tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67502002220754953752024-03-26T23:36:48.597-07:001000 Words a Daylionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.comBlogger500125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-20880271431488357712024-03-24T20:23:00.000-07:002024-03-24T20:23:32.590-07:00A Week in Writing #501 - There's Always a First Time for Everything<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xFeJB12ZA9tbYCvRrkw5bigQEq69hqjn8-AYTEZdpHMerlmpgkCB2yIzDQ_TlJJisXcbJU4qKw1isGyN4871WgsH3W12m62uQCqDYFOwtEbhxv_Tj1jGS9tg1P9Q4bxPr6zxzNL_ZE8dIfpk7GceT8xleKLpckszEXEYrVBZW-xH7WhtW64yLAaZxvqs/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7xFeJB12ZA9tbYCvRrkw5bigQEq69hqjn8-AYTEZdpHMerlmpgkCB2yIzDQ_TlJJisXcbJU4qKw1isGyN4871WgsH3W12m62uQCqDYFOwtEbhxv_Tj1jGS9tg1P9Q4bxPr6zxzNL_ZE8dIfpk7GceT8xleKLpckszEXEYrVBZW-xH7WhtW64yLAaZxvqs/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">My writing this week took a twist I hadn't expected. Since our artist on <i>Powers Squared, </i>Julia Canon, was finishing up her work on issue #26, <i>The Great Escape</i>, I sent her the script for the next issue. As a change of pace, this one is more <i>Powers Squared</i> related than about the actual story. In issue #1, we introduced Billy O'Shea, a young boy whom like Marty and Eli, had super powers granted to him by a yokai. Billy came back in issues 16-18, <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/%2316-18-mocha-and-raven" target="_blank">Mocha and Raven</a>, </i>Parts 1-3<i>, </i>accompanied by Raven, the Yatagarasu who granted him the powers for his good deeds and turned protector when Dr. Atlas threatened him. We established in that story that Billy and Raven make a living as a long haul trucker utilizing Billy's powers of super strength and punctuality.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Well, there were things in the script that Julia questioned and after conversing with Paul and myself during the week, it was decided a rewrite was in order, so there goes Thursday night. With the rewrites and editing complete, a new version is ready. If this new storyline turns out to be a go, and we make more, Trevor has also come up with some story ideas that we might use in future.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">A comic book is a collaborative process, at least for us who do not draw. We've gotten used to changes being made when the words on the page get turned into images. Rachel Wells, our previous artist, would occasionally move and/or combine panels when she thought it was necessary for the story. Usually, we went along with her suggestions. However, this is the first time we've rewritten a script, like this, for the artist.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Speaking of comic books, we had our 13th Comic Book Club session on Friday's <i>On the Air with Powers Squared</i>. Along with Rachel, Julia, Trevor and Jen Moreno, we discussed <em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">The Apothecary Diaries </em><span style="background-color: white;">manga written by Itsuki Nanao and illustrated by Nekokurage. Afterward, a tribute to Akira Toriyama, the creator behind </span><em style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">Dragon Ball. </em><span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;">You can listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> or watch it <a href="https://youtu.be/UdHbg0gTG2M" target="_blank">here</a> on Wednesday </span></span><span style="background-color: white;">afternoon</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"> after 2:30 pm PT. Our next book will be </span><i>Pompo the Cinephile, </i>a Japanese manga by Shogo Sugitani. Read along and join us when we discuss. That session hasn't yet been scheduled, but I'll let you know when here. If you do plan to be a part of it, please have your three favorite films ready as well.</p><p>On the subject of the movies, on Saturday afternoon, we watched <i>Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire</i> and I wrote the review, which will appear next Saturday morning on <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>.</i> It's been a busy week on the blog. God of War month continued with Trevor's <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-ghost-of-sparta.html" target="_blank">Second Look - God of War: Ghost of Sparta</a> on Tuesday, and his <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-wildstormdc-comic.html" target="_blank">Second Look - God of War (WildStorm/DC Comic)</a> on Thursday, with more to come next week. The Saturday Morning Review this week was Paul's take on <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/kung-fu-panda-4.html" target="_blank">Kung Fu Panda 4</a>.</i></p><p>A lot of my writing this week has been <i>Powers Squared</i> related. In addition to the rewrites, there was work on the newsletter, which will go out the first Sunday in April. I think, with the exception of some last minute updates, it should be ready to go.</p><p>I did manage to do some work on <i>Skylar, </i>but most of it has been rewrites rather than new pages. </p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p><p></p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-8206025487437724452024-03-17T20:42:00.000-07:002024-03-17T20:42:37.411-07:00A Week in Writing #500 - Nice Way to End the Week<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSydh3ADxzZ-xA2LeWg2IhPHVEyo3YQcHsHrsVuwuDEMyiMizsIOeohHS_dWsIjtsIpJQ4-PJMh-yqGEEUKyzfGwskqrY-PGlauNzuyUPldGsjLKWiM_L_cL8R1Ppsu3KgjIBt4W6ysf3rGAzotYx4O7EAMs-oWOODtxMC6kQt-rMvh6jU41i00zA2pX1/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfSydh3ADxzZ-xA2LeWg2IhPHVEyo3YQcHsHrsVuwuDEMyiMizsIOeohHS_dWsIjtsIpJQ4-PJMh-yqGEEUKyzfGwskqrY-PGlauNzuyUPldGsjLKWiM_L_cL8R1Ppsu3KgjIBt4W6ysf3rGAzotYx4O7EAMs-oWOODtxMC6kQt-rMvh6jU41i00zA2pX1/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.</p><p>A nice way to end the week is to meet up with someone and have a good talk and catch up. And that's what happened this week on the podcast <i>On the Air with Powers Squared.</i> Lucas Scheffel, a comic book creator from Australia, was our guest for the sixth time, and for the first time in well over a year. We talked about his new comic book Kickstarter, comic book convenstions, Cricket and, of course, <i>Bluey. </i>You can listen to it on our <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">website</a> or wait until Wednesday to watch it <a href="https://youtu.be/5v78p13ufwM" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>Seeing as it's a live podcast, we had a driver issue that delayed us and which Paul managed to work through, but it does speak to the challenges of doing one regularly, so there is some editing involved but nothing of substance edited out, just the rough start.</p><p>On the topic of the podcasts, I'm revamping that part of the website. I've been trying to keep a "Best of" section of videos, but that can get to be unweildy. So, I'm thinking of keeping a Best of but also adding separate sections for The Comic Book Club videos, the Taste Testing videos, and one of the conversations we've had with other creators. The videos about particular issues I've been adding to the pages about those issues, which is another way to keep the links on the website. So far, I've only done the section for The Comic Book Club. If you're interested, you can take a look at <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/videos">https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/videos</a>.</p><p>Working on the next issue of <i>Powers Squared</i>, which is sometimes a slower go than I appreciate. I really want 8 pages a month from the creatives involved: arist, colorist, letterer, but that is easier said than done. We're getting close to the end with the artwork for #26, tentatively titled, <i>The Great Escape</i>, as the artist is finishing the final pages and the cover.</p><p>For <i>Trophy Unlocked, </i>I wrote a review of <i>Main Street After Dark </i>(1945), a definite B-movie that was also the film debut of Audrey Totter. Not sure when it will appear. The blog is still in the middle of God of War month with two new reviews. On Tuesday, Trevor's <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-chains-of-olympus.html" target="_blank">Second Look - God of War: Chains of Olympus</a> and on Thursday it was his <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-iii-remastered.html" target="_blank">Second Look - God of War III Remastered</a>. </i>The Saturday Morning Review was Paul's for <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/pompo-cinephile.html" target="_blank">Pompo the Cinephile</a>, </i>a 2021 anime look at making movies.</p><p>On the <i>Skylar </i>front, I did make some progress. I'm changing the story a bit, so some of what I've written will be changing, but I'm liking it better.</p><p>No querying this month. I think it may be April before I get to that.</p><p>During the year, there are several times when real life and family collide with my writing. I'm coming up on one of those in a few weeks. My mother is having a milestone birthday and we're all flying to see her in Houston. We're flying on a Friday, so we're relying on our arist, Julia, to take over the show. But there's also things like the Saturday Morning Review, the uploads and the newsletter that have to be done ahead of time. And, of course, this blog will be late by a day because of it, too. But that's a couple of weeks away.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p><p></p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-83541670810251691202024-03-10T20:34:00.000-07:002024-03-10T20:34:19.166-07:00A Week in Writing in #499 - More Issues with GoDaddy<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkcff2CmVGaZgqU2j3OcsG0aTc924WPILSn5D5gETvPhcaD1WktfgMvInW6kCBgvMO55dTyHJSEfyYrf1RbiYJKHbeK6efCkDr7FQeukPoWfxtRS1yeafm7XiRUlgRpzP_5wxTpY7i0scEixCBnXl7tIaCD6QtaBz-DPGSemRNTzhgAP1j0Mvw7OkgF98/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkcff2CmVGaZgqU2j3OcsG0aTc924WPILSn5D5gETvPhcaD1WktfgMvInW6kCBgvMO55dTyHJSEfyYrf1RbiYJKHbeK6efCkDr7FQeukPoWfxtRS1yeafm7XiRUlgRpzP_5wxTpY7i0scEixCBnXl7tIaCD6QtaBz-DPGSemRNTzhgAP1j0Mvw7OkgF98/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></p><p>I hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.</p><p>Another banner week when it came to my on-going issues with GoDaddy. Last week, it was an issue with inserting an image. This week, I was trying to create a social post for our upcoming podcast on Friday. However, at least through Google, I was unable to even open the website. I tried to get help, but texting with someone took about three hours. I'm not sure who they think has that much time to wait for help, especially for small businesses. I ended up making the posts myself directly on the social media platforms and when I did get back to the website, this morning, all seemed to be fixed.</p><p>At times, on Friday afternoon, I'm ready to find a new host platform. My biggest concern is having to rebuild the site from scratch and losing the email we have set up. But it doesn't seem like a week goes by that I don't get frustrated with GoDaddy.</p><p>We have a new issue of <i>Powers Squared,</i> coming out this coming week, on Wednesday March 13. It's called "Mission: Istanistan, Part 1" and was written by myself and Paul, with art by Rachel Wells, colors by Julia Canon and lettering by Trevor. In this issue, the U.S. Army enlists Marty and Eli Powers to work on a classified secret mission to stop a rogue nation, Istanistan, from completing work on a WMD. The mission seems simple, one will teleport in and do the work and the other will use telepathy to guide them. It's a dangerous mission, but what could go wrong?</p><p>We talked about it on this week's podcast, with Rachel, Julia and Trevor all participating. You can listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a>, or watch the video on <a href="https://youtu.be/rpeiy3Bvdfs" target="_blank">YouTube</a> on Wednesday. There is a <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/%2320-mission%3A-istanistan" target="_blank">preview</a> available to look at and you can order it in print or digital through <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/the-campus-store" target="_blank">The Campus Store</a>, where and when available. Oh, by the way, links to all of the issues are available there as well.</p><p>It's been a busy week on <a href="https://1000wordsadayeasily.