Happy Blog Day Everyone!
Today is a double threat! Not only do I have to talk about my writing for October (exciting I know) but we have a brand new anthology to celebrate!
Oh, and as always, a new Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz to kick things off!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
This one, may have become a new favourite. I wish I could say the no words thing happened by design, that I wished to push the boundaries of the visual medium that comics are, buuuut...I would be lying my bum off. Truth is that this comic kind of came out by complete accident. I had a different strip in mind at first but gave up on it when it became clear that it wasn't working. So about ten minutes before I was supposed to start drawing, I had to brainstorm a new idea and the image of Riz being stuck is pretty funny.
Originally, Riz was supposed to be reflecting on the state of his life, ultimately building up to the reveal of his precarious position. Brennan was also supposed to appear, being amused and unhelpful. However before the pencils were done, before I had worked out the lettering, I looked at what I'd already done and realised that it worked far better without any text. So that's the way it stayed. Quite effective don't you think!
Only 3 to go now till the big 100!
October Review
So, this should be quick as I only worked on two stories in October, both of them for this blog!
Short Diversions: The Woods (part 1 and part 2)
Short Diversions: Little Girls and Dead Things (part 1 and part 2)
Both were a lot longer than anything I've written for this blog so far, and they could have been far longer. It might have been better if I just picked one and focused that in 4 parts over the month, instead of leaving that rushed feeling. Not much else to say about them that I didn't already say in their corresponding blogs!
What I'm currently writing however is Daemon Soul Avalon, and I'm doing pretty okay at the moment, should be finished chapter 7 soon, and then only about 23 to go...probably not the best way to think about it!
May have to share a preview at some point as the next few chapters are going to be interesting! Several familiar faces to readers of this blog have already appeared...in fact most of them!
Let's see how much I get done by months end shall we?
...on saying that though a new story idea has sadly forced its way into my head and is threatening to derail my writing plans, so, there is that.
Some Ominous Orbs!
That's right folks, another brand new Malarkey's Imaginomnibus has dropped, featuring a brand new Brennan and Riz short nestled in its pages. There's better writers and stories in there than that argumentative pair, of course, but nice all the same!
The theme is pretty much in the anthologies title, Ominous Orbs. Once I settled in on doing a Brennan and Riz story (why wouldn't I? The rights had landed back in my lap afterall) the subject was more or less obvious: Will'O the Wisp. These, if you're not familiar, are known as strange orbs of colourful and enticing light. They're known to lurk in woodlands or marshlands wanting to lure the unsuspecting traveller to their doom. Their depictions in folklore all around the world are as varied as their names and most cultures seem to have something like them.
Now, the question came to how to approach the story, what part would the Wisps play, and how many times would Brennan and Riz argue? Turns out quite a lot!
For the story, I decided to cast the wisps as "good guys", so to speak. Treating them very similarly to how I did Brownies in the third Brennan and Riz short story. There the creature was something of value, wanted by the rich. The plot crystallised around this and I started writing, going with a in-action start to proceedings.
It wasn't long though before my feelings changed and I knew I needed more. In a marked change from how I normally handle things, I didn't just delete everything. Instead I only ditched the opening, starting with Brennan and Riz’s first encounter with the Wisp, except this time, I gave the Wisp a voice. Ro was a contradiction. He was both fun and hard to write for, and even now, I question my approach with him. His motivations though, came from the song that I decided to integrate more...that being Jerry Lewis's Great Balls of Fire. Leaning into the song more allowed me to give a reason to why Ro sought out these two and to set up the conflicts resolution.
Speaking of that, the bad guy, Reginald, was a hoot, he may be one note villain (to say nothing about his henchmen!) but he was so fun to write and honestly, sometimes that's all a story like this needs, and it allowed Brennan to get a couple of funny lines in.
I was torn on what to do with them, as I didn't want to kill them (not sure Brennan would have allowed that) but at the same time, any other punishment would have felt hollow. So I let the Wisps deal with them! Not sure which punishment would be worse mind!
All in all, a fun little story and the first published Brennan and Riz story since last year. A return to form for the pair? I'll let you be the judge of that!
That's all for this week, till next time...
Keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Fade to Noir
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Hubble Bubble
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Ominous Orbs
