A Week in Writing #415 - Getting Back into the Swing

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.

I don't know about you but my life seems like one long routine. By that, I mean there are days when I'm supposed to do something, like Sundays this blog. Once that routine gets disrupted, it is sometimes hard to get back into it. Holidays, family events, and Comic-Con are all things that throw off your schedule for good and for bad, and finding that groove again is sometimes hard.

I still managed the basics, including my new query on Thursday. This time I actually re-queried someone I had previously queried three years ago with a different version of Broken People. I wonder if they'll remember. While I know what you're thinking, they must have gotten thousands in the past three years, I've been surprised before. Agents might not be good at things like getting back to you on queries but they sometimes keep track of stories they've rejected.

I also fiddled about with fka Skylar this week. I guess I should come up with a better title since Skylar is now called Lillie. I'm going through now trying to do a better job of connecting the two stories together. My main character, J.D. Barrister, is handling a case for a neighbor, Lillie, who is being trafficked by her former drug dealer to pay off a debt, and his presumed future father-in-law wants him to work on a case involving a tontine that his father-in-law signed after World War II. Originally, I had Skylar being that neighbor and, while she had the same issue with her former drug dealer, it was her father who had signed the tontine.

Not much to report about Powers Squared this week. No new pages from either the artist or the colorist, though I've been promised pages are coming. I did take a second look at a future script for the book. I didn't realize that the last time I had looked at it was a year ago but I wanted to make some changes and one change led to several others. Not sure it's the final form but I'm thinking it's getting close.

We tried a new sort of episode for On the Air with Powers Squared, a comic book club. All five of us read Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo. I know it's a manga but that was the title we settled on. You can listen to it now or watch it on Wednesday when it hits YouTube. We're going to do the next one in September, this time it's going to be Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales, so read ahead and join us.

I'm currently reading a graphic novel The Fade Out by Ed Brubaker but I don't think we'll all be reading that for the show.

I wrote one review this week, which went up on Saturday Morning on Trophy Unlocked, Thor: Love and Thunder, which while still out in theaters has been there for a couple of weeks. As part of the celebration of my wedding anniversary, the four of us went to a 10:30 am showing. It was almost like a private screening, which was the point. In the anniversary spirit, I started to review Bull Durham which was the film on our first date. Not sure when I'll get that finished and when it will appear.

The Wednesday Game Day review was Trevor's review of Lucky's Tale (PS VR).

I feel like this is a bit short, but I think that's about all from me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #383 - It's Almost Christmas!

Hope everyone is staying safe, getting boosted, and, of course, writing.

I know that the whole world seems to be in a hurry to resume "normal" life but I think we have a long way to go. I don't know about you but I'm feeling lucky to have avoided COVID so far and I hope my luck continues. The novel I'm working on takes place post-COVID or at least, in a presumed post-COVD Los Angeles.

The protagonist of the story is a private detective, J.D. Barrister, trying to restart his business after COVID had all but shut him down. I won't go into the story so far but after-COVID seems to be a moving and elusive target. I originally had this starting this past summer, but I may move it to Spring 2022. I'm incorporating things like masks and social distancing and it might be interesting to incorporate whatever is next with the pandemic as part of the story. I can't imagine any novel taking place during this day and age that can avoid the pandemic's influence on characters' lives.

One place it hasn't affected is the make-believe world in the comic book I work on, Powers Squared. As much as I wanted to incorporate it in the novel, it doesn't belong in this fantasy, not that it hasn't had an effect on the book itself. I won't go into a year-end look until next time but COVID has touched everything.

Speaking of Powers Squared, we're currently working on thumbnails and pencils for Issue 20, coloring and lettering for Issue 19, and a Kickstarter for a graphic novel of the first five issues. Our colorist is doing some chibis of characters we want to use as a tier. I don't have much to say so far on the Kickstarter but we're having a meeting this coming Monday about it, so I might have more to tell next time. I really want this to be a success and the last time we have to look at the first five issues again.

We had a team meeting with the creatives on the book, which you're welcome to listen to at https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps. We try to get together once a month to both check-in with everyone, but also to build a sense of team. I also want the creatives to be more involved with selling the book they're working on.

Just wrapped up a review hopefully for next December, Star in the Night, a short from 1945 that retells the nativity. I know it sounds like I'm really planning ahead but it sort of makes sense with holidays and Halloween films to write reviews when those sorts of films are easily available to watch and you're in the mood to watch them.

Speaking of Christmas, my review of Little Women (1933) was a Sunday morning review, since Saturday morning was dedicated to the 11th anniversary of Trophy Unlocked and founder Paul's review of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I have to give Paul credit, the blog has grown over the years and currently has over 1400 reviews and has been read by nearly 700,000 people.

Other reviews this week were three by Trevor as Trophy Unlocked's salute to the EyeToy wrapped with reviews of EyeToy: Play 2 on Monday, EyeToy: Operation Spy on Wednesday; and EyeToy: Kinetic on Friday.

Well, that about does it for me. I hope everyone reading this has a Merry and Safe Christmas if you celebrate. Keep writing and I'll see you again next week.