A Bit Cheesy

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Close Encounters (page 12)

Fitz

on Jan. 3, 2009

And thus ends BOOK ONE - and your favorite comic (well duh!) officially goes on HIATUS.

Why does it end? And why right now? There's plenty of stories you could squeeze out of the concept of a mouse in love with a girl. And there in fact was. What you've read so far isn't even half of what I was planning for. But then there's this treacherous, vile thing called LIFE ;) In a nut-shell… Erica, the real-life version of America, is no longer involved in making the comic. We've grown apart - to the point where we could no longer be friends. So for the past seven months or so I've been trying to wrap this story arc up :P Took a while because I didn't want it to feel rushed. Plus, I liked the dark fairytale part way too much to just abandon it :D So, while I wanted to end the story, I had a great time writing and drawing it.

Why the hiatus, then? Most importantly - I need a break. I've been working on the comic for the past year and a half, and I spent most of my weekends - Saturdays and Sundays, dawn till latenight hours - drawing. I've neglected other hobbies. I haven't read more than a few books. Basically stopped working out. Haven't written a new story in almost two years. So I need some time off to do that. And I need to work out a way how I can do all of those things AND the comic simultaneously and not drop dead. So basically I need to slow down. What does that mean for A Bit Cheesy? A hiatus for now. Changes in the future. I need to figure out where the story goes from here. I have a bunch of ideas - but I need to make it something as… relevant as the "Mouse in Love" arc. Something BIG. And funny! Plus, I want to improve as an artist - so I'm going to practice my pencil and inking skills. Anatomy, possibly perspective and all those things that all serious cartoonists know and I suck at. Also, I want to get myself a tablet. So heck only knows what the comic will look like when I get back to it :)

And another reason for a break is that… No, I won't tell you now :P But watch this space, I'll let you know in due time :)

But before I go, let me ramble for a minute about today's page… It's a result of one-man three-day-long brainstorm. The whole chapter grew expotentially, and every time I was nearing the end, I got another idea extending it by another couple of pages. So for the past few weeks, I had this one idea about how the chapter should end in its current form. But when I finished the last page… the brainstorm started. Since it's the last page of Book One, I wanted the page to be something pretty - and something different at the same time. So as I thought and thought and THOUGHT, I ended up coming with about twelve different ideas - all of which I liked for different reasons. And disliked for different reasons, too. So I'd write pros and cons of each - and ended up unable to pick just one :P I had several favorites - all of which had something too precious for me to leave out. Fake blood. Breaking the fourth wall. A cameo by Garfield, even! So yesterday, I gave up. Today, I woke up utterly frustrated and grumpy. And then, as I was having my breakfast - BAM! An epiphany! All pros, no cons :) AND it has a nice, epic air to it, doesn't it? A cloudy sky at dusk, a backlit figure… Birds flying away in the distance… Makes you sad and yet mellow at the same time. That's what I always loved about writing books - and what I haven't felt in a while.

So…

Thanks for sticking around and stopping by every time I updated :) Keep your eyes open, soon enough I'll spill some beans about another thing I've been working on! Meanwhile… shhhhh :)