As you probably know, I’m currently working on building an income through my Patreon channel so I can spend more time creating stories and art instead of doing other things to support myself.
 
That being the case, I’d love to know what you’d want to see if you were supporting me on Patreon.

Even if you don’t have the money or desire to become a patron, your feedback will still help me get an idea of what people are interested in, so I'd appreciate it very much if you could take a minute to give me your opinion.

If you want to know what I'm already offering, you can see a list of the available rewards in the right-hand sidebar of this page.

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate it.

    
​Commissions       ​Physical merch

For those of you who've been reading my Undertale webcomic, Just Cause, or who are thinking of getting into it in the near future, I have some exciting news:

I've gotten enough of the prose version written that I think I've filled in most or all of the possible plot holes, so starting in May, I plan to start releasing parts of the fanfiction to patrons pledging $3 and up on my Patreon.

That means after each comic update, my patrons will get to see a sneak peek of the next scene, weeks before the corresponding comic page comes out.

The whole prose version of the story will be released to the general public once it's complete. I'd do it earlier, but this tale's gotten so intricate that I want to get the whole thing written before I set it loose on the open web, just in case there's still something I've missed.

I've also decided to make the work-in-progress previews of the comic available to ALL my patrons, not just the $10 tier and up.

​I wanted to make my most popular story more accessible to people with tighter budgets, so hopefully this helps.

I've seen a few people doing open collaborations, and I thought it would be fun to do one of my own.
​
For those who don't know, and open collab is where one artist creates part of a picture - usually the lineart - and invites others to do the rest and share the results. This could include color, shading, backgrounds, or all of the above.

I deliberately left the face off of this one, because I like how ambiguous the pose is. Is Mettaton jumping? Fighting? Posing for the camera? Inviting a dance partner to come join him? Sleeping? Dead? You decide!

If you choose to participate, please:

1. Add your name or URL to the credits on the image

2. Don't remove my URL from the credits

3. Send me a link to the completed picture, so I can show your work to my watchers and followers!

If you want to have the color, background and lineart in separate layers, you can use the .psd file I've attached below.

I look forward to seeing what you create. :)

Great news! I'm now open for art commissions, and discounts on those commissions have been added to my Patreon rewards!

$10 Patrons will get a $3 discount on 1 art commission per month.

$25 Patrons will get a $10 discount on 1 art commission per month. 

$45 Patrons will get a $30 discount on 1 art commission per month!

If you have a character in your head that you long to see on a real-life screen, or if you'd love to see an existing fictional character in a specific pose or situation, please send me a note or email describing what you want.

To get the details, just check out the chart below. If you have any questions after reading the chart, please don't hesitate to contact me!

I recently received a special announcement from another writer: a fellow blogger of A Writer's Path, Ryan Lanz, has announced the launch of his new initiative: A Writer’s Path Writers Club.

After looking at the writing market for years, he noticed a need for a Writers Club of this kind.

​Sure, there are Facebook groups, writers groups, etc., but those are usually just gatherings of writers, and they lack some very important features that many authors need.

Ryan wanted to create a club whose sole purpose is to solve headaches for writers. Here are some of the headaches he's looking to solve:
 

• It’s hard to find reviewers for my book
  
  
• Writing-related service providers (editors, book cover designers, etc.) are expensive
  
  
• I don’t know if my writing is good enough and I need feedback
  
  
• I need more promotion for my book
  
  
• I don’t know if my blurb or summary is good enough
  
  
• Not enough readers know my book exists
  
  
• I don’t know enough about what other successful authors have done to be successful
  
  
• I don’t know if my book cover encourages readers to purchase it

 
The club also offers some fun activities for writers, such as giveaways and contests.
 
Here’s the full list of benefits that are available in the Writers Club:
 

• Discounts from writer-related service providers, such as editors, book cover designers, proofreading services, ghostwriters, social media marketing, book advertising, template design, audio book narration, and more.
  
