Hi Wanderer!
It’s been a bit since my last official update, and I’ve accomplished quite a few things since then with Deus Ex Machina that I’m pretty proud of. I’ve been so busy working on all these pieces that I haven’t had time to write an update until now, which I suppose might actually be a good thing.
Let’s get into it…
What I completed in March, April, and May:
I continued to share a new short story every month! Currently, you can read “A Matter of Perspective” Parts 1 & 2, and “Heart of the Issue” under the short stories tab at the top of the page.
I finished writing my longest short story yet: “Honing the Blades,” which is so long it’s technically a novella and I’ll have to release it in 3 parts.
More concept art and sketches, all of which you can find on my Instagram.
I finally finished adding the additional scenes to Book 1 of DEM, and was able to hand my full script off to my alpha readers!
No new character designs yet (sorry Medella), but I did finish drawing my character Aaron’s full outfit breakdown and turnaround, which I’ll share part of it here! This is the second turnaround I’ve completed (Lucian was the first). I’m hoping to finish one for each of the characters before I start drawing any comic panels. The turnarounds will be immensely helpful to me when I go to draw the comic, as it helps me keep my characters consistent from every angle and with built-in outfit variations. It also helps me keep their body types and proportions consistent in relation to other characters, so keeping their sizing correct.
I started a YouTube channel! Well, technically that started today. But I have 2 videos (one month of content) fully edited and ready to go, plus the unedited audio of 2 more months of content. Having a YouTube channel for my art and writing has actually been a dream of mine since I was about 16, so I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see this aspect of my creativity finally realized. More on the channel later…
Thanks to a generous gift from my amazing parents, (and the incredibly positive feedback from my Instagram followers), I’ve been able to start looking into offering art prints and stickers! That means a shop is coming. Also more details on that below.
About the last 3 months…
As I said before, I’ve been busy. I have a tendency to get so many ideas for my comic and additional projects that I have trouble pinning down what exactly I should be working on at any given time. That said, it means I’m pretty much always productive, even if I’m working on a side project instead of the main thing. The good news is that I’ve made progress on all fronts in the last three months! There are plenty of other things I’ve completed in that time than what I just listed, and honestly I have trouble remembering what they all are. This project is a marathon in more ways than one, and I’ve found that it’s important to focus on the little victories in the completion of each step, rather than being discontent that it’s not just “finished” already.
Though, I’d like to get back into the habit of posting these monthly updates for you all, as there’s something to be said about the personal accountability that comes with them.
My plans for DEM in June:
Complete structural and continuity edits on Book 1 to send my script off to beta readers in July.
Continue to post to my YouTube channel and make a backlog of videos for future months.
Maybe finish Medella’s character sheet? Though I’ve been saying that for six months now, haven’t I? Ah, well, the script is the more pressing matter at the moment. I’ll get to new character designs eventually.
Share Part 1 of the “Honing the Blades” novella (on June 14, that’s coming up quick!)
Continue experimenting with printing vendors for my upcoming shop.
My YouTube channel!
First of all, you can find it right here, and also linked with the rest of my socials on the side of my page. What kind of content is going on this channel, you might ask? Four things:
Writing advice
Art tutorials
The audiobook version of my short stories (read by myself)
Deus Ex Machina lore
I’m planning to post twice a month on the first and third Mondays of each month. Each month will feature a new audiobook version of the short stories I’ve been sharing here on my website, the first of which is “The Puzzle Box,” which is available to listen to right now.
The second video each month will be some kind of tutorial or lore video. The first of these videos is my writing advice for writing for the opposite gender (don’t laugh, it’s a real struggle for some of us to figure out). This video will release on June 17th!
What was that she said about a shop?
Thank you for remembering, I’ve found myself fairly scatterbrained lately as I try to make so many pieces of DEM align and work properly. One of those, upon the request of several people, is a shop. While my priority will always be the completion of the comic itself before the monetization of its pieces, I am incredibly humbled and blessed by the interest people have in buying merch of the DEM characters. I was cautious about launching into a shop too soon, as it’s important to me to buy high quality items to sell, but that means shelling out quite a lot of money early to kickstart the process. Without the guarantee of sales, I didn’t want to offer prints if I didn’t know for sure that people were interested in buying my art in the first place. I also didn’t have the kind of finances necessary for that commitment… Until now.
