Something new

I'VE just had two weeks off work which has given me a chance to catch up on a few things. I've also started writing something brand new which, as things stand, I'm rather pleased with. At this stage I'm not sure whether it will end up as a standalone graphic novel or even a two or three issue mini-series. I'm just having fun writing it and am quite happy to just let the story take its course and see what I end up with.

I've been experimenting a bit with the way I write. I had a pretty good idea where I wanted to go with the story and characters but, instead of planning everything out meticulously, I just decided to start writing and see if anything interesting occurred. So far I've found it a really useful exercise for developing the characters - I've discovered what kind of people they are by just getting on with writing them rather than sitting down and thinking through individual traits, motivations etc.

When I'm a bit further into the first draft (I've only written a dozen or so pages so far) I'll provide a few more details about what I'm up to - all I'll say at this stage is that it's rather more sci-fi than anything I've done previously and that it's very much a "group book".

Of course it means that the other stuff I was writing - particularly Kurse - remains annoyingly unfinished. Kurse is a decent idea that I can definitely do something with but I ended up writing myself down a particularly tricky cul de sac with the book that really needs a lot of work to resolve. I'll return to it at some point next year but for now it rests in limbo...

* THE lovely people at Comic Related have interviewed my Hero Killers and Tim Skinner collaborator Mr Declan Shalvey. You'll find it here: www.comicrelated.com/display.php?item=243

In the interview Dec mentions that there are no plans for a Tim Skinner sequel and, as things stand, he's quite right. However, the words "Tim Skinner sequel" are now loose in my head and I've come up with a few ideas for how to continue the story past the original one-shot. I've even caught myself in odd moments day-dreaming bits of dialogue.

On the subject of Skinner, I was a bit unprepared for the high number of enquiries I got from comic fans following the book's positive mention by Rich Johnston in Lying In The Gutters last week. The first print run of 100 was meant to be little more than a marketing tool to get a bit of a buzz going before the book's appearance in Previews. I hadn't even set up a PayPal page for it on the Moonface Press website so people could buy the book. I suspect I won't be troubling Sir Alan Sugar for a job any time soon...

* TOMORROW I have a day off and will spend a bit of it watching The Dark Knight (I missed it at the cinema so have had to wait for it to come out on DVD). I thought Batman Begins was good but overrated so I'm a bit worried TDK won't bowl me over either. We shall see...

Skinner In The Gutters

RICH JOHNSTON says nice things about Tim Skinner: Total Scumbag in his Lying In The Gutters column, here: www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18985

You'll find the review about halfway down the page under a heading that says "Comics Irish Style" (Rich picked up a copy of Skinner at the recent Dublin City Comic Con).

By the way, if anyone would like a copy of Skinner just send £4 (£3 for the book, £1 for postage) to me at andywinter1@yahoo.com on PayPal.

* THERE'S an interview with Dec about his Frankenstein book over at Comics Bulletin. You'll find it here: www.comicsbulletin.com/features/122720538458371.htm

The interviewer seems to think Dec actually drew Blood Psi and, ahem, "Septic Island" (he did the covers only) but, apart from those research glitches, it's well worth a read.