The Boy in the Castle

Momentum Returns!
about 7 years ago – Wed, Feb 22, 2017 at 08:13:46 AM

Hello friends, 

We are in motion!  The ice is melting, the sun is returning, the pages have been photographed. 

Jon (Photographer and Actual Hero) and I will be editing the individual pages this week and next; the next step will be compiling them, along with all the other pages and bits that a book needs in order to be a proper book (like a Title Page and things); and after that, I will send it all the printers, and wait for proofs. I'm tentatively very excited.

Once more, at this juncture,  I need to plead with those of you who have felt, as yet, no sense of urgency regarding the filling out of the Backerkit surveys. I can't blame you, we've been working at the same pace; but now is your moment, dear ones. Please do the thing. (If you've lost your survey link, it's here:  https://the-boy-in-the-castle.backerkit.com/)

Thanks, as always, and I'll have more news for you soon! 

-Kt

Sad Trombone Confession
about 7 years ago – Mon, Jan 30, 2017 at 11:57:39 AM

Well Kids,

It's the update I hoped I wouldn't have to write. We're officially behind schedule. Womp womp. 

I may have mentioned in an earlier update that Jon, steadfast Photography Wizard, had picked up some Real Freelance Work right about at the same moment he'd intended to start digitising the book pages. We talked it over together and decided he should definitely prioritise the Real Work; but when that gig ends in a couple of weeks, we should be back on track, and hopefully not more than a few weeks behind. 

In the meantime: 

Backerkit informs me that 82% of you have filled out your surveys. Thank you!
I'm going to need the rest of you to come out of the woodwork, now. There are elements of the project that I can't embark on until the surveys are complete - for example, to thank you all properly I need to know what you like to be called -- so I'm going to need your help. Please and thank you! 

I'm going to keep this one brief, but before I close it out I just want to say to all of you, again, thank you for hanging in there with me as this project continues to take much, much longer than I imagined it would. We're still alive, and creeping towards the finish. 

Lastly, if the state of the world is grinding you down, I want you to know that I see you. You matter. There are always people who will gear up to fight for what's good in the world. They are alive and awake right now, and so are we; and that's how we're going to get through this thing. 

Keep breathing.

-Kit

On Relinquishing Perfection.
over 7 years ago – Sun, Dec 04, 2016 at 07:52:47 AM

Hey everyone, happy December! 

Just a couple quick updates:

The book is with Jon, ready to be photographed and digitally edited, and we think we're going to be starting that process in the next couple of weeks. He got tapped for some freelance work this month, and we agreed that Real Work > Friend Work; especially where I got the manuscript into his hands about a month later than I said I would. 

The thing that keeps coming home to me, in the course of this project, is that everything takes about three times longer than I think it's going to. I kept the book for an extra month because I wanted the illustrations to be as good as I could make them for you guys. Not 'perfect'; although I could have happily kept "tinkering with clocks and running up and down secret stairs," possibly forever. I had to abandon the notion of perfect, and choose what to aim for instead. I was ready to let the book go when it seemed to me that the pages had achieved a kind of harmony throughout. I'm certain that during the editing process, I'm going to discover a myriad of small details that I feel could have been significantly improved; but I'm going to try to keep it to myself! 

Artist lesson #1: don't point out the flaws in your own work.

Artist lesson #2: done is better than perfect.

If those sound like platitudes to you, I can only assure you that they are truly hard-won lessons for me. 

Onto the next note, which is a gentle nudge to those of you who have not yet filled out your backer surveys. Nudge. Nudge. Enough said? You should do that thing; it's helpful!

The third thing is: as The Holidays wait like a jagular, to drop upon us, please consider sharing the preorder link, maybe with a brief explanation of why others may find it interesting or worthwhile.
I've been thrilled and humbled by this project's success, beyond what I could have imagined to begin with. I'll tell you a not-so-very-secret; when I first started brainstorming this project, I told myself that I could do a very small print run; maybe 30 books. Thanks to you, all of you, I'm going to be ordering a run of at least 200. I don't think I've thanked you all enough; I don't think I'll ever stop.   Thank you.                                                   

I do feel that there are very possibly more people out there who may be the Right Sort for this project, and I feel that I haven't used the power of the internet to its best ability to reach them, so as the distant finish line comes into hazy view, I'd like to ask your help for one more push, to see if we can't reach a few more people. 

I still think the book is on-track to reach you in February or thereabouts, and I will keep you updated as we progress. Jon has said he might make a guest update about his working process, if that's something you'd be interested in. 
 

We're creeping up on the end of 2016, a year which everyone around me agrees has been pretty much awful. For me, it's been a year of hiding, of waiting in neutral; doing a kind of emotional penance for the failure of trying to build a life and a relationship in another country, and having to come home with my tail between my legs. 

Making this book come to life, building a paper world around the skeleton of Matt's words, has been a process of release, of learning to let go. I kept the book for a month longer because I wasn't ready for it to be over yet, and I don't think it's entirely a coincidence that now, a month after I finally let it go, I'm starting to feel like a real, living person again. I'm starting to brainstorm future projects, as well; for awhile I couldn't see past the horizon of this project, but i am starting to see glimmers of the things that might be Next, and it's very exciting for me! 

