Have you been frantically scouring the interwebs wondering what I look like without a hobo-esque goatee? Has your life crumbled as you worried how I might look if I started shedding pandemic pounds? Does your boss wear a frowny face when they hear you fretting about the possible fates of McSciFi? Do family members ask if I’ve succumbed to the color bleen? Well, fret not, gentle reader. Just like that time I worked as an exotic dancer, all will be revealed. CLICK HERE to watch Episode 32 of IN YOUR FACE hosted by KingDaniel Taylor. As you may have guessed, I am the guest. My apologies for the homophone. The “homo-” root means “same,” and the “-phone” root means “sound.” Homophones are words that sound the same. Get your mind out of the gutter.
Since we spent the entire episode discussing comic books I’m involved in, today seems like a good day to discuss comic books some more. Like all indies these days I spent the last part of the interview giving shout outs to other indies for reason or reasons unknown. I’m kidding, obviously, I like them and each is an inspiration in their own way. If you don’t have time to listen to the whole thing at least take a moment to check out the amazing worlds of Rik Ty and Christie Shinn. Ahh, who am I kidding? Check out the coolest indie creators in the multiverse at the Independent Creators Connection, home of ICC Magazine.
There are many more (HI ZEE!) I could have mentioned but my brain can only brain so much during a live interview before I start drooling on myself and muttering in Esperanto.
Okay, back to the wonderful world of McSciFi.
The lovely and talented, I’ve decided to start using that dismissive trope for all genders now, Cyril Brown (he of the wildly NSFW website) and I have gotten the band back together and are diving into the deep end of the Hybrid Zero multiverse.
When working with Cyril you can spend an inordinate amount of time deciding which layer of the multiverse you want to focus on, how ‘porny’ you want it to be (there will always be a little), and then, just for fun, maybe come up with a plot so the characters have reasons to interact and speak.
This is not as easy as it might seem.
Nevertheless, despite the complete lack of human sacrifices and ribald orgies, we agreed to start work on The Neutrinos; the Multiverse’s first, all silent, NC-17 rock opera.
The story follows an all female group of rock musicians, and their cybernetic manager, as they traverse space, but not time, trying to make some cash and have some fun. Also, because this is rock and roll, prodigious amounts of beer will be consumed. The fact their live shows will lead to societal upheaval, and the fall of the occasional empire, is just part and parcel of who they are.
Now, this is where my world gets fun. Every single title in the Hybrid Zero multiverse has to, eventually, relate to every other title. That means that the fun time family of soldier/assassins in Juggernaut, has to tie in with the dino-laden soft core world of Jungle Grrl and both of them will have to blend in with the gonzo alternate reality of Cassandra and the Changeling Sword. None of this includes the stuff lurking in Cyril’s TBD drawer.
While all of this is going on I’m updating the scripts and stories for Legends Parallel, tweaking Bob: Sins of the Son to eliminate any references that have dated out, and working assiduously to finally get Pestilent to see the light of day. The latter almost seemed to be cursed. But, now, I see it was like that dream date back in the day. It simply wasn’t ready. Now it is.
Now to deal with the one question that keeps popping up; “Why don’t (I) shop the comics for film adaptations like (I’m) doing with my novels?”
The simple answer is there’s not enough content. While novels create stories with defined beginnings, middles, and ends, comics tend to be fashioning complete universes and need to provide motion picture creators a wealth of material for them to make sense of it on the big screen, or streaming platform, or whatever. No matter the final venue, they need a ton of stuff.
Okay, that should bring you up to date on the stuff I’m allowed to bring you up to date on. Until next week I wish you peace and happiness.
