I have been remiss in not posting this sooner.
THE BOOK IS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE!!!! YAYYYYYYYY
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/the-secret-circus/18487634?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1
That there is a linky link that will take you to the spot on the world wide interweb where you can order a hard copy of the booky wook if you're so inclined :D
Thanks to everyone who's downloaded the book and supported us. Nicole and I love you all!
Now, back to work on what's next ;)
J
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Some sketches
I thought I'd post one or two of the preliminary character sketches and doodles that Nicole did for the project.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
100!
Wow!
In less than 2 days 100 different people have downloaded the free PDF of the book. I am overwhelmed and thrilled, I never expected this many people to have downloaded it in such a short time. Thanks so much to everyone who's done so!
In less than 2 days 100 different people have downloaded the free PDF of the book. I am overwhelmed and thrilled, I never expected this many people to have downloaded it in such a short time. Thanks so much to everyone who's done so!
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Creative Process. (Or: How Nicole did all the work.)
The reaction to the book since we posted it last night has been really wonderful! Everyone's had lots of really nice things to say and that's been very flattering and also humbling. In the days and weeks to come I plan to post more things in this space relating to the book (What are plans are for releasing it in print, the reasons we want to keep it available online for free, fun things we think people could do with it and maybe some peeks at the book Nicole is working on now!)
If you haven't downloaded it yet here's the link again:
"The Secret Circus"
Today I thought I'd talk a bit about the creation of the book.
The journey that brings us to where we find ourselves today started around 3 years ago (before Nicole was my "way-out-of-my-league wife" and was just my "way-out-of-my-league girlfriend"). She was just finishing up Art college (where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting). We had several conversations that went pretty much like this:
Nicole: I need a bit of a break from the whole "fine art scene" you know? I think I'd like to try illustrating a children's book.
Me: That sounds cool. You should do it.
Nicole: Why don't you write something and I'll draw it.
Me: Awesome. That would be fun.
I would then proceed to put off starting said project because I seem incapable of liking anything I write or create (I'm getting better) eventually realizing that Nicole was starting to become annoyed and doubt if I was ever going to get off my butt and do the thing I had told her I would do. So, I hastily through together an outline with no story or any of the text that ended up in the story that roughly described what each page would look like. (If I can find that paper I may try to scan it and throw it up here at some point). I took my (not so)handiwork to Nicole seemed genuinely thrilled (in retrospect this was probably due to her being amazed I'd finally done something and less a reflection of the quality of what I'd handed her) and she started painting.
At that point the book (for me) went back to being a very ethereal thing in the back of my mind that once every few months I'd be asked to look at a finished page or help figure out what the next one should look like, but for the most part had very little to do with me. One day nearly 2.5 years later this conversation took place:
Nicole: It's done.
Me: What?
Nicole: The book I've been at for 2.5 years.
Me: Wow. You really do read slow.
Nicole: No, no you moron, the book. OUR book.
Me: Oh! Oh cool! Let's see... wow! looks great, good job.
Nicole: How's the text coming?
Me: ...Oh you know, pretty good...
Nicole: You haven't started it yet have you?
Me: No.
Nicole: Go. Now.
So I did. The next couple evenings saw me sitting in the basement tapping away into notepad and occasionally googling a word to find something that rhymed with it (the word Shadow was a real bugger) and lots of reading of other stories. Somewhere along the way I decided it would be a poem and after that decision was made the writing came very quickly. I'd say the actual writing of the darn thing took up less than 10% of the time I spent banging my head against it. I showed it to Nicole and she seemed to love it (again, possibly because I had actually finished it rather than because it was all that great). A conversation that looked like this followed:
Nicole: I spent nearly 3 years painting this thing.
Me: Yes
Nicole: You probably spent a grand total of 8-10 hours writing it.
Me: *warily* I guess...
Nicole: You suck.
Me: Fair enough.
So there you have it, from idle chatter to finished product (well almost, still need to get it printed). I won't talk about Nicole's process for how she painted it but perhaps she'll write something of her own about it.
A lot has happened in our lives since we started this project; we got engaged, moved into our first house, got married, got a dog, changed hair-styles (well she did, I'm still sporting more or less the same do I've had since the 2nd grade), discovered a love for avocado, started new day jobs, and much more. I'm extremely proud of this book and I can't wait to talk more about it and show it to more people (I'm also greatly looking forward to seeing a child read it or be read it) and I am pretty sure this won't be the last time we create something like this together. Nicole and I have been discussing some other ideas for more stories we'd like to tell and they won't take 3 years to realize this time either.
