The monthly creative dispatch updates continue! While I’ve been working smarter and harder on my day work, the creative stuff continues to roll out.
My novel in progress, Hack Job, is continuing to move along at an acceptable pace. I’m about ten chapters in, and just shy of seventeen thousand words. It appears to be on target for somewhere around seventy to one hundred thousand words with the content I want to fit into it. I feel that John Ferryman, the protagonist of my love letter to cyberpunk science fiction, may even have a couple of stories to tell beyond the main novel, though any full-length follow-up titles are likely to feature new main characters. We’ll see how that goes.
On other creative fronts, gaming is looking to possibly blow up this year. I gave my dad a copy of Cthulhu Confidential for Christmas. While he got the physical copy, I got the PDF. We’ll take turns GM-ing over the internet once he’s gone off to Arizona. It’s a pared down version of the Gumshoe rules meant for one player and one gamemaster. It should solve some of our problems for finding a group provided we both get around to reading the rules soon.
Additionally, the Starfinder module mentioned previously is about seventy-five percent completed. I have all of the encounters outlined, I know all of the supporting cast. My pre-generated characters are all ready. The starships are designed. It’s all written down in a usable format. Some last-minute monster design details remain. I even made a map! I have two potential playtest groups forming, with one ready to start as soon as next week.
I was also asked by a good friend to set up a fantasy game. She knows a group she lovingly refers to as her ‘tabletop virgins’. With that in mind, I suggested Pathfinder in order to DM a module I’ve always wanted to run: The Haunting of Harrowstone. It’s Ravenloft flavored, so naturally, it drew my eye when it was first released. If the players really like it, they can even continue. I have the entire six-part Carrion Crown adventure path that will take them from level one to level twenty!
Finally, I need to make a big announcement: a short story that I submitted last year is earmarked for publication! This happened almost six months ago and I didn’t want to say anything until I had a contract in hand, but I can’t hide this any longer! Things are slow to develop (which I’m told is the norm). I’ll let everyone know which story and what publication it will be in as soon as I hear more from the publisher!
I’ve spent the past few days working on reorganizing my thoughts. They’ve been scattered as mentioned in my last mini post. Now that I’ve collated a few things and tidied up my studio enough so that it feels like a workspace again… I feel like progress is being made.
With that said, here’s where things are right now:
Active Projects:
Hack Job: Cyberpunk, action-adventure Target Goal: Novella or Novel length (50-70k) Present Word Count: 9,000
The Rise and Fall of R’yleh (Working Title): Cthulhu mythos, apocalyptic fiction Target Goal: Novel Length (70k) Present Word Count: 15,000
Backburner Projects
Lighthouses Podcast: Horror, podcast drama Target Goal: Ten, 20-minute episodes Delay Time: Three months. One episode written and ready for a pilot casting.
Projects In Final Edits
Now, Watch: Serial Killer, Horror Story Target Goal: Short story (4-7K)
Awaiting Publication
Hoomins: – More details as they come! Not sure exactly how much I’m able to divulge here, but when word comes down, I will keep you all informed of my dog’s-eye view of a zombie apocalypse. Very exciting times!
Other Notes and Observations
Life has grown in complexity on many fronts. Events from the summer continue to have repercussions. I am living in… interesting times. Despite challenges and obstacles, I’m starting to feel a bit more like things are on track. It’s not perfect – but as I get older, I come to realize that perfection is a fool’s errand on many fronts (of which editing is not one – hard lessons learned). A perfect life where all breaks are caught, all opportunities are seized, and at which a productivity event horizon is attained… is a fantasy. All to which I can aspire is to push as hard as I can to get as close as possible. Any further and that singularity of the immaculate will crush anything like life out of me. I’m okay with imperfection – it’s what Grammarly is for.
I have also become a night creature again – at least on my weekends. Uber continues to be a good source of income while working towards something more sustainable. It also is coming to inform me in my craft. My most recent work in progress, Hack Job, focuses on a futuristic combat cabbie, plying his illicit trade on an off-world colony. I have little doubt that many of the places I encounter during the evenings (and probably some of the people) will show up in some fashion or another.
