Status of Sunnyville Stories this year and next year

Posted on May 12, 2022 by Max West

Hello, Sunnyville fans. I apologize for not updating recently.

I’m very busy right now with the upcoming Kickstarter on June 1 for my webcomic, Poison Ivy Gulch, as well as selling my Hilda & Richie picture books. In fact, this weekend will see me travelling to places in North Dakota; I will be selling copies of both picture books (Hilda & Richie plus Hilda & Richie’s Wizard) to some independent bookstores along with donating copies to local libraries.

The Kickstarters for Poison Ivy Gulch and my picture books are part of my master plan for Sunnyville Stories. Funding $2000-5000 is something I need to learn doing so I have the capacity to crowdfund new Sunnyville Stories reprints.

Anyway, this site will be getting a tune-up as I plan to rework some of the pages now that the original three volumes of Sunnyville Stories are going out of print. The planned redrawing of Sunnyville Stories episode 1 will be going ahead. I hope to get started on it once the Poison Ivy Gulch Kickstarter launches.

Watch for more news; stay tuned to this blog for more updates!

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Redrawing of Sunnyville Episode 1 Starting!

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Max West

Hello, Sunnyville fans!

It’s been awhile. Now that the Kickstarter for my second picture book has ended, it is time to move onto other things. One of the big items on my to-do list (besides the planned Kickstarter for Poison Ivy Gulch) will be the long-awaited redrawing of Sunnyville Stories episode 1.

My plan is to redraw all the pages from Sunnyville Stories episode 1 now that my drawing skills are far superior to what they once were. The approach though is going to be different.

My original idea was to completely redraw everything, write a whole new script, etc. But that is too much work and I have other obligations. I will be using the original comics as a blueprint and this new episode will be semi-improvised as I will be drawing a whole new page based on the old ones, but with updated art and some edits.

One of the key items was to have Rusty mention his cousin Dominic (from the spin-off Dominic & Claire) and his hometown of New Gestad a few times as a way to cement the Sunnyville canon.

The redrawing will start later today; I’ll even have a teaser or two to share with you once I get done.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Sunnyville blog and (somewhat) new Sunnyville comics!

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Last Day for Hilda and Richie’s Wizard

Posted on February 4, 2022 by Max West

The Kickstarter for my second picture book Hilda & Richie’s Wizard ends today.

It runs until 11:58PM Central Time tonight. We are only less than $400 from the goal.

If you are one of those types who like to wait until the last minute…well, this is it.

Also keep in mind that Hilda & Richie’s Wizard is part of the Sunnyville universe; this book’s funding will help pave the way for the planned Sunnyville Stories reprint.

Go back Hilda & Richie’s Wizard now!

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Hilda and Richie’s Wizard Almost Halfway Finished

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Max West

It is day 14 of my Kickstarter to fund Hilda & Richie’s Wizard, my second picture book.

We are nearing the halfway point of the campaign. The book is 37% funded so far. Despite the fact that I am down, I am not out. I’ve gotten out of worse situations and gotten Kickstarters funded.

So this is a reminder to go back Hilda & Richie’s Wizard. Besides allowing more picture books to be produced and paving the way for the Sunnyville Stories reprint (more on that in the future), tons of rewards are left.

Pledging just $5 gets you a digital copy of Hilda & Richie’s Wizard!

Pledging $17 gets you a print copy of Hilda & Richie’s Wizard.

Pledging $27 gets you both of my picture books.

Pledging $37 gets you a print copy plus an artist’s edition; this is an extra copy of the book that will have a custom message and/or drawing inside the book.

Pledging $99 gets you one piece of original art, out of 39 different illustrations.

Hilda & Richie’s Wizard sample page

If you pledge $399, you get a ton of rewards but most of all you get to appear as a cameo in the third book planned for next year, Hilda & Richie’s Wizard! You can appear as a character in that book; I’ve had one backer pick that reward already. Only two slots remain so if you want this, you’d better act now!

Make sure you go back Hilda & Richie’s Wizard now on Kickstarter!