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a> with the kick off of God of War Month on the blog. Things started off with Trevor's <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-2005.html" target="_blank">Second Look at <i>God of War </i>(2005)</a>. On Wednesday was Trevor's <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-ii.html" target="_blank">Second Look - <i>God of War II</i></a>; and on Friday was his <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/second-look-god-of-war-betrayal.html" target="_blank">Second Look - <i>God of War: Betrayal</i></a>. I got the Saturday Morning Review with <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/stubs-last-command.html" target="_blank"><i>The Last Command </i>(1928)</a>. No new review this week from me. We spent Saturday night away from home this week, so that took care of that.</p><p>Did some writing this week on <i>Skylar; </i>finally getting to the part I've been wanting to rewrite for the longest time.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you again next week.</p><p></p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-51014282352421154292024-03-03T20:41:00.000-08:002024-03-03T20:41:09.123-08:00A Week in Writing #498 - Newsletter and Podcasts<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8skKiFxAxsVjrc_WYz769P4jtIio63hmVwP7evBDSwl9n6GDSLrPgEfg54L_dQZqNr61KJNO9H8inZteM-4MOpdeDUbbF-qwM5pCryaOlejYhrPtgORpL0quLuCdkghmEibnTtwjE5heAaBifjxXEGsCpG-uPQZc7BxFhOV_x-t-ALJeYxy5kUBmaixS/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8skKiFxAxsVjrc_WYz769P4jtIio63hmVwP7evBDSwl9n6GDSLrPgEfg54L_dQZqNr61KJNO9H8inZteM-4MOpdeDUbbF-qwM5pCryaOlejYhrPtgORpL0quLuCdkghmEibnTtwjE5heAaBifjxXEGsCpG-uPQZc7BxFhOV_x-t-ALJeYxy5kUBmaixS/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>Sort of a busy week, though mostly behind the scenes sorts of stuff.</p><p>Every month, like it or not, we publish <i>The Hound Dogs' Howl, </i>our monthly newsletter on all things <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com" target="_blank">Powers Squared</a>. </i>Now, a lot of this is rather routine stuff, however, the lead, a feature about twins, A Heard Around Campus bit, as well as a recommendation have to be written. And wait for it, here comes my monthly pitch to have you, dear reader, consider signing up for it by enrolling in <a href="https://mailchi.mp/9b9f918f79af/m1hbvbxiyn" target="_blank">San Romero Community College</a>. It's FREE!</p><p>This week's podcast features Moni Barrette, the Director, Collection Development & Publisher Relations at LibraryPass Comics Plus was our guest. While we try to have this be a conversation, questions still have to be drafted and reviewed. Moni talked about her career as well as getting comic books in libraries, one of which ways is through Comics Plus, which is what we're doing with Powers Squared. You can listen to the podcast now <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> or wait until Wednesday and watch it <a href="https://youtu.be/O3ngkzj5fV0" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>I'm growing more and more frustrated with GoDaddy, which our <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/" target="_blank">website</a> uses. Every Sunday morning, I upload the previous Friday night's podcast to the YouTube and the new peek-of-the-week to the website. I then update the website with links to the new video, update other pages related to the peek-of-the-week, especially when it involves the cover and then write and schedule two social media posts to coincide with the new data.</p><p>The last thing I need at 7 o'clock on a Sunday morning is for GoDaddy to f### up, which it did today. For some reason, the new color cover wasn't inserting like it should. There had been a black and white ink cover that was being replaced with the colored version. But, oh no, GoDaddy wouldn't do it. I manged, after several attempts to get the colored version to show up on the pages I wanted to put it on, including in addition to the peek-of-the-week page but also The Campus Store and the page about the issue. I try to keep them in sync, as it doesn't make sense to have a peek-of-the-week that is already available elsewhere on the website.</p><p>The biggest problem I had was in trying to do the social media posts. The colored version wouldn't insert, but rather the previous black and white one would insert in its place. I tried to remember what GoDaddy had advised I do when things didn't seem to work, which was to clear the cache. This is something I hate to do, since I have relog into every app and, surprise, surprise, that doesn't always go well, as the saved password for whatever reason doesn't match the password it's supposed to be per the site. I'm still not completely logged into X as a result. The better solution, since that didn't fix the problem, was to reload the image; that worked. If anyone has a good suggestion to replace GoDaddy, I'm all ears. Leave it in the comments.</p><p>Well, I finished my review of <i>X-Men: First Class</i> and started a new one for <i>Naked Alibi </i>(1954). On <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked,</a></i> the Saturday Morning Review was Paul's for <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/03/dragon-ball-super-super-hero.html" target="_blank">Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.</a> </i>And ICYMI, <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/02/stubs-leap-year-1924.html" target="_blank">Leap Year</a> </i>(1924) made it to the blog. Just as a warning, we're coming up on March and it will be mostly devoted to the <i>God of War</i> franchise, so buckle up.</p><p>I did manage some fictional writing this week, but it probably doesn't add up to 1000 words, but there I did do something.</p><p>I still have more of that to do, a review to finish, press releases to write and, hopefully, more pages to review from our artist and colorist.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-29516523992374252552024-02-25T19:50:00.000-08:002024-02-25T19:50:11.588-08:00A Week in Writing #497 - Monday Was a Great Day<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfoCotkkX8mFd-y1sTrNJx7HnfT3ustMl1sZ3iETEKd1M9Q5hts2P42HNHVov09Q9sHMf6m6bTJnG89VVIuMl9DXuw5dq7gnMW7U14cE8dYPRAtLrH-Lq-pTKwwLeuJdt6HdgptCqORfkoca6F6O5O6V2aQx6NEAbjZGsZ0TDeRqKrlEYRJiZbDxz29JN/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXfoCotkkX8mFd-y1sTrNJx7HnfT3ustMl1sZ3iETEKd1M9Q5hts2P42HNHVov09Q9sHMf6m6bTJnG89VVIuMl9DXuw5dq7gnMW7U14cE8dYPRAtLrH-Lq-pTKwwLeuJdt6HdgptCqORfkoca6F6O5O6V2aQx6NEAbjZGsZ0TDeRqKrlEYRJiZbDxz29JN/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>I had one of my best days as a writer on Monday. Not only did I finish the review, <i>X-Men: The Last Stand, </i>but I also rewrote the script for "Billy and Raven<i>", </i>a one-shot related to <i>Powers Squared, </i>wrote about 1500 words on my new story and read one of my son's short stories; something I was very overdue at doing. And if that wasn't enough, my entire family built the Megablocks set "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Beatles", which was 681 pieces and took three hours to build.(Note: I'd still be building it if I was doing it if my sons hadn't done the heavy lifting.) Not bad for a free day from the office.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShediniju0ez0AcKo1ol304zia2aIHW_Lq0Tl746jpx_epY00f5LcN5HsjzJ11K7-K72UEQlyD0y5p30BK9cuLE7tZoOH3iQZZlchXM8ey7-MyoEM67HcE_6sZQC2YEIbS7kyTEMwAKlQItnxySgaw70vrZ-OZ8uQp5ycYn0QHRQgQg9_3Sx_ij35tmKa/s4032/20240219_173336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgShediniju0ez0AcKo1ol304zia2aIHW_Lq0Tl746jpx_epY00f5LcN5HsjzJ11K7-K72UEQlyD0y5p30BK9cuLE7tZoOH3iQZZlchXM8ey7-MyoEM67HcE_6sZQC2YEIbS7kyTEMwAKlQItnxySgaw70vrZ-OZ8uQp5ycYn0QHRQgQg9_3Sx_ij35tmKa/w400-h300/20240219_173336.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I tried to duplicate the 1000 words again on Tuesday, and sort of barely made it, on Wednesday, I just fell short of 600. None of this, mind you, had anything to do with <i>Skylar</i>, but I have been thinking about making some changes in her backstory, so it's not like I've forgotten that book, it's just that I've had ideas for this newer story.<div><br /></div><div>I still have to write a review this week for <i>X-Men: First Class. Trophy Unlocked </i>will be doing a series of X-Men movie reviews leading up to the release of <i>Deadpool and Wolverine </i>later this year. Only one review this week: Trevor's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/02/paw-patrol-mighty-movie.html" target="_blank">PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie</a></i> was the Saturday Morning review.</div><div><br /></div><div>Started working, over the weekend, on the next <i>Hound Dogs' Howl, </i>the <i>Powers Squared </i>newsletter. Still time to sign up for it at <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/srcc">https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/srcc</a>. I also need to write a press release or two for upcoming releases. If you're at all curious about the issues, below is a graphic showing when they'll be released through the rest of the year. They'll all be available through <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/the-campus-store" target="_blank">The Campus Store</a> as they come out.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgul275tbxb8_lZD_EL3D3P1ADmlefZsZmcbQZ2uagpwiplqMlNjpMtV5hSeRBpro1qmdeS69tec4J-wPldumPpHAscXN73s0axsW95al84oZ0jCSMviEasflUYS5pj_8LUiQhMKBzDm1DsOPK35C_DBIT-iBD3SG2sUUWrGqwkBJ5zAvEa8zp7KgMq2FNG/s7488/2024%20Releases.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4275" data-original-width="7488" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgul275tbxb8_lZD_EL3D3P1ADmlefZsZmcbQZ2uagpwiplqMlNjpMtV5hSeRBpro1qmdeS69tec4J-wPldumPpHAscXN73s0axsW95al84oZ0jCSMviEasflUYS5pj_8LUiQhMKBzDm1DsOPK35C_DBIT-iBD3SG2sUUWrGqwkBJ5zAvEa8zp7KgMq2FNG/w400-h229/2024%20Releases.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Speaking of releases, made the mobi files for the issues this year. I'm not sure why, but it always takes more than one try to make an issue using the software. Sort of frustrating, but the last three went pretty quickly. Paul and I posted the first issue this afternoon, so it will be available for pre-order in a day or so. We also posted the next issue on GlobalComix, so everything seems to be moving forward.<div><p>We had our monthly team meeting on Friday for <i>On the Air with Powers Squared, </i>and we all agreed to give <i>Billy and Raven</i> a one-shot. You never know, it might catch on. You can listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> now, or watch the video on our <a href="https://youtu.be/GZBLSETIpSg" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a> on Wednesday at 2:30 pm PT.</p><p>I had to resend the second trade to Library Pass this week. Apparently, the first one failed (?). Next week, we'll get more into the Library Pass when our guest will be Moni Barrette, the librarian we've been working with there. We go Live at 6 pm PT on Friday at <a href="http://twitch.tv/powerssquared">twitch.tv/powerssquared</a>.</p><p>Just so it's no surprise, no queries yet. Still have some thinking and homework to do on that before I launch into a new soul-sucking round of that.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p></div>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-54417782832789718852024-02-18T21:52:00.000-08:002024-02-18T21:52:05.565-08:00A Week in Writing #496 - Attempting to Impart Wisdom<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_oxHWNRlugeKJ8i_z-Oc7SyaEP6_R7qPdXHOBHrztcuocrk6TKUR_P3D7Na-W9Ze5gyHr27oYZFkDzu2UC8MLZuhGxRSijIHUn5jhK7aK3CALUQIIoVzNWxkocEt4Z1RadElNZuV-nDKZR_2jVE8x3D2LcGd_TRcaGi7sRfaCL1ycx12KYJkEjLH0iS_/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4_oxHWNRlugeKJ8i_z-Oc7SyaEP6_R7qPdXHOBHrztcuocrk6TKUR_P3D7Na-W9Ze5gyHr27oYZFkDzu2UC8MLZuhGxRSijIHUn5jhK7aK3CALUQIIoVzNWxkocEt4Z1RadElNZuV-nDKZR_2jVE8x3D2LcGd_TRcaGi7sRfaCL1ycx12KYJkEjLH0iS_/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm stealing the title for this post from the latest <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">On the Air with Powers Squared</a> </i>podcast. On Friday, Paul, our artist Julia Canon, and I spent about an hour talking with a future comic book creator, Kevin Krust, answering questions he had about doing a book. That reminded me that every so often, I hope that I am doing that here. Sometimes, this is a rant session for me, sometimes just a place to enumerate whatever it was I did or didn't do the previous week, but every so often, I hope some wisdom is imparted, however little that may be.