And then there’s the dog. She continues to melt hearts, chew sticks, and generally inject a little of that imperfection I mentioned earlier. Stray dog hairs, chunks of destroyed chew toys, and the occasional turd now grace my home. She’s messy and inconvenient and wonderful. Just like life.
Lastly, I find myself in such a position to read again. Waiting in the car for my next passenger from PHL means that I have anywhere from a half-hour to an hour simply waiting in queue (which is the worst). I’ve made the most of it and hit up many novels and graphic novels in the meantime.
But, for now, this dispatch is concluded. See you later this week when I’ll talk about… something. Be there.
Three months. This is not the bench mark I want to set for my blog.
I suppose I could tell you all about the things that happened in those two months, but… they’d be hollow excuses. I hold myself accountable for letting this thing slip away from me. The good news is I’ve been working. It’s not been much – or enough – for a living. But, I haven’t been working on the things I should be. At least, not hard enough by my reckoning.
So, I’m hitting the reset button. I’m going to adjust be here more frequently. I have to readjust my battle plan so that I can get all of my writing stuff where it needs to be. I have to send out the work. I have to edit. I have to try to ignore the dog long enough to get these things done.
Did I mention we got a dog? She’s amazing.
Ella, the Stick Cruncher
I’ll admit, my time management skills have been bad for anything that isn’t driving for rideshare gigs. So… I have some work to do in that regard. It’s all a part of balance, and for a while now, I’ve been slipping on that balance.
I’m promising to come back again. We’re not done. I haven’t abandoned the 90’s film project, and I have a Cyberpunk story which might grow into a novella, which may grow into a novel. My critique group seems to like it, though it still needs a lot of work (and about 4,000 words less of exposition).
Apologies for the missed blog post last Thursday – the past seven days have been my first week on the path back to steadier income. I driving for Uber now, and I am learning the ropes while investigating a few other options. It’s been an overwhelmingly positive change so far. I like the work, I meet lots of new people, and they talk. I like to talk. When you meet new people and they like to talk, you learn about things you’d never have thought about before. I learned a couple things about recovering from addiction, what it’s like raising money for schools in West Africa, as well as the people in neighborhoods I’ve never been in before. I’ve also been drumming up a lot of old memories about places I haven’t been to in years. Then there’s the facet of a whole new way of employment – that in itself has a story brewing in my mind.
Speaking of which, let’s talk a little bit more about what’s been on my creative docket.
Creative Progress
Ossua: This has unfortunately stalled. I need to restructure it after reports back from my critique group. As is typical of a big idea, you need other people to show you the flaws in what you think is already concrete. It’s very much like the scientific method. In this case, if you’re going to do something extraordinary, you need to make sure you’re showing it in the best and most accessible way possible to others who do what you do. So… this could take a while. The story while interesting lacks some common things the group pointed out. So I have a lot of work ahead of me after I have figured out the way forward.
The Dream of the Nineties In Film: This has been a blast to write, and it’s coming to a conclusion soon. I think when it is complete, I will have the basics for a non-fiction piece that covers the nineties in film as well as my own personal experience of growing up in the decade. A lot of it has been cathartic. And a lot of it has simply been great fun. The completed work will need to be edited and then formatted (the whole format has been an evolution in progress since day one). I’ll need to add in some extra things – but that’s good. It will give new content and also show some growth hopefully. I’m not sure if it will be something I sell or provide as a portfolio piece for people who want to look at my blog writing capabilities or want an example of my ability to use InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator. Perhaps both on a long enough timeline.
New Short Story Seed: A gypsy cab driver with a slick, tech-capable ride in a cyberpunk future has an interesting night.
New Short Story Seed: Quantum Entanglement sheds new light on the very existence of life on earth as our sun begins to gutter out.
Short Story Mashups: I submitted a trunk story about societal collapse to my critique group against my better judgement last week. I liked the story when I wrote it two years ago, but when I look at it now I feel it needs something more. It turns out the group really liked it, and they noted that it dovetails with another story I submitted earlier. They’re completely right. It should have been really obvious to me, but it wasn’t. In the process, I’ve tagged at least two other stories that would also mash up to create a solid narrative. It needs more meat on the bones to become more than a novella, but it’d be worth the work as a great, Lovecraftian science horror piece. A new sticky joins my Kanban board.
