A Week in Writing #576 - DIdn't Get it All Done

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

My goals for this week were simple enough: do the newsletter, The Hound Dog's Howl, and work more on Blackmail. Well, I got about half of that done, it was the newsletter. Even though much of it is formulaic, it still takes time. And by formulaic, I don't mean that I'm in possession of some magic formula about how to put together a newsletter, but more that there is a layout to ours that I follow month in and month out. There is some writing involved, things do happen during the month. This past month, as an example, we had a new issue of The Blade of Miracles released, we tabled at a convention and our latest trade went up on ComicsPlus through LibraryPass. If you would like to read it, please subscribe here. It's FREE.

The work on Blackmail never really got off the ground. I'm up to 80,472 words, which isn't much of an improvement from last week. Things happen that get in the way. Some of it is the book itself. I knoew what I want to have happen in the next chapter but sometimes it's a little difficult to get into it.

Our podcast this week, was our 22nd Comic Book Club. It seems like it had been months since I had read Vagabond, a manga by Takehiko Inoue, which wasn't the plan. When you're trying to schedule five people in two cities, and people have their own lives, it can be hard, especially when you're working around the holidays. Our former artist Rachel Wells, and our current colorist, Julia Canon, joined Trevor, Paul and myself. You can listen to it here, watch it for the next few days on our twitch channel, or wait until Wedmesday at 2:30 pm PST and watch it on our YouTube channel. While you're there, please feel free to subscribe and sign up for notifications.

Quite an active week on Trophy Unlocked. On Wednesday, Paul's review of Iron Lung went up. He and Trevor had attended what was supposed to be the first screening of the film on Tuesday night. The Saturday Morning Review was my review of Samaritan, a digital release based on the comic book by a friend of a friend. We had watched it after Lewis Felton had appeared on our podcast and talked about how his business partner had written a spec script that didn't sell, but when he made it into a comic book, that sold. If you want to hear more, you can check out the interview with Lewis Fenton here.

I've also written a review of The Beast of the City, a 1932 MGM film starring Walter Huston and Jean Harlow. As always, no idea when it will appear.

This past Wednesday saw the release of issue 11 of Trevor's The Blade of Miracles. You can find it in both physical and digital at The Campus Store on our website. I'm still working on getting #12 ready for release later this month.

On the Powers Squared front, I feel like I'm in a waiting pattern. Our new artist should be delivering a new page soon, our colorist should be sending new colored pages soon and I'm working with our old artist about a new seal to celebrate SRCC's 70th anniversary. San Romero Community College is the ficticious school where a lot of the comic book takes place in and around. Amd according to the story, it was founded in 1956. I'll be sharing the new seal when done.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #575 - Report From the Front: A One Day Con

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

We're a little late this week, thanks to tabling at the Pasadena Comic Con. While the con was over by 5, I was too brain dead to write this post, by the time we got home.

Having tabled at SDCC, Pasadena Comic Con is a few steps down the ladder from that. You can tell it's run on a shoe string. The room we ended up in reminded me a little of WonderCon, as it seemed to be off the beaten path, but also it was very low light. And our table, though near the entrance, was also a bit off the path of most visitors. But you can't blame everything on placement. However, we did hear that it was slow for many, sales wise, and very slow for us, only two copies of Trevor's The Blade of Miracles. 

The con was a learning expreience though. Here's what I learned:

    The day started before 6 am with loading the truck in the dark. Learned it would be better to do that the day before. Still managed to get most everything in the bed, but no need to wait. I'm also considering a shell for the back that would increase the storage vertically as well.

    Too many issues on display. So far, with Powers Squared and The Blade of Miracles, we have 38 issues and 2 trades, which frankly is overwhelming and requires two display racks. In future, we're going to have just trades and the first issues out, with the others ready to go. We're also thinking about having something to show the story arcs out without it being the issues themselves.

    Offer free things. We have Starbursts, but our table neighbor had stickers, and they weren't even related to his book. However, it got people to stop and take them, start a conversation and he made sales. I'm liking the idea of stickers, but also bookmarks.

    Have a QR code on the table. Again, it worked for our neighbor. People didn't even seem to ask what it was, but accessed it instinctively.

Besides making new friends, it was nice to reconnect with familiar faces, who were at the Con. Former guests on the podcast include Tony Fleecs, Livio Ramondelli, Stephen E. Gordon and Bin Lee. We also reconnected with the first artist we had tried to work with on Powers Squared, who was also tabling a couple of rows over. While we never got off the ground with them, it was nice to reconnect.

While the Con sort of dominated the weekend, other things also moved forward. There were three reviews on Trophy Unlocked, Paul reviewed the Megadeth: Behind the Mask listening party on Friday, Trevor's review of Anvil! The Story of Anvil on Saturday, and Paul's review of Return to Silent Hill. Meanwhile, I completed a review of The House on Telegraph Hill for later consumption.

I also managed to work some more on Blackmail, mostly some edits further back in the story, currently a flashback that gets told. So now, the word count is 80,025, and I still have a few chapters to go.

In the meantime, work continues on new pages for Powers Squared. 

