Writing Update: April 2014

Excerpt, TSMG graphic novel

I feel like I haven’t had time over the past three weeks to scratch my bum, but actually I have — in between being flat-out promoting the Kickstarter campaign for the Tobacco-Stained Mountain Goat graphic novel — which was successful, by the way! — plus doing the 132-page graphic novel itself (I’m doing the art along with words) and starting to do promo for next novel Depth Charging Ice Planet Goth (out in July).

On top of that, this week spring vacation ended and we’ve started a new school year, so I’m back teaching.

OK, so I’ve (almost) come to grips with the fact that we hit our goal — almost. Thanks seriously must go out to everyone concerned, either in making pledges or helping to get word out there. You all positively rock.

The book is pretty much finished, albeit in rough style, so I’m now tweaking the lot, and working with Cocoa on her pages this week.

We’re definitely very early in finishing production (which is great, and mostly inspired by the people mentioned above); I spoke with the printer in Melbourne today, and we’re set to roll with publishing in July as per schedule.

The Kickstarter doesn’t actually finish until May 23, so we’ve set up an option there to pre-order the graphic novel for $30 inclusive of postage to anywhere in the world.

Excerpt, Page 87—TSMG

Just to fill you in, I’ve been doing this book the same way I write my novels, short stories, and music — on the fly, with a vague idea of short-term planning that’s flexible and bends at every turn.

Like my music, I’m also able here to better pursue the Dadaist ideas of “found” objects and the collage — along with William Burroughs’, Brion Gysin’s and Cabaret Voltaire’s suggestions of cut-ups — to create some kind of original comic book art: Slap-happy painting and inks along with said wayward cut-ups and collages, an underlying sense of humour and silly surreal moments. I mean, one of my favourite pieces of “art” still remains Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917) and I’ve always loved the sense of mischief as well as iconoclasm and inventiveness that applied in Dada.

I also dig my Dalí, and have been mad about comic book artwork since I first started turning pages.

I grew up at the altar of Jack Kirby, along with Jim Steranko, Will Eisner, Joe Kubert, John Buscema, Steve Ditko and Barry Windsor-Smith. More recently — here read over the past 30 years — Frank Miller, Steve Epting, Matt Kyme, David Lloyd, Sean Phillips, Walter Geovani, Matteo Scalera and David Aja have joined these people. Writers? Eisner, Miller, Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, Rick Remender, Stan Lee and Roy Thomas.

I did get a chance to blather on a bit about the process over at Tony Black’s site Pulp Pusher (from which I nicked some of the comments above, since I’m half-asleep at the keyboard here!), so cheers to Tony for the opportunity.

It’s been an inspiring ride, I have to admit. The generosity, support, belief and coercion from absolute strangers as well as friends and family have chiseled away at my natural predilection for cynicism (shhh). What a wunderbar lot of people there are out there.

Oh yeah, and Depth Charging Ice Planet Goth is now all confirmed for publication via Perfect edge Books on July 25, and is available already for pre-order via Amazon. Now that was fast. More info shortly, as soon as I have that scratch.