Website Woes

I've been with website host since 2007. They offered free domain for life as long as I paid between $12 to $14 a month for all eternity. It ranges because their promos only last for so long and then the price goes up. But nevertheless, even though their sitebuilder was terrible, they were reliable. My site was never down, and always easy to find.


But alas, someone recommended me to turn away from what was comfortable, for something "cheaper".


Unfortunately cheaper meant paying for 3 years upfront, plus all their service charges. Ouch. But even still, I thought it was better than paying nearly $15 bucks a month for YEARS.


And I've had free hosting before, still do. But it does go along with my username inserted into their domain name which isn't good either. And super limited.


So. Although I am still with the old site, I have an account with the new site of which I have been with for months but does not work well for me. The site builder is horrible and I currently do not own Frontpage, Dreamweaver etc.


I've opted to go with another host. Free hosting, but I pay for my domain once a year. I've heard good and bad from all, and have to take my chances. Supposedly the other 3 year site is going to refund my money. If so, then I will write a positive thing but I've read it's hard to get a refund from them, if not all together impossible.


I will get away from my month to month billing finally, even if the cost is being domain locked. Scary if I don't like them but it's hard to not like the idea of keeping my dot com while enjoying free services, even if the sitebuilder sucks...or doesn't. Don't know yet.


It's all in motion now, no turning back. I just have to wait for everything to process.
I can't wait to design a new site though, I'm excited.          

My First Interview!!!!

I am so excited and proud!

On Friday I had the pleasure of meeting two very awesome gentlemen and youth pastors for a blog site: http://www.geekchurch.net.

Travelled to the state capitol with my dear friend Melissa McCommon, creator of the comics Carnation and Epic Chaos: http://scar23.deviantart.com to visit Empires Comics on Fulton St. Sacramento where we talked about our comics and being general geeks.

I was soooo nervous! I've been in front of the camera many times, both as a filmmaker and as a casual Cosplayer but never for an interview, let alone for one about something so near and dear to be as LoK. I was delighted to answer their questions about the details of my comic and they enjoyed the interview and comic so much, they have asked me to do another, more extensive interview about LoK in the future. I couldn't be happier!!!!

I will post details when they feature the interview on their podcast online, but until then keep a look out for it!

On another note- I am in the coloring stage for the cover of Issue One, and only two pages left to pencil before I start the lining and coloring stage of the interior pages. Issue Zero is still available for sale in my online store at http://www.spyderdust.com

I have about three copies left in stock, then I will need about 15 pre-orders before I can order another wave from the printers. Lucilia is also still available as well as Lucifer. It has been recommended for me to sell them as a super limited pair and I am highly considering it with the remaining copies.

I will be selling my art work at Sac CON: http://www.sacramentocomics.com/ December 11th, and Melissa will be attending the table for me since I am so pregnant. Commissions are closed, and will remain as such until Fanime 2012 but all other merchandise is available for purchase either online or in person. Looks like I will be lurking in the crowds at Anime Expo 2012, but not at a table as an artist. You'll have a keep a lookout for me or let me know if you are going so we can say hi.
Happy Holidays!!!!

That's all for now,

~Heather Jaeger
"TheSpyderDuster"

Comics Ordered and Price Update

I have great news!!!!
I am proud to announce the publication of Legends of Katainia: The White Dragon Warrior Issue Zero- "Origins" The order was sent to the printer Thursday and I am awaiting the second proof. New tax pricing below...

It's been a great journey to get to this point and I want to thank each and every one of you for your support and interest in my work as an illustrator.

The  first pre-orders will be arriving this week and customers will be receiving their copies shortly either by mail or in person. I will update when the orders are shipped.

