Hello, Xyliacs! Many apologies for not getting this blog post up sooner.
—————————TWC————————–
Please vote- sorry for not getting something new up- hope to change that VERY SOON. Today’s pic is still one I posted a year or more ago- of the mysterious White Twins, Damara and Dalia…

———————-Barblog———————————-
My vacation to Texas was wonderful! So much to see in do in the Austin area, and it was great to spend time with my sweetheart. It went by in the blink of an eye. Then I was home again with a mountain of mom responsibilities and freelance follow-ups. How this all affected Xyliawas the fact that once I got home this morning to post the blog late, my internet connection went down for several hours. By the time it was up, it was time for me to go to a basketball game. Such is my life. Chaos to Go.

Anyway, here are a few pics from my trip:

Austin Capital building

Me with the coach horsey (look at that…horse…)

A statue of my guitarist idol, Stevie Ray Vaughn, who cut his teeth in the Austin area.

————————Odds and Ends————————-
Xyliatales On Air will be broadcasting on Sundays, along with the occasional last minute broadcast! (Just had a fun one last Thursday night!). I’m going to try for a regular time- like 7PM CST. I know some of you will find that an inconvenient time in other parts of the world- hopefully it will work for some of you! XYLIATALES ON AIR TALK SHOW SITE

Remember, you can follow my announcements on Twitter

Or consider friending me on Facebook- just make sure to let me know that you are a Xyliac when you send the request.

——————–XYLIA GOODY BAG——————
Please consider donating for the Xylia cause! I plan on adding new things in the coming weeks- first I will be creating a series of hi resolution downloadable character cards, with profile images and bio information! In the meantime, browse our existing wallpapers and other things. As always if you don’t receive your download, please email me directly at bji2001(at)mchsi.com.

See all y’all on Wednesday! Y’all come back now, y’ hear?
Hugs,

~B

Hello, Xyliacs! At this writing, I am visiting the lovely state of Texas! I tried valiantly to complete the next page prior to leaving, but my freelance schedule (as it often does) got very busy with tight deadlines the week before I left. I am very sorry for disappointing you- I know you are looking forward to the reason for April’s response. I promise next week we are back to normal.

———————-Sneak peek————————-
Well Big Sis is not too happy with the malarky April is up to it seems….
—————————TWC————————–
Please vote- I hope to get something new up before I leave. Today’s pic is one I posted a year or more ago- of the mysterious White Twins, Damara and Dalia…

———————–XYLIATALES NEWS!!————————
Production is still continuing on the Xyliatales book Volume I. In case you missed it- here is me with a color proof of the cover. The good news is that it looks great- the bad news is that I have to go through and change the levels on every page and pull back on the saturation. But that’s okay- I would rather do that then have the whole book be dark.

———————Barblog———————————-

I’m hoping to be able to log in and add some trip stuff in this space from the road…. We shall see!

————————Odds and Ends————————-

——————–XYLIA GOODY BAG——————
Please consider donating for the Xylia cause! I plan on adding new things in the coming weeks- first I will be creating a series of hi resolution downloadable character cards, with profile images and bio information! In the meantime, browse our existing wallpapers and other things. As always if you don’t receive your download, please email me directly at bji2001(at)mchsi.com.

Most of the other incentives are still available for $2.00 – $10.00 amounts, including the nude faeiries (if you are 18+)! Get em while they’re hot (always)! ^_^

As we head towards three years of Xyliatales, I want to thank all of you for coming along for the ride, and I hope you continue to stay with us in the coming year!

Hugs,

~B

———————-Sneak peek————————-
Today’s preliminary is a little more than a sketch… ^_^

———————-Barblog———————————-
Today Barb is mired in Funkytown so the blog is very short.

One happy thing to mention is that I got a color test printed of the cover of Xyliatales Volume I. Yay!

Also, I finally responded to all of your nice comments on the previous updates- I’m sorry to take so long.

————————Odds and Ends————————-
Xyliatales On Air will be broadcasting on Sundays, along with the occasional last minute broadcast! (Just had a fun one last Thursday night!). I’m going to try for a regular time- like 7PM CST. I know some of you will find that an inconvenient time in other parts of the world- hopefully it will work for some of you! XYLIATALES ON AIR TALK SHOW SITE

Remember, you can follow my announcements on Twitter

Or consider friending me on Facebook- just make sure to let me know that you are a Xyliac when you send the request.

——————–XYLIA GOODY BAG——————
Please consider donating for the cause! I plan on adding new things in the coming weeks- first I will be creating a series of hi resolution downloadable character cards, with profile images and bio information! In the meantime, browse our existing wallpapers and other things. As always if you don’t receive your download, please email me directly at bji2001(at)mchsi.com.

Most of the other incentives are still available for $2.00 – $10.00 amounts, including the nude faeiries (if you are 18+)! Get em while they’re hot (always)! ^_^

See you all on Wednesday!

Hugs,

~B

Hello, Xyliacs! Happy Day After Valentine’s Day!

———————-Sneak peek————————-
Today’s preliminary for Wednesday’s page is an in process panel of April and December wearing some distinctive expressions!

I wanted to thank everyone for visiting our update on Wednesday and for all of the comments! I’m sorry I haven’t responded yet- I will do that when I return home from a morning caricature booking. I promise! Sorry for the delay.

—————————TWC————————–
We are holding steady in the 40’s at TWC- let’s see if we can bump that up this week! I will post a new incentive on Wednesday, too. Today’s pic is one I posted a year or more ago- of the mysterious White Twins, Damara and Dalia…

———————–XYLIATALES NEWS!!————————
I am beyond excited to announce that as of last Friday, Azloe Publishing is a real official publisher. I purchased a block of ISBN numbers and an SN number, making my company the real deal and so that means that Xyliatales Volume I can be sold in the big stores like B&N and Amazon. I just gotta pitch it!

