A new year comes ever closer, and 2010 ten draws to a close. To say I’m relieved would be an understatement. So, I suppose the first order of business is unfortunately, an apology.

First off, an update to our main story hasn’t appeared in six months. Second, for the last four years, without fail, I have given back to the community I love on Deviant Art through the Twelve OC’s of Christmas. I wish I could say December passed me by only because of my newest job working for the Mouse, but that would be a lie. It’s mostly been personal and financial issues that have given me a level of hopelessness I haven’t had in many, many years. Feeling like there’s no point to trying, not receiving any monetary compensation for my efforts—in general not working and feeling sorry and angry instead.

I wish I could say listing all that isn’t partly to gain pity, but I’m so furious at myself for breaking my unsaid promise to the lot of you that I couldn’t take someone else calling me on it. I’m aware of my bad habits, gaining pity when I’ve torn myself down enough is one of the worst.

But, what’s done is done. Now for a new year, and new promises for me to make to you and myself, and struggle as hard as I can to keep. Of course, after much deliberation and discussion between myself and Marlon, we’ll be dropping the Clockwork Cavatinas from Ever Tomorrow, and focusing on our main story. If there’s a little extra for you readers now and again, I’ll let you know through blogs. Our goal is to make it to multiple posts per week again, but that’s going to have to wait for at least getting one post a week regular.

I also will be working on finding ways to increase my income, starting with ghost blogging! I had no idea the large number of sites and companies needing content, but my sister has been helping me get started.

Also, expect new content on this site up much more often, thanks to my brand spanking new Android! There’ll be quite a flood of my caricature work from now on, but something is certainly better than nothing. When I illustrate or doodle, I’ll be better about posting them, I just have quite a backlog of sketchbook work to polish a bit and post.

As worthless as I myself feel apologies are for lack of content, please accept my apology, and bear with me. Things have been very rough on this end, and unfortunately I can’t say many details openly.

The best really is yet to come, just be patient. It’s coming. It’s always coming.

This has been a year of vagabonding for me. After a move from Marietta, GA to Minneola, Fl, two conventions and three funerals, I’m writing this blog post in Toronto, Ontario, a few days from my nephew Joshua’s Christening. I drove up on Halloween, met up with my folks in Marietta, and we got here on the 2^nd of November. It’s a short taste of the big city for me before heading back to Florida. The main downside being that though it’s good to be with family, all this traveling is putting us behind schedule as far as the comic.

I’m making slow, but steady progress on new Ever Tomorrow pages. On my end, I have the pencils half done, but before we get any further in the updates, I want to have at least 8 posts done so we can have a buffer again. For those of you reading who would like to do a webcomic, your comic buffer is one of the most important things for you to have. I know this hasn’t been the only post to go like this, but the way I see it, you only make mistakes until you either get it right, or you give up. And I am not the type to leave anything I start unfinished.

I’ve had an unappreciated gem of an opportunity with the Clockwork Cavetinas. They’re going to stay side strips and illustrations yes, but I’ve never realized how much practice I can get in by doing them. That’s definitely going to change for the better.

I’m pretty sure that this is a constant in any time place or society, but we all lose focus in some form or another. Either losing focus on family, social obligations, work bla bla bla but it leads to the same thing. People let stuff fall to the wayside for some reason or another. I like writing and generally being a creative person. So not putting anything up for as long as I have does a disservice to me and the people wanting to read good comics. It’s a lesson that I keep needing to learn, but once it sinks in, then New challenges will come up. And those will be met head on too.

This has been a rough year, and it’s still a few months away from being done. I know I owe all of you a Post AWA blog, but that will simply have to drop off.

Tuesday morning at 4 am a very special man in my life journeyed to the next. Justin Rollins was a high school friend, and was one of the members of my very first gaming group. My memories constantly flood back to weekend nights crowded around our GM’s coffee table, nachos or fast food in our hands. He came up with the most creative use for Summon Creature: summoning a sperm whale a couple of dozen feet directly over a red dragon. He created several of the most memorable D&D characters I ever campaigned beside, especially Victorious the water mage.

So many memories. Fireworks in the yard, squeezing into a pickup’s cab, a whirlpool in the center of the hotel pool at AKon, traveling to Schlitterbahn. The stories I can tell of him are innumerable, his affect on my life indescribable. I have difficulty in expressing my feelings on him, he was simply a large part of my life for a long time.

He had that effect on practically anyone who knew him–Justin had a knack for showing the world exactly what he was without shame or slightest insincerity. Thus, to meet him was to know him, to spend time around him was to have a connection with him. For a time, my connection was a bit deeper, and for that I am exceedingly grateful. To be the twinkle in his eye, even for as brief a time as it was, was a joy I grasped only when I allowed it to slide. Even though it didn’t become deeper or last, the time with him was beautiful.

What many knew of him as was the heart of Shining Finger Studios, a group of friends connected by their love of anime and music video compilation. He was their founder, and their best editor with the largest number of videos under his belt. He won the team many an award (most of them for hentai videos), including this year’s Best in Show at AKon’s amv competition. Under his direction, some of their most popular videos had his name in the credits–Including submissions for the AMV Hell series, A Very Bootyful Christmas, Azumanga Die-Oh, and The AMV Before Halloween. (Google or Youtube those, fer serious.)

He created magic. His presence created calm, brought many together, and his heart overflowed with generosity and humble kindness. These are treasures I hope I can carry on in his memory, and ones anyone who ever knew him should take to heart.

Today’s Clockwork Cavatina is a piece dedicated to “Roll the Stampede,” based on Justin’s Shining Finger and net avatar.

He’s not leaving us behind, just traveling ahead. We’re all headed to the same place, after all.

Love and Peace-Out, man. I miss you already.

~JL Jones

September 7, 2010

To start us off, the hiatus for the main story continues, but we’re still posting Clockwork Cavatinas multiple times a week. Today is “The Mouse War” pt. 3, and the storyline will conclude on Friday.

Marlon and I decided some time ago that we would have one convention a year that is not for work, and we chose DragonCon in Atlanta. This con is unreal, if you’ve never been there. With an estimated 40,000 nerds, writers, comic creators, and fans in general attending, it’s larger than my friend’s home town! (Of course, it’s not hard to be larger than Ebits’ home town, but that’s hardly the point.) ↓ Read the rest of this entry…

So, Marlon and I are headed off to our “fun” con, DragonCon. We like to go to maybe one a year where we aren’t working, because it’s a completely different experience from one side of a table to the other. A-Kon was a blast, but I admit, I didn’t really see my friends that much, and I was passing out before midnight while everybody else was tearin’ it up until three.

For us, our fun con is DragonCon. It’ll be a good chance to head back to Atlanta for a bit and enjoy a slight variation of heat (I’ve been working outside in the 90’s consistently for several weeks now), and to perhaps see at least two friends there.  With us will be our friends Ebits and Dahlia.  This may be Dahlia’s first “big” con, and wow is DragonCon a doozy! I still recall the first time I took Ebits and how desperately she clung to my shoulder because crowds bother her.  Kind of amazes me she’s ready to go back, actually.

As far as Ever Tomorrow, expect new Clockwork Cavatinas on Friday and Monday! I’m very happy about the effort Marlon put forward even to the last minute in order to be ready for this.

If anyone is headed there, I’ll be at the Steampunk meet on Saturday from 4-5 in the Westin Peachtree Plaza, and I’ll be around the Fans of Christ table 7 pm on Friday. If you wanna shake hands, be there!