A Week in Writing #631 - A Creative Gut Punch

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

The week ended on a bit of a down note when it came to Powers Squared. I remember a few weeks/months ago, reporting about our surprising sales at Golden Apple Comics in Hollywood. We had, supposedly sold, 8 of 12 copies of the first two trades we'd left there. We felt really good that we had a breakthrough and had made sales at a very prominent comic book shop. Well, all lies.

Friday, the manager of the store called, not only to ask us to pick up the remaining copies, but all 12 copies. The owner had been incorrect in saying we'd sold copies and they want their money back. When you're an independent comic book, that's the last thing you want to hear. Not in a big hurry to do that, but we'll probably have to do it next weekend.

But the call costs more than money. It was a sort of creative gut punch. I think we'll recover and carry on, but the incident won't be forgotten any time soon.

Finished the submission for San Diego Comic-Con 2027 small press, by sending copies of issues #28 and #29. Fingers crossed we'll be chosen. It's hard to know the rules, since there are a lot of non-small press in Small Press, but we're living in Comic-Con's world and by their rules, such as they are.

We're working on something fun for L.A. Comic-Con in October. I won't get into it, but we'll discuss when we get closer and have examples to share. Otherwise, I think we have everything we'll need, including candy for the kids. (It's over Halloween.)

Work continued this week on issue #31, with time spent going over page 4 with the artist. She's very quick to respond, so it means every other night, a new version of a page needs to be reviewed with everyone and then comments have to be written and sent. It's a necessary evil, I guess and a better situation than waiting for pages, which is the flip of the coin. I prefer this side.

My review of the 1943 Batman serial, was the Batman Day Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. It was something I had written about 10 months ago. It's one of the longest reviews I've ever written, since it covered all the episodes in a 15-part serial.

The rest of the week had seen the rollout by Trevor of three different Review Hubs. On Tuesday, Review Hub - X-Men; and, on Friday, two: Review Hub - Resident Evil and Review Hub - Wallace & Gromit. Proof that there's something for everyone on Trophy Unlocked. No new review this week, but while watching TCM's Silent Sundays, I realized I had already watched and written a review for So This is Paris (1926), so I put it up on the blog, but publication is pending; isn't it always.

I'm not much involved with this week's podcast. I mean I was there, but Trevor and Paul handled most of the questioning of Evan Brooks, a Transformers toy designer they had met at several SDCCs. I think it went well and if you're into Transfomers, then you're in for a treat. It's on our twitch channel for the next few days, you can listen to it or find other platforms here, and, as always, the podcast will be on our YouTube channel, starting at 2:30 pm PT on Wednesday.

Worked some on Blackmail. I think, except for some tweaks later on, that I'm done with it. Now that it's fall, I guess I'll start the ol' queries to the black hole of trying to find an agent. Now sure which book to try this time. I still like Broken People but it might be time to move on from that one.

I've been editing the next story idea, and still no name. Maybe I'll call it Cold Case, as he's looking for someone who disappeared 15 years prior. It's loosely, very loosely, based on someone I knew in high school, who ran away from home. We had "dated" if that's the word for it, a few years before. Then her family move to California and then back to Dallas, where I lived at the time. For over a year I was calling regularly to talk to her, only to be told she wasn't available. Then, at some point, the father told me she'd run away after they moved back. Well, it's been more than 15 years, but the idea of a high school girl running away is the prompt. I have no idea what ever became of her, so now I'll be able to get fictional closure; if that's a thing.

So, I'll probably be working on that this week, reviewing pages for Powers Squared, and maybe working on a new list to query.

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

A Week in Writing #630 - Not a Great Week

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

I will admit that this wasn't my best week in writing. I know I wanted to work more on Blackmail, which I did, but not as much as I wanted. So there's still some final touches to do. I don't know if this has happened to you but sometimes you just don't feel it when the time comes. And sometimes, you may feel it but not be able to get to it when you do.

I did look at the other book I had started before Blackmail. I was even making edits when I realized I was working on an earlier version of the book, so that was my sign to stop for the night.

Progress made on pages for the next issue of Powers Squared, but pages and edits come in at least four days out of five during the week. Good to see them, but they do require stopping and reviewing, looking at them with others and making comments. It's necessary but time consuming. I know, complain complain, but sometimes it's hard switching and then switching back, that's all I'm saying.