  
• Contests and giveaways for free services and books.
  
  
• 2 free book promotion posts on A Writer's Path blog every year (example here). Every post generates a social media shout-out of your book to Ryan's Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Tumblr, and Google+ account (total of 12,900 followers). He'll set reminders for himself to notify you when your next post is ready.
  
  
• Exclusive articles not seen on the A Writer's Path blog.
  
  
• Access to free blurb coaching.
  
  
• "Book of the Month" lottery. The winner gets their book featured for a month on the A Writer's Path blog in a tab along the top of every page/post. They'll also get a promotional post featuring their book, summary, cover, and purchase links, which is sent to all 25,000+ subscribers. There is one drawing per month.
  
  
• Help to find you reviewers and critique partners (optional).
  
  
• A free copy of his eBook, The Idea Factory: 1,000 Story Ideas & Writing Prompts to Find Your Next Bestseller. ($2.99 value)
  
  
• Free critique of your book summaries and book covers (optional).
  
  
• Insider tips from published authors in short, bite-sized articles.
  
  
• Links to free books that are normally offered at full price.
  
  
• Opportunities to show off your book to the other members.
  
  
• Exclusive author interviews.

 
Feel free to check out the A Writer's Path Writers Club here.

I was working on the latest page of Just Cause, and Undyne had a fantasy about a battle between flowery princess swordswomen.

​Of course, knowing my tendencies, you had to know I wasn't about to just make a small, simple panel for that. No, if I'm going to draw a flowery princess sword fight, it's going to be a full print-sized beast.

 
​There's a slightly bigger version on my DeviantArt account, if you want to see it.

In the process of working on this for a week, I discovered that realistic plate armor is far more complex than I'd ever realized. SO MANY joints, seams, and fortune cookie-like elbow guards that I never knew existed.

Also, the excuse some costume designers use for dressing their female characters in basically lingerie (she needs to be able to move freely!) is apparently BS; well-crafted armor has a better range of motion than its wearer.

​Furthermore, boobplate ('breastplates' that cup the wearer's boobs and accentuate their shape) is asking to get stabbed by your own armor. Hence the lack of noticeable boobs on these ladies.

Speaking of stuff I learned while creating these outfits: I sought inspiration for the dresses by looking up the cultural meanings of different types of flowers, and choosing ones that fit the image of their personalities and backstories that I have in my mind.

The lady on the left is a disgraced princess who was discarded by the royal family while their country was at war. Despite being rejected by her family, she continues to care about her people, and is determined to protect them, even if it means putting herself on the front lines.

Her flowers and their meanings are:

Coriander: Hidden worth.

Black-eyed Susan: Justice.

Anemone: Forsaken.

The acrobatic warrioress on the right is the beloved daughter of a protective family, and was told to stay away from the battle despite her outstanding skill, strength and agility. But when she saw soldiers limping home from the conflict, and heard of the devastation that her kingdom's villages had endured, she couldn't bear to sit in safety while they suffered.

Her flowers and their meanings are:

Wallflower: Faithfulness in adversity.

Heliotrope: Eternal love.

Dog rose: Pleasure, pain, healing, secret love.

And so, the two princesses met on the battlefield. Neither knew who the other was, or how much bravery and love for their people they shared, or what they would come to mean to each other as they fought each other to a draw over and over again.

Neither of them expected that the more they learned about each other, the less they would feel like enemies, and the more they'd realize they were kindred souls.

By the way, in case you're wondering why they're not wearing helmets, there are two very good reasons for that.

One is because this is Undyne's fantasy, and she's the type to whip off her helmet right before a battle.

And the other is so you can recognize their faces when they kiss in the next panel. Because Undyne fantasizes about forbidden romance, too.

I'll add shading and a background in the future, but for now, I've been working on this all week, and am feeling a bit burned out on the project. And I don't want to keep people waiting for the next page for too long.

