While I love the black and white version of Run of the House, I’ve been been debating about adding color to the strip for a while, and I finally decided to take the plunge. Since I do much of the finishing work with Adobe Photoshop anyway (after scanning in a hand drawn comic), it wasn’t that big of a leap to add color. The above strip is one that was sent out to subscribers a few weeks ago.
Why the change? While I fell in love with black and white comics in the newspapers (you remember what those things are, kids?), those limitations were mostly due to printing cost, and I don’t have those issues for a comic that’s published digitally. Yes, using color will increase my printing costs too down the road, if and when the comic is collected in book form, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. I like all the options that using color gives me.
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First, an update on the current book in progress, especially since many of my readers have asked: Yes, I’m working on the next Garrison Gage book. I hope to have it out this year. That’s pretty much all I can say about it at this point, since I’m always hesitant to talk about works in progress, but the book is coming.
In the meantime, I hope many of you are enjoying the third book in the Karen Pantelli series, Dead-Eyed Drifter, where Karen faces off against a serial killer. Some wicked twists and surprises in that one.
In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we’re definitely transitioning to fall. Although we’ve just entered a rainy stretch, we had some wonderful late summer days lately, which is pretty common in September here, but the days are getting shorter, the nights cooler. The leaves are just starting to turn on many of the oaks, maples, and other trees. It’s one of my favorite times of the year.
Hard to believe summer’s almost gone. In early August, Heidi and I spent a fun week down in Mendocino, California, which is on the rugged and beautiful Highway 1, about a three hour drive north of San Francisco. We drove down from Oregon over two days, staying in the same Cape Sebastian area we stayed in last year. Here are some shots from the Oregon part of our trip.
Near Coos Bay
Bandon, Oregon
Cape Sebastian
Chetco Point (Brookings)
Brookings
Sunset view from our Airbnb in Cape Sebastian Area
While I’ve been down to the California Redwoods many times, this was mostly in the areas around Crescent City, so it was fun to finally drive through the Humboldt Redwoods and the Avenue of the Giants. The place we stayed in was just across Mendocino Bay and had a spectacular view of the city perched on its rocky coastline.
Why Mendocino? It started with Murder She Wrote, of all things. We’d been watching it occasionally in the evening, as something light and fun that wouldn’t engage our minds too much, and we wondered where the “Cabot Cove” episodes had been filmed. The answer was Mendocino, California, which, after admiring its beauty online, eventually led to our latest road trip. Some of the other highlights of the trip included visiting Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden in Fort Bragg, riding the Skunk Train, and of course exploring Mendocino. I’ll end this with some shots from the California part of our adventure.
Here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we’ve had a nice stretch of 80 degree days. Although I’ve gotten a few nice hikes in recently, I’ve been a bit more homebound as of late, puttering around the house and the yard when I’m not doing my creative work. My wife has been fostering kittens from the Humane Society, so that’s provided plenty of entertainment without even leaving the house. I just lifted one off my keyboard . . .
If you’re looking for a break from your own puttering, you might be interested in my new book: Dead-Eyed Drifter. It’s the third in the Karen Pantelli series, a character who got her start in the Garrison Gage books, about the former FBI agent who becomes something of a drifter . . . and this time she’s drifted herself right into facing off against a serial killer.
That’s a long ways away from playing with kittens, isn’t it?
Loads of action and suspense in this one, plus a few shocking twists. More about the book is below, including links to retailers.
Dead-Eyed Drifter
A Karen Pantelli Novel
He hunts. He kills. He walks among us. Nobody knows he exists … until now.
Former FBI agent turned full-time drifter, Karen Pantelli pursues a promising lead on her long missing mother to Orcas Island, Washington. Toiling as a hotel maid, she reaches a dead end until an encounter with an eccentric math professor raises a gruesome possibility. Her mother may have been murdered by a serial killer, the work of a cunning monster who has claimed hundreds of lives and evaded detection for decades by camouflaging his kills as accidents, suicides, or random acts of violence.
Aided by recent advances in artificial intelligence, the professor believes he can finally predict the killer’s pattern. But then a stunning twist changes the game, propelling Karen across thousands of miles on a desperate mission to save innocent people before the trail goes cold forever.
That’s a shot of Mission Bay in San Diego, where Heidi and I spent a lovely five days a couple months ago. We went there partly to celebrate my fiftieth birthday (yikes!), but mostly because neither of us had spent more than a day there. San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, Coronado Island . . . We had a great time. It was also a nice break from weeks of gray and drizzle here in Oregon.
Not that it’s raining now! The weather has been spectacular as of late, which is pretty much the norm this time of year in the Willamette Valley. These are the months when I couldn’t even imagine living anywhere else. I once told a waiter in Istanbul (now there’s a way start to a sentence) that God created the Earth in six days, and on the seventh day . . . he realized he hadn’t got it quite right, so he created Oregon. I was only partly joking. I love this place. I’m not the only one either. Here’s a shot of Rosie on a recent hike at Pheasant Creek Falls:
Is that the face of pure joy, or what?
The third Karen Pantelli book will soon be entering production, due out in six weeks or so, and the next Garrison Gage book (I’ve got about a third written) shouldn’t be too far behind. I’ve continued to publish two Run of the House comics a week via email and at www.runofthehouse.net. You can see one of the latest at the bottom of this post. If you’d like to subscribe, Mondays are free. Wednesdays are for paying subscribers, but the annual subscription is currently 50% off.
Astute readers will notice that the website has gotten a makeover. That took more time than I would have liked, but it was necessary. The old one was getting more vulnerable to cyberattacks (the age we live in, alas, even for small fry like me). I wanted a cleaner, simpler look, anyway, especially since I’ve even more fully embraced being an Internet Minimalist. Speaking of that, I’m still off social media. I don’t miss it. That’s not to say I won’t use it again at some point, but for right now, at least, I’m much happier without it in my life. We’ll see what the future brings. I still think the best use of my time is to channel it into my creative work.
And the best way to never miss one of my books, of course, remains my “New Release Newsletter.” I generally only email when I have something new out (there are no chatty posts like this one), so please do sign up. No spam and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Back before too long. Meanwhile, I’ll see you in the funny pages:
