A few weeks ago I came across a really intriguing short story and an even more intriguing idea…

The idea was simple. If Robin could raise enough pledges to buy the story he would write and publish a book. It seemed like a great idea so I made a pledge – partly out of curiosity, partly because I really enjoyed the short story and wanted to read more and partly because I really like the idea of independent artists making it without needing big business.

Robin quickly raised the minimum and set out to create the book. Along the way for supporters he gave us insights via Kickstarter, email and twitter into the creative process and even opportunities to help shape the work as it evolved.

After an amazing short time a mysterious package arrived through the post – my copies of Annabel Scheme and the really cool this was seeing my name in the credits along with the other contributors.

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(oh, and I’ve started reading and it’s everything Robin promised and more…)

I’ve been a fan of Hugh Macleod’s (GapingVoid) work for a while (the Blue Monster helped me make the decision to join Microsoft and I even use one of his designs on my business card) so it was particularly nice to have an opportunity to purchase one of his limited edition prints – Wolf vs Sheep. Just got to be patient now while they are produced ;)

Meantime – thanks to the magic of Deep Zoom this is what I’ve just ordered (if you miss out on this one keep an eye on GapingVoid to see what other treasures come up for sale)…