An Exciting Couple of Days

It’s difficult to decide what to write about first. Not because there’s any apprehension whatsoever concerning what I’m about to write. Rather, of the three events (if you will) which occurred since Monday, it’s difficult to decide which is the most important. To put one before the others would immediately place it above the rest in the reader’s mind–something I wish to avoid entirely. So, in an effort to not so much as allude to being more proud of one over the others, I’ll merely write about them in the order in which it came to my attention.

First, this week’s new page of Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows at last featured the title character speaking her first lines in the web-comic graphic novel (which I publish weekly on chadhiyana.com). Of course, I knew this well in advance (I wrote the scene a little over a year ago, after all), but it was a wonderful milestone to have finally reached on the site and one that I was very much looking forward to. In fact, the scene was one of the earliest I conceived for the graphic novel, and so I’ve been waiting to get to this page since perhaps even before I finished writing the first draft of this scene. Never mind that I love this character I’ve created (as I’ve written many times), and it’s great that I’m finally seeing her come to life (again) in the book.

The Book of Charlie: Spirit of the Pompey Hollow Book ClubThat said, it’s not surprising that when I woke up yesterday, I was looking forward to sharing this page with the world. Harken! Chadhiyana spoke! So my mind was all Chadhiyana when I noticed a comment on my main website (this one) from Jerome Mark Antil, the author of The Book of Charlie: Spirit of the Pompey Hollow Book Club (the novel I recently revealed the cover illustration which I had provided for the forthcoming book).

According to Jerry (as I know him), the book is getting good press even before it’s release, earning him an interview on ABC next Tuesday morning and a summer review in Publishers Weekly’s ForeWord. And, while I’m glad to hear it, as I enjoyed reading the book myself and was very happy to provide the illustration for Mr. Antil’s cover, I was ecstatic to read that “critics love the cover”. That just made my day. I’m quite proud of that illustration, and it’s nice to hear it’s getting some positive reception, considering my work has not gotten much attention (period) since I began working professionally.

CitCoSthumbSo I was already feeling great and as though some real momentum (even temporary) was starting to build behind me and my work, when I logged into my Newgrounds account to see if anyone had commented on the cover illustration for Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows which I had just uploaded six days ago (despite it being on chadhiyana.com since the site was launched in October). I figured certainly I was about to get a reality check. A two star vote and no comments. However, much to my surprise, not only was the rating over 4 stars (out of 5), but there was a comment and something else: the art had been Frontpaged on Monday (featured on the site’s main page)! This was honestly the first time my artwork had been recognised and featured so prominently on a well-known art-related site (or any well-known site for that matter).

Of course, it almost seems childish to thrown in that, despite me thinking it a decent poem (at best), “When You Die?” (which I posted in last week’s post) seemed to be well received based on the Facebook and deviantART comments I read.

So, if I sound like I’m bragging a bit, I do apologise. It’s not often I get this sort of attention, and I can’t help but feeling a little elated this week. Sure, I don’t do my work for fame or the fortune (though both would be nice), and though you should never rely on kudos from others to keep you going, it’s wonderful to get some recognition for what I’m doing, especially because I was beginning to question if I was wasting my time again (it happens occasionally).

Of course, I do hope that this is all a sign that there is some momentum building behind my work, but, even if not, it was just good to get such positive attention for a bit. Temporary or not, I’ll keep working hard, as I always do. I love to create. I live for it. And, yes, it is always nice to be appreciated for it, once in a while.

Read Chadhiyana: In the Company of Shadows: chadhiyana.com

See the Newgrounds Chadhiyana: ItCoS cover post: newgrounds.com/art/view/jmdesantis/chadhiyana-itcos

Visit Jerome Mark Antil’s website: jeromemarkantil.com

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