tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45326109329883382352024-03-13T01:47:26.505-07:00A Writer's Notes on Comic Books & Other Pop FictionChristopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-43164193352338436752011-01-18T00:57:00.000-08:002011-01-18T01:05:20.700-08:00Back again!Well, things got a mite busy.<br /><br />The piece of work I allude to below turned out to be the story "I'm Gonna Stake You, Sucker!" featuring the Marvel X-Men member Alison Blaire, aka The Dazzler. The story was beautifully illustrated by Sana Takeda and appeared in 'X-Men Vs Vampires #1" last October. I had a ball signing these at the Armageddon comic-con in Melbourne.<br /><br />I am busily writing & pitching a tonne of stuff right now, as always, and am especially enjoying the commencement of a new screenplay project with sometime film collaborator, my good brother Jonny.<br /><br />Another comics pitch I completed only yesterday that went off to a fairly high-profile recipient is a real nail-biter; the concept is, I feel, an absolute winner, yet of course the fates are often either fickle or disagree with me, so I know it might not see daylight. This one would be a right shame; it's a real show-stopper with a wonderful character.<br /><br />Onward!Christopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-49409679884513003092010-07-09T06:23:00.001-07:002010-07-09T06:28:38.200-07:00Moving through the Gateways of ProcessMy Adventures working with Editor X Continue<br /><br />She is proving to be an absolute pleasure to work for. Pitches have been read and discussed with her team. They love two of them! So, both get a green light - but there are notes for both - it's up to me to decide which one I want to amend and re-submit! We discuss this at some small detail. Over to me! Next discussion due soon.<br /><br />Nice to be treated this way!<br /><br />CSChristopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-13462683233119940052010-07-07T05:59:00.000-07:002010-07-07T06:08:47.359-07:00How did the Editorial Phone Hook-Up Go?I was expecting one of two outcomes:-<br /><br />a) Like your pitch - let's do it.<br />b) Don't like your pitch - please go away.<br /><br />What I got was something else:-<br /><br />c) 'We can't use your pitch because of (X) reason, but I like it and your writing, it's different and it stands out. However:-'<br /><br />c) (i) 'There may be (y) event coming up for the company - which would then allow me to use it! If that happens we'll talk again on this.'<br /><br />and<br /><br />c) (ii) 'I want you to try out for something else, a lesser gig, in scope, but will allow us to work together and see what follows. Can you give me soem pitches for (z)? By tomorrow?'<br /><br />I am sure, dear reader, you know I said yes, and I've already sent the three pitches off. Don't know what happens after that but it certainly was one of those pleasant moments when you know people GET what you are trying to do. People are often harsh about editors, but it's important to remember how decent they can be, if you just remember they are trying to do a job; buy great stories.<br /><br />More if more happens.<br /><br />CSChristopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-48513518618301773142010-07-04T19:37:00.000-07:002010-07-04T19:48:53.793-07:00Aaaaaaaaaaand, we're back.I have a phone hook-up booked with an editor from what they call in the comics industry 'one of the Big Two' in a couple days.<br /><br />It's to discuss a specific pitch of mine, and any consequent issues, I guess.<br /><br />Funnily, I have an eerie sense of calm about the whole thing, because I know the actual chance of the meeting turning into a paid gig is only partly in my control; and the part that's in my control is the part I have already put everything I've got into. I have prepared myself and I have gone and got a couple of extra things that are really not required for an effort like this but which would give me added help in conveying the intensity of pitch and the applications of it, and to some extent answer some of the marketing questions around it.<br /><br />If the whole thing goes down in flames or the meet has to be postponed (yes, that happens, readers; editors have crises to deal with and emergencies bump spec pitches any day) I'll mayhap feel a little deflated but one thing I've decided; if I can't do the best pitch in the world, the one that shows I want to move planets to make a good story find a home, then maybe it ain't that good after all. If I don't believe in it as deserving of literary life, who should?