The Demonweasel Speaks

This past week I’ve done a lot of thinking about what I want to work on next, as well as trying to zero in on what stories are churning at the very top of my imagination right now. The answer to both question always seems to come back as two words: comic books. I thought maybe I’d focus more on fiction now that the book is out, as it’s something I can work on and complete on my own (or with the help of proof-readers and editors). I’ve still got some stuff lined up, but I’ve wanted to get a comic project off the ground and running for years and years, but have just had too many false starts to get any traction going. However, I have a great opportunity in the form of a place to host a webcomic that has far more traffic than this little ‘ol site will ever have and I’d hate to let that go to waste. That and the comic project ideas are bursting at the seems in my head enough that I’ve got to get them down on paper lest they burn themselves out. I’ve been doing that, and it’s fulfilling yet frustrating, as I know that since I can’t draw they’re just going to hang out on the page unable to reach their full potential. Not only that it’s also easier for me to work on a comic project when I know how I’m drawing for, what style they’re working in and how the characters I’m writing are going to look and feel.

So yeah, once again I’m putting it out there that I’m looking for comic artist for a handful of projects I’ve got brewing. Two of them would fir perfectly as webcomics, as they seem to work best as 16-page chapters, and a couple more that are potential miniseries that I’d most likely want to start shopping around to publishers working with creator owned stuff, like Image. There’s a chance I might be able pay a small page rate in addition to sharing whatever publication money comes down the line but that’d have to be discussed.

In terms of what’s being drawn, I’ve got a project involving a cross-country road race (a supernatural Cannonball Run of sorts, with Werewolf bikers, gun-toting luchadores, and a godzilla-boy among others), a science-fiction/fantasy action mash-up with monsters and other strange humanoids (lizard people, devil moths, laser guns and flying buildings) and one that can be described simply as Dinosaurs, Robots and Cowboys. There are a couple of other things, but those are the three that my fevered imagination seems to think are the most pressing (and the rest of me thinks are damn fun). So if you’re looking to draw some comics, have some sequential page samples and the ability to get work done on some sort of regular basis (even if it’s just a page a week or two) then let’s chat. If you know folks that might fit the bill, let me know at thacher.e.cleveland at gmail.com (yes, I’m, avoiding evil spam robots). Being able to produce good work on a regular basis is key, which kind of goes without saying but is really key as I don’t want to miss out on this opportunity by not being able to actually deliver the goods, y’know?

Thanks!

It’s been a little over two weeks since Shadow of the Past was released on Smashwords and then a little under a week later it went up on Amazon. It’s been wild to see it actually out there where people can buy it. I’ve gotten a lot of support from friends and family thus far and I love the idea that other folks can discover it as well.

Of course, that means putting in a bit of legwork. As much, if not more so, as writing the thing took (granted, when I think about how long it took to write maybe not so much “more so”). To that end I’ve been making my way around the internet, finding places where I can talk about Shadow of the Past, find folks that are willing to review it and do other things that will get folks thinking and talking about it. There’s been a little bit of that, as I had a guest post on Lynnette Phillips’ “Avid Reader Book Reviews”, where I said this about Shadow of the Past:

The book went through draft after draft and change after change and as I gained more perspective on life I realized what I was really writing about. Sure, it’s got the spirit of a killer covered in smoke and fire wielding a sword cane and picking off Mark’s nearest and dearest, but that wasn’t what it was really about. It’s about feeling helpless and hopeless and overcoming that feeling. At the start of the book Mark is convinced that he’s going to be trapped where he is forever and that’s exactly where the Shadow Man hunting Mark wants him. This is about how Mark learns to confront that feeling and fight through it.

You can read the rest of it on her site. I’ve got another website interview lined up and am currently scoruing the web for more networking opportunities. If you have a favorite book-blog site or an idea of where would be a good place to try then let me know. If you’re on Goodreads, you can find Shadow of the Past there.

As important as this is, I’m also trying to keep focused on what my next project is going to be. If there’s anything that could be considered my biggest weakness it’s that I want to work on too many things at once. Being able to multi-task is a necessary skill, but when overused you end up with a lot of little things almost done but nothing concrete to show for it. I’ve done this a lot with my fiction, as I have a hard drive and notebooks filled with half-finished ideas and projects I’d like to work on. I’m doing my best to cut down on that as I move forward. As much as I want “Gifted,” one of my many comic projects, to get off the ground I don’t know if the time is right for it. There are some other comic ideas I’d like to get cracking on, but a lot of this involves finding the right artists to work with and giving all of us enough lead time to make sure the project comes out on a regular and timely basis. I do have some short stories, featuring paranormal private investigators Lexie Winston and George Churchill that I’m going to be putting up here with an eye to collection into a volume for sale. The first of which will hopefully be up by mid-May, and then once a month after that.

In the meantime, I hope those of you out there that haven’t picked up Shadow of the Past consider doing so, and those that have and have enjoyed it consider leaving a review on Amazon, Smashwords and/or Goodreads, as the more positive reviews it gets the higher it shows up in search results for folks that are looking for something cool to read.