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">If you're interested in what we imparted to Kevin, you can listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> now or wait until Wednesday and watch us on our <a href="https://youtu.be/ioaeCuvh3jo" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>. I don't know what you may think, but I believe Kevin thought we were helpful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Speaking of <i>Powers Squared</i>, I believe we've set a release date for Issue #20, <i>Mission: Istanistan</i>. The release date will be March 13th. We'll be talking about that release on our March 8th podcast, which will feature everyone connected with its production, including artist Rachel Wells, colorist Julia Canon and letterer Trevor Hankins. Be There and Be Squared. We go live at 6 pm on twitch.tv/powerssquared.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We'll also, hopefully, be talking with Moni Barrette from LibraryPass/ComicsPlus on the March 1st podcast, so you might want to tune in for that as well and find out how we pulled that off.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the subject of <i>Powers Squared</i>, work continues on Issue #26, "The Great Escape", with Julia sort of outlining pages 15 through 17, the next three pages she'll be working on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After that, I'm thinking at this point of maybe doing our fourth one-shot in a row, <i>Billy and Raven</i>, which would be the first <i>Powers Squared</i> story not to feature Marty and/or Eli. Billy was first introduced in <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/%231-2-the-adventure-begins-1" target="_blank">Issue #1</a> and Raven in Issue #16 <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/%2316-18-mocha-and-raven" target="_blank">"Mocha and Raven"</a>. It would be a big departure for us, but not all of the Archie comics featured Archie. I'll be revisiting that script in prep for that, even if we decide not to do it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've also been working with Rachel on some <i>Powers Squared </i>paraphenalia that might come up when we do our next Kickstarter.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a></i> front, I finished my review of <i>Chang </i>(1927), which was one of the three films nominated at the first Academy Awards for Best Unique and Artistic Picture, losing to <i>Sunrise. </i>I had got to thinking it would be cool to watch and review all six films nominated for the Best Picture categories and <i>Chang</i> seemed the hardest to find. I had to buy a used Image DVD in order to watch it. You'll have to wait for publication to know if I thought it was worth it or not.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm still working on my review of <i>X-Men: The Last Stand. </i>I believe there will be a flurry of <i>X-Men</i> reviews on the blog coming out ahead of <i>Deadpool and Wolverine.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Saturday Morning Review this week was Paul's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/02/percy-jackson-olympians-lightning-thief.html" target="_blank">Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief</a> </i> the 2010 feature and not the Disney+ series. The Wednesday GameDay review was Trevor's for <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/02/transformers-earthspark-expedition.html" target="_blank"><i>Transformers: EarthSpark - Expedition</i></a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I'm afraid not much other writing happened this week. As usual, <i>Skylar</i> got short shrift again and no queries were sent. This is the part of post where I mention what I didn't do this week and these two items seem to be permanent residents.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</div><p></p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-65389622510443988092024-02-11T20:25:00.000-08:002024-02-11T20:25:08.694-08:00A Week in Writing #495 - 1,000,000 and Counting<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuqGihxnet_Vshy9K9KblIw2-3dB7T5x4NiuQ0MTqVXb9oXVYnOTa3xLyaoTptF0ACyunTDlC9-ZE7WAr-0j0APqr-jfW_SYLvf9kwpHNO-Wr2nePlayUTiTj-blV0tPMaL3MHoLct0JUB9ONEVWSaejbTTl1wNOmBFr6LfirLQXQm8AcRn2HfhVsj8By/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtuqGihxnet_Vshy9K9KblIw2-3dB7T5x4NiuQ0MTqVXb9oXVYnOTa3xLyaoTptF0ACyunTDlC9-ZE7WAr-0j0APqr-jfW_SYLvf9kwpHNO-Wr2nePlayUTiTj-blV0tPMaL3MHoLct0JUB9ONEVWSaejbTTl1wNOmBFr6LfirLQXQm8AcRn2HfhVsj8By/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>Let's start this week with a nod to <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>, </i>the blog my son Paul started and that Trevor and I also write reviews for. This month, the blog passed 1,000,000 views, which is a significant milestone. I wish I knew when it hit that number, it was sometime during the week, but the fact is that it did. Congrats to Paul for sticking with it all these years.</p><p>While we're on the subject, my review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/02/stubs-holdovers.html" target="_blank"><i>The Holdovers</i></a>, was this Saturday Morning's Review. I have two that I have to work on, <i>X-Men: The Last Stand</i> and <i>Should Ladies Behave</i>, the latter beiing a 1933 pre-code comedy-drama. I don't think the former needs an introduction.</p><p>Another happy surprise I received this week was a message from a teacher in Australia that I am linked in with on, well, LinkedIn. He wrote that in one of his classes, he was talking about creativity and character development and mentioned <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/" target="_blank">Powers Squared</a> </i>to his students and that they loved the concept. Of course, I was happy to hear that someone likes it, so I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the pages and sent him a reduced .pdf of the first trade to share with anyone in the class that might be interested. I'll be curious if any of them sign up for the newsletter, which was my only request if they liked it.</p><p>Besides resizing more pages, I also worked with our artist on a couple of new pages. I'm trying to keep her on two pages a week. She had some ideas that made sense and I had to do a little rewrite to make it work, but I think makes the story better.</p><p>Our scheduled guest on our podcast, <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">On the Air with Powers Squared</a>, </i>had internet issues so we had to reschedule for March. So, we pivoted to <i>The Lightning Thief, </i>the first book of the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan. Paul had read the book and we had all watched the Disney+ series and the feature film made before that. You can listen to it <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a>, or watch it next Wednesday on our <a href="https://youtu.be/cxr7XL0NXQw" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a> (@powerssquared).</p><p>And if that wasn't enough, we posted a new video this morning, t<a href="https://youtu.be/GjjAnCFh8Ps" target="_blank">he sixth in our taste test series</a>, this one being 5 of Mr. Beast's Feastables chocolate bars. These sort of videos have been pretty successful for us. Hope you watch.</p><p>All of this left me a little time to work on <i>Skylar </i>and my new story. And I haven't yet managed to flex my query muscles, which is something I wanted to do this month.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-30245035332933698782024-02-04T19:39:00.000-08:002024-02-10T10:17:38.121-08:00A Week in Writing #494 - A Lot to Do and So Little Time<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_9f7zTQtt6RAkNGfrTkUldZ1txJtyOq07_ENW0z6MfJCI4gNPElZOZrZKRPYU5mFOqpaUEqQsHE6aZAuIsIWfl31ZOpH4Ah1D3Qj5mp0uOKFOGOqWZnY02K4IIqgX_d1wCEp7ySut6XGdMLhWGYYL7r9z0QiGYoXmL7C3RPtGYaiytb0JpZtZPgw7rFD/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_9f7zTQtt6RAkNGfrTkUldZ1txJtyOq07_ENW0z6MfJCI4gNPElZOZrZKRPYU5mFOqpaUEqQsHE6aZAuIsIWfl31ZOpH4Ah1D3Qj5mp0uOKFOGOqWZnY02K4IIqgX_d1wCEp7ySut6XGdMLhWGYYL7r9z0QiGYoXmL7C3RPtGYaiytb0JpZtZPgw7rFD/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>I don't normally talk about the weather, but today it has been especially rainy here in Los Angeles, where I live. I like rainy days, but I didn't get much writing in, as I was busy with other duties related to <i>Powers Squared.</i></p><p>First on the list was the newsletter, <i>The Hound Dogs' Howl. </i>Most of the writing had been done, but there is always Paul and Trevor's recommendation and, of course, editing. Luckily, I sent myself a test email, since several of the links were holdovers from last month's. Anyway, it is sent out.</p><p>Next, I thought I'd start the process of getting proofs made of the four books we're planning to release this year, "Mission Istanistan"<i> </i>Parts 1 and 2, and "Family Affair"<i> </i>Parts 1 and 2. And, of course, nothing is as easy as it should be. Gallery pages were too large on one site and then there is waiting for proofs to be approved and billing to take place, so I'm not done yet.</p><p>On our podcast, <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">On the Air with Powers Squared,</a> </i>we had Rik Offenberger, the Editor-in-Chief of <i>First Comics News </i>and <i>G-Man Comics </i>on as our guest. For the most part, the people you meet in the indie comics space are really great people. And Rik is one of the best. He's always been very supportive of <i>Powers Squared</i> and it was nice to have him on the show. He's one of the better guests, in that he also promotes his appearance, which also helps. If downloads on Podbean are any indication, it's our best performance since last October's "Eyeshield 21 21th Anniversary Celebration". You can listen to it on <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">our website </a>or wait to watch it when it hits <a href="https://youtu.be/xyCJ9hi5erU" target="_blank">YouTube</a> on Wednesday.</p><p>I also finished a review of <i>The Holdovers </i>for <i>Trophy Unlocked, </i>a film we watched last night on Amazon Prime. While I perfer to see films in a theater, renting it for $2.99 beat out driving to a theater when it was supposed to be raining. I don't know when it will go up but I imagine soon, since it's nominated for several Academy Awards. The Saturday Morning Review this week was Trevor's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/02/ernest-celestine-trip-to-gibberitia.html" target="_blank"><i>Ernest & Celestine: A Trip to Gibberitia</i></a>, a French animated feature from 2022.</p><p>On the subject of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>, </i>I predict the blog will reach a million views later this month. That's quite an accomplishment, I think, and I'm happy and proud to be a part of it.</p><p>That brings me back to my other writing, which I did do this week, though mostly it was the new story idea I've been working on. I had a couple of thoughts for chapters, so I wrote those up. <i>Skylar </i>is not being forgotten.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-59552087564078609932024-01-28T20:19:00.000-08:002024-01-28T20:19:17.099-08:00A Week in Writing #493 - Let's Talk Powers Squared<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9UPdeMRJff1XlR_7PTwY-TUUpG1o61YGkyuHQxkQSSUctJ-6G3NCsXsV5zkF4dHp8ajo4nb-UaCXdBDhFo_nfQviKo3WYwmVYkyCbHdDV__otGjdEz7F6upcBNgakJ7SVd4ZLDd275wYtIZWqlIXdzKnZTCQkmPdtdzX6wMOzrOQ2BMR0WpIB-2MpuFk/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI9UPdeMRJff1XlR_7PTwY-TUUpG1o61YGkyuHQxkQSSUctJ-6G3NCsXsV5zkF4dHp8ajo4nb-UaCXdBDhFo_nfQviKo3WYwmVYkyCbHdDV__otGjdEz7F6upcBNgakJ7SVd4ZLDd275wYtIZWqlIXdzKnZTCQkmPdtdzX6wMOzrOQ2BMR0WpIB-2MpuFk/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>I'm in sort of a <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/" target="_blank">Powers Squiared</a> </i>mood this week. I've been working with, meaning reviewing and giving comments to, our artist, who is working on an issue I wrote, currently called "The Great Escape"<i>. </i>We're going two pages at a time, so two more were drawn this week and so far, I can say, I'm happy with the results.</p><p>We had a team meeting this week on our podcast, <i>On the Air with Powers Squared</i>. If you're unfamiliar, it's a chance to get everyone who is working on <i>Powers Squared </i>together virtually to talk about what's new with the book. This week, we also had an unboxing of our Volume 2 trade. I got physical copies so that we could see what they would look like when they get printed, though, for a time they are going to be exclusive to LibraryPass.</p><p>As always, you can listen to the podcast on our <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">website</a> or at most of the major platforms, also listed on the website. On Wednesday, the video appears on our <a href="https://youtu.be/padGgdtfnNI" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a> (@powerssquared).</p><p>Paul and I also sat down on Friday afternoon to apply for copyrights on the next four issues that we plan to release this year. It's the final step before we start setting dates for release.