I think it is fair enough to admit defeat against this blog after 3 years between updates...but I'm going to give it another try :)
So...I have been working on this fantasy book over the last few years, and have had many adventures that may be cause for an excuse to not blog. But mostly I probably have a tendency to avoid, for lack of a better word, jinxing projects by talking about them endlessly ( or in this case, at all) before they are finished.
The book in question that has consumed me for the last 2 years is Ara.
The first book Ara Tome 1: Le Cercle de Pierre ‘A Circle of Stone’ is due out today (August 25th) in France. Published by Ankama Editions.
I'm asked a lot if there will be an English version. Eventually I’m sure there will be. It was written in English and I have the pages ready to go. It remains to convince publishers to let it be so. I am keen to put it out digitally if I can, but that's another story altogether.
There is a 28 page preview in French and English up on this site, for those who wish to at least get a taste of the story. It is 102 pages all up.
Or here is a slideshow which might work in some browsers. (it breaks for me in chrome for some reason)
Links to PDF and .CBR versions as well.
Most of the concept art I did for the book (which is included at the end in an 8 page sketchbook) is already up online in my gallery. I'll post the rest soon. as well as some more development and process work. If anyone has a question about the process or development let me know and I'll do my best to answer on here.
The Amazon.fr link for the book is here
http://www.amazon.fr/Ara-Cercle-Pierre-Tim-McBurnie/dp/2359101889
If anyone living outside of France wants to get a copy I can recommend Amazon France. I have bought plenty of stuff from there in the past. I think you can maybe log in with your amazon.com username too (?). If you order a few items the shipping ends up pretty reasonable (which with the huge range of great French comics out there won't be hard once you get looking!)
Many thanks to my good friend David Chauvel who helped out with the project a lot. He Translated and adapted the book into French and helped greatly (even greatly is a huge understatement) finding a publisher.
I'm very happy with the job Ankama Editions has done. The book printed nicely and has a good finish. I especially like the paper they use (very geeky I know...but the paper matters to me).
Obviously the book is my first experience as a writer, and only my second as an artist; so there were many things to learn along the way. But I feel good about the final result.
Many apologies to all my readers in France, my French is not good enough yet to make much sense. I hope you can navigate this site ok.