So you want to publish a graphic novel.

About a week ago, I was awarded a $10,000 grant from the First Peoples cultural Council to write and draw a graphic novel. I have had some time to absorb the news. It is an incredible honour to be selected for such a generous grant. Most of the time I am not really sure what most people see in my art, but with two consecutive grants in as many years, I feel like I must be doing something right.

I have six months to accomplish as much of this goal as possible. I want to use this space to document the journey as I take it, to share with you my process, my challenges and my strategies for overcoming issues as I encounter them. I have never done anything like this before, and as much as I enjoy comic book illustration, this story will be my first.

I have a history of writing. I have been doing it since I was a kid, when I learned to really enjoy creative writing. I have written for blogs, been paid to write news stories and op-eds. I have a secret stash of poetry that no one has ever really seen and when it was around, I took LiveJournal very seriously.

Two crafts that I have enjoyed for most of my life have finally merged into one and I am tasked with an extremely ambitious, almost full time project. I couldn't be happier, and I couldn't approach this with anything less than the respect it deserves. There are so many talented artists and writers out there who dream of something like this, who have worked for years with this goal in mind. I see and I feel the effort when I flip through their pages. I am constantly amazed by the talent I come across and I really hope that I am able to produce something special, something that I can be really proud of.

I have already started working on my idea. Give me a couple weeks to flush out some of the foundational aspects of this story and I will come back and let you know about the first stages that I have taken to develop my story, my characters and more.

It is an incredible privilege to let you know about these developments in my life. I look forward to taking this journey with you.

Miigwetch,

Mike