A Week in Writing #576 - A Much Better Week

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

I feel like I'm finally getting back in the groove, so to speak. While I could have done better, I think I'm feeling good for the first time in about a month.

I'll start with Blackmail, which I usally end with. Previously, I had been waffling about getting started on the next chapter, which I can now report I've finished. Word count is now 52684, which is going in the right direction.

Our podcast was also about books, or rather our 20th Comic Book Club. Of the other members, outside of the Hankins family, only one attended, Rachel Wells. We discussed Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Rather than live, we had pre-recorded it a couple of weeks ago. You can listen to it here or watch it on Wednesday after 2:30 on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared). The next book, in case you want to read along, is Grommets, written by Rick Remender and Brian Posehn.

We also recorded a new taste test video on Saturday night and put it up this afternoon. Paul taste tests three unique Mountain Dew Flavors: Baja Blast (Taco Bell), Mango Rush (Little Caesars) and Purple Thunder (Circle K). You can find it here.

Wrote a new review this weekend for Thunderbolts*. It came out in May, but we waited until it was on Disney+ to watch it. I would imagine the review will be up sooner rather than later. My review of 3 Bad Men was the Saturday morning review on Trophy Unlocked.

I did some preliminary work on the newsletter this week, writing the twin profile piece, and some other odds and ends. That comes out next Sunday, so there is still time to sign up for it, which you can do here.

Our artist has contracted COVID, so I'm not sure what the status is for the next five pages. Our colorist has completed the first four pages of the issue, as well as the covers for the third trade.

We do have a new issue of Powers Squared coming out at the end of September, our 26th, "The Great Escape", as well as the 7th issue of The Blade of Miracles, "Vivienne". So another big month for SRCC Press.

So, hopefully more on Blackmail, finishing the newsletter and working on other projects (maybe even a new query) are on the horizon for next week.

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

A Week in Writing #575 - A Few Setbacks But Getting There

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

A few setbacks this week and it's really no one's fault but mine. Let's start with the query letter. Yeah, that's right no queries again this week. Partly it's because I was still messing around with the synopsis in the query letter. I'm trying to condense, what I think is a complicated plot, to as few paragraphs as I can, while still getting the main parts of the story across. It's still six paragraphs long, so I need to keep working on it. I've also decided that with summer coming to an end, I'm going to put off more queries until after Labor Day. It'll give some more time to work on the query.

The other setback has come with the pages of Powers Squared that I spent several hours reshaping. I decided on my own that I had set the margins too wide, so I'm going back and trying to amend them each slightly, about a quarter inch on all four sides. I know I'm putting off the query to the distributor but I want to put the best foot forward since I may only get one bite at the apple.

On the subject of Powers Squared, some progress but no new pages since the last batch last month.

Our podcast this week is a preview of Trevor's 6th issue of The Blade of Miracles, which is dropping on Wednesday, August 27. Due to delays, I'm not sure if the print option will be available when we want it to be, but I don't think it could be helped. We didn't even have a copy of the book when we did the podcast, which I think is the first time ever for On the Air With Powers Squared. You can listen to it here or watch it on Wednesday at 2:30 pm PDT here. The book will be availbable through The Campus Store on our website, where all the previous issues are available as well. (Yes, that's a hint)

Coming up soon is the next newsletter, The Hound Dogs' Howl, but I believe I've got another weekend to go before that's due. We publish that the first Sunday in every month, so I have until the 6th of September, but I should probably start on that soon. But there will be a Bark heralding the new release.

My review of The Fantastic Four: First Steps was the Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. It's about a month old by now, but we've got to slot them in when we can, including going to the movies. Even though we had watched the other films, this version came out the weekend we were tabling at SDCC, so we had to put it off.

I also finished a review for Smart Blonde, the first in the Torchy Blane series from Warner Brothers from 1937. It was on TCM recently, so I recorded it. When I told a co-worker about our DVR he sort of looked at me like I was a dinosaur, but it's a usually reliable way to record movies, etc., that you're not going to see live. Draining it is another story, though.

And finally, Blackmail the current book I'm working on. I'm having a little trouble picking it back up again. It's not writer's block, but rather rethinking how I want to pick up on the story. I've started it a couple of times but end up back at zero before I get too far. I think though I know how to get it going again, so hopefully more to report next week.

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

A Week in Writing #562 - Where Did the Week Go?

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

Some Sundays when I sit down to write this blog, I wonder what happened to everything I planned to do during the past week. For some reason, this doesn't feel like an overly productive one, though we'll see when I'm done.

Let's start with Powers Squared, since we haven't in awhile. Not a lot to report here. Our artist and I have come to an agreement on fewer pages a month, I just haven't seen any since. Her real job seems to be demanding, so I'm trying to play ball but I do want to keep the comic book moving forward.

Our corresponding podcast, On the Air with Powers Squared, was a short one this week. We previewed issue #3, "The Lady Guinevere", of Trevor's book, The Blade of Miracles. You can watch it now on our twitch channel, twitch.tv/powerssquared, listen to it here or wait until it hits our YouTube channel on Wednesday at 2:30 pm. This new issue will be available on May 30, through The Campus Store on our website. You can also learn more about the series here.

