merofi

Dear readers,


In preparation for Rema's next phase of existence, whatever that may be, I will be retiring the Rema novel archives (remanmyth.blogspot.com) Monday, June 30th (next week). It's a decision that's been on my mind since serialization ended, since that was basically its broadcast run. This doesn't mean that you will never see the book again, but it does mean that the serialized online version won't be available after next week.

If you follow my Twitter account, then you know I've rewritten the beginning and have been working on streamlining the entire book. The one online doesn't reflect where the book is now, and to continuously update the rewrites seems a little overdone.

I'll keep this blog up as a production blog, with updates on Rema's status and drawings here and there, and as a place to keep in touch with the readers who still check in.

I can't thank you guys enough for this experience. I first put Rema online because I believed it was absolutely unreadable, since that was the impression I was given by initial beta readers. Giving it away for free was me giving up on it, so that it would at least exist somewhere after working on it for so many years. I was very depressed at the time, and felt that I wasted many years chasing something that no one would ever care about.

When feedback started trickling in, I was seriously confused. Maybe they're just being nice? Maybe they're just nostalgic for the comic and will take what they can get? There's no way they actually want to read more. But then you kept coming back, kept being excited, kept cheering the characters on, and life was slowly breathed back into the project, and into me.

Writing is still so new to me. I've never taken classes for it, and I wasn't even very good in English and literary classes in high school and college. I was very much swimming alone in open waters. The pursuit of writing has been terrifying for me from the day I decided to do it. I nearly drowned, but you all held me up with your many hands, and I'll be forever grateful to you for it. This book exists because of you, and I will not let it slip away without a good fight.

So while the online novel is going to be archived, this is by no means the end of Rema or even its sequels (there are at least two more books that need to be written!). I will definitely make a big post when the book is available to own, either as ebook, kickstarter, or published novel, that is still up in the air. Either way, don't be a stranger and check in once in a while for that update.

Again, I thank you all so much for traveling to Rema with me in this exciting format, and I will carry your comments with me throughout the rest of my writing career, wherever it may go.


Love,
Amy

Hello Deviant art peeps!

Last night I posted a long overdue reader survey on the Rema blog. You can leave anonymous responses there should you choose to participate. If you're curious, please click here.

Thank you and I'm continuously amazed anyone still follows me. Thank you for all the confidence and support. <3

-Amy

(This has been copied from my art blog. To see the original post, click here.)

For those that don't know or missed it, Rema book one is now complete and online to read!

Since finishing, I have been quietly working with my dear agent to improve the book and test the waters for submission with a publisher. After generously reading the entire thing, the book was sadly rejected by an editor I greatly respect and would like to work with one day, however this is a blessing in disguise for many reasons (thank you editor!). 

Mostly, no matter how hard self publishing is, I am in control of my own schedule. Getting traditionally published means hard deadlines, and hard deadlines mean my two small kids going to daycare/preschool, which is expensive.  Realistically speaking, whatever money I would make publishing as a debut author will be less than what it costs for childcare for two kids. We would lose money. While going through the motions of submission and editing, this reality completely slipped my mind until I had to look at it clearly. I am taking this rejection as a sign that the book is not ready, and neither am I.

However, this does not mean I am giving up on Rema, especially after only one rejection. My plan is to take it one step at a time. I will continue self publishing as a hobby until the children are in school -- approximately 2.5 years from now. I will release Rema as an ebook, serialize book 2 online when it is ready, and whatever funds I make from ebook sales will go towards a professional edit to improve the manuscript even more. Rema is the only story I care about right now, and it still consumes my creative mind. I am taking this opportunity to finish it while I can.

I know it seems obvious in retrospect that this book was not ready, but I had to at least try, just once. It is still a dream to reach as wide an audience as possible with Rema, because I think there are many people out there who would enjoy it and benefit from the struggles the characters endure, as I have. However, if in the end it only has a home online, I am okay with that too. I have learned so much from writing this book already, and I will have had the opportunity to share it with the readers that have stuck with Rema over the years. Those readers (you know who you are!) have made it all worthwhile. I can't wait to do it again with book 2!

So thank you friends, readers, and family for all your support over the years. I will post again when the ebook is ready and available, something I feel has been a long time coming.

I uploaded an archive of a bunch of my drawings from the past few years (hello new DA watchers!). Some of it has never been posted online, most of it has on my blog. I realized that I have no place where all my drawings can be easily seen, and I have no time to redesign my website so here they shall sit.

Be sure to check out the sketches in my scrapbook, too - merofi.deviantart.com/gallery/…

There's a couple more things I forgot to upload, but I'm running out of time in my day and I must get back to illustrating Rema.

Speaking of which, all of this is ULTIMATELY in the hopes that some of you will find interest in my currently updating illustrated online novel, REMA. It is a novelization of the webcomic, and I'm very proud of it. It has its flaws, I know, and it sucks to read things online, so I completely understand if most of you decide not to click this link right here -- remanmyth.blogspot.com -- But just know that it's my current passion project, as it always seems to be.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and taking a look at some of my art, old and new! Much love to you all.

-Amy

Whoa... I feel like it's been so long since I logged in here! DA still has so much awesome art.

Not sure if anyone still gets these posts, but I thought I should leave a note here directing any interested parties to my illustrated YA novel, Rema. Rema is the novelization of my long dead webcomic, Reman Mythology. The manuscript is complete, and I post new chapters as they're revised and illustrated (at least once a week).

I'm up to chapter 6 already, so give the site a visit if you're in the mood for some romantic fantasy adventure:

remanmyth.blogspot.com