I will take only a handful of copies with me to the artist alley for the Sac Anime convention in Sacramento at the Radisson September 2nd-4th. link I will continue to take pre-orders to keep things easier and will be placing a second shipment as soon as possible. The first 50 copies will be signed in limited edition ink and numbered. Those of you who swiftly placed your orders for the "First 20" bundle will received both the comic and the print signed and numbered. The Lucilia the Evening Star print is still available for those who would like to purchase the print separately but will soon sell out.

The pricings are as followed:

(Sales tax as of July 1, 2011 has changed to 7.375%)

Issue Zero: $7.00 plus sales tax and shipping = $9.02
Lucilia Print individual): $6.00 tax+ship = $7.94

Issue Zero and Lucilia Print Bundle:  $13.00 tax+ combined shipping= $15.46

All payments can be made through through Paypal link for thespyderduster@gmail.com
Please note: Please put payments as a gift, Paypal will charge me otherwise for any money sent through them which I have not included in the overall cost to keep the price as decent. 

And as always I can be reached by email, Facebook, Deviant Art or my website.

Thanks again,
Heather J. "TheSpyderDuster" www.spyderdust.com

The Wonderful News

I haven't posted for a while, alot of excitement has been happening around me. I knew I couldn't keep it a secret forever but it was important to tell the right people first, especially when I got to see their reactions.

My husband and I are expecting our first child!!!!!

Breathtaking yes? The first few weeks were/are tough. I feel like I have the longest running flu, feeling ill and tired throughout most of the day, sleeping like a cat and just as picky about food. 

The story started the day before Fanime, but stomach queasy and churning and I shrugged it off as nerves since I received my first shiny copy of LoK Issue Zero in the mail. It was also the largest convention to date so to say I was a bit edgy was an understatement. We attended the convention without difficulty, even when I had to pull all my art down four city blocks without a single soul stopping to help me until after I got into the convention center but I felt fine. Everything normal. But when we got back from our fun adventures of cosplaying, shopping and partying something was missing...hmmmm. I went with my dear friend to the store, got the test and confirmed it. Boy was I surprised! I was so surprised, we bought a second test...just to be sure. But again, no waiting- clear results. The next few weeks were spent tired and queasy but attending school. I had (conveniently) enrolled into Child Development, thinking it would be good to have some teaching classes under my belt. The class has become more of pregnancy counseling class for me so that's great timing.

We had our first prenatal appointment on Tuesday, I saw my baby on the screen for the first time, no bigger than the size of a peanut, so the nickname stuck. I got to hear Peanut's heartbeat, such simple a flutter of sound but brought complex emotions to the surface that I could not contain. My dear friends watched as I wept with joy. They estimate that I am due in late January sometime.

With that being said, aside from physical discomfort, life is returning back to normal which brings me to my next topic, my comic.

I am very proud to report that Lucilia is almost halfway sold out. I am hoping to sell a few more pre-orders, before I am comfortable with placing an order out of my own pocket. During Fanime, a few colleagues and I discussed ways to improve LoK for the future. There has been a delay in the production of the comic due to some unforeseen complications, and steps are being taken to push forward with the printing processes. Unfortunately, I am unsure as to whether multiple copies will premiere at Sac Anime September 2011 but I will try my best to work with the printers to do so. I am still taking pre-orders for the comic, here is the link to the prior post with the details:

http://spyderdustcomics.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html 

In the meantime, I continue to work on my small backlog of commissions, and some forward momentum on Issue One, here is a treat for your eye balls, more progress on the last page I was working on:

LoK Pre-Order

Wow.

The "First 20" copies are now sold. Thank you very much!!!!

But Issue Zero and the Official Portrait of Luclia are available sold separately.

Issue Zero: $7.00 plus 8.375% sales tax and shipping = $9.08

Lucilia Print: $6.00 plus tax and shipping = $8.00

Combined shipping is offered for both the comic and the print:

Comic $7.00+ Print $6.00 plus tax and shipping = $15.59

Payments can be made through Paypal for thespyderduster@gmail.com

http://www.paypal.com

Thank You! ^_^

To my beloved friends,

I have much wonderful news to tell you.

First,

Let me announce that Legends of Katainia: Issue Zero is now in print!

I recieved the first printed "proof" the day before Fanime. It is gorgeous!
After much discussion with fellow published illustrators,
a few minor adjustments will be made with a possible switch in printers. 

However, I am happy to say that the "First 20" is filling fast, before I had even sent the files to the publisher.

(Mostly family and friends of course) but LoK was a hit at Fanime. Thanks to everyone who made it to my table.

There are only a handful of slots left to receive:

Issue Zero signed and numbered, with Lucilia the Evening Star's Official Print, signed and numbered with metallic ink.

After the "First 20" are filled, fear not for Lucilia will still be available as a separate print. Limited to only 30 additional copies.

(Based on demand, I may print a second run but cannot guarantee that the print will be identical to the first run, so she is super rare!)

The first 100 copies of Issue Zero will also be signed and numbered.

Payments can be made through Paypal at   thespyderduster@gmail.com
Make sure to include your address so I know where to ship it to you.

http://www.paypal.com

Since I am self-publishing, the funds will ensure the printing of LoK since I am paying for the run out of my own pocket.

"First 20" print and comic: $7.00 plus 8.375% sales tax and $1.50 shipping = $9.08

Issue Zero $7.00 plus tax and shipping = $9.08

Lucilia Print: $6.00 plus tax and shipping = $8.00

NOTE: paying only $7.00 does not guarantee you a "First 20" copy. Since there are only a few left, you will be notified via email where the cut off is, all on a first come first serve basis. 

After the cut off you will be notified and given the option to purchase Lucilia separately.

BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!!!

More good news to come soon....

~Heather Jaeger

aka TheSpyderDuster

Late Night Web

I've been burning my candle at both ends, happily might I add. By day, a respectable member of modern retail society, by night- a diligent self-promoting, hopeful comic book illustrator. All work done from the ground up, watashi wa hitori desu. Alone. 

Since I attempted to transfer my website to a new server, unsuccessfully. I lost all previous work on the site. All good things are learned from (Ash)es right? So much of my day was spent doing simple web design in hopes to have something up for Fanime. Oh Fanime, how you intimidate me so! My first large official anime convention. I drove past the convention center the other day- oh man. I definitely have my work cut out for me, I am so lucky to be sharing my art there!

The pot at the end of the rainbow is that LoK should be arriving at my front door step in about 2-3 days. In celebration of that hope and dream realized I am posting this:

I will post again when LoK is ready for pre-order, which will start officially at the con. I will keep you updated as Spyderdust.com progresses also. Until then, Best Wishes.

Work work work

Productive day.

Alot of tweeking on Issue Zero and sketching for Issue One.

Here's a page I"m working on. It's good to see it in a different form, helps me to see needed corrections before I reach the inking stage.

                               Legends of Katainia and all respective characters are (c) Spyderdust Comics 2011

Inner Focus

Today seems much more positive. After returning from my recent trip to the home of Comic Con, I've come to a few realizations, including how fleeting life is. It has been ten years since I graduated high school, 7 years since college. Where had all the time gone? Did I waste it?

Happily that is not the case. I have been very passionate in my living and my only "art sin" has been that I haven't sketched enough. If I had published my work four years ago, it would have been sub par, if I had not returned to school, I would nave never met those who have impacted me so greatly nor stepped to the other side of the convention table to sell my work. It has been a challenge no doubt. I will be attending Fanime as an artist this year, and it will be my largest con to date. But if I don't bring in a good amount, it will be a costly investment and hardship. I am very much at a make it or break it moment.
I have to focus, regardless of life's circumstances. Cause all I got is now.

Screenshot of my work in progress, the cover of my comic Legends of Katainia: The White Dragon Warrior- Issue Zero: Origins

I need to vent.

Sometimes when I'm this tired and burnt out, I drown in my sorrows. I'm not sure if anyone really reads this but it's good to have a place to go and vent.

