Get things done in 2016 – or Not

Who am I to tell you how to get things done?  I mean really, have you seen all those articles? How to organize your year. How to succeed in 2016. How to write what you don’t want to write.

Is that the way to start a year? Well, maybe, depending on you.  It’s up to you to determine how to get things done, get yourself a plan…or not… and have at it. And it’s up to you to decide whether you want to get wrapped up on all those “whoopee it’s a new year” articles on how to launch into said new year…or not.

Really and truly it gets to be a bit much getting slammed with all this stuff each year. Every year.  It’s as if writers, instructors, whoever, in grasping for ideas to keep that content filled, keep coming up with the same thing year after year. Yep, look, even I’m doing it! It’s hard not to get sucked into the maw.

But I guess I’m in complaining mode because in the same vein I’m also sick of all those ‘old year’, ‘new year’ – old geezer and new baby cartoons.  Enough is enough already. Let’s cultivate a little imagination and get on another track.  I highly recommend putting on blinders and ignoring it all. Including me. Go away, stop reading. Go do something you want to be doing. Oh, wait, maybe this is it. Okay, read on.

Here’s the thing. New Year is either a big deal or just another day. A fresh beginning, or the continuation of what you’ve been doing. Either way it’s good. Don’t let all the hoo-ha get to you. Sometimes we stress out over that stuff and very simply, we shouldn’t.

So I’m offering simple advice. Keep on doing what you’re doing – or change direction – but do it because it’s a decision you’ve made, not because you’ve made some kind of required ‘resolution’. Take it or leave it. Up to you.

Personally I'm getting back to work on Planet Of The Eggs - the Comic Series I write and create with partner Charlene Brash-Sorensen. It's more fun than getting twisted up in the New Year thing.

Oh, and I promise I won’t write about this again next year. Happy 2016.

A Writer’s Life – The Comic Series Planet Of The Eggs Continues

Yes, work on the Comic Series, Planet of the Eggs (written and illustrated by Peggy Bechko and Charlene Brash Sorensen), continues with the release of our second installment; Grimoire: Book of Spells.  

Oh, and heads up blog readers, Grimoire will go free Nov. 25 and 26, 2015 so be sure to stop by then and download your copy.

Meanwhile we’re busy developing new characters, new looks and new story lines.  Number three, Mummified Egg is already underway. The portal has taken our Egglanders to a new land of sand, storms, wolves and other inexplicable creatures as they attempt to puzzle out what has brought them here.  But there is an evil rising, something dark and controlling. Will the brave eggs find their cause and rescue the mummified egg? What is the mystery behind the egg? Hmm, watch for it here, release is planned for mid-December. Hey, just in time for those digital holiday stocking stuffers for comic lovers of all ages.

Visit our site at www.facebook.com/PlanetOfTheEggs for the chance to sign up for our newsletter and get the PDF of first in the series, Planet Of The Eggs – Cracked Open free.  You’ll also be signed up for our free newsletter (a not-too-frequently-published paper) that will let fans be the first to know when the next release is coming up, info about the characters, sneak peaks at new characters and teasers for the next installment. We’ll be offering giveaways, getting to know the authors, and more fun bits and pieces.

The whole project is great fun, but it’s also a tremendous amount of work. Not only do Charlene and I write the scripts and develop the mythology of the Egglanders, but we research backgrounds, create characters via any means that come to hand, blowing out egg innards, painting eggs and photographing them so we can photoshop them into valiant little beings. Many many of the background shots are photos we’ve taken on trips or around where we live. Some are gleaned from photo sites.

 

The egg creations are all ours. Both of us have a great time creating characters from all angles and tweaking them into existence, but Charlene has a particular gift in their creation. She has a great brain for storylines as well and my strength is in that area having published numerous novels and optioned screen scripts over past

years. We come up with dialogue and frequently I take the lead for a short time in helping to create more strength in the dialogue. We collaborate beautifully, each contributing strengths where the other isn’t as strong.  The Planet Of The Eggs continues on! Watch for Mummified Egg soon!

Then there’s the software with which to create the comics that we had to learn to use – and indeed are still learning shortcuts and work-arounds. And, since we publish right now with Amazon there’s the conversion of the completed comic to the kindle publishing format we've learned - sort of (we usually have to dink with it). And, now, we’re looking into reformatting so the comics can be put out in print format as well. More expensive than Kindle, but folks ask for print as well and we’re going to do our very best to give folks what they want. We’ve both had a crash course in Photoshop and Powerpoint as well. One heckuva learning curve.

So that’s a writer’s life, and now I guess we're illustrators as well – busy up to the eyeballs. Admittedly it’s a very fun busy and one we will keep up for the foreseeable future.

Charlene and I hope you’ll join in the ‘Eggciting’ ‘Eggventure’, give us reviews, tell us where you might want to see the Egglanders head out to next, who’s your favorite Heroic Egg or character, and what you think of Eggland.

Come on along. It’s a HOOT!