Some of you know that in addition to working on JEFbot and my occasional acting gigs, I have a full-time job as a multimedia designer for a big corporation. Well, I suppose I should amend that to had since, as of this week, I’m out of a job. Apparently, the company I worked for thinks it wise to dismantle the skilled, tight knit and well-oiled team (10 years in the making) and replace us with an outsourced group to cut some costs. Or something. It wasn’t really explained to us all that well. Anyway, that sucks big time, and while I won’t miss the corporate mentality, the long drive (70 miles there and back), and some of the more tedious projects, I will miss the people in my department, as they were some of the smartest, most talented and straight-up coolest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. Oh, and I’ll miss the steady paycheck, of course.

The silver lining to all this suckiness, however, is that I can now devote much more energy and time to JEFbot, which should mean more strips on a more consistent schedule, a new BOTshop stocked with all kinds of BOTgoodies, more intricate storylines and artwork, more blogs, vids and social stuff, and basically just more JEFbot for your entertainment!

I’ve been wondering for a long time now just what would happen to my little ol’ webcomic if I could devote some real, full-time attention to it, and now – while the circumstances are unfortunate – I’ll get a chance to find out. While I’m kind of in a state of shock at the moment, and can’t help but be anxious about things like rent, health insurance and car payments, I also feel tremendously excited about what happens next. How can I not? You readers have already given me a strong foundation with which to make JEFbot even bigger and better; without the enthusiasm and support you’ve shown over the past few years, I don’t think I’d even give this crazy plan a try. But, you know what? I’ve been given this opportunity, so I’m going to take it. And while I can’t say I won’t be spending time working on auditions or finding another job, I will say that, for the time being, JEFbot is my job.

With the worldwide recession going strong, I know a lot of you out there can relate to my situation, so know that I feel very fortunate to have such an outstanding group of readers keeping me passionate and hopeful about the future. Having a supportive group of family and friends is also something I’m thankful for every day. So with your readership and support, let’s see what can happen! I have a few things to settle over the next week before I can start going 100%, but know that this is an exciting time to be a BOTreader, and you should hold onto your butts and get ready for the next phase of JEFbot!