It was a good show, but let us just say it was not as successful as our previous sojourn to Maryland. I did get to catch up with friends and acquaintances like Justin Fox and Kevin Colden as well as having an opportunity to quickly discuss comics with Jason Rodriguez, editor of the Eisner-nominated anthology Postcards: True Stories That Never Happened. But overall, it was not successful on the comics writing/publishing front.
When I returned home, I continued with a bunch of the house projects I'd finally started at the end of the summer (getting our new shutters onto the house [at least the first floor] and painting my older boys' bedrooms after almost a year with bare wallboard). I had also been reading a lot on Prohibition and WWI in anticipation of a novel I want to write - that is a post for another time - and so was spending far more time reading non-fiction, as well as a comic or graphic novel here and there, and working around the house than I was writing - which was at a crawl. Compounding this was the fact that I was still awaiting the site overhaul of the Pulse and did not have a deadline for my regular column hanging over my head to keep me honest. After a while, I found I really liked being able to curl up in bed in the evenings to read a good book or comic. And I wondered why I had been beating myself up by writing into the night as much as I had been with little to show for it.
But I did still have the itch. And with December, I finally returned to my serialization at 50YFN with the latest chapter going live a few weeks back (see previous post). I was also preparing to begin the novel and gearing up in my head for that.
And then I had a brainstorm for an idea that I cannot believe hasn't been done before, and hope that it isn't being done right now. It's a non-fiction analytical prose thing that I began a little over a week ago and am currently 11,000 words into it - beginning chapter 3 last night and hoping to knock out a large chunk of that today. With the focus, has come a renewed energy on my part, and I hate pulling myself away from the computer again. But, I also got some serendipitous news in my email inbox last week as well.
Wednesday night this arrived in response to a message I sent JUNE 28 last year. (Yes, I had completely given up on this avenue for this story):
Joe
Of course, this isn't an acceptance, but it does mean my synopsis got Joe Pruett's attention, and it's another baby step forward. But, even better, was the message I received the next morning in my inbox from APE Entertainment regarding a submission I'd sent a couple of weeks back:
Hey Christopher,
I’ve read your story. I really like the dialogue and tone of the story. I am a little unsure as to why seeing a UFO makes the character do a 180. He wasn’t even sure what he saw or if he saw anything at all. And it didn’t seem like the UFO did anything to him. So I’m not sure I’m sold on the character’s change of heart. I think if you tweak that one part of the story a little bit by having something happen to the character to justify his change of heart, I think you’ll have a nice little story here that we would be interested in.
Again, not an acceptance, but another baby step forward. It was a good two-for-one. I changed what they asked for, turned it around that night, and am now waiting. Here's hoping. Updates will follow either way. But it's time to get back to the book.
take care,
chris
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