Hello all, hopefully you´ve emerged from the holidays and the new year in one piece and had a nice time doing it. For me it´s been a bit of an uphill journey, but in the end I´d say things turned out pretty ok. The biggest thing for me right now, however, is my new job! It feels great to have started something new and it fills me with fresh energy to take this on and learn and do and experience the things that come with this job that in many cases mark a first for me. Last but not least it will finally help me sort out my abysmal sleeping patterns. Seriously folks, there was such a thin degree of separation between me and the bloodsuckers I draw concerning the hours we both kept that I wouldn´t have been surprised if my skin had started to blister in the sun if I´d kept it up for any longer. Not that it really matters right now since I live in the cold, cold north and our allotted time of daylight is pretty small right now… Even so, good times right now!
The comic is moving forward, sometimes in jerks and bounces, but it does move, and I intend to keep it moving. It might not come across but I really love making Memento Vivere, and I have a lot more that I want to tell, and other updates to do. The only issue is that my randomness is probably costing me readers, and I guess that´s a price I sadly have to pay and hope that enough people stick around because you guys make this work even more rewarding with your feedback and appreciation. Speaking of my readers I`ve made a bit of an embarrassing discovery: it seems some of the traffic to my MV-mail has been forwarded to an older email account that I really don´t look at any more. Until now. Purely by coinkydink actually. So if you´ve written to me and haven´t received a reply (I always reply when you write) that´s probably why. I´ll dive into that and get it sorted presently.
My thinking is that I´ll make an appearance or two this year at some cons or comic festivals (I already have one of my favorites marked down in stone) since I sadly couldn´t do any last year, so that´s another thing to look forward to.
In further news (sorta) I have a tumblr! That´s right my friends, tumblr, for my interwebs is strong! It´s for both my personal nonsense as well as MW-related stuff, and I´d love for you to check it out!
No
Fanny NW
As most of you have noticed I´ve been away for over a year now. The quick summation of what went on during that period is: school. Last year crammed full of a master´s thesis to write that left little time for sleep let alone penning a comic. I sort of ran myself into the ground with that one, mostly because I´m not great at prioritizing. After that came the move back to my beloved Gothenburg and it was well needed. My mind usually works best in this town, and as much as I love to travel and live in different places, this will always be the place I come home to.
How I deal with stress and many things on my plate is by compartmentalizing; that is, I put some stuff on the back burner which is what I had to do with Memento Vivere and all things MV related, and also why I have been bad on keeping up my correspondence and updating the news feed. Besides, “Nope, nothing this week either” would get a bit repetitive after a while.
To those of you who have written and expressed worry about where the comic went; how I´m doing and other such topics: If I haven´t gotten around to answering you yet be assured that I will now.
I don´t yet know how often I´ll be updating with new pages, and I´m afraid to set a frequency or give you a firm update-day since I can´t feel sure enough that I´ll be keeping it, at least not yet. Right now I´m working up steam, and working on the latest page. Memento Vivere always has to be a labor of love with emphasis on the love part. It can´t feel too much like work, but remain something I do because it´s fun and I have enough creative energy to spend all that time on each and every page. And I do love making this comic, and I have really missed it, so it´s good to feel that creative force rising again.
Now, besides all that I thought I could fill you in on some Fun Projects that I´m involved in!
Fun Project #1: I´m going to attend Stockholm International Comics Festival, one of my favorite events of the year! I won´t have time to make enough pages to fill up another fanzine of Memento Vivere, so I´m drawing a short story instead that takes place in the same universe, just in a different time and place. The whole thing will be published here as well of course, and I can´t wait for you to see it!
Here is a link to the Festival´s homepage.
Fun Project #2: I´m arranging a vampire larp (live action role-playing game) every other week here in Gothenburg and if you are in the neighborhood you´re welcome to come and try it out (speaking Swedish is NOT a requirement, but passable English skills are a good thing to have)! The larp does not take place in the MV-universe, but since I´m involved it has some similar structures, and while none of the characters from the comic are in it, it does include some people that created a handful of the original characters that inspired featured characters from MV, so how about that for a draw? This project is a pretty big one as you might guess, and ongoing so it is currently the thing that´s swallowing up most of my free time, but just like Memento Vivere it is a labor of love. For those of you who are curious to know more the web site for the larp can be found here. Sorry all you who don´t read Swedish, you are boned for there is no English version, but Google Translate will probably be able to help you out with the gist of the thing.
