So! Book II is done. Dunno about you guys, but I could use a breather.
For those of you not on the forums, I’ve released some questions to get a discussion started (linked here). Should be fun! I’ve seen amazing theories and interpretations in the comments, and I know for some of you those comments are barely scratching the surface of your understanding, so I’m stoked to hear what y’all come up with.
Moving forward, Catastrophe Theory will be joined by its spinoff project, Haunted, a webcomic featuring these two:
Haunted will follow the beginning of their relationship, their backstories—including Xiyuan’s time at boarding school, the fabled Dumbass Years, and, yes, Victorian Windenburg—because there’s so much more to this story than I was able to show in Book I. Loads of great moments. Loads of synchronicity. Loads of character-based plotlines and humor. I learned to draw for this, so it goes without saying that I’m PUMPED.
And the current plan, so help me I will sell my soul to meet these deadlines, is
Eleven Weeks of Extras
We’re taking it light the rest of September.
Sept. 20: The dreaded listicle. The written equivalent of a clip show. Right now it’s called ’20 Things in Books I and II You May have Missed (Or Forgotten About)’.
Sept. 27: Fun with neural networks! We throw CT into textgenrnn and share the funniest bits.
Digital art starts in October.
And I’m still quite new at it, so October will be—I think ‘interesting’ is the nicest way to put it.
Oct. 4: Portraits. I’ll try to get through as many of the 13 main characters as I can.
Oct. 11: Character sheets for Haunted.
Oct. 18: You can ask the characters questions in the comment section, in the Contact form, or on the forums, and I’ll illustrate their answers.
Oct. 25: Silly small comics. They’re quite silly. I’ll personally vouch for their silliness.
Come November, I’ll have to start writing for real again.
Nov. 1: More silly small comics.
Nov. 8: Would you believe it? More silly small comics.
Nov. 15: Cover art for CT Book III: Apotheosis and title page for Haunted. The Book II summary should also be done by then.
Nov. 22: A prologue to the whole story, ‘The Color of Fear,’ that also acts as a teaser for book III!
Nov. 29: Haunted starts! Then, finally,
CT Book III: Apotheosis starts on December 6th.
I don’t think it’s viable to release both a new comic and a new post every week. But alternate weeks? That should keep me sane. So, starting December, the plan is for Catastrophe Theory and Haunted to alternate updates. That is, each project will update every two weeks instead of every week, but there’ll still be something new every Sunday.
Believe me, there was a much more restrictive schedule here earlier, and I had to slow everything down until my sense of dread subsided. Because of course everything takes way longer than you want it to. But the future of CT is bright, even if the world’s falling apart right now—god, what does that imply about me? Anyway, here’s to it.
A personal note: I can’t say enough how grateful I am to all of you for bearing with me. Most of you write your own stories, so you know how it is: creating both drains you of energy and keeps you going. And you won’t be surprised to hear this, but I’m struggling through mental fog most of the time. That being said, the interactions I have here motivate me to get through my day, and reaching all y’all makes me feel a lot less alone. It takes me hours every day to muster up enough energy to shower but I fly out of my seat every time I get another comment or view. So, truly, thank you.