2015: By the Numbers

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's going on around the studios. It's December, and we're fast coming up on another click of Earth's odometer, so I thought I'd take a moment for retrospection before we slide into 2016.

2015 was a hell of a year. Let's do this by the numbers:

17: Number of conventions THC attended this year as artists/vendors. That's pretty far down from 2014's 38 - we'll be finding a happy medium between those two numbers for next year, I'm sure!

321: Number of posts on our Patreon page. MOST of those posts are patron-only exclusives, like works-in-progress pictures, full .psd files, high-res, watermark-free files, sneak-peeks, and Patron-exclusive stock art. We launched the Patreon officially on 1/15 of this year, and it's been a wild ride already!

63: Number of watercolors completed this year (that I have scans of - there were probably at least that amount that got discarded). Here's a collage of some of my favorites:

426: Number of pages in the final release of Into Dreams: A Gina Harwood novel, which was released on June 11, 2015. 

74: Number of commissioned paintings or drawings completed this year (not counting a few at conventions). Again with the collage, though this will probably be the last one, as they're surprisingly time-consuming. 

8: Stock Art pieces released to the Patrons after introducing the concept late 3rd Quarter. 

7: New Fan Art prints in the entirety of 2015 - Crowley, Charlie Bradbury, Arya Stark, Xena, Tyrion Lannister, Seven and Four. I've got one underway and I'm looking to expand this number a bit in 2016 - I wanted to cut back, not cut out fan art altogether! 

3: Other Milestones I couldn't figure out a way to fit into the "Numbers" theme. In addition to all of this, we also created and released Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings - our first (but not last) foray into officially licensed comics. We also created and released the Geocaching Pinup set and the MD Expansion of GoCache to commemorate GeoWoodstock XIII, held ten miles from where we live. :) 

2015 was the 4th year since Tortoise & Hare Creations took its first shaky breath, but it's been - by far - the busiest. THANK YOU for being here with us, and I hope you're just as excited as we are to see what Year 5 brings to THC!

August is the Sunday of Summer

Welcome back to THC's occasional update of what's happening in the studios. Here's what's new and on the horizon here for us!

• Stock Art! Lots of titles have been added to the stock art section, including a bunch of floating pencils that will add depth to your game or campaign - check it out! Running a sale until the end of the month - all items are only $2.95, and come with alteration rights to make your project shine. http://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/8677/Tortoise-amp-Hare-Creations 
  
• Arya Stark is finished and available for sale! https://www.etsy.com/listing/241216315/arya-stark-game-of-thrones-series 
  
• November is coming fast! Preparing a large series of new watercolors for the show at the Fine Arts Company in Hagerstown - mark your calendars now, the meet & greet will be November 14th from 6-8pm! 
  
• And definitely check out our Patreon to see an INCREDIBLE amount of art that isn't available anywhere else, like this piece, created for ENWorld's July issue. The Patrons get access to a lot of behind the scenes material, so come aboard and join us on our voyage! - https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations?ty=h 
  
• Commissions are still open! Currently booked until the end of August, but secure your spot now - my DA journal is kept up-to-date with my current rates and waitlist: http://indigowarrior.deviantart.com/journal/Artist-Bio-and-Rates-528468095 Get work like this piece, entirely in watercolor & ink (with hand-drawn lace): 
  
• And finally, all three Gina Harwood novels are now packaged on Etsy (for signed copies) here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/244518536/the-gina-harwood-series-signed-cycle-one or available in standard paper back or Kindle copies here: http://www.amazon.com/Indi-Martin/e/B00D6O29QA/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1 
  

• Upcoming Appearances 
• 9/11/15: 2015 Metro Event (Geocaching), New Jersey 
• 9/25/15: Baltimore ComicCon (3 day), Baltimore, MD
• 10/15/15: Going Caching (Geocaching), Rome, GA
• 10/30/15: AnimeUSA (3 day), Washington, DC
• 11/14/15: Fine Arts Company (Meet & Greet), Hagerstown, MD
• 11/22/15: VA Comicon (2 day), Richmond, VA

A massive thank you to our patrons and commissioners - we couldn't do this without you! 

