February 27, 2014 (Patreon)

But I'm close. 

(that's what she said) 

I've got tomorrow morning and just-after-lunch to finish up all the inking, and then at 3 I'm catching a bus to go out of town to visit some friends for the weekend. I haven't taken a non-work-related trip since early 2012. I mean, I'll still be doing work while I'm there, but I'm not traveling *for* work, which is a very crucial difference. 

This whole "Just Say No" thing is really hard for me, and I keep saying "...uh, ok, I guess" to things I don't have the time or energy to do. But I *am* getting plenty of practice saying "I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid I have to cancel", which is like the younger cousin of "No, I'm afraid I do not have time to do your interview/talk at your school/whatever else it is you people want from me". So I did that today. Said, "I'm sorry, but I have to cancel" to an interview. 

I understand this is a very unique dilemma to have and that there's no way for me to talk about it without sounding completely self-important. Please don't get me wrong, it *does* mean a lot to have people reach out and want to expose my work to their audiences and have me talk about my project. I appreciate it, I don't take it for granted. But for reals, it does stress me out and eat up way more time and energy than you'd think it reasonably could. 

C'mon, Erika. Make Nancy Reagan proud and Just Say No from the get-go when people ask you to do things that do not directly contribute to getting your comic drawn. Except for pole dancing. That's why I didn't have time to finish the orgy scene-- I had a bad spill from my pole this morning and had to leave the house a bit late because I was icing my hip and elbow. But I've got that recital coming up in about two weeks and my routine isn't hardly ready to perform yet so I gotta get as much practice in as I can! 

Here is a list of my priorities:
1) Get comic done on time
2) Pole dance practice
3) Repeat the above