<br /><br />CSChristopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-37137116327479492122009-05-31T13:34:00.000-07:002009-05-31T13:41:37.329-07:00Sometimes Things fall ThroughHere's an example of failure, with a little mitigating twist.<br /><br />I wrote an article for this book that got bumped at the last minute for reasons of space. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3xHD4uqj_BI8kdYrC4UdEu62AaIhyphenhyphenJqkCJl7vRT4DRA_syV8phpuzIQg4Ac71IU9dH2dV_Emz1Tv3yVaX8-ISbRI6kx-uOy-olb11QF3A2EEYf5eQti8QK7evm4DUKZ2_KLfuJmbeRU/s1600-h/australia+%26+sherlock+holmes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 265px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk3xHD4uqj_BI8kdYrC4UdEu62AaIhyphenhyphenJqkCJl7vRT4DRA_syV8phpuzIQg4Ac71IU9dH2dV_Emz1Tv3yVaX8-ISbRI6kx-uOy-olb11QF3A2EEYf5eQti8QK7evm4DUKZ2_KLfuJmbeRU/s400/australia+%26+sherlock+holmes.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342090176242642354" /></a><br /><br />My nice consolation prize was to find I got a mention on page 200!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuo1-t2fE9CC0WIL8ckCXH2GZ6H-0wPKCLe7Gm0-lp8M_AZQA59jHRsNHLY0opXRBD3ylX0XevJp6cZZXUmyPRZf8zKMMnycRRbQJfJXAhhUN14YCn6x0NV6anf6CBy03TfOJ7aig_Q4/s1600-h/cs+%26+de+phantom+films+reference+in+australia+%26+sherlock+holmes.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 242px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBuo1-t2fE9CC0WIL8ckCXH2GZ6H-0wPKCLe7Gm0-lp8M_AZQA59jHRsNHLY0opXRBD3ylX0XevJp6cZZXUmyPRZf8zKMMnycRRbQJfJXAhhUN14YCn6x0NV6anf6CBy03TfOJ7aig_Q4/s400/cs+%26+de+phantom+films+reference+in+australia+%26+sherlock+holmes.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5342090284322283186" /></a>Christopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-14885298691360845602009-05-30T15:54:00.000-07:002009-05-30T15:58:22.971-07:00And this one will be hitting newsagents across my sunburnt country this week.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXGFye52zn16-hCl2dCyaVzo8uF3CUHYoAwHZPlerzhiy1LFYOZRr5aL0IIabihlT05sVZEjSOM-vAQWvglSkSzo4dTHfyTdXU_9w-nsTkapUB0wK-YIGHMwbRZBMxF0anO43UAmNvzk/s1600-h/dd1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXXGFye52zn16-hCl2dCyaVzo8uF3CUHYoAwHZPlerzhiy1LFYOZRr5aL0IIabihlT05sVZEjSOM-vAQWvglSkSzo4dTHfyTdXU_9w-nsTkapUB0wK-YIGHMwbRZBMxF0anO43UAmNvzk/s400/dd1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341755036235390594" /></a>Christopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-13524042442197248402009-05-30T04:20:00.000-07:002009-05-30T04:42:26.128-07:00OK, lots coming up.<br /><br />But what's gone on the last few months?<br /><br />Well, these little publications came out with work by me:-<br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVNx57aTUDwCyu8xiNJHEcWQonYCAiM3EqWs-ifN1Pcl8t2LuOIoZDxwzGLmVYIe1dDLjQeotPfbHdKAWq8p6jLPSH-1AUckroqJd3PVQl581LEveEsMb7-LMYtNzCGZLdNrGWQsgdbQ/s1600-h/dd+preview.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjVNx57aTUDwCyu8xiNJHEcWQonYCAiM3EqWs-ifN1Pcl8t2LuOIoZDxwzGLmVYIe1dDLjQeotPfbHdKAWq8p6jLPSH-1AUckroqJd3PVQl581LEveEsMb7-LMYtNzCGZLdNrGWQsgdbQ/s400/dd+preview.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341580788184748674" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStZ72E5bhyOXowMusumO6cgz4oXlIyQbZqR-6crfgSu61wq4cMCM7avNxpM2hmd-3WavHX5jWFcvn7tKwPDyu8haBhZwb0EoxywJI3-3ZlYgdWVsuSucPXHfZrkWUprqXTGM2zelnbCA/s1600-h/cthulu4.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 269px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjStZ72E5bhyOXowMusumO6cgz4oXlIyQbZqR-6crfgSu61wq4cMCM7avNxpM2hmd-3WavHX5jWFcvn7tKwPDyu8haBhZwb0EoxywJI3-3ZlYgdWVsuSucPXHfZrkWUprqXTGM2zelnbCA/s400/cthulu4.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341578154032981874" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLT7iOPtzv4-5Ir8sME3BHKVpPFYh9ZOZ9uzGnQvvQaUuGJjPlbr1q8CYQurlGrTxLSLcF1DXE-vExZ3pXdJM0897d_fsB0djfnx2_nqtBALuw9JKaVyJtyvLQkHLqqk859QEa9t0XTBo/s1600-h/atles+variant.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 263px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLT7iOPtzv4-5Ir8sME3BHKVpPFYh9ZOZ9uzGnQvvQaUuGJjPlbr1q8CYQurlGrTxLSLcF1DXE-vExZ3pXdJM0897d_fsB0djfnx2_nqtBALuw9JKaVyJtyvLQkHLqqk859QEa9t0XTBo/s400/atles+variant.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341578039326411858" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUtMPVxfnHzNlOeq7q6Of17DI7Ko0kQmjUfzfd7eHJmMlLvLPynSF8xELEVBArKQ9XLGO36mBcdI7ZsIjCaaw2CLA5K4yps_fqqu3H_s34crIklrptNx9qJDn-l7zGXjQDRn8jIXJ4MA/s1600-h/698259-astonishing_tales__1_001_super.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOUtMPVxfnHzNlOeq7q6Of17DI7Ko0kQmjUfzfd7eHJmMlLvLPynSF8xELEVBArKQ9XLGO36mBcdI7ZsIjCaaw2CLA5K4yps_fqqu3H_s34crIklrptNx9qJDn-l7zGXjQDRn8jIXJ4MA/s400/698259-astonishing_tales__1_001_super.