Blog Work: I submitted an application to work for an online blogging company and also am speaking with a marketing company in Philadelphia after an interesting opportunity cropped up. Apparently, I may be able to put my storytelling ability to work for them. Hoping to learn a little more about that soon.
In Other News
I’ve been working on getting things done around the house. In addition to the usual stuff that keeps our house pest free and makes sure I don’t get arrested for public indecency, Project Retro has come out from its storage bin and awaits proper cabling. I have several of my old gaming systems lined up on a rack that was previously used to hold storage bins but has finally been cleared. I look forward to a chance to finally play Burning Rangers, as well as several of my old favorites like Xenogears or Sonic Adventures. They’ve been mothballed for a long time, so it’s good to see them out again. Once everything is set up, I shall have to celebrate with other gamers of the retro persuasion. I’m a little short on games (I’ve had to sell many) but 2nd and Charles is right around the corner.
On top of that, driving for Uber occasionally means waiting around to catch a ride. While waiting in the PHL ride share lot for the next person in queue, I had a chance to find a new author: Duane Swiercynski. Well, new to me. He has been working in crime and spy thrillers on the novel end of things for a while, and also writes a lot of capes and cowl work at Marvel. I started out with Severance Package, a tidy little story about an intelligence front company that goes incredibly pear shaped. It was Tarantino-esque in its over-the-topness. This has led me to acquire copies of further works, specifically The Blonde andCanary as well. If those go well, I may dig deeper in my quest to branch out a bit from Sci-fi, Fantasy, and Horror. I always felt that thriller genre stories needed more aliens, cyborgs, monsters, and ghosts. So to add them, knowing the original formulas helps. I’ve tried a little Hammett and Chandler in the past year or so. I also have some good examples in the Jonathan Maberry vein from the Joe Ledger series. The repertoire is building.
So, that’s the post for this Monday. It may take some time before I can really tackle the next phase of Dream. 1998 has a very long list of films to get to, but we’ll get there.
There’s not much to report about today in blog land. But I did think I should check in with you, dear readers. Because I promised posts on Mondays and Thursdays. I suppose I have something to say about projects.
I caught up with a friend of mine yesterday. He’s been buried under a lot of work but finally caught a moment to hang. I got to talking stories with him. I explained my present creative situation, which he encouraged. And slowly but surely, he drew out a couple projects I forgot about. The Lighthouses Podcast for one – not quite forgotten but back burnered at present – but also a few of my other worlds. Ossua has taken a lot of my focus as of late. But I also remembered my idea for the American Revolution… against Rome. I have a lot of ideas.
The problem I often find is one my friends always take great pains to remind me: Focus and Discipline are what make the difference between a hobby and a profession. This is something I’m hearing a lot. Focus is difficult for me sometimes. I’m keeping all of my project ideas and little story nuggets for later days. I have a feeling I’ll have many orphans in my project list. It’s been a struggle to keep focused. But, I’m getting better at picking and choosing my projects. And hopefully this turns the tides. Kanban is helping.
That said – there’s a ton of stuff I really want to get back to. So, I guess I better get started on completing the ones in front of me
A few years back I took a gamble on a comic called King City, by an artist named Brandon Graham. I’d seen it on the shelf a few times in stores and wasn’t quite sure it was for me. I spoke to my local proprietor of fine books (Between Books in Claymont, DE) and Greg, the owner, talked me into it (as is Greg’s custom). I took the book home and devoured it. It started a very strong love of the author/artist’s work in general.
Brandon Graham’s Strange Beginnings
Art flowers in strange places. In Brandon’s case, it started between two sources – graffiti art and pornography.
Graffiti is unsurprising. It doesn’t take more than a couple seconds to look at the body of his work to see street art gushing out. From his character designs to his backgrounds, everything has this wonderfully curvy kind of flow to it. Everything seems like it originates in the wide movements of the shoulder and elbow. As a designer, I know it’s not the case – when I draw a comic you can pretty much be guaranteed that my fingers are cramping to get precise control. I think most artists do in the medium. Graham applies that big, wide-open wall principle to his designs in the micro-cosm of panel art. The work isn’t always color, but when it is, you see it there too. Solid palates generally rule his roost with little or no gradation or visual clutter to get in the way.
