Happy Blog Day Everyone!
After the craziness of last week, I couldn't possibly top it this week could I? Not like I've made a decision that affects things...Maybe I'll talk about that next week!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
I'll put my hand up and admit to making a small mistake here. I was meant to include a panel showing the Snake Zombie exploding. I was too focused on thinking of what was going to happen that I forgot to include it!
I'm still learning!
Phantom Dawn: Memories of a Rose
As we're getting closer to the end, I'm starting to think about what comes after for the characters (well, sort of, I know what will happen to Rose but its everything that happens in the middle that's an unknown!). Technically, Rose has already appeared in one short story, collected as part of this anthology. Will they appear in more? Novellas perhaps? I'm undecided. In a different universe, this Comic would have been ongoing now for over 2 years! If that was the case, it would have taken the choice out of my hands! Alas, other priorities...
(First posted July 5th, 2021)
Under the gruelling sun, Kurz led his companions, and an unwilling Mason, onward.
"Why did you so readily agree to help?" Kurz asked Rose. "You had no reason to be so #Compliant."
"Because I wanted to help," Rose smiled.
(First posted July 6th, 2021)
Wanting to carry on the conversation and #unravel a bit of his tough edge, Rose turned to Mason, and innocently asked:
"Why did you join Finch?"
Mason turned away, unsure of how to answer.
"I had nothing as a kid, then he found me, gave me a home."
(First posted July 7th, 2021)
"You think that sob story justifies anything!" Kurz turned, his words flourished with anger.
"I did what I did, and I'd do it again!" Mason said defiantly. Rose broke up the impromptu #Therapy session with a start:
"There's someone over there!"
(First posted July 8th, 2021)
Rose ran to the body that was lying #crestfallen in the dirt, with shoeprints walking away from it. As she approached, the man coughed out a few words.
"My daughter...please...save her." He weakly held out a photo for Rose to take.
(First posted July 9th, 2021)
Rose looked at the picture, a smiling, red haired girl like herself looking back at her. Her eyes showing a #freedom of spirit.
"She's in trouble?" Rose asked. Neal had bent down to tend to the man:
"I'm afraid he's gone, Rose." He said sadly.
(First posted July 10th, 2021)
"This has Eros written all over it!" Mason said, not shocked in the slightest. "Though it is #inelegant for that twat."
Rose held the photo close to her chest, tightly.
"That bastard!" Kurz roared.
"We're saving this girl!" Rose shouted.
(First posted July 11th, 2021)
"Where is she likely being held?" Rose directed the question to Mason.
"Uhhh..." He mumbled. "There's a mid-tier boss with a fortress around here. Gave me the creeps with his supposedly #refined taste in women. He probably has her, and others."
(First posted July 12th, 2021)
"What? No. Eros is our mission!" Kurz said #Antagonisticly. "We can't let him escape."
"And we can't leave this girl where she is either. She deserves better," Rose said back.
"Eros is heading there anyway," Mason sheepishly mumbled, looking down.
(First posted July 13th, 2021)
"Fine," Kurz said, turning away from Rose. Frustrated with how things were going.
"I just want Eros to pay for what he did to my parents." There was a #Sparkle in his eye, a tear of remembrance.
"Oh, we're so dead..." Mason despaired.
(First posted July 14th, 2021)
As the group advanced Kurz glanced back at Rose. He'd felt guilty about the way he snapped.
"If you want to apologise to her, just do it," Neal said, startling Kurz. "You need to remember that everyone is suffering, not just you."
(First posted July 15th, 2021)
"#Beyond that, you know this isn't what your mother would have wanted, and you're angry at yourself for the conflicted emotions," Neal sighed. "She and Rose were alike in that they'd rather save a life then take one."
Kurz's anger drained away.
(First posted July 16th, 2021)
Kurz looked to the sky, wondering what his mum would say. A mournful Mason caught everyone's attention though.
"There it is..." His voice trembling.
Ahead, was now a #clear view of their destination, looming over them like a malevolent shadow.
That was a lot this week! However next week will be the end...Don't kill me on how it 'ends', please!
Steampunk Submitted!
So good news!
I finally finished editing my very first steampunk story and...I think its okay. So okay in fact, I immediately started work on a completely different theme (see last week blog). What theme? Ghost Duty, but that's not important right now, though in a related topic, I'm now listening to Halloween music.
Where were we?
Oh, editing Steampunk! Yeah it took longer than what I would have liked, and there's no shortage of things I could say I was definitively happy about...but that's normal for a writer isn't it?
I picked out spelling errors, grammar errors, anything that I could spot, but my main focus was on making sense. To this end, an entire plot point was deleted as no amount of editing was getting it to fit smoothly in place.
I find it odd for me to do editing like this as I often make changes before the manuscript is even finished. Readers of this blog will know this from the way I've talked about short story writing before...Hell, I've even talked about ditching elements while talking about this very same Steampunk story!
As an example, this, aforementioned, Steampunk story. When I was working on the very first idea and managed to jot down a meagre word amount (it was something like 300 odd words). The next night, I was back at the laptop and the first thing I did? I edited those words. This happened a further few nights before I wiped the slate clean and tried again...before wiping THAT slate clean. While I honestly can't remember if I talked about my original story idea (it involved Gabriel), that is a better subject for talking about the story if it ever sees the light of day. This is the kind of editing I often do though. I know some people can hammer out a draft without touching up as they go along, and edit the hell out of it, but I've always had trouble that way, as it often snowballs. By that, I mean changing one thing leads to more and more changes, till I've rewritten the entire story practically. Believe me, I've done that as well.
Of course, my approach isn't all sunshine and rainbows as it adds a lot of time to my projects as a 3k word short takes weeks as I edit what I'm doing till it matches what I want in my head, before going on to finish the story. In a funny way, our stories are like Frankensteins monster, comprised of many different revisions of the story. My steampunk tale is no different, though has less parts making it up, giving all early revisions were obliterated.
I seem to have waffled on a bit here, so I'll leave it here for this week!
Till next time,
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
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