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341577941921363010" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71G-Kz08r5-tQ2ed9jSSASZiNU5U4mrA7KRYXmxx20BZy4Hdj2wDWDpEqYMgIRRvzVVnhiqfpIMJM_NKQVOG2FRdP-V2rmq-ilISN8FSbuhyphenhyphenfSQTQvIrxKAz8ifZqHCOfJ5d90dU95xA/s1600-h/10wo6td.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 257px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh71G-Kz08r5-tQ2ed9jSSASZiNU5U4mrA7KRYXmxx20BZy4Hdj2wDWDpEqYMgIRRvzVVnhiqfpIMJM_NKQVOG2FRdP-V2rmq-ilISN8FSbuhyphenhyphenfSQTQvIrxKAz8ifZqHCOfJ5d90dU95xA/s400/10wo6td.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5341577581964121170" /></a>Christopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-84765064787712970872009-05-22T13:25:00.000-07:002009-05-22T13:27:25.087-07:00OK, An Update Coming soon!So much has been going on, and I've been a very absent blogger!<br /><br />This week I'll try and bring things up to speed and we'll see how we go from then on with more regular reports.<br /><br />CSChristopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-27756931284076889562008-09-20T21:53:00.000-07:002008-09-20T23:22:19.071-07:00Care and Maintenance of Supporting Characters<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3y4Mj0uG8NBPl1bmcM6npTDp8Nn1lBSHnJyIGlNloRjprl_-yFHi2HmBV1renPNLt0MthJECjNiULVijg86A0uARifBXYIpVs1gGzW9IvKlreXXnHt0rTA6raU5BkrvZZzW0nWqNM4NQ/s1600-h/ironman.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3y4Mj0uG8NBPl1bmcM6npTDp8Nn1lBSHnJyIGlNloRjprl_-yFHi2HmBV1renPNLt0MthJECjNiULVijg86A0uARifBXYIpVs1gGzW9IvKlreXXnHt0rTA6raU5BkrvZZzW0nWqNM4NQ/s400/ironman.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248355748751113490" /></a><br />In a story I recently handed in to Marvel Entertainment featuring one of their primary characters, Iron Man (image appearing here completely copyright, etc to Marvel, of course, no rights of any kind implied), I was struck by how much thought and development I felt compelled to put into the antagonist, because so much of that detail would never actually appear on the page. ‘Pithy’ bits of dialogue that in my early ruminations I assumed would have to make the page (to make readers understand the character sufficiently to care) got scratched out by me as I went along, and then, to my surprise, a few lines got trimmed further by the editor. On reflection I immediately saw my editor was on the money, too.<br /><br />It’s a case of the old iceberg rule, I guess; there’s a quarter (or whatever) fraction sticking above the water that can have almighty impact, but that quarter only exists because the majority supports it from hiding below. You will constantly see this topic discussed in ‘how-to’ books and web-pages on writing, and sometimes it seems impossibly exaggerated; I mean, do you really have to write a biography of a character to use them in a story? It seems unnecessary when you consider that in the good, old, real world (yeah, I know, THAT place!) you might work with people for years in an office or a factory or a brothel and you don’t know anything about the formative incidents that shaped them, but you probably do know exactly how they’ll behave in that environment, so why bio every single character?<br /><br />The answer is: Excellence and the power of choice in fiction. In fiction we artificially string a series of incidents together leaving only the ones that matter in to tell a tale of cause and effect that delivers a theme and an emotional experience that largely works around a character evolving from one emotional condition to another. The writer has the power and responsibility (nice buzzwords, those, gotta use them in a comic some day) of economically choosing just enough incidents to convey the protagonist’s challenging journey; so if you know your antagonists and supporting characters well, you can introduce some fantastic, intriguing, events, events that seem to mirror our own real world effectively, and thus make the whole story more convincing, more emotionally involving and a ‘better story’ even to the reader that knows zip about story theory (and that is who you’re writing for, the person who is entitled to a damn good story, your reader).<br /><br />Example? Well, let’s stick with the office parallel. Fred, in your division, applies for a promotion. He’s a guy you liked, and you don’t care who gets the job. But then you hear the quiet-mannered Joan has also applied. Unh, oh. No one knows much about her, but they do know that her boyfriend, Gomer, used to be Fred’s. Fred and Gomer did not split on good terms, in fact Gomer stalked Fred a while. <br /><br />Suddenly, Joan asks you to lunch and says after her interview for the promotion Gomer walked out on her saying he was going back to Fred and she thinks Gomer told Fred the interview questions which he was then able to use because his interview was the day after Joan’s. Joan thinks you should help her put in a formal complaint because you’re on the anti-corruption advisory committee. Yowsa!