Steven D. Forbes

Just had part of a conversation with Grand Master O’Neal today. I say part because he had to take another call, and will call me back. I’m just waiting for that callback. But, the good part of the conversation is that I’ll be going to this year’s San Diego Comic Con International.

I’ll be behind the booth.

Let’s put some perspective on this.

The first time I went to the show was around 2000. I was in the military at the time, stationed at Miramar (which is in San Diego, for those that don’t know), I was married to my first wife, and I had decided I wanted to be in comics around then. My cousin and I. And when I went to the show–it was unlike anything I’d ever seen. LOTS of things to do when it came to panels, LOTS of things to look at and buy, and it was crowded and noisy and it was great. Marvel had a booth, and I took a picture with Spidey.

I felt extremely small. Being in comics seemed to be so big and daunting. Did I really want this many people knowing my name?

I didn’t go back for five years. Money issues. I was no longer in the military, and was living in Virginia Beach with my then-girlfriend (now wife) before I was able to make it back. And it felt something like coming home. I was still working hard at my craft, and while I didn’t have many prospects, it was the show I wanted to go to. So we went. Well, I went. Lenora went too, but spent maybe a total of three hours at the convention itself. Yeah. She doesn’t like crowds.

I continued to hone my craft, and had gotten into editing. There were things I needed to do, and getting to the other side of the booth was one of them. Last year was my first time I went with the air of a professional. I had t-shirts to promote myself, I had business cards to hand out, as well as a sample of my writing. I made some contacts.

One of those contacts turned out to be Grand Master Eric O’Neal, and his Lionman project. I introduced myself as an editor, gave him my card, bought a book. I then sent a direct e-mail from that book, and now, I’m about to be working behind the booth at SDCCI for the first time. I’m going to meet a living legend in the form of Grand Master Jim Kelly (Black Belt Jones, Enter The Dragon), I’m going to meet some martial arts hall of famers, I’m going to meet with Disney execs–all in conjunction with Lionman.

You know that Disney bought Marvel, right? Just thought I’d mention that. Sometimes, people miss that.

I’m on the way to my dreams coming true. I have confidence in my abilities to bring Lionman to a new level. I have my full time job, I have my side job of editing (just got another gig just a bit ago). I have my friends and colleagues in The Five, and a super-secret plan to bring to fruition.

I was watching a biography on Boys II Men a few weeks ago, and they told the story of how they got their shot. They went to a performing arts high school, and was able to make their way backstage in order to sing for some then-prominent singers. They then got some contact info from BBD (formerly of New Edition), and Nate was on their trail for a year before contracts were signed and they became huge.

Now, I’m no singer. I don’t write music or songs. What I do is write and edit comics books. I’ve been doing work and pursuing Lionman for almost a year, because I know what it can do for me. Because Grand Master O’Neal is a public figure dealing with children, he has to be a man of integrity. He has to be above board. He’s done a LOT of things. Go look him up. I’m patient. Grand Master Eric O’Neal, Sr.

Back? See what I mean? And with a booth already paid for at SDCCI, it’s really easy to see why I’ve hitched my wagon to this train. If he gets half of what he wants up off the ground, I’ll be able to do the things that I want to do, as well. I put a two-year window on the things I want to do, knowing they are Lionman dependent. Just to keep better track of it, I can say that the clock started in January. And when it happens…boom.

Everything I ever wanted, within my grasp. Things that I want to do, try, see…as well as working harder than I’ve ever worked before in my life.

I recently wrote on Comic Related the difference between dreams and goals. I also wrote about it on Bolts & Nuts. I had a dream. I’ve turned that dream into a goal. I’ve set out a plan, and am implementing it. I’ve worked hard to prepare myself for the opportunities coming my way. I’ll have to work harder to stay sharp and not just keep up, but to stay ahead. Because it’s going to pay off. Big. I just have to be patient while I work it. Which is the hard part.

But I’ll be working a booth at SDCCI in July. I had a goal last year of having my own booth at SDCCI in two years, but you know what? I’ll take this, and look at it the same way. It’s mine. The firsthand knowledge and experience of working a big show and mingling with people is going to be phenomenal. (I wonder if we can get some polo shirts or t-shirts made up…)

I just made some money. I need to hold onto it in order to cover some expenses while in San Diego. If Lionman covers transporation, lodging, and food, then that’s less money I have to spend right there. But if it’s something I have to invoice…then I need to hold on to what I make from my editing for a bit. July’s right around the corner, and I have to make the money, hold it, and see how things play out before I start doing things I want to do like hiring artists or getting John Truby lectures.

Real life? Things are steady, for once. I went to the movies to see Alice in Wonderland, and I didn’t have to think about holding on to the money for needed things. It’s not totally relaxed around here, but I’ll be able to start getting what I want instead of just getting what I need.

Like iPhone apps. I finally got the iPhone, and I LOVE it. I’ve only noticed a small slowdown in my texting speed, but I’d say that would be natural with a touchscreen. The battery life isn’t good, but I’m carrying a computer in my pocket. I can live with that.  This thing is amazing. I’m looking forward to having Bullet Time on it. But some of the apps I’ll be able to buy would be nice.

That’s really about it for me for now. I have a script to edit, and some food to eat. Guess which gets done first?

Go watch the original Wolf Man before seeing it in theaters. Then, be happy that Benecio del Toro isn’t a whiney bitch!

-Steven

The contracts from Markosia have come in. I reviewed them to make sure nothing else creeped in there–not that I thought there would, but it is ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry–and didn’t find anything, like I was expecting. What did I do then? I signed and sent them out to the rest of the creative team. I also sent extra postage for them to just sign and mail it to the next person, and then to send it back to Markosia (which is in England, for those that don’t know).

