The actual book is done. Edited, refined and ready for consumption. So, now onto the parts of the process:
Covers. They’re interesting, as a lot of great covers are appropriate to their medium. A great album cover isn’t necessarily a great book cover or even a comic book. My personal favourites with the latter are where it’s essentially a massive panel, speech bubble, action pose, the works, so it’s about something appropriate and evocative, without overthinking it.
Economics and tools become more important. It’s a matter of scale, and also the noblesse oblige of the tools available to an artist now. There’s a talk by Warren Ellis, where he encourages us to look at current tools through the lens of the past, and there is always something which blows me away. You make your weaknesses your strengths, and in so far as what I can control, the book will look as close to my realisation as possible.
There was a lot of work went into the revisions, and now the overall story itself really moves and sings. A lot of this started out as a private joke but over time, these stories became something else, and challenged me artistically in ways which I hadn’t expected. It’s a better set of stories, between the covers of this one, and I’m excited to be sharing it with you.
In terms of other projects, A Sky of Broken Smiles, is developing into something larger. Horror is a genre I love, and its primacy of feeling is an interesting set of rules to play with. The Lilith is well into the end of the first act, and has established its own tone and energy. Faeline is just waiting for an editor and that’s scheduling, plus all the other ideas which emerge during the time spent on particular projects.
I’ve had friends reading Until She Sings, and their comments have been interesting. I’ve not re-read it for a while, and it was pleasing to see that it holds up well. It’s a quiet pleasure to see the breadth of material I’ve put out thus far, and will continue to do so.
If you can avoid doomscrolling, try it out for your own sake. It’s not apathy, if you can’t do anything about what is being reported, and that is if it true, or course. There are great books, movies and television, and even actual people to talk to, maybe even someone you haven’t for a while? It will all be ok, which is something of a bold statement, but the truth. Your depth of feeling is sometimes accounted for, so save it for someone or something important. Take care of yourselves.
MB Blissett 