</p><p>I'm also mentiong <i>Powers Squared</i> this week because next week is the <i>Hound Dogs' Howl</i> newsletter and I want to encourage/ask you to subscribe by enrolling at SRCC, which is free; plus you get a free digital copy of issue #1 as a gift.You can do this at <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/srcc">https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/srcc</a>.</p><p><span>This week, I wrote a review of </span><i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/01/stubs-godzilla-minus-oneminus-color.html" target="_blank">Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color</a>, </i>which came out on Friday, for <i>Trophy Unlocked</i>. We watched it Saturday afternoon and the review appeared today. If you've read my other reviews, this one is pretty much spoiler free; I don't want to spoil the fun when a film is still out.</p><p>The Saturday morning review was Paul's for <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-boy-and-heron.html" target="_blank">The Boy and the Heron</a></i>, which we saw last weekend. This week also saw the return of the Wednesday Game Day with Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-last-kids-on-earth-and-staff-of.html" target="_blank"><i>The Last Kids on Earth and the Staff of Doom</i></a> video game.</p><p>This brings me back to <i>Skylar</i> and while I did do some work on it, I spent some time also working on the bit I've written for the next story, in which J.D., the hero of the books, is hired to find a girl who ran away from home 15 years ago.</p><p>This coming week, I need to finish the newsletter and work more on <i>Skylar </i>since the path seems clear. I should also work on the next query letter, as I want to get back into that come February; I don't have enough frustration in my life.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-39593918623900231502024-01-21T20:00:00.000-08:002024-01-21T20:00:26.509-08:00A Week in Writing #492 - Working<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fF_rykC3SyAd1eIk991Eg-Y3DIEwVMZrQWcWjWvb1Bd9fJ51ASqAFMsLKQVcYweBTgvepxhKZzSgLWf6QAsSjMZ8Xo_SUQspJIEbldXMFSAFBDp6gfEfXXIy20c3dMCKt7x85aXaorZY4PI2ZpkBZSFfoZUeBYnsu77HJ5Ahm2vP8g45Ca6db5muy7Or/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0fF_rykC3SyAd1eIk991Eg-Y3DIEwVMZrQWcWjWvb1Bd9fJ51ASqAFMsLKQVcYweBTgvepxhKZzSgLWf6QAsSjMZ8Xo_SUQspJIEbldXMFSAFBDp6gfEfXXIy20c3dMCKt7x85aXaorZY4PI2ZpkBZSFfoZUeBYnsu77HJ5Ahm2vP8g45Ca6db5muy7Or/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>I can actually report that I did work this week on <i>Skylar</i>. I tried to make a point of it, trying hard to get through a chapter every night. Still have more editing to go but I am working on it, so I wanted to get that out front for a change. I don't know when I'll finish but I am working on it.</p><p>Work continued this week on some edits for Issue 20. I think we're getting closer, I need to make new .pdfs before we apply for copyrights, so we're behind schedule on that, but these things need to be right before we move on to the next steps.</p><p>Meanwhile, working with our artist on pages for Issue 26, so that seems to be going along fairly well.</p><p>One last mention of Powers Squared, we had our 12th Comic Book Club on this week's <i>On the Air with Powers Squared. </i>Julia Canon and Rachel Wells joined Trevor, Paul and myself to discuss <i>Bone: Out from Boneville</i>, written and illustrated by Jeff Smith. It's always fun to have guests on the show. You can listen to it on our website: <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps">https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps</a> (or a variety of other platforms) or wait until next Wednesday to watch it on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared) at <a href="https://youtu.be/mJwCx6pP4dc">https://youtu.be/mJwCx6pP4dc</a>.</p><p>This week's Saturday Morning Review, was Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-last-kids-on-earth-book-one-film.html" target="_blank">The Last Kids on Earth - Book One (Film)</a>, which appeared on Netflix in 2019. It served as a pilot for the other two seasons of the series. He is also working on a review of <i>The Boy and the Heron, </i>which we saw in the theater over the weekend.</p><p>The review I wrote this week was for <i>7th Heaven </i>(1927) which was nominated during the first Academy Award for for Outstanding Picture, losing to <i>Wings </i>for that honor. I was surprised that there was so little information available about it, especially on my go-to website, the AFI Catalog. I was disappointed that the entire synopsis they proved was only one paragraph in length and they had very little information about the production of the film. I like the opportunity to write a better synopsis than is already available and I think I did a pretty good job with it here. I've gotten complaints before that I'm too thorough, but I figure if a film is almost 100 years old and hard to find to watch, someone should tell the story. Not sure when it will appear.</p><p>Well, more to do. So, this week I want to finish the .pdfs for <i>Powers Squared </i>and register for copyrights and work more on <i>Skylar as well.</i></p><p>That about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-73414812174711426462024-01-14T20:13:00.000-08:002024-01-14T20:13:13.332-08:00A Week in Writing #491 - Resizing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtm8XbOFQVisUDnBjROMwAXQfjHoizHPktqZs7z2lKSXfIzqHYiID6G8-h7GIAgnbMSQ9HctN51WciaU7K53Y99TtP8_RyX3GVqwQ622hl-3fEleaueCDzhBRzFRz4KVZdz5rRjA_9jNt1kCiE7LlvH_SOf7PkqCfvBIU-1btTEOoh80BUjNqOumuo72Z/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVtm8XbOFQVisUDnBjROMwAXQfjHoizHPktqZs7z2lKSXfIzqHYiID6G8-h7GIAgnbMSQ9HctN51WciaU7K53Y99TtP8_RyX3GVqwQ622hl-3fEleaueCDzhBRzFRz4KVZdz5rRjA_9jNt1kCiE7LlvH_SOf7PkqCfvBIU-1btTEOoh80BUjNqOumuo72Z/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><div>I don't normally lead with the podcast but I think the one we did on Friday might be of interest. Our guest was Doug Neff, the co-author of <i>Epic Win! The Geek's Guide to the Journey From Fan to Creator; </i>the book that is sort of responsible for this weekly blog. We had him on the show a couple of years ago and had him come back to talk about obstacles for creatives and solutions to work around them. If you're writing a comic book or making a video, you might find it interesting. You can listen to it now on our website: <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps">https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps</a>, or watch it when it drops on our YouTube channel @powerssquared on Wednesday. The link will be <a href="https://youtu.be/cR20Ghxstho">https://youtu.be/cR20Ghxstho</a>. While you're there, if you like the content, you can always subscribe and ring the bell so you'll never miss a video. And a comment wouldn't be bad either.</div><div><br /></div><div>Most of the week, or at least several hours Monday through Thursday, was spent resizing about 92 pages of future Powers Squared pages for the next four issues. We haven't set on dates yet, but the first will probably come out in March. More to come on that.</div><div><br /></div><div>If you've been reading this blog for a while, you might remember that <i>Powers Squared </i>was going to be available on LibraryPass in January. Well, that day has come and our first trade, Volume 1, The Adventure Begins is now available at <a href="https://lpfullcontent.librarypass.com/publishers/product_lines/277">https://lpfullcontent.librarypass.com/publishers/product_lines/277</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div>LibraryPass is a service provided to high schools and colleges that allows readers to digitally check out books, include comic books. So, if you know someone at those levels, tell them to ask their librarian to choose <i>Powers Squared.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>On to other writing, my review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/01/stubs-illicit.html" target="_blank">Illicit</a> </i>from about three years ago went up as the Saturday Morning Review on <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked.</a> </i>I also wrote new one for a film called <i>Leap Year</i> (1921). I picked the film for the obvious, 2024 is a leap year, but this was one of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's Paramount films that was shelved after he was charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of Virginia Rappe. Charges he was acquitted on in 1922, by the way. You should be able to read it on the 29th of February.</div><div><br /></div><div>I was able to spend sometime this week with <i>Skylar. </i>I'm trying to get through a chapter a day with editing. So, I can say I'm actually working on it for a change.</div><div><br /></div><div>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</div>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-61494483867052358742024-01-07T20:40:00.000-08:002024-01-07T20:40:26.189-08:00A Week in Writing #490 - Getting Stuff Done<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHPG57Z0fYfDkIgmG7NCMUWhE3WmaJ9dua-EXbsarUfMTVrGwr2G942BCNbowQoCVY9t-W0Q_HmxGFHWOe532Y7wGkwUwHM0iTkeFAE4BdRtjfIw_mCxq1hxSuHAiT4sdWNiN8XAVixkWczUmmBxc1Qs1lTF7pRyIZfTnnv5QE3GgsO4ZNpbLo1v4Tvwu/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHPG57Z0fYfDkIgmG7NCMUWhE3WmaJ9dua-EXbsarUfMTVrGwr2G942BCNbowQoCVY9t-W0Q_HmxGFHWOe532Y7wGkwUwHM0iTkeFAE4BdRtjfIw_mCxq1hxSuHAiT4sdWNiN8XAVixkWczUmmBxc1Qs1lTF7pRyIZfTnnv5QE3GgsO4ZNpbLo1v4Tvwu/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>In last week's post, I felt like I took the week off, though not really. This week, I worked on several projects, including the newsletter <i>The Hound Dog's Howl; </i>a new issue of <i>Powers Squared, </i>a review for <i>Trophy Unlocked</i>, and, yes, actually work on <i>Skylar</i>.</p><p>We've begun work on issue #26 for <i>Powers Squared </i>currently called "The Great Escape". It picks up where Issue 18, "Mocha and Raven, Part 3" left off, at least as it concerns Dr. Atlas, the book's main villian. Our artist, Julia Canon, is working on the first eight pages and we gave her some feedback on the pages she had submitted so far.</p><p>On the subject of <i>Powers Squared, </i>I spent part of the week working on the monthly <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmailchi.mp%2F2fce24401c00%2Fpowers-squared-hound-dogs-howl-17629744%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2XevuDefXJ_9S4F-xA2VtRvShvi724weUNeZrutwSUm8MNNTBvLFOjCtA&h=AT1YzfXSvgUKh4IcXMnSYfYhMLjQTo_JyxpevcMrQD6RoEqkTTSk8RvsDuxBEqlxuu-dSCsmVPspN4Vwh6bZfDl-krrVfXAoAtczFWEaM9gzCwF2rT_CXuI-CZbivFfli0I0cciqHLIKMKdNWpNy&__tn__=H-R&c[0]=AT18BzSwOm9M8KsSYeD_BvW3gqnDv-ObCLES6fJCFdYYcFOI3u5jjcoEfOwPQy3olJBVT-oq-NnMooQWbU1Lwv0lBkXKpIVZ-WUiBD0hyxInv850rluPwOmgFugBvzrzuyoGrUml1cGpLx7PPTpiISvXFqAT2-jRdhEwWElGV4NeZYYVdDyLSHP7lUODb6wnc4o3n4oODSl-Hw" target="_blank">newsletter</a>, including doing a write up about twins in the <i>No More Heroes</i> video game franchise, Travis Touchdown and Henry Cooldown. That's really the hardest part of the newsletter, doing a write up on twins, and usually ones I know next to nothing about starting out.</p><p>The final note about <i>Powers Squared </i>is my weekly plug for <i>On the Air with Powers Squared. </i>This week's topic was about characters, like Mickey and Minnie Mouse from <i>Steamboat Willie</i> going into public domain. And while we're not lawyers, we tried to dicuss some of the things you can and cannot do with those characters. There's a link in the newsletter to the audio podcast and the video comes out on Wednesday the 10th <a href="https://youtu.be/AIzEh7i0uFw" target="_blank">here</a> if you can wait until 2:30 PT.</p><p>The review I was working on, and finished for that matter, is a silent film called <i>Too Many Kisses </i>(1925). The film had been considered lost, but a 16mm print was found and the film has been restored. I had tried to record the film when it was on TCM sometime back, but something happened to the recording, let's say I accidentally deleted it. I ended up buying the Blu-ray from the Film Preservation Society. I'm not sure when it will appear on <i>Trophy Unlocked</i>, but I do know that the first review this year on the blog was Paul's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2024/01/are-you-there-god-its-me-margaret.html" target="_blank">Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.</a> </i>He had read the book recently and we were able to watch the film during our unofficial Movie Day (Dec 26).</p><p>I am happy to report that I did actually work on <i>Skylar </i>this week. I'm still in rewrite mode, but it feels good to make some progress on the book.