Sunday, February 28, 2010

The body fuels the mind

I ran 5.2 miles yesterday. I'm a few miles ahead of my New Year's Resolution demands of me on a monthly basis. Training up for the Second Empire Grand Prix Race Series here in Raleigh, NC.
As much as I talk about writing, reading, researching and focusing on our craft, I wanted to stress today that some attention to your physical fitness is key.
The body fuels the mind. In addition, exercise helps stave off depression. It makes us more alert, less lethargic and adds years to our life. More time to create!
So, if you are so focused on your craft that you aren't taking care of yourself, then seek a bite more balance. We need you to stay around for a long time!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Balance

It's important to marekt your work and yourself and your company, but not at the expense of generating the work. Then, of course, doing the work has to be balanced with shipping product.
By shipping product, I don't necessarily mean "shipping", not in today's world. It might mean posting product or creating CDs or submitting to magazines, e-zines, agents or publishers but the point is we have o do the work, but at some point we have to assume it is good enough and put the work in front of people. Then, of course, we have to let people know about the work and hopefully identify a small, but passionate, audience who will spread the word.

Then do that again.

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Justice League: Crisis

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is out on DVD. Go pick it up! MTV.com has a great review of it. Everyone is talking about Owlman as the star of the show (he is the mirror Earth's version of Batman). Why wouldn't he be? Batman, if he turned evil, would be an awesome force!

It is sitting at home in my office/studio awaiting perusing. Tonight is a trip to Ringling Brothers with the family though, so Justice League will have to wait till tomorrow.

You don't have to wait though! Go watch it tonight!

Let me know what you think!

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Chance Fortune

I was at ConNooga in beautiful Chattanooga, TN this past weekend and met a lot of great people. One that I wanted to chirp about today though is Shane Berryhill.
Shane is a Chattanooga-based author who wrote "Chance Fortune and the Outlaws"
It's a novel about a young teen in a world of superheroes. This boy desparately wants to be a superhero, but has no powers. He manages to fake having the power of "extreme luck" and becomes quite successful through training and preparation and wits.
It's a great book for adolescents or adults who love the metahuman genre. My own tween read it in one day! I am reading it now and it rocks. It is the first in a series of books about Chance Fortune.
I checked out Shane's website and I love the whole way he does things. The website has cool pictures, information, writing tips and all kinds of coolness about Chance, Shane and other properties coming from the mind of Mr. Berryhill.

Our meeting was avery "chance" event (pun intended)!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Check out bobby Nash!

Tomorrow is ConNooga and my boys and I are headed over to Chattanooga for the weekend to check it all out. We are all thrilled to death.
As I perused the guest list, I came across Bobby Nash. I was not familiar with Mr. Nash so I thought I would check out his website and see what he had going on.
In a word...awesome!
I was especially geeked about Lance Star: Sky Ranger. Seems like something right up my alley.
You know what's most impressive? At least some of this looks like Mr. nash has done it himself, but this is where someone has done it right. He has taken his unique vision and brought it to the readers in various formats and in an unapologetic way. We should all be inspired to work as hard to make our vision reality.
Check it out!

Monday, February 15, 2010

Have you looked on Facebook?

I am not one to jump on the flavor-of-the-day social media (My Space, Facebook, Twitter) but I'm not a technophobe either. I have been on Facebook for awhile now and I'm finally on Twitter. I don't know if it will have a profound effect on bringing me prospects or readers or viewers or whatever, but let me tell you what it has done for me.

It has made relationships. I have met more like-minded "creatives" in a short time on FB than I have met in 20 years outside of FB. They are out there and they, like you, are looking for connection. I know every business, artist and entrepreneur is on Facebook these days and many for the wrong reasons.

The reason should be to connect, plug-in to your community, to share, to inspire and to be inspired. it doesn't take much effort and like most good things, too much can be a bad thing.

I highly suggest it though. C'mon and join the discussion! We need your viewpoint!

Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Danger Guild Team is coming together!

I love working with friends and become friends with people I work with. Looks like Del Hewitt Jr. will be the artist for Danger Guild Issue #1 (and hopefully the whole first mini series). Dody Eka will likely be the cover artist. Del Hewitt has identified the inker. Keith Pruett is likely going to be lettering for us.
Need to select a colorist for the cover and I think the team is about assembled! I will be writing, Keith Pruett will be assisting with editing and we should be pretty good to go.
It's great when an all-star team comes together! I am the weak link, obvioulsy, but I'll do my best to carry my weight. I'm surrounded by talent!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

GGE news


Here's the plan! Danger Guild is a go! Del Hewitt Jr will be drawing our first issue with a cover by Dody Eka. We'll be going with a six issue miniseries, launch date announced later in 2010.

Really excited about it though. Huge dream of mine to see a comic in print. Danger Guild is the right place to start since it will kick off GGE's metahuman megaverse with America's first metahuman team! (set in the late 1930's).

I'll keep you posted!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

We need you!

I hope you are reading this and deciding what your next project is going to be.
I don't mean you have to be a creative and planning to write, draw, paint or act in some produce something (though all of those things are near and dear to my heart)

Maybe your next project is to get in shape, run a race, volunteer in your community, go back to school, build a deck on the house, look for a new career.

