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Horror anthology Something Wicked #4 from FutureQuake Press is available to buy now! And I'm in it!
Once again, a wealth of new and upcoming talent bring you shocks and scares from the darkest regions of their fevered imaginations, all locked away under a cover from Gibson Quarter and Mini-Bolt.
The issue also features not one but two strips written by Yours Truly! Firstly, with Paul Williams on art, there's probably the most original zombie story you'll ever read, Arcadia...
Then, with Vicky Stonebridge, there's an homage to I Am Legend, The Kindness Of Strangers...
Of course Something Wicked 4 arrives on a week when I've been banging on about how much I'm not interested in writing zombie stories...
I should also take this opportunity to thanks to Editor Droid Bolt-01 for getting me to change the ending of The Kindness Of Strangers to make it something less clichéd and a bit more of a shock. So, cheers, Dave, if you're reading this.
Also, to keep to up to date with all things FQ related, check out the FutureQuake Press Blog at: http://futurequakepress.blogspot.com/!
Something Wicked #4, and FutureQuake #11, are available to buy now from the FQ Shop - get them before they get you!
Possibly the best of the 'bootlegged' Dark Knight Trailers doing the rounds on YouTube...
Yesterday, I made a joke post about returning Wonder Woman to her roots, and upping the bondage content of her series. Of course, that's never going to happen, but it did make me think, not just about DC's decision to go all 'grim 'n' gritty', but the way these kinds of things are portrayed in the American mass media.
Now, I admit that I'm an ignorant Englishman (and I probably should keep my opinions to myself), but to me it seems that there's a current trend across the US media to essentially glorify violence while frowning upon anything related to sex. TV from across the pond seem to be upping the gore content more and more, really pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable to show (the CSI shows are becoming a great example of this), but shying away from anything but the most basic titillation when it comes to portraying sex. It's like they're saying that violence is OK, but sex isn't, like they're trying to make sex a taboo subject again.
Personally, I just don't get that. I realise that America is a different culture, and the current administration is one that centres itself around a certain set of 'values', which is all well and good, but why do those values seem to be fine with gore and violence in the media, but not any kind of sex? And I don't just mean sex between people of the same gender, I mean sex full stop. If we're adult enough to be able to handle some screen violence, then surely we're adult enough to handle some screen sex, right?
I guess the real question I'm asking is why is it OK for DC to show someone's dog [very graphically] tearing people to shreds in Teen Titans, but it's not OK for Power Girl to have big breasts?
Or maybe the real question should be why am I fixating on the breasts of a fictional character...
Then how about they start turning Wonder Woman back to her roots?Let's see how long this new grim 'n' gritty direction lasts then...
For a while now, I've been struggling with what I hope will become my first novel (although whether things will work out like that, I don't know - hell, I don't even know if it'll ever get finished let alone published!), but there's something that keeps stopping me whenever I try and do something with it, and it's getting more and more frustrating.Actually, I know what that something is, and, as much as I want it to sound enigmatic and mysterious, it's really not. It's just a simple lack of confidence in my prose writing abilities.
See, every time I try writing something, I look at it and immediately re-write it, then look at it and re-write again and again and again, until I just force myself to walk away from it. I know that this par for the course when it comes to writers, but I don't seem to have that same problem when it comes to writing comic strips (or, it's not as bad, anyway). It's a whole different thing with them, and with each one I do, I find myself coming along in leaps and bounds in terms of storytelling ability and self confidence (although whether anyone else would agree with me is another thing entirely).But I just can't seem to apply any of that to prose work. I think it's because for a long time I was trying to emulate people like JG Ballard, and elevate my work to a much more 'serious' level, with rich, textured prose that oozed with meaning, but over the last couple of years, reading a far, far wider range of books, I realise that I don't have to be 'serious' all the time, I don't have to write The Great British Novel every time I sit to write a short story.
I know that, but it doesn't really help.So, in a bid to re-build my own self-confidence, I've been going back through some old files and my notebooks, trying to finish some of those old unfinished stories that I left, and, if I'm being honest, I've been surprised at some of the stuff there, and how good some of it is. None of it's going to set the world on fire, I admit; there's nothing that'll win me any literary prizes or real acclaim, but it's been nice to look back at this stuff and see where I've come from.So, my plan is to go back through those old pieces and start posting them up on my Word Press blog, then, hopefully, that'll give me enough confidence in myself to really make a go of this manuscript.Or it might not. Time will tell...
Got an e-mail earlier today from Jim Krieg plugging his short film The Kirkie. It's a fun little parody of fanboys, but I can't help but feel it needed more green-skinned women...
Anyway, check it out!
Man, what a weekend.
Non-stop rain on Friday and Saturday turned into the worst flood my home town has had since the 1960's. Fortunately, I live just outside of the town centre, so I escaped untouched, but it was still an unbelievable sight. I've got a few pictures of the river and how much it swelled, but these really can't do it justice.
Thankfully, it's looking like the rain is going to ease off, but it doesn't help the people whose homes and businesses have been devastated by this.
