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Linda Medley Has Already Finished 150 Colour Pages Of Castle Waiting Volume 3

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It's been a long time since we've heard from Linda Medley and her fantasy series Castle Waiting.

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It always felt to me like the rest of the industry was catching up to her work. And now with the success of Princeless, Nimona, Another Castle and more, could it be that her time has come,

The story begins with a stand-alone, prologue tale, Castle Waiting: The Curse of Brambly Hedge, which retells the story of Sleeping Beauty mostly from the perspective of those at the periphery of the action. The book then picks up many years later, after the castle, long abandoned by Sleeping Beauty, has become a home for another group of fairytale characters, many of whom have rather troubled pasts. The castle's daily workings are now overseen byRackham, a stork-headed dandy, and the place has become somewhat run-down and is beset by mischievous but generally friendly sprites and poltergeists. This story originally focused on Lady Jain, a pregnant woman fleeing her abusive husband. The series details backstories for some of the characters, such as elaborating on how the bearded nun Sister Peace arrived at the castle. Later chapters show Jain settling in to the castle's keep with her baby with the help of some Hammerlings and the fellow residents of the castle.

Initially self-published in the nineties, with a brief period at Cartoon Books, the comic moved to Fantagraphics. There were some heavily gossiped about personal politics that went down, however, leading to a delayed but eventual conclusion to the series a few years ago with the publication of Volume 1 (without creative credits), a truncated Volume 2 and then a final version of Volume 2, complete with epilogue.

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But now it seems that it's time to start Castle Waiting again. With Volume 3. And Linda Medley is returning to self publishing, and using Patreon to help smooth the way.

And giving us a tune by letterer Todd Klein to accompany it.

Linda Medley writes,

Hello, I'm Linda and I'm an illustrator and cartoonist. I've been freelancing since 1986 and have had work published by Golden Books, Grosset and Dunlap, DC Comics, and many others. Since 1994 I've worked on my own independent graphic novel series, Castle Waiting. The book has managed to weather quite a few publishing storms over the years with two volumes (close to 1000 pages) in print, with editions translated into eight languages available all over the world.

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Several years ago I was diagnosed with severe cervical spondylosis as well as carpal tunnel syndrome, and took some time off from creating artwork to rest, and adapt to new modes of working. Although my convalescence took longer than anticipated, I'm currently hard at work on Castle Waiting Volume 3 and hope to have the first 150-page installment ready for publication next year…but I'll need your financial help to be able to continue working on it.

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I'm bringing some changes to the book with Volume 3, most importantly: full color! The pages will be rendered in a combination of watercolor painting and digital color; the pages are sized larger than in previous books; and the story has jumped back in time to tell of Lady Jain's life before she journeyed to the Castle. There are new settings, new characters, and a closer look at Jain's family and heritage (not to mention, Jain herself).

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If you're not familiar with Patreon and how the site works, please take a look here. I've opted for the monthly system; this means that you're pledging $1 or more, per month (it's not a one-time payment like Kickstarter or similar sites!) to help me. In return I'm offering what I hope are some enticing rewards to express how very grateful I am for your support. If we exceed my initial goal of Basic Expenses, I'll increase my goal to cover more dreams (like expanding my studio, and moving all my studio equipment that's currently in storage in California to Seattle) and projects (like producing color versions of Castle Waiting Volumes 1 & 2, and finishing other projects that are languishing in my files!)

Thanks so much for your assistance. See you at the Castle :)

~linda m.
Visit my Etsy Shop
If you'd prefer to make a one-time donation via PayPal, you can send it to:medleylinda2@gmail.com. Thank you!

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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne, Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from Blacks on Dean Street, shops at Piranha Comics. Father of two. Political cartoonist.
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