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 #544 - The Excitement of an Excel Spreadsheet

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

Now that I've finished the rewrites on Skylar, and I'm putting together a list of agents to query for Past Present, I still find myself tweaking. Has this ever happened to you: You're alone and you start to think about something you've written and suddenly an answer comes to you or a better way of saying something. Well that happened to me with Past Present. It was a bit of dialogue that I thought should be proached between characters. So, went back into the book and added it. It doesn't change anything as far as the story goes, but I think it fills a hole, so to speak. Something, as a reader, I'd want a character to ask another.

I'm also working on my new story idea, which so far doesn't have a name. I've been trying to be good and work on the query list, but there is only so much excitement you can have with an Excel spreadsheet, so I'm drawn to working on the story. I had one of those moments with this book that I wanted to capture and once I'm in it, I keep wanting to work on it. I know the premise and how I want the book to end, so it's just filling in all the rest.

This week's podcast was our January 2025 Team Meeting, minus one. Our current artist, Jen Moreno, couldn't make it for reasons I was never told, so we carried on as a quartet with Julia Canon, Trevor, Paul and myself. However, some months there isn't much going on, so this is a rather short podcast. You can listen to it here or wait and watch it on Wednesday after 2:30 here. The apt subtitle is "A Quick Update."

I'm trying to get serious about WonderCon, as it is screaming up in a little more than two months. The banner and table runner we ordered came in ahead of schedule and they look pretty good. Now, I need to worry about the number of books and order some of Trevor's book, The Blade of Miracles, so we have some for the Con. More on that as I know them.

My review of The Red Badge of Courage went up on Trophy Unlocked as the Saturday Morning Review. I also wrote a new review of Blackmail (1929), at least the sound version. This was on TCM recently, along with a special about the importance of the movie in shaping director Alfred Hitchcock's legacy. That special was sandwiched between the silent and sound versions of the film. I recorded both, but only had time for one, and chose the sound. I'd like to watch the silent version and update the review accordingly. But that's for another time.

I know it doesn't sound like much, but that is about all for me. Keep writing and I'll see you back here next week.

A Week in Writing #536 - Under the Weather

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

This was a slower than expected week for me. Wednesday night into Thursday I came down with a cold or something similar. I'm guessing I caught it from one of the half-dozen workmen we had in the house. While I won't go into details, part of our house is 75 years-old and with it comes 75 year-old-wiring, which turns out to be woefully dangerous. It really wasn't until today before I felt whole again, as they say.

I did manage to work on both The Hound Dogs' Howl newsletter, as well as finish the reviews as I was working on: A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1974), which came out as this past Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked, and Three Godfathers (1936), which will be coming out in December as part of our salute to Christmas. If you've been reading Trophy Unlocked, and you should be, you might remember a few years ago, we did a salute to A Christmas Carol, reviewing several different versions from a silent retelling A Christmas Carol (1910), starring Marc McDermott, to a more modern one, A Christmas Carol (1984), starring George C. Scott with several stops inbetween.

This Christmas we're doing the same with movies made based on the novel The Three Godfathers by Peter B. Kyne (New York, 1913) but you'll have to stay tuned to see which films I mean and in which order they will appear.

And mine wasn't the only review on Trophy Unlocked this week. Trevor's review of the video game Please, Touch The Artwork 2 on what I like to call Game Day on the blog.

I had hoped to do some more on Skylar this week, but I really didn't have the energy.

Even though I was not feeling great, I still managed to do the Powers Squared podcast on Friday night. It was our November 2024 team meeting and while we talked about the comic book, we also talked about moving to Bluesky, which prompted a discussion about AI. It was a good conversation and you can listen to it now here, or watch it when it comes out on YouTube on Wednesday at 2:30 pm PST, here.

As far as Bluesky goes, you can follow me @lionsroar91406.bsky.social or you can follow Powers Sqaured @powerssquaredcomic.bsky.social. lt would help as we're starting over, so to speak.

Next week starts the holiday season, so you'll have to forgive me if my input drops after Wednesday. Lots of driving, food and shopping to be done. Hope everyone has a Happy (and safe) Thanksgiving.

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

A Week in Wrting # 527 - Editing is My Favorite Part of Writing

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

I've spent most of my writing time this past week editing Skylar. This is my favorite part of the writing process, since I feel that I always want to make it better. While I've been working on this book, for what seems like forever, it is interesting to read passages that I haven't in months. I haven't quite gotten to parts that need major revisions or new content, though I do think that's coming at some point.

I was spending the rest of my time working on t-shirt displays for LA Comic-Con, which was basically sizing images and QR codes. Speaking of LACC, I believe we've purchased almost everything we're going to need for the show, but there is still some signage that needs to be dealt with, including pricing.

