nativecomic

Hi Guys!

As promised, I've combined the second and third pages of the alternative intro you've been reading here on LJ, and it's available as a Desktop background on the website in the newly-created "Downloads" page (the "Information" page was combined into the "The Novel" page)!

Native Downloads

The Desktop is available in several popular widescreen and standard formats.

Enjoy!

( The Native LiveJournal exclusive page for Wednesday, November 25 )


Sorry for the late page! You'd think having an extra day off before the holiday would give me time to do everything I need to, wouldn't you?

( The Native LiveJournal exclusive page for Monday, November 23 )


This page is the second half of a two-page spread including the previous, I'll try to post the full thing as a desktop background sometime this week.

( The Native LiveJournal exclusive page for Saturday, November 20 )


Oh, Skullduggery, you always know how to show the locals a good time...

( The Native LiveJournal exclusive page for Thursday, November 18 )


Thanks for joining in for the LiveJournal re-post of Native!

I'll be posting new comics every other day (including weekends) until the LiveJournal comic has caught up with the twice-weekly updates of the website. To give myself a head start and you readers a special treat, I'm starting the comic with my alternate intro this time! It's slightly shorter, page-wise, and definitely cuts out a lot of the exposition!

If you find yourself lost as we go along, check out the original intro at the website!

Thanks for reading, comments welcome!

Coming very soon, Native comic pages will be posting through this journal!

The webcomic has been updating regularly at the website, but I've had a number of requests to post the pages in a real LiveJournal account, rather than the native_rss syndicated account, where comments are sure to be seen and read. Not to mention that folks have expressed frustration that they've missed a number of pages over the past months due to feed delays. Happy to oblige!

I will begin posting the pages here starting at the Prologue, and posting every other day (though I have to do this manually so I may not be doing it at a predictable time) until I've caught up with the website's comic pages. What a great chance to catch up if you've missed anything, or to relive your favorite scenes!

I haven't determined exactly when I will start reposting the pages, but it will be within the next week.

Thanks for your feedback, everyone, and for reading!

I forgot to come back last week and confirm that the pages are now posting successfully! Page 4 went up this morning! Take a look if you haven't already.

I also re-created products in my Cafepress store that were once available, with the exception of the LE tiles, which are available through the website directly (along with the trading cards featuring full-color fronts and a lot of new art)!

Thanks for your support everyone!

Gah.


I'm not sure what happened, but ComicPress created a post with my image source as "http://www.nativecomic.com" (leaving off the directory and file), so the comic appeared as a broken image.

When I attempted to repost, it included the filename obfuscation in the title.

So... I deleted the post, intending to try fresh... and it deleted the page file from the comics directory of the site. Bah!

So now I have to wait til I get home, since I didn't think to grab and save it.

I may have to run some test postings today, though, to figure out how it should have been done.

It was odd. It created a post with the wrong link, but the post that showed the image in the admin listing was set to unpublished, and had the obfuscation, as I mentioned, in the title.

So I'm hypothesizing that the recent ComicPress upgrade (before I even posted a page) has some how kerfluffed the posting rules. In addition, the site is double-posting for each file: once for the file but with a bad link, and another as it detects that there's a comic file in the comics directory.

I'll hit the forums at lunch today and hopefully get it sorted out.

I'm annoyed, though, that it seemed all set and I posted a 'come on over' message at devART. Bah.

native_rss has been created and fetches posts from www.nativecomic.com.

I am switching over in February to a web comic format, and will publish the entirety of Native through the website, releasing the printed graphic novel when the story arc has completed.

Please add native_rss to your friends list to see Native on your Friends List!

A special welcome to our new visitors, and to those who have signed up for the mailing list recently!

With the release of the novel within sight, I hope to have exciting things for the members in thanks of their support. A new mailing should be arriving this week! If you don't receive yours, please be sure to update me with your current mailing address. I'd hate for anyone to miss out on the fun!

Also new this week is a design for dark apparel featuring Zazzle.com's printing services. Click the image below to be taken to the Zazzle gallery.



I have handled both dark apparel printed by Zazzle and Cafepress, and must assure anyone who's been disappointed by iron-on printing, that Zazzle has wonderful quality.

I plan to soon offer 1" buttons which rival both the quality and prices of Cafepress buttons. They'll be available through this website only. In the meantime, I have removed the character buttons from the Cafepress shop.

A new Cafepress item has been added, the quality of which I have never had reason to question. The third design in the Native tile coaster series is available for purchase, and the two older tile designs are now available only in limited quantity from this website. The new design is also straight from the pages of the graphic novel, but you'll have to wait until the book is published to find out what Talis finds so funny!

Another month has slipped away in 2006, and it's time for another update. I've got my nose to the drawing table these days, so to speak, so all I can offer you this month is a new Preview Page.

Members of the mailing list can look forward to a new mailing in the next couple of weeks, and I'll possibly have a couple new shirt designs for you in my Zazzle gallery. Requests or comments are always welcome!

Happy Valentine's Day, folks!

I hope this website update finds all our visitors safely and happily into the new year.

The holiday rush is over, and we can get back to the grind.

Two items of note for this update are a new page added to the Novel Preview, and a new shirt design available from Zazzle, as shown below.



The shirt features artwork from the graphic novel, printed in monochrome on a dark t-shirt. I've had the chance to hold this product in person and I was most happy with the result.

I'll be getting back to working on the novel now. As always, any questions can be left here by comment, or emailed to webmaster@nativecomic.com. Have a happy January, and we'll have another update and preview page for you in February!

It's been a while since I've posted an update. Life, unfortunately unrelated to Native, has been excessively busy for the past seven or eight weeks.

I wish I could say work on the book progressed unburdened during that time, but it unfortunately has not.