Yes, I paid for their postage. Nice of me? I don’t think so. I look at it as my responsibility as the one who has the idea and brought them all together to work on the project. Well, that’s not completely accurate. I didn’t find Jeff, the inker. The previous publisher did. He wanted to stay, and I was very happy with his inks, so he stayed. I’m very happy to have found Robert Keough, though.

I’m going to be lettering Bullet Time myself. That’s going to be interesting. Cheaper, too. It means less I have to carve up on the back end, it means less that could possibly go wrong, because there aren’t as many fingers in the pie.

In all, I think it’s good.

I’m also starting to think more about digital distribution. The reason? I finally got the iPhone. The 3Gs, 32gig version for those that care. A bit of a pain setting it up from one phone to the other, but it was all good. It was mainly the pictures that had some problems transferring, but after thinking it through, I finally got them.

Anyway, I started downloading comics on it from ComiXology and iVerse. I’ll be reading those while I’m at work, but I’m liking the ComiXology app. It helps the reading experience. For the aware creator, it also gives you more control over how your stories are experienced. Definitely something to be aware of.

I have a story idea that I’m going to work on, with an eye toward digital distribution. ComiXology, to be specific. That, and with an eye toward print (because print is always the goal). But I’m thinking of sets of stories to do with this idea, as well as opening it up to other creators to tell stories about it. I think it could work. I just need to get Bullet Time up and running first. After that, give this a shot. In color. Because on the web, color is free. On digital readers, color is free. Even if you were to do it on the Kindle, it would still be free, and you don’t have to change it to b/w for grayscaling. It would be done automatically. The equivalent of watching a color program on a b/w television. It only becomes expensive when you go to print, and I would like to do that while only having to pay as little as possible from my personal finances for a limited color print run.

It’ll be interesting.  I have to figure a way to do a free, readable preview, while still telling a whole story, and making that interesting enough to get someone to want to pay for the rest of the graphic novel.

I have to figure out my budget first, which means I have to have the story, which means I have work ahead of me.

Which brings me to my laptop. It’s down, it’s been down, but I hope to have it back up late next week, which improves my productivity immensely. That’ll be good. I’ve been bored at work. Reading is fun, but not when you KNOW you have work piling up at home…work you usually do while at work. Not my idea of a good time.

And that’s it for comics for now.

Home life has been good. Quiet. My stepdaughter is in San Diego for a bit. She went there to support her brother, who’s in jail.

I’m not looking forward to the phone bill. He calls collect, because he has to. I get that. But that phone bill is going to be astronomical.

Anyway, the boy’s father says he’s going to be there for him, and that he’s going to do this and that to help him get out of there as soon as possible. And then he doesn’t show up on the boy’s court date. Typical.

The court appointed lawyer advised the boy to take a deal: six months to a year on a felony. The boy took it. The charge? Burglary. And no one could prove he was in the house and burgled it. No one saw him in the house. He was seen outside of it, but not inside it.

And the people who burgled the house? Don’t know what happened to them. The house belongs to his friend’s girlfriend, who told his friend when her parents weren’t going to be home so he could burgle it. Some friends, right?

So, he has six months to a year in jail, and will have a felony conviction. He’s just made it infinitely harder on himself to find a decent paying job. The gun charge? No idea. But he’s finally going to learn something about the consequences for his actions and choices. I hope it sticks.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to setting up my office. It’s been a while since I was able to be in my own space and do what I do. About three years. I just have to get a new chair. This one is fucked up. No, it wasn’t my doing. People don’t know how to treat anything. Yes, the chair is about six or seven years old, but still. I know how to take care of my stuff. Three years of people flopping in it isn’t what I call taking care of something. Actually, call it a year and a half. Yeah. I’m not happy, because no one wants to take responsibility for the destruction of shit, and then they don’t have money to replace it. Having Lenora replace it is the same as me replacing it, because it’s our money.

When my plans come together, there may be some hurt feelings, but I’d much rather have the hurt feelings than ungrateful people destroying my stuff. Especially people who still need to learn to make their own way.

Yeah, I have plans in comics that impact real life. Just waiting on other people to do their part so I can continue my march.

Just about 1100 words. I’m done.

Go watch Superman II- The Donner Cut. That’s what I’m about to do. We can talk about it next time. See you then.

It’s been interesting lately, to say the least. (It’s been over a month already?!)

I’ve gotten a few more clients for editing., and that’s always a good thing. One project is winding down, unless it gets picked up by a publisher–and even then, I’m not guaranteed to stay on the job. That’s how freelance editing goes. There’s a second job that’s also gearing up to wind down, and replacing those two would be nice.

One writer is new, and I’ll basically be teaching him how to write. The other writer has been through the new Proving Grounds, and has learned some lessons there, but still needs a lot of help from what I’ve seen. There’s one who’s been sending me his scripts, and is an absolute joy to work with. He gets the notes I send him, and makes the corrections. He has a good story (which is always helpful), and as long as he gets a good artist, there’s no reason why he shouldn’t get the story picked up somewhere. There’s another writer whom I’m basically teaching how to write, as well. That’s four different writers. That should do me for a bit.

I finally got the Ungoodwise script written. It now just needs to be edited. Waiting on Jamal for that one. We still need to talk about the first chapter of it, but other than that, it’s done.

I sent in another pitch to Lee, and he seems to really be into it. I’m excited about it. He liked the initial pitch, and asked me to revise it. That second one went to his partners, and they generally liked it. Then he asked me to write an outline for it, which I did, because I’d been thinking of the outline for a while. I haven’t heard back on it as yet. I’m thinking there will be some changes needed, but I’m looking ahead somewhat and am thinking about the three page introduction that he’s eventually going to ask me to do. A quick summary with an overview of what needs to be done for the book…and I think I have it. It’ll be good. (This is what happens when you write to a specific ending vision. Everything else in the middle kinda falls into place.)