And let's not forget, the podcast. This week's was a very brief preview of issue #11 of Trevor's The Blade of Miracles, which comes out on Wednesday and will be available in digital and print through The Campus Store on our website. You can still watch it for a few days here, listen to it here or wait and watch it on our YouTube channel here Wedensday after 2:30 PST.

This coming week, I need to work again on our newsletter,The Hound Dogs' Howl, and hopefully make more progress on Blackmail.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #575 - Getting Ready for Pasadena

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

The getting ready for Pasadena refers to the Pasadena Comic Con, which we signed up for last year basically on the auggestion of someone we ran into at LightBox. Coincidentally, it is happening in the same place, the Pasadena Convention Center. Now, this is a small one day con, but you still want to be ready for it.

It is small, compared to SDCC or WonderCon. As an example, we don't know where we'll be tabling and won't know until the day of. It's sort of a "come find us" in a sea of Artist Alley tables, which is a disadvantage. And the social media images they've provided are for last year's con, which I guess happened in May.

I tried to come up with some sort of image for our social media. My initial image was something like this:

which I thought was pretty good for a writer, but could be better. I asked Trevor to take a go at it and he came up with:

which is a big improvement. So, if you're going, find us and say hi.

As part of the prep, we spent Saturday afternoon sort of setting up the table. It's good practice to know where everything goes, especially considering we'll be doing the actual setup early Sunday morning and most likely sleep deprived.

I also spent part of today applying for and receiving a resale license; got to pay the tax man.

There has also been progress on the next issue of Powers Squared. Our artist is turning in a page almost once every other day or so. And as good as that is, it takes time to review and give comments, but she's doing really great work.

One of the fun things about doing a podcast is when a guest interview doesn't pan out, you still have to come up with something to discuss. Paul and I decided to do one about GameStop. OAPS #334 - The Fall of GameStop (A Gamer's Perspective) was the result. You can watch it on twitch for the next few days, listen to it here (or the other platforms listed there as well), or wait and watch it on our YouTube channel on Wednesday after 2:30 pm PST.

My review of Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, as promised, was the Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. Having watched that last week prompted Trevor to want to watch the documentary about Anvil, which he has also reviewed. I'm currently working on a review for Alias Boston Blackie, a leftover Christmas drive-by movie, as part of the drain the DVR.

I managed to get some work in on Blackmail. We're nearing the 80,000 word threshold and are up to 78.525 words.

No queries yet. I haven't had the time to rework a query letter.

Since we're tabling next Sunday, this little missive might be late, either Sunday or Monday. So thanks, in advance, for understanding.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.

A Week in Writing #574 - AI Was the Topic

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

With the prominence of AI in pratically everything, Paul and I spent our podcast discussing for the second time, "AI in Media (Part 2)". We're not experts, but it is something as creators we feel very strongly about. We've talked about it before on our 199th episode "Discussing A.I. in Media", which you're free to watch as well. The new podcast can be listened to here, watched for the next week here or watched on our YouTube channel after 2:30 pm on Wednesday. If you have opinions about AI, we would love to hear them.

We were planning on discussing it with our new artist on the next podcast, which we were planning to record on Saturday to fit her schedule. But things didn't work out as planned and after an hour of waiting, and still in contact, we called it. We'll have to reschedule, but it probably won't be any time this month. Maybe next. It's hard to coordinate a time that is good for everyone.

There are new pages coming in for the new issue of Powers Squared, and our colorist, for the first time in months, has something to work on, so all is good and moving forward.

Speaking of moving forward, my review of One Battle After Another went up on Trophy Unlocked as our Saturday Morning Review. This honestly wasn't a movie I really wanted to see, but seeing as it's awards season and this is being nominated, we decided to watch and review. I also wrote a review for Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, which should go up next Saturday. I tried to watch The Second Woman to review it, but it was a no-go for me.

I did rework the beginning of Blackmail, and made more updates. I think it works better. I'm up to 77,725 words for those who are counting along with me, about 1700 more than last week. My goal is at least 80,000 words, so I'm feeling more confident on reaching that, I feel like I've got 4 or 5 more chapters to go and then my favorite part, editing. After that, I've got another one to work on, a currently untitled story that I was bout 20,000 words into before switching to Blackmail.

I'm still planning on starting up querying again, but I have to work on a better letter, since the last one went nowhere. I've also come up with a better comps for the book, so I'm hopeful, but you've got to be.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #573 - Happy New Year 2026

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

Well, the new year is upon us now. I'm sort of beyond the age to make new year's resolutions. We all want to be healthier and to keep working on what we love. So, while not resolutions, the goals remain the same.

Paul and I talked about goals on our recent podcast, OAPS #332- Powers Squared 2026 Preview. Even though it says Powers Squared, we also talked about The Blade of Miracles and, of course, the podcast. You can still catch it on our twitch channel for the next week, listen to it here or wait and watch it on our our YouTube channel on Wednesday at 2:30 pm. Still trying to work out a time to have our new artist on the podcast, but the time difference makes that tricky.

