Rupert & Me

Well, I had hoped to have two good things to share with you, but I guess I’ll have to settle for one.

Back at the beginning of February I submitted Fruitbasket from Hell into Amazon’s Breakout Novel contest. I didn’t really expect to win, given that last year’s winner was “serious literature,” but I had hoped to at least make it through the first round. But, I didn’t. Yes, it’s sad, but I still get the last laugh every time I sell another copy of Fruitbasket from Hell and I do sell them. Every day.

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My second bit of news is actually another entry in the Krumbine’s House Hunting Adventures.

After looking at almost fifty different homes and placing bids on six, we finally got a house!!!!

Except, maybe not.

We’ve been under contract with this house for last two weeks and it has been an emotional rollercoaster. One minute everything’s great and the next, everything’s falling apart. The rules keep changing on us from minute to minute. I want to say that we’ve probably almost lost the house at least twice. It is draining.

Our financing has been the biggest hurdle that we’ve had to overcome. Not that we can’t get it, but it’s that people aren’t sure if we can’t get it for this house. Thank you, Obama, for making this process as complicated as inhumanly possible.

As of this writing, we’re on an upswing. Our financing does finally seem to be locked in and we’re waiting for the home inspection to get done. If all goes well we’ll be closing at the end of March. Don’t worry, Rupert & Me is done far enough in advance that there won’t be any noticeable break as we move.

Fingers crossed, everything’s smooth sailing from here on out. Now that I’ve said that, I’ve probably jinxed us. A giant dinosaur will undoubtedly rise up and crush our house, leaving it in a billion, tiny pieces and we’ll still be forced to buy it.

And it is a nice house. Completely remodeled. 1400 square feet. Secret passageways and hidden underground tunnels. It’s everything I could hope for in a home.

I’m sorry, my wife’s giving me a look. I have to tell the truth now. There really aren’t any hidden passageways.

I have no doubt that this entire experience will be documented in great detail in future Rupert & Me strips. I foresee Jason and & Alice having to move….

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Speaking of Rupert & Me, I reached two hundred strips! This may not seem like a big thing, but it is. A lot of start up webcomics don’t reach two hundred this quickly, without missing a single update. That’s right. Not one single update missed. Go on, check the archives. I’ve actually increased my update schedule. Plus, Rupert & Me has been consistently improving every month. I mean, go back and look at the early strips and then look at today’s. April’s strips are even better looking.

Sorry to toot my own horn, but I’m very proud of myself and no one else is giving me a pat on the back.

That last sentence sounded more bitter than I intended it to. Allow me to elaborate.

I started Rupert & Me back in June of last year. I didn’t know anything about drawing, writing a comic strip, character design or website design. I have been literally learning everything on the go(Quick sidebar, shout out to my former boss Tammy Fuzz Face who thought learning by doing was retarded. Well, Tammy, you’re retarded. And fat. I’m sticking my tongue out at you.) I haven’t gotten as far as I would like, but looking back at where I started, I’ve come a long way.

So, yes, I’m feeling very proud of myself.

I’m totally taking tomorrow off.

I should have good news to share next Tuesday. Please keep us in your prayers. Till then, another book excerpt. Toodles.

Explorers of the Unknown

About the book:

Explorers of the Unknown, the fan-favorite comic book from underdogs Matt and Nathan Roman, is about to hit its 100th issue To celebrate it’ll be switching from a monthly release schedule to a weekly one The only problem is, nobody told Matt. This is the situation Matthew Roman finds himself in upon returning from his honeymoon. This and his brother sleeping around with half the town’s female population. He’s, at best, agitated, and that’s putting it mildly. And thus begins our tale of two brothers, comic books, and newlyweds. . .

CHRISTIAN FICTION

Chapter 1 after the break.

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

My wife and I have some stuff going on this week. I’m hoping to be able to make an annoucement or two next Tuesday, but till then I thought I’d give some love to my ugly step-children, Reflections of the Pink Elephant and Explorers of the Unknown.

Today’s excerpt is from Pink Elephant. It was written when I was employed as a 911 Dispatcher and thought cursing was fun. So, it’s got plenty of R rated language, don’t click through if you’re easily offended. I’ll run an excerpt from Explorers on Thursday.

What the book is about:

Chris Allen is going to have a busy 12 days. He’s a 911 Dispatcher and part-time online columnist. Family’s coming into town for his brother’s wedding, Chris is trying to get a new girlfriend, but his ex is still hanging around, a 911 call gone wrong is probably going to send him to court and then there’s the impending book deal for his online column. There’s also a lot of people talking about sex. Really. I’m not kidding about the sex part.

