Almanac – Ald
April 17th, 2011One Riot; One Ald. This week’s Almanac entry is Ald Baillon – the Law of the Riverside. You can find him under “Rulers” in the People section of the Almanac. He’s a major character in the Riverside so he even has a listing under Cast.
Almanac – People
April 10th, 2011The entry for this week’s Almanac update is Laurent Rivière. He is a thief and rival sharp to Jassart. He can be found under the Rogues heading of the People section. He also appears on the Cast page. Please enjoy learning more about another member of the Sherbourg underworld.
In other news, it’s been a very busy week for Snow by Night. Brittany has finished all the pages for chapter 1. I’m putting the finishing touches on the script for Chapter 2. I have also started receiving pages from Eric Schneider for the the vignette that follows chapter 1. His art is breathtaking. I am also in the final negotiations with another artist to do a vignette that follows Chapter 2. So many stories are coming. It’s going to be a great summer.
Almanac – Gambling
April 3rd, 2011The almanac entry this week is gambling. Come learn about the games of chance played in Sherbourg, including dice, cards, and the newest creation – roulette! Where did this passion for gambling originate? Why are the gambling dens called hells? Be prepared to back up your wagers with coin, because debtors aren’t tolerated.
Almanac – Aradie
March 27th, 2011Today’s Almanac entry is Aradie. And it’s high time I got around to telling you a bit about the largest colony in Everique and the setting for our tale. I am only scratching the surface of what I have to share about Aradie, but I wanted to give an overview. I’ll add more later.
Almanac – Long Knives, Sabers
March 20th, 2011This week, I thought I would talk a little bit about blades, two in particular – the long knife and the saber. Jassart has a long knife and is using it in his gamble with Laurent. So it seemed a good time to discuss them. Read about them in this week’s Almanac entry.
In other news, I heard back from Otakon. I’ve been approved for a table in their Artists’ Alley. So Snow by Night will be making an appearance. I hope to have our first chapter book for sale at the convention.
Almanac – History
March 13th, 2011Today our Almanac entry delves into the history of Aradie and Sherbourg. The entry covers the founding of the city, which was a dangerous time. It took three tries for the city to take root. While you’re there, check out the lovely new bookcase graphic that Diane put together for us.
And now some huge news: some of you may have noticed that the copyright information at the bottom of the page has changed. This past week I organized an LLC, which will be acting as a publisher for Snow by Night. This is the first step to bringing Brittany on full time. With her dedicated to Snow by Night, we can double the number of pages we post per week. So starting with Chapter 2, expect to see twice as much Snow as you’re currently seeing.
Almanac – Oysters
March 7th, 2011The Cuisine section of the Almanac gets some love with a discussion of oysters. Oysters played an enormous role in the history of the United States and Canada in the real world. Billions of oysters were harvested from the Chesapeake Bay over the course of the 1800s. One of the principle reasons for the construction of the C&O canal was to transport oysters to the Ohio country. The rail lines replaced the canals, and still the oysters flowed. These bivalves fed a young nation. The wealth of the Bay created a gold-rush mentality that led to the “Oyster Wars” and the creation of the Maryland Oyster Navy. And no, I’m not make this part up. Read all about it here.
Sadly, the Chesapeake was horribly overfarmed. The oyster beds were dredged until nothing was left in the 19th century, and oyster diseases wiped out much of what was left in the 20th. The number of oysters in the Chesapeake are at 2% of the numbers that they were in colonial times. A regional partnership – the Chesapeake Bay Program – is endeavoring to reverse the damage, but there so much to do. The beds have to be rebuilt and new oysters seeded. It will take decades to restore the bay to what it once was.
Almanac – Calendar
February 27th, 2011Quite a bit happening at Snow by Night. The Almanac Entry for this week is the Japethic calendar. I’ve included notes on the seasons associated with each of the months. The story is currently in Barebranch, which is the equivalent of November.
In convention news, Brit and I will be attending Balticon over Memorial Day weekend. We’ve been asked to participate on a panel discussing online graphic novels. I’ll post more about that when I have more information. I have also applied for a table at Intervention in September. It’s a great convention, and I’m very optimistic that we’ll get the table.
Lastly, I’ve added a link to a brand new webcomic – Prism the Miracle. This one is created by Whitney Delaglio, a friend of Ricky Bryant and an alumna of the Savannah College of Art and Design. It’s got a bold design, and I’m interested to see where they go with it.