Our podcast this week was a look at the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise after 35 years. I'll admit it was mostly Paul and Trevor doing the talking, as I haven't played any of the video games, though I have seen some of the TV and the feature films. You can watch it on our twitch channel for the next few days, or you can listen to it here, or, as always, you watch it on our YouTube channel at 2:30 pm on Wednesday.

We're between Batman-related reviews on Trophy Unlocked, so it makes sense that the Saturday Morning Review this week was Trevor's review of My Little Pony: The Movie (1986), right? This comes after Trevor's Wednesday Game Day review of Sonic Free Riders. Of course, before that was my review on Monday of Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I'm currently working on a review of Haunted Mansion, the 2023 remake of sorts of The Haunted Mansion. That review will appear sometime in October.

Next week, I will try to get back to Blackmail and get that finished. And I'll probably take another swing at the other book, and hopefully come up with a name for it.

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

A Week in Writing #629 - The Newsletter and Other Stories

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

This was, of course, newsletter week. We release The Hound Dogs' Howl the first Sunday of every month, which is all about Powers Squared and related projects. In addition, each month we highlight twins in the arts, this month it was Yank and Doodle, now public domain superheroes from the 1940s. And we also make a recommendation, this month it was the video game Hi-Fi Rush. And there is also a special Heard Around Campus story, since this is after all, a school paper. For those of you new to Powers Squared, Marty and Eli are students at San Romero Community College when they discover they had been granted superpowers when they were younger. If it sounds at all interesting, sign up here and you'll get one next month, as well as a FREE copy of the first issue.

I know I wrote last week that I would be working on Blackmail, putting on finishing touches. However, I got the inspiration to work on a possible new script for Powers Squared instead. In this one, Jennifer finally learns the truth. It's a single-issue that I think would also serve as a jumping on point to the story. I'm not sure I'm finished with it, but I should be soon. I like to write and then re-read and edit a few times before sharing.

Work continues on the current Powers Squared, with our artist turning in the second page for issue #31, which is coming along nicely.

Our podcast this week, was a look at the Tenth Doctor, as we continue our deep dive into the Doctor Who franchise. You can watch it on our twitch.tv channel for the next few days, listen to it here, or wait and watch it on Wednesday at 2:30 pm on our YouTube channel when it premieres.

Trophy Unlocked was especially busy this week starting on Monday with A Celebration of 1800 Reviews, which Trevor compiles for us. On Tuesday was Paul's review of Buddy (2026), on Wednesday, Game Day, Trevor again, with a look at  Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity for the Wii. Thursday was Trevor's review of Coyote vs. Acme. And on Saturday was Paul's review of Batman: Hush.

I'm working on a review for October of The Mummy's Hand and wrote a review today of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which we finally saw today in the theater. Look for both in the near future.

Next week, it'll be back to Blackmail, finishing The Mummy's Hand and probably more on Powers Squared, as there always seems to be a new page to review.

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

A Week in Writing #628 - 7 Years of On the Air with Powers Squared, 1800 Reviews and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

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

As the title suggests, On the Air with Powers Squared celebrated 7 years of podcasts on Friday with #366. Our guest was Val Hochberg, noted artist and webcomic creator. She is someone we've been after for a while. The boys, especially Paul, is a big fan of her work, so it was great to have her on the show. Val talked about her career and influences, mostly with Paul, which was quite all-right. You can still watch it for the next few days on our twitch channel, listen to it on here, or wait and watch it on our YouTube channel at 2:30 pm PDT on Wednesday.

The night before, we recorded another podcast, this one with Nina Gaillard, former colorist for Powers Squared, and now Eisner-nominated for her work on Chickenpox, a book by Remy Lai. It was the first time Nina had done a podcast with us since 2019, so it was good to catch up. We're holding it back for a while, but it will be coming out soon. More when it does.

And if that wasn't enough, Trophy Unlocked celebrated 1800 reviews on Saturday, with my second review of Citizen Kane. A Second Screening came about from watching the movie with an audience, something I don't think I had done since college, and even then it was probably a bunch of film students, so they don't count as a public viewing with paying customers. It did change my perspective on the film. Earlier in the week on Wednesday, Game Day, was Trevor's review of Sonic Riders for the PS2. I'm workng on a review of Nancy Drew... Detective, while Paul is working on one for the new Buddy film and Trevor is working on one for Coyote vs. Acme.

