Okay, page 112 is finally up. Sorry it was late. It was St. Patrick's Day this past weekend... Anyway, this hacker guy is just about the worst person in the world. I kind of think he thinks he's making a joke, but still, he must get his comeuppance. Hopefully soon.I enjoyed reading your comments from last week, some good stuff in there. I haven't quite had the chance to get to them all, but I'll try and do that this weekend (*sigh* I miss sleep). Anyway, I'm glad most folks seem to be on board with this plot twist, and I've yet to be accused of being a dink, which is always nice. :)

Um, okay, see here's the deal: Ice has one more page before the end of this chapter, and I was planning to get to that page this week, and then give notice as to what was happening, but I took a good look at my schedule, and I literally have no time to spare ... so I've no idea when that page will get done. I'm assuming I can talk about this, as I've already signed a contract and handed over roughs, so .... what's happened is that I got a freelance job doing an educational kids comic for a publisher, something that just kind of landed in my lap (which NEVER happens to me, so it's not like I've got some golden touch) and thus I will be spending the next two months drawing it. On top of my regular job. Which is kind of crazy, as it's a pretty long comic, and in full colour. Yikes.But it's also really nifty, 'cause it'll be published, and I actually get paid some sort of illustrator's rate, instead of the Modern Tales rate, which is less than a pittance. :DAnyway, the point is, I will not be around for about 2 months (well, I'll check my email and might make the occasional "aahhgh! I am going crazy!" post on LJ, but that's about it). Like, at all. It's a very tight schedule I've been given, and since this is my first real comics job, I want to do it well. Thus, Ice, the sketchblog ... uh, everything and anything online will probably be non-existent until June. I'm sorry about that (and I'll try and put up a placeholder on the MT-Ice site, as I don't want that page up there for two months), but them's the breaks. So anyway, I must off to work. I'm already 10 minutes behind. See you guys ... soon, hopefully.

I just wanted to put out a quick note to say that I'm planning to start Ice up again next week. I was hoping to start it again this week (tomorrow), but I got called into work all weekend (don't worry, they paid me, hurrah). Anyway, thanks for your patience. This has been a crazy few months. I'm looking forward to getting back to Ice... really diving into the gritty part of the story. O_OSo, how's by you? I was pretty busy all last month with this kid's comic. It was a lot of fun to do, actually, though a LOT of work, and it was just neat to get the experience of working with a publisher. I don't know what they're planning to do with it, if it'll be availible in stores or just through a catalog, but I'm curious to find out, so ... we'll see. I finished working on that Western samurai comic with Matt a little while ago, so here's hoping we'll find someone who wants it for dead tree (pretty please?). Yes, it would be nice to have validation from that industry, methinks.

I don't know if people keep track of my DA account (or the sketchblog), but I apparently reached the height of my artistic career recently with The Adventures of Ashley! (horny little fangirl), a quad of parodic mini comics about Resident Evil 4. What's that? A quad? But there are only two! Well, now there's two more, but the new strips (which hopefully are full of hilarity and horniness) are only available in the Lifemeter mini-comics anthology. Yes, these poor souls have apparently seen fit to print my bizarre ode to video-game guy hotness and ... well, horniness (let's see how many times I can use that word in this post). So far the anthology will be available at two cons (go to the site for info), so you can get your horny little hands on it there ... since I can't afford to go to conventions (pesky things like student loans, rent and stolen MP3 players keep sapping my reserves), I'm hoping they'll sell it on their site eventually, but we'll see. (Okay, I was just told they will sell them on the site after con season, so there yo go.)Just keepin' y'all informed. Seacrest ... out. (I would just like to randomly point out that I share the same last name as American Idol's current winner. Since I find him annoying, this bothers me. DAMN YOU TAYLOR HICKS!! ... James Cameron worked so hard to make "Hicks" a badass name ...)(Oh, and thanks to Alison for pointing me to Lifemeter.)Teaser:

Okay guys, Ice is back. Page 113 is up and running... and I have some big news. I've decided to leave Modern Tales, and put Ice on my webpage where it'll be available for free. There were a couple of reasons for this decision, the most prevalent one being that I've always disliked that the comic isn't available to everyone, and if you want to read the whole thing, you have to buy a subscription. And what with the hassle of credit cards and such, I think that is the big reason Ice has never gained the readership that D101 had.So I hope people are happy at this prospect, and I hope that you tell your friends. :} I haven't yet built a proper site for the comic, I'll be doing that this week, and I'll let you know when it's up and running.Also, I have decided after the end of the current chapter (there's 1 more page), I'll be switching back to black and white with grayscale shading. Personally, I hate doing the colouring. It's a pain and I don't think it adds as much as it should. I really love black and white comics; all my favourites are black and white, and I think it's because, for whatever reason, they seem to have the best stories. I may be changing the update schedule. I haven't decided yet, so if you want to give me your opinion, you're welcome to: what do you want, one page a week or maybe a handful of pages every two weeks? Anyway, let me know. And let me know what you think of the changes, I'd be interested.

