A Week in Writing #246 | Things Don't Always Go as Planned

I had high hopes about this week. With Powers Squared's first signing out of the way, I thought I would be free to pursue other writing, like The Runaway, query letters and reviews for Trophy Unlocked. Some of that went off the rails by a private disagreement. I won't go into details, but a professional relationship that had lasted about ten years came to an end. I don't name names in this blog and won't do so this time, but it involved Trevor and his work being valued.

It wasn't the disagreement per se that caused the problem, it was all the falderal that went with it. The time spent writing and rewriting how to respond and the sleepless night that ensued. If I get into a disagreement late at night that really ruins my sleep and one sleepless night can ruin a week as the next evening I'm too tired to get much done. I know I sound like the Princess and the Pea, but so much of the time there is a very thin line for me between sleeping and being totally awake.

I did start to work on The Runaway again but didn't get much done. I had an idea that I wanted to introduce early in the story and reference later. Inserting it was more awkward than I had anticipated. I made the edit but I can't say I was all that happy with it. I still need to spend some time on it, so finger's crossed for next week.

No new pages from either artist on Powers Squared, which is not unusual for the work. They both have work to do and I trust they will do it. Trevor, meanwhile, has caught up with the lettering. Two of the last four pages didn't require his work but that, too, is not unusual. Powers Squared is generally pretty talky, but sometimes there are whole pages without any dialogue.

We did decide this week to try our hand at a local convention. We looked briefly at Long Beach Comic Con, which takes place in August. The costs start at $300 and just seem to go up from there. Not only would we have to get resale licenses from the state, but we would also have to pay for things like electricity, and wifi on top of the fee. I don't think at this point it would be worth the cost. We might get more names on the mailing list, but I don't think we would make back the money or come close. At least not yet.

While the LBCC might be a bridge too far, we did decide to try The San Fernando Valley Comic Book Convention, which takes place next month, June 2nd. It's a one-day convention and lasts only six hours, but we thought it would be a good starting point for us. A way to get our feet wet at a reasonable price.

We ordered enough copies of Issue #1 to replace what we sold on Free Comic Book Day, so we're pretty set. We drove by the site this weekend to see where it was. It's a dining hall in a shopping center, but from small things, big things one day come. The goal is not to sell comic books, which we wouldn't mind at all, but to add names to the mailing list.

I did manage to work on reviews for Trophy Unlocked, including one for Blondie Johnson, a Joan Blondell film from 1933 and one for Heat Lightning (1934), which I'm still working on. Both are very short films, 69 and 64 minutes respectively, and will appear sometime in the future. Currently, we're running a month-long salute to Batman. My review of the 1989 feature ran this past Saturday on the blog. Check it out and let me know what you think.

I have high hopes for next week, I mean you have to stay positive, right? I'll be back to report on everything next time. So until then, keep writing.