Help! I'm becoming addicted to ordering books online!

Mainly because I'm stuck in a country town with one bookstore...Angus and Robertson (and even their large city stores have a bias towards pretty-but-soulless coffee-table books, I have noticed. Yes Angus and Robertson, I am calling you out!).

I'll be getting my Amazon delivery soon of Victorian/Edwardian Fashion in Detail, and I have already recieved my copy of Victorian and Edwardian Melbourne From Old Photographs. Hot darn, this is one great book, I love it to death. Now all that remains is Nineteenth Century Fashion from the Tate Gallery, and my copies of Tenjo Tenge vols 16-17. Manga is so much cheaper in the US (but sadly this is cancelled out by international postage costs...still, I was sick of waiting for Borders to stock Tenjo Tenge. Also, is it me, or is Borders in Melbourne starting to look a little...well...shabby lately?). Sometimes I go on Alibris for second-hand books. I totally snared this picture book which the old Gippsland GIAE (before it was Monash) used to have, which I loved as a kid; Trouble for Trumpets. It's awesome. I don't mind second hand books at all, although I was telling Seb last night that the descriptions written by people at the front of the books, giving them as gifts to friends or relatives, often make for some melancholy reading. My copy of Trouble for Trumpets has a written inscription for a 'much loved niece', dated 1984, and you wonder why the girl eventually gave the book away...too old for it? Did someone pass away? Edwardian Melbourne also has a gift inscription - the book was sent to America, to someone who may have been researching Victorian history. Oddly, my act of buying it means it's returned home.

So, do people here buy books online? What are your favourite online stores? Ever had an experience with one that was a complete disaster?

I find it frustrating that none of the bushfire news coverage seems to be concentrating on the Churchill/Jeeralang fire. I grew up there and went to primary school in Churchill. I would like to see some footage of what's going on and how badly it's been affected! Around 19 people have perished in that area, and I'm worried it's people I used to know! How about some photos/video footage, News Limited?!

For people in the Melbourne area my sister is helping out with RSPCA donations to help pets and wildlife affected by the fires, so if you're in the CBD today or tomorrow, scoot on over to her lj at silverblue, look at this entry and see if you can help out...

Well, after poking around with it for a bit, it's official. My mobile phone is well and truly broken.

I'll have to get a new one this week. It'll be the fourth one I've purchased in two years.

Many years ago, I had a Nokia 3210 which lasted nearly four years...why don't they make 'em like they used to?!

I've scheduled my short trip to Melbourne riiiiiiight when there's a record heatwave. Great. Thank goodness Seb pestered me into buying those shorts! So at least I'm not stuck in my cargos in 40 degrees celsius...

I got my box of HF3s late last week. Wow, a complete series! The cover did print out brighter, just as Adam Arnold said it would (I don't listen to editors because I am paranoid and then I pay the price). Still doing client work, but finishing soon. Hopefully there'll be a break in between this and the next job so I can test some things out, and work on that short story sequence.

Oh, and news - there will be an omnibus collecting all three volumes, out this year in October I believe. However, it will not feature any new content, and will not repeat all of the old extras at the back...only about half of them. I'm sorry about this. Apparently the designer/page layout guy/letterer (they are all the same person) quit, and Seven Seas Entertainment does not seem to want to employ a new person just to juggle some different extras into the omnibus. So the only new thing will be the cover. Still, it will definitely be cheaper than buying all three volumes. More info on that later.

In 2008 I finished HF3. That was about it for my achievements, really. After the blast of winning an award for my work in 2007 (and it was a big award, not some little gold star on my work, but a big award...it even had a trophy! I won a trophy, first time ever!! Yes, I had a pretty slow childhood), 2008 felt a little bit like treading water. You know...working hard to stay floating in the same place. I got nowhere with my YA novel, not even a complete plan, let alone a shaky first draft. Okay, so I keep changing my mind on the story, but...no excuses.

I am trying to force myself to take a new direction in my artwork, but isn't it funny when you're working on something...and your brain just ensures your old habits come seeping back in? I have a real issue with colouring work; I can't stay away from bright, primary colours (just look at the Hollow Fields covers for examples of that). Whenever I try something darker or different, I get off to a good start...then halfway through, when it looks wrong, I lose my nerve and go back and colour it in primaries. I hope my brain doesn't think it's getting too 'old' to re-think colour values for art (maybe I am just making excuses for myself here...).

