Hey folks! Happy last-day-of-Pride-month!

I have something special to share with you today.

The earliest thing I can remember wanting to be as a kid was an animator. I was in elementary school for the “Disney Renaissance” and hungrily devoured every trip to the theater and every VHS tape.

I ended up a therapist, instead. Which is just as well; animation is not an industry I could thrive in, and I love being a therapist.

But I’ve never lost my love of animation as an artform. I have shelves of animation art books, and I’ve watched every animation documentary I could get my hands on since the mid 90s.

And, as luck would have it, my last social event before lockdown was my friend Teal coming over, and in exchange for a custom cheesecake and a fancy tea party, they walked me through the basics of using the animation tools in Clip Studio Paint, which I was used to from my days in indie comics.

I wanted to make a book “trailer” for my first book, Secondhand Origin Stories.

It’s not really a marketing plan. I’m sure there are more efficient ways of getting people to check out a book. I have no idea if this will even get people to check out my books. I’ve just always wanted to try my hand at animation, and the technology was already on my computer, and this was a story I loved enough to celebrate with a big, long project.

But despite my fascination with animation, I was basically starting from 0. There are several shots in here I did multiple times, as I slowly leveled up my skills.

I didn’t want to just have something drawn, I wanted to have something beautiful. And I’m really proud of it.

It’s got voices, it’s got music, and it’s got everything I’ve learned over 6 years.

It won’t be my last animation project. The next one I’ll start is in the style of anime opening credits, based off the third book in the series, which I’m editing now.

So, please allow me to share my 2 minute book “trailer” with you.

Here it is Please enjoy!

Before I sign off, I want to let you know that I’m gonna be at CONvergence convention in Minneapolis this weekend. On Thursday I’ll be on a panel about humans and the future of genetic engineering. On Friday I’ll have my signing/meet and greet. On Saturday I have a panel on gender and robots and a solo one hour presentation about cyborg psychology- the mental health effects of real and speculative implants.

As the free action item of the month, I’m asking you to make noise about proposed drilling in the arctic.

See you next month! I may have a video on cyborg psychology to share with you.

See you then,

Lee Brontide