The more surprising aspect of his genesis into comics was his start in adult cartoons. But, when you stop to think about it, it’s perfectly rational. Sex sells. It always has, and Brandon didn’t shy away from it with either Pillow Fight or Perverts of the Unknown. His foray into adult comics opened doors though. The porn years led to Multiple Warheads taking off and his being picked up by Image Comics. Additionally he had a deal going for some time with Tokyo Pop concerning his best work (in my opinion) King City.
Graham’s City That Never Sleeps
King City is, simply put, eye opening. Brandon Graham’s unique style also combines with the absurd, the punny, and the sexy. Here’s the details:
I don’t even particularly like cats, but… this cat is different.
Joe leads a complicated life. In recent years, he completed training with a far off group of mystics who trained him to be a Cat Master. His personal cat, Earthling J. J. Cattington III, possesses the power to do almost anything that Joe can dream up. All it takes is a proper explanation to Earthling, and then a quick injection of cat juice. Despite his newfound abilities, his return to King City after a long absence doesn’t make his life any easier.
The city has its own problems before adding Joe’s. There’s a strange Lovecraftian businessman running through the streets, eating the fingers of Yakuza soldiers, devouring souls, and otherwise causing trouble. Then there’s Joe’s luchador-styled best friend who works questionable jobs for a crime cartel. There’s a sexy, alien plant woman victimized by xenos trafficking. There’s new and incredibly bizarre street gangs (as well as really weird familiar ones). A mysterious femme fatale keeps crossing his path who seems to know something about the monstrous salaryman, too.
Oh, and then there’s Joe’s ex, Ana. Joe and Ana feel like there was nothing resolved in their past relationship, which makes things difficult for both of them when he wanders back to the city after a few years away. Despite lingering feelings, she’s got a new beau who has an addiction to a drug that eventually will transform his body into the same drug he’s using: Chalk. He got that way after using it to drive away the nightmares of his time in the zombie war going on in North Korea.
You can see why I like this so much. Between the style and the over-the-top ideas and action, King City grabs you by the frontal lobe and starts swinging into whatever it damn well pleases. Even the margins and book flaps are awesome, complete with puzzle sections, clever wordplay, and the occasional paper doll cut-out page. The whole package delivers to you a peyote fueled lens of science fiction that mixes in with kid’s pun books and a hint of Douglas Adams styled absurdity.
Art Collections
But, he doesn’t stop there. Brandon Graham is known to put out the occasional art collection, too. Walrus and Escalator are both of the books I regularly thumb through because his work is so fun to look at. In these works he delivers shorter stories, general art pieces, ramblings and other content that doesn’t fit in with his established work. I can only hope that we’ll get more of this sort of thing as his works continue to grow and evolve.
Recent Hits
Right now it’s my understanding that he’s working regularly on a Heavy Metal formatted production called Island. It’s not in the ultra-violent and mammary-heavy side of Heavy Metal; it’s more a collection of three or four stories assembled by Graham’s chosen collaborators over several episodes (Such as I.D. by Emma Rios, now available as its own graphic novel). Graham himself makes his own contributions as well as taking on the management of the effort.
Nice Facts, Poindexter; How Does Brandon Graham Inspire?
The man knows how to open up a world that takes you in. I hear so many creatives tell you that your characters are what the reader latches onto. There’s truth in that, but if those characters are just running around in the world I see everyday… it may not grab my eyeballs or my brain stem. Graham is really good at doing not just the tried-and-true character development stuff, he lets his settings, like King City, be characters in their own right.
Additionally, he does all of these little things – such as the before mentioned liner notes, or impromptu crossword puzzles, and really, really clever (and bad) puns when you least expect them. And then, there’s the sheer absurdity. The older I get, the more I appreciate that flat out illogical nature of our lives, and Brandon Graham knows how to maximize that.
His overall work gives me a high bar to look at and strive for. And if that isn’t inspiration, then I don’t know what is.
You Want To Know More
Of course you do. And you should. So go pay him a visit at his blog. He’s active on Tumblr as well. Or, go ahead and find his work at your local comic book store. If you’re looking for his bibliography, you could do worse than looking him up at Goodreads too.
