Hey, guys.

First of all, my apologies for not posting a comic on Friday like I said I would. The holidays pretty much knocked me out for the count and we were left digging ourselves out in more ways than one. First, having to shovel the driveway three times over the course of the weekend thanks to the foot of snow we received. Second, having to sort and organize a million toys given to Henry and Pearl by two sets of grandparents bound and determined to spoil them rotten!

So I didn't post a new comic on Friday and I'm sorry. But I'm justifying it to myself by saying that the person whose guest comic would have run that day would have been given the bum's rush because traffic always takes a dip over a holiday and over the weekend. So, yeah.

Speaking of said comic, thanks to Indigo for her lovely guest strip! I don't get a lot of guest strips from women, but I wish that I did because there is something about the way Indigo drew Cami in the third panel that makes me think I've been drawing her wrong all along.

Indigo's comic is called Kismetropolis. Please check it out, won't you? Thanks, Indigo!

Another reason I didn't update on Friday is because I received some very big and exciting news on Christmas Eve I didn't want it to get buried.

True to form (from a Christmas miracle standpoint) WE MET GOAL ON THE KICKSTARTER FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN FOR THEATER HOPPER: YEAR THREE!!!

As you know, I was a really, really worried about making goal with the holidays as a distraction. Well, you guys proved me wrong and THEN SOME!

I was honestly shocked and amazed by some of the big pledges that came in just before the weekend. The generosity you guys have shown to me and this project have been a big boost of confidence in what I began to view as a do-or-die situation.

I had become concerned that if I couldn't raise the money for Year Three through Kickstarter then it would be a clear message there was no demand in the market for the book. And if there was no demand for the book, then I couldn't envision a time where I would attempt to EVER produce it.

It became such an obstacle in my head I started to think that if I failed to raise the money, maybe it could be construed as a message to stop the comic entirely! It sounds silly now, but at the time, I was having... I guess some kind of crisis of faith!

Clearly I need to stop listening to the voices in my head because they are jerks. Your support for this project proves to me that Theater Hopper has a future and I appreciate it.

And don't assume for a minute that I'm only considering the people who pledged money to the fund raising campaign. I know there are thousands more of you out there who continue to show their support every Monday, Wednesday and Friday simply by visiting this site. I want you to know that I appreciate you, too!

So, what are the next steps?

Well, the campaign formally ends on December 31. Kickstarter won't let me shut it down early. So, basically, we wait out the clock. After that, Kickstarter will charge the credit cards of everyone who pledged. Kickstarter will administer these funds to me in 14 days. After that, we should be good to go!

The book itself is finished (except for the Thank You page, where I will list all of the people who backed the project) so I can send the artwork to the printer as soon as that is finished. Assuming it will take a week or two for proofs, four to six weeks for production and a week or two to mail everything out - people can probably expect their books by late February or early March.

As far as the rewards go, I'm going to try and knock down as many of those as I can right away, but there's going to need to be some one-on-one communication with the people who pledged to make sure everything is delivered to the right place. Kickstarter collects your contact information, so I'll be in touch with those folks in the near future.

That's pretty much all I can think of for the time being. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a happy holiday. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to settle back into a groove and get some work done!

Talk to you soon!