So, today, DC Comics announced a Justice League Canada title, spinning out of their Justice League of America book. It will be written by Canadian comic author Jeff Lemire and Mike McKone, one of my favorite artists, will be providing the pencils.
Excellent news.
Since the demise of the most recent Alpha Flight book, Canada has been forgotten by the "Big Two" and independent comics have been the only source of superhero adventures in the Great White North. Though considering the quality of those books put out, things are in good hands.
I, myself, wanted to create a superhero team based out of Canada, and set about it a few months ago, the end result being Canada Corps, a loose-knit group of heroes who band together in times of need to save the day. Unlike American cities, with higher populations, larger cities, and therefore, more prevalent (at least SEEMING so) crime rate, Canada is a more spread-out population and a crime rates, for he most part, are lower. Canada is closer to what one would have found back in ancient Greece- a loose collection of city-states, who all identify themselves as TRUE Canadians, feuding amongst themselves yet banding together against outsiders. Like the Athenians and Spartan putting aside differences to fight off invaders.
Canadians heroes are cut from a different cloth than the "traditional" American heroes. Whereas most American folk heroes are individuals whose excellence, ambition and skill propel them to heights, Canada is a nation of regular every day people who are thrust into extraordinary circumstances and do their best to rise to the challenge. Heroes who's quiet strength is their greatest asset and their compassion a key component to what makes them tick. Batman or the Punisher would never have been Canadian. The rage and drive to punish, although there, is not what motivates most Canadian heroes, both real and fictional, but a desire to make things better, to seek and understanding and to improve quality of life. It's no wonder a Canadian-born person came up with Superman.
That's not to say Americans are bloodthirsty gun-toting killers- far from it, but if you look back throughout history, American heroes are much more celebrated for their drive and personal achievements than their Canadian counter-parts. Here's a guy you've probably never heard of, Peter Lemon. You can read up on him here: http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/Military/peter_lemon.htm A remarkable individual, indeed.
And that's where my characters that make up Canada Corps come from- a place where every day people, though some may have superhuman abilities, step up at times of need and make the sacrifices that they need to for the greater good. They don't ask for accolades, in fact most shun them, and for the most part they just want to do the job and go back to their lives. A housewife, a police constable, a mechanic, a student, a former street gang member, a first-generation Canadian, and a couple of teenagers make up Canada Corps. They all come from different backgrounds and have different reasons for doing what they do; standing on guard against any evil that might threaten their nation, or the world.
How do they differ from the Big Two's heroes?
Well DC's new title, as excited as I am by it, ISN'T mainly populated by Canadians, but by American heroes who are forced to relocate (much like during Marvel's Civil War which saw USAgent, Arachne, and a couple others flee north of the border to escape persecution- sort of how it sounds for the JLC too...) in much the way that men trying to avoid the Vietnam draft did, back in the day.
Marvel's Alpha Flight is, in many ways, very much representative of how Canadians view themselves. Nowhere else would a team be comprised of a French-speaking schizophrenic, her brother (who later would be revealed as one of the first gay characters in comics), a former CFL football player turned scientist (who would later inhabit the body of a woman, making him one of the first transgendered characters), a person of short stature (named after a piece of hockey equipment or a sprite from a Shakespeare play- either works), a Native American doctor, a goddess who could take the form of any animal found in Canada, and led, originally by a scientist who left a big American corporation over moral grounds. Later they would be taken over by his wife (who did a far superior job of leading, even). Add to that their biggest name (Wolverine) would leave to go south of the border to join the X-Men (shades of Wayne Gretzky or any other athlete, or actor, that wants to make it big, it seems), and Alpha Flight became the quintessential Canadian superhero team. They never got much respect in their own world, but in ours, their fans were passionate and kept the team coming back every time the series was cancelled. Even getting KILLED wasn't enough to keep them down, and the members have returned time and again to serve a country that they love and believe in.
Canada Corps will see to it that they are not alone.
Saturday, 24 August 2013
Thursday, 25 July 2013
Creator Spotlight: Christine Steendam
One of the things that I had said I was going to do on this blog was spotlight some of the authors, musicians, and other artists who I think are deserving of more recognition- people that have created something that, quite frankly, I believe you will benefit from looking into. For the debut spotlight, I thought it only fitting to feature a fellow author who, like myself, published their first work this year, and one who I think you'll be hearing a great deal from in the coming years, Christine Steendam.
This evening I was fortunate enough to meet one of the writer's who's work I've come to admire. Christine Steendam the author of Heart Like An Ocean, a historical romance novel that tells the story of... Well, you know what, let's just take it straight from the book description on Amazon, because I doubt my simple words can do it justice.
"In a society where she doesn't belong, Senona Montez, a strong-willed and free-spirited woman refuses to follow the path expected of a Don's only child.
On the eve of her marriage to a stranger, she saddles her horse and flees everything she knows, only to discover the petty concerns of society did not prepare her for the harsh life on the open sea. She finds an unlikely protector in a reckless privateer, Brant Foxton.
Straddling the worlds of independence and privilege in 1600's Europe, this captivating man challenges her in ways she never thought possible, shows her what living to the fullest really means, and allows her to follow her heart wherever it leads."
Sounds pretty intense, right? And, it is. However, it is also a fun and entertaining read. The characters are excellent, real, and you find yourself quickly becoming wrapped up in their stories- even if, like myself, this isn't a genre that you would normally pick up.
I wrote a small review on the Amazon page if you'd like to check it out and while you are at it, make sure to pick up the book. Extremely reasonably priced and well worth every penny. http://www.amazon.ca/Heart-Like-an-Ocean-ebook/dp/B00BC2TCJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374738927&sr=8-1&keywords=heart+like+an+ocean
But I digress.
The reason I was writing this was not only to spotlight her work, but also the author herself. To me, the person who writes the book is as important as the book itself. That's just my feeling on the subject, but I'm always fascinated by the story behind the story-teller. Why did they choose to tell this particular story? Does it reflect anything about the author, themselves? What made them decide to be a writer in the first place?
I first became aware of Christine during the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project/contest when I was browsing through the list of local participants. There were a fair bit of folks from the great big city (aka Winnipeg) but only a handful of us from the outlying area (aka the "country") and I made an effort to keep track of how the others from my "group" were doing in regards to word count.
For whatever reason, Christine was one of the two or three entrants who's word count I kept an eye on. Part of it was because she sounded very "on the ball" as they say- she had a plan, had participated before, and just seemed like she was someone who I could use as a measuring stick.
For the first week and a bit, my word count kicked her's butt. Then, it didn't. Slowly but surely, she continued at a steady stream of increasing output until she FAR surpassed what I had. Eventually, I ended up dropping out, and she would go on to complete the 50,000 word goal, with time to spare.
That stuck in my head. I had dropped out partly because I had started a new job that turned out to be extremely stressful in the learning curve, and part because I was lazy. I lost that drive to continue on. Not her, however. She persevered, even when stuck, and managed to not only hit the goal, but surpass it.
So, when her book came out, I remembered what she had accomplished, and thought I'd send some support to a local author who had made good on her writing and had pushed me (unknowingly, and only for a few weeks, but nonetheless) to push myself, and so I bought the e-book version of Heart Like An Ocean.
As if destroying my word count during NaNoWriMo wasn't enough, she destroyed my preconceived notions on romance novels. It wasn't some tried and true same old song and dance romance novel, with two-dimensional characters and a predictable plot. Far from it, in fact. Her characters had depth, reacted realistically, the plot was anything BUT predictable, and, nothing against Christine, exceeded any expectations that I had. Quite simply, it was a great book.
So when I had the chance to meet her and exchange books, me having just released LEGACY, and her with a print copy of HLAO, I jumped at it.
She was everything one might hope for in speaking with a writer- eloquent, intelligent, thoughtful about the "art", humble about her success, and eager to see others succeed as well.
I fully expected us to have a "writers talk" along the lines of trading stories about the, well, stories that we had written and our experiences in getting to our respective debuts. We did, but mainly the time spent was of telling some of our OWN life stories. I was treated to a few small tales of her time in school, of her son, Jasper and his adventures, and her husband, Kyle, who sounds like a pretty cool dude in his own rights.
It seems that writers are always interested in stories, whether ones that they've made up, or ones that they, or others, have lived. A good story, is a good story.
Which answers a question that Christine had posed to me in a previous conversation: Is her writing going to turn me into a fan of romance novels? The answer to that, is no. I don't think I could ever get into reading strictly romance.
BUT, you better believe that her writing has made me a fan of Christine Steendam, a skilled writer who crafts a compelling story with engaging characters that you genuinely care about, and I eagerly await any book that she publishes. And you should too.
This evening I was fortunate enough to meet one of the writer's who's work I've come to admire. Christine Steendam the author of Heart Like An Ocean, a historical romance novel that tells the story of... Well, you know what, let's just take it straight from the book description on Amazon, because I doubt my simple words can do it justice.
"In a society where she doesn't belong, Senona Montez, a strong-willed and free-spirited woman refuses to follow the path expected of a Don's only child.
On the eve of her marriage to a stranger, she saddles her horse and flees everything she knows, only to discover the petty concerns of society did not prepare her for the harsh life on the open sea. She finds an unlikely protector in a reckless privateer, Brant Foxton.
Straddling the worlds of independence and privilege in 1600's Europe, this captivating man challenges her in ways she never thought possible, shows her what living to the fullest really means, and allows her to follow her heart wherever it leads."
Sounds pretty intense, right? And, it is. However, it is also a fun and entertaining read. The characters are excellent, real, and you find yourself quickly becoming wrapped up in their stories- even if, like myself, this isn't a genre that you would normally pick up.
I wrote a small review on the Amazon page if you'd like to check it out and while you are at it, make sure to pick up the book. Extremely reasonably priced and well worth every penny. http://www.amazon.ca/Heart-Like-an-Ocean-ebook/dp/B00BC2TCJA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374738927&sr=8-1&keywords=heart+like+an+ocean
But I digress.
The reason I was writing this was not only to spotlight her work, but also the author herself. To me, the person who writes the book is as important as the book itself. That's just my feeling on the subject, but I'm always fascinated by the story behind the story-teller. Why did they choose to tell this particular story? Does it reflect anything about the author, themselves? What made them decide to be a writer in the first place?
