Sturzkampf

We were pulling into the driveway on an ominously cloudy early evening when my hubby just stopped mid-turn.

"Do you see that?"

I looked down what I can see of the drive, trying to spot what he means.

"Where?"

"On the front steps. Nearest to the bottom."

I peered out the windshield, looking in the direction he mentioned.

A twitch of motion and I saw it.

A groundhog.

It was nibbling on the plants directly under our front window. With the lighting, it's fur color blended in well with the old concrete steps. I belatedly reached for my phone, just as my husband completed the turn into the drive. It slipped off the step and into the dense liriope cover. Thunder rumbled overhead. The rain began. By the time we got out of the truck and to the steps, the groundhog had disappeared. Just a few nibbled plants marked it's passing.

Sewing machines are operated by *people*. Knitting machines are operated by *people*. Yes lots of the process is automated but you cannot tell a machine "make me a t-shirt" or "make me a knit cardigan".

Guess what

I'm trying to make a banner ad for Tales from the Embassy, but I think I got carried away with the level of detail in the drawing. It won't show up properly at the usual ad size, so I'm posting it separately here because I really love it.

I had to turn this off, but it's something that allows Windows and anyone using your device to generate text/images.

Allow me to introduce my upcoming comic, Tales from the Embassy! I hope to have Vol. 1, The Clerk's Tale, ready to launch by this fall.

(logo designed by the fabulous @feathernotes)

Here's the overall blurb for the comic: In the soaring halls of the Embassy, where representatives of magical cultures meet and negotiate, everyone has their own stories to tell. Step behind the scenes for a look into the lives of the staff who keep the Embassy running day to day.

And here's the blurb for The Clerk's Tale: When a letter from the birth mother she never knew offers Elsiné a job working as a clerk at the Embassy, she’s not prepared for how fantastical the paperwork can get. With the support of her new friends Galen and Feneree, she's determined to prove to herself — and her mother — that she can handle any job the Embassy throws her way.

These are Elsiné, Galen, and Feneree, our first batch of main characters. They also introduced themselves in this post.

I've always liked stories about people who live in some kind of magical or otherwise extraordinary setting, but do small mundane jobs within it. In Tales from the Embassy, I want to give some of those people the spotlight to show how their jobs work (what kind of form do you need to fill out to certify someone as a Dragonkin scale artist? how do you adapt Seafolk food to appeal to land-dwellers?) and what else is going on in their lives.

Chrome version:

Do you love the color of the Sombulus

It's my birthday today! 🎉The most awesome gift you can give me is to check out my webcomic Sombulus, which is about magic people trying to unravel the epic mysteries of the gods, and...

...this dynamic. Whatever this dynamic is.

The 2025 "Year In Sombulus" collection PDF is here! 🌟

As I do every year, I've collected up all the sketches, fanart and page highlights from 2025 for a fun little Sombulus Wrapped of the year. Some gift art from my extremely skilled webcomic peers featured in the full collection:

Colleen the Cleric, the main character from my web comic, Marble Gate Dungeon! You can read it here:

Desktop: https://marblegate.webcomic.ws/comics/first/

If you like my work and want to make my day, I only ask that you share my art and stories with someone who might enjoy them :)

Or trick your gullible friend for a minute. That's also a good one.

I saved you cause I felt like it, not cause I care about you…

(Ben’s pain is only funny until he’s actually in pain)