Also, I'd love to get your feedback on what kind of background you'd like for this. Who knows - maybe I'll make a few versions with different backgrounds and corresponding shading, if enough people are interested.

In the meantime, if you want to support me as an artist and storyteller, and to get advance access to completed art and exclusive access to works in progress, please consider supporting me on Patreon.

A little while ago, I stumbled upon a great way to get more comments and exposure for your pictures in DeviantArt. Or perhaps I should say, it stumbled upon me.

I'd left a detailed critique on another artist's picture, commenting on what she'd done well and what could have been done better, and suggesting some photoshop techniques that would help her achieve the effects she seemed to be going for.

Shortly afterward, I was contacted by the admin of Project Comment: a group on DeviantArt that was founded for the purpose of helping artists to get more comments, especially constructive and well-thought-out ones.

She said she'd noticed that I was interested in helping other artists to improve, and invited me to participate in Project Comment.

I was happy to accept the invitation, and after leaving constructive, detailed comments on several other members' pictures, I submitted a couple of my own to be featured in the group.

Sure enough, the comments started coming in, and several people added me to their DeviantWatch.

Now, don't get me wrong - I draw because I love drawing, not just for the attention - but it's so much better when people can see and enjoy my artwork. ^_^

A few days ago, I got another piece of good news: I was being featured in their June-July Features of Great Commenters piece, and I could have one of my pictures displayed in the feature.

I chose my post-Pacifist Undertale wallpaper, and now it's on their features page, second from the bottom.

If you want to get more well-thought-out comments on your artwork, and you're interested in helping other artists to improve their skills, I invite you to check out the group, and to join it if it looks like something you'll enjoy.

Can I have two minutes of your time, and a quick opinion?

This blog is partly a place to share my thoughts, give you updates on my novels, and get feedback. But it's also supposed to be fun and informative for you, so I'd love to get your input on what you want to see in future blog posts.

Which of these topics and categories appeal to you? Please feel free to choose more than one, and tell me your choices in the comments.

1. Updates about my upcoming novels.

2. My thoughts on other people's stories.

3. Explorations of tropes, cliches, great techniques, and common mistakes in fiction.

4. Writing tips.

5. Explorations into the characters, world and plot of my existing novels.

​6. Something else - please describe what you'd like to see.

I look forward to seeing your choices! Thank you in advance. :)

What does the world look like, when it's seen through the eyes of a catgirl, the boy who agreed to watch over her, and the people who get tangled in their crazy mess of a life?

This week, I decided to interview the cast of Catgirl Roommate, and share their answers with you.

If you have any questions to send in, you can meet the cast and submit your questions here.

In the meantime, here's the first interview with the cast of Catgirl Roommate:

Q: Nyla, have you ever burned a house down?

Nyla: No. I made the pretty warm light go across the carpet one time, but then my human threw water on it and turned it into steam. And then she yelled at me, and the carpet was wet. I didn't like that.


Q: Mr. Michi, what are some of the craziest ways in which Nyla has scared away your tenants?

Mr. Michi: As Nyla's last answer implies, she set the house on fire once by batting a candle off the coffee table. And there was one time when she went into heat and attempted to climb a tenant's visiting father. But those are some of the most extreme cases. Usually, it's the little things that add up until they leave.


Q: Sam, did Anton ever try to pet Nyla again after what happened the first time?

Sam: No, he pretty much kept his distance after that. At least, when she'd let him. You know how cats can be - if you don't want them around, they probably want to be in your lap. Besides, I kind of suspect that Nyla can smell fear.


Q: Anna, did you ever think your son was going to have a naked catgirl for a roommate?

Anna: Haha, well, the obvious answer is, I didn't think catgirls even existed until one greeted me at the door! I was a bit shaken at first, and I'm still not sure how I feel about my son living with a naked woman, but... I'm sure he has the self-control not to make any mistakes with her. And even if he didn't, I'm pretty sure she's managed to scare him off of that concept quite thoroughly.