Stars are Exploding, and Rainbows are Everywhere

What a fabulous time! Massive leaps forward in equality, and FIREWORKS! - really, I can think of no two things I love more. Welcome to the THC Update for June/July!

• Watercolors!
• I've been doing a lot of watercolor lately, both because I've been dying to get back to it, and in preparation for a November gallery show in Hagerstown! (And because I can shotgun Supernatural while I'm painting ;)) Prints are not yet available, but I'll post as soon as they are!

  

  Check out Indi's Deviant Art for more: indigowarrior.deviantart.com

• Also, we're working on improving our method of making watercolor glazes with naturally collected pigments, and have made a quick How-To video on the process. 
• Also, I've begun fulfilling some commissions in watercolors, so if you have an idea for one you'd like, check out my rates here: http://indigowarrior.deviantart.com/journal/ 
  
• Morel! Normally Morel gets it's own monthly entry, but this month, it get's included in the BIG update. Inclusiveness. :) Check out either the posts tagged "Morel" or Tortoise & Hare Creations' Instagram/Tumblr or Twitter pages to catch up on the story!
  
• Into Dreams! The first reviews are coming in, and they've been overwhelmingly positive. Be the first on your block to get into the series, and get well ahead of the curve! 

  

  http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00Z214KXK?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

• Patreon! The second quarter's rewards just got sent out, and there were some GOOD ones, including the last proof of Into Dreams, signed over to winner Eric H.! There are nearly 200 entries in the patron feed - most are patron-exclusive. We have some exceptional plans for our patrons in the coming quarters, and you will not want to be on the outside looking in - JOIN TODAY! 

  

  https://www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations?ty=h

Upcoming Appearances!

If you're in Pennsylvania, make your way out to State College, PA next Saturday, July 11, for BookFest! We'll be there with bells on, and a stack of novels (as well as comics, and art!)

Into Dreams - It's Here! It's Finally Here!

It's here. It's finally here.

This was the largest literary undertaking I've ever attempted, and I cannot be prouder of the outcome. I've been on pins and needles since I sent in the final for today, and I'm so excited for people to discover the story. Link is below in the press release! - Indi

===============================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: INTO DREAMS, third novel in the Gina Harwood Series, to be released TODAY, JUNE 11, 2015!


Tying up the first arc, this final book in the trilogy has answers that you have been waiting for. Available on Kindle or in paperback: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1511472952


Synopsis: Picking up directly after Descending, the third novel in the series sees the Unit fragmented and fighting against an incomprehensible foe. Gina Harwood discovers that there are worlds beyond their own, and struggles to survive in the Dreamlands while tracking her fallen partner, Morgan. Charlie Parker leads the remaining agents on a chase to find a killer, only to find that perhaps something larger - and much, much darker - is pulling his strings. Into Dreams is the final novel in the first trilogy of the Gina Harwood Series, following Behind the Veil and Descending.

It's Coming Right For Us!

I've decided I kind of like this bi-weekly bullet list of the current THC goings-on, so I think that'll become our standard! So, without further adieu, on to the big guns.

• RELEASE DATE: We're proud to announce that Into Dreams, the third novel in the Gina Harwood series is being released on June 11, 2015! Links to purchase will be posted that morning! 
• Synopsis: Picking up directly after Descending, the third novel in the series sees the Unit fragmented and fighting against an incomprehensible foe. Gina Harwood discovers that there are worlds beyond their own, and struggles to survive in the Dreamlands while tracking her fallen partner, Morgan. Charlie Parker leads the remaining agents on a chase to find a killer, only to find that perhaps something larger - and much, much darker - is pulling his strings. 
• GoodReads Giveaway!: The GoodReads Giveaway for Into Dreams is LIVE! Click HERE to enter, it's free through the fabulous GoodReads system.
• Cover: 
  
• GeoWoodstock Update! GW is being held in Boonsboro, MD on May 23-24,  2015, and we're excited to be bringing some new geocaching-specific items to the table there, like:
• GWXIII Maryland GoCache Expansion - A six-card expansion created specifically to celebrate what makes caching in Maryland so great! These will be debuted at GW, and they will be available for online purchase for a limited time after that. 
  
