Today I took a big step: I suspended regular postings of the QlownTown comic strip. After four years of (pretty) regular new strips, first seven days a week and later five, I'm cutting back to a more informal schedule: whenever I feel like it or get to it. This may sound cheeky, but it's actually just self-preservation. I am currently working on four major projects, including a return to the world of kitchen design (which involves a substantial investment in software), all of which excite me and which are trying to grab my full-time attention. A couple of these projects--design and construction of the sets for a musical and the renovation of our "new" old house--are temporary, but are for now big time-taker-uppers. Something had to give, and so it is the least profitable one that goes.

An online comic strip can be a big moneymaker, but only a few achieve that status. QlownTown never managed to reach that level at which other loves would have to be put aside to concentrate on cartoons. There are new ideas I have for the strip which would make it unique among web comics, but those involve research and yet more time to develop. The bulk of profits on the strip come from the general CafePress marketplace anyway; a much smaller portion comes from the website itself linking to the QlownTown store on CafePress, so suspending the regular schedule doesn't affect income significantly anyway.

What I will miss: the challenge of turning out something five days a week that make people laugh--sometimes people I don't even know. I know from reader responses that some readers actually check out the daily strip each weekday morning before they get out of bed. I feel a little guilty that they'll need something else to start their day off right. I hope they'll still somehow find a laugh to fill that morning void. It's the best way to start the day, I think.

I'll miss hearing from people that a particular strip really appealed to them and/or spoke to them. That's a special connection.

And I'll miss making myself laugh. After a cartoon is penciled, inked, colored and uploaded, I have always taken a moment to check it out as it'll appear on the website or in the daily email, and if I still laugh at it, damn, that's a good feeling!

I'm reminded of the lyric of an old song: "This is just adios and not goodbye". That always seemed a bit stupid...doesn't "adios" mean "goodbye"? But I understand the intent: to say this isn't goodbye forever; more a "till we meet again". And that's why this whole decision is more a relief than a disappointment. If I were giving up on QlownTown for good, that would be bad. But to take a break for the sake of recharging and pursuing other exciting endeavors--well, that's something to smile about. Just as I've been doing--and I hope you have, too--for four years.