Happy Blog Day Everyone!
Let's start this off with the weekly strip:
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
To those wondering, yes, that is the Mothman...or at least, my version of him.
His inclusion here was borne out of the myriad documentaries and books I've read on him this past month. I'd love to say this cryptid might appear in a future Brennan and Riz short story but I've no plans for him at the moment. He is the perfect example of modern folklore though, with the first reports on him kicking off in the late 1960s (if I'm remembering things properly).
Speaking of folklore and short stories...
Folklore Redux pt 2
Let's kick off part 2 with a seasonal tale:
The Black Eyed Children Who Stole Christmas- I mentioned above about modern folklore, and this one is based on another one, the black eyed children. The basic myth is the sighting of children with pitch black eyes, the stories often revolve around the children turning up and knocking on doors, asking to be let in. The person behind the door doesn't let them in, feeling uneasy with what's going on.
There's of course different explanations behind them, ranging from demons to aliens. For this story, I kinda went with the former but not. I wove them into the world building I was doing (Riz certainly got a boost). I promise those story threads will be expanded on...at some point.
The other big factor in this story, and indeed, the one who makes it a Christmas story, is Santa...or more accurately, his legend. Sorry folks, no jolly fat man here, just a group of Seeley Fae keeping the legend alive.
The title is obviously referencing a certain famous Dr Seuss book and movie...
This story featured in Harvey Duckman Presents...Christmas special, which has been rebranded as Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 12. Get your copy here!
The Gators in the Sewer- The first story in the American Trilogy, as I referred to it in my head. This marks the first time the characters visit somewhere not in the UK (aside from their brief jaunt to the Othed in the first Harvey Duckman anthology). Though it wasn't meant to be as before this story was written, I'd written a novella which had Alice essentially kidnapped the duo to tackle a case for her friend. That story ended up being put on hold (despite being completed) so I took the opening of it and used it here. I went back and edited the other story so they were used to beind abducted by their employer!
Anyway, the idea for the tale was actually a reader suggestion (he suggested the three ideas that became the American Trilogy, as we'll see next week). The first suggestion? Brennan and Riz in the sewers of New York City, tangling with the alligators under there. Now, everyone will have heard the stories, of people flushing baby alligators down the toilet when they got to big to be pets, leading to a number of them living in the sewers. It was all well and good but it posed a question of how was I to tie it into a story with Brennan and Riz? Getting them into the sewers wouldn't be a challenge, I've gotten them into weirder scraps, but I needed a better hook to link the Gators into the story. I think I outdid myself with the solution, one that I honestly can't remember how I came about...
To see what I'm talking about, get your copy here!
Useful Links
To get a copy of Brennan and Riz's first full length novel, click here!
To get their first short story collection, click here!
Join me next week as I dicuss the last two entries in the American Trilogy, till then,
Keep on writing!
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