This book makes some Art out of a bad situation. I did not know if I could accomplish this alchemy when I set out to undertake it. I can't begin to tell you what it means to have made it this far. 

Whether the art is good, or does its job, i leave to you, Dear Readers, and to whatever rubric you wish to apply. I think you'll be able to see for yourselves in just a couple of months now. Thanks for sticking it out with me!

If you've never undertaken a project that scares the crap out of you, I heartily recommend it. You will learn how to ask for help. You'll learn the limits of your own abilities, and that those boundaries are probably much further afield than you thought they were. And you'll find yourself pushing to be better than you thought you could be, because people have believed in you. 

Cheers. 

If you're celebrating any holidays this month, may they be merry and free of stress. Remember: 
The world needs you: Love your tribe. Believe that people can be more than one thing. Do your work, and don't give into despair. Break barriers. Inhale peace, exhale joy.           

Be well.

-Kit                             

Nasty, Fierce, and Free
over 7 years ago – Wed, Nov 09, 2016 at 09:34:53 AM

Here we are, On The Other Side Of It. 

I'm battling a sense of fear, disappointment and shame, today. I'm struggling to cultivate an acceptance of these circumstances, and a willingness to step up to it. It isn't easy. 

For most of my life, I did not have "American-ness" as a part of my conscious identity. I understood myself as a New Englander, in quiet defiance of what I was told the Rest of the World would consider "American" qualities. You'll have heard the list - rudeness, greed, basic idiocy. Who would want to identify with that?

I then had the opportunity to live outside of this country for a time, during which I had little choice but to come to grips with my identity as an American. There were facets of my personality which stood out from the topography of British Social Norms, and I found, eventually, that some of these cultural signifiers were actually things of which I could be proud. 

Here are some things that I believe to be "American" qualities: plainspoken-ness. A tendency to wear our hearts on our sleeves. Belief in the possibility of social change. The willingness to speak up. 

Today as we react with shock to an America that has displayed a predilection for some of our worst qualities, I am trying to remember the dreams, hopes, and goals that define our best.  

On days like this my vocation can feel stunningly useless. Here I sit, making art from my own tiny perspective, while millions of humans the world around live in immediate danger and omnipresent fear, and while our planet suffers under our demands.
I struggle to value my own capabilities on days like this. It is too easy to feel insignificant in the face of such overwhelming odds. I imagine that everyone feels this way sometimes, no matter what their work.

When I went to facebook this morning, I found an outpouring of solidarity, my community standing up to say that we're here looking out for each other. Squaring our shoulders, getting ready to resist being dragged backwards with everything we've got. I saw my friends asking: How can I help? What can I do? Where am I needed?

I can't express the courage this gives me. 

It's been a bitter year, worldwide, and there are more battles to come; we know it.
It's time to bring the tolerance, bring the patience, the vision and the wisdom and our best communication skills to bear. 

Speak up. Speak out. Do your work. Don't give up. You are valued, you are needed.   Never doubt it.

love, 
Katie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbwQXVcbkU0 
(Pete Seeger: Die Gedanken Sind Frei)

of Transitions
over 7 years ago – Mon, Oct 31, 2016 at 06:43:59 PM

Greetings, grinning skulls and saucy witches and things wot go bump in the night -- Happy Halloween, Samhain, or All Soul's Eve; or if you're really not feeling it, happy last day of October! 

To business, first: here are some useful links.
By now you all should have received a survey email from backerkit; but If your email went astray somehow, you can find the surveys here:                                                 

https://the-boy-in-the-castle.backerkit.com/                                                                        however, to retrieve your survey, you will need to know the email address that you use on Kickstarter. 

If you have friends who missed the campaign but would like to order a book, you can direct them here:                                                                                                  

https://the-boy-in-the-castle.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders   
where they will need to select their desired item(s) and a shipping option.                                          

If there's any confusion, just get in touch -- we'll get it sorted out. : )

   --------

I've been trying, during this death-capped month, to think about transitions and endings. I've been assisted by serendipity on multiple occasions, like yesterday, when my computer abruptly deleted three years' worth of stored photos -- three years of memories. Records of faces, locations, and moments that I simply don't have access to anymore. This hurts, but why?

Memory is identity, and memory is a very sensory thing. Part of being human is to store ourselves outside of ourselves -- in the wrinkles in someone else's brain, in visual records, in the objects we imprint by continued use; and in the things we create. 

We like to think that our selves are thusly well-secured; but people die, paper burns, objects can be lost, and creation is never a one-sided offer. 
Creation means staring down these losses and rededicating yourself to the task of making something out of nothing. 

But to bring something into existence outside yourself is also a destructive act. You sacrifice privacy for communication's sake, potential energy for kinetic, and of course, you relinquish the illusion of control. 

That tension makes this, the night of the dead, of remembrance, the day of letting go, the perfect day to announce that the book is finished. I'll be handing it off to be digitised and edited on Thursday; we are one more step closer to this book becoming a reality. 

Love to you all, 

Kit