Huh, well, that took no time at all... eh, I'm unemployed right now, so am slightly bored...I made up the site, indeed. It's here. So go forth, my friends, and read the free comic!... okay, there's still stuff that I have to do on the site, and if you notice any bugs or missing pages, please tell me. And I haven't decided how I will be updating yet, every other week or weekly, just consider the schedule note a placeholder. ... oh, and also note the big warning on the front page about the comic's content. I expect people to respect the warning, and not be all 'tee hee! I get to see boobies!' I like content warnings on things, because I, as a "mature, responsible" reader (heh), like to know what kind of mindset I should bring to something. (However, no amount of warnings prepared me for the icky hilarity of the Underworld: Evolution sex scene... ye gods! O_O)As I was making the site, I was flipping through the comic and editing things here and there (the exposition page that starts things off is completely changed now), and there are parts to the comic I like, and parts I absolutely hate. It makes me mad that the thing isn't perfect, and I don't love it the way I love D101: Episode 5 ... I dunno, I've been working on this thing for a really long time, and I just think I should be happy with it. Anyway, I may give in and re-draw a few pages ... >:PThe pages that are done in colour will stay in colour, but the comic will shift to b&w following the end of the current chapter, as I said before. Anyway, I'm kind of drained right now, so I'll try and get some comics news sites interested later in the week... for the moment if you want to pass around the news that the comic is up and free, that'd be nifty. ... oh, and I also made up new banners ... they're here. Haven't made any small ones yet. In a bit. Wrist hurts now.

Okay guys, I'm in a bit of a rush 'cause I'm flying out to see my folks tomorrow morning (and I haven't packed yet), so the REAL page 113 of Ice is up now. Yes, last week's page was actually page 112, due to some sort of weird mix up ... I've no idea how that happened. Maybe because page 1 is actually page 0? I dunno. I got a D in Math 101, that's all I know. Anyway, this is the end of the current chapter, and also the end of the colour. Starting next update, it will be black and white. And I'd also like to say that I don't know why my comics are so violent, as I'm a big ol' pacifist in real life. O_OThanks to everyone who dropped a note about the comic, I appreciate it. People seem to be really happy about it being free now, and it's encouraging to see people passing around the link. You can also make the comic your friend on online comics.net if you want. It already has fans. :D I think that's cool. I've decided to make updates every-two-weeks. I consider my life to be ... well, busy, and that's the update schedule that worked best with D101 when I was in school, so it'll probably work well here too. Pages will probably range from 2-4 every two weeks, depending on complexity. So I will see you in two weeks.Cheers and enjoy your week.

Okay folks, I'm back from Ontario, and Ice is updated with two pages. We're also now into the greyscale shading, and I like it a lot, actually. It's a combination of markers and Photoshopping. Anyway, we're back with Hunter and Mercy, and someone else who is probably Not Dead Yet, but at least slightly comatose. We also learn something disconcerting about his past (ooh!). Also, I have no idea how IVs go in, so that's why there's no shot of his arm, but that's where the tube thing is supposed to be going. :D And Mercy's apartment is cute. Otherwise, my arm hurts. I've been drawing too much. And happy Canada Day! ... or, for me, Happy Not Having to Move Day! It's totally worth celebrating.

Alright chums, Ice is updated with two pages, and Hunter's basically being a big ol' meanie to her sister. What drama! ... actually, so far Ice has been pretty angst free (well, there was a bit between Hunter and Cirr), so it's about time, says I. It's just not a me comic without some sort of family hate-in. (Man, I wonder where that comes from? I'm sure my mom must be so proud.)Also: Project Runway season three started last week and I can't stop squeeing about it eeeeeeeee!!@1!!!11one! Also am very sunburned. It hurts. :( Am slathered in aloe vera. It is squishy.

I am eating the centre of a watermelon for supper. I do so love watermelon.Where was I? Oh, yes, well, as you noticed, there wasn't an update yesterday. The reason is that if you remember a while back I posted about getting commissioned by a publishing company to do a kid's educational comic for the Scholastic catalog (I don't know if I mentioned that bit, but that's where the book's ending up). Well, they want me to do another comic for them, which is awesome because hey, another published gig, and also because I can really use the money.(If you're interested, you can see a page of the comic that I did here. It's about Nelly Bly, kind of. I can't say I quite understand what exactly the "Scholastic Catalog" is ... something to do with school? I don't know if the books are sold to schoolkids or to teachers, so if someone knows about it and wants to explain it, I'd love to hear what's what. Anyway, the book will be out this September, I think. Wow, I sound so ignorent, don't I? :D All I know is that they paid me real money and thus I am not living on the street. Oh, and I did not do the colouring. That was done by my friend Ian.)Unfortunately this means I will pretty much be working two jobs for the next couple of months, and expect my free time to be very precious, so Ice updates will be irratic, to say the least. I don't want to just put the comic on hiatus, as I was really looking forward to this part of the comic and may still be able to pound out a page here and there, but any sort of regularity in updates won't be happening. As always, whenever I have an update, I'll post it here.I'm disappointed that things will be irregular, but I do need to focus on what pays the bills ... I'd really been looking forward to this section of Ice, the lovely, angsty, meaty bit ... where we find out about Mercy and Hunter's falling out, and finally get to know a bit about Cirr (he's so mysterious! What could his past be? I like foreshadowing! Also, there might be sex! .... okay, probably not because I'm a chicken. But maybe!). And, y'know, it's always so much easier to draw talky angsty pages rather than scenes of Hunter running around or butting into strip clubs ...