A Week in Writing #203

This was sort of down week for me, energy-wise and creatively. I'm not sure if it was going back to work after nine days off but it was really tiring and I had low energy at night. That means less of everything, including a week off of Instagram, etc.

Most of the work on Powers Squared seemed to revolve around the AMAfeed we were doing. It ended this past Friday after a week. We had, if my counting is correct, 32 questions. Some of the questions weren't directed at me, which was fine and how it should be, though I had to make sure every question got answered. Hopefully, this will be something people will continue to look at and that it will drive interest in the book. You can read the Q & A here.

I opened the questions to our artist and colorist, though only Rachel wrote any answers. There were some directed towards the artists or related to their work as much as ours. I really want to see them get involved in publicizing Powers Squared, too. Up until now, the issues that have been published have been mostly the work of others but from Issue 6 on the visuals are theirs.

To that end, we did a Google Hangout with Rachel, which was almost the first time we'd ever spoke with her. That was supposed to be the plan, but we had issues with getting it going so I had to call her before, a couple of times, as a matter of fact, to try to work through it. The process is not intuitive despite what we'd been told. Rachel had to put us in her "circle", whatever that is, to get the video feed to work.

The camera is only on her throughout, I'm guessing people have tired of seeing me or the boys talking. I think I monologue too much this time and don't let Paul talk but we're working on the bugs. The most important thing was to get Rachel involved. You can see her speak here on the Powers Squared Channel on YouTube.

We really appreciate her work on the comic book and her taking the time to talk to us. I would also like to do something similar with Nina in the near future.

There was progress made on the artwork this week. Rachel did pencils for the first four pages and made some minor changes Paul and I wanted her to make. It's always exciting to see things taking shape.

Trevor made the updates to Issue #6 that Paul and I requested. Really looks good. Now we can take the issue with us to Comic-Con next week. There are a few people we can show it down there. There are also some panels I'm looking forward to taking while I'm there, including one about writing better panel descriptions, which is something I can improve on. I will be writing more about Comic-Con next week. As a reminder, the next post will take place on Monday, rather than Sunday.

As far as other writing goes, I did work on two reviews this past week and completed one for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, which will be going up next Saturday. I think its kind of fitting for the occasion. The other one, Dumbo, still needs some finishing touches.

Big week for Trophy Unlocked and Trevor as we published three of his posts this week. On Saturday we published Trevor's review of G.I. Joe: Resolute, a telefilm compiled from short episodes of a television series. The day before, he published a Review Hub in honor of the Metal Gear video games on the anniversary of the first game's release. And the day before that, his review of Moss, a VR game.

No word yet from my editor on Familiar Stranger and I did manage to work through the ending of Paperback Detective, though it's still pencil edits. I'm hoping to finish it up before we head south.

Hope next week goes smoothly for us and for you as well.

A Week in Writing #202

Now that the dust has settled and I can take a step back, I realize that some of the stories that were published about Powers Squared at the time contained some factual errors, mostly revolving around the colorist on issues #3-5. For some reason, the colorist on Issues 1-2, Lisa Richards, is given credit in a couple of places as the colorist on the more recent issues. This isn't information that we provided and I want to go on record here with my apologies to Paige Cambern for being overlooked in those articles. Everyone deserves credit for their own work. In the euphoria of the moment, I didn't notice this error.

Another "ugly" reality is that you don't control the press. Besides the errors above, which I assume were innocent mistakes, the reviews that we were waiting for came with comments about the lettering being cut off on a couple of issues. This was shocking to hear as we believe the review was based on .pdfs that we sent, not what was on comiXology's website. However, hearing that sort of comment might keep someone curious from buying it. comiXology did confirm that there were no issues with the comic on their site and Paul and I confirmed that there was no issue with the .pdfs. Fortunately, the PR firm contacted the publisher and he took down the comment on one review. I contacted him, in between painting a bathroom, and he took the comment off the other review. Hopefully, not too much damage was done. I really wonder what happened.

While we're still publicizing Issues 1-5, work continues on Issue #8. Spent part of Tuesday night looking over thumbnails for the first 8 pages. Our artist sends us two versions and Paul and I select some panels from one version and some panels from another, sort of like ordering on a Chinese restaurant menu. Instead of moo goo gai pan and shrimp toast, its panel 1 from the A version and panel 2 through 5 from B. Later in the week, she sent us the rough layouts based on our panel choices.

She also provided us with a final character study of our newest villain, Professor Theorem, so it's interesting to see things taking shape.