• Caching Pinups! Three of the four-piece set are now complete, and I'm working on the last girl now - they'll match up in a square with the colors matching the Geocaching logo. I have adored this project, I can't even tell you. Below is the newest completion, "Summer," who is currently available for purchase (11x17 only) at our Etsy store. 
  
• Trackable Aces are back in stock, meaning the full combo pack of GoCache is reactivated at our Etsy store. 
• Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings is back in stock (signed copies) at our Etsy store, also!
  
• Watercolor update! We're working on a tutorial (video, possibly) by request on making one's own pigment and paint from natural items - but the flowers are taking a lot longer than anticipated to fully dry (and they have to be FULLY dry... Wood ash, however, works wonderfully, and doesn't require any drying time at all). We've got a fancy new mortar and pestle, and will be getting on that request as soon as all the ingredients are ready to go. 
  

• And last but not least, Upcoming Convention Appearances! 'Tis the season:
• 5/15-5/17: SciFi in the Valley Con - Altoona, PA
• 5/22-5/23: GeoWoodstock - Boonsboro, MD
• 5/29-5/31: AwesomeCon - Washington, DC

We hope to see you! Get out there and enjoy Spring! 

Spring has Sprung!

It's April, and we at THC are ecstatic to finally be able to venture back outside without fifty layers on. And this bright light in the sky - what is that? It's so warm!

Other than today, of course, because it decided to rain.

Here's a few bits and pieces we're working on currently!

• New Print! Tyrion Lannister, available in 11x17 at our Etsy store
• New Dark Unknown Bestiary piece! Giant Spider
• All of the GoCache expansion cards for GeoWoodstock are DONE! We'll share one or two as GW inches closer, but you can check out a preview of one of them at our patron feed: www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations (must be a patron to view)
• May is MUSHROOM MONTH! Join us as we share a bunch of Morel-related items for the best gathering month of the year. 
• Into Dreams, the third Gina Harwood novel is in the hands of the beta-readers, and following a final editing pass, will be finished. I'll have a release date for you in the next update, I think!

We have several more convention appearances on the horizon as well, come out and say hello if you're in the area!

• 4/10-4/12: Steel City Con, Monroeville, PA
• 4/17-4/19: 1d4Con, Martinsburg, WV
• 4/25: Creator Con, Silver Spring, MD
• 5/15-5/17: Sci-Fi in the Valley, Altoona, PA

Bits & Pieces from March

Hey, everybody! Wanted to take a moment to catch the ol' website up on a lot of the work going on behind the THC doors.

• Gina Harwood Book 3: Into Dreams
• The final first draft was completed on March 13th, and numbered 516 pages (136,710 words). I've been working nonstop since then on editing, and am on through my second runthrough. My alpha editor is 80% through his read, and once I get and evaluate/apply his feedback, it'll be sent to the beta readers for their reads.
• Into Dreams Giveaway: 
• Like with Descending, we'll be giving away two advance copies of Into Dreams through the fabulous GoodReads Giveaway system. We'll post here (and everywhere!) as soon as that contest opens.
• Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings:
• The proof came back perfect, and now we're just waiting on the full order to get printed and come in!
• Dark Unknown Bestiary: New Piece - Giant Insect



• Patreon pledge drive rewards! All Patrons who were signed up to support us by March 20th, 2015 receive an original watercolor & ink sketch card. I had the idea to do a series called "Windows," where they had an overall connected theme, but each piece was interesting enough that a patron would want to own it. These got mailed out yesterday, so patrons should be receiving them soon. 

• New Red Ink blog post: The Pros & Cons of Self-Publishing
• Upcoming Convention Appearances!
• Mar 27-29: (Re)Generation Who - Cockeysville, MD
• Apr 10-12: Steel City Con - Monroeville, PA
• Apr 17-19: 1d4Con - Martinsburg, WV
• Apr 25: Creator Con - Silver Spring, MD

I believe that's all for now! Happy Spring!

Birthday Presents for Everyone!

