Without Fear

Iced coffee fuelled dreams and ending books while starting new ones.
Wild times to be alive.
‘Let her go!” – the action flick trope you didn’t even know you’d seen/heard a million times across all the flicks – man, once you start looking, you see really crummy things everywhere – I wanna write a female hero telling a villain to “Let him go!” one of these days – http://www.fastcocreate.com/3036966/this-supercut-of-action-dudes-saying-let-her-go-to-villains-is-a-reminder-of-how-action-movi
Be seeing you. – a collection of all the fond farewells in THE PRISONER – this is my jam –

A fascinating look into the mythos of the Joker over at SequArt – I dig the Joker, but he’s a character I don’t want to see stripped down and used in the works of others – there really is only one – http://sequart.org/magazine/52185/theorizing-about-the-joker-in-all-seriousness/

Kelly Thompson is a good friend, and a great writer – she’s someone I admire because she gets her ass in the seat – read this short interview with her about NaNoWriMo, Kickstarter, and just doing the doing of writing – http://www.popsugar.com/love/Tips-National-Novel-Writing-Month-36152230

A list of the 13 best flicks about newspapers – I will always love newspaper movies – I was super excited to write DEER EDITOR because it’s a newspaper story 🙂 – this link starts you at my favourite on, THE PAPER is quite simply the best – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/10017366/10-great-films-about-newspapers.html?frame=2546510

Storytelling/script advice from Joss Whedon – these 5 points are good stuff, hearty and true – http://moviepilot.com/posts/2014/11/21/the-avengers-director-tells-you-the-5-things-your-script-has-to-have-2444768?lt_source=external,manual

Download yourself some Oscan nommed screenplays – FOR FREE – I love this time of year – having a sneaky script on the iPad is always a good idea, somethingt o get lost in, it’s easy to read, you already watched the flick – so you’re just picking process apart, looking at the pacing and how it works with words – I wish all Eisner nommed comics did this 🙂 – http://gointothestory.blcklst.com/2014/11/update-award-season-screenplay-downloads-new-locke.html

Shared universes – for me, they’re problematic in the same way when someone creates a story and instantly wants to turn it into shirts and mugs and merch and swag – you gotta just tell a more than decent story first, let the rest come later – and you can see something like IRON MAN was set up to be just bloody good, the rest flowed out naturally after the initial success – just something to consider – http://toybox.io9.com/the-one-big-problem-of-the-shared-universe-boom-1662756721

An Ant-Man novel – it doesn’t even make sense that I’m this excited for such a prospect – it just feels so right – http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57165

These Lando Calrissian novel covers are boss – ’nuff said – http://space1970.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/the-adventures-of-lando-calrissian.html

THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK as a modern trailer is worthy because it got me to watch the old trailer again – I love old trailers – my youth was completely misspent with old trailers – I want to do an old VHS trailer for one of my comics one day – http://www.dailydot.com/geek/empire-strikes-back-modern-trailer/

I recently asked myself whether I’d like to write for tv or film, or which one I’d want my comic work adapted into, and strangely enough I found myself answering both questions with tv – this is because tv is episodic, much like comics, and can be parcelled into great little standalone morsels that also add up to a greater whole, like comics – I love both but tv is doing something right now much closer to my heart and my creative brain – this dicsussion coming out of a festival in Austin is good grist for the mill – http://www.spectator.co.uk/arts/arts-feature/9382612/how-hollywood-is-killing-the-art-of-screenwriting/

Mack Chater just pointed me towards this fantastic youtube mix of themes from John Carpenter flicks – enjoy while writing –

I can remember a few spinner racks from my youth, I always loved them – but my most common childhood comic memories were of riding my bike from suburb to suburb scouring for new comics at the newsagents – these were my saturday mornings with my brother, we’d pack food, get on the bikes, and just spend like 4 hours riding the neighbourhood looking in different newsagencies because each one had different stock at different times, it was crazy – I miss those days – http://panels.net/my-not-so-secret-history-with-the-comics-spinner-rack/

NaNoWriMo is always something I’ll dig – though I’ll most likely never do it – but what Wendig writes here is so true, do not rush these words out the door – November is the month for writing – take Dec through Jun to proof and edit and get feedback on those words before you slip them into someone’s back pocket and hope they care – http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/12/01/nanowrimo-doesnt-matter/

Joe Dante is often a spirit guide on my stories – The ‘burbs remains a staunch favourite – this is a quality chat about his work on The Twilight Zone (film and tv) as well as Amazing Stories – http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/12/03/joe-dante-reflects-on-his-trips-to-the-twilight-zone/

Is HOME ALONE a prequel to the SAW flicks? – I’m voting: absolutely – some might say internet conspiracy, I just call this good investigative journalism – http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/did-kevin-from-home-alone-grow-up-to-be-jigsaw-a-deadly-serious-investigation/

Writing a second draft, trying to get my second wind, giving these links a second chance.