To cap this off – I am back, I am good to go and I am happy to be here!
Fanny NW
"A happy Valentine´s Day to all my subjects! I bid thee have a night of love, joy and much warmth in my beautiful yet cold city."
Prince Altamirano
It almost surprised me how good it felt to be back and drawing again. And the home page has been given a bit of a facelift as well just to mark the occasion. I'm planning on adding more stuff as I go along such as new art and sketches, and whatever else I feel like. As for the comic I´m back on my old schedule with one page a week starting today!
Fanny NW
It´s suprising that this hasn´t really been a problem earlier, maybe vampires are easier because I see them more as caricatures, but I just had a small creative lock down over a character design.
Here´s the thing: once you´ve posted the character then that´s it, the look of it is set.
Sure, you can change it gradually; small stuff, clothes, hair, minor features, but the basics are done, so you had better be happy with what you came up with, especially if it´s an important character, because that´s what you will be drawing from now on. If you´re not pleased with what you´ve got then too bad.
This is mostly not an issue if you´ve had time to sketch and work out a look you like, which I do in about half the cases, but it´s not uncommon that I design a new character as I´m doing the page he/she is appearing on for the first time. Not a lot of sketching time there. And that still, for the most part, works just fine.
So imagine my surprise when I had to redo this latest character five times as I was making the page!
I just couldn´t get it right, I was spending way too much time on it, and I have enough trouble with deadlines as it is.
But if I just used what I had then I would be stuck with a character that looked wrong, and I would have to draw that crap for the foreseeable future. It might sound stupid, but I froze up at that risk.
I even, in desperation, tried out the face of a guy whose vlog I was watching while working. Fortunately the look didn´t work because it came out far too similar to the real thing, and I steal enough as it is.
In the end I still kind of winged it and lucked out with a design that I actually liked. I have a gallery of portraits, photos and such, to use as inspiration for this, but I think I need more. You can´t really have too much inspirational material if you ask me, not if you´re drawing with the level of realism that I am. Every time I see a face I like, or a place, or a posture or, I don´t know, a funny hat, I save it.
But in the end, if you want to make a comic or something than make sure you are happy with what you introduce, make sure it´s fun to draw, or at least bearable, because you will have to draw it over and over and over again.
So that´s a part of my process if you´re interested!
The page has seen some minor changes. A total facelift will occur sometime during this month. Until then, have a nice summer!
Admin
STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL COMICS FESTIVAL 2012
2012-04-25
Another chapter is finished!
No rest for me though, no I’m already hard at work on a new page, but I will hold off on chapter three for a while. These pages will be more of a kind of in-betweens to cover some ground. Be prepared for ever more tangling twist and turns!
I also wanted to inform you that this weekend I’ll be at Kulturhuset in Stockholm attending Stockholm International Comics Festival (Seriefestivalen, formerly known as SPX). This’ll be the third year in a row that I will sit at my table with my fellow starving artists and dole out my gritty fantasies in printed form. It’s always a blast, and I’m really looking forward to it. If you are in the neighborhood then don’t miss out on saying hi!
See the cover for Chapter Two here.
Fanny NW
Friends, Romans, countrymen, you in the back with the ferret on your head, lend me your ears!
Yesterday the new Facebook page for MV was created. It’s now a fan page that you like rather than a group that you join. Just like with the group it’ll be a place where I can link to the new pages of the comic or put tidbits from the news department, and where you can drop your comments, thoughts, rants , darkest secrets or whatever else you feel like.
So go there and like it, be a fan!
End communication
Fanny NW
Look what I found! It was supposed to have been published sooner, but what the heck, it's either now or wait until next year.
Fanny NW
It occurred to me that, hey, I haven’t posted anything here in friggin’ forever!
The quick updates usually end up on the Facebook page and then I forget, but now we are entering a favorite time of the year for me: Christmas, so I pulled myself together.
And what have I been up to?
