The Chronicler Returns.

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A familiar face walks in and sits down next to the fire. This face is older, with a few more lines and a bit more greying at the temples and in the beard, but it is him. How can this be? He disappeared almost two years ago! Some say he died, some say he burned out and walked away, and some say that he has been imprisoned in a troll’s den these past months. Whatever the case, he has appeared again, ready to continue his story and tell new ones.

He looks over at you and says, “Now then, where did I leave off.”

Your eyes are not deceiving you! This is a brand new post in the The Chronicler’s Notes! I have been gone for some time and have a lot of catching up to do but I am indeed back and ready to get back to it.

First off, let me say thank you to all of you who waited patiently and supported me while I was away. I never stopped thinking and writing about Chronicle, but life got in the way of producing a weekly comic strip. Let me answer a couple of questions.

So, what specifically happened?

Well, lots of life changes. The first was that I got a new job (again) that required a lot of focus as I got into the groove there. My children started school and suddenly we had homework, Cub Scouts, and piano lessons at night! Finally, there was my health. I was finding it harder and harder to stay awake at night to even be able to work on Chronicle. I would literally fall asleep with my stylus in my hand and wake up two hours later with no progress to speak of.

So, what changed?

The good news is that most of this has righted itself. My new job is great and I have lots of co-workers who support my comic. My kids are getting older and becoming more self-sufficient. They’ve also figured out that I’m a comic artist and want me to draw more. My health - well, I’m losing weight and have been diagnosed with sleep apnea. I’m getting it under control, but there’s still a ways to go.

I started writing for Meeple Mountain, a tabletop gaming news site and that stirred the creativity a bit. Go give them some love, they helped me get back on track and are great people.

Also, I just got back from GaryCon XI where I was able to talk to so many wonderful people about my work and they were genuinely interested and wanted to check it out. With that kind of energy boost, now is the time to get back into it.

So, what can you expect from Chronicle?

  • First, weekly strips as often as possible. I can’t guarantee there won’t be a gap, but there won’t be another hiatus if I can help it.

  • Second, I really want to put out more of the RPG material that I’ve written for Chronicle. I have converted most of it to Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition and want to share that with people.

  • Third, new stories! I have a few ideas for Chronicle stories outside of The Chronicle of Thieves. Which leads us to the big one…

  • Chronicle turns 20 years old this year! This all started out as a self-published comic book back in 1999 and has been building ever since! To celebrate, there will be some 20th anniversary material showcasing Chronicle’s roots. More to come on that down the road.

Starting today, there will be a new strip each week and it will begin with the “lost last strip of Chapter 3.”
I actually drew this last strip before I headed off to interview for my new job and I never got around to publishing. That was quite the cliffhanger to leave you guys with!

Come back again next week for an all-new Chronicle strip with some surprise guests!

See you then…

THAN

Chronicle in the New Year!

Greetings Chroniclers!

It's the new year and time for some updates!

This week we finish up our interlude, A Tough Crowd in Toryavik! I hope you've enjoyed this little story introducing two of our new characters. Kereth and Pav will be making an encore appearance later this year!

January 30th is the First Anniversary of Chronicle! To celebrate, we'll be kicking off Chapter Two of Autumn's story, which now has the official title, A Chronicle of Thieves! To get ready for this, I will be taking a few weeks off to get a few strips ahead. In the downtime, I will be posting up some concept art and sneak previews of things to come. Make sure to follow me on social media to catch some of this!

I also want to thank everyone who stopped by in 2014! Our final page view count was 39,837! Not too bad for a little fantasy comic/art site! We had 17,993 unique visits and 14,095 unique visitors! I know that if I had not faltered in my updates in the back half of the year and did just a bit more promotion we would have hit 50,000. My goal for the next year is to hit 100,000 page views. I know we can do it guys!

Some of you may be wondering what happened with the other material like the Character Codex and Fun Art Friday. Basically, after I got a new day job my evening schedule changed and I had to cut back on things to keep the comic going. I hope to get back to those features this year because I really do love drawing things besides my characters. It will just take some time.

Keep an eye out for some site changes. I will be revamping the archive soon and making some other cosmetic changes.

That's about it! I look forward to Chronicle in the new year and I hope you do as well!

Take care, 

Than

 

The Chronicler's Notes - Name That Rogue Contest! - March 10th, 2014

Welcome to another week at Chronicle!

Last week's strip had 25 Rogues in it!  I had a lot of fun drawing it and putting in some of the scoundrels and thieves that have influenced my characters over the years.  To commemorate, I'm launching Chronicle's first contest:

NAME THAT ROGUE!

All you have to do is click on this CONTEST LINK and name as many rogues as you can (the two Chronicle characters appear multiple times, you only have to name them once each) and leave your name, address, and email.*  The person with the most correct names wins! In the event of a tie, a winner will be randomly selected.

This contest will run for one (1) week.  All entries must be submitted by March 16th, 2014.

The winner will be announced next week in the March 17th Chronicler's Notes.

THE PRIZE

A full color commissioned drawing of any one(1) character of your choice**.  It can be your own or someone else's.  The drawing will be done digitally and then printed on 8" x 10" bristol board suitable for framing.  I will then sign it personally and send it to the winner!

* Contact information will only be used to communicate with the winner and not sold or distributed in any way.
** Commission requests must be no worse than PG in nature.