Vol 3 Completed and Turned In
Birdking Vol 3 cometh soon
Well, we did it. We actually hit our deadline. Color me surprised and proud that we managed to catch up and turn the book in on time. Vol 3 is on the Dark Horse servers waiting to be reviewed by the publisher but Crom and I are done.
All story pages, new cover, bonus content, new map, and graphic design are completed.
I feel confident saying this is the biggest most successful cliffhanger of an ending I’ve ever written. I cannot wait for readers to turn that last page and groan in feverous anticipation for the last volume.
Volume 3 marks a huge turning point for Bianca. She comes into her own and I really can’t wait for readers to share in her growth and evolution. No more running away. Time to turn and fight!
While Crom was burning midnight oil to finish Vol 3, I rose early every day and forged ahead into Volume 4. After thinking about the ending for 3 years, I plunged headfirst into the script, skipping the normal outlining phase, as the story was ready to be released from my heart and mind. I’ll be wrapping up work on the first draft this week and then we will begin the final leg of our quest to tell the tale of Bianca and the Birdking.
AFTERMATH BLUES
As usual, finishing a book leaves me feeling a bit empty and depressed. I always think I’ll feel a sense of relief or triumph but in reality, I just feel kinda sad. We spend months to years working on these books, turn them in, only to have to wait 6-12 months for them to come out and for anyone else to see them. I’m happy to have other projects to work on because not having a project to work on would feel too crushing. As if the color has gone out of living. Makes me think about how doing the work is the real reward. Having a story to tell. Building a narrative and world and designing a physical product. Creating… Thats what it comes down to, at least for me. The process and the work itself, that’s what I’m living for.
Does anyone else experience this? I’m curious how others interpret completion.
I will keep you updated on the book’s release. We should have a release date soon, after which people will be able to preorder it through their local comic book shop or online shipping overlord.
Also, anyone who’s still interested in the BK statues, I saw they are both currently available on the Mighty Jaxx website until they sell out again.
Until then…
I'll be caught up on 1&2 in time to enjoy 3. This I swear.
As a consumer/reader, I love completion. I treasure the ending/payoff more than the journey, though I'm also not a binge-watcher or speed reader - the journey of a good story is still something to be cherished as well. I just think endings are the morre difficult feat, and having grown up in an era of never-ending serial storytelling that is never meant to complete and is often rushed to an ending whenever it stops making money, it's proven a rare and elusive treasure, especially when it satisfies. I don't want things to go on forever. Because there's no chance in hell I'll continue to like it indefinitely. I want to savor the thing as a well-contructed work with a finite vision and scope.
That said, I think the journey as a creator is a very different thing. There's a natural come down from the high of creating. No different than coming home from a theme park as a kid, or the early days of a whirlwind romance and then you go back to the day job for a week. These are incredible experiences that unexpectedly cause us to reflect negatively on our lives - like what the fuck are we doing with them? Do we even like our life outside of that incredible experience? Did we just peak? Was that peak even any good? And we have to keep trucking along regardless of not having the answers to any of that.