Not much really, or at least it doesn’t feel that way. Drawing and school, that about sums it up. This chapter of the comic is nearing its end and I am, as usual, trying to decide how I want to approach the next one, but I feel a plan is forming, so don’t worry. For the holidays I’m thinking I’ll get around to doing a bit of a makeover on the homepage. Nothing fancy, just change the design a bit, organize it a bit more, ad some stuff to the galleries, things like that. I hope you’ll dig the new design!
On another note: a friend of mine, as it turned out, is also making a webcomic with a biographic base aimed at gamers, roleplayers and larpers. It’s cute as hell and funny too, going in the direction of Weregeek, but better if you ask not-so-unbiased-me. It’s unfortunately also in Swedish only, but who knows what the future holds.
As it were I stumbled across a familiar figure in one of the pages: http://trevligascenarion.se/webcomic-22/
Basically it’s a gag about the vampire larp roots of MV. The comic owes a lot to a particular vampire larp in terms of giving me the idea to make MV in the first place and providing inspiration. There’s a bunch of larps like that, and in some it’s the rule to settle any duels by the use of rock-paper-scissors. I have no idea why, nor has that ever been the case in the one where MV was “born”, but it does lend itself to comedy and the children of the night are testy creatures.
Get it? “Testy”?
...
Whatever, my jokes are terrible, I know.
This Christmas will incidentally mark the second full year that the comic has been running, and that makes me happy, and since you are still reading I hope it makes you happy too. Let’s celebrate with a piece of pie, or, if you don’t like pie, a piece of smoked cod or a ginger snap or something.
I wish you all a lovely holiday!
Fanny NW
Last week was a busy one. Between a trip to Gothenburg and one to Katrineholm to participate in Kattcon (and a warm thanks to the people there that made it a very nice Con indeed) I didn’t’ have time to finish the latest page. But I’m back at the drawing board and hard at work, so it should be good to go very soon now. After all, this is a point in the comic that I’ve been looking forward to showing.
Another point is to remind those that still want a fanzine to act fast, because I am officially down to the last ten copies ever ever! Unless I make more, who knows. Not this year in any case.
Work on the web page continues, the texts for the characters are on their way as well as some other small stuff, and I would also like to encourage you to join the Facebook group dedicated to Memento Vivere where you get to comment on the pages directly as I ad them if you find something worth a mention. The more, the merrier, I reason.
Here in Sweden the beautiful summer is at it’s prime and all sensible vampires are resting up for autumn. Seriously, the nights are so short and bright it’s not even worth getting out of the coffin right now.
But then again… As I was walking to work for another night shift I spotted two ravens circling my neighborhood. No, really, true story, and I’ve never seen them there like that before. Life imitating art, or should I be concerned? Probably the former, but I’m keeping my eyes open just in case.
Hoping you all are having a good summer.
Fanny NW
A new incentive has been posted on TWC. Go and vote!
Fanny NW
LinCon is a gaming convention, and people from all over the land journey here to play games, have fun, and nerd it up hard-core style for six glorious days! Imagine that, a thousand gamers crammed into a school for almost a week, filling it with games, discarded cans of Red Bull and tiny hand painted soldiers that you painstakingly move, one at a time, across a miniature world and call it a good time for some reason. You might even find a vampire or two here.
Anyhoo, I have a table and will therefore, from time to time, hang out, talk nonsense, draw and naturally sell some fanzines and other stuff. If you’re gonna be there too, come find me and say hi. I’d like that.
Fanny NW
I’m sorry to tell you that I won’t be able to update this week. Next week should be possible, but right now I am in the middle of the final rush before school’s out, and have assignments up to my eyeballs. During the summer I’ll be working, and working all nights (no tan for me then, but the paler the sexier right?), so I should have plenty of time for comicy- shenanigans.
Shun the sun!
Fanny NW
Good news everyone! After a very fun SPX I still have some fanzines left (ordering extra many like I cleverly did), and they are up for sale if you want them. Mind you, I don’t have any plans to print up any more for the time being, so what I have is all there is. If you want to be sure you get a copy, I suggest you act fast.
How does one do that then?
Oh, that’s easy peasy; first you click the donation button down there with our adorable pet-vampire on it to reach MV’s PayPal account.