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep wriring and I'll see you back here next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-24274837146700693542023-12-31T21:51:00.000-08:002023-12-31T21:51:03.819-08:00A Week in Writing #489 - Taking a Week Off?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1IuKeTrT2ax6ROofRLAn_k-nTyY2N1atFfL9Q2bigA2wxi9uRxECBCaOrB4_O1bjBUumb-eS1b7TzPoG0VSEZ95ZDCWQ3-wSuhQBNweafsvyvi-zRGHVv5JrPLfk9NHM_F4pr2P_wruHgm7qrvp_kI8845Ua5bVlM7BLUCAlKwYxUqgDCa0IxNwR7Rmo/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR1IuKeTrT2ax6ROofRLAn_k-nTyY2N1atFfL9Q2bigA2wxi9uRxECBCaOrB4_O1bjBUumb-eS1b7TzPoG0VSEZ95ZDCWQ3-wSuhQBNweafsvyvi-zRGHVv5JrPLfk9NHM_F4pr2P_wruHgm7qrvp_kI8845Ua5bVlM7BLUCAlKwYxUqgDCa0IxNwR7Rmo/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing. Hope you have a Happy New Year!<p></p><p>I can honestly say that I did less writing this week than I had the week before. While I didn't take the week off, per se, I might as well have. Christmas was Monday and that's followed in my house by Movie Day, in which we watch movies all day. Followed by spending one afternoon putting together a 1000 piece puzzle with my family, some yard work, visiting the zoo today, etc. This week, I pretty much broke up the routine that my life is normally. So, the word count may not be great, it's good to take some time away.</p><p>My review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/stubs-wonka.html" target="_blank">Wonka </a></i>was the Saturday Morning Review on<i> <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>. </i>No new review, but I did write a highlights of 2023 post for the end of the year; all of the reviewers did. Mine is <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/2023-highlights-lionsroar.html" target="_blank">here</a>, Paul's is <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/2023-highlights-eheroflareneos.html" target="_blank">here</a> and Trevor's is <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/2023-highlights-tetrisking.html" target="_blank">here</a>. They're somewhat similar but still different and their posts deal with video games, while mine is strictly films.</p><p>Our podcast this week was about plans for 2024. Our arists Julia Canon joined Paul and me on the show. There are four new issues coming this year, two story arcs: <i>Mission: Istanistan </i>and what's currently called <i>The Parents Come for a Visit</i> (working title). You can listen to it <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> or watch it on Wednesday on our <a href="https://youtu.be/154dtbcoq5Y" target="_blank">YouTube Channel</a>.</p><p>Work on Issue #26 continues, as our artists has at least sketched out the first 8 pages, with some already approved and inked.</p><p>As I alluded to, <i>Skylar </i>didn't get much work this week; nothing did.</p><p>So, that does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-74110454251987384242023-12-24T17:54:00.000-08:002023-12-24T17:54:31.029-08:00A Week in Writing #488 - Merry Christmas<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGmBqE4LWaemiCKXixwUZPsw8Q173fdOCU4KyKYWZzqbzE8H0lWzjK5P9OWm5AjSbfOpvAqTqtyznK6kxkgN1j_myHHKZjoFOqzTdAAW0rnPbz1bjnQ7R9_QGYwb0KdtI7mHLqekAYHZSuRTUJV8CsMvyFXWASn0ubeOFU79A8pEvyGHl-lxz1LFgGTm-/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGmBqE4LWaemiCKXixwUZPsw8Q173fdOCU4KyKYWZzqbzE8H0lWzjK5P9OWm5AjSbfOpvAqTqtyznK6kxkgN1j_myHHKZjoFOqzTdAAW0rnPbz1bjnQ7R9_QGYwb0KdtI7mHLqekAYHZSuRTUJV8CsMvyFXWASn0ubeOFU79A8pEvyGHl-lxz1LFgGTm-/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing. And hope you have a Merry Christmas if you celebrate.<p></p><p>As we get close to the end of the year, it always sees like it's time to look back at the year. That's what we did on Friday's <i>On the Air with Powers Squared </i>podcast. Our artist wasn't able to make it, but we had colorist Jen Moreno and letterer, and co-creator, Trevor Hankins came on the show to take a look back at the 4 issues we released and the 60 videos we put out on our YouTube Channel. We are nothing, if not consistent.</p><p>The most views we had on a video this year, unaided, was OAPS 213 <a href="https://youtu.be/7MMaqGwi1qc" target="_blank">Eyeshield 21 21th Anniversary</a> with 71. We did 8 book clubs with the one with the most views was OAPS 192 <a href="https://youtu.be/Qe49iy6pPyw" target="_blank">Comic Book Club #7 - Made in Abyss </a>with 41 views. We had three guest interviews on the show with OAPS 204 <a href="https://youtu.be/2pZ8wLFTwy0" target="_blank">A Conversation with David Petersen</a> getting the most views with 40.</p><p><i>Powers Squared</i> released four issues this year: Issue #16: "Mocha and Raven Part 1" on March 15; Issue #17: "Mocha and Raven Part 2" on June 14; Issue #18: "Mocha and Raven Part 3" on Sept 6; and Issue #19: "Kamaitachi" released on December 6. All are available in digital and print through <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/the-campus-store" target="_blank">The Campus Store</a>.</p><p>Speaking of <i>Powers Squared</i>, we finished work on Issue #23 and saw the first pages come into their own for Issue #26.</p><p>For <i>Trophy Unlocked, </i>the Saturday Morning Review was our last for the holiday season, my review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/stubs-lady-on-train.html" target="_blank">Lady on a Train</a>. </i>This week, I also wrote two future reviews for the blog<i>. </i>One, <i>Hell's Heroes </i>(1929), which I watched on my laptop, will probably wait until next Christmas and the other, <i>Wonka </i>(2023), which I watched in a theater, will be coming out next week.</p><p>My big hope this week was to work more on <i>Skylar. </i>On that, I failed to get much done. I did decide to remove a section from this book and add it to the next one I've already started. If it makes sense, the situation in the next book, still unnamed, fits better. Well, that's no excuse, but it does show I'm at least thinking about it.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-10468134064753591572023-12-17T19:58:00.000-08:002023-12-17T19:58:53.238-08:00A Week in Writing #487 - Here Come the Holidays, Ready or Not<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFizLS0p5AfFh9wJsY_fR2QuZKZnxhMArHkBQpmN0avOEu71DDd2jlVbR_YhjDOpyUcpvsFyn9orqQuX2GWiKwxNDrsXHKTq0nHM5VQgep1-dWYMS5wlgtZ9UKS4FP55ZpMGrtgLkd1A3fXokxBl-GVQht4VTyLsbBYn28KS2aqG8zOrLsDGPvzsoULOOu/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFizLS0p5AfFh9wJsY_fR2QuZKZnxhMArHkBQpmN0avOEu71DDd2jlVbR_YhjDOpyUcpvsFyn9orqQuX2GWiKwxNDrsXHKTq0nHM5VQgep1-dWYMS5wlgtZ9UKS4FP55ZpMGrtgLkd1A3fXokxBl-GVQht4VTyLsbBYn28KS2aqG8zOrLsDGPvzsoULOOu/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Christmas is almost upon us, and, if you're like me, you let yourself listen to holiday music and watch Christmas films. We did that this past Friday, and watched a film that gets listed on some drive-by Christmas film lists, <i>You've Got Mail. </i> I won't spoil how I felt about it, but I did just finish a review of it for <i>Trophy Unlocked. </i>It might be considered a holiday film since it came out on December 18, 1998, even though the holiday only gets a passing reference. Well, you'll have to wait for my review but you can read my review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/stubs-fitzwilly.html" target="_blank">Fitzwilly</a> </i>(1967), which went up on Saturday morning.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our Friday <i>On the Air with Powers Squared </i>was supposed to feature an interview with a comic book creator in Australia, someone we've had on the show five times previously, but he cancelled on us on Thursday. Instead, we shifted to <i>The Last Kids on Earth, </i>the TV series, which we had just finished watching, not on Netflix but on these things called DVDs. You can listen to our discussion <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> or watch it on Wednesday when it goes up on <a href="https://youtu.be/MZwhYqp3Bbg" target="_blank">YouTube</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Did receive new pages for <i>Powers Squared</i> this week; three instead of four, but you got to count what you have. I had done some rather bad thumbnails for the pages, which the artist did a pretty good job of adapting. This is the beginning of Issue #26, which I wrote. It's called <i>The Great Escape. </i>And if all goes well, we're talking 2025 before anyone will probably see it. Talk about planning ahead.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I will admit I'm a little more frustrated with the progress of the books, which seem to be more hit and miss from art to lettering. I got spoiled when 8 pages a month was almost an automatic. Now, it takes more patience to get what we can get. I'm really not a patient person by nature. Read into that what you will.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I did have some time this past week to work on <i>Skylar</i>. I'm just getting to a new patch in the story. But it's too soon to get into word counts, as that number really hasn't changed much yet. But if you push me, it's north of 68,000 but short of where it needs to get. I will say that I'm enjoying working on it more and hope with time off from work, I'll be able to work on it when I'm fully awake, rather than trying to squeeze it in after dinner and before bed every night. But with the holidays, plans can go out the window.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see back here next week.</div><p></p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-7182942247241626592023-12-10T20:58:00.000-08:002023-12-10T20:58:19.273-08:00A Week in Writing #486 - New Issue Out<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpN16mTmT3dx6gMb2Uhyphenhyphen3j2WI53XuSG4pE1zU744VzQfElTExSzFhmS3XE3Ui1lAd3i-NtC2qzuETQPbAS27pJzCnM3x3Xsx0S5PSnX_jlvtvyM9r2HPIqB9okBK5Dh8s3O5MmG4kxLNJIRtnVCSKL1x_VsuGc_vE8oXYVvxgCfN4zjBq48ITH6COVgP_4/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpN16mTmT3dx6gMb2Uhyphenhyphen3j2WI53XuSG4pE1zU744VzQfElTExSzFhmS3XE3Ui1lAd3i-NtC2qzuETQPbAS27pJzCnM3x3Xsx0S5PSnX_jlvtvyM9r2HPIqB9okBK5Dh8s3O5MmG4kxLNJIRtnVCSKL1x_VsuGc_vE8oXYVvxgCfN4zjBq48ITH6COVgP_4/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyne is staying, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>Well, the big news this week was the new issue of <i>Powers Squared </i>that was released on Wednesday. Written by Paul, with very little help for me, "Kamaitachi" tells the story of three yokai who ride in on the wind to attack Marty, Eli and their friends on the campus of San Romero Community College. The issue received a good review from Richard Vasseur, who wrote, "This is a great all-ages comic about heroes." The credit goes to the writer and the artwork; one of our best reviewed efforts. You can read the review <a href="https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/rich-reviews-powers-squared-19/" target="_blank">here</a>. If you like what you read, you can purchase it at one of several platforms, which you can find at <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/the-campus-store" target="_blank">The Canpus Store</a>.</p><p>My part in this was to get some publicity for the issue, so we did get with an article in <i>First Comics News, </i>which has been very supportive of <i>Powers Squared, </i>and the promise of being included in a holiday guide, though I haven't seen it yet. I'll let you know if it does happen.</p><p>No new review this week from me, as we rewatched <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/stubs-charlie-brown-christmas.html" target="_blank">A Charlie Brown Christmas</a>, </i>which happened to also be the Saturday morning review on <i>Trophy Unlocked</i> and as it turns out on the same day it was first released in 1965. It's nice when those things work out. More on Christmas movies in a minute. <i>Trophy Unlocked </i>was busy this week with three reviews related to the first trilogy of the <i>Diary of a Wimpy Kid</i> franchise. Paul got it started with <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/diary-of-wimpy-kid-2010.html" target="_blank">Diary of a Wimpy Kid</a></i> (2010) on Monday, followed by Trevor's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/06/diary-of-wimpy-kid-rodrick-rules-2011.html" target="_blank">Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules</a></i> (2011) on Wednesday and ending with Paul's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/12/diary-of-wimpy-kid-dog-days-2012.html" target="_blank">Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days</a></i> (2012).