Have survived London MCM EXPO

It took some doing, but we got there and back okay

This was the first truly large EXPO Paul and I had been to. Bristol was small fry compared to this, but had been a welcome warm up nonetheless.

I’ve got a few photos kicking about, but can’t access them at the moment and they’re nothing special. I think I spent most of my time at ExCel with this slightly overwhelmed feeling, which carried over as Paul and I made our way through London between the exhibition centre and the cousin’s house we were staying at in Sutton.

The good news is that Paul and I now fully understand how to use the Underground in conjunction with our Oyster cards. The bad news… well there isn’t really any.

I suspect Paul and I spent more than we should have at EXPO, but we’ll survive. I’ve still got two invoice payments due to me, so yeah. No big worries with the finances.

I think in the near future I will include some of the few photos we took plus a photo or two of the swag that we brought back down with us.

Oh, and on Sunday we ended up having lunch at the Thai Buddhist Temple in Wimbledon. Paul and I are still a little confused about how that happened, but we did get free lunch and a chance to look around the temple.

When a picture says a thousand words (via Habitual Films)

On Tuesday I decided to do a little post over at Habitual Films. It was inspired by the sudden habit of captioning images that I picked up. It gets a bit stuck in statistics, but does offer some handy advice on getting the balance right between dialogue and action. And the advice is all based on the one feature film script that I’ve written (and hope never sees the light of day again) and the one graphic novel I’ve written (and I hope that does see the light of day).

Today I downloaded some simple image manipulation software for my phone. What ensued was a burst of frenzied caption creation. (It’s still kind of going on, I’ve just run out of funny photos at the moment.) But it got me thinking about one of the more important aspects of scriptwriting – the balance between action and dialogue. Seriously, Hamlet length soliloquies are generally not accepted in scriptwriting… unless you’re a well established scr … Read More

via Habitual Films

Cthulhu Crotch 3: It Gets Even Weirder (NSFW)

This is a Cthulhu filled post - you have been warned.

There has been talk between Paul, myself and the group of friends responsible for the initial Cthulhu crotch creation… about the possibility that a certain Sir Patrick Stewart, of Star Trek fame, may also have a Cthulhu crotch.

(Cthulhu, according to H.P. Lovecraft, is the “high priest to the old ones”.)

You see, Paul and I kind of got an “eye full” whilst watching a season 3 episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation a few weeks ago. It was like dealing with the Mulder Speedo X-Files scene all over again. Picard was holidaying on Risa and there was one shot of him in a pair of tight white shorts that was particularly special, but the following image has the added extra of a fellow character’s “reaction”:

This frame, seen on a big HD screen... ouch.

With this discovery – that Sir Patrick Stewart shares an issue with frontal shots akin to David Duchovny – it meant that Paul had to create an appropriate demotivational image to go with what we had found. Well “had to” may be over stating it a little.

Again, as with Mr Duchovny, I would like to say that I have the greatest respect for Sir Patrick Stewart as an actor. I’m a great fan of his work. However, this does not stop me from suggesting to Paul that he should create the following very bizarre image:

I’m pretty sure the Beatles didn’t have this in mind when they sang about having “a little help from my friends”. Yeah, I’m pretty sure they didn’t have this in mind…

Thanks guys.

Read more crazy Cthulhu related posts at:

The birth of… THE CTHULHU CROTCH! (NSFW)

The return of… THE CTHULHU CROTCH! (NSFW)

Waiting to hear back from a publisher about Displaced

Working cover for Displaced

Perhaps one  of the most agonizing parts of being a writer is waiting to hear back about your work. Be it an agent, production company – or in this instance a publisher – the wait can be a most painful experience to go through.

I’ve spent a lot of time waiting to hear back about things, from exam results to job offers, to pregnancy results when you know that you’re almost dying from appendicitis - but waiting to hear back about your own piece of writing is its own level of hell. Well, it would be hell if I believed that such a place existed.

The thing is, I’m luckier than a lot of writers in my position as I’ve had a great deal of contact with the particular publisher that’s deciding whether to go “yay” or “nay” to my graphic novel. And if they do say “yay” I know that I’ll have some rewrites and redrafting ahead of me – I’ve already discussed with them that it will most certainly be the case. (Basically, Displaced would need to be split into two parts, making it a six part series ‘un all if given the go ahead.)

I think it’s a good thing that I’ve got my trip to London MCM EXPO coming up this weekend – I need to be distracted right now. Really distracted.

Oh, and if the Displaced Facebook Page gets 50 Likes by Friday, I’ll be choosing one lucky Liker to receive a goody bag full of random stuff from MCM EXPO. So, if you haven’t liked it already… go on, do it and you might be like me when I found that I had won the tickets to the EXPO.

Third meet up of Truro Graphic Novel Group is this Thursday

That’s right the Truro Library Graphic Novel Group is meeting up – once more -in Truro Library, on Thursday 26th May 2pm upstairs in the conference room on the first floor near the IT room. Again, all are welcome, so long as you’ve got a sense of humour.

Because about half of the regulars went up to Bristol International Comic and Small Press Expo, there will be muchos discussion about what happened at the convention. Plus, we’ll be bringing along some of the indie comics we got our hands on so that everyone else can have a look (including the first 5 issues of Fetishman).

We’ll also be discussing the anthology we’re hoping to put together, which will have comic book shorts in it written by group members. Some of us have got some ideas about what we want to write and will be listening to ideas from other attendees at the meeting.

Also, we’re hoping to formulate a strategy to try and up-date the graphic novel stocks in Cornwall’s libraries. So, if you’re fed up with what’s on offer, then at least come to the meeting to discuss that with us.

But most of all, the meeting is going to be a right bit of fun. I hope to see you there.

Here’s the Truro Library FB page.