The big news is, that I am no longer associated with my previous publisher. But I haven't announced it, why? Perhaps hesitancy comes from expected retaliation. Which brings me to my next thought. I've been through so much this year, my last bout of employment wounded me deeply into my psyche in ways I may never fully understand. I am afraid to be hurt, controlled, stripped of my individual freedom to express myself. I want only to live a quiet, peaceful life. Artistically uninhibited.

But I am burnt out, in alot of ways. In the mundane world, where I have to pay bills, eat, care for hearth and home, I'm stretched so thin no wonder my art suffers for it. And when I am able to work, every project or commission I accept means saying no to myself, to LoK. Don't get me wrong, I am truly grateful for the work I do get, when I get it. I just wonder if I will ever have the luxury of working on LoK the way the pros do. The way I want to do. Not a single day goes by that I don't pick up a pencil these days, but I secretly wish that I could delve into LoK in ways that I used to, almost lost in it, as if Katainia was a real place. I miss those days.

I do find however, that life is starting to settle. That perhaps, with the right amount of scheduling, I could find myself immersed in my story universe once again. I find that any other task that is not for my own, although it expands my skills, prowess and notoriety, is becoming a detrimental distraction from my own body of work. Legends of Katainia has always been my dream, for nearly two decades now. But when am I gonna get my head out of the clouds and make it a reality? This is something, that once again I have to do on my own. You know the old saying, if you want it done right....

"Like Lightning"

Memories and inspirations from my childhood come to mind.

Bob Hoskins says to Dustin Hoffman, "I just had an apostrophe."

Dustin Hoffman says, "A what?"

"L, lightning has just struck my brain" says Hoskins.

Dustin Hoffman rolls his eyes, "You mean an epiphany."

Yeah, one of those. It's a curious feeling, knowing what I realized. Sharing it with everyone yet feeling that no body knows it and that I'm utterly alone.

My "apostrophe" is this: most of my life, nearly all of my life, I have drawn (replicated) what I see in the world. Very rarely, although it has been know to happen on occasion if I vent, do I draw inspiration from within and this inward reflection usually results in a self-portrait sketch. I have not made, since grade school any significant portrait of myself, and why is that? Denial perhaps?

The accumulation of hardship, lack of sleep and prompt feminine hormones resulted in a painful summarization of everything I have experienced last night, crying quietly, for the first time not wanting anyone to see me feel this way. When I emerged, during the witching-hour alone and wide awake. Something in me did not want me to sleep. I couldn't. I couldn't do anything. I sat there frozen for a minute trying to determine what it was that my subconscious brain needed to bring to the surface in order for me to learn and heal. When the lightning struck, it was neither convenient nor practical. It was inevitable.

For the first time ever, without self-duplication, I had to draw from within- I HAD TO.
But I didn't draw abstractly. I drew what was most familiar, most precious but this time it was different. I had drawn something akin to it before but never quite with this magnitude. It was bubbling just below the surface until finally it broke through.

I drew myself in my character.
My character is and always was: me.

Gender is of no significance, but of course, I have always felt as such. But it shows, deeply as the work progresses through the story that I was drawing a representation in my head of what I envisioned the story universe to be. As the page turns, suddenly it's there with no apologies. It is a stark obvious transition that I am no longer drawing what I see, but what I feel. Not what I love or enjoy, but who I was, am and will be.

Of course I am thrilled at this epiphany. I am extremely exhilarated at the prospect of what this means for my art and body of work. It is amazingly liberal to know that I can share those feelings somehow, out on the Internet with you all.

I had wanted to start a blog for Spyderdust Comics, or at least for my self as an artist, (TheSpyderDuster) but didn't know how to go about it. I had old forums that failed, and a long time intermittent blog on Deviant Art.

But now I have reason to blog my own and share it.
And I hope you enjoy it too.