I first became aware of Christine during the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) project/contest when I was browsing through the list of local participants. There were a fair bit of folks from the great big city (aka Winnipeg) but only a handful of us from the outlying area (aka the "country") and I made an effort to keep track of how the others from my "group" were doing in regards to word count.
For whatever reason, Christine was one of the two or three entrants who's word count I kept an eye on. Part of it was because she sounded very "on the ball" as they say- she had a plan, had participated before, and just seemed like she was someone who I could use as a measuring stick.
For the first week and a bit, my word count kicked her's butt. Then, it didn't. Slowly but surely, she continued at a steady stream of increasing output until she FAR surpassed what I had. Eventually, I ended up dropping out, and she would go on to complete the 50,000 word goal, with time to spare.
That stuck in my head. I had dropped out partly because I had started a new job that turned out to be extremely stressful in the learning curve, and part because I was lazy. I lost that drive to continue on. Not her, however. She persevered, even when stuck, and managed to not only hit the goal, but surpass it.
So, when her book came out, I remembered what she had accomplished, and thought I'd send some support to a local author who had made good on her writing and had pushed me (unknowingly, and only for a few weeks, but nonetheless) to push myself, and so I bought the e-book version of Heart Like An Ocean.
As if destroying my word count during NaNoWriMo wasn't enough, she destroyed my preconceived notions on romance novels. It wasn't some tried and true same old song and dance romance novel, with two-dimensional characters and a predictable plot. Far from it, in fact. Her characters had depth, reacted realistically, the plot was anything BUT predictable, and, nothing against Christine, exceeded any expectations that I had. Quite simply, it was a great book.
So when I had the chance to meet her and exchange books, me having just released LEGACY, and her with a print copy of HLAO, I jumped at it.
She was everything one might hope for in speaking with a writer- eloquent, intelligent, thoughtful about the "art", humble about her success, and eager to see others succeed as well.
I fully expected us to have a "writers talk" along the lines of trading stories about the, well, stories that we had written and our experiences in getting to our respective debuts. We did, but mainly the time spent was of telling some of our OWN life stories. I was treated to a few small tales of her time in school, of her son, Jasper and his adventures, and her husband, Kyle, who sounds like a pretty cool dude in his own rights.
It seems that writers are always interested in stories, whether ones that they've made up, or ones that they, or others, have lived. A good story, is a good story.
Which answers a question that Christine had posed to me in a previous conversation: Is her writing going to turn me into a fan of romance novels? The answer to that, is no. I don't think I could ever get into reading strictly romance.
BUT, you better believe that her writing has made me a fan of Christine Steendam, a skilled writer who crafts a compelling story with engaging characters that you genuinely care about, and I eagerly await any book that she publishes. And you should too.
Friday, 5 July 2013
First Day of the First Book
Hey there, everyone! I'm back! Well, here we are, just over 25 hours in to the release of my first comic book, LEGACY #1, just in case SOMEHOW you missed the flurry of Facebook posts, tweets, text messages and emails. There was supposed to be carrier pigeons too but apparently that went out of style some time back. I call it classic, you call it animal cruelty. Details, details... I'm kidding. I'm from Canada, so of course it would have been geese. Or polar bears. MESSENGER BEAVERS. Now THAT would be cool. Maybe one day...
But I digress.
So far, the book is doing quite well for such a small-scale release: print copies are currently available only through me (though I am willing to send them ANYWHERE as long as you, at least, help out with some of the shipping) and digital is currently on DriveThruComics. There ARE plans in the works to get digital and print-on-demand through more websites, but alas, those are taking longer than I was hoping, to get going. That's all on me; I waited too long and made some assumptions about technical spec similarities and all sorts of other minor details that turned into not-so-minor delays. I'm working on it though! It will happen! Eventually. Either way: If you want a copy (or even several copies) of this book, I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. GUARANTEED. Even if I have to hire those messenger beavers with their exorbitant rates. It. Will. Happen.
Digital sales are doing decently so far, and at last count, over 75 print copies will be sold by the weekend. Won't be giving Brian Michael Bendis or Geoff Johns any competition in the sales VOLUME category, but I like to think I have a better class of fans (he said, clearly sucking up). For, more or less, local word of mouth, I'm pretty satisfied for a start like that.
By month's end, I should be out of the first run print and be heading into a second printing; and all without even putting it into a store. Yet. That's in the works as well, but the plan all along has been to get more of a body of work together before going that route. A novel you can take anywhere from a day to a month to read; a comic book, even the wordy ones, take much less time. Therefore, I want to have at least a couple that can be released in short(ish) order, to get people coming back to the store for a steady diet of books.
You wonderful folks who are buying now are lucky in that you get the books first, but unfortunately will have to wait a little longer to get your next fix. And it's going to be a GOOD one! Andre's art is going to make worth the wait. The story's pretty darn too, in my not so humble and completely biased opinion. ;) More on the release dates/schedule/plans in a post coming up. For now, just take some time to pat yourself on the back for being part of something that's been a long-time dream of mine. Thanks for being part of it, even if you haven't bought a copy yet.
What are you waiting for? Go buy one!
Andrew
But I digress.
So far, the book is doing quite well for such a small-scale release: print copies are currently available only through me (though I am willing to send them ANYWHERE as long as you, at least, help out with some of the shipping) and digital is currently on DriveThruComics. There ARE plans in the works to get digital and print-on-demand through more websites, but alas, those are taking longer than I was hoping, to get going. That's all on me; I waited too long and made some assumptions about technical spec similarities and all sorts of other minor details that turned into not-so-minor delays. I'm working on it though! It will happen! Eventually. Either way: If you want a copy (or even several copies) of this book, I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN. GUARANTEED. Even if I have to hire those messenger beavers with their exorbitant rates. It. Will. Happen.
Digital sales are doing decently so far, and at last count, over 75 print copies will be sold by the weekend. Won't be giving Brian Michael Bendis or Geoff Johns any competition in the sales VOLUME category, but I like to think I have a better class of fans (he said, clearly sucking up). For, more or less, local word of mouth, I'm pretty satisfied for a start like that.
By month's end, I should be out of the first run print and be heading into a second printing; and all without even putting it into a store. Yet. That's in the works as well, but the plan all along has been to get more of a body of work together before going that route. A novel you can take anywhere from a day to a month to read; a comic book, even the wordy ones, take much less time. Therefore, I want to have at least a couple that can be released in short(ish) order, to get people coming back to the store for a steady diet of books.
You wonderful folks who are buying now are lucky in that you get the books first, but unfortunately will have to wait a little longer to get your next fix. And it's going to be a GOOD one! Andre's art is going to make worth the wait. The story's pretty darn too, in my not so humble and completely biased opinion. ;) More on the release dates/schedule/plans in a post coming up. For now, just take some time to pat yourself on the back for being part of something that's been a long-time dream of mine. Thanks for being part of it, even if you haven't bought a copy yet.
What are you waiting for? Go buy one!
Andrew
Thursday, 4 July 2013
LEGACY #1 Is Officially Released! Aka I Have Actually Published a Comic Book!
Well, here we are, folks.
We made it.
LEGACY #1 is a reality.
The books are all in, the PDF is up for sale on DriveThruComics ( http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=4393 ) and I'm plastering it all over my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Hopefully a few other people decide to throw it up on theirs too, to get the word out.
It's been quite the journey to get to this point; Mike and I first spoke back in March of 2012 (the 15th to be specific) and, though the book was finished some time back, we're just getting to the release now (printing and shipping take far longer than anyone who's ever had to wait, would like LOL).
I want to thank everyone who's been part of it; from the people who encouraged me to get back into writing to the people who've only heard about the book recently- I know I've thanked people a lot in these posts, but trust me, it will never be enough. That being said, if you REALLY want me to thank you, throw a couple bucks my way for a copy (or 5!) of LEGACY and odds are I will hug you for no extra charge. And if you say something nice about it, I may even wash your car for free! (There's a 99% chance that I won't but, hey, you never know.)
There's been more than a few times I almost walked away from doing this, but I'm glad I didn't, and happy that I'll be doing it more, down the road. LEGACY #2 will be out this Fall and New Guard #1 will kick off our as Winter release and the first of 2014. And just to let you know- it gets better with every book. ;) Glad to have you all along for the ride, can't wait to show you what's in store... It's going to be a blast!
Andrew
We made it.
LEGACY #1 is a reality.
The books are all in, the PDF is up for sale on DriveThruComics ( http://comics.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=4393 ) and I'm plastering it all over my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Hopefully a few other people decide to throw it up on theirs too, to get the word out.
It's been quite the journey to get to this point; Mike and I first spoke back in March of 2012 (the 15th to be specific) and, though the book was finished some time back, we're just getting to the release now (printing and shipping take far longer than anyone who's ever had to wait, would like LOL).
I want to thank everyone who's been part of it; from the people who encouraged me to get back into writing to the people who've only heard about the book recently- I know I've thanked people a lot in these posts, but trust me, it will never be enough. That being said, if you REALLY want me to thank you, throw a couple bucks my way for a copy (or 5!) of LEGACY and odds are I will hug you for no extra charge. And if you say something nice about it, I may even wash your car for free! (There's a 99% chance that I won't but, hey, you never know.)
There's been more than a few times I almost walked away from doing this, but I'm glad I didn't, and happy that I'll be doing it more, down the road. LEGACY #2 will be out this Fall and New Guard #1 will kick off our as Winter release and the first of 2014. And just to let you know- it gets better with every book. ;) Glad to have you all along for the ride, can't wait to show you what's in store... It's going to be a blast!
Andrew
Friday, 28 June 2013
Almost there...
In less than a week, my first published work, self-published, yes, but published nonetheless, will be released for sale. Something that I wrote will be out there for people to buy. And read. That is a pretty big thing. A HUGE thing, in fact.
It's not necessarily my best work, as a matter of fact, I know it's not as good as it could have been, but it's what it SHOULD be.