<br /><br />Now you got story choices galore, just by setting a few things down in concrete, and allowing your characters to bring the same quicksilver properties of life – that constant state of flux – to your story. It can be daunting, but it’s a liberating discovery, and you will find that certain choices just radiate with moral and ethical challenges for your protagonist – the juiciest stuff you could ask for.Christopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-72370875946218015882008-07-01T04:05:00.000-07:002008-11-09T11:07:42.501-08:00"Noted Sherlock Holmes Author?" "Please Explain."<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnUryZHj-MCvg_tPzcm3L2JcSA3MsXccqHEVyro29p1mu_aAt47tYXkFFrv9YZluVRGs_kswJziDq9B2W8gPK5Q-iZMDAR6z9KzOl5ek0GOqwGjqXCtZKoefeffQ3ufpUypMbLcwjQifg/s1600-h/gaslightcov.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnUryZHj-MCvg_tPzcm3L2JcSA3MsXccqHEVyro29p1mu_aAt47tYXkFFrv9YZluVRGs_kswJziDq9B2W8gPK5Q-iZMDAR6z9KzOl5ek0GOqwGjqXCtZKoefeffQ3ufpUypMbLcwjQifg/s400/gaslightcov.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218025810396558162" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYPzi7TNWeHpsIQB0E0uOoIlvfu0iIn-T4GApUbLQqBM_nJYFwSSWMxHbRid7Hhse7XWScUSOBIl50Nn0ubOqQYpytepnj-1CdspJkFhPXNhKEZOzcSJaH1uXOrbb4aDe39ZlLVEqSLmE/s1600-h/dsdcovr.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYPzi7TNWeHpsIQB0E0uOoIlvfu0iIn-T4GApUbLQqBM_nJYFwSSWMxHbRid7Hhse7XWScUSOBIl50Nn0ubOqQYpytepnj-1CdspJkFhPXNhKEZOzcSJaH1uXOrbb4aDe39ZlLVEqSLmE/s400/dsdcovr.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218025660434530114" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />In the special Preview comic for <em>The Twilight Age </em>that appeared as a free give-away at the Supanova pop culture convention in Sydney in June 2008 there was a nice, 2-page full colour glimpse of the series I'm writing (<em>Dark Detective: Sherlock Holmes</em>), and the editorial page for that same comic gave it a little bit of fanfare; describing me as a 'noted Holmes author'. I figured some folk might wonder if that was hyperbole, and in fairness, I think I do have the runs on the board to cover that one. So, where's my proof?<br /><br />OK, s'like this...<br /><br />I'm what you call a Sherlockian, a Holmesian, a Doylean. I'm a devotee of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work, but most particularly his Canon of sixty Sherlock Holmes stories. I have immersed myself in the detail and studied the background to a greater degree than I've absorbed the Kirby-Lee Fantastic Fours, the Wolfman-Colan Tomb of Draculas, or the Dent Clark Savages. <br /><br />I know the material, and love it. More importantly, I think it is absolutely crucial, from an historical and artistic perspective, to try and determine why Doyle's 'lesser work' (as HE called it) is a a well-spring for series (as distinct from serial) fiction, and not just series fiction in literature, but television, comic strips and comic books and cinema.<br /><br />So, I read the Holmes stories, I read the pastiches, I read the scholarly criticism, I read the psycho-analyses and I read all the silly stuff, too. <br /><br />I'm one of the first dozen members of the Sydney Sherlock Holmes Society. I own my own deerstalkers and Inverness capes. I've appeared as Moriarty on TV, I've appeared as Holmes in the newspaper. <br /><br />I've written many a pseudo-scholarly paper on the great man of Baker Street, one example of which was even praised by the doyen of contemporary Sherlockian annotations, Leslie Klinger (google him) in his annotated series of the Canon as a 'brilliant paper'. <br /><br />And I can’t get enough of it. I would find it as easy to write about the original caped crusader as I would to write about his very contemporary bat-eared literary descendant; the problems of a hundred year old London can be inscribed, for me, with as much meaning as the issues that might beset today’s Gotham City – I can make that journey really easily.