A little note about copyrights, which are a very good thing but also quite slow. Last summer, June 11, 2017, as a matter of fact, we applied for copyrights on the first two issue of Powers Squared, both script and visuals. (The script had already been copyrighted.) Well, it took until this past week to get the notices from the Copyright Office. That's a little over a year. There was an issue about the work-for-hire but that, I believe, was in the original application. Just wanted to let you know that the wheels of government can turn very slowly.

I was approached this week to do an AMAfeed about Powers Squared. Didn't want to miss out on the exposure, so I agreed to do it. Sort of threw it up on their site sort of quickly and it shows. The headline I wrote contains the word anything after AMA. They also wanted a proof photo and at the time I was painting a bathroom and hadn't shaven in a couple of days; let's just say, not a pretty picture. I used a photo I had around but when it was displayed on their site, it really looks blurry. (Tip, headlines and photos are two things you can't go back and change. I know because I tried.)

The AMA went live on Friday and so far we've had about 20 questions. If you have a question about Powers Squared, then please ask away here. It'll be open through next Friday, June 13th. We've also invited our artists to submit answers as well. I'll write more about this experience next week.

On Saturday, thanks to Paul's editing, we posted a new video of me with my sons, the first time we've all sat down together on camera. We were answering the questions given to us by FreakSugar for their interview. You can view it on our YouTube channel here. You can also read the actual  FreakSugar interview here. It was our first interview and we wanted to commemorate the occasion.

Related to the comic-book, this week the program schedule for San Diego Comic-Con was released and we went through them looking for both educational as well as entertaining panels to attend. The trip will be discussed in greater detail in the post Report from the Front, the following Monday.

Also wrote a short review for Ant-Man and the Wasp for Trophy Unlocked. Thanks to the holiday we were able to see the film on Friday morning and put up a review that evening. It's rare we get one up the day a film is released. The Saturday Morning Review was Paul's about Bayonetta 2, as last week's was about Bayonetta.

I did call my editor about Familiar Stranger. The main thing is he's still alive and well. This is not unusual to have long gaps between hearing from him. Not that I like it, but it's not unusual. He's doing me a favor and I understand that. But it was good to talk to him and get an update.

I'm still working on finishing the rewrite for Paperback Detective. I'm into the final main chapter, trying to preserve as much as I can from the original but changing the location where it takes place from a car in a downtown parking garage to the house where a murder took place. I always knew I needed to change that and I think it will work a lot better.

A Week in Writing #201

Well as weeks go, this was a big one for us at Powers Squared. Not everything we had thought would happen did, but there was a lot that did. The week started with Adventures in Poor Taste's [EXCLUSIVE] Comixology Preview: Powers Squared #3 on Monday. This was a really nice write up about the three issues that were going to be released on Wednesday.

Then there was the actual publication on Wednesday of the next three issues of the book, a story arc we called WITH GREAT POWERS COME SOMETHING, SOMETHING, SOMETHING... on Comixology. All three issues are available for purchase, time to shill: Issue #3, Issue #4 and Issue #5.

Comixology wrote up a very nice piece about us on Tumblr NEW SERIES Debut Powers Squared, which prompted us to open our own account on Tumblr.

Thursday saw the release of our interview on FreakSugar.com THE CREATORS OF POWERS SQUARED ON FAMILIAL AUTONOMY & TEAMWORK which was our first not self-driven interview. I encourage everyone to read it.

On Friday, we published the third part of the interview of Paul and Trevor talking about their involvement with the development of Powers Squared. You can find that video on our YouTube channel. Next week, we're planning on releasing another video, our answering of FreakSugar's questions before we submitted our final answers. And after that, we're planning on doing a Google hangout with our artist, the Friday after that, so there's something to look forward to.

We're still waiting for some reviews that we were told were in the works. Not really sure what became of them. Our PR contact went radio silent on us, so I don't know if they're still going to happen or not. The contact they were using was also one I had cultivated so I may not wait for them if there is no response on Monday. I hate to make a pest of myself, but I really really hate it when people suddenly stop communicating.

We've also been approached about doing an Ask Me Anything session. Not sure if that will come to fruition but I will let you know if that comes to fruition. It sounds sort of exciting and scary at the same time.

Our Instagram following is growing, which seems to be the best reception we've had on social media. That has been a very accepting place for us to be and it allows us to also update other platforms at the same time. So it's a win-win for us.

Our colorist delivered pages 13-16 for Issue #7 this weekend, so her work on that issue should wrap up in July. Looking forward to seeing what our artist does with Issue #8 as we're now starting on the next story arc. Always trying to stay ahead of ourselves.

On to other writing, still no word from my editor on Familiar Stranger, whom I'll be calling next week to make sure he's still alive. Again, radio silence. I've been working on my other book, Paperback Detective. I'm going through the edits I made in prep for the rewrite of the ending, which sorely needs it. That's not to say its bad, but I think that it takes place at the wrong location in the story, so I'm hoping to fix that.