I never intended to go out and hit a home-run with my first issue of LEGACY. There's a few reasons for that. LEGACY is a long-form story, a style that has come under fire the last year or so from some critics who dislike having to read more than one issue to get the whole story. I get their points on it, and in fact, I agree with many that we need more "one and done" books as they call them. It's not exclusive to comic books by any means. When was the last time you saw a really good movie that didn't end up with a sequel or prequel, later on? LEGACY is a story that spans from the late 1800s to the "future", and therefore it only makes sense to be told in long form. LEGACY is a generational story, it is a story of a city, the people who live in it, and their families- it only makes sense that not every book will tell a complete story. Not to say that there won't be issues like that- I have SEVERAL in mind, as a matter of fact.
But I digress.
LEGACY #1 is an introduction to the city and some of the players; the people that we'll follow and get to know as the series goes on. Locations that we'll go back to and will have their own stories to be told. A friend of mine once told me that he could never get in to Batman or Spider-Man or any other comic that had been out for a long time because the depth of history and story was just "too much to catch up on".
As a matter of fact, my favorite comic book writer, Geoff Johns, answered that very question in an interview once, and I thought it rang quite true. I'm paraphrasing but the basic of it was "when you first meet someone, you don't suddenly know everything about them- they've lived a life before you met them, and it takes time gradually you learn bits and pieces of their lives and even then, there will always be things that you didn't know, that await discovery, or that you will never know".
I probably butchered his quote but I'm working from memory and he's much more eloquent than myself. The idea stuck with me though. The idea that you have to start somewhere and I took that and applied it to the first issue of LEGACY. #1 is a handshake, a "how do you do" or a name-tag saying "hi, my name is...". You aren't meant to know everything right away. It's not meant to tell a complete story, it's meant to give you just enough to make you want to come back and explore some more. To give you a peek into the world that I'm creating.
A world that I hope you'll find interesting and fun as I do. One that evolves every day- a world much like our own; a world full of people, both good and bad, and others just trying to get by. A world where wondrous things happen as well as the mundane, where hopes and dreams are realized and where struggles sometimes are too much for one person to overcome. A place where anything can, and will, happen. It's a lot like your life and the world around you.
But this world has supervillains. Alien armadas. Giant killer robots. Time rifts that threaten to tear apart reality. Dark sorcerers bent on conquest. Secret societies who wish to dominate people's hearts and rule humanity. It's a scary world to live in.
There is hope, however. Much like our world, there are good people who strive to make it a better place to live, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, to guard against these new and frightening threats, sentries against the worst that might come our way. There are heroes. Like us, they are, for the most part, human. They have within them the same potential for greatness and the same frailties that they seek to overcome. Some will fall. Some will soar higher and accomplish more than they could ever dream.
Much like us.
So why should you read LEGACY? What does it have to offer? Hopes and dreams. Fears and nightmares. Failure and success. Stories of life. But in colorful costumes and cool super-powered fights. Sounds like fun, huh? ;)
LEGACY #1 has been a journey for me of not only time put in, but of lessons learned. It's one thing to read a book, comic or otherwise, it's another to write one. I've been fortunate enough to have a good support team in place, and a great partner in doing this first book, Mr. Mike Campeau. I cannot thank him enough for all his hard work on this initial chapter in not only LEGACY, but in my writing career. Huh. Writing career. That looks pretty cool. Here's hoping that you think the same of #1 and tune in for the next chapter in the book and my career as a writer. It's going to be a heckuva story, however it all works out.
Follow your dreams, before you know it, you'll be living them.
Andrew
It's not necessarily my best work, as a matter of fact, I know it's not as good as it could have been, but it's what it SHOULD be.
I never intended to go out and hit a home-run with my first issue of LEGACY. There's a few reasons for that. LEGACY is a long-form story, a style that has come under fire the last year or so from some critics who dislike having to read more than one issue to get the whole story. I get their points on it, and in fact, I agree with many that we need more "one and done" books as they call them. It's not exclusive to comic books by any means. When was the last time you saw a really good movie that didn't end up with a sequel or prequel, later on? LEGACY is a story that spans from the late 1800s to the "future", and therefore it only makes sense to be told in long form. LEGACY is a generational story, it is a story of a city, the people who live in it, and their families- it only makes sense that not every book will tell a complete story. Not to say that there won't be issues like that- I have SEVERAL in mind, as a matter of fact.
But I digress.
LEGACY #1 is an introduction to the city and some of the players; the people that we'll follow and get to know as the series goes on. Locations that we'll go back to and will have their own stories to be told. A friend of mine once told me that he could never get in to Batman or Spider-Man or any other comic that had been out for a long time because the depth of history and story was just "too much to catch up on".
As a matter of fact, my favorite comic book writer, Geoff Johns, answered that very question in an interview once, and I thought it rang quite true. I'm paraphrasing but the basic of it was "when you first meet someone, you don't suddenly know everything about them- they've lived a life before you met them, and it takes time gradually you learn bits and pieces of their lives and even then, there will always be things that you didn't know, that await discovery, or that you will never know".
I probably butchered his quote but I'm working from memory and he's much more eloquent than myself. The idea stuck with me though. The idea that you have to start somewhere and I took that and applied it to the first issue of LEGACY. #1 is a handshake, a "how do you do" or a name-tag saying "hi, my name is...". You aren't meant to know everything right away. It's not meant to tell a complete story, it's meant to give you just enough to make you want to come back and explore some more. To give you a peek into the world that I'm creating.
A world that I hope you'll find interesting and fun as I do. One that evolves every day- a world much like our own; a world full of people, both good and bad, and others just trying to get by. A world where wondrous things happen as well as the mundane, where hopes and dreams are realized and where struggles sometimes are too much for one person to overcome. A place where anything can, and will, happen. It's a lot like your life and the world around you.
But this world has supervillains. Alien armadas. Giant killer robots. Time rifts that threaten to tear apart reality. Dark sorcerers bent on conquest. Secret societies who wish to dominate people's hearts and rule humanity. It's a scary world to live in.
There is hope, however. Much like our world, there are good people who strive to make it a better place to live, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, to guard against these new and frightening threats, sentries against the worst that might come our way. There are heroes. Like us, they are, for the most part, human. They have within them the same potential for greatness and the same frailties that they seek to overcome. Some will fall. Some will soar higher and accomplish more than they could ever dream.
Much like us.
So why should you read LEGACY? What does it have to offer? Hopes and dreams. Fears and nightmares. Failure and success. Stories of life. But in colorful costumes and cool super-powered fights. Sounds like fun, huh? ;)
LEGACY #1 has been a journey for me of not only time put in, but of lessons learned. It's one thing to read a book, comic or otherwise, it's another to write one. I've been fortunate enough to have a good support team in place, and a great partner in doing this first book, Mr. Mike Campeau. I cannot thank him enough for all his hard work on this initial chapter in not only LEGACY, but in my writing career. Huh. Writing career. That looks pretty cool. Here's hoping that you think the same of #1 and tune in for the next chapter in the book and my career as a writer. It's going to be a heckuva story, however it all works out.
Follow your dreams, before you know it, you'll be living them.
Andrew
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
The Best Laid Plans...
OK. So remember how the other week I said that I'd be writing more- both on scripts and here on the blog? Regular installments and all that jazz? Well... Yeah... Best laid plains and so.
Well the GOOD news is that I have at least being keeping up with the script stuff. A bit. LEGACY #5 is almost done- last week (I think) I hammered out six really good pages in one night, and now we're pretty much at the end of that book. Four pages left- the last one a splash-style page, so that will be very easy to write. Essentially I'm telling the artist what's happening (very basic stuff) and to make it LOOK COOL. With the super talented individuals I work with, I have no doubt that it will.
That's pretty much where we're at, at the moment, but if you follow the Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/September17Productions ) or the Twitter ( @AndrewLorenz17 ) you'll have seen that I've decided to expand the S17verse a bit.
Welcome Canada's very own superhuman team, Canada Corps! Comprised of seven individuals from a variety of backgrounds and reasons for being part of this squad of heroes, The Corps will protect not only the Great White North, but the world as well. This isn't some token team, these guys can give any villain or hero a run for their money. And, in typical Canadian fashion (except maybe me) they do it without the need to be as flashy and media-seeking as their global counterparts (what can I say, I LIKE the attention).
As I finish fleshing out the details (this weekend most likely as they are 90% done) I will be posting more about them on here, and maybe even highlighting the process behind their creation. That's assuming you folks want to risk peering inside my head. It's an often confusing place but it's filled with shiny things and chocolate, so there's that, at least.
LEGACY #1, despite still being in the printing process, has already managed to sell, through an informal pre-order, 1/3 of the Collector's Edition and about 1/6 of the regular edition. Not bad, considering that the book won't be released until June 28th.
New Guard #1 is coming along, and we're on a brief hiatus for work on LEGACY- #3 linework is completed but, due to bills (man, I hate those), we've pushed back the start on that until the beginning of July. Artists like getting paid for the work they do, apparently. And rightfully so. When you see some of the stuff that Andre's come up with... Well if I had the cash, I'd be giving him a huge raise. Fan-freaking-tastic stuff. Hands-down better than half the stuff on the stands. I buy about three dozen titles a month, so I KNOW what I'm talking about.
Tomorrow night, as far as I can tell, I'm going to have some free time, so if I manage to stay away from the PS3 and other distractions, I'm going to finish of LEGACY #5 and maybe do up another of these. There's a few fellow creative-type people- written word, drawn picture, as well as musical sorta stuff who I really think you should take a glance at or listen to. Not only are they talented, they're good people too- at least in my opinion. Good people, good art. Good times!
Catch you wonderful folks later!
Andrew
Well the GOOD news is that I have at least being keeping up with the script stuff. A bit. LEGACY #5 is almost done- last week (I think) I hammered out six really good pages in one night, and now we're pretty much at the end of that book. Four pages left- the last one a splash-style page, so that will be very easy to write. Essentially I'm telling the artist what's happening (very basic stuff) and to make it LOOK COOL. With the super talented individuals I work with, I have no doubt that it will.
That's pretty much where we're at, at the moment, but if you follow the Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/September17Productions ) or the Twitter ( @AndrewLorenz17 ) you'll have seen that I've decided to expand the S17verse a bit.
Welcome Canada's very own superhuman team, Canada Corps! Comprised of seven individuals from a variety of backgrounds and reasons for being part of this squad of heroes, The Corps will protect not only the Great White North, but the world as well. This isn't some token team, these guys can give any villain or hero a run for their money. And, in typical Canadian fashion (except maybe me) they do it without the need to be as flashy and media-seeking as their global counterparts (what can I say, I LIKE the attention).