Q: Jack, you used to take care of Nyla. Have any of the criminals you dealt with as a policeman measured up to her in terms of weird craziness?

Jack: There have been a few incidents that came close, but even the weirdest ones were usually more of an isolated incident, whereas for Nyla, it's a way of life.

I've had to send a few people to the hospital to get... some pretty surprising kinds of stolen merch extracted from the places where they'd stashed it. But then there was the time when Nyla got into the mouthwash... or the hamster incident... yeah, she sets a fairly high bar.

​
That's all the questions for today, but if you have any questions of your own, feel free to leave them in the comments!

And if you want to pre-order your copy of Catgirl Roommate for just 99 cents, just click the button below:
​

​When it comes to weighing morality in fiction, different types of characters seem to be measured on very different scales.

Some character types can get away with things that others can't, while others can be subjected to far more violence with less moral outrage from the audience and other characters.

1. Sparing the top villain is more important than sparing the underlings.
​
The heroes have done it. They've cut, burned, shot and bludgeoned their way through the enemy horde, and they've finally reached the person behind it all. The one who's been sending all the minor enemies into battle.

The one person whose death would make the biggest difference toward ending the conflict for good.

But... "No, you can't! Killing is wrong! If you kill him, you'll be just like him! You're the good guy - you're supposed to be a role model of mercy for all the impressionable children watching this!"

The fact that they just killed dozens, if not hundreds, of underlings in order to get to this guy might not even be mentioned. Those guys are generic and disposable. (Yes, I'm looking at you, movie adaptation of Prince Caspian.)

But Heaven forbid that the heroes kill a NAMED villain with a personality. That would be un-heroic! They should stick to slaughtering the nameless, preferably masked or helmet-wearing underlings who are more easily dehumanized - that's just fine.

And if a few hundred or thousand more civilians have to die, because the important villain was allowed to continue their villainy a bit longer?

That's just the price of family-friendly villain handling.

​
2. One protagonist is worth more than ALL the 'bad guys'.

When a protagonist dies or gets hurt, there's drama. There's sadness. There are images of loved ones mourning or worrying, woeful music, and unhappy feelings in the audience.

But when an entire enemy base gets blown up, it's awesome. The light show is great, the music sings of heroism, and the corpses and bereaved loved ones are probably not shown.

If this destruction was critical to preventing the enemy from launching a campaign of violence, the reaction makes sense. But what if most of the people on that base were just living their lives and doing their jobs, with no malicious intent...

And what if the people who were killed outnumber the people who were saved?

It's only natural to care more about the characters you've spent time with and bonded with. But if the lives of minor enemies were treated with the same value as the lives of protagonists, a lot of stories would have a very different tone.

3. Revenge is only OK for (some) protagonists.

Whether or not revenge is endorsed depends heavily on the writer, but if the person taking revenge is an antagonist, you can probably count on it being portrayed as tragic at best, or evil at worst.

​On the other side of the coin, there are times when minor characters are created and killed specifically to give the protagonist a reason to seek revenge.

In the case of a heroic avenger, sometimes it will be pointed out that revenge won't revive the dead or give the vengeful party closure. But the odds of revenge being painted as a worthy and heroic goal are a whole lot better if you're the protagonist.


4. Fighting dirty vs teamwork.
​
Sometimes, a hero being drowned in a zerg rush of minor enemies is just a chance for them to show how badass they are. Sometimes, it's a portrayal of how the enemy is willing to fight dirty by ganging up on a lone victim.

But how often do you see a villainous team-up being portrayed as the Power of Friendship and Teamwork in action?

Granted, the fact that they're villains makes them less likely than a hero to be motivated by camaraderie.

But I don't think I've ever seen a collaboration of antagonists being celebrated in-story the way a heroic loner is when they finally swallow their pride and allow their friends to help out.

Have you noticed any other double standards when it comes to fictional violence?

I look forward to reading your comments.