Worked on a review this weekend, about 2000+ words on the film Captured! (1933), a film that I had recorded from an earlier showing on TCM. That will wait for a future time. This past Saturday, we published a review of the Switch version of Bayonetta written by Paul.

So, besides calling my editor and following up on reviews I'm looking forward, trying to finish the rewrites on Paperback Detective and seeing Ant-Man and The Wasp later in the week.

A Week in Writing #200

This week was mostly, though not entirely, about Powers Squared. As confirmation, the next three issues, the story arc With Great Powers Comes Something, Something, Something..., will be published on Wednesday, June 27 on comiXology.com. To that end, we spent part of this past weekend answering some questions for an interview on Freaksugar that should appear on Wednesday. We also edited and posted a video to our YouTube channel and shot another one we'll put up later of Paul, Trevor and I answering Freaksugar's questions. We're also planning to do a Google hangout with our artist, Rachel Wells. So much still to come.

Also, Adventures in Poor Taste is confirmed to run an exclusive preview of issue #3 tentatively on Monday, 6/25 and our good friends at First Comics News is confirmed for review coverage to tentatively run on Wednesday, 6/27.

Okay, now that the shilling has stopped, there was also work done on Powers Squared the project as well. Our artist completed her inks for Issue #7 and we're now moving on to Issue #8, which starts a new story arc, Mathemagical. We're bringing back Dr. Atlas and introducing a new villain, Professor Theorem. Rachel has done some preliminary character design work on her already. We're basing her on alternative rock musician K.Flay, for whom I'm a big fan, as an homage.

We've written the scripts for this story arc and the one to follow, What's In a Name?. I haven't yet started to make revisions on The Imposter, the arc to follow that based on feedback from Paul and Trevor. It's been more a matter of time than any disagreement on making them. In fact, their suggestions should make it better, which as a writer I'm always after.

Rachel has also come back with some comments and suggestions on Mathemagical, all of which are welcomed. We've always meant for the creation of the book to be an interactive process.

On Thursday night, Paul, Trevor and I attended a local gathering, Koffee and Komics at a cafe on Tujunga near Universal City. I had been a member of the group for a couple of years but had never attended one of the functions. It was a small group and the Hankins men do what we do best, sit on the side and talk to one person at a time. We're not great socializers. We did come away with a few ideas, including looking into Printing on Demand for Powers Squared.

We only stayed about an hour and a half as there was work to be done. When I got home I also registered the script for Mathemagical with the WGA, made some updates to files to keep my thumb drive and hard drive in sync.

I also continued editing on Paperback Detective. I've edited through page 436. The next section requires some rewrites, which is why I originally put it aside to finish later.

No new reviews from me this week, though Trophy Unlocked did post Paul's Batman Ninja as our Saturday Morning Review. We are going to work on new ones, including one for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which we saw this afternoon at the Cinerama Dome, so look for that coming soon.

Next week, in addition to seeing our comic book get published, there will be other writing involved, including more rewrites and reviews.

A Week in Writing #199

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that a lot of what goes on revolves around Powers Squared, the comic book my sons and I created several years ago. And I know I've been begging, yes begging, for you to check out us out on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. It's all part of trying to grow our brand and its been a struggle all the way. Organic growth is best, but it is slow and all that work doesn't necessarily end up with increased sales. To that end, we received an accounting update from comiXology this week and we've sold exactly 1 issue in the past two months.

But hopefully, that will change in the very near future. Don't know the details, but we're hopeful that our next release, on June 27th, will be getting more of a push and hopefully, more people will hear about Powers Squared. We're supposed to find out more next week and I will be certain to fill you in here, as well as the other social media outlets I've listed above.

Work continues on the book, as Issue #7 is nearing the end of the art phase and its fairly far along with coloring as well. I'd like to think we'd have the issue ready to go in a couple of months. We've worked out the scripts for the next two issues and we'll probably start working on them next month with the artist.

I'm still giving serious consideration to kickstarting or some other crowdfunding method to help with some of the expenses of the production. Nothing concrete, yet but I'll be sure to let you know if it ever comes to fruition. It's not a make or break issue for the comic book, but it would be a big financial relief to not have to carry it all on my biweekly paychecks.

We posted another video this past week on our YouTube channel, one featuring Paul and Trevor, the co-creators and the basis for Marty and Eli Powers in the comic book. We have more footage, so hopefully, there will be more forthcoming, as well as a chat with our current artist, Rachel Wells, yet to be scheduled.

