July Newsletter

Whew! Been a little bit since the last newsletter. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet (ha ha ha) since I'm on a much-needed vacation this week. But I figured I'd give y'all an update!

Health

First, as always: Health!

For once, I have some really good news on this front! The combination of a number of factors has led to some relief and restoration of energy! One major contributor to this was the reorganization of the Patreon into its current model, thus waaaay easing off the stress on my shoulders.

The rest are all medical things that I don't care to divulge publicly at the moment, but basically, we have found at least one root cause of my fibromyalgia. It's not a cause that has a cure (nor is it debilitating or something that can advance/change, so no worries there), but it's a cause that I can shape my life around with more concrete guidance. And so far, all the things I've been trying out have been helping!!! 

With so little moving the needle backward in the last five or so years, this is an incredible success and both my husband and I are constantly confused and in wonder. I can do chores again. I can probably work my way back up to some gentle exercise now. (Emphasis on working my way up.)

Believe me, I'm taking it slow and cautious, and I'm really digging into these new modes of living that are helping me out, and really delving deep to understand my body better. This has really kicked me in the head to be extremely gentle and kind to my body -- so those who are always fretting over me pushing myself: I really truly am learning. For real this time. LOL

Sadly, my fibromyalgia will probably never fully go away, and my nervous system is probably permanently damaged by this point -- but there are definite improvements to be had, and as long as I'm careful and maintain the life full of accommodations that I am lucky to be living, I'll be a happy, peppy person able to do most things I want to be able to!

In the meantime, though, the process of going through this has been exhausting and it has taken up all of my extra energy to navigate. That's part of why I've been so quiet here, and why I will continue to take the opportunity to stay a little quiet, and keep time to myself. But rest assured, there's good news and I'm really hype about it. Thank you all for all your support and patience; you guys seriously rock!

The Comic

Nothing special to say here except MAN is that buffer beefy!! One of the things that's been a comfort to me during this strenuous time is just putting my head down and working on Tamberlane. It's kept me on an even keel and lets me wallow in a story that I truly love, especially as we are starting to get to parts that Ari and I have wanted to get to for aaaaages.

There's lots more to come, so look forward to more pages coming out soon!!

The Kickstarter

Books are officially fully in production and we're just waiting on their completion right now. I've been knocking out a few of the other parts of the rewards that are currently still outstanding due to all the ~health stuff~. What remains:

• Finish bookplate doodles

• Sign, note, and number bookplates

• 4/5 Kickstarter Commissions from the high tier (2 are already in progress)

• Order prints of the commissions

• Convert books to ebooks

• Order the envelopes and wax seals for the maps

• Order the stickers

• Deliver everything to White Squirrel

I'm plodding along, knocking things off the list as I'm able. I'm probably going to hire out the conversion of the ebooks because that's huge and I'm tired.

The Patreon

I'm really happy with the current setup for the Patreon. I'm able to focus primarily on the comic, and provide extra content as I can. I have been doing Draw What You Want Fridays, which is becoming a community event on Foxglove's discord server. I've reconnected with my art, and being able to draw for myself -- something I haven't been able to do in a really long time. So yeah. Real happy!

And finally...

Happy 8 Years to Tamberlane!! The anniversary came and went in June and I only realized it yesterday haha. I can't believe it's been going that long!!!

That's it for me today. I'm gonna go back to vacation and rest. Have a really good day, y'all!