I should be getting the contracts for Bullet Time soon from Markosia. As soon as that happens, I’ll sign them, get them out, and continue to march. I just have to find the hi-res inked pages. I think I have them around here somewhere. If not, I’ll have to ask Cary for them. Or maybe Jeff still has a copy of them. That would be nice, and easier. Then it’s re-lettering, and then moving on from there.

That’s about it for comics. Real life was something of a pain, as well.

My desktop has risen from the grave, just in time for my laptop to seemingly go down into it. Hopefully, my co-worker can fix it. We’ll see what happens. (Having a laptop at work means that I up my productivity. Lettering while at work is a great thing, let me tell you.)

My step-children.

The good news is that the house is finally empty. After three years of living with these adult people, the nest is finally empty. The bad part is that we were almost evicted from the apartment in order for it to happen.

I’ll try to make this long story short.

A couple of weeks after Lenora’s brother died, I’m at work, and get a text message from a co-worker, asking me about my address. (She works for the police here as a dispatcher.) It seems my stepson found someone breaking into the downstairs neighbor’s apartment. He was punched in the face, someone pulled a gun on him, and then the guys fled. What was stolen? A gun. The police were at the apartment for hours. I was at work while all of this was going on.

My stepdaughter comes to visit with her boyfriend. She’s emotionally retarded, and he as Aspergers. (I think he just asked her to marry him…) Anyway, this is right at the start of the Australian Open. (I LOVE tennis.) I come home from work, they’re sleeping on the floor in the living room. I get in bed with my wife. I watch tennis. She gets up and goes to work. I fall asleep watching tennis. Those are the events, as they happened. I’m nodding in and out as the matches are basically watching me, and then am woken up by someone knocking on my door. It’s my landlord. She’s asking me about the events of last night, and if I want to talk inside or come down to the office. I have NO idea what she’s talking about. She keeps harping on last night, and that she’s more than likely going to have to evict us because of those events.

I’m now fully awake (the word “evict” will do that), and go down to her office to talk.

No, I don’t have the full story. Here’s what I got from her: Isaiah probably owed/stole some money to some guys, who came around that night to get it back. They pulled my stepdaughter’s boyfriend, thinking it was him, and one guy had a gun to his head, and cocked it, about to blow him away. Then there’s something about a scuffle, and then Isaiah comes running into the apartment, where the guys are banging on the door, wanting to be let in, and saying that they’re going to come back and shoot the place up.

Yep. That’s cause for eviction right there.

No. Lenora said nothing about this to me when I saw her. Remember, I didn’t go to sleep until after she went to work.

I walk to Lenora’s job (it’s right across the street) to talk about what the hell is going on. I got a different story from her. Nobody saw a guy (from her story), and the police were there and only helped her to find my stepdaughter and her boyfriend, who had run off. No other report had been made.

We talk to the landlord the next day, and she talks to Isaiah and the other kids. For some reason, Angie’s in it, and Lenora kicked her out of the house that night. Isaiah goes, too. He was basically already on his way back to San Diego with his sister and her boyfriend.

So, the boy’s in San Diego. He (finally) gets a job. He’s working, and seemingly doing what he needs to do. He’s riding around in a car with a friend of his last week, when the cops come up behind them, lights flashing. Instead of pulling over, the driver tries to flee. They’re eventually stopped. What do the police find on Isaiah when he’s frisked?

A gun.

No, wait. Not “a” gun. “THE” gun. The gun that was stolen from the downstairs neighbor.

The boy is 19. He’s now got a weapons charge, and should at the very least, have a breaking and entering charge, burglary (which is different from robbery), and transporting a weapon across state lines. Nice, right?

No, I don’t feel bad. He made his decisions, and has never had to learn any consequences. He’s now going to learn the consequences of his actions the hard way. It sucks, but that’s what happens when you play the game.

So, yeah. It’s been interesting around here. Empty nest, kid in jail, finally getting caught up on bills, and a plan to bring to fruition. Things around here are about to be on an even keel and more. I’m looking forward to it. By this time next month, it shouldn’t be so damned difficult and tight around here. We’ll see how it goes.

Go listen to Naughty By Nature. Their first album, not the crappy second one.

-Steven

The past couple of days have been interesting, to say the least.

As always, I have to backtrack some in order to go forward.

I started a writer’s group a little more than a year ago. The basic goal of the group was to be a network of support for ourselves when we become big name creators. There are five of us in the group, and with the exception of one, we are all moving forward with publishing deals and so on.

Well, near the end of last year, there wasn’t really any consensus to do a self-audit, but reflection time always comes at that time of year, and we started saying what we were doing and where we were at. There was one who didn’t do all that much, and actually seemed to be going down a strange road.

That bothered me. I could see the rest of us leaving him behind, and with some statements he made as well, I also saw that he didn’t want it as much as the rest of us.

So, I wrote an e-mail, and sat on it for a while. It sounded like a firing, and really, how can you fire someone from a club? I wanted some outside perspective, so I sent it to a couple of people in the group, and got what I needed, changing it around to be more of a helping hand type of thing. Then I sent it to the group.

That’s when things got interesting.

Instead of self-reflection and possibly gracefully bowing out, the writer decided napalm was best.

In the best traditions of high school, or maybe a little younger, the writer says they felt I should have come to them personally about it, instead of sending it to the group, they would have taken it better from a couple of other members of the group since they are real writers, they didn’t feel another writer liked them, anyway, and that I was retarded. They said it came off more as me flexing my muscles and ego than anything else.  This writer also sent this response not only to the group, but to two other people who have nothing to do with anything with our group, as well.

All I could say is wow.

Then, we get another e-mail, apologizing for sending the e-mail to the two extra people. It was deliberately rude to me, and put the other two people in an awkward position.

Now, I had had a recent semi-incident with one of the two extra people he had sent it to, and I have no real use for the other one. Yes, both of them are creators.