Finished a review this week for Conflict (1945) and published one on Trophy Unlocked for Buster Keaton's Seven Chances (1925), the latter in honor of Saturday being Buster Keaton Day in Los Angeles. Besides the proclamation, I don't think there was really much else done to commemorate one of the greats of silent film comedies.

Still no word from my editor on Familiar Stranger. Not wanting to let the grass grow under my feet, I decided to re-edit another in the yet to be published J.D. Barrister series of private investigator mysteries. This one is called Paperback Detective. I started working on it on Friday and I'm about 134 pages into editing it. I know there will be needed work at the end of the book, as I decided to change the location, but right now I'm enjoying the work. I'm printing out forty pages at a time and working on it in odd moments during the day.

A Week in Writing #198

Another week spent mostly but not exclusively on Powers Squared.

No new pages from anyone this week which is no big deal, but work was still done on upcoming issues. I finally finished a draft for the script for The Imposter, so after feedback from Paul and Trevor, I'm hoping to put that writing to the side. We would then have three story arcs and seven issues worked out so we should be good for a year or more, based on our rate of production.

Paul and I had a brief conversation with our contact at comiXology on Monday with the promise of more information later in the week but now pushed back to tomorrow, so we'll see. Still sounds like there would be some sort of push for our next few issues that are supposed to be published soon, still don't know exactly when. Again, it is something they control, not us. Hoping to hear something on this coming Monday.

Still working on trying to build some following. Published our third video on our YouTube channel featuring me talking about the comic book the origins and future. You can watch it here: Powers Squared Interview Part 3. Would really appreciate your patronage and would welcome feedback either on the channel or here.

Also posted some images on Instagram, which you can also follow if you choose to: https://www.instagram.com/powerssquaredcomicbook/. Trying to be somewhat active and post every day or so to keep it fresh and interesting.

In other writing, did finish and publish a 2000+ word review of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets for Trophy Unlocked's Saturday Morning Review. Also this week, we published  Trevor's review of Epic Mickey.

I don't mean for this to turn into selling my brand but that is part of the job of writing. You write hoping someone will read you and the best way to do that is to put yourself out there to be judged. It may not be the noblest of efforts but it is a necessary evil I hate to tell you. I'm not really sure how good I am at it as growth in followers seems slow but you've got to try.

No word again this week from my editor on Familiar Stranger, despite my reaching out to him. Not really concerned since this is sort of typical. He'll get back to me when he's ready not before. Nudging doesn't always mean success I'm afraid.

Hoping this week to finish a review I started of Conflict (1945) for future publication. Also, want to find out when we're being published and what PR effort awaits us. Maybe there will be news from my editor and there will be more rewrites or else I might start a new story. So much potential for the next week.

A Week in Writing #197

It's been a productive week but without any real breakthrough moments. Most of the time has been spent on various aspects of Powers Squared.

We received eight new pages from our artist for Issue #7 and thumbnails for the last four pages of the issue and the cover. Things seem to be moving forward on those. There were some lighting concerns which she diagramed and which we sent to our colorist.

Most of the writing has been on the last two issues of the story arc we're hopefully starting in July. These issues are called The Imposter and come after two other story arcs, Mathmagical and What's in a Name? which are two and three issue arcs respectively.

Just trying to be prepared. It's sometimes hard to keep everything straight. We're trying to do some planning for the upcoming release of With Great Powers Comes Something, Something, Something... which is supposed to be published later this month. BTW, we released the second of our videos about the creation of the comic book. You could be a real hero and take a look at it, here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRntK-uJYZA&feature=youtu.be

And by hero, I mean you could be the first one on your block or any block, for that matter, to take a look. We have one more of me to go, which will probably be next Friday, if you want to wait and binge watch them all.

I think I finally got my cellphone fixed, so I should be getting back to more Instagram as well. I'm having a bit of an issue though, with multiple versions of those posts showing up on the @MartyandEli twitter feed. Hopefully, I've got the right setting on IFTTT, so that doesn't happen again.

Also, as part of the process, we also wrote a press release. We're supposed to have communications with Comixology this week, perhaps Monday, about what they might have prepped, but I thought we should be ready with our own just in case. You might have watched, as we did, their big announcement about Comixology Originals on Twitch on Friday. Big, I meant Epic.

Didn't write any new reviews this week, though we did watch Valerian on Friday night, so there may be something a-coming about that in the near future. Published Trophy Unlocked's Saturday Morning Review of Sky High. You can be a real hero and read that one as well.

No word, so far, from my editor on Familiar Stranger but I'm not worried, at least not yet. Haven't decided what to work on next, sort of dragging my feet until the writing is done on Powers Squared and there is some time.