As I finish fleshing out the details (this weekend most likely as they are 90% done) I will be posting more about them on here, and maybe even highlighting the process behind their creation. That's assuming you folks want to risk peering inside my head. It's an often confusing place but it's filled with shiny things and chocolate, so there's that, at least.
LEGACY #1, despite still being in the printing process, has already managed to sell, through an informal pre-order, 1/3 of the Collector's Edition and about 1/6 of the regular edition. Not bad, considering that the book won't be released until June 28th.
New Guard #1 is coming along, and we're on a brief hiatus for work on LEGACY- #3 linework is completed but, due to bills (man, I hate those), we've pushed back the start on that until the beginning of July. Artists like getting paid for the work they do, apparently. And rightfully so. When you see some of the stuff that Andre's come up with... Well if I had the cash, I'd be giving him a huge raise. Fan-freaking-tastic stuff. Hands-down better than half the stuff on the stands. I buy about three dozen titles a month, so I KNOW what I'm talking about.
Tomorrow night, as far as I can tell, I'm going to have some free time, so if I manage to stay away from the PS3 and other distractions, I'm going to finish of LEGACY #5 and maybe do up another of these. There's a few fellow creative-type people- written word, drawn picture, as well as musical sorta stuff who I really think you should take a glance at or listen to. Not only are they talented, they're good people too- at least in my opinion. Good people, good art. Good times!
Catch you wonderful folks later!
Andrew
Saturday, 11 May 2013
It's May 5, 2013. To date, I have written zero blogs, one chapter of my novel Formerly Known As the Invincible Kid, and have yet to complete a full comic book script since this year began. For a guy who is trying to establish himself as a writer, self-published or not, this is unacceptable.
I could offer dozens of reasons as to why I've had such low production: my boys on the weekends take up a lot of time, still adjusting to a new job that I started not that long before the new year started, I've started a (fairly) steady work-out program that I wasn't doing before, I've made time to catch up with friends that I haven't seen in months, and spent a fair bit of time coordinating the art for my various comic books in production. Also, the dog ate my homework. Yeah...that excuse never flew in school (plus I don't have a dog) and it sure doesn't now.
There IS no excuse for not writing. If you want to write, you make the time. Five minutes less of playing DCU Online wouldn't kill me, and really my artists are such great people to deal with that there's no way I could even jokingly call it WORK. Genuine pleasure to collaborate with and just talk to.
I'm not saying I haven't written ANYTHING- in fact I rewrote (twice, in fact) the script for LEGACY #5. Both rewrites were not to my liking and I scrapped both and started over again. First time that I've done a third draft, which, by the way, is turning out to be my best yet. You folks are going to love it when the book comes out in the first quarter of next year. Or is that second quarter...? Either way, it'll be a great comic and well worth the wait!
So, what's the point of this blog, you may ask? Well, for one, it's an apology to anyone who's supported this dream of being a writer, that I have, because, I haven't been lately. A writer, writes. It doubles as a public declaration that I'm going to get my act together, ass in gear and all that other stuff- I WILL be posting regular, weekly, blog posts. If nothing else, at least THAT will ensure I am doing SOME type of regular writing. You can expect topics to range all over the place- some will be about my on-going writing journey, some will be random rants (possibly spiced rum induced) and others will profile various writers, artists, musicians, movies, tv shows, comic books and other goodness that I believe that you, my loyal followers (and you other poor saps who somehow found your way on here), would benefit from learning about. If I think it's cool, then it MUST be. Right?
Catch you next week!
Andrew Lorenz
(aka Captain Awesome)
I could offer dozens of reasons as to why I've had such low production: my boys on the weekends take up a lot of time, still adjusting to a new job that I started not that long before the new year started, I've started a (fairly) steady work-out program that I wasn't doing before, I've made time to catch up with friends that I haven't seen in months, and spent a fair bit of time coordinating the art for my various comic books in production. Also, the dog ate my homework. Yeah...that excuse never flew in school (plus I don't have a dog) and it sure doesn't now.
There IS no excuse for not writing. If you want to write, you make the time. Five minutes less of playing DCU Online wouldn't kill me, and really my artists are such great people to deal with that there's no way I could even jokingly call it WORK. Genuine pleasure to collaborate with and just talk to.
I'm not saying I haven't written ANYTHING- in fact I rewrote (twice, in fact) the script for LEGACY #5. Both rewrites were not to my liking and I scrapped both and started over again. First time that I've done a third draft, which, by the way, is turning out to be my best yet. You folks are going to love it when the book comes out in the first quarter of next year. Or is that second quarter...? Either way, it'll be a great comic and well worth the wait!
So, what's the point of this blog, you may ask? Well, for one, it's an apology to anyone who's supported this dream of being a writer, that I have, because, I haven't been lately. A writer, writes. It doubles as a public declaration that I'm going to get my act together, ass in gear and all that other stuff- I WILL be posting regular, weekly, blog posts. If nothing else, at least THAT will ensure I am doing SOME type of regular writing. You can expect topics to range all over the place- some will be about my on-going writing journey, some will be random rants (possibly spiced rum induced) and others will profile various writers, artists, musicians, movies, tv shows, comic books and other goodness that I believe that you, my loyal followers (and you other poor saps who somehow found your way on here), would benefit from learning about. If I think it's cool, then it MUST be. Right?
Catch you next week!
Andrew Lorenz
(aka Captain Awesome)
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
New Day Job aka Thing That Pays For What I Really WANT To Be Doing
So here we are, on week number two at my new job. New jobs, to me, are both exciting and terrifying. I absolutely HATE not knowing what the hell I'm doing (though really you'd think I'd be used to that by now) but at the same time there's something quite...relaxing in being able to shrug and say "Hm. I dunno, I'm the new guy." And then go find some other poor bastard to do whatever crazy job it is that needs to be done. Luckily so far it hasn't been too terribly difficult, a lot of similarities to the old job; including many of the same people- an advantage to staying within the industry. Good teachers help a great deal too (thanks, Matt!). The new place is quite a bit more PROfessional though. Meetings with charts and stuff? Pro. The old place was more fly by the seat of your pants- which always made it quite exciting. Miss that to a degree. Hoping that I can bring some of that professionalism into my fun job, aka writing and publishing, but still bring the enthusiasm and excitement of not knowing what's going to happen next that I learned from the old job.
Legacy is moving along, Mike is hard at work on page 15 for Legacy #1 and it's looking great so far, really hoping that my writing does it justice. Very excited as we're coming to the last few pages of the book- I cut it back down to a 20 page story but I plan on having it be 24 pages- 4 pages of extras! What kind of extras? Well I can't reveal EVERYTHING just yet, gotta save SOMETHING for down the road, but expect to see some sweet bonus art from both Legacy artist Mike Campeau as well as a gentleman by the name of Darren Calvert. If you've been following the September17 Productions Facebook page you'll have seen his name mentioned before. If you haven't, seriously, get to it! Darren has been working on some character designs for both Legacy and future projects which will be coming to light as we roll into 2013. These two guys do some seriously great work, and are both fantastic people to work with. And Canadian! That's right, it's an all Canadian project, so far! It'd be really cool if I could keep it that way, nothing against anyone else, but it'd be neat, I think, to highlight some Canadian talent. I'm sure the They Stand On Guard blog would agree with me on that. Another great Canadian dude runs that, make sure to check it out! theystandonguard.blogspot.com/
In writing news, I kind of slacked off, ok I completely slacked off, in the last few weeks leading into the job change, but the script for Legacy #4 will be in to the lovely Shannon, Editor Supreme, by this week's due date and #5 will be done in a MUCH more timely fashion. Or else. So I have been told. When a pregnant redhead says that to you- make sure you do it. You do NOT want to find out what the "or else" is. Trust me on this.
Next month is NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. The goal, in case the name didn't give it away, is to write a novel in a month. Yep, that's right, 50,000 words or more in 30 days or less. I participated in my first one last year and made it pretty much halfway. Not too shabby considering I was working two jobs at the time and it was my first shot at it. It really showed me how much discipline is required to set aside the time to write on a regular basis and, with a couple recent exceptions, I've managed to carry on the lessons I learned from it. Innocents Lost, the first Steven Kincaid mystery novel, was last year's project and for this year I may revisit that character in a different story. Or not. I've narrowed it down to four ideas and by the end of next week I hope to have it down to one or two. A backup plan never hurts. Although at a 1700 word per day pace you REALLY don't want to scrap something and try to play catch up. Perhaps I'll write a brief synopsis for each and have people vote on the S17 Facebook page? That's be pretty cool, I think. I'll be keeping everyone appraised as I pick away at it.
Well that's pretty much it for now, catch you all next time!
Andrew
Legacy is moving along, Mike is hard at work on page 15 for Legacy #1 and it's looking great so far, really hoping that my writing does it justice. Very excited as we're coming to the last few pages of the book- I cut it back down to a 20 page story but I plan on having it be 24 pages- 4 pages of extras! What kind of extras? Well I can't reveal EVERYTHING just yet, gotta save SOMETHING for down the road, but expect to see some sweet bonus art from both Legacy artist Mike Campeau as well as a gentleman by the name of Darren Calvert. If you've been following the September17 Productions Facebook page you'll have seen his name mentioned before. If you haven't, seriously, get to it! Darren has been working on some character designs for both Legacy and future projects which will be coming to light as we roll into 2013. These two guys do some seriously great work, and are both fantastic people to work with. And Canadian! That's right, it's an all Canadian project, so far! It'd be really cool if I could keep it that way, nothing against anyone else, but it'd be neat, I think, to highlight some Canadian talent. I'm sure the They Stand On Guard blog would agree with me on that. Another great Canadian dude runs that, make sure to check it out! theystandonguard.blogspot.com/
In writing news, I kind of slacked off, ok I completely slacked off, in the last few weeks leading into the job change, but the script for Legacy #4 will be in to the lovely Shannon, Editor Supreme, by this week's due date and #5 will be done in a MUCH more timely fashion. Or else. So I have been told. When a pregnant redhead says that to you- make sure you do it. You do NOT want to find out what the "or else" is. Trust me on this.