On the Powers Squared front, Wednesday saw the release of Issue #28, the one and only issue drawn by Jen Moreno. In this issue, "Agnes: Wreckage, Part 1", while trying to assist with his research, Marty and Eli Powers’ former science instructor Agnes Miller accidentally took an overdose of the Viribus compound, a chemical blend found in the blood of people with superpowers. As a result, she now has powers that she can’t control and neither can Dr. Atlas. With nowhere to turn, he comes to beg Marty, Eli and Mocha for help. But will they answer the call? It's available in print and digital through The Campus Store on our website.

You have to give us credit; 7 years of a podcast, 1800 reviews and a new issue of a comic book. I don't think many people can point to that in a week's work. We're consistent if nothing else.

More on Powers Squared: We're also getting new pages on Issue #31 from our artist, and hopefully in the next month or so, we'll wrap issue #30.

I also applied to table at both WonderCon 2027 and San Diego Comic-Con 2027, so we'll see what happens.

Finally, I think I'm one step closer to being finished with Blackmail. I finished my final go through, and now it's just down to reviewing for repeats, which I hope there aren't many. By repeats, I mean where I might have talked about the same thing more than once, a description or an event. I'm not 100 percent happy with my final paragraph either, so I might not be totally done. The count is now 90,501 words.

Next week will be time for the newsletter again, so I think that's where a lot of my time will be spent, if it's not on Blackmail. You can still enroll here, if you want to get your own copy of The Hound Dogs' Howl.

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

A Week in Writing #627 - 25th Comic Book Club

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing. Since it's August, hopefully you're also staying cool.

We had our 25th Comic Book Club meeting this past Friday with artists Julia Canon and Rachel Wells joining us to discuss Paul's selection, Maid to Skate, a manga by Suzushiro. It's always fun to listen to what others say about the works we choose. While it's a comic book club, most of the selections have been of the manga variety, which I think has more to do with the ages of all but one of the participants. I do learn alot, since oftentimes their references are new to me. As always,  you're invited to watch it for the next few days on our twitch channel, listen to it on various platforms, found here, or wait to watch it on our YouTube channel on Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT. Rachel picked the next book, Dogs on Dates, a graphic novel by Luke Healy if you want to read ahead or join us for the next one.

Wednesday is also the day we're releasing the 28th issue of Powers Squared, "Agnes: Wreckage, Part 1." Powers Squared, for those of you who have missed out, tells the story of Marty and Eli, college-aged identical twins who discover that they were granted super powers by a magical kitsune when they were young. In this issue, while trying to assist with his research, the Marty and Eli Powers’ former science instructor Agnes Miller, accidentally took an overdose of the Viribus compound, a chemical blend found in the blood of people with superpowers. As a result, she now has powers that she can’t control and neither can Dr. Atlas. With nowhere to turn, he comes to beg Marty, Eli and Mocha for help. But will they answer the call? It should be available in print and digital through The Campus Store on our website.

I have yet to start a review of A Girl in Every Port (1952), but my review of Dr. Who and The Daleks (1965) was the Saturday morning review on Trophy Unlocked. This all comes from our recent obessession with all things Doctor Who. We literally just finished the Tenth Doctor's (David Tennant) run. We're taking a break, but there's more to come with the Ninth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures in the queue.

It's sort of the finale specials of the Tenth Doctor that I'm blaming for not finishing the go through of Blackmail that I've been doing. Some nights, if dinner is late and the show runs over an hour, I get less than two hours a night to work on things. I am enjoying the go through, as I'm finding a lot of little things that need changing. I'm currently at 369 of 408 pages and the word count is up slightly to 90,174. As always, the goal is to get through it this week, but don't hold me to it.

So, I've got a review to start and finish, a new issue coming out, and hopefully, two OAPS podcasts to record this week (details after they happen) and the work on Blackmail to keep me busy next week.

