After a lot of deliberation, I'm ready to share this story.
The written portion of Pine Hollow had been completed for probably well over a year. I had been dragging my feet making the illustrations to go along with it though, and quite frankly, I lost steam on it. I've just reached a point where I want one of my stories to finally be done, and even though this story and these characters are incredibly near and dear to me, I was the most eager to be done with Pine Hollow.
Part of me feels like I've chosen a lazy way out of Pine Hollow, and decided to throw in the towel too early. But I also know that I can't force myself to draw the last illustrations for a story I've lost steam on. The story is completed, even without the drawings I had wanted to do, and that is good enough for me.
Part of me is sad to say bye to working on Pine Hollow. I loved writing all the character interactions, and there is a ton of sentimentality to this decision. But I'm also ECSTATIC to put Pine Hollow in the rearview mirror and focus more on my other stories. And anyway, I felt that this story "set up" the world of Insecta best perhaps, even if it's chronologically the "middle" story to happen out of all my stories so far (with McVee being first, and Phantom of the Lighthouse being after Pine Hollow).
Anyway! Feel free to read it or glance through it.
I'm hoping to finish McVee Mansion next.