</p><p>Back to Christmas movies, the drive-by variety was the focus of Friday's <i>On the Air with Powers Squared </i>podcast. Many, but not all, have been reviewed on <i>Trophy Unlocked </i>and are available in the <a href="http://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2014/07/review-hub-christmas-movies.html" target="_blank">Christmas Review Hub</a>, If you're curious what films we talked about, you can listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here </a>now or watch it <a href="https://youtu.be/WCDTyXIfkFQ" target="_blank">here</a> on Wednesday. Maybe you have a favorite drive by Christmas film; let us hear from you.</p><p>Well, that does mean that I was able to spend some real time working on <i>Skylar</i>, the oft overlooked novel that I've been working on through most of 2023. I'm still editing what I had previously written, and hopefully making it better, but it's too soon to talk word count or anything like that.</p><p>That about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-51913140317671903682023-12-03T20:33:00.000-08:002023-12-03T20:33:13.975-08:00A Week in Writing #485 - A Surprisingly Hard Week<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVIkoM8RAPERQrBTz2s_5onnx2c2WmpLif275fkdinhyvbWS7HpGwWFjXRzkffSAlHsFcbhbMNuM7oVqCnDPiunP8u8FSxAO4McbnPidFFqc72ss_cdkc68FP6ZjBSwTUZcq-zVUu6A507g1iOWlqVGPLa6OvFZu_JuofdqKze9Uo2fdF49ruy4ultN-n/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVIkoM8RAPERQrBTz2s_5onnx2c2WmpLif275fkdinhyvbWS7HpGwWFjXRzkffSAlHsFcbhbMNuM7oVqCnDPiunP8u8FSxAO4McbnPidFFqc72ss_cdkc68FP6ZjBSwTUZcq-zVUu6A507g1iOWlqVGPLa6OvFZu_JuofdqKze9Uo2fdF49ruy4ultN-n/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>Let me start off with a plug, the next issue of Powers Squared, <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/%2319-kamaitachi" target="_blank">#19 "Kamaitachi",</a> is coming out on Wednesday, December 6. It will be available in print and digital and can be ordered through <i><a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/the-campus-store" target="_blank">The Campus Store</a> </i>on our website. Now back to the usual blog post.</p><p>Not one of my more productive weeks and <i>Powers Squared </i>is to blame. I don't mean anyone in particular connected with the project but my own struggles to get something done. As I had written previously, we're going to be working with LibraryPass next year and I wanted to put togther a new trade for them to have.</p><p>I thought it would be mostly putting together some pages from previous issues. The trade ended up being over 80 pages and a certain number of the pages ended up having to be re-sized and then edited and then put back together. What I thought would take a night took multiple nights to get done. And there's not a lot I could do while waitng for the trade to process. My goal was to have it done by the beginning of December and I did manage to get to them on Friday, December 1, but it took way longer than I had anticipated.</p><p>That cut into other things I wanted to get done, like sending out a press release for out next issue, which drops on December 6. I had already decided to change up my distribution of releases. Rather than trying to hit up a bunch of sites, most of which ignore that I send, I decided to instead just concentrate on the few that have ever published them or anything about <i>Powers Squared.</i> And I decided it was all-right to wait until closer to release. It seemed to have worked, as <i>First Comics News </i>posted, read the story <a href="https://www.firstcomicsnews.com/powers-squareds-issue-19-coming-december-6/%C2%A0" target="_blank">here</a>, and another wants to include the issue in the Christmas gift guide.</p><p>As part of the release of the new issue, our <i>On the Air with Powers Squared </i> podcast was a preview of the issue, which we called <i>Issue #19 Hype. </i>You can listen to it <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> now and/or watch it <a href="https://youtu.be/D4zsgiHbOiE" target="_blank">here </a>on Wednesday.</p><p>With today being the first Sunday of the month, it was time for the next newsletter <i>The Hound Dogs' Howl. </i>These aren't too hard to put together but there are always issues like misplaced links, which I can only discover when I send myself a test email, which is usually the last thing I do before sending it out. Would love it if you would sign up for the newsletter <a href="https://mailchi.mp/9b9f918f79af/m1hbvbxiyn" target="_blank">by enrolling at SRCC</a> (it is free).</p><p>To add to the fun, I'm still working on the last review I was writing last week for <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>. </i>The blog kicked off Christmas month with a look at <i>Elf</i>, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, on Saturday. Last week also saw reviews of both <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/good-burger.html" target="_blank">Good Burger</a> </i>and <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/good-burger-2.html" target="_blank">Good Burger 2</a>, </i>written by Paul and Trevor respectively.</p><p>While I did open <i>Skylar</i>, that was about all I did with it.</p><p>So, my goals for next week are to hype the new release, finish my review of <i>Abandoned </i>and work more on <i>Skylar.</i></p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-63490315735312643222023-11-26T20:04:00.000-08:002023-11-26T20:04:33.812-08:00A Week in Writing #484 - The Thanksgiving Hole<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUoyFgTKC09cTQbDSVR-1alOJqBYMkjwP5KNSgqoj9Pb4-8qpgVUGnxpaXtAaikbH8xjKYxCwbYP-3WvpjD_NUrQ5r-o1Tar7vrk6Ti1ty6DDm5pwE0bgG8jmRb1eWWY1Zks4ZwqG0SJ2VUWhVLpuARpv8tOFp-jwS_e5fLQMdfqx5NvoyWmO-tnfgve8/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqUoyFgTKC09cTQbDSVR-1alOJqBYMkjwP5KNSgqoj9Pb4-8qpgVUGnxpaXtAaikbH8xjKYxCwbYP-3WvpjD_NUrQ5r-o1Tar7vrk6Ti1ty6DDm5pwE0bgG8jmRb1eWWY1Zks4ZwqG0SJ2VUWhVLpuARpv8tOFp-jwS_e5fLQMdfqx5NvoyWmO-tnfgve8/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>If you're like me, you spent a good portion of the Thanksgiving holiday travelling. For me it was two days, Thursday and Friday with about 14 hours behind the wheel. While it's nice to spend time with family, the holiday leaves a hole in the week in writing that really can't be filled. Which is my way to introduce this blog where not much happened.</p><p>I'll start with our podcast, <i>On the Air with Powers Squared. </i>We weren't sure we'd be back in time on Friday to do it live and if we were would we feel like doing one. So, to fill the void, we pre-recorded one, just Paul, Trevor and myself, discussing the Japanese drama series <i>Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan</i> and the feature film <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/rohan-at-louvre.html" target="_blank">Rohan at the Louvre</a>.</i> Our artrist, Julia Canon, was nice enough to post it for us. As always, you can listen to it now <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> or watch it on Wednesday after 2:30 pm <a href="https://youtu.be/QrRVLzIqCyo" target="_blank">here</a>. The choice is yours.</p><p>Next week, a new issue of Powers Squared drops. Issue #19, "Kamaitachi", written primarily by Paul with my assist. Of course, I'd appreciate it if you would check it out. It will be available in print and digital, all of which you can find in <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/the-campus-store" target="_blank">The Campus Store</a>, where the Hound Dogs shop. It's the site for links to all our publications and merch, so I would encourage you to check it out.</p><p>I still have a lot of work to do between now and then. I need to send out a press release for the book. I usually send it out to several outlets and, of course, am ignored by them. I'm just going to send it this time to the few that have actually published it or have published something about <i>Powers Squared. </i>That way I'm not so disappointed.</p><p>Still waiting to hear from San Diego Comic-Con about our professional renewal. We're still within the window for hearing back but I'd rather have it settled. I believe we qualify so I'll give it a few more weeks before I out-and-out panic. I'm also trying to find out about tabling at WonderCon and SDCC, as it appears to be the time. More waiting ahead for me and for us.</p><p>For <i>Trophy Unlocked, </i>my review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/01/three-strangers.html" target="_blank">Three Strangers</a> </i>appeared as the Saturday Morning Review, ending the short celebration of Noirvember on the blog. We're now turning our attention to Christmas. No shortage of reviews for that holiday, so stayed tuned. I'm also working on a new review of <i>Abandoned </i>(1949); don't expect it to appear this year but want to get it done.</p><p>As usual, more progress but not as much as I'd like on <i>Skylar.</i></p><p>For the coming week, besides the press release, I have the newsletter to complete, a review to complete and hopefully, the next trade to complete; it's close. Well, more about in the next blog.</p><p>That about does it for me. Keep writing, and I'll see you back here next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-75028351739241510562023-11-19T20:50:00.000-08:002023-11-19T20:50:14.821-08:00A Week in Writing #483 - A Week Behind the Scenes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUYOhkqgSzwjc29730FqIJOlKgb_myOVzvxZS1ojua2gtaX3fjVbvl9IYxu66CIAiVKdpF1TcnRpgEuQrot0hQOhBexuqbOb2iG3ouRI1bcAkWvij4D8P1feXdN-BhyphenhyphenuOnPDguwOGBbiX5eNN3TjwzOn5IJL0vJI4gJk1JzvmLkhvmgUJ70jwbu2CqqQ7/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUYOhkqgSzwjc29730FqIJOlKgb_myOVzvxZS1ojua2gtaX3fjVbvl9IYxu66CIAiVKdpF1TcnRpgEuQrot0hQOhBexuqbOb2iG3ouRI1bcAkWvij4D8P1feXdN-BhyphenhyphenuOnPDguwOGBbiX5eNN3TjwzOn5IJL0vJI4gJk1JzvmLkhvmgUJ70jwbu2CqqQ7/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>I felt like this was a week for doing other things related to writing, but not the craft itself. Some weeks are just like that.</p><p>There was a lot of behind the scenes things to do and mostly with <i>Powers Squared, </i>what else is new?</p><p>I've been trying to do three things at once for the book. Our former artist, Rachel Wells, had been working on a project for me which finally came to fruition this week, a seal for San Romero Community College, the location for the comic book. It had started out as a different project, a diploma for the schoool. On that, she had put a seal for the school, which got me to thinking. On the website, we've been using an edited ad for The Campus Store as the logo for the school itself, but it really should have its own.</p><p>There was some back and forth as we discussed ideas. Sort of loosely based on several that we found on the internet, including CSUN's, where Paul and Trevor attended, and SCAD, which is Rachel's alma mater, we decided to break the seal down into certain quadrants to represent the school, including the mascot, the English building (the oldest building on campus), academics, represented by a quill and parchment, and wheat fields, representing the old farm the school sits on. Then there were the colors to use, which should be school colors. Anyway, the seal came out pretty good:</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdDALOBkPqwAwvNAovFQRoFPLA2zmPfoYUpvRPPCM6c_wdiJvce0iOV094Bp6wUeMmnENeyuUeyWoqyC73gFPX-nZNSF-DzP1VPXLqlU2nzSXHS0nhzLKNJzsGcY_JIb_Co2Nz5h9U_kzq5OdYZWz_0I-hJrs9o78ElZoiDWBcx94e8YEqmmRNjyBjveG/s2700/SRCC_seal_color_trans.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2700" data-original-width="2700" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxdDALOBkPqwAwvNAovFQRoFPLA2zmPfoYUpvRPPCM6c_wdiJvce0iOV094Bp6wUeMmnENeyuUeyWoqyC73gFPX-nZNSF-DzP1VPXLqlU2nzSXHS0nhzLKNJzsGcY_JIb_Co2Nz5h9U_kzq5OdYZWz_0I-hJrs9o78ElZoiDWBcx94e8YEqmmRNjyBjveG/w400-h400/SRCC_seal_color_trans.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>You can read the story behind the seal and a short history of San Romero Community College on the <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/srcc" target="_blank">website</a>.</p><p>With the comic book, we're not only gearing up for a release of the next issue, <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/%2319-kamaitachi" target="_blank">#19 "Kamaitachi"</a>, on <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/the-campus-store" target="_blank">December 6</a>, but also with the second trade for the book, which I'm hoping to launch initially on Library Pass next year. With that, it was getting the colors right for the cover and now it's getting the credits page updated. Jen Moreno, our colorist, handled the cover for me and did a really good job, but you'll have to wait to find out.