Now, here’s the thing. What kind of person is going to damage themselves even further by firing off an e-mail to two people who could help you get further in comics? Why show yourself to be an asshole in that manner? Does that make any sense to you? It doesn’t to me.

I just got an e-mail from Facebook, from my wife’s sister, asking Lenora to call her immediately.

It seems her brother died last night in a car accident.

She’s going to be home for the rest of the week, more than likely. I don’t know if we’re going to be able to get her to TN. It sucks.

I met the man once. He was nice enough. Didn’t seem comfortable in his own skin.

We had had a scare about him before. This was before I met him. It was thought he died in a hotel room, possibly by committing suicide. Gunshot to the head, that took most of his face off. There was trouble identifying him. He turned up a couple of days later, hale and hearty. It was a friend of his who had died.

Yeah. This wasn’t expected. Not totally UN-expected, but not expected at all. When I got the message, I was expecting it to be about her mother, who’s been frail for a while, instead of her brother.

I met her mother once, too. A flirty woman, and you can never completely tell what’s going on with her or in her head.

No, Lenora’s family isn’t that close. Has never been. I don’t see how that can be with such a small family, but there it is. She doesn’t have any cousins that I know of. Just the one brother and sister. Now, just the sister. She’s much closer to her sister than she was to her brother. He was something of an enigma.

I’m sorry she’s in pain, but hopefully, he isn’t anymore. It really depends on your own personal belief system. Mine says he’s learned what he needed to, and it was his time. There’s no denying, to me, from listening to the stories from my wife, that his existence was a painful one. Hopefully, those will be lessons he only needed to learn once, and he can move on from there.

Thanks. I’m done.

Well, one year is passed, and another has started. My own personal new year is also looming on the horizon. And you know what? Things are looking pretty decently on the comics front.

I was asked to write a story for pay a week ago today. It came as a shock, because I had applied for the job just a few days over a year ago when the the e-mail came in. Nice, right?

Well, I finished it a couple of days ago, and am just waiting to hear back from the guy, as well as a paycheck. And I’ll tell you what: it’s easier to adapt something than to make something out of whole cloth when you don’t own the property. I love the things I can do with Ungoodwise. It can bring out my inner militant. However, I’m trying to flesh out the world and do a lot of things that I believe can work, but I’m not the owner/creator of it. I’m just the writer, and because I’m basically setting up the world and such, it’s not as easy as it could be. Complaining? Not at all. Just saying it’s a challenge. I enjoy challenges.

Another challenge I had was to critique some art. A guy I know sent over an artist over to me. This artist’s work was pretty uneven, and I said so. I also gave him an older sample script I wrote to see how he’d do with it. Again, it was pretty uneven. Characters looking different from panel to panel, stuff like that. So, I broke down one of the pages, telling the artist where he was good and where he wasn’t.

I’ll be the first to admit being an art snob. I’m pretty spoiled, and I know it. I’ve worked with some damned good artists, and I plan on continuing that. It’s part of being painted with the brush of the people you associate with. I plan on keeping that going. What I don’t have is time to tell an artist how to draw something. He’s definitely a better artist than myself, but he’s still got a long way to go.

I should be in bed right now. Today is the first day of the new bid at work, and my workdays change. Instead of being off on S/S/M, I’m going to be off on M/T/W. Yes, I was off last night, and I have to go in tonight, and then I’m off. It’s going to be decent.

It does mean, however, I’m going to miss things like the playoffs in football, the Super Bowl, and have to watch the tennis matches on a delay. I’m thinking it’ll be okay.

And I’m only slightly sleepy, which is good. It’ll help put me to sleep, so that’s where I’m going. I’ll watch JFK as I go to sleep. It was either that, or Excalibur.

For you, however, I recommend watching Firefly. It’ll do you MUCH good.

-Steven

No, I don’t got you all in check, but times continue to be interesting.

Let’s see.

One of the Digital Webbing members wrote me last night, wondering if I was still interested and available for a writing job. A single issue, and it would be an adaptation of an existing story. How did this come about? Well, he said that I had responded to an ad he had put out a while ago. I didn’t remember putting out any ads…until I read the ad and the response, which he had so graciously thought to attach.

It had been over a year! Wow, right?! Just a few days over a year, too. But it’s a paying job, and I have the time, so I took it on. I’ve read the story a couple of times, and plan to read it once more, before starting to make an outline to send to him. I’ll be sending that tomorrow. If things go really right, I’ll be able to afford my iPhone for a late birthday present to myself.

I also had a chance to talk to Lee today. That was pretty interesting for me, as well.

I have to talk to Lenora about refining the focus of the book. I have to talk to her about it in her terms, and get her to think in mine, so that we’re all on the same page. But I already knew that.

The other thing, though, the thing he wanted to talk to me about, was a different writing gig. He’s got a guy who’s wanting to tell his life story, but Lee doesn’t think he would be able to help him write it effectively. So, he asked me if I would be interested in doing it. I accepted that gig, too. Why? Because I like keeping busy with work that’s going to get off the ground.

So, let’s see. As of next year, here’s what I’ll have accomplished, or on a burner somewhere:

-a paid writing gig that will add to my resume

-paid editing jobs

-my own book coming out through Markosia

-the possibility of my own book or two through The Pack is still there

-co-writing a biography of a living legend through The Pack

-being an integral part of Lionman

Now, a lot of that is just the START of my year. I don’t have much in the way of a plan for the rest of it. Not really. My friend is getting married in July, and I plan on going to the San Diego con. That’s really about it. Anything else that comes my way is just gravy.

Well, I do plan on doing SOME things. Once I get the book out through Markosia, I plan on trying my luck with them again. At least until Lionman does what I want it to do.  I have a very deep plan that hinges on Lionman. Or, you know, having a blockbuster movie made out of one of my concepts. But I’m banking more on Lionman than a movie. More of a chance of that happening.

