Apparently the latest WordPress update republished the last handful of news posts… how kind of it. Or something.

At any rate, might as well let you guys and gals know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel that is the WtFYRP to-do list and I really really REALLY (like, you have no idea how much I want this to be done already) hope to be wrapping it up and getting it printed this quarter.

Which means, oh yes, I’ll finally be able to work Where the Geeks Are back into my weekly schedule.

See, it isn’t all bad!

Here’s to the (eventual) re-emergence of Where the Geeks Are in 2012!

Talk soon!

I like lists and numbers, so let’s put this year in perspective:

• 1 trip to Nebraska
• 2 batches of Limoncello
• 3 Conventions (MegaCon, MobiCon, and UP!Fair)
• 4 Character Cocktails
• 5 Scripts for What to Feed Your Raiding Party
• 9 Food & Game Pairings
• 16 out of 64 Arts covered in 92 posts
• 26 Cocktail Hour comics
• 35 States given their own Cocktails
• 35 Where the Geeks Are comics
• 50 WtFYRP Comic pages drawn
• 59 Nibbles Posts
• 91 recipes tested

A couple of art projects, a handful of other posts and 1 big house move.

It’s been a busy year with it’s fair share of bumps but, wow, I’m really looking forward to 2011! Several of the blogs have been a smidge dormant the last couple of months (and, yes, I’m going to post this across the various blogs just to wrap up the year nicely) and that’s something I’ll be working on in the upcoming year.

Basically, it all boils down to 1 thing:

Balance.

I don’t set resolutions, but I do make goals and I like to set intentions. Among the goals are finishing What to Feed Your Raiding Party and getting it into print. That’s a pretty big one, sure, but the work I put in this past year will make finishing it this year doable. I’m looking forward to wrapping up the remaining 15 state cocktails for Sips & Shots and starting the new series (ooh, secrets, but you’ll find out soon enough), as well as continuing on with the 64 Arts project–I’ve got some big plans for that one, too, but it’ll take more than a 2011 to accomplish those. Getting back to the 2 webcomics is also on the list, once the book is finished.

Personally, my overriding intention is to find balance, happiness and fulfillment in the new year. Yes, it’s a bit of a vague intention but I think these sorts of things need to be: what seems fulfilling today, on the eve of a new calendar year, may be very different from the fulfillment I seek 3, 5 or 7 months from now.

I wish you all well in the new year!

At any rate, we’re still on hiatus. I know! I was thinking it would only be for the Summer, too, but drawing pages for the cookbook is taking *way* more time than I expected. There is an end in sight, of course, and every day I’m getting closer to being able to come back to you and the girls–there’s lots more story to tell and I aim to tell it!

In the mean time, if you’ll be in or around Lexington, KY, the weekend before Thanksgiving (aka Saturday, November 20) check us out at UP!Fair–click the link for more details. Important: it’s free and it’ll be cool. And I’m planning to have the first WTGA mini comics!!! Wohoo! You’ve asked for them & soon you’ll be able to get the first few chapters in dead tree form. Yay!

Whatever’s left when we get back I’ll make available for ordering so watch this spot! (or, well, the ones above it. or, depending on your RSS preferences, wherever we end up in that list. you know what I mean.)

I have this project I’ve been chipping away at, maybe you’ve heard of it? What to Feed Your Raiding Party–ring a bell?

I’ve been throwing bits and pieces of time at it for 5 months and it’s nowhere near finished. And those bits and pieces of time are the reason why: it is at once my greatest hope for the future and my red headed stepchild of a project. And that’s not fair to it, me, or the people I’m writing it for.

So for the next two months both Cocktail Hour and Where the Geeks Are will be on hiatus so that I can focus my time and energy. At the end of July I’ll decide if August will be taken off, too.

But that doesn’t mean cobwebs will be gathering here! Think of it like a summer break for your favorite shows. I’m not planning to go the re-run route, but we’ll be subbing in various updates from the cookbook project: maybe a sketch here, an excerpt there, a tip another time–basically whenever I’ve got stuff worth sharing which I’m hoping will be quite often.

And because I’d really love it for my analytics numbers not to bottom out, the bits I post here? Won’t be the same as the ones over at the cookbook site or the other comic. So please keep your subscription to the RSS feed (or start one if you haven’t already) and stop by periodically for news.

And please know that this isn’t an easy decision for me, I’ve been fighting it for more than 2 months because I’m stubborn and didn’t want to admit I can’t do it all.Please hang with me through this–the best is yet to come!

For those who are unfamiliar, an emergency call is set up between party A and a third part to call at a prescribed time. This gives party A an excuse, if necessary or desired, to claim some emergency has befallen the third party of a sort only party A can assist with. If things are going well, though, party A can let the caller know an intervention is unnecessary and continue on with the outing.

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day, back to the daily grind!

I thought she had something there but I guess not.

Oh, Meredith. *headdesk*

You know, it’s one thing for your characters to take over a little bit and surprise it, it’s another thing entirely when they flat-out disappoint you.

We’ll just have to see how (and if) she manages to fix this!

Meredith sure came off a little bitter on Tuesday, didn’t she? But, you know, enough mis-matches will do that to a girl (or guy). I think it’s more frustration than outrage, and she seems to have an open mind about Archer…