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07.02.08 - WHAT TO WRITE WHEN YOU'RE NOT WRITING
With it being summer and me being a teacher, I have June, July, and half of August away from my classroom. It's nice. One would think I'd get a ton of writing done during this time. Although the past few years have proven, contrary to popular reasoning, I actually get less writing accomplished. Maybe it's because I'm out of my routine, or maybe it's because I have Kennedy during the day and she keeps me occupied? Whatever the case may be, I tend to get restless during this time.
I have a few proposals that are more or less complete -- some with artists, some without. I'm in the finding-a-publisher phase, which is the most frustrating part. I can't really do more work on any of these stories until then. NOTE: I decided awhile ago that it doesn't make sense to script every single story idea I get from beginning to end. After I've written a decent synopsis and scripted the first chapter, I should probably move on to finding an artist or a publisher. Then once those things are in place, I can finish it. After all, with my synopsis, the story is all there and the script will come. Also, I don't always know which stories to focus on until I get some confirmation through finding an artist or a publisher. Make sense? * The BOLIVAR proposal looks beautiful. Diana Nock illustrated the first sixteen pages, and she did an amazing job. Who doesn't want a wonderland fantasy story involving animal spirits, pirates, cannibals, a mysterious light house, and true stories of my family's experience during World War II? * FRONTIER is without an artist, so is DELTA COUNTY. I have some people in mind. Epic in scale. I don't want either of these stories to fall in the cracks. * If you keep track of my blog, Greg Zadrozny is the artist for OMISOKA BRIDGE. He's been busy with his freelance work, but the guy is too perfect. If it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. But right now, I can't imagine anyone else doing it. * I've been wanting to work with Cal Slayton for awhile now. THE LAST BABYSITTER seemed like a perfect project. However, I had a difficult time selling my "quirky caretaker" story -- Mary Poppins or Nanny McPhee, but with big guns and grenades, fighting off the robot uprising. The apocalyse, but for kids. It's just as well: Cal is working on his own story Spookytown, which is very cool. I'm excited for this one. It's hard to keep track of everything. I've thought about finding a manager or agent. Antony Johnston discouraged the idea. He told me, comic book writers make so little money, why split the percentage even further? I simply need to find a better system for keeping everything organized. Who knows? If something hits, it might be easier to sell some of the previous stories. For stuff that's already written, Brent Schoonover recently finished the first chapter of ASTRONAUT DAD VOL. 2. Tom Kurzanski is busy on KARMA INCORPORATED VOL. 2. Both should be in stores by the end of the year. Both look great. It hasn't felt like I've been busy lately, but the past twelve months have been more productive than I originally thought. I scripted four issues of LAKE ARCHER, a side project never intended for publication. I wrote "50 Miles to Marfa" (illustrated by Dan Warner), tentatively scheduled for PopGun Vol. 3 and "Of All Time and Forever" (to be illustrated by Chris Mitten), part of an upcoming anthology project. I don't want to say too much about these short stories, since nothing has been finalized. Around Free Comic Book Day, I released a 16 page mini-comic MINE ALL MINE, which featured several of my favorite artists. And every other month, Paul Milligan and I produce SOUVENIR OF DALLAS for D Magazine. Still. None of this has the momentum of a "next big project." In the meantime, I've been restlessly friending people on MySpace, twittering, visiting other people's blogs and webcomics, and scheming, definitely scheming. With a notepad and everything. Currently reading: DEATH NOTE VOL.1-12 ATOMIC ROBO VOL. 1 GOOD IN A ROOM
Choke
Bottle Shock The Curious Case of Benjamin Button Hellboy 2 Burn After Reading The Dark Knight Kabluey
On page 18 of D Magazine's July issue, in the comments section:
"Prepare to laugh like an unstable hyena over this mighty hilarious D Magazine comic strip [Souvenir of Dallas] by David Hopkins and Paul Milligan." - Morning News Reporter Dave Levinthal on June's "Mayor Big Hands" Strip. Our next installment will appear in the August issue. Expect more hilarity.
My respect for the Dallas Morning News has grown. Maybe it's a slow news month when we can't seem to talk about anything other than oil prices and a Presidential election, but I hope DMN continues their look at south Dallas.