</p><p>One of the background duties that I hadn't realized hadn't been done was getting the new issue up on Kindle and GlobalComix. But the issue will be up on both and is currently available for pre-ordering on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNMNS7DL?ref_=pe_93986420_775043100" target="_blank">Kindle</a>. </p><p>Speaking of Kindle, I've been reading about the demise of <i>ComiXology</i>, to which I have to say good riddance. While I was initially happy to be available on the platform, I'm not sure if it was really worth it as I think our launch was botched by the site. We stopped submitting to them several issues ago and started with Kindle since we figured that was where it was going; not that we've made anything from that site either. But hey, who's bitter?</p><p>If it's not one thing it's another. The next issue we're going to work on, #26, has a lot of yokai and I asked our current artist, Julia Canon, to do some character designs for the project, which she did this week as well. Work should start on that pretty soon, though we are coming into the holidays, so I'm sure schedules will get messed with.</p><p>Our podcast this week, was an early Monthly Team Meeting with Julia and Jen, along with Trevor, on OAPS. You can listen here and/or watch it here on Wednesday afternoon on.</p><p>I also started working this weekend on the next <i>Hound Dog's Howl,</i> our monthly newsletter. I had some free time, so why not get started on it?</p><p>For <i>Trophy Unlocked, </i>I completed the review I was doing for <i>Coquette</i> and wrote a new one for <i>The Red Badge of Courage </i>(1951), don't know when either will appear. Wedneday was Trevor's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/ty-tasmanian-tiger-4-bush-rescue-returns.html" target="_blank"><i>TY the Tasmanian Tiger 4: Bush Rescue Returns</i></a> and on Saturday we took a pause from Noirvember to celebrate the 35th anniversary of <i>The Land Before Time </i>with a review also written by Trevor.</p><p>All that didn't leave much time for <i>Skylar, </i>though I did do some minor work on it. The desire is there, it is just time which is always in short supply.</p><p>Next week is Thanksgiving, so I want to make sure to wish everyone a Happy and Safe day, especially if you're travelling. And, of course, that will impact my output, so understand when next's weeks post might seem short.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you again next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-41649376767074740792023-11-12T20:45:00.000-08:002023-11-12T20:45:42.293-08:00A Week in Writing #482 - Things Are Getting Back to Normal<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zGC5fMq67yAM5zg3dbu4HVz9IpcduEVhQDYZ9Yzz_tQDD4AmYGn6Wi5XuE3z3ainspzvhtOz88puQZrGe5RZcjXf-qo1spU-kTlmBzxYIRusGyI5rinHdgjO_GVPKwxJ458IUI4wbM_PN1UV8BxENi7beo6YrtSsokUXuUsGKegxDbkHwGVeiDyk7ICd/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5zGC5fMq67yAM5zg3dbu4HVz9IpcduEVhQDYZ9Yzz_tQDD4AmYGn6Wi5XuE3z3ainspzvhtOz88puQZrGe5RZcjXf-qo1spU-kTlmBzxYIRusGyI5rinHdgjO_GVPKwxJ458IUI4wbM_PN1UV8BxENi7beo6YrtSsokUXuUsGKegxDbkHwGVeiDyk7ICd/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>Things seem to be getting back to normal, which means back to what might be a normal routine.</p><p>Let's start this week off with <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><i>Trophy Unlocked</i></a>. I finished my review of <i>Two O’clock Courage</i> and started a new one for <i>Coquette</i> (1929), an early sound film starring Mary Pickford, part of the drain the DVR Saturdays.</p><p>To celebrate the 50th anniversary, Trevor's review of the animated Disney film <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/robin-hood-1973.html" target="_blank"><i>Robin Hood </i>(1973)</a> went up on the date it was released.</p><p>The celebration of Noirvember continued with my review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/stubs-tomorrow-is-another-day.html" target="_blank">Tomorrow is Another Day</a> </i>(1951). And today, Trevor's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/rohan-at-louvre.html" target="_blank">Rohan at the Louvre</a> </i>(2023) went up. This is a Japanese film, in Japanese with subtitles. We had watched the series, <i>Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, </i>which is, itself, a spin-off series of <i>JoJo's Bizarre Adventure</i>.</p><p>Rohan bled over into a podcast that we recorded on Friday after our live podcast, with Trevor joining us. We're trying to plan for the Friday after Thanksgiving, which we're not sure we'll be back in time for the podcast.</p><p>Our live podcast, "Writers Roundtable" was just Paul and I and we were discussing our writing process for <i>Powers Squared </i>and the collaborative process that follows as we work with artists and colorists to bring the words to life. It's available to listen to <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> and will be up on Wednesday afternoon on YouTube <a href="https://youtu.be/OEHLQNVkJLc" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>We're starting to transition to a new issue, #26 "The Great Escape"<i> </i>while still wrapping up pages from issue #25. I've asked our artist, Julia Canon, to do some character designs before we get going.</p><p>In other <i>Powers Squared</i> news, our new logo for San Romero Community College seems to be getting close. Mostly, we're going over the colored version that our previous artist, Rachel Wells prepared for me. It started out as a project to design a diploma for the school and started with the seal on that document. I like making the school seem more "real".</p><p>To round out the week, I did work on <i>Skylar</i> this week and am finally to the point where I'm actually writing and not just editing, so that's sort of exciting. I'm not going to get into word counts just yet, but it is progress.</p><p>Well, that does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-12893107412435548122023-11-05T20:03:00.000-08:002023-11-05T20:03:52.125-08:00A Week in Writing #481 - It's Back<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6pFzStloTFbV3WJkTzjg8Z7h200fSJyKyrVyE1yrz4OVwAcqxmJwOgsNGITcEccv2ClDNnk6Zj0-M_0qfvetWf0GFtgWYOFGoS6mmHkgsCidGJ_0_CsVA7RVdNEBKdnRt1w8CJI6gyp9Q1Dwg5CP2TmynY3AGfX3iGDN9vGwASp08rq9ui_DwRIA7C2L6/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6pFzStloTFbV3WJkTzjg8Z7h200fSJyKyrVyE1yrz4OVwAcqxmJwOgsNGITcEccv2ClDNnk6Zj0-M_0qfvetWf0GFtgWYOFGoS6mmHkgsCidGJ_0_CsVA7RVdNEBKdnRt1w8CJI6gyp9Q1Dwg5CP2TmynY3AGfX3iGDN9vGwASp08rq9ui_DwRIA7C2L6/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.</p><p>Well, it's that time of the year again, the big experiment with time-shifting known as the end of Daylight Savings Time. Fall back only means you get an extra hour once and for that you get days betting darker sooner and your internal clocks thrown off for a day or so. Not really sure it's a good deal. I write this, as I do every year, because I don't know the impact it's going to have on me next week. I try to write until I get sleepy and that might come earlier for a few days. Forwarning that next week might not be too productive.</p><p>The big project for this week was the newsletter, <i>The Hound Dogs' Howl</i>, and the big announcement was something I've already talked about last week, the book becoming available on ComicsPlus powered by LibraryPass. Last week, I wrote about the anxiety, or the sense of finality with submitting it. That surprisingly went well, so we're on course.</p><p>In addition to the news, there are links to last month's OAPS, a link to the newest Peek-of-the-week, an article about Booster Gold and Goldstar, and a recommendation for <i>Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, </i>not to mention the usual Heard on Campus feature. As always, you can always sign up for the newsletter and get a free copy of the first book by signing up <a href="https://mailchi.mp/9b9f918f79af/m1hbvbxiyn" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p>I'm still hoping we can get the second trade ready in the next few days or week and submit that as well. The covers have been drawn and are being colored, so we should be good to go soon. It will be different to release something through another method than we have before, but it's hopefully all about getting eyes on the book.</p><p>The drawing on Issue 25 seems to be coming to an end, so we should be start working on Issue 26. I've already sent the artist a list of yokai that will appear in the book and asked her to come up with some character designs before we launch into it.</p><p>Finishing up on Powers Squared, our Friday OAPS was dedicated to another franchise, in this case, <i>Five Nights at Freddy's. </i>The movie, currently playing in theaters, is based on a series of video games developed by Scott Cawthon and this what we, Trevor, Paul and I, discussed on our podcast, though they know much more about it than I do. You can listen now <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> or watch it on <a href="https://youtu.be/UMWhp7e4OVo" target="_blank">Wednesday on our YouTube channel</a>.</p><p><i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a> </i>kicked off Noirvember with my review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/11/stubs-killer-is-loose.html" target="_blank">The Killer is Loose</a> </i>on Saturday. I frankly don't remember when I wrote it but it was nice to get one up on the blog. For Halloween, Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/five-nights-at-freddys-film.html" target="_blank"><i>Five Nights at Freddy's</i></a> the movie went up. Fitting for the day. On Monday, it was the conclusion of Resident Evil Month with Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-4-separate-ways-dlc.html" target="_blank"><i>Resident Evil 4 - Separate Ways (DLC)</i></a>.</p><p>I've started working on a new review of yet another film noir, <i>Two O’clock Courage (1945). </i>Not sure when it will appear. </p><p>I also managed to get some work done on <i>Sklyar </i>this week, though I'm still going through the book and haven't, yet, written anything new.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p><p></p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-37843473148802175422023-10-29T20:03:00.000-07:002023-10-29T20:03:52.536-07:00A Week in Writing #480 - Anxiety<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPg7qNUBjgUuf9tnCE88FqOqSWKjhUefzrQ5tiSGxAStAaOpWiJdw0DWF0BQJLdlf3j6vLJGEwmZSSEYRoY2ASzaPUY65MbtqZHuGqDB5lhh3AZYiZo-BNKqaP2nFVOXpZ0wejZ4ruhgTn0NGUZOmxM3amhm6DkpmuRBPW22i9G1sQ5VrfzMPmQXPN-Eg/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWPg7qNUBjgUuf9tnCE88FqOqSWKjhUefzrQ5tiSGxAStAaOpWiJdw0DWF0BQJLdlf3j6vLJGEwmZSSEYRoY2ASzaPUY65MbtqZHuGqDB5lhh3AZYiZo-BNKqaP2nFVOXpZ0wejZ4ruhgTn0NGUZOmxM3amhm6DkpmuRBPW22i9G1sQ5VrfzMPmQXPN-Eg/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>I know if may not seem like much, but I just sent off a link to our first trade to LibraryPass. But for me it was a somewhat tense and anxious moment. There was a real sense of finality in doing it, something that I rarely feel when working on <i>Powers Squared </i>or even sending a query letter.</p><p>We've been told for a couple of years now that we should try to get our book into libraries, especially school libraries, and to put a fine point on it, college libraries, since the book takes place at a college; San Romero Community College. The trick, which no one bothered to show us, was how to do that. School libraries, like any other government agency, buys from a set list of contractors/companies, and little ol' SRCC Press was not on that list. Library Pass is and so the hope is we'll get a little exposure.</p><p>While it should have been pretty much a slam dunk, I wanted to add SRCC Press to the cover and, for some reason, this took more than one "build" to do. First the cover was too big and had to be resized and then when I put together all the pages (104 if you're counting), the revised cover wasn't included. Nothing makes you feel more stupid than messing that up.</p><p>Well, anyway, it's sent and now the anxiety of waiting to hear back sets in. Hopefully, everything works and we're good to go. The second trade is pretty much ready, we just need the new covers to be colored, a little lettering and it should be ready to go.</p><p>Some of this news, about Library Pass, was shared on our latest <i>OAPS</i> podcast, the October 2023 Team Meeting. Listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> now and watch <a href="https://youtu.be/INkFOxj4Jgw" target="_blank">here</a> later (Wednesday on).</p><p>Busy week on <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>. </i>Monday was Paul's <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/second-look-devil-may-cry.html" target="_blank">Second Look at <i>Devil May Cry</i></a>; Wednesday was Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/haunting-ground.html" target="_blank"><i>Haunting Ground</i></a>, Friday was Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-4-2023-ps5.html" target="_blank"><i>Resident Evil 4</i> (2023)</a> and Saturday was Trevor's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/willys-wonderland.html" target="_blank"><i>Willy's Wonderland</i></a>. This month was Resident Evil/horror, so these all fit that pattern. Spoiler, we did see <i>Five Nights at Freddy's </i>on opening day, and Paul's review will be up on Halloween; something to look forward to.