The manuscript for the book, however, is now completed.

This is a blessing and a curse for me. The total page count for the book has been expanded another 33 pages or so, which is lovely for fans of the book, but does mean the release will be delayed to allow me the chance to work on these new pages. Where once I thought I could easily beat my estimated release of May 2006, I am now not sure I can make even that.

I'm no longer going to attempt to estimate which part of the new year the book will be released in. This does not mean I've given up working as hard as I can to complete it, but that I know - as a consumer - that nothing garners incredulity in a release as much as a constant pushing-back of release dates.

I will only attempt to announce the release date when I am in clear view of the finish line, as it were. I have an entry field in the "Novel" section for entering your email address if you wish to be notified of the novel's release.

I will continue to update this website, of course. There will be a new preview page up later today, and new merchandise featuring Zazzle's new print-on-black feature for those of you who prefer dark clothing options.

I won't focus too heavily on trying to create new merchandise but, as always, if you have suggestions for something you'd like to see, please do not hesitate to drop me an email or a comment.

The Native Website has been updated for September.

I accidentally blinked and missed August completely, so now there are two more preview pages available in the Novel preview. Please also note at that link there is now a form to enter your email if you would like to receive a single email notice when the novel is available for purchase.


The Exclusives Shop has the remaining stock of the "Jungle" coasters from the ongoing Native coasters series from Cafepress. This coaster was taken out of unlimited production earlier this summer and replaced with the "Puzzles" coaster. In Mid-winter I'll switch out again to a new design and the "Puzzles" poster will no longer be made.


Also now available in the Cafepress shop are "Portrait" buttons on the new 1" buttons made available at the end of August. Each of the main characters is featured on their own button. Other characters may be added. And remember, you can always email me to request new designs - even if the art doesn't exist yet! ;)

The second wave of Native trading cards was meant to come out this month, but I have had some trouble with my usual printer and the cards must be reprinted. I will be looking for a new printer. If the paper stock is considerably different at the new printer, I will have the entire run reprinted to-date for consistency's sake.

There is a new development in the printing features available for on-demand book publishing, which may mean that Native is printed somewhere other than Cafepress. I'm ordering a sample this weekend, and if all goes well, the quality of the final book will increase quite substantially.

If anyone reading this is interested in publishing their own stories or comics, please feel free to contact me for more information.

The Native Website has been updated for July.

As usual, a new month means a new preview page from the novel! Page 13 is now available in the Novel area.

The Store area, you may have noticed, has had an update of its own.

Recently, I made the decision to switch online retail services for apparel products. I was not happy with the quality of fabric printing with Cafepress, so now there are new designs available through Zazzle.com. I have tested their printing and am satisfied that Native products will be of a quality worth the money spent on them. There are currently three Native designs available from Zazzle: the novel cover-inspired "Cogs", the Yu'Nyun illustration by Matt Jay of bonepumpkin and the Talis poster by Leona Preston. More designs will be added to the shop later this summer.

Because of the switch to Zazzle, all Native clothing items previously offered by Cafepress have been removed and the "apparel" link will now take you to Zazzle's site. I will continue to recommend and use Cafepress for gifts and prints, but until they work out their fabric printing, I hope you will trust in Zazzle for excellent quality and very fast shipping. An added bonus of purchasing from Zazzle is that you can mix and match designs with different styles of shirt, rather than only have my personal picks to choose from!

The Native Exclusives shop area still has the first pack of Native Trading Cards in stock if you haven't ordered yours yet. At the end of summer, look for a new set! The new wave will have 11 cards, total, including a 9-panel poster. Uncut sheets of the poster page will be made available when the packs are released for sale!

Around the same time, I will offer the Native "Jungle" coaster (#1) for sale in the Exclusives shop. This coaster was discontinued in June to make way for the "Puzzles" coaster (#2), and only my small stock of "Jungle" coasters remains!

Work on the novel itself is progressing well. I would go so far as to say you can expect it to make an appearance for at least one of next year's comic conventions. More information about that will come in 2006, as we near registration dates.

Finally, I'll leave you with this month's savings coupon code from Cafepress. Remember that you can purchase items from multiple stores in one order to take advantage of these savings:

$5 off order over $40
Coupon code: SUMSAV
Sale ends July 26, 2005

A few items to mention in this update:

First, a new preview page has been added to the Novel section. [See the Preview Now]
As mentioned previously, a new page will be added to the site once per month until the book's release!

Second, with the new domain name, there is a new email address for contacting me regarding Native. Please use webmaster @ nativecomic.com (without the spaces) for any questions, feedback or subscription requests. This email address change is reflected in all links in the site.

Also, the Jungle Coaster in the CafePress shop has been retired, and replaced with the second coaster in the set, which is artwork from the novel that (if I work quickly enough) won't make it into the preview section before the novel is released. Also, I've updated the look of the coaster box with a more interesting bit of artwork (and dropped the price of the coaster box for a limited time!):


Click the image to visit the site store.

Also, "Friends of Native" mailing list members should be certain that I have their updated mailing addresses, as a new mailing will be going out at the end of this week! Those of you who haven't signed up yet, [visit the subscription page] to do so!

Also - I will get a functioning subscription form up on the subscribe page within the next day or so - so if you were waiting for the form, it's almost here!

In thanks for donating paid time and user icons to this journal, I've drawn this sketch for contrilver. I'll be mailing it out to you soon!



Fens Yarrow is only a minor character in the story, though his influence brings about primary plot developments. Here he is with his grandson. It is likely I'll go ahead and finish this sketch later on, and there will certainly be further stories to tell about Fens Yarrow in the second book.

Also, I've added some older images to the art gallery, which I never got around to uploading before:


[Concept Art of Meran] [Concept Art of Fens] [Valentine's Card 2005]