What is so rare as a day in June?

Here again, our occasional update on the goings-on inside THC!

• Into Dreams - A Gina Harwood Novel - Release Date is JUNE 11th!
  
• 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. 
• You have ONE DAY! to get into the Goodreads giveaway for one of two advance, signed copies of Into Dreams - it's free to enter! Click here to try your luck - entries end June 5th at 11:59pm EST. 
• All of the Geocaching pinups are now available online! Spring through Winter, and they arrange to match the colors of the original geocaching logo. 
  
• New piece for the Dark Unknown bestiary has been released - meet the Giant Snake. She's very protective of her nest. Go here for more information on The Dark Unknown! See the works in progress for this piece (and many others) in our patron feed at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations 
  
• GeoWoodstock was a BLAST!! While we're well out of the special GWXIII giveaway cards for the event, we still have a few GeoWoodstock XIII expansion packs still available. This six-card addition celebrates caching in Maryland, and can be easily shuffled in or out of the core deck thanks to the GWXIII logo in each corner. Order yours while you can - these are limited and will NOT be reprinted!
  
• Do you love geocaching events? Are you going to be in the Maryland area the weekend of August 23rd, and have access to a boat? Do you want to go on an adventurous quest on the high seas of the Potomac River and try to find the lost treasure? Then you may just want to check out the Pirates of the Potomac event for this year... it's going to be something special!
  

As always, thanks for checking us out! If you want to see more, check out our very robust Patron feed over at www.patreon.com/tortoiseharecreations!

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! 

Morel - Chapter One: Sacrifice, Page 6

Here's this month's Morel comic, marking Mushroom Month! Follow W.O. Billman II for all the details on Instagram or Twitter!

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. 

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

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

Come on, Convention Season!

This weekend marks our first 2015 convention, and we're excited to be returning to Harrisonburg, VA for the excellent, chill Madicon. We enjoyed the hell out of it last year, so we're looking forward to breaking in the season with such a laid-back con. Come and see us if you're in the Harrisonburg area!

Our display is prepped for this year's stock, now including GoCache. Also, we've begun work on the Maryland expansion that we'll have available for purchase at and after GeoWoodstock, and I don't mind saying they look pretty good so far. I had a dream about painting the caching-themed pinups last night and woke up excited to get started on them - but there's several other things that have to come first, so I'm chomping at the bit to get everything done.

I finished another bestiary piece for the Dark Unknown, loving this project. I have a soft spot for true b/w linework pieces, so these are a lot of fun to do. :)

We are still posting several exclusive items per week to our Patreon stream, and we're running our quarterly pledge drive at the moment - we have until Sunday to achieve nine more patrons and every patron at ANY level gets a special birthday package from THC for my birthday! Come on in, the water is glorious. 

We'll be drawing the 1st quarter winner of a piece of original art this Sunday (possibly Monday depending on how late we return from VA), so watch for that news! All patrons are automatically entered into the quarterly drawing, so sign up today to get eligible!

See you in Harrisonburg!

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