So this marks a departure from the norm, both for Mick and for myself.  I have been given strict instructions that I am to make it very clear that I am Rebekah, Mick’s wife, and that I am writing as myself.  Mick and I have been discussing my helping him with his blog for quite some time.  I am both Mick’s biggest fan and his harshest critic.  I have been telling him for a while now that his blog is, well, boring.  We have discussed what a big part social media should and could play in the success of his webcomic, but the truth is we are both grossly inept at its use.  I even signed Mick up for a workshop for writers on the use of social media once, and he very nearly went.  Mostly, I just give him unsolicited advice on how to make his blog posts better.  I also critique his grammar a lot and beg him to let me edit his posts beforehand.  So, recently, Mick nonchalantly mentioned that a lot of webcomics have guest bloggers, and that these “guests” are often the artists’ spouses or significant others.  He set me up with editing privileges and said to have at it, the only caveat being that I had to make my own posts under my own account, I could not pretend to BE or post FOR, Mick.

So here we are.  The truth is, this has all come about now mainly because Mick is in a serious time crunch.  In addition to drawing, posting and updating Merunga twice weekly, he is feverishly working on his application for the DC Talent Development Workshop.  I think he may have mentioned this (briefly and not at all clearly) in a previous post, but the gist of it is that DC has opened up an opportunity for amateurs to get real comic art experience.  You submit 5 consecutive pages of original comic art, as well as an online portfolio, a resume and a personal statement of sorts.  Out of all of the submissions, DC will select some to participate in a two week online course over the summer, and of those, a select few will be asked to attend an online workshop in California in the fall.  Some of those participants may then in turn be offered jobs with DC.  Mick is alternatively giddily excited and nauseated by nervousness.

So, I figured this was as good a time as any to help with his blog and take some of the pressure off of him.  I don’t have a creative bone in my body, so I am of no help in the artistic process, but I do understand editing and grammar, and I’m a good sounding board for ideas.  Sharing the blog posts will also allow for a little experiment, or perhaps a friendly rivalry of sorts.  My two biggest complaints with his blog posts is that they are impersonal and they completely leave out his creative process.  As I said, I am not remotely creative, so I find the process of artistic creation fascinating.  I could be wrong, but I bet a lot of Merunga’s readers do, too.  So, here is where you all come in.  You may not know (since he says so little about himself) but Mick actually loves to get comments and feedback, even negative ones.  He checks his site incessantly for new comments and gets downright mopey if he goes for a long stretch without any comments.  If you, as his faithful readers, could let me know what you want to hear more about on his blog, it would not only give me bragging rights, but it would also make Mick very happy.  If I’m right, and you want to hear or see more about how he creates his comic, or more about what he does outside of Merunga and comics, I will feel justified in having my own username, and I will make sure you get more of what you want.

I will be leaving most of the update day blog posts to Mick, but I made an exception in this case as it is now pretty late and he is still up drawing.  Tomorrow sees us back to work and school, as I’m sure it does for most of you.  Pleased to make your acquaintance, please keep the comments coming.