I’m also to excited to announce that my old friend, writer Steven Jones is writing the foreword to the Xyliatales book.

Also, news about a show appearance coming soon- where you won’t only see me but KEZ TOO?!! REALLY?? Stay tuned….

———————-Barblog———————————-

For several years, there were a few dates that I dreaded. Divorce does that to you. Especially in my peculiar type of situation where the breakup comes out of no where (not just for me, but for everyone that knew us and our kids) like an Acme safe falling out of the sky. The wedding anniversary, birthdays, and holidays. Over time, some of these got a little less painful to spend alone, but Valentine’s Day was always a tough one. I know some of you know what I mean. (Just listen to the song, “Love Stinks”.)

I know these days are perpetrated upon us by the card companies, candy manufacturers, florists, etc. I know this. Logically. Silly secular holidays trying to get you to buy crap. And yet, it’s still that day where the spotlight is placed upon coupleness. The world seems to be designed for couples. When you are single, this is excruciatingly obvious. Some folks don’t care, and that’s great. I tried really hard to not care. But I did. I suppose being in a relationship for eighteen years did that, I don’t know.

But this year, I wasn’t alone anymore. Even though I love someone eight thousand miles away. I’m not alone. And I feel really blessed to have this amazing, wonderful man in my life, especially because I had resigned myself to the fact that being single was going to be my fate forever. I was wrong about that.

So, if you are out there flying solo, bravely scorning days like Valentine’s Day, saying “I WANT to be single” but secretly feeling heartbroken and alone, I can promise you that things can change. They really can. I never believed it- had become bitter to the ‘when you’re not looking’ stories people would tell, but I admit it now and in this public forum, they were right. (Remember this, Josh, because I don’t say those words very often. LOL!)

————————Odds and Ends————————-
Xyliatales On Air will be broadcasting on Sundays, along with the occasional last minute broadcast! (Just had a fun one last Thursday night!). I’m going to try for a regular time- like 7PM CST. I know some of you will find that an inconvenient time in other parts of the world- hopefully it will work for some of you! XYLIATALES ON AIR TALK SHOW SITE

Remember, you can follow my announcements on Twitter

Or consider friending me on Facebook- just make sure to let me know that you are a Xyliac when you send the request.

——————–XYLIA GOODY BAG——————
Please consider donating for the cause! I plan on adding new things in the coming weeks- first I will be creating a series of hi resolution downloadable character cards, with profile images and bio information! In the meantime, browse our existing wallpapers and other things. As always if you don’t receive your download, please email me directly at bji2001(at)mchsi.com.

We are now tallying the donations- if we get to $300.00 – it’s two updates the following week!!

Happy rest of February, everyone, I will see you Wednesday! Remember to check back to the previous page for my comment responses.

Hugs,

~B

Hello, Xyliacs! Greetings from snowy Iowa!

———————-Sneak peek————————-
Today’s preliminary from Wednesday’s is the an in progress panel of April!
—————————TWC————————–
Thank you EVERYONE for getting us up the rankings on the Webcomic List. We’ve been holding steady in the forties for a while now! Thanks for your votes!! New incentive up today- this is a very old concept drawing (like from two years ago…) of a scene that is coming up in a bit …

———————–XYLIATALES NEWS!!————————
Also want to remind you again that Tall Tale Features has a new design and layout with great new content! Norm Feuti, creator of Retail has a really cool ‘how-to’ entry of how he creates his syndicated comic on the TTF website!
———————-Barblog———————————-

Sorry this post is late, folks- I was at a Superbowl Party last night, and pretty incoherent- NO I WAS NOT DRINKING- just one beer! But I’ve been having these nasty arrhythmia/vertigo things almost daily and had a particularly annoying bout when I got home- it was like the computer screen was spinning last night. This morning was shoveling- but now at last I am at the computer and posting!

Creating a webcomic is kind of a crazy thing. But when you’re a forty something mom- it’s even more peculiar. It often makes me question my sanity. I’ve been doing this webcomic gig for some five years now- trying to figure out how to keep doing this thing I love to do, and other people seem to like, and still survive.

It’s never been an easy thing. Worth it? I hope so. But the greatest joy I get from working on stories is not the actual creation of them- although I truly enjoy that (as long as my stress level allows me to) but in the knowing that other people are enjoying it. To me, art doesn’t really ‘live’ if it exists in a vacuum. Playing in a band in the basement… drawing in sketchbooks that never see light of day….writing stories that no one reads…it isn’t until these things are shared that they really come to life.

This is my rambling way of saying *thank you* to all of you who read Xyliatales, for those of you who take the time to write and share your thoughts, and of course those of you who are able to help out with donations and purchases. I hope that this year is XYlia’s best year yet!

————————Odds and Ends————————-
Xyliatales On Air will be broadcasting on Sundays, along with the occasional last minute broadcast! (Just had a fun one last Thursday night!). I’m going to try for a regular time- like 7PM CST. I know some of you will find that an inconvenient time in other parts of the world- hopefully it will work for some of you! XYLIATALES ON AIR TALK SHOW SITE

Remember, you can follow my announcements on Twitter

Or consider friending me on Facebook- just make sure to let me know that you are a Xyliac when you send the request.

——————–XYLIA GOODY BAG——————
Please consider donating for the cause! I plan on adding new things in the coming weeks- first I will be creating a series of hi resolution downloadable character cards, with profile images and bio information! In the meantime, browse our existing wallpapers and other things. As always if you don’t receive your download, please email me directly at bji2001(at)mchsi.com.

Thank you all for visiting! Remember, that I love comments, and your feedback keeps me goin’ on this cold winter nights in Iowa!

Hugs,

~B