Next week will be our 300th podcast, and we're premiering our conversation with Eric and Julia Lewald from a couple of months back. We had to pre-record it to work with their schedule and we decided the 300th podcast would be a fitting occasion for it.

I hate to admit it, but I'm still not done with my I Wake Up Screaming review, though I'm close. My review of When Worlds Collide was the Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked. On Friday afternoon, we rewatched Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part 1, and on Saturday morning, and I mean at 8:45 am, went to see Mission: Impossibe - The Final Reckoning, which I also reviewed and it went up this morning on the blog.

I did some work this week on the newsletter, which will be coming out next Sunday. I wanted to strike while the iron was hot, so to speak. I like to get as much of the heavy lifting out of the way as early as possible. If you'd like to get your own copy, of course, you can join the mailing list by enrolling at SRCC, which is the fictious college where the story takes place. And, of course, it's free.

Sent out my fifth query this week for Past Present. Of course, I've received no rejections or requests for more.

I did work some on Blackmail again this week. Not sure if I moved the word count very much higher. It stands now at 36,665, which is about 2500 more than the week before. Remember, 1000 Words A Day is a goal.

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

A Week in Writing #558 - Getting Going

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

Okay, this week, I got on the query train and sent out my first query email of the year. I know that doesn't sound like much, but it was necessary to get over the hump, as it were, and see if I can get an agent. I read somewhere that you're supposed to tell the story in the query, so I did that. I'm not sure if it was too much or too little and I'm sure what I'm doing is probably wrong, so I'll have to look into that before I send the next one out. So, the count is one out and no rejections or DNRs, at least so far.

On the subject of writing, I did more work this week on Blackmail; actually trying to make it more of a priority. I'm up to 28,640 words, which is about 4000 more than last week, so it does pay off. I'm not sure I can keep that pace up, at least not this coming week, more on that later. I'm going back to add in some more details, and a subplot. I don't want to bore you with the story too much. But safe to say, progress is being made.

Speaking of progress, got pages back from our colorist this week and we're now about four pages away from finishing an issue. The hold up is the artwork and since I'm being ghosted by the artist, I don't know the status of them. I'm afraid there might be changes coming in the creative staff if this continues. I love the artwork, but it's the radio silence and the lack of progress that's getting me to my breaking point.

New issue of The Blade of Miracles to discuss. The second issue should be available on Wednesday, again not sure if everyone will be ready, but I'm hoping. It should be available in print and digital through The Campus Store.

There are two OAPS podcasts this week. And, one of them is a preview of the above issue, "Lady of the Lake" and our special guest is Trevor. You can listen to it now here, or wait until Wednesday and watch it on our YouTube channel, here. 

As if that wasn't enough, there's a second [Secret Episode], our monthly team meeting, which included only our colorist, Julia Canon, but it was a good time. We taped it a week ago Saturday to try to accomodate everyone's schedule. You can listen to it here or watch it on Wednesday here. It comes out 15 minutes after the first one. 

As far as Trophy Unlocked is concerned, the Saturday Morning Review was Trevor's review of Sherlock Gnomes. This week's Wednesday Game Day review was Paul's review of Sonic Unleashed for the PS3. I'm currently working on a review of The Boy Friend (1971), which was recently, like Saturday morning, on TCM. It's a favorite of my wife's, so we watched it right away.

This coming week, in addition to another query, and more Blackmail, I need to work on the newsletter, The Hound Dogs' Howl, which is due next Sunday. You can, of course, receive your own copy by enrolling at SRCC. It's free and it would keep me from having to mention it if you do. Sounds like a good bargain to me.

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

A Week in Writing #553 - Final Prep for WonderCon

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

Well, we're less than a week out from WonderCon 2025. It's the largest convention Powers Squared has ever attended. It runs for three days, March 28-30 in Anaheim, California. Since we signed up, we've started to release a second book, The Blade of Miracles, which Trevor created, so there's more to worry about, more signage, etc.

We set up the booth, at home, for a test run on Saturday and Sunday, just to see how things look. We're going down on Thursday to set up and the show starts on Friday at 11:30 am.

If you're going, and I'm sure most of you are not, please come by and say "hi."

For On the Air with Powers Squared, we interviewed the creative team of Eric and Julia Lewald, probably best known for their work on X-Men: The Animated Series, which has recently been revitalized as X-Men '97. This is a little more podcast fun from last week, because we're holding back on releasing that interview, since we have a preview of #24 "Gashadokuro." That can be listened to here, and watched on Wednesday, at 2:30 pm on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared), here. We recorded this one last Saturday when we could get the entire creative team together.

Wednesday will be the release of that issue. As always, it will be available in print and digital through The Campus Store on our website. It's never too late to start reading Powers Squared and your patronage would be appreciated.

Next week, artist/colorist Julia Canon will be hosting the podcast. Hopefully, we'll be able to connect with her but it will be her show, so anything can happen. Tune in to see at twitch.tv/powerssquared.

