Blog

I’ve had my head down for the last six weeks, thumbnailing the next Doctor Baer story. Here are a few sneak peeks!

Thumbnailing is the most challenging and rewarding part of the process for me. Refining the moment choices and dialogue is a heavy cognitive load, but watching my cute heroes interacting is such a delight.

While I finish thumbnailing this book, you can help raise the first book’s profile by nominating it for a Ringo Award!

The Ringos—or the The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards—are awards where both readers and creators can nominate their favorite artists and books. One of the things I love most is that they include fun categories like Favorite Hero and Favorite Villain.

If you enjoyed The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue, and have a few minutes to spare, I’d be so grateful if you could head over to the Ringo Awards website and nominate the book for:

• Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel – The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue
• Favorite Hero: Doctor Baer – The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue
• Favorite Villain: Gallus Lugubrious – The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue

Important note: The Ringos ask you to include the series name when nominating characters. So for example, when voting for Doctor Baer as Favorite Hero, please enter:
Doctor Baer – The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue. You can copy the text above and paste it into the nomination form.

Being nominated—or better yet, winning—would help more readers discover the book. I really appreciate your support in helping Doctor Baer reach a wider audience!

Thanks!

One of the moments I’ve had the most feedback from Doctor Baer readers is when Pickles claims she’s discovered Hug Magic. So it seemed reasonable to add something to the Doctor Baer store that celebrates the positive pig and her belief in the power of hugs!

You can now get your own I Believe in Hug Magic t-shirt via my Etsy store. Let your friends know that you’re with Pickles on this!

Yup! You can get sneakers with Doctor Baer-inspired designs on them over on my Etsy store!

It’s been a lot of fun designing apparel that’s a little more customizable than your average t-shirt. I feel like the Wisps sneakers look pretty neat. But what I’m really enjoying is making products that also build more lore into the world of Doctor Baer, like the Shoes of the Deathly Dance:

From the world of The Inscrutable Doctor Baer and the Case of the Two-Faced Statue.

These legendary shoes should not be worn by the fearful or careless! They are cursed shoes the mysterious Baba Yaga instructed a young farm hand to give to their wicked employer.

These enchanted shoes compel the wearer to dance fiercely until they meet their end–unless the wearer has a pure heart. You will know that the dancing curse is activated if the shoes turn green. If they stay blue and red, you are pure of heart and safe from the curse!

Like the talismans I’ve been making, it’s a fun creative exercise to create an in-world object that comes with the suggestion that it might have magic properties. It’s a nice, time-boxed way to playfully explore some of Doctor Baer’s world. I don’t need to tie these objects into any particular plot, but if they seem especially interesting, I can. And yes, it’s another way Doctor Baer readers can support me.

As a kid I was all over products like this. Whether it was superhero pajamas or the He-Man dress up set, anytime I could feel like I was participating in the imaginary worlds I loved was a good time. I guess there’s something to it like what makes Halloween so fun. But it was also the notion of interacting with an object from that world. I remember getting my first light-up lightsaber in 1984. It was a cheap knockoff purchased at a vendor stand at the state fair, basically a flashlight with a green piece of cellophane over the bulb, and an opaque white tube attached to the bulb end. I couldn’t cut through walls, and the tube got irreparably bent after a few swings, but it helped transport me into the world of space wizards and monsters on a warm summer night in my grandparents’ back yard.

These things I’m making might not deliver such core memories or emotional charge. But I’m having fun sitting alongside that kid while making them.

I’ve put some new apparel in the Doctor Baer Etsy store, including this new Pickles T-Shirt:

And you can get it for 25% off until January 31, 2025! Just use the code PICKLESWOW at checkout.

Nobody expresses genuine wonder like Pickles!