Fear Not the Dead, Pool Your Thoughts to Love Instead

Welcome back to our occasional, and not-generally-scheduled update of what's going on around the THC studios!

• Valentine's Day Sale! You have until 2/14 to get 25% off anything in the Etsy store! Click HERE to shop, use code LOVE16 when checking out - no minimum purchase! 
  
• FREE VALENTINE'S DAY CARDS! Last year, I did a fun Valentine's Day bonus for our Patrons (Join us! Get cool stuff!), and this year, I've chosen the best of them and created a free, downloadable, printable sheet of Valentine's Day cards. While you're there, consider becoming a supporter for as little as $1 a month, it makes a huge difference, and you can show your support and reap the benefits! Click HERE to get the full-size version. 
  
• Will's superheroine comic, Morel, has officially launched its own webpage - www.morelcomic.com - check it out! 
  
• Commissions have been flowing in! Check out Indi's Commission Page to get on the list! Watercolor commissions have been hot, get signed up for a truly one-of-a-kind, frameable artpiece to call your own. (Pictured here: a camera-phone pic of the 18x24 "Sylph" cover art, from the upcoming Sylph video game.) 
  
• 2016 Tour Poster! We've got most of our shows lined up for 2016, so take a peek and see when we'll be in your neck of the woods! 
  

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!

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! 

April Patron Hangout, Relics By Rild & Update

Check out our April patron hangout - patrons are welcome to join the call and hang out for rabbles after the public update portion is complete. :)

I did want to call out one important item - Tortoise & Hare Creations will be retreating to our secret mountain lair starting this weekend (after Creator Con today!) and remaining there - painting, making pigments from flowers, hunting mushrooms, and shooting a video and many, many pictures - until May 4th.

The Etsy store is on vacation, but while you'll have to wait for prints and such, the Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings comic can still be purchased around the web. In fact, you have a brand new option for unsigned copies in case you've struggled with the IndyPlanet site - Relics By Rild carries copies as well! Check the site out, and pick up some other excellent Shroud of the Avatar merchandise while you're there!

Now, the mountains are calling, and we must go.

April Showers & Growers

Alright, LOTS of things currently happening, so skipping right to the bullet list.

• Shroud of the Avatar: New Beginnings is NOW AVAILABLE to everyone! Head to IndyPlanet to pick up your unsigned print and/or digital copies, or we have signed copies available on our Etsy store ! Check out Portalarium's feature on us HERE! :D **UPDATE** We are currently sold out of the signed comics on our Etsy store - we have more on order, so once they arrive, we sign 'em and bag and board 'em, we'll renew the listing. Apologies for the delay!***
  
• Completed the first of four geocaching-themed pinups, "Autumn." Available for purchase at our Etsy store. 
  
• Next piece for the Dark Unknown Bestiary Project is done - meet the Ettin: 
  
• The GeoPunk broadcast is BACK! What is GeoPunk, I hear you ask? Listen and find out! If you enjoy geocaching, olde tyme radio(e) programmes, and general badassery, then definitely give it a shot. 
• 
• Thank you to our Patreon Supporters, who just pushed us over our first monthly milestone! Join up today! 
• GoCache Expansion! We will have a limited expansion of 6 Maryland-specific cards to celebrate this year's Maryland GeoWoodstock, they are done and in our hot little hands and ready to sell. They'll debut at GeoWoodstock, and we'll have a small number of them that we can sell online as well, for the collectors out there! (Not sure what GoCache is? Click here! Want to pick up a copy? Click here!) Here's the first of a few we'll share before GW: 
  
• Upcoming Convention Appearances:
• 4/17-4/19: 1d4Con - Martinsburg, WV
• 4/25: Creator Con - Silver Spring, MD
• 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
• Reminder! May is MUSHROOM MONTH! Keep an eye on this space for lots of Morel & morel (the heroine and the fungus) information. :)

That's it! We'll be setting up our Patreon hangout in the next week or so, it's likely to be a mid-week hangout this time. 

Morel - Chapter One: Sacrifice, Page 5

April's comic. In May, I will be doing "Mushroom Month" over on my Instagram page @w.billman. I'll be posting pictures each day from my mushroom-hunting trip in April, along with tips, recipes for dinners, and some artwork to boot. -Will

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!

Morel - Chapter One: Sacrifice, Page 4

This one is pretty self explanatory. One thing you may (or may not) have noticed is that Donna uses a different font then the other characters. When she was little she had a bad speech impediment, this was fixed through therapy but it tends to give her a slight accent. I will probably touch on this sometime down the road, but for now its a good piece of trivia for you.

-William

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 

Morel - Chapter One: Sacrifice, Page 3

I had to channel back a few years to when I attended a few douchey bro parties, but I remember hearing someone say, "Bitches love vodka!" It also apparently is a popular hashtag on Instagram.

We also came up with our own brand of vodka for the "Morelverse", Spudnik! Someone needs to make this vodka! -Will

Morel - Chapter One: Sacrifice, Page 2

Page 2 of our monthly comic strip. Just starting to feel the characters out here. I was really happy with the way some of the characters' expressions turned out in this one. See you all next month! - William

Morel - Chapter One: Sacrifice, Page 1

And with this, the story begins. You may see some differences between this page and the prologue. Morel is designed as a newspaper-style comic developed with Instagram in mind. I have a feeling Chapter One will continue to be a learning experience. - William

Introducing Morel - The New Superheroine Comic written by W. O. Billman II

Morel:

The story of a young twenty-something woman coming to terms with her homosexuality and newly acquired super, but strange, powers. She loses her best friend and first love, which drastically changes her life in more ways than she or anyone could ever have imagined.