Cocktail Hour, a webcomic by Scraps

*ting ting ting ting* May I have your attention? Yes, I have a bit of an announcement to make: Cocktail Hour will be going on hiatus for 2 weeks beginning June 1st.

Why? Well, the fact that I haven’t really taken a break in 2 years (not even when I had my gall bladder removed) is a big part of it but more to the point I moved a month ago and just today stopped storing my unmentionables in a suitcase! I need a bit of breathing room to unpack my Studio, help Todd organize the rest of the house and meet a print deadline. Where the Geeks Are will be taking a similar break after the 2nd (a 3-update hiatus in that case because there’s a natural break in the storyline).

The Monday and Friday blog features will not be updated during that time but I will be posting some “best of” material from the past 2 years for the 6 regularly scheduled comic updates. Unless, that is, I get some fan art or guest comics to run in their stead (hint hint big-freaking-hint) I look forward to returning on the 15th with a clearer conscience and organized background, not to mention being able to move forward with some additional features that I just haven’t had the time to implement, yet. Big things are still on the horizon, folks, I just need a breather to make them all happen.

Thanks for understanding and I hope you’ll enjoy a trip down memory lane when next month begins.

Wow. Something occurred to me around lunchtime today (Monday, December 14, 2009): I was dreading the prospect of facing my drawing table tonight. Whoa! That’s never happened before. And I have this week’s comics planned (though not yet drawn) so it’s not so much writer’s block as just complete and utter creative fatigue.

Sure, I’ve got a lot on my plate, but that’s nothing new. Yeah, I didn’t get any pencilling done on Sunday but that, too, isn’t exactly earth shattering. And despite things going fairly steady in the way of pageviews and so forth, I feel like I’m facing this humongous brick wall and cannot find my sledgehammer or ladder.

So I’m taking a week off from both comics, totally without warning or planning, and while I hate to do it (because I’ve never been that type of artist before and don’t plan to make it a habit as some do) I think I need to do this or risk worse next week or next month. I know I took an announced, scheduled break earlier this year and I’m thinking that I might actually consider some planned breaks for the next calendar year. Like a week off every 6 months. Chances are good I’d still be working on comics-related items (and, at least this week, I want to do some brainstorming on some upcoming things) during these breaks but I think it’s going to happen and I think the overall work I put out will be stronger for it.

I hope you’ll understand and not hate me for this. I love knowing what I post makes people smile or outright laugh and I have so many stories left to share that I don’t have any intentions of ending these comics any time soon. It’s just, I’m human, and I need a week.

We’ll be back to business as usual on the 22nd.