All Part of the Process

I'm not one to read "smut manga," my own personal name for it, or "yaoi" if you prefer the real Japanese name. But Elicia does, and especially likes downloading the doujinshi done by professional artists. (I still think it's incredible that in Japan you can make a living by doing manga as fanfiction; way to go for the laxer copyright laws!) Anyway, every now and then she will find a yaoi artist whose work really is incredible artistically, and will show me a page or two so I can get inspired.

I can't remember if I've seen this lady's work or not, but one of those artists, Ebine Yamaji, wrote an afterword in her manga about the journey she had to undertake to redisover her artistic process. I read it not long after starting up this blog, I believe, and always knew I would have to include it here at some point because what she said was just fabulous. It really spoke to why I made this stupid blog in the first place—so that I don't forget the emotions, research, inspirations, and processes Elicia and I undertake as we struggle to get our stories and thoughts onto the page. To have a record of the joy we feel doing this and the things helping us along the way.

Anyway, Yamaji's afterword is attached above. Read and enjoy.