Hey everyone! We're doing a pledge drive for the end of our first quarter on Patreon, culminating in my birthday on March 15th! Why is this a special day for anyone but me? Well, my hope was to hit 10 patrons, and we've blasted past that in the last few days, so it's stretch goal time! If we can hit 20 patrons - at ANY level - by March 15th, then everyone gets birthday presents! We'll send a package stuffed with THC loot and gifts to every single patron we have, regardless of their pledge level. So, check out our levels now and jump on! www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations

A few other things of interest:

• I'm so close to the end of my first draft of GH3 that I know how many chapters are left, exactly. SOON! I expect to be finished by the end of next week if I keep buckled down.
• I finished "Seven" - Sylvester McCoy as Doctor Who. It's also available on our Patron stream as a high-res, watermark-free file. 
  
• The proof has been ordered for Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings! Assuming it comes back with no errors or changes required, we should have that available for sale by the end of March.
• We're putting the final touches on our new form anthology comic, as yet untitled. Stay tuned for more information there!

As always, thank you for your support and your interest! - Indi

February Wrap-up - and how not to record a Hangout video

Well, the second part of that title is easy. How not to record a Hangout video: Accidentally choose "Hangout" instead of "Hangout on Air." For some reason, I've found the Hangout apps notoriously difficult to navigate. I have some sort of strange block in that area. Anyhow, my apologies - I shared the link and we started well before I realized that I'd never clicked "On Air," (or go live, or whatever it's called) because it didn't exist.

So, here's a synopsis of what we discussed on the video, which is essentially a wrap-up of the month of February and a look forward to what's coming next.

• Gina Harwood Book Three

•  I know I've let slip the working title for this book, which is "Into Dreams," but while I'm 90% sure this will be the final title, I continue to mostly refer to it as GH3 for ease of reference. It's sitting at a hefty 425 pages at the moment with about 100 pages of rough story to get through, but have no fear. I will be making my best efforts to edit it down as far as I possibly can - I know it will be larger than the previous two, but I'm hoping to distill it down to around 400 pages for the final. February saw a massive jump on the page total, though our house was down with the plague for two weeks, so the first draft should be finished up around mid-March.
• I'm not yet to the point where I feel comfortable providing a solid release date, but my estimation looking at the current state is late April to early May for the first proofs. I'll be releasing it to my beta readers for feedback following the first major edit, which I'm hoping to have complete by the end of March.

• GoCache News

• Will has written up a 6 card expansion that will be released at GeoWoodstock. We're super excited about this and will make it available to our online customers briefly, but it will be a limited release that won't be reprinted after this year's GW, so watch for it and be ready to place your order! In addition, we're expecting to have a special bonus card for those of you at GeoWoodstock that will be a giveaway with purchase, so if you've been on the fence about attending the largest geocaching festival in the world, get off the fence! It's going to be an awesome weekend!
• In addition, one of my art goals for 2015 was to do some model shoots for painting reference, which dovetailed nicely with my goal to have four geocaching pinup paintings ready by GeoWoodstock. I'm ecstatic to say that I had my first shoot yesterday with a lovely 19-year-old woman named Kylee - she was inexperienced, but patient and had a great feel for her angles and limbs, so a lot of the shots turned out really well. The camera loved her and so did I, and I'd love to work with her again in the future. I'm excited to get started on those pinups soon!

• Other Assorted News

• Convention season starts in earnest in March, and we're busily getting prepared for this year's shows. Besides the table placement having to be rethought to showcase GoCache and our new comics (news on that in a moment), I'm also working on completing several new fan art prints for our returning convention customers. Already completed are "Four" (Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor), and "Xena, Warrior Princess" (which is self-explanatory). I'm likely to complete "Seven" (Sylvester McCoy as the seventh Doctor) this week, and I believe I have Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones (played by the fabulous Peter Dinklage) slated next.
• We're changing the format of our existing comics slightly, and will be releasing a 2015 anthology comic that will collect several of our stories together and present them alongside new material. This is best for everyone - not only will you be able to follow all of our in-house stories in one place (our licensed titles will continue to be their own separate books), but it gives us a centralized product to include things like standalone art and short stories with our comics. We both are excited about this change and think it'll allow us to focus on putting out the highest quality stories. 

