Hi there Internet watchers.
Got a few things to get through on this post thanks to delays in getting this blog done, so I hope you’ll stick with me.
My début…
Having been busy working on a number of comic and writing projects recently, including one that should be showing itself in the not too distant future (watch this space…) I came to the realisation that I couldn’t remember the first thing I’d ever had published. Rooting through some old papers during packing up my flat in Glasgow I’d come across a few different pieces of prose I’d done at Sixth Form, but in the dark recesses of my mind I could recall that even further back I’d produced some work that had managed to get in a book somewhere.
This nagging feeling kept with me over the last few months, until just the other day I was browsing through some old stuff I discovered what I knew to exist; my first ever published work! It took the form of two poems published in anthologies by school children via ‘Young Writers’, who to this day continue to publish anthologies for British kids work. I’ve scanned in both my efforts, which handily have my tender ages at the time of composition printed alongside them, and the covers to the books.
I’d be really interested to hear if anyone else out there had similar stuff tucked away in their bookshelves/attics/sheds; I always think it’s interesting to see how people develop, especially in a creative sense. A good friend who was helping me get back into drawing recently told me you should never throw out your first sketches, as they end up being markers to your progress, and I think this is true also of the written word. The only worrying thing is I can’t imagine I’ll ever write anything quite as epoch-shattering as ‘Eco-Warrior’ again…
Please drop me a line and tell me what you think, and hold nothing back; the sting of harsh critique is just a spur to future improvement, even if the offending piece is a good 15 years old!
Speaking of criticism, I’ve got two new reviews up over at Geek Chocolate. One is for the first 3-issue story arc of Brian Wood’s new ongoing series with Dark Horse Comics ‘The Massive’ and the other of the second issue of Monkeybrain Comics’ ‘Edison Rex’ written by Chris Roberson. I found both to be very interesting reads and I hope you’ll pop over and have a look at what I’ve had to say about them. Also recently up on the site is a great interview with ‘Dr Who’ head writer Steven Moffat by GC’s Michael Flett, which I’d urge any fan of the show to check out.
Voting for zombies
‘Dead Roots’, a forthcoming zombie comic project I’m involved with, is currently running an interesting competition.
Having collected together a selection of pitches from prospective contributors, rather than have these selected by the team working behind the scenes Editor-In-Chief Mike Garley is using the ‘Dead Roots’ facebook page to allow the public to have a say in which submissions should be featured in the forthcoming releases. Called ‘Survival of the Fittest’ it is an interesting and innovative approach to finding the best contributors and I’d recommend having a peek and putting your opinions forward using the ‘Like’ button. While all the entries are great, some are really very interesting takes on what can be a tough genre to innovate in. Voting is open until 30 September, so head on over and have a peek.
A decade older, a decade stronger
And last, but by absolutely no means least; on Wednesday 12 September my place of employment, the majestic OK Comics of Leeds, celebrates its 10th birthday. I’ve only been an employee there for a short time now, but ever since I first became aware of OK when I was a student in Leeds many years ago it has had a reputation as a friendly and customer -focused shop, and I consider myself very lucky to now be part of the team.
On 12 September between 6pm and 8pm there will be a birthday party at the store, with festivities moving to the very local White Swan pub after that. Check out OK’s facebook for more details on all the action that’ll be going down, and I assure you it will be a total blast. In the very short time I’ve been there I’ve already met many awesome people, and I hope to meet more on the night, including anyone of you out there!
So that is that for now, but I’ll see you soon, or at least sooner than the last time I said that!
Laters laddies and gentlegirls.
