My last post here was pre-NaNoWriMo. Today is January 18th. That's a long, quiet stretch. Too quiet, for a blog. So this post will be a quick recap of the last couple of months, and a peek ahead at what I think is going to be a pretty exciting year.
To start with, no I didn't hit my NaNoWriMo goal. Congrats to everyone out there who did, and I'll give it another go when November rolls around again. I did get a lot of writing done, however, and this week I will be posting the first-chapter excerpt of McStretchy, which is the title of the next Red Cloak Island book. The book itself is complete, just waiting for cover art, and will be available in the next couple of weeks.
I write slowly, which is part of the reason I didn't hit the 50K mark for NaNoWriMo. But there's a method to the snail-paced madness, and I've decided to dedicate the next few blog posts to my process for storytelling. Call them New Year's resolutions or writing goals or just good intentions, but I plan to try and stick to a more regular posting schedule here. And I'm already at work on the fourth Red Cloak book, tentatively titled Little Miss Thunderhead.
Apart from the writing, I've also been doing quite a bit of reading. Throughout the year, I'll also be posting more reviews here, as well as those I post on GoodReads and Amazon and other places online. Reviews (especially good reviews) are an author's best friend. Hint, hint.
So ... writing, reading, the holidays, work, family, volunteering (PAWS for my wife and daughters, Toys for Tots for my son and I) and not blogging. I think that covers November and December. Goodbye, 2015, hello 2016, and here's to a new year. Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned -- there's so much more to come, I promise.
Showing posts with label Captain Kissy-Face. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Captain Kissy-Face. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Monday, June 29, 2015
Origin Stories Part One: Captain Kissy-Face
Some of the most interesting (and most often told) superhero tales are so-called “origin stories.” An average young man named Peter Parker is bitten by a radioactive spider, gaining great powers that will help him fulfill his great responsibilities. An average young man named Steve Rogers volunteers for an experimental procedure that turns the tide of his life, and of a world at war.
Books have origin stories, too. An idea forms, merges with another idea, and with a little luck and lot of work, something great can rise from a humble beginning. I’m always fascinated by the “story behind the story”, and especially by how different the end result can be even for stories that start out very similar, when processed through different creative minds. Take the examples above: both authors started with an idea to transform an average young man into a superhero, but the choices they made (such as time period of the setting and method of transformation) make Spider-Man and Captain America two very different but equally compelling characters. You can read the book for the origin story of Captain Kissy-Face the character, but here’s the origin story of Captain Kissy-Face the book:
I started writing this story due to three basic facts: (1) I like to sketch almost as much as I like to write, (2) I’m not terribly good at drawing, and (3) I love my kids. One summer day I was sketching with my daughters (one of whom is a much better artist than me, which I’ll get into in another post) and I drew a superhero, but I could not get the face to look like anything other than a lumpy potato, which is no way for a hero to look. Finally I gave up and went for the laugh, just giving him super-sized lips and a funny name to match. That worked. Is there anything better than hearing children laughing? I think not.
Months later, another sketch, this time shared with my son. I was again avoiding having to draw a human (potato) face. In fact, this time I avoided the entire human and just went with the suggestion of a human. I labeled this one Invisible Max, and my son thought it was pretty cool (and having your kids think you’re cool, even for a moment, is right up there with laughter on my favorites list.)
Those two drawings were one-offs, but they stuck in my head. I have to admit, there is a lot of weird and wonderful stuff stuck in my head, the trick is to find a way to put any of it to good use. In this case, I did. Months passed again, as they do, and I found myself looking at the calendar, thinking about Christmas gifts. In part to save money, and in part just for the heck of it, I decided to write my children a book as one of their gifts. I sat down to ponder what the story would be. It had to include all three of them as characters somehow, which is tough because they are all so different from one another (again, like stories, people can start from the same point and become unique as they grow.) More than that, it had to convey how much I love them and how proud of them I am, but still be fun. And it had to be fair. Parents will understand this. I didn’t have time to write three books by Christmas, to make each of them the star of their own story, so I needed a story in which they could all star together. I decided to make them superheroes in training. I took elements from their personalities to create their characters’ powers. The drawing of Invisible Max, which I had toyed with writing a story about more than once, finally found a place to fit in. I just needed something to tie the story together, so I added a fourth character and put him in the center. What would his power be? Would he be friend or foe? As I thought about those questions, a lot of the comics I read as a child (and, I admit, as an adult) bubbled in my brain. So did that drawing of Invisible Max, and eventually, also that long-ago sketch of Captain Kissy-Face. And from that, a hero (and a story) was born.
Books have origin stories, too. An idea forms, merges with another idea, and with a little luck and lot of work, something great can rise from a humble beginning. I’m always fascinated by the “story behind the story”, and especially by how different the end result can be even for stories that start out very similar, when processed through different creative minds. Take the examples above: both authors started with an idea to transform an average young man into a superhero, but the choices they made (such as time period of the setting and method of transformation) make Spider-Man and Captain America two very different but equally compelling characters. You can read the book for the origin story of Captain Kissy-Face the character, but here’s the origin story of Captain Kissy-Face the book:
Those two drawings were one-offs, but they stuck in my head. I have to admit, there is a lot of weird and wonderful stuff stuck in my head, the trick is to find a way to put any of it to good use. In this case, I did. Months passed again, as they do, and I found myself looking at the calendar, thinking about Christmas gifts. In part to save money, and in part just for the heck of it, I decided to write my children a book as one of their gifts. I sat down to ponder what the story would be. It had to include all three of them as characters somehow, which is tough because they are all so different from one another (again, like stories, people can start from the same point and become unique as they grow.) More than that, it had to convey how much I love them and how proud of them I am, but still be fun. And it had to be fair. Parents will understand this. I didn’t have time to write three books by Christmas, to make each of them the star of their own story, so I needed a story in which they could all star together. I decided to make them superheroes in training. I took elements from their personalities to create their characters’ powers. The drawing of Invisible Max, which I had toyed with writing a story about more than once, finally found a place to fit in. I just needed something to tie the story together, so I added a fourth character and put him in the center. What would his power be? Would he be friend or foe? As I thought about those questions, a lot of the comics I read as a child (and, I admit, as an adult) bubbled in my brain. So did that drawing of Invisible Max, and eventually, also that long-ago sketch of Captain Kissy-Face. And from that, a hero (and a story) was born.
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