After that you transfer the amount of eleven dollars, via either your own PayPal account or a private bank account. Don’t forget to fill in your information, a name and such!
E-mail me the address that the fanzine is to be shipped to, and as soon as I’ve matched your mail with the name of the person who made the payment I’ll see to the rest.
As I’ve said before, I was only planning to take orders from within Sweden, and that’s what the price is calculated for. Mainly because it felt like the cost for shipment might be a little too steep, and a lot to ask.
However, some you have contacted me and asked if I would consider making an exception, and I figured why not?
If you live outside Sweden but feel like you really really want to get your hands on a fanzine anyway, then email me, and I’ll make another calculation based on your location.
And a few more specs about the fanzines:
It’s a magazine, not a book, but it contains the two first parts of the comic as published here, the prologue and the first chapter, so it does have a reassuring weight to it.
A copy measures 210 mm × 297 mm. The paper and print is of a good quality with a rich blackness, and I’m very happy with it. The only difference is that it’s all black and white, so no scattered color-details, except the cover of course. It’s really pretty and worth the money if you like the comic :)
Lastly, some of you have the good fortune of being able to see me in person now and then, and if you’re one of those people I suggest making arrangements with me to bring along a copy of the fanzine the next time we decide to run into each other.
Thank you for letting us tend to your bloodletting needs
Fanny NW
“What the heck is this?”, you may have wondered if you’ve checked out the latest page. Well, that would be cover for the very fancy MV fanzine that’s going to be for sale at the Small Press Expo at Kulturhuset in Stockholm this weekend. It contains the first two parts of the comic, the prolog and chapter one in print for the very first time ever!
I have been looking forward to this since last year when I went to SPX but didn’t have enough of a comic yet to actually bring my own fanzine. But I’m back and this time I’m packing! I’ll be sharing a couple of tables with some other talented people, so why not come by if you’re in the neighborhood and say hi, and maybe buy what you can read here for free ;) ‘Cause, y’know, paper!
Look for us at the blackest and most ominous looking table laden with whatever gothic props we can find on short notice. We’ll be signing, chatting, drawing, selling and sipping vitae red grape juice. And possibly wearing opera capes.
If there are any fanzines left when I return home again, I’ll sell them to anyone here who wants one, but unfortunately I will only be shipping to places in Sweden at this time. In the future who knows, but that’s the sad reality right now.
Also, the incentive on TWC has been updated again, so go and vote!
Looking forward to seeing some of you this weekend.
Fanny NW
This week’s page is coming along nicely, and will soon be available.
I also have a treat for those who are kind enough to vote for the comic on TWC (that button at the bottom of this news reel, like you need reminding).
As an added incentive, every time you vote for MV, you’ll get to see an image that is in one way or another connected to the comic. It could be sketches for future story lines, characters, or a sneak preview of the current page in progress. Every week this incentive will be updated, and I’ll announce it here. The very first one is up right now, so go vote!
Live long and preposterous.
Fanny NW
Chapter one is finished!
I have started the preparations for the next chapter, and I’m very excited about what’s in store, and you will be too. You’ll be like “Whoa” and have to sit down and catch your breath, and then you’ll be like “How does she do it?” and then call (yes, call, no friggin’ texts) a friend to share the awesome.
And now that I’ve hyped this way out of proportion I also have some possibly bad news. I’m moving to a new apartment tomorrow, and there’s a chance that the Internet will be down for a while. My Internet company has thrown in the possibility of a whole month before they can give me my new connection.I had no idea that it was so complicated, and I’m sort of hoping that they’re just messing with me. Or maybe they’re just very bad at what they do.
Bottom line is I’m not sure when I will be able to post a new page, but if you keep an eye on the Facebook group for MV you’ll know when I do.
Fanny NW
I realize that the comic might seem a bit sporadic right now, and it’s true, between the holidays and the new school year it’s been hard to hit a good drawing routine. But fear not, I am working on it, and hopefully I’ll get on top of things soon enough.
