I’m planning on finishing the first draft of the second Alchemist’s Theorem book by the end of the year. I’ll be reactivating regular blogging for the new year. Most of my focus for this year has been on our cat comic The Unadoptables. Though I’ll still be managing the publication of the comic, I’ll be shifting focus to Mendel’s Inheritance in 2018. I plan on publishing the book later in the year.
The Kickstarter for our cat comic, The Unadoptables, just hit $11,000! Last week we hit $10K, which was our first stretch goal. We’re going to use the extra funds to translate the comic into Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese. To say thank you to our backers, we made a video of our homemade-wet-cat-food recipe 🙂
Our next stretch goal is $15K. If we hit that before the end of our campaign (12 days left!) we’ll be able to make the comic accessible to the blind. We’re working on some fun stuff for the last week, so stay tuned!
After the first week of our Kickstarter campaign, we are 138% funded and only $1700 away from our first stretch goal! We can’t thank everyone enough for all the support. I’ll think of something, though. Maybe a video of Ripley attacking Brooks while he tries to exercise.
Our first stretch goal will cover getting the comic translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese. And then our next stretch will help us make the comic accessible to the blind.
Brooks and I have launched our Kickstarter campaign for our comic, The Unadoptables! We’re trying to overthrow the hegemony of cute cats ruling the Internet by creating a comic about the not-so-desirable cats that accumulate at shelters.
Our first issue, “Catnapped!”, focuses on a bonded pair of cats: Marmalade, an adorable Scottish Fold kitten, and a very, very old Maine Coon, Vincent von Toast. Marmalade is hell-bent on getting herself—and Vincent—out of the pokey and into a comfortable home. She’s got endless plans for how they are going to either catch themselves an owner or break out and live free in the wild.Â
You can check out the first six pages on Kickstarter. The funds we raise will be used to pay the comic’s artist and colorist to finish issue #1. We also have stretch goals that will be used to have the comic translated into Spanish, Arabic, and Japanese, and to make it accessible to the blind.
Brooks and I appreciate any support in our comic endeavor, and to show our gratitude we are offering a limited first edition of the comic book to backers, as well as adorable merch like a t-shirt and cat-covered leggings with original character designs that are exclusive to the campaign.
We LOVE this project and have become very attached to our Unadoptables!
Only 5 days before we launch our Kickstarter campaign on June 6th! Brooks and I are raising funds to create the first issue of our comic series The Unadoptables. We’re offering a limited, first edition of the comic as part of the rewards. The higher pledge levels include merch like a t-shirt and cat-covered leggings with the original character designs, which will be exclusive to the campaign. And we’ve made a mug with a strip of the comic printed on it for all the cat-loving coffee drinkers out there.
We still have quite a list of things to do before we launch, but everything is coming together. Brooks has been making a ton of graphics and I’ve been keeping track of all the moving pieces. We’ll be submitting our campaign for approval this Friday once we get all the finished pages from our colorist.
One of my tasks now is to get all our unadoptable kitties tweeting on the Twitter. Yes, each cat has her or his own Twitter account. Not sure what the little beasts will do with that kind of power, but it should be a riot.
The first 3 pages of issue #1, “Catnapped!” are ready! Above is page 3. Our colorist, Autumn Haynes did a great job. The other 3 pages will be finished this week and ready for the launch of our Kickstarter campaign on June 6th. SO EXCITED!!!
Brooks and I had a great (working) holiday weekend. I wrote lots of copy and drafted our press release while he did a ton of outreach. The Kicksarter page is just about ready and our video needs a few finishing touches.
I had actually planned on having a hectic weekend right before the launch, but there’s a chance we might be twiddling our thumbs since we are on schedule with everything. But probably not, there’s still quite a bit to do.
Thanks to all my followers for checking out my posts and liking them. We really appreciate it 🙂
Here’s the inked stage of page 3 of The Unadoptables, our comic about hard-to-adopt cats living at Calico Coffee. We are finalizing the colors and will have the finished page next week sometime. The artist, Beth Morrell, has created some great humor with physical details like the cone getting warped as Babalu tries to get through the cat door.
Brooks has written a great script, and seeing the humor come to life through Beth’s details is exciting to watch. We’re going to have the first 6 pages of issue 1 “Catnapped!” ready when we launch our Kickstarter this June 6th. Less than 2 weeks to go!
Follow The Unadoptables on Twitter & Facebook if you want to keep an eye out for when we go live: @UnadoptableCats
Cat the Ripper is a 3-year-old, domestic-short-hair calico. She’s a lioness trapped in a house cat’s body. Ripper has an insatiable need to hunt things like bugs, hats, toes, earrings, and anything else that moves. She does not play; she goes for the kill. When she’s not hunting, she takes her aggression out on the furniture and rugs.
Ripper would love to be a farm cat with barns full of mice that she can stalk, pounce on, and rend and tear like nature intended. Humans are slow, dull creatures to her, and they get ridiculously upset over a few scratches and a little blood.
Obviously, Ripper takes after our cat Ripley. We have way less scratches than the first few months we had her, but we aren’t scratch free. And Brooks still gets a fair amount since he still tries to cuddle her like she’s a rag doll instead of a meat grinder.
Our Kickstarter campaign launches in two weeks (June 6th)!
Below is our awesome, cat-tailed logo made by Autumn Haynes!
Our first issue of The Unadoptables is titled “Catnapped!”. I have to say, Brooks has written a damn good comic (with my help of course).
Above is a pencil sketch of the first page. This page has actually been inked and colored, but we’re not ready to show it yet because we haven’t finalized the colors. Until we’re ready, you can admire Beth Morrell’s amazing talent with layout, perspective, and facial expression!
Meet Marmalde, an adorable Scottish fold kitten living at Calico Coffee with the other unadoptables. Marmalade knows her mind and what she wants. She has a clear vision of the perfect life for her and Vincent, the elderly cat with whom she is bonded. In her mind, she won’t accept anything less than a good home with nice people who give them affection when they want it, but leave them alone otherwise.
Marmalade really wants this for Vincent. Though she is totally devoted to him, Marmalade is a little blind to his age, so she often pushes his limits. She wants him to be happy, but feels like he doesn’t have the gumption to get the life he deserves, and so she feels it’s up to her. But since Marmalade is fearless and the Captain Janeway of cats, she’s up to the task.
Our Kickstarter campaign will launch on June 6th, 2017!
Margaret R. Chiavetta 