I may have stumbled a little in getting this up by my self-imposed deadline as the run-up to C2E2 was rough and after the show itself I got a lingering sinus illness…thing, but we’ve powered past all of that and Shadow of the Past is now available for purchase for you, the book-loving public, via the eBook distribution site Smashwords. Through Smashwords you can make one purchase of the book (which is a bargain at $2.99!) and have it in as many eBook reader formats as you’d like: Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Sony’s reader or even plain text, HTML on the Smashwords site itself or a PDF that you can read on your computer screen. One purchase, all kinds of choices.

Click here to go to Shadow of the Past’s Smashwords page

There will be a proper Amazon page for the book coming soon (within the next 24 hours, if Amazon’s system isn’t lying to me) where you can buy directly from them, but I encourage you to give Smashwords a try in the meantime. Plus you can sample the first 20% of the book for free.

It’s been a wild journey with this book, so to be here is more than a little unreal. Thanks to all of those who’ve supported me thus far and continue to work to help me succeed. I’m humbled by the support of my friends and I hope that through their efforts people find the book and enjoy it. And if you do, please feel free to leave a review for it on the Smashwords (and eventually Amazon) pages.

Thank you, friends and readers, and I hope you enjoy.

Thanks to the effort of artist extraordinaire Zane Reichert, “Shadow of the Past” now has a cover.

…other times it bites you in the ass.

I spent a bunch of time yesterday trying to figure out how to embed sample chapters of “Shadow of the Past” onto this site, but apparently the problem needed to rattle around in my subconscious for a while before I could figure it out. Up there, where it says “Writing,” you can click on that for a bit of jacket copy about the book and read the first two chapters.

Enjoy!

Things are continuing apace here at the mothership. I had an interesting discussion on my Facebook and Twitter about selling my short fiction through this site. The general consensus was that $1 was a considerd a fair price for short fiction, which for me usually means between 4,000 to 7,000 words. I’d kind of given up on the idea of short stories a while ago as there’s a very small fiction magazine market and an even smaller genre one. This idea got that swirling back around in my head again, so I think at some point soon I’m going to start releasing a new story every month at a $1 a pop.

There are lots of interesting ways to do this, most notably the “Not 99 Cents Method” explained by web comics creator Brett Jackson. The one downfall is that you can’t have multiple items priced the same, as the entire system is automated. I’d like to be able to keep the whole “backlist” of stories live and not have to change the price on stuff every month (not to mention the fact that folks may not appreciate paying one price when it’s released and then it goes down a little bit each month). Either way, there’s a chance the first of these “Demonweasel Dreadfuls” (y’know, like the “Penny Dreadfuls” they did in the 19th century; I may have dropped out but I went to some classes in college) will be available sometime in March, maybe just before C2E2 (March 18th-20th). Granted, that’s a lot on my plate to get ready before then but its a fun challenge.

Speaking of C2E2, my “Shadow of the Past by C2E2″ personal challenge is also moving along. To share the fruits of this joyous labor you can now a sample of the first two chapters here. Read, enjoy and feel free to let the world know.

This week I also got some interesting news about another possible venture, so that’s kind of rad. All things considered, things are looking pretty good for Team Demonweasel.

For those of you that have been following me and this site for a while you’ll notice that there have been a few changes. After years upon years of personal blogging on here I figured it was time to get a bit more serious, so we’re going for a fresh start as I try once again to kick start all of my various endeavors again. After moving to a new city and starting a new day job, I’m definitely in one of those “let’s have a new beginning” places as well.

To that end, as you can see from the post below, I’m hoping to get my webcomic “Gifted” on here on a semi-regular basis sometime before the end of winter. I’ve been threatening this for a while but I know we’re very close to bringing you a weekly dose of supernatural action, adventure and fun very soon. We’re just waiting to put the finishing touches on a few things and then we’ll most likely be going with a two-pages a week format, with occasional breaks now and again.

Also in the works is getting my novel, “Shadow of the Past” up on the various eBook selling sites. I’m in the process of having a final proof-reading pass done, but once that’s the case I’m going to put it up there for a modest sum and see what happens. I have no illusions of getting rich overnight, but I do think that in the current digital world self-distribution and publication for a small fee is an industry that has nowhere to go but up. I’ll fully admit to getting hyped up on stuff like this thanks to J.A. Konrath but I still think it’s feasible for little guys like me. I know I’ll be counting on you devoted friends, family and fans (do I have those?) to help me out.

I’m hoping both these projects (and a secret 3rd one) get off the ground by C2E2, where I’ll be hitting like the fist of an angry God, along with my boys from Panels on Pages, where not only am I still co-hosting the Super-Fly Comics podcast but I’m currently a staff writer with a weekly column, “Back in the Game,” where I talk about going back to being a regular comic reading civilian after working in comic retail for nearly 10 years. If you have the opportunity, I highly suggest you check out the show this year. As good as last years was, I think this year is going to have all kinds of awesome going on (plus it’ll be the first big show in a while I’ll be at in a Press and not a retail capacity).

So that’s where we’re at. Look for changes around the site over the next month. New stuff and fiddling around with the site itself, plus maybe some more added content. I hate being one of those “this is the year that it’s going to happen” kind of guys, but I will be honest with all of you…I’m feeling it a lot more this year than I have in the past. With a little energon and a lot of luck, maybe we can get this thing off the ground.

I hope you’ll take the ride with me.