It sometimes happens that this “work” seems tiring or hard to finish, and let’s face it, even with work as fun and creative as this; when a deadline is looming and you’d rather go out for ice cream or a shot of jaeger or whatever you go out for, it can be a real chore. But! Weirdly enough it’s usually during these times that some reader somewhere drops a mail or stops me on the street saying how fun they think it is that I’m doing this. I’m always very grateful for the feedback and comments I get, as well as I am for all the people who simply read MV and keep coming back for more. To all of you: Thank you! You are a basket of cherries on top of an awesome sunday.
This is connected to the fact that Memento Vivere is now over a year old. Yes, it makes me a little proud to think back and see that I managed to do this for a full year. And it was a great year, comic-wise, so great that I can’t wait to see what will happen next. There’s stuff to do just with homepage of course, and I can’t wait for you all to see the next chapters of the story. I think you’ll like where it’s heading! Then there are other plans too, but for that you’ll have to keep checking in. Also, if you have any ideas or feedback that you think that I would benefit from, don’t hesitate to write!
It’s gonna be a good year methinks.
Fanny NW
Sorry guys, as you maybe noticed there was no new comic last week. School showed no mercy. To compensate I’ll throw in a little Halloween themed cartoon today instead. This storyline is actually quite a bit longer, and maybe you’ll get the rest some other day, but this will do for the moment.
The costumes are random things I like, and not necessarily an expression of the characters tastes or qualities. Except maybe for little Kaun in the wolf outfit from Where the Wild Things Are. Just seemed appropriate!
Boo!
Fanny NW
I hope the pending autumn finds you all well and with any luck somewhat rested. I myself am now returning to school after a summer of work, so I’m not sure “rested” is the word I would choose, but I’m back nevertheless.
Due to increased workloads and busier weekends (it surprised me to find that they actually ARE that busy) I’m moving the posting day for new pages to Wednesdays. Think of it as a middle-of-the-week-treat! And that’s when you’ll find this week’s page.
Other news is that we’re going to be making some small tweaks on the page, adding, removing and adjusting here and there. Some of it is stuff that we’ve noticed ourselves, and other things have been suggested by readers, tips that are appreciated, so keep ’em coming if you think of something.
And the rain keeps pouring down.
Fanny NW
I have been away on a little holiday, and have therefore not been able to update. But not to worry, I’m back and hard at work to balance myself up page wise and bring you no less than two brand spanking new pages this week!
Hoping your summer has been a good one.
Fanny NW
By now you might be thinking “What the heck, woman! Where is my gosh darned comic!?”, or however you choose to phrase it.
Well, I have put most of my energy into finishing school, and after that an accident occurred, the wrong computer cable was pulled and the page that’s only now showing up here, was lost. I had to start over. We were not amused…
But summer’s here, the sun is occasionally shining, and work continues in a steady pace. We are, after all, only just getting started.
Fanny NW
They told me to take a little break. “Give it a couple of weeks”, they said. “Make a few pages in case you get sick”, they said. And I laughed mockingly and assured them that I could handle it. “I don’t get sick! Sickness is for weaklings! Hahahahaa!”
And what do you think happened next? Why, I come down with a case of The Plague, of course, otherwise known as a bad cold! And therefore the page that was supposed to be up today won’t be making its appearance until tomorrow. My apologies. I know, I know, it’s another day of agonizing impatience, but them’s the breaks, folks. I hope to make it worth the wait in the long run.
To good health! *Sniffle*
Fanny NW
These delays are killing me, but school has left me no other choice. I need to start building a buffer of pages for times like these.
There’s good news however: The prologue is done!
Now I can finally start the comic for real! I have decided to set a day for updates, therefore new pages will be uploaded on Mondays from now on.
So hold on to your butts, kids, ‘cause Chapter One starts on Monday!
Fanny NW
Whew! I’m back after the trip to Stockholm, and those expo-thingies take a lot out of you. I feel like my energy is just starting to return. But what an awesome weekend it was! I’ve met so many people, gotten a lot of great tips and advice, and made a bunch of new friends. It was really fun and I can’t wait until next year (oh yes, there will be another year), for which I’m going to bring a real Memento Vivere fanzine, as well as a sketchbook for your pleasure. If you want more details on the exponanza, as well as see the pictures I took, then these are to be found on Facebook. Peace!