——-

I love CRIME FACTORY – their zine is pulp perfection – they’re good dudes – and I’m proud to have articles and short stories with them – check out this great interview of Cam and Liam discussing how they roll – then go visit the site and get yourself into some of their business – http://www.spookmagazine.com/projects-crime-factory-publications/

Starting stories is really important to me – that right moment, that right very first scene/image, the right words – it’s such an important thing and this discussion here on it by Chuck Wendig should give you enough food for thought – http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2014/11/05/the-breadcrumbs-at-the-beginning-of-the-story/

A discussion of HELLRAISER as a noir – it’s this sort of analysis, quick, sharp, and out that is exactly what I dig right now, it’s all I’ve got time to read, it’s all I want to write – HELLRAISER is one of those flicks I dig, it certainly felt formative to me as I discovered Barker, devoured his works, and found the flick passable if not perfect – has a perfect Barker flick been made? Perhaps not – though this is kind of perfect in that sense of it being an artifact of what it is, a video nasty, something to be on VHS, something to be a little grimy, unperfect – a remake would most likely be terrible, as were the sequels – http://maxrennblog.wordpress.com/2014/11/08/hellraiser-and-the-noir-fantastique/

An interview with a guy with a micropenis – this article is usable in that it’ll le you peer into the mind of someone who is so clearly broken by what they see as their major flaw – look at what he says, how he says it – then use that for motivation/dialogue/reference next time to make some character – how are they defined by something? Hoew does it make them think/feel/react to the world? – interesting stuff – http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2014/11/what-its-like-to-have-a-micropenis.html

Ferrier makes a mix tape – always read Ferrier – http://www.eatgeekplay.com/make-me-a-mixtape-ryan-ferrier/

Aronofsky talks about TV being the better medium for stories in today’s world – he says other things, too – http://www.indiewire.com/article/what-we-lose-when-film-dies-how-storytelling-is-changing-and-more-from-darren-aronofsky-20141026

All the Foo Fighters’ songs ranked bottom to top – yes, EVERLONG deserves that spot – yes, The Colour and the Shape is their best work, but I’ll always love how the second half of In Your Honor makes me feel – http://www.spin.com/articles/foo-fighters-every-song-ranked-sonic-highways/

Interesting piece about comics journalism – definitely food for thought, on a few levels – http://www.newsarama.com/22691-jim-mclauchlin-s-panel-discussions-here-s-everything-wrong-with-comics-journalism.html

Paul Allor talks STRANGE NATION – as well as some of his process – http://multiversitycomics.com/interviews/alien-invasions-and-personal-sacrifice-paul-allor-discusses-strange-nation-8-interview/

Read widely, think deeply, click hard.

Bruce Springsteen lists some of his reading habits – he’s a hardboiled guy – and a classic dude – yes, I shall dig him forever – http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/books/review/bruce-springsteen-by-the-book.html

Fascinating and insightful discussion about the Marvel Phase 3 flicks logo set – every time I read about logos I realise how much I still have no idea around them – but I am learning, and taking notes, and am still terribly behind – http://kleinletters.com/Blog/marvel-movie-logos-a-new-trend/

Man digs up girls’ bodies and turns them into dolls for his apartment – he put music boxes in their rib cages, lipstick on their mouths – he wanted to keep them around until science could bring them back – not only is the world a sicker place than we know, it is a sicker place than we can know – http://metro.co.uk/2014/10/28/grave-robber-dug-up-29-girls-and-turned-them-into-human-dolls-4924735/?ito=facebook

Twitter activist is murdered and the Mexican drug cartel uses her phone to send out messages about her murder, and to scare off her followers – intense and sad stuff – http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/10/21/she-tweeted-against-the-mexican-cartels-they-tweeted-her-murder.html

Classic Aussie bogan beer dresses down, sneaks in, and wins craft brewery award – edgy judges distance themselves from their decision without ever addressing the fact they loved the taste of something they no doubt mock to others – makes you wonder what makes something ‘good’ or ‘cool’ is it objective or complete social construct – http://www.betootaadvocate.com/uncategorized/vb-goes-undercover-to-win-surry-hills-craft-beer-festival/

Pat Grant is a complete dude – and TOORMINA VIDEO is beyond amazing – and so is the new thing, AMBIENT YEAST – you can read them all free online, follow the links – Pat’s work is just like nothing else – enjoy – http://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/art-and-design/article/comics-con-men-and-cultures-yeast

I don’t generally get down with motivational lists or anything but this one is right on point – people are their own worst enemy – and this all goes for creatives, absolutely – http://thoughtcatalog.com/tim-hoch/2014/06/10-ways-youre-making-your-life-harder-than-it-has-to-be/

Stephen King is a dude I could listen to all day long – and he gets some jumping random questions here – and also manages to drop a little process chatter – http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/features/stephen-king-the-rolling-stone-interview-20141031?page=6