SECULAR FICTION

MATURE READERS

CONTAINS PROFANITY AND MATURE TOPICS

↓ Read the rest of this entry…

Those of you who checked in on Tuesday will recall that I had a  movie gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket. Well, that fire’s been put out.

I took my wife out Tuesday night for  dinner and a movie(because I am an awesome husband). What did we see you ask? What movie did I select to compliment our romantic evening?

From Paris, With Love.

What? It had Love in the title.

From Yahoo Movies:

A low-ranking intelligence operative (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) working in the office of the U.S. Ambassador in France takes on more than he bargained for when he partners with a wisecracking, fast-shooting, high-ranking U.S. agent (John Travolta) who’s been sent to Paris to stop a terrorist attack.

It was exactly what I needed. A fun, mindless action thriller. Yes, there were a few plot holes, odd character inconsistencies, and it was a bit slow to get started. But John Travolta was a blast to watch. He had a couple of nice one-liners and was clearly having fun making this movie. Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Meyers had a decent chemistry, nothing great. Meyers has an odd looking face that distracts me from his performance. He was fine in Mission: Impossible 3, but I don’t think I like him in a leading role.

The movie had a refreshingly clear take on Good Guys and Bad Guys. It was a remarkably Pro-American movie from two French dudes (the writer/producer also wrote and directed the 5Th Element, one of my favorite movies).

All in all, I give it two thumbs up. A great way to spend an hour and a half.

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For Valentine’s Day my wife and I decided to stay home and watch a nice romance. She picked the movie Love Happens. With a title like Love Happens how could it not be about romance, right?

I mean, look at that trailer? It’s all about the romance, right? Even this description would have you believe this is a classic romance film:

A romantic drama about a widower (Eckhart) whose book about coping with loss turns him into a best-selling self-help guru. On a business trip to Seattle, he falls for a woman (Aniston) who attends one of his seminars, only to learn that he hasn’t yet truly confronted his wife’s passing.

Except, this movie had nothing to do with love. This was, by far, one of the most poorly titled and mis-marketed movies I have ever seen. This was a movie about a guy dealing with the death of his wife. It had tear-jerker moments littered through as various people would share their own stories of grief with the lead character. Bit of a joy kill for V-Day.

That being said, it was a well made and well acted movie. Jennifer Aniston got on my nerves occasionally with her artsy-farsty, flighty character. But Aaron Eckhart carried the movie well and it even had Martin Sheen in it(who shall forever be know as President Bartlett to me and my wife). But it should have been called Death Happens, not Love Happens. I mean, the last seen in the film didn’t even have the “romantic” leads in it. It had Martin Sheen, who’s in the movie for a total of five minutes(but a great five minutes nonetheless). Personally, I preferred the above From Paris With Love, but once you got past the inappropriate title and marketing, Love Happens wasn’t a bad film. Just, you know, don’t plan it for a romantic evening.

I did it again. Whole days have gone by and I completely forgot to write today’s post. I’d like to say it’s because I’ve been busying with other writing projects, but that wouldn’t be the truth. The fact is, my wife and I are spending so much time house hunting everything’s starting to blur together.

We put in a bid on a seventh house over the weekend and, as of this writing, it doesn’t look like we’ll be getting it. It’s horribly depressing. Wanting to own a home, looking for a home, finding a home and then having your offer to purchase the home rejected or just outright ignored. Which is why I’m grateful for the Olympics, because there’s nothing like losing yourself in a riveting game of Curling.

I kid. Curling is lame. Have you ever watched Curling before? I don’t really need to make a joke about it because the game’s pretty much a joke. I mean, is there anybody out there that actually likes Curling? Feel free to speak up, I won’t block you.

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Actually, I don’t watch Olympics. Has anything important happened during the games so far?

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I have a gift certificate to the movies that is burning a hole in my pocket and I just don’t know what movie to go see. The Book of Eli and From Paris With Love are two movies that are currently in the theaters that I want to see, but do I want to see them enough to see them on the big screen? Or should I wait for Cop Out that comes out at the end of the month? Or have I seen all the funny parts of Cop Out in the trailers? The Book of Eli, judging from the showtimes at my local Regal, is down to two showings, so it might be gone by the end of the week. From Paris With Love still seems to be going strong, for now. Decisions, decisions. Any recommendations?

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I did manage to squeeze in a little work this past weekend between house hunting and Valentine’s Day(spent at home with my wife indulging in a heart shaped pizza and Love Happens staring Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston, which, incidentally, is not a romance, but that’s a whole ‘nother post). I present you with these two new desktop wallpapers. Aren’t they purty? Click on the size you want.

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This one was based on this past Saturday’s comic.

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I promise to have something more substantial on Thursday. Cross my heart and all  that.