I spoke to Grand Master O’Neal today, as well. He just celebrated his birthday, and is recuperating from the martial arts tournament he put on in conjunction with Disney. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow. It should be an interesting conversation.

As for real life stuff…nothing to report, really. Lenora called me from work, which isn’t something she does often anymore. It was nice. She ought to be home very soon. She got me the new Star Trek for Christmas, which was nice of her.  If you haven’t noticed by now, I’m something of a movie fanatic. I LOVE movies. I could go out and buy a few thousand dollars worth right now and call it a good start. You should see my Amazon list. It’s huge. It’s terrible. It’s great.

Oh! I’m reading a Hardy Boys mystery as a bathroom reader. It’s a book I’ve had for years–about 20 of them, if not more. I don’t recall exactly how I got it or how long I’ve had it, but I acquired a lot of books in my early teen years. Anyway, this seems to be a first edition book, and it’s been badly used. However, it’s the oldest book I have. 1943! I had no idea until I looked closely.

Well, I had another frustrating thing happen.

Not too long after we moved into the apartment, I told the kids that if I found my PS2 on again with no one around either playing it or watching movies on it, I was going to take it. I’ve had the thing for about 10 years, and I’d like to keep it in working order. That’s not too much to ask for, is it? Anyway, they nodded, they said yeah, they acted like it was no big deal to them if I took it or not. Or maybe they thought that I wasn’t going to do it. Doesn’t matter. I found it on again, with no one around, so I took it. And no, I didn’t say a damned word about it.

Well, last week, I go into the kids room for a moment, and I notice the Playstation in there. Isaiah tells me he asked Lenora to ask me, and she told him to just take it. That pissed me off, but there it is. No, I didn’t take it. I planned to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Well, last night, Tammy spent the night. She used the Playstation to play at least a movie, and fell asleep with it on. That happens. But then Isaiah comes into my room later today, asking me to play some games with him later. I say sure. It’s Monday night, though, and they leave to watch football. They were gone for a few hours. Lenora comes home, and we talk for a bit. I then get up, remembering that he asked me to play with him…and find my PS2 on with no one around.

So I took it again, and Lenora knows that they’re not getting it back.

Here’s my deal: these people are adults. They are NOT children. I shouldn’t have to treat them as such. If they cannot treat something that is not theirs with any kind of respect, then they don’t need to borrow it. They don’t have jobs. They can’t afford to buy me a replacement system because they burnt out this one. I don’t care if I’m not playing it. It’s mine to do with as I please. If they want to watch a movie or play games, go get your own. You’re an adult, and you can do that. If you cannot afford to do it for whatever reason, then learn to take care of things that aren’t yours.

But they’ll learn. One way or another. It just frustrates me that I have to friggin teach adults lessons in how to take care of other people’s stuff.

Okay, that’s all. I doubt I’ll watch Star Trek now. I’ll give Watchmen another try. You should, too.

This is probably the last post before the end of the year.

Got some interesting news today. Something I was pretty heartened about. Also have some things I have to do, and my non-comics life has been a pain the ass. Shall we get to it?

I’ve been writing a comic for Jamal Walton, and I think it’s coming along pretty nicely. Since I cleared things off my plate, I’ve been able to give it the attention it deserves, and I’m liking what I’m seeing. If things go the way I want them to, I should be finished with the first draft of it pretty soon here. I like the thought of that. Like I said before, it’s been haunting me.

The projects I’ve been editing are also coming along, which is good. The projects with artists attached should have strong showings, which I’m glad about. One of the artists is VERY good and VERY enthusiastic. I like working with him. Heh. I played a small trick on him concerning a couple of panels that he was asked to redo, dragging out the fact that I liked it. I made it seem like I didn’t, and that I didn’t know what to do with him. Made him sweat a little. It was fun! He got the joke, and we had a nice laugh over it. Can’t beat a good artist with a good sense of humor. I look forward to working with him on one of my own projects. Hopefully, that’ll happen in the coming year. We’ll see what happens.

The replacement artist for another project is also coming along well. I have to look at the thumbnails he sent over. I’ll be doing that today, and giving my thoughts on them. The writer seems to like them. I have to compare them to the script before giving my take.

I have to make a decision about something else, and it’s not something I’m happy about, but it will turn out making that something else stronger. It will also help my long-range plans, because when I make a proposal, it should have a better chance of succeeding. That, however, depends on other things, so it’s on the back burner.

I heard back from Lee today on about a cookbook proposal I sent him. It’s basically being written by myself, with my wife’s recipes, and I’m using her as a character in it. I wrote the pitch and a three-page script, which he sent over to his partners for review.  One of his partners is an editor and writer herself, and she’s pretty tough. Getting some things past Lee is hard enough–then she comes out like an editorial dragon and breathes fire all over things, sometimes leaving a charred husk of a script lying in her path. Yeah. Anyway, she said that the script was “awfully good,” and said what she liked about it.

That is validation that is hard to beat.

I’m going to tell you a little secret: I hate rewriting. I hate it with a passion. I understand the need for it, but I hate it with every fiber of my being. Especially if I have to start from scratch. I know that people say that writing is re-writing, but for me…it’s VERY difficult to break out of how I see something once I write it down. I think I’m pretty decent at writing what I see in my head, and getting that across.

Because I hate re-writing, I try to write as close to a final draft as I can get. I try to get it in one or two takes, changing a word or phrase here or there to be a LOT more direct than I am in this blog. Basically, I wrote that particular three-pager in one take, with a few tweaks. And it was “awfully good.”

Why am I happy about that?

