Last week I received some of the best news of my life.

Every year, the Associates of the Boston Public Library offer a fellowship to an emerging children’s writer. From September through June, the individual is given a living stipend and a room of his/her own in the library in Copley Square. The purpose is to allow someone the resources to finish a book. This year I decided to apply, as they were seeking author/illustrators; I figured it’d be worth the bit of effort, even if it’s incredibly competitive, and that at the very least it’d be practice with putting together a book proposal.

Last Monday I was informed that my contract with the Game Show Network will be ending soon. After a night of scrambling to apply for any creative job I am vaguely qualified for, I was not eager to get back to work the next day (but I went anyway).

I got a call from an unknown number on my cell phone around lunchtime and almost ignored it. Fortunately I didn’t, and it happened to be Alan Andres, Secretary of the Associates. I figured they were doing brief phone interviews with candidates, and stepped out of the office for a moment to talk.

“Are you sitting down?”

I sat.

“You won.”

I’ve cried happy tears for a week now, and have been receiving kind emails and phone calls from friends and family and past mentors and teachers. I’m overwhelmed with all the love I’ve received this past week. I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world to have so much support, and to have earned such an amazing opportunity.

June 3rd is my last day at GSN, and from there I plan on using the summer to get a head start on my project. Of course, I will be doing Under the Apple Tree. I’ve given myself a tall order, and if I hope to finish I’ll have to do about a page a day. It’s doable, I’m just going to have to push myself to new levels of motivation and dedication toward my work.

I’m ridiculously excited, and I can’t wait. I plan on using this blog to chronicle my endeavor, and hopefully will begin posting concept work soon (I’m starting from the ground up to produce the most consistent product possible).

Thank you from the bottom of my heart to the Associates.

(Oh, and Philadelphia was amazing. I’m pretty sure last week was one of the best weeks of my life. Well, so far.)

I mentioned Lora Innes before when I posted my fan art of Bea, the main character of The Dreamer. Now I’d like to mention her again, as she and her friend Christ Oatley (a visual development artist at Disney), have started a great project!

They have founded the PaperWings Podcast, a show dedicated to visual storytelling: animation, comics, illustration, etc. Together they’re offering valuable advice to fledgling creators and hoping to establish a strong, creative community. The first episode is out, and soon they will be announcing a contest with prizes from their sponsor, Wacom!

Today is a fateful day. Wish me luck.

In the meantime, here’s some reading:

I had the honor of illustrating one of the segments of Arina’s Forest, a new installment of the Spera epic written by Josh Tierney. If you haven’t checked it out before, I highly recommend it. He has worked with dozens of emerging artists from all over the world to craft a fantastic tale about the journeying of two adorable princesses, seen above (click on the image to read).

Life has been exciting, almost too exciting! My website is currently undergoing construction, and once that is finished this blog will be integrated with the rest and receiving much more attention. In the meantime, I’m working on the revamped teaser of Under the Apple Tree, working on surviving Harvard and my day job at the same time, and doing some fantastic freelance, including a wicked exciting (and unfortunately top secret) project with Studio Cypher.

My new website will be portfolio-centric and will be categorized by type of work, then project. I’ve gotten permission to share my work for the Game Show Network, now I just have to make a demo reel! Unfortunately the games I redesigned will be in development for quite a while first, but here’s a taste:

Free Cell Intro from Sarah Searle on Vimeo.

And here’s some of my storyboarding for the UtAT teaser:

I’m trying for a couple amazing opportunities at the moment. Cross your fingers for me.

A lot’s been going on. Moving amidst a blizzard and the hectic holidays, spending time in Fryeburg with the kids at Molly Ockett, finals, work, freelance… January, though still somewhat busy, has been set aside as a month just for me. I’m going to focus on revamping Under the Apple Tree and do a lot of personal work that I haven’t had time for. I can’t wait.

I’ve encountered a lot of inspiration lately, and I stumbled upon an article worth sharing. Something I’ve discovered recently is that while I love comics, it’s not necessarily just comics that I want to do. I want to be a storyteller, and I want to expand into other mediums: animation, games, prose, etc. I am glad to dedicate my time to the creation of a great comic, but sometimes it’s hard to keep things going. Maybe I just need to find the right medium for my stories, or a blend thereof.

I stumbled upon an interview with Glen Keane today (a must read), and something he said really sparked something:

“… That’s how I want to use the computer. I want to find a way to really celebrate drawing. To really value the energy of a line. A line to me is like a seismograph of an earthquake, that measures emotion. And when you clean it up, you take so much out.”

I want to do that.