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Hilda and Richie’s Wizard Update

Posted on January 12, 2022 by Max West

So far, the Kickstarter for my second picture book – Hilda & Richie’s Wizard – is off to a good start after one full week.

We are one-third funded. While that is good, there is still a long way to go.

If you haven’t done so, make sure you go back Hilda & Richie’s Wizard now!

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Hilda and Richie’s Wizard Press Release

Posted on January 3, 2022 by Max West

FUNNY FOX DUO ARE BACK FOR SECOND BOOK!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Hilda and Richie’s Wizard, the sequel to Hilda and Richie (2021), comes to crowdfunding platform Kickstarter this Wednesday January 5, 2022. Created by Max West and being published by Different Mousetrap Press, this incredible book continues the charming adventures of the two foxes.

In their second adventure together, the wealthy Hilda gives her young ward Richie a priceless heirloom: an exquisite silver pendant. Unfortunately, Richie loses the pendant while playing outside. The enigmatic Mr. Abra, a wizard, helps Richie by returning the pendant with magic…but only on the condition that Richie tells Hilda what happened. When Richie hesitates, the wizard teaches Richie and young readers a lesson about doing what is right.

“The first book, while it didn’t set the world on fire, sold fairly well and won praise from readers,” author Max West says, “This next adventure won’t be their last. We’ll be seeing a lot more Hilda & Richie books in the future!”

The Kickstarter is slated to run from Jan. 5, 2022 to Feb. 4, 2022 with a funding goal of US$2,400. The funds will print and ship the book, currently planned for a 1,000-copy print run.

The publisher, Different Mousetrap Press LLC, is a small press based in North Dakota in the United States.

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The Sunnyville Stories Master Plan 2021-2023

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Max West

Merry Christmas everyone!

It’s been a while. As you know, I’ve been busy lately; besides the demands of my webcomic Poison Ivy Gulch, my second picture book Hilda & Richie’s Wizard is coming out next year. The Kickstarter to fund this is about 12 days from now, set to launch on early Wednesday morning January 5. I will have regular updates here about that as well as Hilda & Richie’s own blog. (Keep in mind that these two foxes are part of Sunnyville’s universe.) But that’s not what I want to talk to you about today.

Today, I want to outline the “master plan” for Sunnyville Stories. The first phase is already underway: the announcement and preparation. As you recall, I announced earlier this year that I will be completely redrawing Sunnyville Stories episode 1. This is also meant to tie in to my further plans to reprint the Sunnyville comics in book format but I’ll get to that in a bit.

The second phase of my plan will get underway in the first half of 2022. During this time, I will start drawing the new, remastered episode 1. (There’ll be details on that in a future update.)

The third phase will be in the second half of 2022. From there, I’ll be planning out the first new book collecting the first few stories; all the meanwhile, I’ll be liquidating the old books (volumes 1, 2 and 3) and listing them as “out of print”. This book will be titled Sunnyville Stories: Beginnings and is planned to have the first four stories collected (Beginnings, Multiball Madness, The Train Robbers and Don’t Answer Me). Future books will be similar, having titles of the first story contained therein. Also as part of my plan, the Kickstarters I plan for 2022 will be a good testing ground to make sure I can raise the large amount of dollars to fund print books. During 2022, I will be funding my second picture book in January and the first book collection of Poison Ivy Gulch in June.

The fourth and final phase will be in 2023. During this year, I will be using Kickstarter again to fund my third picture book Hilda & Richie’s Sandwich and the new Sunnyville Stories book. Other pages and panels in the other Sunnyville comics will need to be redone and I’ll have to secure new ISBNs for that book.

And that is my plan. Sunnyville Stories will LIVE again. Stay tuned to this blog as there should be regular updates again in 2022 on my progress and my other works.

Also don’t forget to follow the pre-launch page on Kickstarter for Hilda & Richie’s Wizard!

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Update: Plans for 2022 and 2023

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Max West

It’s been awhile since I’ve updated. But I do have some news to share today, Sunnyville fans.

