Monday, June 23, 2014

A Notice And A Thank You

Copied and pasted from the Rema blog:

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Dear readers,


In preparation for Rema's next phase of existence, whatever that may be, I will be retiring the Rema novel archives Monday, June 30th (next week). It's a decision that's been on my mind since serialization ended, since that was basically its broadcast run. This doesn't mean that you will never see the book again, but it does mean that the serialized online version won't be available after next week.

If you follow my Twitter account, then you know I've rewritten the beginning and have been working on streamlining the entire book. The one online doesn't reflect where the book is now, and to continuously update the rewrites seems a little overdone.

I'll keep this blog up as a production blog, with updates on Rema's status and drawings here and there, and as a place to keep in touch with the readers who still check in.

I can't thank you guys enough for this experience. I first put Rema online because I believed it was absolutely unreadable. Giving it away for free was me giving up on it, so that it would at least exist somewhere after working on it for so many years. I was very depressed at the time, and felt that I wasted many years chasing something that no one would ever care about.

When feedback started trickling in, I was seriously confused. Maybe they're just being nice? Maybe they're just nostalgic for the comic and will take what they can get? There's no way they actually want to read more. But then you kept coming back, kept being excited, kept cheering the characters on, and life was slowly breathed back into the project, and into me.

Writing is still so new to me. I've never taken classes for it, and I wasn't even very good in English and literary classes in high school and college. I was very much swimming alone in open waters. The pursuit of writing has been terrifying for me from the day I decided to do it. I nearly drowned but you  held me up, and I'll be forever grateful to you for it. This book exists because of you, and I will not let it slip away without a good fight.

So while the online novel is going to be archived, this is by no means the end of Rema or even its sequels (there are at least two more books that need to be written!). I will definitely make a big post when the book is available to own, either as ebook, kickstarter, or published novel, that is still up in the air. Either way, don't be a stranger and check in once in a while for that update.

Again, I thank you all so much for traveling to Rema with me in this exciting format, and I will carry your comments with me throughout the rest of my writing career, wherever it may go.


Love,
Amy