If you haven't downloaded it yet here's the link again:
"The Secret Circus"
Today I thought I'd talk a bit about the creation of the book.
The journey that brings us to where we find ourselves today started around 3 years ago (before Nicole was my "way-out-of-my-league wife" and was just my "way-out-of-my-league girlfriend"). She was just finishing up Art college (where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting). We had several conversations that went pretty much like this:
Nicole: I need a bit of a break from the whole "fine art scene" you know? I think I'd like to try illustrating a children's book.
Me: That sounds cool. You should do it.
Nicole: Why don't you write something and I'll draw it.
Me: Awesome. That would be fun.
I would then proceed to put off starting said project because I seem incapable of liking anything I write or create (I'm getting better) eventually realizing that Nicole was starting to become annoyed and doubt if I was ever going to get off my butt and do the thing I had told her I would do. So, I hastily through together an outline with no story or any of the text that ended up in the story that roughly described what each page would look like. (If I can find that paper I may try to scan it and throw it up here at some point). I took my (not so)handiwork to Nicole seemed genuinely thrilled (in retrospect this was probably due to her being amazed I'd finally done something and less a reflection of the quality of what I'd handed her) and she started painting.
At that point the book (for me) went back to being a very ethereal thing in the back of my mind that once every few months I'd be asked to look at a finished page or help figure out what the next one should look like, but for the most part had very little to do with me. One day nearly 2.5 years later this conversation took place:
Nicole: It's done.
Me: What?
Nicole: The book I've been at for 2.5 years.
Me: Wow. You really do read slow.
Nicole: No, no you moron, the book. OUR book.
Me: Oh! Oh cool! Let's see... wow! looks great, good job.
Nicole: How's the text coming?
Me: ...Oh you know, pretty good...
Nicole: You haven't started it yet have you?
Me: No.
Nicole: Go. Now.
So I did. The next couple evenings saw me sitting in the basement tapping away into notepad and occasionally googling a word to find something that rhymed with it (the word Shadow was a real bugger) and lots of reading of other stories. Somewhere along the way I decided it would be a poem and after that decision was made the writing came very quickly. I'd say the actual writing of the darn thing took up less than 10% of the time I spent banging my head against it. I showed it to Nicole and she seemed to love it (again, possibly because I had actually finished it rather than because it was all that great). A conversation that looked like this followed:
Nicole: I spent nearly 3 years painting this thing.
Me: Yes
Nicole: You probably spent a grand total of 8-10 hours writing it.
Me: *warily* I guess...
Nicole: You suck.
Me: Fair enough.
So there you have it, from idle chatter to finished product (well almost, still need to get it printed). I won't talk about Nicole's process for how she painted it but perhaps she'll write something of her own about it.
A lot has happened in our lives since we started this project; we got engaged, moved into our first house, got married, got a dog, changed hair-styles (well she did, I'm still sporting more or less the same do I've had since the 2nd grade), discovered a love for avocado, started new day jobs, and much more. I'm extremely proud of this book and I can't wait to talk more about it and show it to more people (I'm also greatly looking forward to seeing a child read it or be read it) and I am pretty sure this won't be the last time we create something like this together. Nicole and I have been discussing some other ideas for more stories we'd like to tell and they won't take 3 years to realize this time either.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
The Secret Circus
Welcome to the temporary home of "The Secret Circus" by Nicole & Joey Gruszecki. You can download a pdf of the book here and we'll be posting any additional information about the book (such as when we have print copies, a new website etc.) here as well.
We hope you enjoy our story and if you want to remix, cut, adapt, record, animate, knit, fondle or anything at all with it please feel free to do so, just don't try to sell your stuff and let people know where you got the original material and email us at kirkospiscis@gmail.com (that's CIRCUS FISH in the latin) to show us the cool things you make.
Also, follow Joey on twitter if you're so inclined @colonel2sheds
J & N
We hope you enjoy our story and if you want to remix, cut, adapt, record, animate, knit, fondle or anything at all with it please feel free to do so, just don't try to sell your stuff and let people know where you got the original material and email us at kirkospiscis@gmail.com (that's CIRCUS FISH in the latin) to show us the cool things you make.
Also, follow Joey on twitter if you're so inclined @colonel2sheds
J & N
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)