State of the Chrispy Address

Here's an overview of what to expect from me and Precocious over the next few months, plus some reminders of other fun things.  Don't be lazy! Read this stuff!

First off: The book! As the release date nears, the order form will be closed down for a small stretch while the final shipping prep begins.  It looks like we may be able to get the books in (and thus ship them out) earlier, so that's a plus.  If you're not planning on buying one from me at a convention, grab a copy now while you can! Artist editions won't be shipping until around August 20, as those require me to draw in them and I won't have access to the books until the weekend of FA:U.

Next, if you've been following me on DeviantArt, FurAffinity or Twitter, you know I've been stressing about the future. That's because I'll be moving from Savannah back to Virginia next month. I knew it was coming, but I didn't really expect it to be so soon - and plans had to be rearranged. (I'll really miss Savannah. I love the people here, my apartment was in the best spot and it was so darn inviting and pretty!) The pressure of the move and the con in the same week will be taxing, but I'm hoping to be able to keep Precocious going without missing a beat.  (I may put out a call for guest strips later, just to be safe, so if you're a cartoonist or aspiring cartoonist, start thinking of ideas.)

Here's a rundown of my future conventions:

August 17-19: FA:United, Whippany, NJ
- This is a smaller con, and I'd love to have some of you guys around to keep me company. I'll have a lot of free time here, as I'm rotating at the table with the Code Name: Hunter team, so maybe a Precocious reader meeting and meal time can happen? If anyone's up for that, email me and let me know.

September 21-23: Intervention, Rockville, MD
- Unless a grand miracle happens, I won't have a table. I'll just be wandering around, totally lost because I have no idea how to handle a con as an attendee. Come be my guide! (If you want to find me, look for Mark, of Autumn Lake or Dave from Slightly Off-Topic. I'll be the one following them around and crying for attention.)

November 16-18: Midwest Furfest, Chicago, IL
- We'll be back to the big RCSI double table setup that looked so spiffy at Anthrocon here. It's a bigger con than the ones above, so I have big expectations for this sucker. This one should be a blast, so get your reservations in now!

Con-going readers, do you have any suggestions for my next year's con schedule?  As I'm moving 10 hours away, I'm on the fence about returning to FWA, potentially replacing it with the new Baltimore-based Fur the 'More. Since Massachusetts-based  RCSI Publishing won't always travel around to host me, I'll look into invitations from fellow cartoonists/artists who'd like to split hotel and table space at some of these. I don't care what type of con it is, as long as I can make back my investment without scarring my soul forever.

And now, for those who can't or won't brave the scariness to say hello at cons, you can still have Chrispy interaction!  I'm always happy to answer questions over on my Formspring account. I spend a lot of time on Twitter, putting on my grand neurotic show. You can also interact with other readers on the Facebook group. Come late August or early September, I also plan to venture into streaming.  You can come watch me draw a commission or a Copper Road or whatever and do some chatting with me and other readers! I love reader interaction! Your good will fuels me!

If you want to brighten my day, I obsessively check the Precocious TV Tropes page, so every time it's updated I cheer - especially if you also update the trope's main page with a Precocious mention as well!

Before anyone pesters me, I do know some parts of the site need updating. The cast page needs an overhaul, and the linking page needs maintenance - both of which involve creating new graphics.  That stuff takes a lot of time, and you see all that writing above this paragraph? That indicates I don't have much of it free. I'm not planning to start work on this stuff until at least September, and it'll take time to pull it all together.  Please bear with me until I can get to it.

If you read this far, you are a true hero.