Because I cannot get the same validation from my peers. I’m usually the one they come to in order to get an editorial eye on their stuff. If I write the way I edit, and people come to me for editorial review, how can I go to them for the same thing when they’re not editors? So, yeah, getting an attaboy like that from someone who is definitely my superior fills me with glee. The script has some problems with what it’s projecting, but NOT with functionality or storytelling. And there were a couple of typos.

Lee has also started up his own column over at Project Fanboy. Check it out, if you aren’t already. It is DEFINITELY worth the time. I’m learning things, as well, which only help to make me a better writer and editor. I think it compliments and surpasses what I was doing with Bolts & Nuts, and since it also runs on Tuesdays, I think it is a great replacement for it.

However, in reading the column, I find myself wanting to talk more and more about comics theory. It’s making me want to start up yet another column to do it, too. There are LOTS of niches to fill with comics, and while I don’t think I’ll ever fill them all, I’m definitely interested in learning and doing more and more in my chosen medium.

Anyway, that’s comics stuff. Real life? That’s been interesting this past week, as well.

On Tuesday, my car’s ignition switch broke. This was early Tuesday evening. Angie, my stepdaughter, had taken the car to the storage unit to put some stuff in it. The storage unit is just over a quarter mile away, if not a little less. Easy walking distance. She comes to get me at about 7:30 or so, and we go there, getting a ride from her boyfriend. Usually, when something like this would happen, all it takes is turning the wheel a little bit in order to get the tumblers straight and insert the key. Kinda like sex, really. Gotta sometimes coax it in a little.

Well, I tried that, with no luck. The gate locks at 9, it was cold and raining (one of the few nights it decided to rain in Tucson!), and I had to get back home in order to see if I could find a ride to work, and call in to work if I couldn’t. I couldn’t. So, it was taken as a Holiday day, not using vacation, since I had it to burn. Nice, right? I thought so.

Anyway, I went back the next morning. I walked. The rain had cleared up, and while it was chilly, it wasn’t cold. I put a hoodie on under my jacket, because I didn’t want to freeze my shaved-head off. I tried it again with no love.

Now, there was a nice thing about the situation. The storage facility is set back from the road. In front of it is a car care center. The garage was open, so I stopped in on my way back home. I wanted to get a ball-park estimate of the problem and the cost. I could take that home to my wife, and we could talk about it. (It’s not as if we have a lot of money.)

Well, they ball-parked it at close to $400. Not only that, but they wouldn’t be able to get to it until after Xmas, and probably not until the new year.  I kept a straight face at that, and took the figure and their timeframe home to my wife.

She didn’t want to pay it. I didn’t want to pay it. I then remembered that one of my friends is married to a mechanic. I got in contact with her about it (especially since I was going to ask her to go out of her way to take me home in the morning), and she told me that he could do it, but it probably wouldn’t be until Saturday morning, the day after Xmas. I was fine with that. Truly. He also had a suggestion about calling a locksmith.

I did that, and the first locksmith who answered the phone was a chick who acted like hers was the only locksmith in town. Not only that, but I’d have to wait until the next day to get someone out to see my car because her ignition guy was out of town. I didn’t like her attitude. I called someone else.

The next guy was TOTALLY helpful! He asked if I had squirted any lubricant in the ignition. I hadn’t. He said to do that, and if it works, to bring the car to his location. So, I walked my happy ass back to the storage, squirted some WD40 in the ignition, and prayed. It didn’t work. So, I walked my ass back home. I called him up, and arranged for someone to come out to the apartment to look at the car. He would send someone out later that day.

Then I called my insurance company in order to set up a tow. With that done, I walked my happy ass back to the storage in order to meet the towtruck driver, let him in, and get the car. With the car back home, I went back inside to find my wife sitting there. Imagine my surprise, because she was supposed to be at work. Well, now, I had someone to stay up and meet the locksmith when he came out, because I had work that night.

The guy came out, but couldn’t get the ignition freed up. The problem was the switch itself. The switch for my car is the same switch for the Ford Focus, and they were always going out. They went out so much that they stopped using that particular switch in the car, going to a different switch. The guy could do it for half the cost the garage was trying to charge, but it would have to wait until Saturday. Lenora went for it.

The next couple of days were interesting. I went to work by getting rides and borrowing my other stepdaughter’s car. Fun times. And then today rolls around, and the locksmith comes out and does the entire job in about 30 minutes. The garage was estimating 2 hrs worth of work.

Yeah.

So, the car is fine, I got some sleep, and now, to do some more editing work and spend some time with my family. I’m a little hungry.

Go watch Gone in 60 Seconds, just because it’s that kind of day.

-Steven

It’s been a while, and during that time, things have been…interesting.

I stepped down from writing Bolts & Nuts and The Proving Grounds, in order to concentrate more on some private matters. However, I’ve felt that I’ve had a lot of free time on my hands. And it feels…strange.

There’s a writing project that I’m digging back into. I don’t own the property, but I have a stake in it. It’s a decent idea, and I see how I would do things differently on it, but there it is. I want to have this one done soon. It’s been haunting me–and not in a good way.

I want you all to go to www.thelegendoflionman.com and give me your honest opinion of it. Don’t hold back. If you want to send it as an e-mail, stevedforbes@gmail.com is best.

Oh! Because I’m loving Google, I also have a Google phone number. You can give me a call at 520-344-4633. I’m thinking about adding a widget, too. This will be my business number, and I’ve also added it to the signature block of my e-mail. Just didn’t want to forget that.

Back to comics!

Thanksgiving Day was a REALLY good day! I got a call from Harry Markos of Markosia, and he told me that he wants Bullet Time to come under the Markosia banner. I thought that was GREAT! I just needed to find an artist with the same sense of style and storytelling as Dave, and who didn’t mind back-end pay. Tall order, let me tell you!