That's it! You're caught up! Thank you for following us, and please check out our Patreon page - I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge and thank each of our patrons for their support. Having the Patreon has actually really lit a fire under me to multitask better - we started the Patreon just as my professional focus necessarily shifted to writing, but usually my art suffers from a few months to a half-year of inactivity when that happens, and I really wanted to avoid that by maintaining less-deadline-y art projects in my "afterhours" time. Having the patron-stream is a lovely reminder, and hearing feedback on my works in progress or what the patrons would like to see more of is really nice and keeps me feeling more connected to those who are viewing our works. So, thank you - you're not just giving us a few bucks a month, you're also keeping me creatively on fire. :)

Join us! www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations 

Red Ink - The Pros and Cons of "Flow Writing"

Red Ink is Indi's author blog that she maintains at goodreads.com. 

I've mentioned in the past that my favorite days are the days I sit down to the dreaded blank white screen, and open my head, and stories seem to write themselves on the screen before me. Sometimes it feels like I'm reading them instead of writing them, following the words as they appear on the screen, somehow unconnected from my fingers sliding across the keys.

Those are great days.

I call it "flow writing." I don't know if that's a widely-used or acceptable term or not, it's just what I call it. It feels like the words rush out of me in bursts. Then, it stops. I read a bit of what I wrote and have to engage my mind to at least start the next sentence - and then more often than not, I'm off again for the next page, or chapter, or at least a few paragraphs before the cycle starts anew. It's a weird process, writing. 

Some days aren't so great. They consist of me being unable to visualize the next steps, the next action, the next chapters. Sometimes I'll get around that by skipping ahead, but rarely - that seems to always cause problems for me in integration with the larger story down the line. Regardless, this post isn't about the bad days, the blocked days. It's about the pros and cons of being in the flow.

The pros are pretty simple. I get a lot of writing done and the quality is higher than when I'm forcing the words to comply.

"How could there be drawbacks to the beautiful feeling that comes with flow writing?" you may be asking yourself, and it's a valid question. None of these cons are enough to tip the scales, certainly. I'll take a lifetime of flow writing days, even with the oddities that I'll be sharing, over the days where the blank screen taunts and laughs. No question.

The first day back into flow writing is lovely. I may notice that several albums have gone by on my playlist without me having heard them, but otherwise, nothing too extreme. I still act like a capable human being, for the most part, though my non-writing actions are in auto mode. My walk to the kitchen or the bathroom are robotic, my mind not registering my surroundings but still intent on whatever sentence or stub I'm on. I bump into things. My path is erratic. But I'm still mostly human.

Fast forward a day or two and the side effects start to really show. I have trouble following conversations if I've just finished writing for the day - I need at least an hour to do nothing and wind down. Anyone trying to talk to me is going to have a bad time, not an angry time, just a frustrating one where they probably have to repeat themselves a few times. I am trying to keep up at this point, but my focus is soft.

I may realize that I have forgotten to eat or drink or go to the bathroom for extended periods of time. This is ridiculously common, and I have to concentrate to prevent from becoming very dehydrated during extended writing sessions. If I remember to eat, I've learned that I need to make a sandwich, or something that requires little preparation. If I set something in the oven to cook - well, that's just a bad idea. I can't honestly tell you the amount of times I've glanced up at the clock after a good chapter and felt that electric current of terror - oh shit! There's a pot pie upstairs in the oven! How long has it been? HOW LONG?

I thought I had trained myself to automatically set timers, but the other day proved that even if I leave the kitchen repeating "SET A TIMER!" in my mind, the walk from the oven to my computer is apparently enough to erase that. The characters and storylines filter back in and take over the parts of my brain that regular people use to do basic things.

My memory also gets bad - and for me, that's saying something, since I don't have the greatest memory for events or conversations to begin with. But the further I get, the less real life seems to stick. It takes a great deal of patience for people to be around me at this point, because I'm really only half here, and half may be a bit optimistic. After a week or two of being immersed in the novel, I have a hard time being social without feeling like an alien. Real people feel a little less real than my characters. That feeling persists until I've finished.

I'm trying to offset the most controllable of these drawbacks by taking a short break at the end of every chapter to down a bottle of water (I have to finish it, because if it sits there and I start typing again, it's forgotten for a few more hours) and move. I'll do some crunches or some yoga or just dance about randomly for a while - anything to get me out of the chair and off my rump for a little while. But if you happen to see me socially for the next few months, please try to be kind if it takes me longer than normal to answer or I look like a foreign anthropologist studying the way people interact at a party. It's a side effect. 

But it's worth it.

- Indi