and such and we both suddenly realized something; we like our work. Allow me to clarify: we like Cartooning. Selling the book, Marketing, Publicity, etc. is also work, but we Artists don't have the heads for this stuff. We can do it, but the desire is next to zero.

I spent 3 years on 3 Knights in India, and I thought about the book for every waking hour of those 3 years. Now that it's done, it's like "Time to fly!", and whoosh! Out of the nest it goes, and it had better start flapping!

It sounds cruel, but I have other stuff I want to write and draw. I have more stories in my head than I know what to do with, and a great new comic strip just waiting for me to get to the drawing board, and open that interdimensional portal made of bristol board that will allow those characters to come to life inour world.

Don't get me wrong... I love 3 Knights in India, and I really do want to hear what the critics have to say, and especially my audience, and hopefully new readers. I just don't know how to reach you all. I've been sitting on the Press Release like an old hen sitting on a rock and wondering why it won't hatch. It won't, of course. I've got to do a whole lot more than keep it warm for it to grow, and then I have to find places for it to fly off to, and then set up interviews, and maybe arrange for a book signing or two, but as I said, who has the time?

I've got Cartooning to do, and that really causes some mixed feelings. I mean, books don't sell themselves. I created this book, so I guess I have a responsibility to it, to give it the best chance it has in this world.

Damn. I wish this were easier.

They say fame isn't everything, but I bet Charles Schultz never had to write his own press releases. Heck, I bet he didn't even NEED a press release!

Damn. Damn. Damn.

Pardon my French.


The sun shining on a stone lion in Oxford