We did see a movie over the weekend, The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and I wrote the review, which I assume will go up soon, given the fact that it's not long for theaters. Also, this week's Saturday Morning Review, on Trophy Unlocked, was mine for Waitress, which we discussed last week as the perfect Pi(e) Day movie. The Wednesday Game Day review as Trevor's for URLate.

A modicum of progress on Blackmail. I'm up to 16,180, which isn't much change, and certainly not 1000 words a day, but some is more than nothing, I guess.

Word of note, everything will get delayed a day, as I don't think we'll be back until late on Sunday.

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

A Week in Writing #542 - *(@-$%?!!!

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing. And hey, Happy New Year!

I've read elsewhere that somewhere between Christmas and New Years, you start to forget which day you're in. While that really didn't happen for me, I do think I enjoy post-Christmas as much as pre-Christmas. There are a lot of pressures that are off and you do things like go to movies, play board games, minature golf and even a puzzle.

I did have a less than fun experience this past week, when I became the victim of fraud. A check that I had sent to pay off my credit card bill was pulled out of the mailbox, scrubbed, the payee changed and the amount changed and cashed. Another check I sent to pay for a home improvement project was also apparently waylaided and apparently hasn't arrived and hasn't been cashed. So, now I'm deliquent on two payments. I tried to pay online, but they have to do test deposits, etc., so that's not a quick answer to my problem. Had to change bank accounts, but the money hasn't yet been returned to my account. More fun to come and I'm sure a hit to my credit rating. Enough about my personal life.

Looking ahead to 2025, Paul and I did a podcast about that for Powers Squared. OAPS #277 - Powers Squared 2025 Preview. We talk about the books that are coming out, including The Blade of Miracles (TBOM), and four issues of Powers Squared, as well as our attendance at WonderCon in March. You can listen to that now here, or watch it on Wednesday on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared) at 2:30 pm on Wednesday, here.

Our newsletter, The Hound Dogs' Howl went out today. I'd invite you, as I do once a month, to subscribe here. It's free and you get a free issue of Powers Squared as a reward. And the content is not the same as this post.

Progress made this week on the books, with the main line work done on the pencils for Issue 28, pages 9-16, and final cover art for Issue #27. 

Played the Copyright dance this weekend for the two complete issues of Powers Squared, #24 and 25, as well as 12 issues of TBOM.

Reviews don't take a holiday on Trophy Unlocked. The year ended on Tuesday with separate lists from Paul (EHeroFlareNeos), Trevor (Tetris_King) and myself (lionsroar). You'll notice a lot of the same films, since we see most of them together. I did a review of A Complete Unknown for News Year's Day. and my review of review of Mystery House went up as the Saturday Morning Review.

I also completed a couple of reviews, one for A Night at the Opera, which we watched on New Year's Eve, and The Lodger (1927), which we watched on Saturday night. Not sure when either will go up.

My goal was to finish the rewrite to Skylar by the end of the year. I'm about 40 pages short. Wasn't able to work on it as much as I wanted, but I also came to a point where I needed to write an additional chapter. I'm now just above 80,000 words, so that's good.

I want to finish the rewrites before going back to doing queries. I need to pick the book, have a synopsis ready and a letter, so there's even more work to be done to get there.

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

A Week in Writing #541 - The Christmas Week That Was

Hope everyone is staying safe, and, of course, writing. Hope everyone has a Happy and safe New Year's Eve.

Things have sorted of slowed down this past week. There were a couple of big events this week, something called Christmas seemed to really dominated the week. A lot of fun, and, if you're curious, I got some music and books amongst other things. The day following Christmas is unofficially called Movie Day in my house, when we watch/rewatch movies. We still believe in physical media, so we end up watching discs we got, which are usually films we had seen previously in the year.

All that and I did get some writing done. To begin with, I worked on Skylar some, of course not as much as I might have liked. I have about 76 pages to go with this rewrite, so progress is being made.

Trophy Unlocked was busy with four reviews up this week. My review of Sin Takes a Holiday (1930), was the Saturday Morning Review. Before that on Christmas Day was Trevor's review of The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland (2024). On Christmas Eve, was my review of Red One. Coincidentally, both of these films were released on the same day. The week started off with Paul's review of Awaria.

I did write a new review this week for Larceny, Inc., but I wouldn't expect it to see the light of day until next Christmas at the earliest.

On Powers Squared, Trevor finished lettering issue #26, so we're only one issue behind schedule. Nothing to report on the other issues being worked on.

 

We did make a special announcement on this week's On the Air with Powers Squared podcast. Trevor's own book The Blade of Miracles is going to come out next year under the SRCC Press banner. There are still some logistics to be worked out but it was big news for the last podcast of the year. You can listen to it here, on our website, where you can also find other platforms, and, or watch it on New Year's Day when it premieres on our YouTube channel (@powerssquared) at 2:30 pm here.

I also worked some on the newsletter, The Hound Dogs' Howl, which will be coming out next week. Never to late to sign up for it, just enroll at SRCC here. It's free and you get a digital copy of the first issue to boot.

A bit of sad news to report. Powers Squared had our first signing at our local comic bookstore, Galaxy of Comics. We just learned today that the proprietor of that store, Warren Jaycox, was killed in an accident yesterday. My condolences to his family and friends over their loss.

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