Sunday 20 December 2015

2015, you've been rad

So, gosh, 2015 is nearly over and so I wanted to do a little blog post about what I achieved this year and what my aims are for 2016!

I'm doing this mainly because I did it early on this year in a Guardian Masterclass run by the amazingly talented Karrie Fransman. I found the class really helpful in thinking about where I want to go with my work. I blogged about the class here.

So, what did I do this year? Here are my highlights...

-My second graphic novel The Rabbit was released, with Avery Hill Publishing. It was also nominated for Best Book at the British Comic Awards.
-Blue Bottle Mystery was released which I did the artwork for (it was written by Kathy Hoopmann and adapted into a graphic novel script by Mike Medaglia), with Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
-I finally moved into a new house with a dedicated studio space - no more working on my Mum's coffee table for me! Here's a pic of the view from my drawing board :)


-I continued with my monthly Doctor Who one-pagers for the Tenth Doctor Comic Series, published by Titan Comics, I'm currently working on my 19th Docco comic! I also did three variant covers for them.
-I launched my webcomic, Bess, which updates twice a week.
-I illustrated a children's novel called Ed & the Shirtmakers, written by Andy Seed and published by Badger Learning, Haven Books Group.
-Ask Flimsy now updates every Saturday ^_^
-I exhibited at 11 comic conventions/festivals across the UK.
-I made some new merch, including a limited edition Rabbit print, Flimsy puzzle book, poster and stickers, all of which can be ordered here.
-I continued with Vicky Park, my weekly comic for the Leicester Mercury. It's been going for four years now!
-I finally made a proper portfolio website! See it here.

It's been a wild ride and I am super thankful to anyone who has supported me, bought my books, come to see me at a convention, reviewed my work, tweeted me, facebooked me, or just let me know to my face that you dig my stuff - THANK YOU SO MUCH. I do my dream job for a living and I'm so happy about that - but I wouldn't be able to do that without all of you. BIG LOVES!

I'm going into 2016 feeling really motivated and excited about what stories I can tell you.
I do have specific goals for 2016, but a lot of them involve stuff I can't really talk about, but basically I want to:

-Read more!
-Get better at writing
-Do some overseas conventions (TCAF and Comic Con Brussels are already confirmed - exciting!)
-Do a new short-form comic
-Do a new long-form comic
-Continue with ongoing projects - Doctor Who, Bess, Vicky Park, and Ask Flimsy

I can do iiittt!

Thank you again, friends! I love you all,
See you in 2016!!

Rachael xxx