An Extended Vacation

I'm afraid the time has come for Frank and the gang to take an extended vacation. For those of you who've been loyal followers of my photo-comic strip, "The Wildcat's Lair," I'm sorry to pull the plug in this manner, but I suspect you've also sensed things haven't been quite up to my usual "speed" of late.

I'd hoped to delay this until the end of the year, but I've found that simply isn't feasible. As some of you already know, producing this comic strip can take a great deal of my time, and even though I don't really make money off of Frank and his pals, I've been satisfied with the pleasure of producing something I feel has been really funny and has grown into a creative endeavour I can look back on and be very proud.

There are many reasons I can give for why this had to happen now. Two of those reasons tied tightly together: age and ambition. One of my lifelong goals is to become a published writer. I've written several books that I feel have great potential, but I've not invested the time to truly shop them. That's not easily done while working a full-time job (in which I also work a great deal of overtime) and producing this comic strip twice a week. This year, I turned 36-years-old, and while that isn't old by any means, I can feel time starting to work against me instead of for me. I thought taking the comic strip down to one episode a week would help, but I find it steals so much of the energy that had gone into the Lair and that's not a good thing.

I won't say this is a final goodbye. I've always known what I would do for a final episode, and I can't bring myself to do it. The idea of ending this and never coming back hurts too much, more than I ever expected it to. Hopefully, that's not just denial, but a sign I will eventually return to my favorite mischievous cat and all of our crazy friends. I'm sorry I can't give a more definitive idea of when that return might be, but I can tell you that I won't be disappearing entirely from the blogosphere. I will be semi-active on my writer's blog, "The Wildcat's Other Lair." Some of you have even commented over there, and for that, I'm very thankful. I hope Frank and I will get a chance to make all of you laugh again in the future.