On the subject of Powers Squared, this was newsletter week, which went out this morning. Of course, I'd like you to sign up for The Hound Dogs' Howl, which is free, of course. You can sign up here.

My review of Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail was the Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. Prior to that, each of the reviewers on Trophy Unlocked wrote their highlights/disappointments from 2025. You can read Paul's here, Trevor's here and mine here. I also wrote a review for One Battle After Another, which I presume will show up sooner than later.

I made some progress on my own Blackmail, but not as much as I had hoped for. I'm up to just over 76,000 words as of now, which is about 2800 more than last week, but I would have hoped for more, but there were other things to work on. I did have an idea about rewriting the opening of the book, which is more of a moving the first two chapters around and getting to the action sooner.

I watched a seminar on agents and query letters to prepare myself for getting back into the hunt on those. It's depressing to be ghosted, but that's the way it is, I guess but you've got to play the game.

Well, it's back to work this week, but I still want to keep working on Blackmail and hopefully review more new pages for Powers Squared.

That about does it for me. Keep writing, and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #572 - Christmastime

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

Christmas at my house is really great and very physical media heavy, including books, movies, video games and music. The biggest problem is getting to everything, but that is fodder for another day. But they will probably be sources for reviews on Trophy Unlocked sometime in the future.

Speaking of Trophy Unlocked, the holiday didn't stop reviews, including Paul's Game Day review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011), which came out on Wednesday the 24th. My review of Blast of Silence was the Saturday Morning Review. I didn't think of it at the time, but the story of the movie takes place between Christmas and New Years, so it was an appropriate pick for the holiday week.

I aslo have written three reviews this past week, including two holiday specials It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown, and The Little Drummer Boy. The third one was Ninotchka from 1939, which was one of the movies we watched on "Movie Day", our post-Christmas day ritual. These will all come out some time in the future, so stay turned.

SRCC Press didn't stop either, as we launched Trevor's 10th issue of The Blade of Miracles on Christmas Eve. Titled, "Mordred, Part 3", the book is available in both print and digital through The Campus Store on our website.

Our new artist continued work on Powers Squared and didn't take the holiday off either, turning in several pages during the past week. I'm very happy with her and hope this will continue for a long while.

As far as my writing, I made some updates to previous books, Getting Even and The Runaway, while also working on Blackmail. For those following along, I'm now up to 73,207 words.

We actually pre-recorded this past week's podcast to take into account Movie Day. Recorded on the 16th, OAPS #331 - Kickstarter Unboxing - Pirates and Robots had us unboxing recent Kickstarter deliveries, including Pirates: A Graphic History (But not THAT kind of graphic) and Transformers, The Compendium Set.  You can still watch it on our twitch.tv channel, listen to it here or wait until the 31st at 2:30 pm PST and watch it here.

Next week, I've got a newsletter to work on, a highlights/disappointments post to do for Trophy Unlocked and I'd like to work more on Blackmail.

A Week in Writing #571 - The Holidays Are Coming

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

Sorry to borrow a line from that terrible AI Coca-Cola commercial, but I'm sure the sentiment existed before they used it. The truth is Christmas will be quickly upon us. I hope yours is happy and safe.

Even though it's the holidays, we are still releasing one issue of The Blade of Miracles, #10, on Christmas Eve and on Kindle on Christmas Day; couldn't be helped. It could be considered a very last minute gift or a diversion if needed. You'll be able to find links to it at The Campus Store on our website.

We're still getting pages from our new artist for Powers Squared. Not only is she good, but she's quick and, as I said last time, it feels like it's a comic book again.

We talked about that change, as well as other events for Powers Squared and The Blade of Miracles, on our podcast, which comes out on Christmas Day. Called Powers Squared 2025 Rewind, the podcast can still be watched on our twitch.tv channel for the rest of the week, listened to here, and watched on our YouTube channel on Christmas Day after 2:30 pm PT.

No new review this week from me. Last night, we went to the mall, as a sort of tradition. Our shopping is complete, but it's nice to walk around and see what's what and say hi to Santa, if not sit on his knee.

That's not to say we don't have reviews. This was a big week for Trophy Unlocked, which celebrated it's 15 year and nearly 1700 reviews of movies and videogames. The anniversary post was Paul's review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009). Prior to that, on Wednesday was Trevor's review of Tron RUN/r. Yesterday, the Saturday Morning Review was mine for O. Henry’s Full House (1952). It's an anthology film of the writer's work and includes "The Gift of the Magi", which seemed appropriate for the season.

Work continued on Blackmail. I'm now up to 71, 343, so with everything, I did get in over 1000 words this week. I also continued going through older books and looking for descriptions of one of the main characters. However, with one book, The Runaway, I found that the chapter numbering made no sense, so I had to go back through it and renumber them, which wasn't hard, but just time-consuming, and a little embarassing as well. Not sure what happened there.

This coming week, I'm hoping to get more work in on Blackmail. There is also our own made-up holiday, "Movie Day", which is the day after. We still believe in physical media, so we spend a day watching some of the new titles we've just received. I'm sure you have your own way that you spend your time with family and friends.

Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week. Happy holidays!