It’s the afternoon of Tuesday 4th July, we’re a few days behind schedule and you’re reading Frantic Scribbles and Senseless Ramblings, the monthly newsletter of Asa Wheatley.
Making progress
This will be a short newsletter as to be honest my productivity has been low the last month. While stunning Shield Maiden pages have continued to roll in and light up my inbox I haven’t really had much energy to get writing done. Maybe it’s the sudden release of the kickstarter being finished at the start of the month. I tend to go through an exhaustion slump when I’m finished running a kickstarter and need to recover from a concentrated month of promotion. Whatever it is I’m starting to come out of it and I’m gearing up for what I’m hoping will be a very productive July.
On the first day of July (and one of the reasons this newsletter is a few days late) I attended MACC-POW comic art festival with Sammy. It’s a bit of a trip up to Macclesfield for us so we went up the day before to make sure we weren’t rushing around on the day. While the convention has a great atmosphere and is really welcoming and fun - Marc who runs the show does a fantastic job with it - I unfortunately don’t think it’s something we’ll be going back to. Financially it just doesn’t work, not with the cost of trains and a hotel to keep in mind. If we were local I’d definitely be on board for returning but if I can’t at least break even at a con then it unfortunately isn’t worth the trip. We did have a fantastic breakfast the morning of the con at the Gastown Cafe and a delicious pastry from Flour Water Salt but alas food isn’t enough to justify a return. No matter how much I wish it was.
Sagas of the Shield Maiden Book Three - Interior pages 2/3 complete.
Project Queen - Final pitch sent out, next steps unknown.
Project Ichor - Final script with artist.
Project Murder - Revisions finished. Awaiting final editorial notes.
Project Hollow - 1st Draft of script read and notes made.
Anthology Submissions - 1 anthology rejection received. Working on 2 anthology scripts.
All consuming, consuming all
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Unsurprisingly I loved this. More than the original? I’ll have to give it another couple of watches before I decide that. My only gripe being that it’s only the first half of a film, it ended more like the finale of a season of TV than a film but then there are a plethora of those this year. And this did it wildly better than Fast X. But the film itself is fantastic on every level. They made the idea of Spider-Man not just an integral part of Miles’ character but also to the plot without it ever feeling overly indulgent. The animation is astonishing (which unfortunately comes off the back of reports of over working and mass quitting). I’m already excited to watch it again and again and it’s definitely one that will be joining the collection once it’s out.
You like it, you link it
BOXES Comic Magazine #1 - This is an awesome looking kickstarter in its final few days. If you haven’t had a peek already it’s a brand new comic magazine showcasing new short works from a range of exciting and interesting indie comic creators. I backed this right away and I urge you to do the same. They need an extra little push to hit their goal and they really deserve to smash it.
Alien Heart – Volume 2 - Another great kickstarter to feast your eyes on. I really enjoyed the first volume of this so I’m looking forward to more. If you haven’t picked up the first book there’s a catch up tiers or you can just pick up vol 1.
Painting Progress
The majority of this month has been working towards getting my Space Wolves army all painted up and somehow I just about managed it. In full organisation nerd fashion I’ve now created a spreadsheet checklist to keep on track with what I’ve got to paint. In the hopes that it’ll keep me up to date with what I should be doing before buying more.
I also had the unexpected but wonderful surprise in winning the Best Painted Army trophy in my 40k league from my local game shop. I joined the small league to get more used to the rules of 40k but definitely didn’t expect to finish with a trophy. My goal in joining was to just not come last and I’d say coming 10th (out of 23) with a Best Painted trophy is miles above that goal.
I’ve picked up the start of a new army as well as the incredible looking Star Wars Shatterpoint so I’ll have plenty of painting to keep me busy for the rest of the year I imagine. Not that that will stop me from looking at more minis!