Snow by Night

Well, this is embarrassing. I can’t count.

My journal from last week said I was posting page 19. I wasn’t. I was posting page 18. I’ve gone back through and renumbered the journal entries. So…. please enjoy the real Page 19. Brittany and Ricky have done a fabulous job on it.

In other news, Intervention has accepted Snow by Night’s application for a table. We will be there in September, and we will have the first chapter book printed by that time. Make plans to come see us! Also, there is a new incentive picture on Top Web Comic. Please vote for us.

7 Comments »

The 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.

1 Comment »

Almanac References: Capon, Oysters, Pantawiddle

Page 18 is up. Blaise is off like a shot as the thugs give chase. His path takes him along Dock Street which is cluttered with the stalls of the various peddlers and merchants that gather down by the riverside docks. Many of the fishermen are selling their catch fresh off the boat. Now you may be thinking “Oysters? Why oysters?” I have my reasons. Reasons other than I think it’s humorous. I’ll explain why I tossed in an oyster cart in next week’s almanac entry.

4 Comments »

Quite 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.

No Comments »

Almanac References: Basting, Canaille, Dappled, Done Over, Peste, Pike It, Riverside District, Ward

Page 17 is up. Jassart isn’t the only person looking for the the thief. Blaise is making a few inquiries of his own. However, he doesn’t quite meet with the same results. Take a look to see how it plays out.

Katsucon was a great time for us at Snow by Night. Both Ricky and Brittany were there with their art and jewelry. We also got to spend time with our good friends Jen at LaSalle’s Legacy and Eren at Tamuran. Both of these webcomics are well done, and I highly recommend them. I also brought along a surprise – promo books for Snow by Night. These 16 page sketchbooks have the first two scenes of the comic plus the bios for three of the main characters. They’re absolutely beautiful. I’m very pleased with the way they came out.

4 Comments »

This week’s Almanac entry expands on an earlier one. I’ve doubled the size of the slang portion of the Almanac to account for all the terms and phrases being tossed about by our underworld players. I’m having a fun time researching and developing the terms (all the while getting help from my Quebecois braintrust). I hope you enjoy the colorful addition to the dialog.

Last week, Snow by Night got a terrific shout-out from Teos Abadia. Teos is one of the organizers of the fabulously awesome D&D living campaign Ashes of Athas, which you should play if you like D&D. Teos was a guest on Going Last, an RPG blog. He mentions us in Session 4 posted February 9th at about the 1:45 mark (that’s 1 hour and 45 minutes). I recommend listening to the entire podcast. It’s very informative – especially the Ashes of Athas portion.

No Comments »

Almanac References: Blessings, Dommage, Miller, Rook

Page 16 is up. I had a lot of fun making Brit draw this page. She kept sending me comments about it. You can see some of them on the Twitter feed. You may notice that Jassart uses the term “gloire.” This term will be defined in next week’s Almanac entry, but essentially gloire is reputation. It’s a bit more nuanced than that and will play a huge role in Snow by Night, but that definition will work for now.

I’m going to give another plug for Ricky and Brittany. They will be in the Artists’ Alley at Katsucon. Ricky is selling his incredible art while Brittany is selling her fine jewelry under the name Bad Carrot Studios. Stop by, say hello, and peruse their fine wares.

1 Comment »

In this week’s Almanac entry, we meet Liaze Toupin, the brains and beauty behind Jehan’s Fine Hats. She’s a bit more than just an ordinary hat maker. Find out more about her in the Almanac.

This weekend is Katsucon. Both Ricky and Brittany are exhibitors in Artist’s Alley. Brittany is operating as “Bad Carrot Studios.” Stop by and say hello if you are attending.

And the final incentive pane for page 16 is up for those who vote on Top Web Comics.

No Comments »