The point is, that you were put here with so much uniqueness and gifts aplenty. Please don't fall into the trap of work, eat, watch tv, sleep, repeat.

You have too much to contribute, too much to share and too much to give!

We need you too much

Monday, February 8, 2010

Football season is over! Now I can get to work!

Actually, I get to work even during football season. The thing is, any event can be an interruption if you let it. Why didn't I write today? Why didn't I exercise? Why didn't I start back on my degree? Well, I'm waiting on a less hectic time, or a time when I have more money or when the kids are grown or the house is paid for.
The thing is...whatever time you are waiting on, it's never going to get here. If you get in the habit of making (and accepting) excuses from yourself, you will always have one ready.
It doesn't even matter what the excuse is! Any excuse will do because you are going to rationalize it and accept it and in the end...do nothing. As my Mother says, "I didn't do it because I was out of peanut butter".
May as well say you were out of peanut butter. It's as good an excuse as any.
So let's try and force ourselves to give up our excuses or at least not accept so many.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

What if they laugh at me?

Well, what if they do? Who are they anyway? Your friends? If they are your friends, then they won't laugh! They'll be happy that you are trying something. If they do laugh, were they really your friends? Do you really want them to be?
Your success, in large part, depends on the 5 people you spend the most time with. It's not entirely clear how the internet has changed this, but it has affected it.
Still, those people you are worrying about? What have they got to laugh at anyway?

Don't worry so much about those people. Get back to building your dreams.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Superbowl Sunday is upon us

Just a couple of weeks till Con Nooga! GGE will be there in full force. What's happening sooner? Super Bowl! The annual Green Gates Superbowl party is tomorrow! It's always a good time. Hopefully one day it will actually take place AT the Superbowl! That's my dream-big moment for today.

What's yours?

Friday, February 5, 2010

One project a year

So, I am reading Linchpin by Seth Godin and one point he refers to (he is actually referencing another writer) is to focus on one great work per year.
I have historically done that. Sometimes it is tempting to get side tracked into working in various areas and actually getting nothing done. This year, I am focusing on Danger guild right now, a Grimaul Graphic novel next and the second Warchitect novel after that. Maybe I will get to all of that in a year. There are some side projects...call them stretch goals...that I will work on if time permits.
I guess the first challenge though is not to limit one's self to just a single project. The first challenge is to work on a project at all.
There are so many distractions we can indulge in. Some are obvious time wasters, like Reality Television. Some are not as obvious, like checking email and facebook fanatically.
Seth talks about an internet diet where he only allows himself to check his internet stuff (email, FB, blog, etc) 5 times a day.
Of course we all need R&R and we all need some guilty pleasures (like Dog The Bounty Hunter) but at the end of the day, we only have a finite amount of time. We need to spend it wisely! Putting off writing or exercise to catch a Burn Notice marathon might not be the wisest move.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Become a Linchpin

Just got this book over the weekend and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Of course, a lot of Seth's insight and advice is available daily for free, but this book is not just great, it's necessary.
That is pretty high praise for a book! Why would I say necessary? because this book reminds us that no one is "ordinary" (not you and not me). It tells us to overcome fear and anxiety and feel free to be the genius within.
I know you are a genius. You should know it too! Seth knows it and devotes a lot of "Linchpin" to reminding you of it.
This book is for the artist, entrepreneur, cube dweller, marketing professional, manager, sales person, waiter, stay-at-home Mom. Anyone who feels like there could be more art and passion in everything they do.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Happy Day

Happy Day at GGE. I am happy because I feel like there is momentum. "Warchitect "is out with a publisher for consideration. So is "The Forsaken". I have found some great artists to work with me on concept sketches for "The Danger Guild" and I am starting to see how an small-press produced comic book can really happen (GGE is, admittedly, a small press - for now). I am plugging along on my MK Ultra novel and Green and I have already laid out the outline for a sequel to "Warchitect".
Those are things that are happening. Things that are planned include: completing my screenplay for "The Brotherhood" and writing a graphic novel adaptation of "Warchitect" and providing some free rpg supplements for the Warchitect and his other pals from the Grimaul setting.

Momentum is  a great thing. The trick is to keep it going. One needs to get enough momentum to knock over the 1st domino and then have the other dominos set up so that the momentum keeps going. Of course there is still effort required, otherwise all the dominos fall over and all the fun stops.

Have you done anything to cause a little momentum today? Let's make a deal...let's both do something. I'll sign off and go write. What are you going to do?

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Danger Guild sketches

Got some sketches of Danger Guild up on the main website. I will be adding some more today from Del Hewitt Jr.
Here are a couple of samples





I don't know about you, but I am seriously impressed!

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Monday, February 1, 2010

Plans for 2010

Just reviewed GGE's plans for 2010 and they are ambitious, to say the least. Here's some of it:
  • Have Danger Guild produced (picking artists now)
  • Publish Danger Guild - maybe simulatenously at Indy Planet and with a short print run to market to local comic shops
  • Write on my MK Ultra idea
  • Start the second Warchitect novel
  • Convert the first Warchitect novel to a graphic novel
  • Get some concept sketches of the Warchitect characters and Grimaul denizens
  • Continue pitching The Forsaken
  • Continue pitching The Warchitect
  • Write some Grimaul RPG supplements for
So those are some of the plans. We'll see how far we get!


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