Next month is NaNoWriMo, aka National Novel Writing Month. The goal, in case the name didn't give it away, is to write a novel in a month. Yep, that's right, 50,000 words or more in 30 days or less. I participated in my first one last year and made it pretty much halfway. Not too shabby considering I was working two jobs at the time and it was my first shot at it. It really showed me how much discipline is required to set aside the time to write on a regular basis and, with a couple recent exceptions, I've managed to carry on the lessons I learned from it. Innocents Lost, the first Steven Kincaid mystery novel, was last year's project and for this year I may revisit that character in a different story. Or not. I've narrowed it down to four ideas and by the end of next week I hope to have it down to one or two. A backup plan never hurts. Although at a 1700 word per day pace you REALLY don't want to scrap something and try to play catch up. Perhaps I'll write a brief synopsis for each and have people vote on the S17 Facebook page? That's be pretty cool, I think. I'll be keeping everyone appraised as I pick away at it.
Well that's pretty much it for now, catch you all next time!
Andrew
Saturday, 25 August 2012
Reboots, Rewrites, Returns, Remixes and Other Words That Start With "R"
Hey there! Long time no see! Unless of course you saw the Twitter link that redirected (look! another word starting with "Re"!) you here to see a sneak peak of some character design art. Which means you are not only lucky enough to get an exclusive glimpse of things to come in Legacy, but that you are COOL because you follow me on Twitter (@AndrewLorenz17, just in case you aren't, though I can't imagine why you wouldn't be). Either way, welcome back to the blog...of awesomeness! Or mediocreness. Is that a word? If not, it should be. So...where shall we start? When in doubt...follow the title!
If you follow either of the "Big Two" in the comics industry, you're no doubt aware of DC's "New 52" reboot and Marvel's..."not reboot, but reLAUNCH". Because changing that last part of the word means that it's SO DIFFERENT from the other guys. It might be, but to me that's like saying it's very warm out versus it's hot out. Details, details. Either way, it's shorts and sandals weather. Alot of fans are up in arms about all the changes that are being made to characters- previously existing storylines or even characters that they invested countless hours and dollars in are, in their mind, thrown away on a whim. I get where they're coming from. It's not easy to see something that means alot to you twisted into something that you don't even recognize. Then again, sometimes things have a way of working themselves out. I mean growing up, I loved watching Adam West as Batman. Does that mean that I hated the animated cartoon or the live actions movies of later years? Or Scott Snyder's recent run? Nope! If anything thing it made me appreciate each incarnation of them that much more. Something that people tend to forget, even myself at times, is that stories END. Whether "happily ever after" or some other variation, all stories, including our own, have an ending. Sometimes our actions in life, as real or imaginary characters, live on after us, but the story is never the same at that point. It evolves, changes. Into something better or worse, only time can tell. I don't like all the changes that DC has made, and I'm sure to disagree with a few of the ones that Marvel is going to make but, I know, in time, things will change again, and maybe I'll find that it's for the better.
Speaking of DC's New 52... Rob Liefeld recently departed DC's employ in a rather abrupt manner, expressing a fair bit of...displeasure, with how things were being run. I'll freely admit to checking out what he had to say, beyond being curious as to how "sensational" it was, I love getting ANY insight into the inner workings of a successful comic book company. Why wouldn't I? Any kind of help I can get into making MY books work is well worth a quick read (or longer). Occassionally, I also learn a bit about life. Deep, huh? While I wholeheartedly agree with Mr.Liefeld's freedom and right to rant (I mean isn't that what I'M doing, right now?) I question how responsible it was. Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying he isn't correct in what he said or did, I just question it's possible influence on other creators- either amateur or professional. Some people enjoy having a target painted on them so that they can rise up and dive into battle (words or otherwise), while others are merely content to do their job and ignore the "greater issues". If you're wondering, I'm more of the former, despite my questioning of the responsibility of it. I just know that things like this often have a way of blowing up and affecting more than just the few folks initially involved. Collateral damage, I guess. The thing that makes me think about it is that I am currently on my way out of where I'm employed and although it's voluntary, there are issues that I have with how things are being done. Does this mean I'm going to rant and rave on here? Nope. I don't see a point to it. It doesn't mean that the problems are any less because of my lack of restraint, I just know that for every action there is a reaction and that what I do affects more than just me. The internet gives everyone the power to express themselves, which is one of the greatest things ever, but just remember, we also have a responsibility to use it wisely.
Returns... Hmm. I HAVE RETURNED! To the blog, that is. I want to be more active with this and much more REGULAR (another R!) with getting posts up. We'll see. A lot of things in transition since June so more than what should have, got put off. I'll make a last part of the year push to make up for it. Most likely. Possibly. Maybe. I'll try. Cut me some slack, will ya?? I kid.
I had something about remixes that I was going to say but, quite honestly, by this point I've forgotten. This post ended up being a lot different than what I had thought it was going to be and, as usual, I got distracted and off on some tangent and forgot to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find my way back. Alas, c'est la vie.
A couple quick notes here to wrap things up:
1. If you have a buck you can spare, you should really really REALLY look into throwing it into this http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/watchguard/watchguard-teen-force-5
Charlie is a super awesome guy and I would take it as a personal favor if you were to send him some support- he's well deserving of it and the stuff he has lined up seems pretty wicked cool. Even if you don't have the cash to spare, take a look or, if you're able, pass it on for other people to read about.
2. Legacy #1 is progressing at a steady pace, we've moved back the release date, as of this time I don't have any specifics, but rest assured we're doing our best to make it worth the wait. Mike just sent me the roughs for page 14 and it looks AWESOME. Really excited about you guys getting to check it all out. When it does come out, I'll have both physical and digital copies available. The digital copy will be probably twice the page count of the physical copy as it will feature the entire script as well as some rough art. I'll have some bonus content in the print copy as well; don't want to leave anyone out!
3. Even if there is an NHL lockout this year, rest assured the Boston Bruins still kick ass.
4. I'm attempting to cut back on junk food. So far, so good. Possibly because I have none available to me at the moment. Someone want to email me a donut? That'd be swell.
5. Skyrim has been my drug of choice lately, although, thankfully, I seem to be losing interest. I've managed to start making a dent in the massive pile of unread books I have. Currently reading one from Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series. Great books, highly suggest you check them out.
That's about all for today, catch you wonderful people next time!
Andrew aka Captain Awesome
P.S Refund, Reap, Realize, Register, Record, Reinforce, and Realize. Words that start with R.
If you follow either of the "Big Two" in the comics industry, you're no doubt aware of DC's "New 52" reboot and Marvel's..."not reboot, but reLAUNCH". Because changing that last part of the word means that it's SO DIFFERENT from the other guys. It might be, but to me that's like saying it's very warm out versus it's hot out. Details, details. Either way, it's shorts and sandals weather. Alot of fans are up in arms about all the changes that are being made to characters- previously existing storylines or even characters that they invested countless hours and dollars in are, in their mind, thrown away on a whim. I get where they're coming from. It's not easy to see something that means alot to you twisted into something that you don't even recognize. Then again, sometimes things have a way of working themselves out. I mean growing up, I loved watching Adam West as Batman. Does that mean that I hated the animated cartoon or the live actions movies of later years? Or Scott Snyder's recent run? Nope! If anything thing it made me appreciate each incarnation of them that much more. Something that people tend to forget, even myself at times, is that stories END. Whether "happily ever after" or some other variation, all stories, including our own, have an ending. Sometimes our actions in life, as real or imaginary characters, live on after us, but the story is never the same at that point. It evolves, changes. Into something better or worse, only time can tell. I don't like all the changes that DC has made, and I'm sure to disagree with a few of the ones that Marvel is going to make but, I know, in time, things will change again, and maybe I'll find that it's for the better.
Speaking of DC's New 52... Rob Liefeld recently departed DC's employ in a rather abrupt manner, expressing a fair bit of...displeasure, with how things were being run. I'll freely admit to checking out what he had to say, beyond being curious as to how "sensational" it was, I love getting ANY insight into the inner workings of a successful comic book company. Why wouldn't I? Any kind of help I can get into making MY books work is well worth a quick read (or longer). Occassionally, I also learn a bit about life. Deep, huh? While I wholeheartedly agree with Mr.Liefeld's freedom and right to rant (I mean isn't that what I'M doing, right now?) I question how responsible it was. Don't get me wrong- I'm not saying he isn't correct in what he said or did, I just question it's possible influence on other creators- either amateur or professional. Some people enjoy having a target painted on them so that they can rise up and dive into battle (words or otherwise), while others are merely content to do their job and ignore the "greater issues". If you're wondering, I'm more of the former, despite my questioning of the responsibility of it. I just know that things like this often have a way of blowing up and affecting more than just the few folks initially involved. Collateral damage, I guess. The thing that makes me think about it is that I am currently on my way out of where I'm employed and although it's voluntary, there are issues that I have with how things are being done. Does this mean I'm going to rant and rave on here? Nope. I don't see a point to it. It doesn't mean that the problems are any less because of my lack of restraint, I just know that for every action there is a reaction and that what I do affects more than just me. The internet gives everyone the power to express themselves, which is one of the greatest things ever, but just remember, we also have a responsibility to use it wisely.
Returns... Hmm. I HAVE RETURNED! To the blog, that is. I want to be more active with this and much more REGULAR (another R!) with getting posts up. We'll see. A lot of things in transition since June so more than what should have, got put off. I'll make a last part of the year push to make up for it. Most likely. Possibly. Maybe. I'll try. Cut me some slack, will ya?? I kid.
I had something about remixes that I was going to say but, quite honestly, by this point I've forgotten. This post ended up being a lot different than what I had thought it was going to be and, as usual, I got distracted and off on some tangent and forgot to leave a trail of breadcrumbs to find my way back. Alas, c'est la vie.
A couple quick notes here to wrap things up:
1. If you have a buck you can spare, you should really really REALLY look into throwing it into this http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/watchguard/watchguard-teen-force-5
Charlie is a super awesome guy and I would take it as a personal favor if you were to send him some support- he's well deserving of it and the stuff he has lined up seems pretty wicked cool. Even if you don't have the cash to spare, take a look or, if you're able, pass it on for other people to read about.