Check out DMN's Bridging Dallas' North-South gap. The videos are especially good. I love Dallas, and it's always been a concern of mine that while most fixate on the city as a place of big hair and big money, we neglect the other half, a half with style and heart all its own. I worry about gentrification. Politicians and land-developers allow these areas to fall into ruin, then they grab these square acres on the cheap, build expensive condos and force out their original owners. Many occupants have rented their place for years and years; if they owned it, they'd be sitting on something valuable. It's a ruthless system that drives out people. Mortgage discrimination, red-lining, school district gerrymandering, public opinion distorted by the local media, it all plays a part. If you want to see my take, I wrote a one-pager about this exact subject in "Mine All Mine," illustrated by Samax. (South Dallas also plays an important role in the upcoming "Vice and Virtue" storyline for Karma Incorporated.) As a reminder, I'm an advisory member of La Reunion, which hopes to establish an artist residency in south Dallas. This is another way to support south Dallas growth without distorting and ruining its character.
As you may remember in a previous post, I've been busy working on a Moleskine journal for SEED. Lo and behold, I did it. Last night, I finished writing three issues of an unpublished script, LAKE ARCHER, into the notebook. April has been designing a woodcut to use on the cover. It should look really freakin' cool. From this point, it's all about filling the remaining pages with whatever loose notes, quotes, and ideas come to mind. I put together a Lake Archer soundtrack, and included it. I organized the playlist in about 15 minutes, pulling from 5,428 songs on my iTunes. I was listening to it this morning. Surprisingly, the soundtrack sounds bad ass. Here it is...
1. Whipping the Horse's Eyes by Calexico 2. A Shocking Lack Thereof by dEUS 3. Take Time by The Books 4. Sadie by Joanna Newsom 5. Atlas by Battles 6. All Nite Diner by Modest Mouse 7. Setting vs. Rising by Sunset Rubdown 8. Dollars & Cents by Radiohead 9. Tender Buttons by Broadcast 10. Coast to Coast by Elliott Smith 11. White Ink by Deerhunter 12. Plans by Grizzly Bear 13. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood by Neko Case 14. Farewell Ride by Beck 15. Raw from Self Destruction by The Baptist Generals All of these mp3's should be available for download at the iTunes music store, except the dEUS song. Sorry. Consider it a bonus track. Anyone living in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I hope you try to make it to the event on Saturday. And place a bid on my notebook! I will be in Ohio visiting my grandparents, so you need to go for me.
Fellow comic book creator Christine Pointeau has a dream to adopt a child. However, adoption is expensive. Possibly more expensive than it should be, but I'll admit I'm not up on all the intricacies of the process. Christine is humbly raising money towards this life-long dream, and you can help -- either by a direct donation or by purchasing one of her graphic novels.
http://www.christinepointeau.com/iamadopting/ http://www.christinepointeau.com/donate/ Christine would make a wonderful mother. There are a lot of kids who need a good home, and not enough people like Christine in the world. Comic book artists may not make a lot of money, but what they lack in financial force -- they make up for it in creative support and community. If you can, please help out. I'd be incredibly proud if my circle of friends could collectively raise enough money to get this process moving forward. Spread the word. E-mail your friends. Blog about it. We could make a huge difference in the life of some child and for Christine.
This month, I'm flying to California for my cousin's wedding. I'm getting into town a few days early, so I can take the opportunity to sign at the amazing Meltdown Comics. It's on a Thursday, which is somewhat of an "off day" for most retailers, but I expect a few people will wander in.
 I wish I could set up another book tour road trip like I've done in the past, but with gas at $4 a gallon, it's just not a responsible thing for me to do. Someday, I'll make it back to Norman (Speeding Bullet), Lawrence (Astrokitty), and St. Louis (Starclipper). I miss you! While I love attending conventions, especially small press/indie conventions like MoCCA or STAPLE, to promote my work, I prefer visiting retailers directly and getting to know them. Thus, when I'm in California, I jump at these chances. Maybe I can find my cousin a wedding gift at Meltdown?
Javi's THE MIDDLEMAN debuts next Monday, June 16th on ABC Family. Steven and I are having a watching party at his place. I can't wait to see it. If you haven't read the absurdly awesome graphic novel series, you are missing out.
Also, the YouTube Public Service Announcements are pretty funny.
My friend Bethany Keeler sent me this link: "This guy has done several comic strips based on stories out of China. They're really good."
Press release: Journal Art and Live Music Mark Art Conspiracy’s SEED 2008 Event
DALLAS, TX – June 3, 2008 - Have you ever wanted to get a close-up look at what goes on inside the heads of creative people? On Saturday, June 21, at 8:00 p.m., at the Sons of Hermann Hall, you can get the chance to literally flip through the imagination of visual, literary and performing artists during Art Conspiracy’s 2nd Annual SEED fundraiser. The money raised will help fund the operating costs of Art Conspiracy’s large-scale December fundraiser and inevitably help Art Conspiracy donate more money to its 2008 beneficiary.From now until then, I'm working on my journal whenever I have any free time available. Hopefully, if things go as planned, I'll have an appealing notebook with a certain Henry Darger quality.
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