Oddly enough, occasional donations have started coming in. Not many (I think there were four so far) – I don’t want you to imagine that I’m starting to making a profit off this website – but still more than in the last ten years.
And I appreciate these very, very much. I’m trying to keep this from sounding too emotional. But it really means a lot to me. It makes my life and my work easier.
Anyway, people who donate can be in my next game, so I send them emails asking how they would like to appear. So far, the responses have all been quite delightful: a silly book title, a great photo, a character from an upcoming game, and… A Stray to Botaram.
A Stray to Botaram is a webcomic about two creatures living in a very strange world, about their meeting and their common journey of discovery. When I first followed the link, I didn’t understand much – it leads to the last (current) part of the story, and the art style seemed rather confusing. What was I looking at here? Sure, this person had donated, but what exactly was this? Then I went to the beginning, and started reading.
More than three hundred pages later, I arrived at the last panel so far, and realized I had spent my entire morning reading instead of working. Even worse, now I was hopelessly enthralled by this story and its setting and would obsessively follow it from now on. The art style wasn’t confusing, it was beautiful and evocative and made perfect sense; the characters were loveable and complex; and the setting was unique and utterly fascinating. And the writing was great: alternately sarcastic, lyrical, funny and touching.
So I sent the creator an angry letter for taking up all my time.
Well, not exactly.
If you enjoy my work, I strongly recommend A Stray to Botaram. Read the story from the beginning and keep going. Don’t expect punchlines or self-contained stories; expect a long and fascinating journey towards… well, towards Botaram. And hopefully some kind of enlightenment.