Well, I found such an artist. He had submitted to me a few months ago for Lionman, and while his art was damned good, it wasn’t what I was looking for when it came to that project. I did think, however, that he would be perfect for Bullet Time. I didn’t want to approach him, however, because I didn’t have anyplace to publish it at the time, and while self-publishing is great, it’s also damned expensive. Not something I can afford at the moment. (But I have plans!) I wrote him up an e-mail, sending him over to BT to look it over, and he said he was interested. I told him about the money situation, and he was onboard. So, Robert Keough is onboard as artist, and Jeff Coney stays as inker. I have Cary Kelley to help with a new logo since this is going to be in b/w, and I’ll be doing the letters. Yes, I’m keeping the team small. I’d do the logo myself if I was seriously getting into lettering, but I’m not. Only enough for me to do a decent job on my stuff, and that’s it.

So, yes, I got a publishing deal on Thanksgiving. Nice, right?

How long did it take me to find an artist? Five days, I think. Now, I’m just waiting on the contract to come in from Harry, so that they can be gone over, signed, and sent, with work to be started either at the end of the month or at the start of the year. It’s going to be good. Yep, I’ll be busy again with lettering, which is kinda fun. And looking at new art for your own stories is always fantastic. Good times ahead.

Lately, I’ve also been getting more inquiries about editing. They’re almost coming out of the woodwork. Oh, no, I’m not complaining at all. Paid work is always a good thing. Right now, I have two writers that I’m doing project management for, and the pages that are coming in for one of them are just truly phenomenal. A painted look that’s just outstanding. When I saw the artist apply (he had also applied for the other writer’s project), I knew he would be the one. And so far, he’s great! Character sketches come in, he’s doing five pages for submission, and the damned pages look GOOD. He’s also pretty good about taking direction. Really, I couldn’t ask for anything more. When this is over, I’d like to hire him for one of my own projects. One that I’ll be re-writing in the next few weeks.

The other writer? Well, the artist for that project had to be fired. He wasn’t getting the work done, and he wasn’t communicating. Right now, we’re seeing about trying someone else out. Waiting to get the test page back from him before moving forward.

I’ve also got another writer that I’m just doing scriptwork with. We just finished up a script, and he may be sending me more work before Christmas. One can always hope.

There are also two writers that just came to me, asking about my rates and such. They both hired me for scriptwork, and one hopes to start on it this week. It’s a shortish script, but I’m not complaining about it. The other one looks to start in the new year, which will definitely be helpful.

Yes, I’m still “working” on Lionman. My invoice for work done is getting pricey. If things happen the way I hope they do, though…it will all be worth it. And if it goes REALLY right, in two years time…yeah. I’ll be able to look back at all of this and say “I lived through that, and I’m never going back there again.”

As for my other projects, Group is still on something of a hiatus, I haven’t heard back from two other artists for two different projects they signed on for (and yes, I’ve been sending out the e-mails, but I’m not overly concerned with one of them–him I can replace without really losing money, but the other guy? I want that art!), and I’m looking to get more things in the pipeline.

The Markosia deal, once inked, will give me some leverage for other stories to get seen. I have one artist right now doing up some test pages for a project I’d like to send to them, that would work really well in b/w. This guy is a really good artist who applied for Bullet Time, but he had no sequentials to show. So, I sent him over an excerpt of a script and asked him to do up at least three consecutive pages (I sent over six). I want to make sure his storytelling is as sound as his form and figures. I asked for pencils at least, and if he wants to do the inks, to send over the pencils and the inks for me to see. That was a few days ago, and I’m not worried about it yet. The pages were nice storytelling pages, but not penultimate to the issue I wrote. And if he does them AND it gets picked up, then that’s just another feather in my cap and another project to get in the hopper.

And just this morning, I got another e-mail in my box from an artist, asking for a true critique of his abilities and if I like him, to hire him for a job. Uneven, but he’s got something going. I may have something for him, which would either go up on the site (replacing Bullet Time), or something to submit to Markosia. I’ll send him over some test pages and see what he does with it.

As for real life…I’m coming to the end of having weekends off. It was really nice! Sundays, all I’ve done is sit in front of the television and watch football. I go to bed relatively late Saturday night, wake up late on Sunday, get showered and dressed, and then sit in front of the television and yell at it for about 10 hours. I generally watch the Fox doubleheader, and then the late game on CBS or ABC, whichever channel that is. Then it’s generally off to bed with Lenora after that. But all that ends on Jan 3. My work schedule changes, so I’ll be working on weekends, and having Mon/Tue/Wed off. No playoffs, no Superbowl. I’ll be asleep or at work. Generally asleep.

Lenora’s work schedule has changed back to nights, which is also nice. We get to spend more time together, since I work nights as well. That’s always a good thing.

Today is my cousin David’s birthday! I’ll be calling him. His is damned close to mine, though. I’ll be 36 in just over a month.  Oh, well. It’s a number. I may think more about it later.

That’s really about it for me. Go read Frankenstein. You’ll thank me later.

-Steven

It’s been a little while since I updated here.

Comics first, as always.

Well, I still haven’t heard back from my editor about the book I want to do. Hopefully, that’ll be soon. Soon is always good, but I’m learning that the process is slow, so I’m just taking it a day at a time.

I also want to hear back about a second book I want to do. He gave the script I wrote to his partners, and I’ll hopefully hear back about that pretty soon, as well. That one, I’m actually expecting to hear back about this week. That’ll be good.

I stepped down from doing Bolts & Nuts as well as The Proving Grounds. Some personal issues, outside of comics, forced me to stop doing those two. I’ll be furthering my brand in other ways, but I’m both loving the newfound freedom from the columns, as well as missing them terribly at the same time.

How am I furthering my brand? Well, there’s the webcomic I’ve been tapped to write. I’ve finally gotten a handle on the story for it, hashed out a plot with the creator, and have been thinking up my visuals and how I want to tell the story ever since. That story’s stayed in the back of my mind, and it will be good to get it down on paper.

