Bonus Bernie! I've uploaded it as a vote incentive to TWC, so now there's new content there AND a blurb explaining why bonuses are rarer now (for those who click without being up to date on news posts). Please do go vote for Precocious here to see it, as traffic from being higher up on TWC always helps, but I will also edit it into the commentary and background tidbit blog post for the Weekend at Bernie's/I Survived the Weekend epic story when I do my next update. (If you haven't checked it in a while, or ever, there's so much extra insight, plus links to various continuity references, so please go look!)
There are two more updates to make to that blog, I believe. One for the "epilogue" week, and (maybe) a final summary of my summer epic. Yes, "SUMMER!" I started it four weeks later than planned because I wanted to be sure my health would allow me to draw the whole thing without interruption, so, length-wise, it only ran two weeks long - and one was this bonus week I felt like adding. My planning was excellent, if not for that whole cowardice delay thing.
So what's the deal with much-rarer bonus work? Health. Same as it's been all year. Things went seriously downhill in March, and it's been slow going to improve things since. (There's hope, but in a "probably won't see notable improvement for five more months" form.) It's not like I'm avoiding doing extra work by CHOICE. 1)I ENJOY doing that work. 2)These things help with reader involvement and gaining positive word of mouth, which is vital for expansion. 3)If I don't put out my books, I DON'T HAVE AN INCOME. That last one is especially important!
I have the ability to keep daily updates going, but the key difference is I rarely have energy left over after to do all the other work I'm accustomed to doing. (Even writing updates like this one is VERY difficult, because working on the computer - especially with writing - hurts me.) That's why I can't reassure every curious person over and over, even though I miss being social and chatty, so please know I've got a plan, I'm doing the right things to keep me intact, and it's just a time thing to see if/when it works.
If I have energy left over after daily comic work and house/personal/doctor obligation time, the first priority is owed work - nearly all from periods when I was doing well, and no one had any clue things would be bottoming out. I haven't forgotten anyone, and I chip away when I can - but I can't chip until I know Precocious is safe, so I gotta build a buffer first. Once those are covered, I must focus on money. Since I can't do things like talk or leave the house without painsplosions, cartooning is ALL I CAN DO with any hope of earning enough to survive, so I MUST put out new books. Ideally, a Patreon-ish program will begin at some point, but I want to be confident about it. I know it's supposed to be about "Keep doing what you're doing" and not "I am buying exclusive services" but I want to be able to do some nice things! So, yeah... save up? For now, however, I'd be happy with word of mouth boosts and, if the impossible dream can be made manifest, getting a group to take on the Precocious Wiki, so it's not so sadly outdated.