2. Legacy #1 is progressing at a steady pace, we've moved back the release date, as of this time I don't have any specifics, but rest assured we're doing our best to make it worth the wait. Mike just sent me the roughs for page 14 and it looks AWESOME. Really excited about you guys getting to check it all out. When it does come out, I'll have both physical and digital copies available. The digital copy will be probably twice the page count of the physical copy as it will feature the entire script as well as some rough art. I'll have some bonus content in the print copy as well; don't want to leave anyone out!
3. Even if there is an NHL lockout this year, rest assured the Boston Bruins still kick ass.
4. I'm attempting to cut back on junk food. So far, so good. Possibly because I have none available to me at the moment. Someone want to email me a donut? That'd be swell.
5. Skyrim has been my drug of choice lately, although, thankfully, I seem to be losing interest. I've managed to start making a dent in the massive pile of unread books I have. Currently reading one from Harlan Coben's Myron Bolitar series. Great books, highly suggest you check them out.
That's about all for today, catch you wonderful people next time!
Andrew aka Captain Awesome
P.S Refund, Reap, Realize, Register, Record, Reinforce, and Realize. Words that start with R.
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Saturday, 4 February 2012
Never Give Up, Never Surrender!
First off, Galaxy Quest rocks. GREAT movie, very funny. Go watch it and tell me I'm wrong. I dare you. But why would you want to look so foolish? Captain Awesome is always right. ALWAYS. Unless he wishes to be wrong, to give you the sense of how it feels to be as awesome as him. That's right, that time you thought that I was wrong? Oh I was RIGHT, I just decided to let you win. Taste the awesomeness, enjoy it. It won't last long, for Captain Awesome will be right again. And soon. Ok...well THAT sure diverged quickly from where I'd planned it to go. Though, as usual, it will end up there eventually. The best part of the journey is the voyage. Or voyage is the journey. Or trip. Whatever...
So! To the reason for this blog title! Yes, as always, I'm going to explain it. Not that I don't think you could figure it out for yourself, I just enjoy explaining things. Obviously if you choose to read this blog you are an intelligent, cultured, well-groomed and all around swell person. And if you aren't, well... Even dumb people should enjoy good things. Alas, I digress once again. I know I said I'd try to cut down on the writing about... well about my writing, but this is one of those things I like to brag about! I found myself doing the page breakdown for the latest issue of Legacy (#2 if you're keeping track, which by the way you should be) and I realized that I was short two pages. In the middle of the freaking book. Smooth, huh? After a (very) mild panic attack and thoughts about burning my notebook, I decided that, when in doubt, refer back to characters that you're already established. So now I have not one, but two mini-scenes that set up what comes after it. I hear they even have a fancy writer term for it...foreshadowing. Amazingly I think it turned out VERY well and in the span of the next 3 days I will be writing it out into the script. I'm quite excited and will post some of it on here next weekend for your enjoyment!
So the moral of this blog/story? Never give up, never surrender. I myself have never liked the idea of just giving up or giving in. Not really sure why, just how I'm built I guess. Not just in my writing either. If you look at many choices that I've made in my life, I've never given up on things, or people, easily. There may be several years of down time inbetween, but just up and walking away for good...that's just not the Captain's style. Don't get me wrong, kids, sometimes walking away could be the very best idea. It could save you alot of pain and hardship and heartache. But you'll never know unless you try. And not knowing is always a helluva lot worse. So go out there, give it your all, take the bumps and bruises and setbacks and just carry on and greet it with a grin. Because there's nothing sweeter than the little victories in life, even if they do sometimes fade away too quickly.
Going back to the grind,
Captain Awesome
Grin
If you're up against a bruiser and you're getting knocked about —
Grin.
If you're feeling pretty groggy, and you're licked beyond a doubt —
Grin.
Don't let him see you're funking, let him know with every clout,
Though your face is battered to a pulp, your blooming heart is stout;
Just stand upon your pins until the beggar knocks you out —
And grin.
This life's a bally battle, and the same advice holds true
Of grin.
If you're up against it badly, then it's only one on you,
So grin.
If the future's black as thunder, don't let people see you're blue;
Just cultivate a cast-iron smile of joy the whole day through;
If they call you "Little Sunshine",
wish that they'd no troubles, too —
You may — grin.
Rise up in the morning with the will that, smooth or rough,
You'll grin.
Sink to sleep at midnight, and although you're feeling tough,
Yet grin.
There's nothing gained by whining, and you're not that kind of stuff;
You're a fighter from away back, and you won't take a rebuff;
Your trouble is that you don't know when you have had enough —
Don't give in.
If Fate should down you, just get up and take another cuff;
You may bank on it that there is no philosophy like bluff,
And grin.
-Robert Service
So! To the reason for this blog title! Yes, as always, I'm going to explain it. Not that I don't think you could figure it out for yourself, I just enjoy explaining things. Obviously if you choose to read this blog you are an intelligent, cultured, well-groomed and all around swell person. And if you aren't, well... Even dumb people should enjoy good things. Alas, I digress once again. I know I said I'd try to cut down on the writing about... well about my writing, but this is one of those things I like to brag about! I found myself doing the page breakdown for the latest issue of Legacy (#2 if you're keeping track, which by the way you should be) and I realized that I was short two pages. In the middle of the freaking book. Smooth, huh? After a (very) mild panic attack and thoughts about burning my notebook, I decided that, when in doubt, refer back to characters that you're already established. So now I have not one, but two mini-scenes that set up what comes after it. I hear they even have a fancy writer term for it...foreshadowing. Amazingly I think it turned out VERY well and in the span of the next 3 days I will be writing it out into the script. I'm quite excited and will post some of it on here next weekend for your enjoyment!
So the moral of this blog/story? Never give up, never surrender. I myself have never liked the idea of just giving up or giving in. Not really sure why, just how I'm built I guess. Not just in my writing either. If you look at many choices that I've made in my life, I've never given up on things, or people, easily. There may be several years of down time inbetween, but just up and walking away for good...that's just not the Captain's style. Don't get me wrong, kids, sometimes walking away could be the very best idea. It could save you alot of pain and hardship and heartache. But you'll never know unless you try. And not knowing is always a helluva lot worse. So go out there, give it your all, take the bumps and bruises and setbacks and just carry on and greet it with a grin. Because there's nothing sweeter than the little victories in life, even if they do sometimes fade away too quickly.
Going back to the grind,
Captain Awesome
Grin
If you're up against a bruiser and you're getting knocked about —
Grin.
If you're feeling pretty groggy, and you're licked beyond a doubt —
Grin.
Don't let him see you're funking, let him know with every clout,
Though your face is battered to a pulp, your blooming heart is stout;
Just stand upon your pins until the beggar knocks you out —
And grin.
This life's a bally battle, and the same advice holds true
Of grin.
If you're up against it badly, then it's only one on you,
So grin.
If the future's black as thunder, don't let people see you're blue;
Just cultivate a cast-iron smile of joy the whole day through;
If they call you "Little Sunshine",
wish that they'd no troubles, too —
You may — grin.
Rise up in the morning with the will that, smooth or rough,
You'll grin.
Sink to sleep at midnight, and although you're feeling tough,
Yet grin.
There's nothing gained by whining, and you're not that kind of stuff;
You're a fighter from away back, and you won't take a rebuff;
Your trouble is that you don't know when you have had enough —
Don't give in.
If Fate should down you, just get up and take another cuff;
You may bank on it that there is no philosophy like bluff,
And grin.
-Robert Service
Thursday, 19 January 2012
Legacy #1 excerpt!
Page 3
Full splash page. Cops with lights and sirens in hot pursuit of a car full of criminals. Gunfire blazing from the car with the thugs, indiscriminately targeting the police and bystanders alike. This scene needs a real sense of energy and intensity- the cars should come RIPPING onto the panel. Maybe either an upward or downward side shot to give it more ZIP.
Page 4
5 panels on this page in a 2 standard, one wide, 2 standard layout.
Panel 1
Panel tight on police officer in passenger yelling into the car's radio for immediate backup. The cop is male, Caucasian, late 30s-early 40s, mustache. An experienced beat cop. Standard panel.
older cop
"Repeat, Unit 37 is in pursuit of suspect vehicle. Shots fired! We need backup! NOW!
"Repeat, Unit 37 is in pursuit of suspect vehicle. Shots fired! We need backup! NOW!
Panel 2
One of the thugs leaning out, his upper body almost completely out the window firing a handgun, shots ringing out in succession. Standard panel.
SFX
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Panel 3
Medium wide screen panel. Exterior of police car taking fire; bullets slamming into windshield, hood and one of the lights getting hit and shattering. View of the cops inside is somewhat obscured; shouldn't be able to see if they've been hit or not.
SFX
Crack! Crack!
Crack! Crack!
Panel 4
Standard panel. Interior of police car; as if looking through the driver's window. Bullets tear through the glass, hitting the seat, the older cop takes one high in the left shoulder, nothing serious but there's blood.
SFX
Thud! Thud! Crack!
Thud! Thud! Crack!
OLDER COP
(in pain)
"Arrghh!"
(in pain)
"Arrghh!"
Panel 5
Standard panel. Tight up-close shot of the older cop barking into the radio microphone. His hand, the mike and his face should be pretty much all you can see. Maybe a bit of blood spatter indicating his wound.
OLDER COP
"Where the HELL is our support, Central?"
"Where the HELL is our support, Central?"
Page 5
Panel 1
Close-up of passenger front tire on the police car getting hit by a bullet and blowing out. Thin wide screen panel.
SFX
(tire blow out)
Bang!
(tire blow out)
Bang!
Panel 2
Wide screen panel. Cop car veers off-course into a lamp post. Out of commission.
SFX
CRASH!
CRASH!
Panel 3
Inside the criminals car, they're high-fiving each other, laughing. Wide screen panel.
Criminal 1
"Hahaha! Woo! Take that pigs!"
"Hahaha! Woo! Take that pigs!"
Criminal 2
"Nice shootin' bro!"
"Nice shootin' bro!"
Panel 4
Large panel. This is the main shot for this page. Driver's P.O.V/maybe an over the shoulder shot. Looking through windshield as a man in a blue bodysuit/costume hurtles through the air at them as though he jumped from a building. Incoming! His face is partly hidden as the sun is behind him though the symbol on his chest, a white star, is quite apparent. The whole thing should give the effect on the thugs of holy shit!
