Finally, it looks like I've made it happen. Over the next few months, I will be shifting to my new blog at arcadiacomics.blogspot.com. If you follow me via google+ or email, no changes need to be made. You will know where I am. But if you have my blog bookmarked, be prepared to update it.

Although I know that this move will be for the best, leaving Manga and Mascara behind makes me a bit sad. I've been updating this blog for over three years! When I started, I seriously didn't think I would keep up with it for that long.

My new comic Mandy & Molly will be posted on the new site, as well as Smackjeeves and Tapastic. A little bit at a time, I'm also posting Mascara and Wings to the new site. On the front page, they are listed as "in progress" because I'm still updating the pages to those comics. It will be awhile before all of the pages are posted. Some of the links, such as the ones in the "prose" section, are not live yet, so I have some work to do there.

I like how this new site focuses more on the comics, art, and stories. Since I will be regularly updating with new comic pages, I will be under less pressure to make written posts. It's not that I mind writing regularly for my blog. It's that I know I'm entering a project that will require that I spend more time creating comic pages than posts.

As for the future of Manga & Mascara, I have no plans of deleting it. I believe some will still find the past posts useful.

Click here to check out my new site, arcadiacomics.blogspot.com, and please remember to bookmark it! ^_^ 

My own future or someone else's.

I recently received this touching open letter. I laugh when I see that I've inspired someone else to write a blog, when my husband originally inspired me to start one.

Before we started dating, he emailed to me a link to his gaming blog. I thought it was amazing how he wrote about what he was playing and working on. At the time I was working on my first manga Mascara, and I realized that I also had a lot to share. So I started this blog.

Over the years I've had times when I posted regularly, and other times when I barely posted at all. There are blogs with way more readers and traffic than mine. Sometimes I ask myself why do I keep posting?

I think it's a need for self-expression. When I write I'm able to express myself better.

I've also kept writing blog posts because it's great practice. After working on manga for such a long time, I found writing to be somewhat difficult when I got back to it. Keeping up with my blog made the idea of writing a novella less intimidating.

The best thing about blogging and just writing in general, is that I never know when something I write will have the power to alter my future. In her open letter Ari mentions a novel I wrote called Omnigirl. I wrote it when I was around 15, and I've shared it with some of my friends. I never thought much of it, but I realize now that If I never wrote it, my life would've been very different.

I shared Omnigirl with my husband when we were friends, and after reading it, he realized that he wanted to ask me out. My whole current situation of being happily married is because of a novel I wrote when I was fifteen.

Now every time I start typing I wonder if the words I take so lightly at the moment will somehow drastically affect what happens in my life or the lives of others. It's fun to think about!

Then I could clearly see why I was having such a difficult time getting into my creative projects, and finding time to do them. Three years ago, I was unmarried and living at home. Now I have a husband and a house to deal with and chores and whatever comes with all of that. 

Still, I was trying to stick to the creative routine that I had three years ago--like nothing had changed. 

But EVERYTHING had changed. And that's why the old way of doing things that was so great before, was no longer working. 

I started this blog 5 years ago, and back then I was focused on graphic novels and manga. I'm still focused on graphic novels and manga (I'm working on a new graphic novel at this moment), but I've realized that just focusing on that topic has limited me on how much I share about the little creative projects and processes that I take on everyday. 

And honestly I find writing about that more interesting than the basics of graphic novel making. Not that I won't write about that anymore, but I want cover a broader range of subjects about creating things.

Now I'm excited about writing and making stuff all over again!

So next time when I'm stuck in a rut, I think I'll take a moment to step away from everything. I'll look at my past and ask myself "Is it different from now?" Then I'll think about the future, and see if I'm where I want to be now to get there. Sometimes a little reflection is all it takes to get things back on track.

To make things neater, I've reorganized my blog posts into categories on the top bar. I find it makes finding relevant articles way easier.

Also if you're only here for the posts I write about creating manga and don't wish to be bothered with the other stuff, that's fine. Simply subscribe to the filtered RSS feed that's on the right. It only shows posts that are tagged Manga.

Thank you so much for reading, and hopefully I will be updating this blog for many years to come. ^_^