We are getting there Reader!

I hope you’re doing great! This week I’m super excited to share with you what has been happening recently, because I have a ton of cool news and a lot to look forward to 🌸 Both for Susie’s book and the future in general!

Let’s dive in!

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My book is about to be released!

A lot of you have been following the book adventure for a while now, but let’s do a quick recap: at the end of September, soon after I released my newsletter, I dived into a big dream of mine: to make an illustrated book.

After months spent writing, sketching, inking, coloring and finally shading, and with a lot of publishing headaches along the way, the book is finally complete!

“Susie & The Blue Roof Witch” is a cute children book about Susie, a little girl living in a big city. As she struggles to interview people for a school project, she meets a peculiar character: she’s a witch, but instead of a broom she rides the tram.

Last time I was still waiting for the registration office for authors in France (my homeland) to give me an ISBN number; a unique code mandatory to even print a test copy of a book. This took 3 weeks, but I finally received it and was able to complete the whole publishing process! Finally!

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It’s been a few weeks since I finished all the illustrations for the book, but now that all the admin work and file setup is over, I feel a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I did it!

Now, is the book published yet? Not quite, because I want to order a test copy to make sure that everything is in order. It’s my first time printing a book, so I want to be extra careful.

If I receive my copy this week and all seems good, the book is planned to release on the 25th of March! Next week! On Tuesday, so that it will perfectly match my newsletter release ;)

(And worst case it will be the week after; releasing on April 1st would be unfortunate but that’s just how it is haha)

In any case, I will be running something special for you guys to celebrate! So don’t miss the next issue ✨ I can promise you it will be worth it.

Last thing I want to share with you about the book: Susie’s website is finally done and online!

I only shared with you a small video snippet a few weeks ago, but you can now see it with your own eyes. You will notice that the shopping links don’t go anywhere yet, for obvious reasons, so if you want to share the link with your friends please wait a little bit ;)

​https://shop.nighten.fr/susie-and-the-witch​

I hope you’re as excited as I am; I just need to wait a little longer now!

I’m taking Susie to conventions!

You heard that right, soon I’ll be tabling at an event for the very first time! Better yet, I’ll be participating in TWO conventions. Let me explain:

With some friends in Krakow we banded together as a diverse group of artists, with the ambition to table at item fairs and artist alleys. I’ll tell you more about them in a future issue, but I was super excited to not only work with other artists but also make one of my dreams come true.

First thing first, let me tell you the dates before I forget:
I’ll be in Targi Unikatów (“Unique Item’s Fair”) on April 12th, and Krakowski Festiwal Komiksu (KFK) (Krakow’s Comics Festival, this one was easier to translate) from June 27th to 29th.
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As I said, I always dreamed of tabling at an event to show my art; but I was always overwhelmed by the amount of things to prepare (I tend to overthink as you may know); so I’m super happy to not go there on my own - especially for KFK which lasts 3 whole days!

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What do I plan to present at the event?

Well, I want to show off the book of course! But in addition to the standard version, I want to also have a Zine-style version, black and white on colored paper, as a more affordable option, and exclusive to in-person events. I think that could be a very fun experimentation!

I also want to show off prints of my illustrations, as well as giving away some shorter comics I did in the past. I think this could really resonate with people, especially at the comic convention.

I’ll of course document my journey as I prepare for the events, so you’ll learn more about all of this very soon :)

I’m a bit scared to tackle such events (especially in Polish, I’m still a beginner), but only good things can come from it 🪴

The best writing advice I ever received

I talked about it in a recent issue, but now that Susie’s adventure is coming to an end I have been thinking about writing something bigger; a novel perhaps.

I’ve been interested in writing for many years - my first attempt at NaNoWriMo, a major writing challenge, was probably 10 years ago. But writing comes to me less naturally than say drawing or programming; this is why I’ve always been interested in tools and techniques to help me write better stories.

But today I’m particularly interested in sharing with you one very simple technique that for me completely changed the way I think about plot: The Story Grid.

Not to be confused with the blog and book of the same name, this technique suggests that instead of writing the sequence of events in a linear way (chapter by chapter), we can instead think in terms of series: many different plots with setup, middle and end, that intertwine and connect to finally form a bigger narrative.

This might sound confusing, but here is the talk I learned this from. If you’re interested in writing to any level I strongly recommend you watching it: it’s only 8 minutes of talking, and 4 minutes of questions.

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Funny enough, this video has 768 views at the time that I’m writing this, and yet it changed the way I think about stories forever, and I often come back to it years later. Talk about a hidden gem!

So now you might understand the concept better; let’s recap.

The basic principle is to have a number of “series” (setup, development, conclusion), that are all part of a broader narrative. You can have one series about Superman fighting the bad guy, but another one about his normal job as a journalist, and another one about his relationship with Lois Lane. All of them form a bigger story, but it’s easier to think of them individually.

So, how does it look like in practice?

For Susie’s book, it looked like an excel sheet. In fact it was one.

While I don’t think the plot is the strong part of the book, this technique helped me write in a way that feels more organic:

• The construction site is introduced in the very first page, even though it’s involved in the plot only by the second half as Susie gets closer.
• Susie gets a cup of hot chocolate way before it becomes useful for her later in the story
• She meets the black cat before chasing it later in the story, and the witch before the finale
• The final illustration mirrors the last one… And many little things like this!

Now, let’s see how it looks like on the scale of the story I’m planning!

I did this grid on Obsidian canvas feature, but I think any kind of excel sheet is plenty enough for it to work. After writing a lot of ideas and story lines, laying down all the different story beats helped me a lot to see more clearly.

For example, you can easily see that some elements disappear for a few chapters, and one is omnipresent at the beginning before completely vanishing. It’s hard to have this kind of insight on a gigantic document!

I hope you found this technique interesting :) I really encourage you to give it a try if you are writing any kind of story.

It feels very freeing compared to classic story templates, and it allows the project to feel whole, coherent and contained; something that I think is the primary appeal of art (but I digress).

One thing to note about this project

Since we are on the topic of the book, one thing I want to clarify is that I’m not yet fully committed to the project or in intensive production. I’m thinking about it a lot, but I’m focusing on Susie’s book launch for now! That’s why I stay vague in the details for now.

I also want to make new standalone illustrations and studies for some time :) Here is one work in progress I’ve been working on! One of my most ambitious ones in terms of details; I’m excited to show you more soon.

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Phew! That was a lot of news, thank you for sticking to the end!

I know I’m very chatty every week, but that’s just to show how passionate I am about what’s coming! Soon you’ll see how I handle the book launch, the conventions, and all the future projects that are coming with it.

Don’t miss out on next Tuesday’s issue! I have a very special gift for you guys that I’m really excited about. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you! >:)

Until then, thank you for being part of this adventure. Your support means the world to me!

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Take care,
- Nighten