</p><p>Unrelated, I'm working on a review of <i>The Famous Ferguson Case </i>(1932), which in and of itself isn't that famous at all but did star one of my favorites from that time, Joan Blondell. You'll have to wait for that one.</p><p>Did some more work on the re-tooled <i>Skylar</i>, by which I mean I got through a chapter and part of the next one. So progess is being made on that front.</p><p>This coming week, I need to finish <i>Famous Ferguson</i> and also work on the newsletter, <i>The Hound Dogs' Howl</i>, which comes out next Sunday.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-65472917131990867582023-10-22T21:43:00.001-07:002023-10-22T21:48:49.649-07:00A Week in Writing #479 - Still Slow Going<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivRQhcRR2pgRjtWYRCHg5SFsvWv3Xrt-vciAKp9SNhWOwoaYnm03MlEeAsZDB6mwnxvJ_e0wibDE1I2fApOyBmatwmd8OofT8xxSkZ3XC1u1fYCq-beYKVfeUsWfBzmEcvgvBoifoSxgL5wKyDZYw8wybnBSObM2fYGaaVsQaZrITdbVtCvUVCxDCXONNX/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivRQhcRR2pgRjtWYRCHg5SFsvWv3Xrt-vciAKp9SNhWOwoaYnm03MlEeAsZDB6mwnxvJ_e0wibDE1I2fApOyBmatwmd8OofT8xxSkZ3XC1u1fYCq-beYKVfeUsWfBzmEcvgvBoifoSxgL5wKyDZYw8wybnBSObM2fYGaaVsQaZrITdbVtCvUVCxDCXONNX/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>Speaking of staying safe, over the weekend, I, along with the rest of my family, got vaccinated for the flu and for the new strain of Covid. In a couple of weeks, I'll go back and get one for RSV, as, yes, I'm in that age range.</p><p>Another not so effective week of writing. The cold was still with me for a good part of the week, so that's my excuse. Now that I've rounded that corner, I have to get back to getting things done.</p><p>This week, my big accomplishment was getting a dba set up. I'm doing business as SRCC Press, the publisher of <i>Powers Squared. </i>I don't think it means anything really, but my CPA has been after me to set one up, so I finally did it. Partly because I need to but also because in the new year, <i>Powers Squared </i>will be available on Library Pass, which means our books will be in school libraries across the country. This has been something we were told to do by Gamal Hennessey a couple of years ago, but that was easier said than done.</p><p>But it looks like that's coming along. I need to send in the materials still. Being under the weather was my excuse, but now it's getting ISBN numbers. Not that I'm afraid of the process of getting one, it's the cost. Since a number costs more than all the monies we've ever received for the books, I've been a little squeamish about the expense, but I think it would help with the entire process so I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do it.</p><p>We're putting together a second trade, issues 6-9 for Library Pass. The covers have been drawn, but not colored and it's a chance for us to fix something that bothered my co-creators when it was printed. A minor bit of dialogue, and no, it's not what was said, nothing bad, more like how it was presented. I think I kind of bullied it through the first go round so this would be a chance to make it right. We'll incorporate it into the Kickstarter I'd like to do next year and then make them available some time after that.</p><p>I have done some work, but not much, on a new approach to <i>Skylar</i>, that long suffering novel I keep writing about writing. I moved the introduction of the character up and I'm making some other changes. We'll see if it comes out better this time around.</p><p>I am working on a review of <i>The Vampire Bat </i>(1933), look for that next Halloween on <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>, </i>so watch for it. In the meantime, it's been horror and Resident Evil Month. Tuesday was Paul's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-0-hd-remaster-ps4.html" target="_blank">Resident Evil 0 HD Remaster</a> </i>followed on Thursday with his review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-4-2005-ps4.html" target="_blank">Resident Evil 4 (2005)</a>. </i>The Saturday morning review was, surprise, also Paul's, this one for <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/frankenweenie-2012.html" target="_blank"><i>Frankenweenie (2012)</i></a>.</p><p>I would be remiss if I didn't point out that <i>Trophy Unlocked </i>hit a new milestone over the weekend, <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/a-celebration-of-1500-reviews.html" target="_blank">1500 Reviews</a>.</p><p>The OAPS this week was our 11th Comic Book Club meeting, this time it was <i>Scott Pilgrim</i>, Vol. 1: <i>Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life</i>, written and illustrated by Bryan Lee O'Malley, with Julia Canon, Jen Moreno, Rachel Wells and Trevor. You can listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> or watch it <a href="https://youtu.be/d2kl0MZ5hQc" target="_blank">here</a> on Wednesday. Next week, it's a team meeting, which you're welcome to watch on <a href="http://twitch.tv/powerssquared" target="_blank">twitch.tv/powerssquared </a>at 6 pm PT next Friday. Be There and Be Squared.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you again next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-84198467412840197912023-10-15T20:08:00.000-07:002023-10-15T20:08:13.622-07:00A Week in Writing #478 - Under the Weather and Another Birthday<p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sqbtxntR3s8hhNEyiSAMDwzBybwdmWPANEctzR4FwaJislVS-KwbSz9BgyGnnwsqEeTzeHq26urD_ObGAKrJm3WJT3dRxXgmD9ycR2gQALcf634bkHYqQCy_YqLIEjY7YTVuuB6hc1pqRtWd8TZjGvUhsGjBUNaEPjQDVUwQVXmixvdUw2FnEHwFz-Po/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2sqbtxntR3s8hhNEyiSAMDwzBybwdmWPANEctzR4FwaJislVS-KwbSz9BgyGnnwsqEeTzeHq26urD_ObGAKrJm3WJT3dRxXgmD9ycR2gQALcf634bkHYqQCy_YqLIEjY7YTVuuB6hc1pqRtWd8TZjGvUhsGjBUNaEPjQDVUwQVXmixvdUw2FnEHwFz-Po/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.<p></p><p>I'm sorry to say that this has not been a banner week for me, mostly because I've been under the weather for the last few days. It's not so much writer's block as thinking block. I'd rather veg out than do anything constructive.</p><p>It's nothing really serious, mostly a dry cough but it has seemed to zap a lot of my energy for most of the week. I get really tired and fall to sleep or just sit and stare at the computer screen.</p><p>As a result, not much progress has been made on the rewrite of <i>Skylar</i>. I did start the book over again, using mostly what I've already written but moving up the first encounter to page one, etc., after which things got a little foggy. In the original version, she was a stripper, but I'm adding in a new element to her character, she is also on OnlyFans. I've been reading that many people, during Covid, went to that site when they couldn't work in public, so it might make sense for a stripper to have gone to that site in order to financially survive when they couldn't dance. Some women have done quite well by using the site.</p><p>That was the only writing I've done so far this week, which isn't much.</p><p>No new review for me this week, and not so much because of illness but because it was my wife's birthday on Saturday and we went out rather than drain the DVR. That said, my review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/stubs-dracula-1931.html" target="_blank">Drácula (1931)</a></i> was the Saturday Morning Review on <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Trophy Unlocked</a>. </i>Otherwise, the blog has been mostly <i>Resident Evil</i> with Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-3-2020-ps5.html" target="_blank"><i>Resident Evil 3 (2020)</i></a> on Tuesday and his review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-code-veronica-x-ps2.html" target="_blank">Resident Evil Code: Veronica X </a></i>on Thursday. I would be remiss not to mention that our review hub for Assassin's Creed also dropped on Thursday.</p><p>For OAPS this week, it was a look back at <i>EyeShield 21</i>, an American football manga written by Riichiro Inagaki and illustrated by Yusuke Murata that is celebrating its 21th year. Paul and Trevor did most of the talking on this show, which was fine by me. They have and have read all 37 volumes of the story. Listen <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here</a> now or watch <a href="https://youtu.be/7MMaqGwi1qc" target="_blank">here</a> on Wednesday. Next week's podcast is our Comic Book Club. We're reading <i>Scott Pilgrim</i> Vol 1.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writing and I'll see you next week.</p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6750200222075495375.post-91175176148122575482023-10-08T21:54:00.000-07:002023-10-08T21:54:05.999-07:00A Week in Writing #477 - Rewrites, Thumbnails and Resident Evil<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmC_T2znY8290EJSR2s033DV7LQkUjcsS7tLTHbJdSfkB2eExVTIWzREw0uPKIWKH0tjDtSB0s-hN9QyZkZ6Hh3JnjlUI60p5Evi0HNG1-rKp9aRbIW9w8yunI5NE54BybT0_vZDzABlBjFrGSe0MMMYl89Jua7gTsGKhGLYx_DfCRLIcW2etjdLWqs7l_/s908/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="173" data-original-width="908" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmC_T2znY8290EJSR2s033DV7LQkUjcsS7tLTHbJdSfkB2eExVTIWzREw0uPKIWKH0tjDtSB0s-hN9QyZkZ6Hh3JnjlUI60p5Evi0HNG1-rKp9aRbIW9w8yunI5NE54BybT0_vZDzABlBjFrGSe0MMMYl89Jua7gTsGKhGLYx_DfCRLIcW2etjdLWqs7l_/w400-h76/Logo%20for%20Blog%20A.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing.</p><p>I'm about done with my re-reading project. I've decided that <i>Paperback Detective</i> needs some work. I think the writing's too loose and some details come out too early in the book. I need to rework some of it to bring it up to standards, well, my standards.</p><p>I've also been doing some thinking about <i>Skylar </i>and wanting to rework some aspects of her character in the book. Now, it's just down to the hard part, or the easy part depending, writing it.</p><p>Another, unrelated idea came to me as well but I'm not going to into it just yet. Too much other things to work on first.</p><p>Speaking of which, I started doing something I haven't done since the first issue, making thumbnails for what should be the next issue of <i>Powers Squared. </i>Part of the reason I'm doing it is to hopefully help the artist know what I'm thinking of in the script. I've already come to this decision, but this confirms the fact that I am not the artist. I even have a badge to that effect and these drawings prove that, although I think some of it has to do with trying to get an idea across in something in less space than a postage stamp. I'm about halfway through the issue.</p><p>We'll have to wait to see if it helps, because we still have the current to get through. We are thinking ahead, as we have artwork already done for the trade we're going to release next year. This one is going to be for issues 6-9. We brought Rachel Wells, the artist on those issues, to do the covers. You'll have to wait a bit to see them.</p><p>In a bit of cross promotion, our OAPS this week was about the videogame series <i>Resident Evil</i>, since it is Resident Evil Month on <i>Trophy Unlocked. </i>It was mostly a Paul show since he is the gamer of the two of us. You can listen to it <a href="https://powerssquaredcomicbook.com/oaps" target="_blank">here </a>or watch it on Wednesday when it drops on our <a href="https://youtu.be/G2BOGX0RhR4" target="_blank">YouTube channel</a>.</p><p>With that said, it should come as no surprise that <i>Resident Evil</i> reviews dominated <i>Trophy Unlocked. </i>Things started on Tuesday with Paul's review of <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-hd-remaster-ps4.html" target="_blank">Resident Evil HD Remaster</a>. </i>That was followed by Paul's review of <a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-2-2019-ps5.html" target="_blank"><i>Resident Evil 2 </i>(2019)</a><i>, </i>and then Paul's review of the movie <i><a href="https://trophyunlocked.blogspot.com/2023/10/resident-evil-welcome-to-raccoon-city.html" target="_blank">Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City</a> </i>as the Saturday Morning Review. Oh, and there will be more to come through the month. </p><p>Meanwhile, I'm working on a review of <i>Shockproof </i>(1949), which I should finish tonight or tomorrow.</p><p>Well, that about does it for me. Keep writng and I'll see next week.</p><p></p>lionsroarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05575728698472889728noreply@blogger.com0