Basically, I’m saying that the two parts necessary for me to start a shop (potential buyers and money to invest) are suddenly at my disposal. To me, it would seem remiss not to take advantage of this amazing opportunity I’ve been given. So I’ve started the process of getting a shop off the ground, starting with finding printers that I’m satisfied with the quality they offer.
Running a shop is a large commitment with many working pieces that I’ve only just started to scratch the surface of. It goes beyond just buying the product itself, but also finding someplace to host the shop (do I use something like Etsy, or do I host it here on my website?), learning what are the tax requirements in my country, buying shipping supplies, and deciding on my approach to the shop overall. To that end, I’ve decided that when my shop is finally ready, I’ll be doing it “shop drop” style.
What’s a shop drop?
It means that there will be very limited stock of each item, and the shop only stays open for as long as there is stock. When I run out, the shop won’t open again until several months later, and with brand new products that weren’t available at the last drop. Shop drops are meant to generate demand, and a good shop drop should sell out of all products extremely quickly (for some people, this can even happen in just a few hours from when the shop opened). It makes keeping track of supplies and shipping easier for me, and generates hype whenever a shop drop occurs.
So when will I be offering a shop drop?
It’s hard to say just yet, but I’d like to shoot for my first shop drop to occur sometime in September. Beyond that, it depends entirely on how the first drop is received! This time around, I’m picking the merch that I think will be most likely to sell, but it’s a very limited selection of my fairly sizable art library I’ve built up over the last year. In the future, I might ask all your opinions on which prints you’d be most interested in purchasing from me! So stay tuned, I have several plans for this.
The Story Continues…
Oof, logistics are boring. Let’s talk about the fun stuff: The next segment of the short stories!
I didn’t get to do an introduction for the April and May short stories, so let me first talk about those before diving into June’s short story…
April’s story: “A Matter of Perspective” Part 2
Okay, if you haven’t read this one yet, you need to. Not only is “A Matter of Perspective” one of my absolute favorite stories, Part 2 includes all the best scenes. Lucian and Mina go on a date, and it is incredibly adorable and endearing. If you weren’t already in love with their characters, I’m pretty sure this story will solidify that for you. Just some lovely, wholesome romance for these two, that I… may or may not destroy in the future… Ahem.
May’s story: “Heart of the Issue”
Okay, I destroy it pretty quickly. “Heart of the Issue” is the shortest of all my short stories, as it’s a single conversation between Lucian and his mentor, Iris. She’s learns about his growing relationship with Mina, and she’s not happy about it. Fear not though, Lucian and Mina’s little romance is far from over, despite what Lucian might think. It’ll pick up again after the completion of the “Honing the Blades” novella. Speaking of…
June’s story: “Honing the Blades” Part 1
I said “A Matter of Perspective” was my favorite short story. I lied. It’s this one. “Honing the Blades” tells the story of how Lucian and Aaron are initiated into Luna’s Blades as assassins, and how they each wrestle with moral and emotional weight of what that means for them. It’s our first introduction to Aaron as a perspective character, and it’s split about 50/50 between Aaron’s point of view and Lucian’s point of view.
The amount of foreshadowing in this story is honestly insane. If you’re only going to read one story before the release of my comic, I recommend this one. While there are small references to the previous installments, this story stands perfectly fine on its own. It is, however, a massive chonker of a story (a lot happens), which is why I’m calling it a novella and splitting it into 3 sections. That means it’ll be releasing from June-August, so buckle in. It’s a true emotional rollercoaster.
“Honing the Blades” Part 1 releases on June 14th!
Other things:
No playlist cheat sheet this time, as this post is already quite long. However, you can find my Spotify here, which has not only the general DEM playlist, but also playlists for each individual character, each ranging from 15mins to an hour long, depending on the character.
I updated my logo! Check it out!
I don’t really have anything else to say here besides that I am incredibly grateful to you all and the reception of Deus Ex Machina even as it stands in its early phases. I’m so excited to share more with you all, and I’m happy you’ve decided to join me on this journey!
That’s about all I’ve got for this update! Hope to see you back here on Friday the 14th for the release of my next DEM short story, “Honing the Blades Part 1!"
~ Puritatem per lunae lumen ~
Becky
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