New Years Eve 2016

Happy New Year, world!

Movies and Books that Inspired my Writing

Hello all Black Thursday/Friday survivors!

I'm back on the blogging horse to answer one of the most simple writing questions...What inspired my comics?

Considering how I wrote my "first" piece of fiction off the top of my head, I've no idea. In the years of writing my comics I came to realize some aspects came from books, movies and comics. Here are the following.



1) The Howling (1981)

2) Blood & Chocolate

3) Darkman (1990)

4) The Mercy Thompson Series by Patricia Briggs




















5) The Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris

And there you have it. My top inspirations for fiction friends.

Source for Creating Characters: Yourself.

Your first, best source for characters is your own personality.

Writing For Comics & Graphic Novels with Peter David, page 46

When creating characters for your stories the greatest challenge is making them "real". Personality traits. Flaws. Character tics. Take your pick. But did you know you can add something really cool to your characters...Yourself.

Well, not all of yourself into them. Just bits and pieces. Your past to your experiences as a high school teacher. We writers invest aspects of ourselves to create identifiable characters in a manner of ways. For instance, Diana Rowland has poured in all her years in law enforcement for her Kara Gillian series, giving it the realism not all crime solving/urban fantasy books have. Comics icon Stan Lee would tell you about the "origin" of Spider-Man from his teenage years when he was, to a degree, a lonely kid desperate for acceptance.

When writing my own stories, I've plucked a few things from my own personality to add to my characters, and some were without even knowing it. I named a character Andre McDyess ("Andre" short for my name; McDyess after former NBA player Antonio McDyess). Plus, I gave him five percent of my sense of humor. My superheroine in a comic book series was crafted from my experiences in a US History course at a community college, and I equipped her with some of my own quirks, like coffee and Pop Tarts for breakfast when on the go. Sorry, no super powered mayhem involved. One of my most flawed aspects I'm not proud of is being a smart ass. That's what I share with another one of my characters because let's face it, we all have that one friend or relative who'll shoot his/her mouth off.

The more honest you are about yourself, the more you can give readers something to identify with in terms of characterization.

Importance of Preparation.

There's nothing important than being prepared for what's ahead. Job interview. A first date. You name it, preparation is key. I thought about all this when I decided to pitch my graphic novel later this year.

(You heard right. I'm pitching my very first graphic novel in two months.)

Back on preparation, you have to be ready for the moment you've been looking forward to for a long time. Plus, you got to have the following requirements: Research. Support system. Patience. Professionalism.

I bring these factors to center stage because they play their own role in preparing for pitching your story to an agent or comic book publisher.

Research-This is very vital in getting published here, cats. You have to do your homework on your target publisher or an agent you've heard about. Ask yourself questions like what genres are they looking for or is the agent good or bad. Take a moment think about it while you dig for information on those working in the field.

Support system-We all need a group of people to help with a project. Beta-readers, writing groups (in person or online), a trusted friend. It makes all the difference on which route you take. I've come across good people in my writing groups who gave out their two cents worth on my projects.

Patience-The key factor is patience. Why? It's a long process. Drafts, revisions, and rewrites. It takes a long time to get it all down. For the past few years I learned that being patient is all part of the process. On the draft aspect of writing, it's taught me that no project is perfect from the beginning. It's the first step to making the book the way I want it to be through revisions and rewrites.

Professionalism-Like any business you're getting into you have to brush up on professional etiquette; you're dealing with professionals. Reading various sources on how to navigate the comics industry, I had to be honest with myself about my own professionalism and see about how I can improve them.  

With these factors you're all set to make your publishing debut. It's important to have these because publishing professionals will know you came ready to work with them and they'll be ready to work with you. I know I'll be ready to be a professional comics writer when I pitch my graphic novel or comic series.

Be Honest, be truthful, and be yourself.

When I was writing a blog during #FebWritingChallenge on Twitter I showed my writing group the second and third drafts, and they said "Looks good. But what are your thoughts on your topic" to "Are you writing for a grade?" I wondered what was I doing wrong with my article because 1) I was getting my thoughts out; and 2) It wasn't college related. Then it all hit me that I was coming at my blog like an academic rather than from my own angle.

Sharing the realization with my peers, one of them said:

Be honest, be truthful, and be yourself.

Thinking about it now, it's the best advice I'd ever gotten. Why? Because what you create in a song, painting, or a book comes from your own honesty. And that's what people want.

The characters in my stories have jobs like a barista, mechanic, or an accountant. However, I don't have any experience with their job descriptions. What I do know is how working a "normal" job can be stressful. You like it. You love it. You hate it. You don't wanna do it but you have to. The emotions of working is all there.

When you're writing with the earnest honesty you're coming in clear to readers, regardless of what kind of world you create from your own sweat and tears. They will identify with the "real" elements of your creation. Ice Cube once said this,

Our art is a reflection of our reality.

Bottom line: Write with honesty and truth. And above all, be yourself.

Interesting Characters, Part 3: Sister Grimm

We now return to the third edition of my Interesting Characters series. And today's interesting character is Nico Minoru AKA Sister Grimm from Marvel's Runaways. She first appeared in Runaways #1, created by Brian K. Vaughn and Adrian Alphona in 2003.

Like all members of the team, she's the daughter of super powered criminals called "the Pride"; in the case of Nico, her parents are dark wizards. Finding out their parent's secret, she ran away with her fellow teens but discovered her parent's aptitude for dark magic. Whenever Nico bleeds, she summons a powerful staff from her chest allowing her to bend magic. Seeing the damage the Pride has done to Los Angeles, the kids set out to use all their special talents to make up for the sins of their parent's crimes.

The first time I read Runaways I was, rather, curious about the idea of this group of young cats and how they play in the Marvel Universe. After Vol. 1 of the complete series, it had me wanting to see more of them. In particular to Nico, she's unlike any character in comics I read in years. A Japanese American heroine wearing Gothic attire, wielding dark magic was not the one thing that made her cool in my book, but how she's very human. Being a very emotional person who seeks comfort in people after times of stress or highly emotional periods. However, regardless of this weakness, she's very open when trying to express her feelings and has been able to connect with her team mates on an emotional level.

And that's what makes Sister Grimm an entirely interesting character to me.     

What's his name again?

What's in a name? that we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet

Sound familiar?

William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

Today I share a daunting experience in writing that, like most of my peers, have endured during the process. Character names. When I started writing my graphic novel, I didn't have a clue as to how to pitch my project to a comics publisher and which writing group can look at my work. Hell, I didn't know where I get my character names from.

I stumbled upon up to several naming websites and found behindthename.com which has information on every name across the planet. What blew my mind was how my protagonist, Rhea Ortiz, has a unique meaning behind her name. According to the website Rhea's a latinized form of Greek. In Greek mythology she was a titan, the wife of Cronus, and the mother of Zeus, Hera, Hades, Demeter and Hestia. Also, in Roman mythology Rhea Silvia was the mother of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

And with that I chose Behind the Name as my source for naming characters.

Where do you go for naming your "children"?