August Updates…
I've been keeping at it best I can during this ongoing, partial quarantine that'll likely run into next year. My health has absolutely been suffering, there's been no way to get around that. Willpower is only worth so much when you're dealing with multiple chronic conditions in the midst of a pandemic and apparently, the crumbling or collapse of the empire around us.
But boredom can be its own sort of powerful motivator.
After finishing the Tales From When I Had A Face full-color mockup and discovering publishers not surprisingly very responsive about an original IP illustrated novel in the midst of all that, I've shelved it until I hear back or get a bug up my ass about pitching... hopefully temporarily... while focusing on running that BLACKOUT: AWAKENING RPG.
For those who haven't read about it previously, this will explore the period in the Fallen Cycle between Party At The World's End (set in an alternate 2011-2012) and The Witchdoctor... (set uncounted hundreds of years in the future.) So the BLACKOUT RPG is near-future sci fi beginning in Hong Kong in 2054, and the little vignette comics we've done on the site are set 20-30 years before that.
Right now we're developing as we go, then maybe we'll loop back around and write something up for another format. It's too early to say exactly, but so far it's been really engaging treating an RPG a little more like a writer's room where none of us entirely know the outcome ahead of time. I've been happy to find my expectations confounded at many points, and yet the outcome so far has been tracking a fairly coherent number of plot and character arcs, rather than the usually sort of erratic write ups that tend to result from tracking the outcomes of run of the mill D&D campaigns. (Which isn't to say there's a place for playing Dukane Highelven Lord of Gothryunde. Because clearly there is.)
For now, that's enough. Tomorrow is tomorrow. However, if you're interested in checking out some of the setting and character notes that have come out of it so far, parts of the shared Google Drive should be public or available for request.
The still unnamed quarantine album is gradually moving along. I have a 3 track demo together to start rounding up collaborators. I went into this without expectations, but have found it taking a pretty consistent form: sarcastic feeling jazzy/blues/straight swing verses, and really heavy sludge riff choruses. A lot of sudden changes. And yeah, I'll just say in advance, it's no secret that I'm a Mr Bungle / Faith No More fan.
I'm sure as it grows there'll be elements to confound or extend that as it grows... I'm just happy it's taken any form at all. It's been over 8 years since I've recorded anything, as I've been focusing exclusively on writing, research, and illustration... I thought my music days were behind me. "Just when I thought I was out, they keep pulling me back in!" (It's a Godfather 3 reference. Don't bother though, that scene is really the only reason the movie is worth watching.)
Let's see... what else?
I managed to get to the long planned redesign of my portfolio website, at least the first version of it, but I'm falling behind a bit on the planned redesign of the Fallen Cycle website. So it goes. Hopefully I'll be getting to that in the next couple weeks.
I've also got some new interviews for Modern Mythology with filmmakers and authors brewing... I'll make sure to pass those along when they're completed. A couple little freelance projects. It's been slow... so have I.
Stay safe everyone, if you can.