And then there’s Lionman.

I just got a contract from Grand Master O’Neal, and I didn’t sign it. I sent it back with a lot of notes, as well as a sample contract for him to work from. I couldn’t sign the contract in good conscience. I could have raped him for all he was worth, and there wouldn’t have been anything he could have done to avoid it, because it wasn’t spelled out in the contract. I could have ended up owning a large chunk of Lionman. So, I’m helping him to protect himself. Yes, he’s very appreciative of it.

For all of you reading this: a poorly written contract is NOT your friend. Spell out everyone’s duties and what they are owed and when they are owed it, so there are no misunderstandings or confusion later. The more important the project is to you, the tighter the contract should be. Remember that.

Anyway, that’s comic stuff. Real life stuff?

Let’s just say it was a doozie, and we’ll leave it at that. I don’t mean to be cryptic, but it’s a family affair. Things are getting back on track, and that’s always a good thing.

I’m on vacation from my job this week, which is good. Halloween has passed, as has my wedding anniversary. Good stuff. Good times. Not the way I wanted it to be, but we can’t have everything that we want.

Still waiting for real life and comics to intersect. It’s coming.

That’s really about it for now. Not in the mood to write a lot today. Just thought a quick update would be nice.

Here I am, wondering about comic books.

I just sent out a submission package for Bullet Time. Well, call it a submission inquiry. Hopefully, it goes well enough that I can finally get an artist onboard and thus, finish the series.  Three issues to go on it. I’d like to have a deal in place first, before starting to look for an artist on a back-end deal. In order to finish it, that’s as good as it’s going to get for now.

And to tell the truth, I’m not looking forward to it. When I was looking for an artist for Lionman, I got in some truly wretched artists who were charging something like $10/page. NOPE! Not going to work. I think that if you pay an artist, you get what you pay for. However, I also believe that some of these artists bumped their damned heads with what they wanted to charge.

So, I think some artists overcharge for their ability.

I think most writers undercharge for their work. Oh, don’t get me wrong. There are a LOT of writers who are just starting out who don’t know how to write a decent script at all. Don’t know how to write it, and are too damned lazy to take the time to really learn the medium. But for the ones who are putting in the work, honing their natural talent? I think they’re underselling themselves because it’s a buyer’s market, and few companies need to buy what the writers are selling.

There are hundreds of writers that are trying to tell thousands of stories, but only a few dozen jobs are available. And when I say jobs, I mean companies that are actively looking for new voices. Basically, Marvel/DC. There are those writers out there who turn their noses up at Marvel/DC, but I personally think they don’t have a real clue as to what they’re talking about. Let’s see: non-selling arthouse work that keeps your artistic integrity but no one will hear about it, versus writing Iron Man and getting your name known, so you can then sell your arthouse comics?

Marvel/DC truly IS the Promised Land, because there are damned few that actually make a living in the indies.

I made a declaration a few months ago about going around the barriers and doing it my own way. Self-publishing on the web and owning my own stuff. Something of a hardline stance, but I still think that it’s valid. Doors are closed left and right to writers, and few are willing to put in the hard work to get their work known.

I write my Bolts & Nuts column every week. It’s about to be 15 months, nonstop, and still LOTS more to go and talk about. And I’m talking quality stuff. How many writers can say that they’ve been writing something weekly for a year? Most can’t even seem to write weekly for a month! And then when it comes to creation…

Writers whine about how they’re not given chances to tell their multi-title universe spanning crossover that will forever change their mostest favoritest character ever. They’ve gotten outlines and subplots and stuff for years worth of continuity, but they’ve never sat down to write an actual script from start to finish.

Laughable.

The barriers of entry are there to keep out most of the dreck. Notice I said most, because it’s definitely not all. Some few sneak in and tell their clunkers, and then go back down to the bottom of the barrel. It happens. But, they have that writing credit!

I’d love for writers to stop whining and start writing. There are some over at The Proving Grounds, because they know how I am and they still submit things in to me to go over. Nice, right?

I was just talking with my wife about reputations. She said she thinks my reputation precedes me as being something of a hardass. I think that’s generally fair. I AM something of a hardass, but I don’t know if I have a reputation that precedes me about it.

I think it’s funny that I have a “reputation” at all. Who am I? I’m no one important. I can’t give or take away jobs. I can’t recommend people for paying work. All I can do is tell what I see, and try to help those willing to listen. If that gives me a reputation, so be it.

I’m looking forward to a change in my fortunes, though. And that will hopefully be in the new year. If things go the way I want, I’m going to be busy as hell next year. I’ll have Lionman in full swing, I’ll have a book moved from the back to the front burner, I’ll be finishing up Bullet Time, I’ll have another couple of books with my name on them out, and I’ll be moving forward with the Bolts & Nuts book. Busy. It’s going to be beautiful, if it happens the way I want.

I have to set myself up as an LLC. I bought a book on it, and am going through it, and once I get some questions answered, it’ll be spectacular. I’ll have to redo my cards,though. Not extremely happy about that. I have roughly a thousand cards that will be virtually useless once I do it. Ah, well. But the LLC needs to be done. I hope to have the book finished by the end of the week, have my questions answered by the end of the month, and then move forward with it by the middle of November, and be done with it by the end of December. I think that’s a realistic timeframe. Then, people will hire the LLC, and things will be created through the LLC, and everything’s protected.

I think it’s win-win.

Yes, I’m formulating the questions I need to ask that the book doesn’t answer. It’ll be fine.

Fighting a bug. Finally on the winning end of the battle, which is good. I have to go in to work tonight.

Hungry now. Have some more writing to do, but that will be after I eat. Will write while I watch The Great Vampire Killers. You should, too.

I LOVE this time of the year!

-Steven