Read the room, Shawn

I've said it before, but like... my daughter actually wrote this one. I wasn't really sure where to go from the last one, and was thinking I'd probably just cut to another scene, but she suggested this scenario, where Cloney throws Shawn into a fireplace and then Karen hears it and shows up to watch.

"Why would there be a fireplace in the park?"

"...I don't know. That could be part of the joke!"

Anyway. I'm in a weird place with the strip right now. I really like the comics I've been producing, but... they take days anymore. It feels bad to spend my entire weekend working on the comic instead of being with my kids.

At first it was ok because maybe I could evolve this into a revenue stream? But after almost two years of updates and flatlining readership, that was clearly never going to materialize.

So I stopped. Took down my Patreon, and just spent a few weekends with the kids as a breather. Which then turned into months.

So yeah. I'm not going to do regular updates anymore (clearly).

My kids like that I make these, so I doubt that I'll ever be 'done'.

But I need to think about "what's next". Maybe I cut back on the artwork / coloring? That's probably the smart idea, but I feel like I'd hate doing that with Chipmunk Bay. I'm proud of where it's gone, and suddenly running all mono-color or something would feel bad.

Maybe I start over with a new strip? Something where I don't hate that the art suddenly drops in quality? I've enjoyed doing strips with my daughter (and she LOVES them). Maybe I do more of those?

Or maybe I try another medium? Like... videos are all the rage. Maybe I try animation? That'd take way longer than a comic strip, but then I can still have the pipedream of maybe this becoming a revenue stream?

I dunno.

Like I said... in a weird spot.

Not sure when the next update will be. Best to subscribe to Facebook / Twitter / RSS / etc. Sorry.