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.

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.

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

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.)

We got into Atlanta around seven on Thursday, but ended up looping around the downtown area multiple times in search of our hotel. Turns out our hotel was a rather terrifying place (seriously, there was a vacant lot nearby full of homeless people with hungry eyes, and three of the four of us are female and highly stab-able), so we ended up back at Marlon’s family’s house. They were thrilled, but I was none too thrilled with the driving (which the purchasing of a hotel room was supposed to omit!), but we managed just fine.

While Ebits and Dahlia circled the bigger panels through much of the weekend, Marlon and I went to a few on costume creation, and I had some of my best fun doing nothing at all. A few hours over the length of the con I camped out in crowded places and offered caricatures for tips and a bit of conversation. The extra practice was great, and I passed out some Cliffside and Ever Tomorrow flyers. I loved this the most, considering I got to have some great talks with folks, and give them souvenirs that no one else could get. I was even tipped a steampunk medal by Captain Innah of Rapture Designs.

Of course, there was shopping and milling to be done, and now I am a proud owner of a top hat, and Marlon of a pair of goggles! His costume is finally getting further along, and I’m thrilled about his enthusiasm on the matter. I also take full credit in helping convince Dahlia to buy a waist cincher from Timeless Trends. I seriously cannot recommend them enough! And I am saving up for corset #2 from them. = w =

I got to see Tessa of Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name again (and bought original art!); finally saw the Extraordinary Contraptions perform (very jazzy, very punky, and all in all fantastic—I bought both of their albums); convinced Marlon to impulse buy the Gypsy Nomad’s album (which turned out to be my favorite); and spoke with Bob, the “Charlie” of the Sugar Ninjas. The Sugar Ninjas, vol. 2 Sweet book turned out quite lovely, and I’m pleased with how my contribution looks. Soon I’ll post the artwork that wasn’t used in the book here.

Also, one of those scooters totally backed into my foot. My own fault for wearing open shoes, I guess.

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!

I was at her left side, with a sketchbook in my lap the very second she died. I had placed the finishing touches on a sketch, just as the nurses came in to respond to the change in her vitals. I was stunned … but not destroyed. Marlon had said it was almost as if she had fallen asleep while watching me work. I rather like that analogy for it.

Marlon and I had arrived in Florida in the evening on the 22nd, we had been planning to travel to my parent’s home prior to my mother’s condition worsening. When she took a turn for the worst, my father was kind enough to hold a phone to her ear in order to give her some kind words. I said something that had been on my mind for a long time: “You are special. You are one of the most special people in the world to me, that’s why I’ll be there.” I didn’t need to say goodbye, I wasn’t going to; nor did I need to say “I love you,” she already knew that. I had said it constantly my entire life, and she knew that was never going to change. I loved saying it to her, nearly as much as I say it to Marlon. What I needed to say, I said. She was special, one of the most special people in my life, and that I had ever known.

And she was. She took on my school system and won a few battles for me, she filled her closet with Star Wars toys and was giddily happy when Marlon let her play with his lightsaber replica. My mom gave endlessly to others, loved to travel, and was at her best when making my friends feel welcome and wanted. She was always willing to take on someone else’s pain, and had the best advice to give. Christmases were magical in her home, as were nearly holiday on the calendar—she even caused my cynical boyfriend to see joy in Christmas again, consumerism and retail be damned.

It doesn’t matter anymore that things weren’t perfect, they were more good than bad. She lived a life that few allow themselves to have, a life with ups and downs and yet still ultimately fulfilled.

A fulfilled life. Take a moment to think on that. There are so few who ever claim it, and probably fewer still who experience it. She didn’t see me married, but never complained, she will never see my sister’s first baby, but she knew it was on the way. She lived her last months near Disney World, her absolute favorite place on Earth. She was happy just to have her family around her, and to chase my sister’s dog around the house. The cats would cuddle around her, lending their sympathies, and she would smile from the gentle vibrations of purring.

For that reason, I have little to honestly mourn. I mourn that she will never see the end of my comic, nor any of the other projects I have planned, I mourn that there will be no grandma Jones for my children … but there are no real regrets.

I will miss her, I will miss having her voice constantly tell me there is nothing I can’t accomplish, and I will miss the tiny miracles she so frequently created. I will miss Linda Ann Jones, but I know that there is nothing tragic in a beautifully fulfilled life coming to an end.

I pray that at the end of mine, I will have been blessed to have one just like it.

~JL Jones

Ah, AKon. I just thought I would write up a little something to talk about just how much fun we had! We’re going to get to the point where we can update frequently DURING a con, the smart phone I not so secretly lust for would make that much easier.

But anyway! We showed up in Dallas to meet up with our friends, the AMV makers of Shining Finger Studios. I’ve been friends with most of these guys since middle school, and this is their con to meet, no matter where in the country they currently reside. So, there were flights from Seattle, and drives from as close as Houston and Beaumont, Texas, and as far away as Marlon and myself from Hotlanta, Georgia.

We forgot our blasted signs, but a quick trip to Kinkos allowed the tower logo of Cliffside comics to rise above the crowds. We did a couple of “So, you’re selling castles?” but we still had a nice chat with each.

I have to say, being behind the table at AKon was a blast. As usual, we had our Ever Tomorrow and Cliffside Comics anthology minicomics available, along with a selection of keychains (including some fan art), necklaces, and buttons. On each side of us were other keychain vendors/artists, who were fantastic booth partners. I gave Tachiik a Shellcat keychain, and she squeed with delight.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was getting to speak one on one with Tess of Hanna is Not a Boy’s Name and Jojo of Dead Squirrel Comics (neither comics are for kids!). Tessa was extremely busy every time I tried to speak in depth, and that’s great for her. All I can do is once again tell her from long distance how deeply impressed I am of her design sense and congratulate her on such a fantastic comic—my buying of your first trade is not enough to sincerely thank you for the work you do. You keep up the great work, you! Enjoy the minicomic.

Likewise, I got to speak a bit to Jojo, and I bought her first issue of Makeshift Man, a fun, fun read. We spoke briefly on the pitfalls of writing non-family friendly comics and dealing with Moms, which I always find an entertaining topic. I finally got Marlon to read the comics, and he’s totally down with both now. Huzzah! And you enjoy the Ever Tomorrow minicomic too!

I also have to give a shout out to our two super fans! Super Fan Steam Guy from Friday, thank you for stopping by. We talked about page 8 of issue two, and it was freakin’ fantastic to meet you. Again, as always, the best is yet to come!

Super Fan number two from Sunday … Yes, you. You with the awesome, working wings who ran off to find a dollar … I just wanted to apologize for our circular way of talking that can make our intent unclear. We actually wanted to give you a minicomic for free, but we weren’t able to grab you before you ran off! Message us with a photo or something, because we totally have a comic waiting for you, signed and everything. Your wings were so cool, and you were so happy to meet us that we want to mail this directly to you!

After all, we here at Cliffside do indeed exist.

Just to announce, if you are headed to the Atlanta area for Anime Weekend Atlanta, we will of course be at our home con. So, clear your schedules and mark your calendars for September 17-19! There will be an all new Cliffside Table, and we both of Ever Tomorrow will be joined by our partner in crime, Wendy of Life on a Stick and On the Couch!

~JL Jones

I don’t say this very often, but I thought I should.

You rock. You are awesome. And you could move mountains if you wanted. The fact that you even pay attention to my blog long enough to read it should reward you. You reward me every time you comment, fave, or just read.

Hey, yeah, I totally went there. You awesome, awesome person you.

~JL Jones