Hey ghosties, Lize here. I just wanted to take a minute to say hey, and let you all know what's been happening the past year or so. Basically, I made a book, and it's been a wild ride...
In September 2019 I wasn't sure what was going to happen with SGC, I was working on the project by myself and enjoying it, but the future felt incredibly uncertain. I didn't know if I had the motivation to continue on my own, I thought maybe it would be time to try and find some other kind of employment. I was pretty lost and plodding along as best I could. This happened to be around the time the publishers Hachette reached out to me.
They asked if I'd considered a long form story told as a graphic novel and I was blown away. After spending years telling stories in basically 8 panels or less, the thought of creating a 200+ page story was... daunting! But I knew I wanted something a little different to focus on, and I was really excited to be given the chance to create outside of my comfort zone, and still have it be centred around SGC.
So by the start of 2020 I was working on a story with their help. And it was a LOT of help, the jump from those single page comics, to writing an entire story spanning 243 pages was INTENSE. I had never ever done that before! I knew what I wanted the focus to be but I was having a lot of trouble making it make sense. Thankfully Hachette were really helpful and gave me amazing guidance to turn my heartfelt ramblings into the book that's out today.
And then the pandemic happened... I had finalised the story and had a suggested release date of January, which meant I had to finish everything by September. It seemed do-able, albeit a challenge. Making an entire book during a lockdown was intense, I was thankful for the lack of distractions and in-turn, I was thankful to have something so big to focus on. The start of the pandemic caused me so much background anxiety (as I'm sure it did for so many!) and focusing was really hard but then it got easier. And then walks in the sun became a lifeline, and then to my surprise I had somehow managed to actually finish it.
Whilst this was happening, my partner Jack was furloughed, so he offered to help run the admin side of things so I could focus on SGC content. And some of you may have noticed, he's still here! Jack has excelled in running basically everything for almost a year now, allowing me to focus on either countless book edits and pages, or creating comics and designing stock. Basically I'm a well oiled art-making machine at this point, which is GREAT! I have always struggled with the admin that comes with running a business, so for Jack to step up and take charge has just been amazing, I am so grateful. Also shoutout to my bestie Ben who helps with social media, another lifeline if I'm deep in creating and don't have the brain power to think about hastags.
So the book came out, and we were yet again in another lockdown. Which meant no events, signings, or anything like that - which is fine. We've all been doing our best to keep ourselves and our communities safe, and there are no complaints about that here! It's just weird isn't it? What a time for this to happen and what a time to be releasing a dream-book. Years ago when I had dreamt of making a book like this, I never ever considered that it could happen during an actual PANDEMIC, and instead of going to see my book in stores, I'd be getting emotional at people's instagram stories of it. (I mean, I knew I'd always get emotional over people sharing it obviously, but still...)
So, the book came out in Janurary 2021, and it exists! 2020 was the strangest year and I still can't believe there was a 243 page grahic novel about my ghost at the end of it.
Aaaand some of you internet spies may have seen that I am working on the second installment! I say internet spies because it hasn't been announced yet but it's available to pre-order on Amazon as we speak haha!
So basically all that waffle was just to say, if things seemed quiet... it's just because I was busy - my passion for the club ain't going anywhere. And after this second book is done I'm excited to get back in and be an active member of the club (but let's be honest, the club belongs to all of you at this point). My future plans don't go much further than January 2022, when book 2 is out. But we can choose a path to go down together. I want to spend my days creating the comics you think the club needs. And I will strive to do just that.
I cannot thank all of you enough, if you're reading this, you've kept this ghostie right here going for like, over 6 years now. You've given me a reason to get up and a reason to nurture my soft, empath tendancies. Thank you. I can't wait for book 2 to be out. I learnt soooo much about how an actual story works making book 1 so hopefully book 2 is even better. I think so, at least.
Ok, I could literally waffle about how thankful and grateful I am forever and I'll probably well up if I type any more.
Your support means everything, thank you for still following, supporting us via the store, sharing your stories, sharing OUR stories, being a friend to people in the comments section. Just, thank you.
I'll leave you with this bonus picture of me and all 243 pages I had inked. Oh yeah, both books are available on Amazon, Waterstones, The Book Depository and more, and SGC Book 2 comes out January 2022!
1 comment
I’m so happy for you! Wishing the best for the second book. Just got the ebook of the first volume, looking forward to reading it! :)
Hugs, Evy