Monday, July 29, 2013

What's going on...

The gears are in motion. I am sitting at my newly rearranged workspace. It is dusk, and everything is quiet. My storyboard is hung on the wall to my left, my new computer is ready and waiting.

I have organized over a hundred story fragments in Google Drive, along with the big one. The big Kahuna... the one that I am saving for later, when (if) things get big. Stories from Old Darkrose, stories from Selcouth Manor, stories from Desolation, and more.

I have 4 new story outlines, one that I am very excited about (working title: E-line), and I have even purchased a domain... www.corvidbird.com is coming. Corvid's nest, where corvid will keep her shiny things. The site should be up and running in about three weeks.

Do not fear, faithful reader (all 2 of you), Evil Candy will live on. I will link to the blog and have plans to designate a day for blogging, in order to provide updates with more regularity. Eventually Evil Candy will become part of Corvid's Nest. I have also created a Tumblr blog, and an account on DeviantArt.

I would very much like to find a comic book artist. I have a few things I think would work exceptionally well in graphic novel format. I love comics and have always wanted to write one. Easier said than done when your drawing skills are as lacking as mine. (Speaking of comics. I went to see Wolverine yesterday. Hugh Jackman's chest is a force to be reckoned with, I am fairly certain the rest of the movie was good, too). I remember my very first comic book. The February 1982 edition of What If? Titled "What if Wolverine had Killed the Hulk?" (and yes, I bought it in 1982, at a 7-11. I was 15). It was my first introduction to Wolverine, and the Xmen. I was sold. I scraped up money every month, and waited impatiently for the new editions to come out. I remember the first time I discovered there were actual shops that sold nothing but comics and I could buy any edition I wanted any time I wanted to. I could catch up on everything I missed, fill in all the gaps, and discover new characters. I bought every Xman comic, and every single thing I could find with Wolverine in it. He was my absolute favorite character. Comics were my world, a great escape from a difficult life. Even to this day, when I think of a story, it plays out in my mind like a comic book. For me that would be a big dream come true, to write a comic of my own. I am working on making that happen.

There is something to be said for setting an idea into motion. Of imagining a thing, and then just moving forward as if the imagination could actually become a reality. I am plugging away a little at a time, and soon I shall have something other for you to read than just my meanderings here.

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

I'm Not your Bitch...


Okay, hey, no I am NOT DEAD! I haven't died, I have just been thinking... and mulling things over a bit. I know you have been awaiting my next post as impatiently as a George R. R. Martin novel, but Niel Gaiman says he is not your bitch, and neither am I.

What have I been doing, you may ask? Well aside from chat trips for virtual beer and pizza with Sasha to talk about life, the universe, and everything (he is doing well, I will tell him you asked)... I have been formulating a plan. Oh, indeed I have.

See, all my life I have been in the proverbial conundrum regarding what I want to be when I grow up. I have always sort of fancied myself a writer, but not in the serious "I am gonna do this shit!" way. More in the "well... I write, and it's good, and people read it, but I am not really a writer... you know, a WRITER writer..." kind of way. As a result, I just sort of piddle with writing and angst over not doing anything artistic and creative, and work a dull job and live a life that could be a little better. My excuse, designed with great skill to keep me from making any real effort, has always been "but, I don't know where to start!"

For one reason or another I have a tendency to lose confidence in my work about half way through so I talk myself out of finishing, or get caught up editing and re-editing because I never think it is good enough. I get frustrated and put it away, sometimes for months at a time. Sometimes I never pick it up again. I am coming to realize how destructive this really is.

Well. I am done.
You are only given so many stories.

I am going to make an honest effort of it. The writing thing. The WRITING writing thing. I am getting a domain name, making a page, compiling my stuff. Not just the one story, but ALL the stories. All the stories I haven't shared, and the one I have. I am getting organized. I am creating a workspace, setting up my computer, creating a schedule. And most of all I am going to acknowledge the fact, to myself and others, that I am a writer.

Basically, without boring you with the tedious details, I am taking action. Serious action, because life is short and I really want to do this. Maybe by confessing what I want to do here, in this space, it will serve as a commitment of sorts. A promise to myself that I will not give up, that I will follow through, and start putting the stories out there. I hope I can count on you for support, encouragement, comments, jokes, feedback, and perhaps the occasional care package of essential salty carbs.

Several of you (and you know who you are), have been most encouraging. "You are good!" you say. "I like your stuff." Well, isn't that all it takes? To write and have others read and appreciate? I am hoping so. I am determined at this point in my life to stop being sensible, and just go for it. I don't care if  I never actually make a living doing it, I don't care if only a few people read what I have to say. I need to write... I need to write as a writer.