Also, without going into detail, I have a short manga story in mind and there's something I can submit it to in the middle of the year just for fun (not the International Manga Award). I've had the story idea for four months and stuff keeps coming up and distracting me...I would love to get it done by then, just as something extra to test myself!

Right now, I'm still on client work for another month. I'm working hard on illustrations, but can't show them online because of project confidentiality. Just thought I'd say that in case people thought I was doing nothing right now...!

So here's the resolution list...

- Keep up with the gym.
- Have a completed draft of the YA novel. Even if it's a little urrgh around the edges.
- Take a scary chance in art. Break out of the old habits I am very much stuck in.
- Get the short story completed and submitted by the deadline.

I'm sure there were other things I thought of, but if the list gets too long and scary I'm less likely to follow it.

Here's to 2009!

A gnome made by a fan named Gryphon. You'll recognise it as one of the ones Lucy passed on the way to school in the first chapter of Hollow Fields volume 1. They sent me a photo of it and I've been meaning to put it on my journal for a while. I think it's great!

Happy Christmas everyone! I am being bombarded all over by work and moving, but I will endeavour to write more interesting stuff in this journal next year (I promise...). No news on the new manga project for 2009 yet. I have summer work to go on with though, and a new rental to fix up (it has...some minor issues). Hopefully this will be the last year Seb and I don't get each other presents because we're trying to boost our savings for an overseas trip (in the distant future).

(We are having a nice dinner, though. )

Also...question for people out there with cats. How do you manage owning a cat if you're in the rental market continuously? I want a kitty next year but Seb is worried that it will be an obstacle to getting a good rental when we eventually move (because so many properties specify No Pets!). I'm not even sure we can have a cat at this one; but some time next year I'm going to ask our real estate agent, because I know the previous renters had a cat - when the agent was showing us around the house, he did not look at all fazed by its appearance, so I'm sure it was allowed to be there. I miss having a pet because working alone with no other form of social stimulus can get tough. So suggestions are welcome! (Preferably not 'hide it at a friend's place during inspection time.' The property owner lives nearby and would probably cotton on pretty fast if they constantly saw a cat at the window.)

Obama-nation!

Well, we finally finished our move. Now we are in the north of Tasmania, in Burnie. It's certainly not as bad as everyone made it out to be - in fact, it's really quite nice! Sort of a large coastal town with a rocky beach, cliffs, houses interspersed with paddocks full of cows; similar to Churchill (in Victoria) in a way, but with better shops and a beach. And a good cinema. Maybe I was just getting very sick of our little cave-house in North Hobart; this definitely seems much better. I can't believe I put together two books in that dungeon!

Speaking of the dungeon, we doubt we are going to get a good return on our bond. The cleaners we signed up to do the carpets cancelled on us without telling, and we also had to dump some things we couldn't fit in the car my parents hired to get us here. The agent gave me a funny call yesterday where his voice sounded snippy and high-pitched, so I don't think he's going to be very nice when returning our bond money! We'll see!

It's kind of sad leaving Hobart behind though, because I have so many memories of the place - particularly the early years when I was staying at the college. It was tough moving away from friends (particularly libby_may), and I hope I don't start regretting it! The reason we're here though is because yellowblacktrip passed his exams, which means he's going to work here next year in the hospital. So I am very proud of him. Congrats on getting your medical degree! It's been a long time coming! Now you really can be a mad doctor...!

Also, I get a free dinner tonight because of the bet yellowblacktrip and I had regarding the outcome of the American presidential election. I won, I won! You owe me dinner!

My next client job starts soon. Just when I found a copy of Fatal Frame 3, and we have a nice big TV set to play it on. Yargh! Must exercise restraint!

I love writing that deals with metatext in popular culture/fiction.

TV Tropes Wiki. The name's a misnomer though; it applies its database to all kinds of fiction, in order to aid writers. Great resource! In particular, I could spend hours hunting through the character archetypes to see where they've been used in popular books and shows. The Ensembles page, listing the kinds of group dynamics that pop up in popular stories, is particularly entertaining. (So I'm not the only one who notices that 'the chick' is an annoying archetype to define a female member's position in the group with...)

...BUT! Did they have to list Professional Wrestling as a legitimate genre between 'news' and 'speculative fiction'??

(Well, I guess wrestling IS full of character archetypes, even bleeding obvious ones...)