Fanny NW
Busy times now, trying to make everything come together. I’m preparing for Small Press Expo in Stockholm this weekend, and if any of you happen to be in the neighborhood, why not stop by and say hi? You can find more information about the Expo here.
I’ll be sharing a table with the creator of the hilariously funny Vampires Suck, seeing as how we “share” the same WoD-universe, and I am very much looking forward to the whole thing. Hope to see you there!
Fanny NW
There’s finally a donation button!
If you like Memento V, why not send whatever spare change you have between your sofa cushions my way? Help me help you get the high quality entertainment you deserve, because it is a dirty lie that starving artists work better! Feed the vampire, you know you want to.
Fanny NW
Banners! Get yer banners!
Never have ye seen such good-looking banners, so grab one and make your site a little more awesome! Or force them onto your friends who have yet to see the gloomy glow of Memento V. Or paper your walls with them. You get the gist, so now go get one while they’re still hot!
Fanny NW
WE'RE BACK! Yes, finally all computer-issues have been solved, and I'm back to work. A new page should be delivered sometime during next week, but until then I will be adding some character sketches to the gallery to make the wait a little easier. These sketches are not all final. I'm not sure what all of them will be used for, although I have a hunch. I usually just draw a character that looks interesting and decide what to do with it later on, so some of these may be important for the story, and some might just glance by, but it will give you a sneak peak at what's coming up. More of these are also scheduled to be posted during the weekend.
Fanny NW
I'm just posting this to let you know that the computer on which I make the comic has died, and until it can be fixed, or replaced, or I find a temporary solution, Memento V won’t be updating. I am of course working to get this fixed as soon as possible, but now you know why nothing new has showed up yet. As soon as something changes, you’ll know about it here, so keep an eye open.
Fanny NW
A small, seasonal greeting!
If you still have some love for the creeps, send it to the facebookgroup and let them know you care ;)
Fanny NW
RSS feed is available now. This should make it easier to keep track of all upcoming updates!
WebDude
Well, school has made its way back into my life, and that with a vengeance!
This means that I can’t really make any promises about when a new comic is going up, but the good news is that I’m starting to feel like I’ve hit my stride when it comes to drawing it, and for the time being I am going to post at least once a week! Yaay!
In other news: we are soon going to add an rss-function so that you will know right away when a new page is uploaded, and also the gallery has been expanded to make room for the illustrations made for Halcyon. What’s Halcyon? you might wonder, and rightly so. Well, that is the project-name for a separate venture of mine that takes place in the same world and sort of the same reality as the comic. It is uncertain what will become of it, or if a finished version will ever see the light of day, but either way, I like to make illustrations for the different sections, and thought I would share them with you. What can I say, I’m a giver.
I hope you’re all enjoying the comic so far!
Fanny NW
All right people, Memento V is back in the new year with a new page!
I am currently working double time to get the prologue finished as fast as humanly possible, and the next page is already on its way. The reason for this fast pace is that I still have some time before school starts to seriously consume my time again, and I will have to adapt a more realistic comic-schedule. But hopefully, by then there will at least be a finished first parter here, so wish me luck!
Even though Memento V is very young I have already gotten some wonderfully positive feedback, for which I’m grateful and am now excited to tell the rest of the story.
Also keep an eye out on this page for updates on new functions and other stuff we will be adding as we go. The latest addition is a new link to a webcomic that deals with the same world as I do, only in a much more humoristic fashion. Check out Vampires Suck and have a good laugh!
FNW
This is the first post on the new site, and it feels very exciting.
The journey to this point has been a long one with several computercrashes, distractions and just generally a lot of life getting in the way, but now it’s finally finished enough to put online. The work will continue, stuff will be added, small tweaks will take place here and there, but the biggest bulk is done and I can’t thank Bafel Jajo enough for all his hard work that gave Memento V a home!
The original thought was to develop this comic in Swedish first, and only translate it to English at a later stage, but as the time passed, I jumped a couple of steps ahead, and now we’ll see what becomes of it all in the future. Lucky break for all of you out there who don’t speak Swedish, eh?
And be sure to keep an eye out! There is another comic page in the works, and it will be completed shortly after the new year.
Until then I send you all lots and lots of seasons greetings at this, the beginning!
FNW
FannyNW - My other art stuff on DeviantArt