The colder it gets the less I want to be doing anything other than wrapping up on the sofa watching TV.
Making Progress
It’s been a somewhat productive month. With Thought Bubble smack in the middle of it there’s definitely been a period of preparation and recovery that on the surface doesn’t seem productive but takes effort nonetheless. More on the convention itself in a bit.
I got another draft of my longer form Western One-Shot done. It’s still early stages but I’m really liking how it’s coming together. I had mentioned previously that I’d be referring to it in newsletters as ‘Casssidy Cole’ after the main character. Well that backfired on me as the video game Overwatch announced the renaming of their cowboy hero to Cole Cassidy not too long ago. So it’ll be Western One-Shot for a while in the hopes to not curse myself again. But I’ve renamed my character and they're better for it. I’m looking forward to getting to the art stages of this as I’m thinking of playing with format and page sizing again. It’s something that as a writer I have to decide on right away and I don’t have as much opportunity to change things around in the later stages so I’ve become more conscious of it. I love that comics can take so many shapes and sizes and so experimenting with how that affects the story I’m telling is exciting to me.
Made a couple of changes to the Folk Horror overall plot and have sent it all off to an editor. So once that’s back and notes are discussed the art will have a chance to take another step forward.
I’ve got another anthology to pitch to. There’s the very basics of an idea floating around that I think would be super fun to work on. I've just got to get a version of it down into coherent sentences before sending it off.
Shield Maiden Book Three has taken a bit of a backseat as I got work done on everything else but is in a good position for me to dive right in once I get a chance. The stories are chosen and plotted. I just need to get to actual script writing. It’s especially nerve wracking because these are stories that I’ve been building up to since Book One and it’s an important part of the Shield Maiden’s life. It’s equally exciting though and I’m looking forward to sharing these stories with everyone.
Thought Bubble 2021
It was my first time exhibiting at Thought Bubble after having gone as a visitor a few years previously and I had a fantastic time. Thought Bubble has such a welcoming and creative atmosphere, I loved being there. I got to catch up with friends and meet people in person I’ve only ever spoken to online. The books I took sold well, with Shield Maiden being the unsurprising front runner. I wish I had taken a bit more time to look around and pick up some more comics, next year I’ll correct that.
The highlight of the con was definitely everybody who stopped by the table that had previously picked up any of my comics either via cons or kickstarter to tell me how much they enjoyed the books or for me to sign their copies. It was honestly an honour and it means so much to me that people are enjoying my work enough to seek me out.
I came away from the con with the excitement to make more but was absolutely wiped out from the weekend and then went straight into a busy week at the day job. So I spent a lot of time afterwards trying to catch up but it was definitely worth it.
Consumed and Content
Resident Evil Village - Picked this up at the end of last month to play over Halloween. I adored it. It’s super creepy and there are some genuinely terrifying set pieces as well as being really fun to play. It’s easy for a horror game to get lost in its own scariness and forget that the experience to play it should actually be somewhat interesting and enjoyable but Resi 8 balances it really well.
Saint Maud - Unsettling is the perfect word to describe Saint Maud. It’s light on actual plot but endlessly intriguing and wholly unnerving.
Suspiria - We watched both the remake and original last month. Both are great and so different. The original we’d seen previously but the remake was all new and I really enjoyed the wholly different take on the story. We’ve got the next parts of Argento’s Three Mothers Trilogy (Inferno & Mother of Tears) lined up to watch now we’ve familiarised ourselves with Suspiria again.
You like it, you link it
Sammy Ward, my partner, frequent collaborator (Shield Maiden, Campfire Stories & Sprouting to name a few) and all round amazing artist has started up her own newsletter that you are not going to want to miss out on. We’ve got a few projects we’re working on together so there will likely be sneak peaks of those popping up in the near future. As well as that there’s previews of her own projects, details of sales on her online stores and much more. Sign up to it here.
I’ve been on a slight hiatus on kickstarter backing recently in an effort to not spend every penny I have but there’s some great stuff going on right now. Here’s a few campaigns you should take a moment to check out:
Containment Breach, Volume 2: Myth Reborn - An all-original, 162 page comic anthology featuring over 35 lunatic indie comic gods bending mythology to their twisted will.
A Trick of the Light - A story inspired by British girls' comics of the 1960s/70s.
Weird Work #1-2 - A sci-fi noir epic, LA Confidential meets Futurama
BPM: Beatdowns Per Minute #1 - A comic tribute to retro beat 'em up games, starring cops fighting a crime Syndicate in 1993
Nightmare Fuel #1 - Monsters are real. When giant corporations try to turn them into money, what happens next is NIGHTMARE FUEL...
FOULBROOD 1 & 2 - A rural crime odyssey of four worlds drawn together by bees, crime and bee crimes. By Christopher Sebela & Claire Roe.
THE FEW AND CURSED #7 - The Redhead is back for another thrilling tale in this curse-chasing supernatural western!
Postscript.
I’ve gotten back into painting miniatures again recently and it is such a joy. I find it so relaxing (when I’m not ruining an entire mini by spraying too much varnish on it) and after upgrading my desk not too long ago I’ve got a nice little set up just for painting. I’m currently working my way through the Star Wars Imperial Assault figures which are a good balance of batch painting 3 or 4 figures of the same type and individual heroes or villains with more interesting designs. It’s also so nice to put time into a hobby that I’m not trying to or have no intention to monetise.
Stay safe & look after each other.
Asa