As you know right now, I’ve haven’t had time to work on Sunnyville Stories lately. All my energy is going into my next picture book Hilda and Richie’s Wizard. That is scheduled to go to Kickstarter on Wednesday January 5, 2022.

I did mean what I said in the past. It is my goal to redraw Sunnyville Stories episode 1 completely and release new versions of the trade paperbacks. So how long will these take to do?

It is likely that next year in 2022, I can start drawing the new remastered version of episode 1. I’ve also made it a top priority to keep liquidating the old Sunnyville books; for the rest of this year and all through 2022, I will sell off all other remaining copies until every last one is gone. It will be a major aim in 2023 to launch a Kickstarter to fund a new print run of new editions. These will be done with offset printing, have print runs in the thousands and will be a smaller size, namely the 5.5 x 8.5 inch paperback book size. As discussed before, redrawing parts of the older comics and retouching them will be a big priority. There may even be new content as a bonus to get the fans buying these books!

As for new comics…that may have to wait until 2023 and even that is not certain. In addition to the work on the redrawn Sunnyville comics and a possible Kickstarter to fund the same, a third book with Hilda & Richie is planned that same year. Creating, funding and selling that book is a top priority; I’m doing good so far on my Hilda & Richie books and producing more children’s books could be very lucrative.

On top of all that, I really want to make more comics with Dominic & Claire, the Sunnyville spin-off with Rusty’s cousin. I even have notes for more stories but it is hard to do so many things at once.

That’s it for now. Stay tuned for more news. Subscribe to my YouTube channel and check out the Hilda & Richie blog for more updates on that. Until next time!

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Celebrating Eleven Years and Delays

Posted on August 1, 2021 by Max West

First, today is August 1st. You know what that means?

It was eleven years ago today back in 2010 that this blog for my independent comic book series, Sunnyville Stories, launched!

Happy birthday to the Sunnyville Stories blog!

Now I have to go onto the bad news now that the good news is out of the way.

The planned redraw and continuation of Sunnyville Stories will have to wait. It has been my intention to redraw completely Sunnyville #1. Unfortunately, I am very busy. Besides my webcomic Poison Ivy Gulch, I am also working on Hilda and Richie’s second book Hilda & Richie’s Wizard. That will be going live on Kickstarter in January along with the first planned book collection of Poison Ivy Gulch to also be funded via Kickstarter in June 2022.

This means the planned redraw of Sunnyville #1 has been pushed back again and may not happen until next year. However, this journey with all my comics and picture book illustration has been beneficial. My skills greatly improved from when I started out (contrary to what some losers out there think); we only learn by doing and I learned from experience. That is NOT something you can learn at an art college or from a university degree.

Stay tuned to this blog as I still plan to update it, share news and share artwork of Rusty with friends!

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Redrawing Sunnyville Stories Number 1

Posted on April 3, 2021 by Max West

Now that my taxes have been taken care of, I can advance my plan to redraw the first Sunnyville Stories comic.

Here is my plan. The focus will be on completely redrawing the story with my stronger drawing skills as well as a little editing on the script; as I said before, I want to work in Rusty mentioning his cousin Dominic to help link my two works – Sunnyville Stories with Dominic & Claire – together.

Of course, I can’t just start drawing the comic right this minute. What I need to do is actually go back to the comic and look over it. I mean, not literally look over it but carefully examine it, read it, study it and plan what I can do differently.

The overall structure won’t change. This is meant to be the first episode of Sunnyville where Rusty and his family move to the small remote village. That will happen as well as Rusty not being happy with his new home. He will also meet Sam and she just might be the reason he wants to stay.

Looking back at the original story I drew back in 2010, the drawing is weak and really needs an overhaul. That is something I need to address; I’ll be generating new thumbnails to work from in drawing the new story.

It is my plan to share the sketches and ideas here on the blog as well as videos on my YouTube channel (subscribe to that please).

Stay tuned here to my blog as I have plans for Sunnyville. Until next time, fans!

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