CRIMINAL 3 (driver)
"What the hell is THAT?"
"What the hell is THAT?"
Page 6
Four wide screen panels.
Panel 1
Wide screen panel. Interior of the bad guys car again. Same P.O.V as the previous panel. Windshield spider-webs under the impact. Crunch! Maybe move the "camera" slightly to really make it feel like the guy landed on the car HARD. A colored shape is visible but that's about it.
SFX
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
Panel 2
Wide screen panel. The car comes to a halt, whether through the impact or the driver braking to a stop. Side view of the car, can't see the hood, just the people inside. They're recovering from what just happened, whatever it was, they can't believe someone would've been that crazy.
CRIMINAL 4
"Dude, what the HELL did you HIT??"
"Dude, what the HELL did you HIT??"
Panel 3
Wide screen panel. The roof is torn off! This could work either from the outside of car, tight in on roof tearing from the rest of car, or from in the car still as the criminals stare in shock as the car suddenly becomes a convertible.
SFX
EERRRRR!
EERRRRR!
Panel 4
Wide screen panel. The thugs stare up, completely awestruck and dumbfounded by what they're seeing here. All we can see is their faces and maybe a bit of a shoulder of whoever is now standing on the hood of their car. The main thing here is to convey their reactions to having the roof of a car TORN OFF and what they're seeing on the hood. Panic, fear, disbelief and awe.
Page 7
Full Splash Page. PARAGON stands on the hood of the car, a smile on his face, confident/wry, almost but not quite cocky. Mainly from the thugs' P.O.V, maybe just over the shoulder of them. PARAGON looks larger than life, intimidating and inspiring all at once. The star symbol on his chest draws the eyes to it, almost distracting you from his face (part of the reason he wears it). The sun shines above and behind him almost as if a halo or a spotlight. Have to remember no one of this generation has ever seen a costumed superhero before now. Not in person at least. He holds the remains of their getaway car's roof in his left hand.
PARAGON
"Good day, gentlemen."
"Good day, gentlemen."
And there we have it! Legacy #1! Well PART of it, anyhow. More stuff heading your way soon! Until then...
Captain Awesome
The Awesome-verse!
Welcome, dear reader, to the Awesome-verse! Below is a list of superhero (and villain)-type characters whom I have created (They're MINE! You can't have them! But you can enjoy their adventures!) and you, no doubt, are dying to read about! Script excerpt featuring one of them to follow on the next blog!
A
Angelfire
Archer
Avant-Garde
Armory
Arcane
Antediluvian
Anarchist
Amok
Allure
Animator
Analyst
Axis
Amp
Alchemist
B
Blowtorch
Baron Power
Barrage
Burn
Blockade
Brute
Breakdown
Blindside
Bloodshed
C
Captain Intrepid
Coral
Cosmic Knight
COBALT
Cross
Crusader
Cadaver
Calibre
Contagion
Crypt
Cordite
Coldsnap
Condor
Cyberhawk
Chrome
Coldshot
D
Dynamo
Dreamwalker
Dreadnought
Doctor Sun
Dr. Macabre
Dirge
Duplicator
Dragonfire
E
Eclipse
F
Fade
Fenris
Firefly
Forecast
Frostbite
Firebomb
Flatline
Firecracker
G
Granite
Goldwing
Glacier
Gravitar
Gadgeteer
Gaia’s Avatar
H
Haze
Hellfire
Heavy Artillery
Hyena
I
Impact
Illusionist
Ivory
J
Jinx
Jury
Jotunheim
K
Kodiak
Kid Mercury
L
Lady Victory
Lotus
Lightning Avenger
Labyrinth
Lit
Lore
Le Sabre
Lumina
Lord Neutron
M
Magistrate
Mr. Magnetic
Mastodon
Menagerie
Malevolence
Master Dark
Meltdown
Maser
N
Night’s Shade
O
Outback
Overload
P
Paragon
Psionic
Prophet
Powerplay
Pulsar
Prometheus
Pursuit
Pantheon
Peacekeeper
Python
Purge
Pagan
R
Regent
Rampart
Radiant
Raptor
Rocket Girl
Reaper
Redwood
Riptide
Redwolf
Revenant
Rott
S
Stormbringer
Singularity
Sandstorm
Spin Doctor
Sprite
Spartan
Storm King
Solaria
Shyft
Synapse
Slash
Shatter
Siege
Slag
Sidestep
T
Tidalwave
Titan
Thornn
Torrent
Thesaurus Jones
Thunderhawk
Timeline
Tremor
Tekhead
Threshold
Tigerclaw
Tsunami
Thunderstorm
U
Umbra
V
Vanguard
Venture
Vigilance
Vibrax
Vector
W
Watchman
Warhammer
Warfare
Z
Zephyr
A
Angelfire
Archer
Avant-Garde
Armory
Arcane
Antediluvian
Anarchist
Amok
Allure
Animator
Analyst
Axis
Amp
Alchemist
B
Blowtorch
Baron Power
Barrage
Burn
Blockade
Brute
Breakdown
Blindside
Bloodshed
C
Captain Intrepid
Coral
Cosmic Knight
COBALT
Cross
Crusader
Cadaver
Calibre
Contagion
Crypt
Cordite
Coldsnap
Condor
Cyberhawk
Chrome
Coldshot
D
Dynamo
Dreamwalker
Dreadnought
Doctor Sun
Dr. Macabre
Dirge
Duplicator
Dragonfire
E
Eclipse
F
Fade
Fenris
Firefly
Forecast
Frostbite
Firebomb
Flatline
Firecracker
G
Granite
Goldwing
Glacier
Gravitar
Gadgeteer
Gaia’s Avatar
H
Haze
Hellfire
Heavy Artillery
Hyena
I
Impact
Illusionist
Ivory
J
Jinx
Jury
Jotunheim
K
Kodiak
Kid Mercury
L
Lady Victory
Lotus
Lightning Avenger
Labyrinth
Lit
Lore
Le Sabre
Lumina
Lord Neutron
M
Magistrate
Mr. Magnetic
Mastodon
Menagerie
Malevolence
Master Dark
Meltdown
Maser
N
Night’s Shade
O
Outback
Overload
P
Paragon
Psionic
Prophet
Powerplay
Pulsar
Prometheus
Pursuit
Pantheon
Peacekeeper
Python
Purge
Pagan
R
Regent
Rampart
Radiant
Raptor
Rocket Girl
Reaper
Redwood
Riptide
Redwolf
Revenant
Rott
S
Stormbringer
Singularity
Sandstorm
Spin Doctor
Sprite
Spartan
Storm King
Solaria
Shyft
Synapse
Slash
Shatter
Siege
Slag
Sidestep
T
Tidalwave
Titan
Thornn
Torrent
Thesaurus Jones
Thunderhawk
Timeline
Tremor
Tekhead
Threshold
Tigerclaw
Tsunami
Thunderstorm
U
Umbra
V
Vanguard
Venture
Vigilance
Vibrax
Vector
W
Watchman
Warhammer
Warfare
Z
Zephyr
An Oldie But Goodie
I was re-reading some old blog entries from my previous blog and came across this one...I found it funny. Enjoy!
Aren't You Lucky For Knowing Me?
18/06/2006 8:59:19 PM Howdy there boys and girls, it's time for another literary masterpiece from yours truly, The Drew! Don't you feel blessed to be reading this? I'm sure you do. Well those who know me, know i like to have a drink or two sometimes (ok, ok so it's more like a case or two, but that's neither here nor there...) so last night me and my bud Joe decided to kill a few beers. Don't worry their deaths were more or less painless and served a greater purpose. Namely getting me drunk. You should all be as fortunate as those beers were to have gone out of their way to get me drunk. A lesson to be learned here, get me drunk and your life will be more fulfilling and richer for doing so. So as always, we got into the phone or text messaging and hilairty and half-recalled conversations ensued. This, of course, is your obligation, and PRIVELAGE, for knowing me... drunken phone calls at all hours from me, the One and Only DREW. Feel free to express your thanks in form of alcohol, cash donations, or sexual favors (women only on this last one PLEASE!!!). I, being a humble and benevolant god, will graciously accept your offerings. Human sacrifice is not neccessary, but god knows (that's me don't forget) that there are people out there who should not be around to reproduce or use up valuable resources (oxygen, land, food... mmm...cheeseburgers...) and in these cases there is no alternative. It's ok. But check with me first, to make sure said sacrifice qualifies.
As i was saying... So Joe and i ended up talking to some ladies with which a friend of ours (go Sarah, you rock!!!) was partying with and Joe decided to be "the man" (he gets only a little "m" because everyone knows The Drew is the Man dammit!!) and started chattin' it up with the ladies. I must say he did well, all due to learning from me, naturally. Yes, i was quite impressed with his performance, but I, being The Drew and all, of course could not be beat as some young lady passed along her phone # to me. Not bad for just talking (well texting actually) for maybe an hour, huh? And this is why YOU can benefit from knowing (and worshipping) ME, THE DREW.
Well, my friends and followers i'll be heading out now, but never fear little ones, your hero and leader will return. 
Yours (if only for an hour at a time), The Drew
Sunday, 8 January 2012
Should You Choose To Accept This Mission...
Or at least I believe that was how that old tv show Mission Impossible started (let's not get started on the whole Tom Cruise movie thing...Tom you are an idiot if you think you can play Jack Reacher..he's a WHOLE FOOT TALLER than your scrawny self...but I digress). Hopefully though the mission I have chosen to accept is NOT an impossible one. Difficult? Yes, without a doubt. Impossible? Nah... Oh! What IS this mission, you ask? Glad you did because I was more than happy to rant about how much Tom Cruise sucks (Katie Holmes was mine you bastard! At least before she got all super skinny and weird looking, have at'r Tom.) but I suppose we should get around to the mission. The Mission. That looks better, sounds more important too. Ok so the mission, oops, The Mission, is as follows:
TO WRITE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THIS YEAR. AND IN A CONSITANT AND ORGANIZED MANNER. No half-assing, incomplete, brilliant-yet-unfinished ideas, or at least as few of those as possible.
