nealbailey

Talking Heads had it right. Songs about building and food. It is not saying a simple thing in a complex way, it’s a complex thing in a simple way… and this is pretty damned sweet when you’re down:

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…is done.

At least the rough draft. Now, to edit…

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I’ve pounded out the mystery portion of the book, and now I’m hitting the denouement… this all went so fast. Comics are definitely faster than novels, but oy, kind of strange nonetheless.

I’m really enjoying this process.

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Look at it for a minute. You’ll get it.

Or if you don’t, please, spike your Tab with Drano.

This is real, btw, not a manip.

Math fail, ethics fail, and hypocrisy fail all in one.

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I guess that’s as good a line of dialogue to end a day on as any other.

I did a lot today, but it doesn’t feel like it. Ah, action scenes.

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Now there’s a character in the Hal Universe named Asshole Pete, following my example the other day. That’s how we do.

I am currently REALLY enjoying this process. Graphic novels give you room to breathe. I was scared at first, but I am warming to it.

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Heather is Bitch’s real name, but if she ever hears you call her that, she will pull your scrotum off. I call her Heather in my head, but on the page, it’s always Bitch, because that’s what she wants. Is that possible to believe? If it isn’t, you probably don’t write much.

The thing I love about Bitch as a character is that she actually does more physical damage to Hal on a regular basis than the villains who are trying to silence and stop him. She literally hits him with cars and tries to kill him on a regular basis.

I had to visualize her a little more for the comic (something I try not to do in novels, following the lead of others who have wisely suggested leaving such to the reader). Her attire in this escapade, I have determined, is a peasant shirt with no bra, a utilikilt, and Doc Marten boots with no socks.

God love that mutant. Only Hal could otherwise.

The only thing I hate about her character is the way I feel at times I have to tiptoe around her name. But then, that’s the job of writing, to couch concepts in such a way. It’s a lot harder with something I know to be blatantly offensive to most out of context. But then I just say to myself, do you care for people who take things out of context and distort them?

Nah. I mean, how many can there be? Bring it on!

::Suddenly panics, realizing his audience is the comic book crowd.::

All kidding aside though, Bitch as a character is Bitch in the same way a biker guy might call himself Asshole Pete.

“Why ya called Asshole Pete, Asshole Pete?”

“Because I’m about to break this chair on your face, Stephen!”

“Why?”

“Because I can!”

See, that flies with big dudes, but it doesn’t so much when you’re playing with the term Bitch, especially given that she’s a teeny lady. At the same time, if you never push boundaries like that, they never get explored, and I’m comfortable enough that my intent is benign to carry on.

Oh my God. I just realized something hilarious. More on that in the next book. Not to crypto-post it up, but I just realized something awesome. But that’ll be for another day.

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Progress is still strong. I am always discomfited by pages without dialogue, mostly because I love dialogue, and also because it feels lazy, to a degree, to lean on the artist like that to tell the story. I did three pages of it, and in 100 that will seem like nothing, but to write it is somewhat strangely stressful. It needed to be done, though. Can’t have a character talking to himself for the sake of talking to himself, or my character would be like this blog. Hey-oh!

At any rate, work continues apace.