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

A Week in Writing #626 - New Issue Preview

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

Powers Squared is coming out with a new issue on August 26th. To celebrate, our most recent podcast was devoted to a very brief preview of the issue, "Agnes: Wreckage, Part 1", the 28th issue of the book series. Colorist Julia Canon joined Trevor, Paul and myself to talk about it. Normally, we would invite the artist to join us, but we had a parting of ways after the lineart was completed.

In the issue, Agnes Miller, the boys' former science instructor at San Romero Community College, tried to help her paramour Dr. Atlas in his experiments. But an overdose gives her powers that she cannot control. In need of help, Dr. Atlas turns to Marty and Eli Powers for help. The issue will be available in print and digital through The Campus Store on our website.

The podcast can be watched on our twitch channel for the next few days, or be listened to here, or you can wait and watch it on our YouTube channel on Wednesday the 19th at 2:30 pm.

We've also noticed some sound issues with the podcast, and we're going to bring in some new audio equipment, hoping to rectify the situation.

We showed up officially as guests on the LA Comic-Con website, only some of the information is really old, like they have us with a Twitter account and we, Powers Squared, or myself, haven't had one for several years. I've asked them to correct. But it's still cool to see yourself on the website. Hope to see you there at the Con.

Speaking of social media, I'm hearing that Facebook is going to start requiring users to pay to post more than two posts with links a month, starting in December. For those of you who find this from Facebook, please know I won't be paying. You are free to follow me on Bluesky (@lionsroar91406bluesky.social), where I'll post the links, or on Facebook, where I'll post the links to this blogsite in my profile.

My plan was to work on Blackmail this week, and I did work on it most nights, though some nights is less than others. I've got less than 100 pages to go and I'm at 90,043 words at the moment. After this exercise, I want to go through it looking for certain subjects to be sure I'm not repeating the same thought too many times.

I'm currently working on a review of 99 River Street, a film noir from 1953. As always, no idea when it will be published, though I have heard that my Second Screening review of Citizen Kane may be getting a prominent publication on Trophy Unlocked. In the meantime, the Saturday Morning Review was Paul's for Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender.

Next week, more work on Blackmail and prep for the next release of Powers Squared.

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

A Week in Writing #625 - Stay Cool in August

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

I guess I should also say, staying cool, as August seems to be getting hotter every year. AC is truly a wonderful thing.

I spent most of the week on Blackmail. I'm trying to do a couple of chapters a day. I'm currently up to Chapter 34, page 282/409 and the word count is at 90,047. Going through it with a fine-toothed comb is what I'm trying to do. I'm enjoying it while at the same time trying to take out duplicates, you know describing the same thing twice, and moving wording around, adding here and there. I might be done with this by the end of the week, but that's the goal.

Got some templates from L.A. Comic-Con and put out our first post about the event. They gave me Canva to use, which I, of course, never have. It's a little like setting up business cards, but a little less forgiving. I wasn't sure what I was doing until I saw another artist put his out.

I think it's eye-catching. I've also done one each for Powers Squared and The Blade of Mircales:

They match the banners we'll have up for the show.

I think we're in pretty good shape with supplies, but I want to check on business cards before we get too much closer.

We've put the final touches on the lineart for Issue #30, and our artist is going to start in on Issue #31 soon.

Speaking of new issues, Powers Squared #28, "Agnes Wreckage, Part 1" should be coming out on August 26th, though we're still putting all the ducks in a row. The peek-of-the-week, this week is the cover, minus colors and lettering, so you might want to check it out. There's a new one every week.

In the issue, when Agnes Miller tries to help Dr. Atlas with his research, an overdose of the Viribus compound turns her into a monster with uncontrollable powers. Dr. Atlas needs help, but unfortunately for our heroes, there are only three people he can turn to.

As I wrote last week, the guest we had lined up for Friday's podcast bailed, so we had to come up with something new. We revisited Doctor Who and the franchise rabbit hole we find ourselves going down, with 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors, Torchwood and now The Sarah Jane Adventures all on our "to watch" list. You can watch our podcast on our twitch.tv channel for the next few days, listen to it here, and/or wait until Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT to watch on our YouTube channel.

The Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked this week was Trevor's for Mortal Kombat (1995). I did finish my review for The Big House, and tentatively started one for China Clipper. As always, no idea when these will appear.

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