I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about the Con. There are so many unknowns involved. I'm hoping that all the planning will pay off and we'll have a pretty much smooth operation, but there are other factors I can't yet imagine, since we've never done anything like this before.

Some of that was covered in our podcast, On the Air with Powers Squared, this past Friday. It was our September Team Meeting with artist/colorist Julia Canon, artist Jen Moreno and Trevor, who letters the books. You can listen to it here or wait until Wednesday and watch it on our YouTube channel at 2:30 pm LA time. These are usually some of my favorite podcasts, though some of the best conversations happen after sign off.

Next week, the podcast will play host to John Barber, Erik Arreaga, Steven Prince and the creators of Powers Squared for a pre-panel virtual meet and greet. The six of us will be moderator and panelists at Under the Radar, at LA Comic-Con. I believe I'm the only one who has spoken to everyone involved and want to be sure we all know each other a little better before the panel. That will be next Friday at 6 pm PDT on twitch.tv/powerssquared. Be There and Be Squared, as we say.

Okay, no new review from me this week. The plan was to watch something I'd recorded, but since it was Batman Day, we decided at the last minute to watch Batman: Hush and I won't be the one writing that review.

My review of  We're in the Money (1935) was the Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked, but it was far from the only one this week, as on Thursday, Trevor's review of Transformers One was published and Wednesday was Game Day with Paul's review of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which was also the 1600th review on the blog.

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

A Week in Writing #521 - Getting Ready for L.A. Comic-Con

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

It may seem like it's still months away, actually a little under two, but that doesn't mean there aren't panic moments in getting ready for our table at L.A. Comic-Con. The most obvious is getting the table paid for. I had paid for the half of the cost several months ago and had, I believed, until August 15th to pay the second half.

Now, wouldn't you expect to get an invoice asking the amount due? Or, an email reminder to pay and how to pay it? With about a week to go before the deadline, I had gotten neither. I had spoken to a representative of the Con and had exchanged emails, so I thought I'd try him. When I didn't get a response (and I'm impatient by nature), I tried to call him on the phone we had spoken on. Well, that number was no longer in service. What did that mean? Was he no longer there?

I tried the phone number that was on the original receipt, and again, that number was no longer in service. Well, now I'm getting into full panic-mode and I wrote the person who had sent me the receipt, then the info email for the Con, and I even reached out to the Con on their Facebook page, explaining what I was trying to do.

I did receive an email, from someone else at LA Comic-Con, who sent me an invoice and was able to pay the amount due. I even got a phone call from the contact I had spoken to. Apparently, the Con offices were moving and they were getting new phone numbers.

Not sure if there is a lesson in there or not.

On other L.A. Comic-Con news, my panel was accepted. Under the Radar will return to the Con. Again, it will feature the creators of Powers Squared, but will include Erik Arreaga, the creator behind Chingona, and Steven Prince, the creator behind Monster Matador. The moderator this time will be an upgrade, as John Barber, the Editor in Chief at Pan-Universal Galactic Worldwide. I don't know the day or time or place just yet, but I'm pleased it was approved.

Now, if that wasn't enough excitment for a week, I also decided to order additional copies of our issues for possible sale. I decided to have at least five copies and reordering some allowed me to make updates to the existing issues on the printer's website. We had not only made some edits on the first five issues, but had also add the SRCC print bug to the covers. Turned out to be seven issues and for whatever reason, the printer's website was taking the uploads, so I had to save them in our dropbox and send them links. Well, the dropbox is practically full now and I keep getting fun messages to upgrade.

The podcast this week was very different than previous ones, as both Paul and Trevor were at a Megadeth concert and we were scheduled for a team meeting. I had the great hope of being able to run it solo, but despite copious notes I ran into an issue and artist/colorist Julia Canon took over. It was odd to be on the guest end of the podcast for a change, but I thought it went quite well. You can listen to it here, or wait and watch it on Youtube on Wedensday afternoon at 2:30 pm PDT here.

Based on this week's peek-of-the-week, I also updated the website for the new issue and adding a synopsis that will possibly be changed, but at least it's showing that it's coming. Since the peek is a pencil of the cover, the preview also features the pencils for the cover and pages 1 and 2. I don't want to play with the peek and then give it all away, now do I? That doesn't seem to be fair.

Well, all that didn't leave much time for anything else. I did make some updates to my review of Daughter of Shanghai, but I wouldn't say I got much done. This week's Saturday Morning Review on Trophy Unlocked  was Trevor's review of Descendants: The Rise of Red, a Disney+ movie.

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