To achieve this mission, certain criteria/goals must be met. What are they? Wow you really are a bunch of nosy bastards, but that's ok, questions are good! Sometimes. Usually. Depends on what they're about. But anyway... The goals for this year are as follows:
A. One blog entry per week on the Captain Awesome's Realm of Awesomeness blog. If you don't know what that is...either you're an idiot or just completely missed the title of the blog. Either way keep reading, idiots and blind people welcome! No Romulans though! Creepy pointy-eared wannabe Spocks...
B. One chapter of a novel per week, most likely from the Steven Kincaid mystery series that I've been trying to get into the groove on for...well the better part of a decade. Don't laugh. Or I shall smite thee! Luckily, this past Novemeber saw a HUGE breakthrough for me in terms of that series when I participated in NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month). The goal of NaNoWriMo is to begin and FINISH a novel of approximately 50,000 words in the space of the month of... Novemeber! That's right! Man, people who read this blog ARE smart! I knew it! So anyhow, one chapter per week is the keypart here.
C. Is for Comic Book scripts! Originally the plan was to do TWO a month. That plan has since changed. After finishing the first issue of Legacy (with a whopping 26 page count) in essentially one night, I realized that although two in a month would be awesome, and do-able, I still have alot of background stuff to hammer out for most of the stories and one is more realistic. For now. It will become more, probably by the spring when I've finished the world building that I've been doing for the last year and a bit. It'll be great, trust me!
D. To participate and FINISH the aforementioned NaNoWriMo contest thing. I made it to about a third of the way before too many real world things got in the way. AND I made the mistake of going back and reading what I wrote. BIG mistake there. You start over thinking things you already wrote instead of creating new stuff and before you know it, you're frustrated and give up. Not this time.
So far that's pretty much all I've got, though I'm pretty happy with it since it's WAY more than previous years. Seriously if you look at the entirety of my writing/creating in the last 2 years compared to the previous decade, it's pretty damn good. And we're just beginning... Samples of scripts and chapters are going to be popping up on here on a monthly basis, in addition to the usual ranting about the writing itself as well as the blog covering topics beyond my awesomeness. What? Why would I do that? Why not?
Originally the blog was going to be about whatever random thought crossed my mind but it's kind of turned into "hey this is what my writing is" instead. Not a bad thing, mind you, but no doubt all of you loyal readers out there want to know what Captain Awesome has to say/what he thinks about a variety of topics! Why limit it to just one thing? Captain Awesome will be giving you his insights into many things, so that you can use his words wisdom in your every day life! If there's a topic you want covered, by all means, leave a comment saying what you'd like to see!
Stay Awesome,
Captain Awesome
TO WRITE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THIS YEAR. AND IN A CONSITANT AND ORGANIZED MANNER. No half-assing, incomplete, brilliant-yet-unfinished ideas, or at least as few of those as possible.
To achieve this mission, certain criteria/goals must be met. What are they? Wow you really are a bunch of nosy bastards, but that's ok, questions are good! Sometimes. Usually. Depends on what they're about. But anyway... The goals for this year are as follows:
A. One blog entry per week on the Captain Awesome's Realm of Awesomeness blog. If you don't know what that is...either you're an idiot or just completely missed the title of the blog. Either way keep reading, idiots and blind people welcome! No Romulans though! Creepy pointy-eared wannabe Spocks...
B. One chapter of a novel per week, most likely from the Steven Kincaid mystery series that I've been trying to get into the groove on for...well the better part of a decade. Don't laugh. Or I shall smite thee! Luckily, this past Novemeber saw a HUGE breakthrough for me in terms of that series when I participated in NaNoWriMo (aka National Novel Writing Month). The goal of NaNoWriMo is to begin and FINISH a novel of approximately 50,000 words in the space of the month of... Novemeber! That's right! Man, people who read this blog ARE smart! I knew it! So anyhow, one chapter per week is the keypart here.
C. Is for Comic Book scripts! Originally the plan was to do TWO a month. That plan has since changed. After finishing the first issue of Legacy (with a whopping 26 page count) in essentially one night, I realized that although two in a month would be awesome, and do-able, I still have alot of background stuff to hammer out for most of the stories and one is more realistic. For now. It will become more, probably by the spring when I've finished the world building that I've been doing for the last year and a bit. It'll be great, trust me!
D. To participate and FINISH the aforementioned NaNoWriMo contest thing. I made it to about a third of the way before too many real world things got in the way. AND I made the mistake of going back and reading what I wrote. BIG mistake there. You start over thinking things you already wrote instead of creating new stuff and before you know it, you're frustrated and give up. Not this time.
So far that's pretty much all I've got, though I'm pretty happy with it since it's WAY more than previous years. Seriously if you look at the entirety of my writing/creating in the last 2 years compared to the previous decade, it's pretty damn good. And we're just beginning... Samples of scripts and chapters are going to be popping up on here on a monthly basis, in addition to the usual ranting about the writing itself as well as the blog covering topics beyond my awesomeness. What? Why would I do that? Why not?
Originally the blog was going to be about whatever random thought crossed my mind but it's kind of turned into "hey this is what my writing is" instead. Not a bad thing, mind you, but no doubt all of you loyal readers out there want to know what Captain Awesome has to say/what he thinks about a variety of topics! Why limit it to just one thing? Captain Awesome will be giving you his insights into many things, so that you can use his words wisdom in your every day life! If there's a topic you want covered, by all means, leave a comment saying what you'd like to see!
Stay Awesome,
Captain Awesome
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Crunch time!
Ok, so here we are, less than 20 hours away from my first script deadline. Where's it at? About halfway. Luckily the majority of the rest of it is action, something that I hope won't be too hard to get through. "Paragon punches bad guy in this panel", next! I've already been (generously) granted an extension, due to the holidays and maybe some sucking up on my part, by the wonderful and talented (still sucking up) Shannon who has agreed to be my editor, but now this is it. No more excuses, no more extensions, no more words that start with ex...like expeditious. No idea if I spelt that right. Who cares! I'm not the editor! I just write the stuff! And write I shall this evening, essentially HALF of what is needed to be done by tomorrow is still unfinished. Strangely, I couldn't be happier about it. I've always enjoyed performing under pressure, it's so much more satisfying (for me, anyhow) when you beat the odds and snatch victory from the jaws of failure. I never admit defeat. So, tonight after I get home and eat some leftover pizza (yum!) I will switch off my phone, block my Internet with a handy program I came across, and sit and write, Rockstar Mocha in hand, until it is done. I can't wait. It's going to be fun.
Yours truly,
Captain Awesome
Yours truly,
Captain Awesome
Sunday, 25 December 2011
Merry Christmas!
Well it's that time of year again, specifically, Christmas Day. No doubt you got that from the title of the post, or the time stamp on when it was done, but either way, Merry Christmas! I've always like the abbreviated styl of X-Mas because it looks close to X-Men and as we all know, anything comics-related is a good thing.
The boys were up at a semi-resonable time today, just before 7, and managed to take their time opening their presents (although I've learnt to throw lots of little stuff at them or they'll be done in SECONDS) and seemed more or less pleased with what they got. I myself was the receipient of my very first pair of New Balance running shoes (SWEET! though I don't RUN, they will be awesome for walking) and a surprisingly cool Boston Bruins gnome. He looks like my kinda gnome. If I had a kind. Which I guess he is.
It's always been an interesting time of year for me, giving gifts, amazingly, has always been my favourite part. I know alot of people SAY that but for me it's true. I like the challenge of finding something that they'd never thought of getting themselves or never knew was out there. It's fun. The kid in me though still likes to play at guessing what I'm getting though and, once again, I managed to predict at least one of my presents just by looking at the box (woo! After 8 chocolates! Mmmm...) and using my Captain Awesome psychic present-detecting powers.
The part I liked the most this year though was having been able to spend time with some close friends during the hustle and bustle of the season. Good friends that made the time to see me and spend time enjoying each other's company. That, by far, was the best present I could have hoped for. Thank you to them for making the time.
That's what this season is supposed to be about right? Spending time with people that matter to us? Not just the gifts. Actually... The gift of oneself, of friendship and love, is really the gift that matters. Think about it for a second. If someone stranger walked up and gave you a Ferrari that'd be pretty cool, right? But would that be AS COOL as your best friend handing you the keys to the blue and white 1957 four door Chevy Bel Air that you've wanted since junior high? (By the way anyone reading this that wants to buy me said car, I've since switched to wanting a '55 black and white 2 door hardtop Bel Air, thanks) A gift from someone who knows you and puts that effort of themselves into it is always the best. Because they cared. And that's the best thing of all.
Stay awesome my friends, and Merry Christmas.
The boys were up at a semi-resonable time today, just before 7, and managed to take their time opening their presents (although I've learnt to throw lots of little stuff at them or they'll be done in SECONDS) and seemed more or less pleased with what they got. I myself was the receipient of my very first pair of New Balance running shoes (SWEET! though I don't RUN, they will be awesome for walking) and a surprisingly cool Boston Bruins gnome. He looks like my kinda gnome. If I had a kind. Which I guess he is.
It's always been an interesting time of year for me, giving gifts, amazingly, has always been my favourite part. I know alot of people SAY that but for me it's true. I like the challenge of finding something that they'd never thought of getting themselves or never knew was out there. It's fun. The kid in me though still likes to play at guessing what I'm getting though and, once again, I managed to predict at least one of my presents just by looking at the box (woo! After 8 chocolates! Mmmm...) and using my Captain Awesome psychic present-detecting powers.
The part I liked the most this year though was having been able to spend time with some close friends during the hustle and bustle of the season. Good friends that made the time to see me and spend time enjoying each other's company. That, by far, was the best present I could have hoped for. Thank you to them for making the time.
That's what this season is supposed to be about right? Spending time with people that matter to us? Not just the gifts. Actually... The gift of oneself, of friendship and love, is really the gift that matters. Think about it for a second. If someone stranger walked up and gave you a Ferrari that'd be pretty cool, right? But would that be AS COOL as your best friend handing you the keys to the blue and white 1957 four door Chevy Bel Air that you've wanted since junior high? (By the way anyone reading this that wants to buy me said car, I've since switched to wanting a '55 black and white 2 door hardtop Bel Air, thanks) A gift from someone who knows you and puts that effort of themselves into it is always the best. Because they cared. And that's the best thing of all.
Stay awesome my friends, and Merry Christmas.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)