<br /><br />And recently, apart from the top-secret job that led to the new series with Black House Comics (upon which I shall expound upon in due course, when I introduce one of my main partners in crime, the incomparable Mr E in a future blog entry) I had the chance to do just that, in these two delightful books, which I urge you to buy as soon as is decent:-<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Sherlock-Holmes-Games-Mystery-Supernatural/dp/1840220716/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214913219&sr=8-2<br /><br />In which I have two stories<br /><br />and<br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Gaslight-Grimoire-Tales-Sherlock-Holmes/dp/1894063171/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1214914122&sr=8-1<br /><br />which doesn’t come out until October and wherein I have one tale, but it’s a little beaut, AND this luvverly li'l tome is full of superb illustrations by my mate, Philip Cornell.<br /><br />So, enjoy. And get ready for the main event: Sherlock Holmes in comics as never before.Christopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-74750039363331554132008-06-27T17:53:00.000-07:002008-06-27T23:07:30.438-07:00Big CharactersBig characters have big problems.<br /><br />If you work on a well-established character that has years of publishing (or perhaps cinematic) history you are faced with important challenges. If you ignore these problems, I can pretty well guarantee that you will either choke or write yet another generic story that will not do you, your editor, or anyone who reads it much good.<br /><br />So, herewith, are what I consider the biggest of these challenges:-<br /><br />* You must respect the character's history (and the fanbase).<br />* You must bring your own voice and talents to the job.<br />* You must do something different with the character to what has been done before, even if it's minor.<br />* You must identify the essential aspects of the character (and beware - they are not necessarily the characteristics the marketing people will tell you are essential) and then absolutely adhere to them.<br /><br />Now, notice how these notions are seemingly at odds? There's a definite tension between them.<br /><br />That tension is where gold may be discovered. When you figure out how to, for example, tell a Batman story that's fresh and original and yet shocking and yet so right (and most of all an enjoyable read); that's called The Dark Knight Returns, and to a lesser-talked-about extent any Alan Grant-scribed Batman comic. When you go through the motions and invest the work with nothing genuine or new, that yields poor results (like, ummn, DK2?).<br /><br />It's not easy. It's about having a process to use in working out 'How far can I go?' and 'How do I tell when I've gone too far?' and 'when have I played it too safe?'.<br /><br />In Sherlock Holmes stories I wrote that appear in the collections 'Sherlock Holmes: The Game's Afoot' and 'Gaslight Grimoires' I wrestled with these questions, within the ambit my editors gave me in each case. I found there were things that I didn't want to do but for the stories to suceed I had to do. So, to get my balance back I asked myself why the ideas I was tempted to use didn't sit right with me, why they intimidated me. This internal dialogue often resolved the question and allowed me to make to final choices. <br /><br />Asking a question of oneself, especially an unspeakable question, is often revelatory in itself.<br /><br />If all that fails, show what you've written to your mates (the ones that know how to write professionally) and they'll tell you when you stink.<br /><br />CSChristopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-34125616358980291052008-06-27T02:17:00.000-07:002008-06-27T21:36:19.999-07:00http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=26767125090<br /><br />Jay Katz is something of a pal, and one of the coolest dudes in Sydney. (He also used to host an Australian TV show under another identity, and may yet again, but that's a subject for another day).<br /><br />Don't say you got nuffin' to do onna Satdee night.Christopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4532610932988338235.post-61072268031002364092008-06-27T01:40:00.000-07:002008-06-27T21:39:01.194-07:00Enter Freely and of Your Own Will......or so some wacky Euro-trash once said, apparently.<br /><br />Hi. The impending launch of a new series from publisher Baden Kirgan's Black House Comics has really got me excited with the potential that only a blank publishing slate can have. <br /><br />There's no corporate-direction Bible three inches thick dictating continuity for the next five years; just enthusiasm and a boss who knows what he wants.<br /><br />So, I'll use this blog to comment on my work for BK and other positive experiences in the writing scene, as well as my writerly thoughts in general.<br /><br />Maybe it will even be entertaining.<br /><br />CSChristopher Sequeirahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06825006878357944264noreply@blogger.com