October is my favorite month and Halloween is my favorite Holiday. I like the cooler weather, changing leaves, sweaters, pumpkins and spooky stuff. So much so that I wrote Haunted, a graphic novel about that kind of stuff. I described it as Goonies in a haunted mansion.
The experience had a lot of ups and downs. I was awarded a Xeric grant to self publish Haunted, which was amazing. The printing experience was not. I had it printed overseas and the print job was awful. I should have held the printer accountable and had it reprinted. But I was inexperienced and had orders that were due so I went forward with it. That was more than 10 years ago. I still think back fondly about creating it and going to conventions and making new friends. But the end result was not great. I soured on the experience and I left comics for a long time.
I’ve loved comics my whole life though and couldn’t stay away. Even while not actively pursuing comics, I never really stopped thinking about different ideas, and characters, and storytelling. Oddly, I became better at drawing after some time away from it.
The time away and even the bad experience helped give me clarity. Kid comics are where my heart is at. So I move forward and don’t allow setbacks to derail me.
Mega Con in Orlando Florida 2010 and the cover.
Some pages from the book.
When doing research online, I came across The Breakers in Newport, Rhode Island. It would be the main inspiration for the mansion in Haunted. Later, I got to visit it in person.
On to this month’s recommendations.
Song I’m Listening To
When I was working on Haunted I created a playlist. So this month, instead of one song, you get a whole playlist of Halloween music that isn’t Thriller or The Monster Mash.
Book I’m Reading
The Accursed Vampire – Madeline McGrane
I came across Madeline at a comic show a couple of years ago where I picked up her mini-comic Vampire Horse. It is just like it sounds, Ridiculous, dumb, and fantastic. You can read the whole thing here.
So I was quite pleased when I heard she was coming out with a middle grade graphic novel. Here’s the description: Dragoslava is a vampire kid. It has its perks, but sometimes being stuck as a kid forever can be a pain in the neck. And that’s not even the worst part. A few centuries ago, Drago was cursed by a witch. If they don’t complete every task she sets, they will be turned into worms.
It’s not really absurd like Vampire Horse but still funny and I did quite enjoy it. I liked that the kids were kind of jerks at times. Which is really what the book is about. Being a better person/vampire.
What I’m Up To
Woodland Hills is out making the rounds with editors and publishers but did not make an initial big splash. So rather than twiddle my thumbs I began working on two different ideas as a follow up. The first one is Lord Barkwell which I showed a teaser of in August.
The other one is Trevor Vs. The Empire. That one has been bopping around my brain for a bit. I’ve been posting random characters from it on Instagram. The idea was for my agent to get some general feedback/gauge interest from some editors at an early stage rather than sending out a full pitch just yet. So I wrote a story outline for Trevor and created a cover which you get the first sneak peek of below!
Wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I turned those follow up ideas into my agent, an editor reached out to her about Woodland Hills. It’s just an inquiry at this point but the editor quite likes it and that’s pretty great to hear.
Meanwhile, initial feedback on my other two ideas is that they are not “slice-of-life” and that’s all anyone is looking for. UUUUGGGGHHH, I like the slice-of-life stuff too but talk about myopic and close minded.
But hooray on the Woodland front! And that’s what’s awesome this month. Thanks for reading.
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Each month I spotlight a hidden gem or new book from a middle grade author along with other related goodness as well as news and updates about what I’m working on.
