Snow by Night

It’s time for another sweet almanac entry. And I mean that literally because our subject is confectionery. They haven’t learned to Dutch-process chocolate in the early 18th century so getting hard chocolate candies isn’t possible. Instead, they make do with a variety of nuts, fruits, and sugar. I make sugarplums every year for Christmas, and they are a fantastic treat. The sugar, honey, and fruit create a taste that blossoms in your mouth as you eat it. Incredibly delicious.

Comfits intrigue me. These hard candies were common on the tables of kings and queens in the 18th century and were a status symbol because they were so time consuming to make. Thanks to technology, this treat of the nobility is now available to everyone. For the comfit is the ancestor of the M&M. So the candy of kings can now be found in nearly every vending machine in the country and is available for the cost of your pocket change.

We live in an age of miracle and wonder.

Only a few more days left in our Art Contest. Laura has a good lead but Amasugiru can easily catch up. Voting closes at midnight on Saturday so vote today.

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Today’s Almanac update is Claude Amaury, Bertrande’s journeyman. He can now be found under Merchants in the Almanac and in the Cast directory. Also, as you can see, we now have a fancy graphic for when we upload a new almanac entry. If you click on it, it will take you to the permanent home of the entry in the Almanac.

Only two more days to vote in the semi-finals of the Art Contest. I’m so impressed with all four entries. Vote today for your favorite.

Lastly, this Monday is Easter Monday, which is a holiday for me. We won’t be uploading a new page on Monday. Instead, I have a beautiful piece of fan art done by Will Friday as a way to kick off the final round of the Art Contest.

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Almanac Reference: d’Accord

Oh, the pink. It hurts the eyes. Snow-by-Night dresses in the latest Saronnan fashions in Chapter 6 Page 13. To see what Blaise brings to the party, vote for Snow by Night on Top Web Comic!

Our Art Contest is rolling along. The support for our four finalists has been amazing. And they certainly deserve it. They are four talented artists. For those who have dropped out of the competition, fret not! They are not gone forever. We’ll be creating an 2013 Art Contest section on our Extras page. We’ll be placing all the art there, along with the artist’s names and links to their portfolios.

Oh, our Zenkaikon convention report is up. It’s in the form of a photo album on our Facebook page.

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Aether Extraction (commonly called Tapping) is the subject of this week’s Almanac entry. The term tapping comes from how the process resembles tapping maple trees for their syrup. An underground economy has sprung up around this process as it’s a quick way to make a lot of money. You just have to be willing to give away a little piece of your vitality.

The Art Contest is in full swing. Remember to vote daily for your favorite piece of art. We are all impressed by every piece submitted so you voters have a challenge on your hands to pick the best.

Alas, Snow by Night fell out of ComixMix’s webcomic tournament. We lost to a fine webcomic called the Abominable Charles Christopher. Our thanks to all of our fans who voted for us, and we wish all the remaining contestants best of luck.

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This week’s Almanac is Nuit Longue – the Longest Night. It is the holiday that Blaise mentions in his conversation with Mathilde in the chocolate house. It’s the Winter Solstice, Yule, and New Year’s Eve all rolled into one.

Only a few more days left to vote for your favorite entry in our Art Contest. I’m impressed with all of the entries and overwhelmed that so many good artists submitted something to us. Good luck to all of you.

And we have another contest going on. Snow by Night earned a place in Comic Mix’s 2013 Webcomic Tournament. Snow by Night is in the second bracket (titled the Kubert bracket), paired against Dreamland Chronicles (a fine webcomic). Please give us your vote. We greatly appreciate your support.

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This week’s Almanac entry is Chocolate. In colonial times chocolate was made into a drink and not eaten. Solid chocolate will have to wait for another century before the Dutch … er I mean Kleefish process cocoa powder that makes solid chocolate possible. This delectable drink is all the rage of society, and has lead to the creation of the chocolate house. They were so prolific that they were the Starbucks of the 18th century. They became social hot spots, especially for  students. Yes, students have been lounging around in chocolate houses coffee shops for centuries.

Only one day more to submit to our Art Contest. Draw a picture of one of the characters of Snow by Night — any one you want from any chapter and any vignette in any setting, style, or medium that you want (but please keep it PG). Cash prizes (and a lot of cheering by the Snow by Night team) for the winners. Deadline is March 1 at midnight (Eastern time).

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This week’s Almanac entry is Chute L’Heureux, the waterfall in which Snow-by-Night is lurking at the beginning of this chapter. It is based on an actual waterfall — Montmorency Falls in Québec. If you get a chance, go see it. It’s breathtaking and it does form the giant sugarloaf of ice and snow on which Blaise is standing.

ART CONTEST! Only 7 days to go. We have to receive the entry by March 1 for you to be considered. Please consider submitting an entry. We have cash prizes along with all the ooohs and aaaahs of the Snow by Night team.

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Hello, everyone! Diane here, reporting in while Eric and Brittany are preparing for Katsucon this weekend. If you’re attending, please stop by to say hello and check out our books, buttons, and prints for sale!

Since Eric’s unavailable to do his usual write-up for the Almanac entry this week, we decided to review the existing entries and make some improvements. I’ve added a number of images to the Almanac entries that discuss things shown in the comic so far, and made a few tweaks here and there to fix word choice and order.

In Diane-related news, I’ve been working on the site’s redesign and hope to add some great new features soon. We do have plans to add the Journal’s Comment section to each Story page in the archive, along with plans to bring you bigger, better views of the Story pages once the redesign widens our content area to give us more space. Are there any specific features you’d like for us to add? Please let me know in the Comments here, and I’ll see what magic – I mean, what alchemy I can work!

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