Voices
Backward Masking
Dead Man’s Curve
Smells of October
Hazelwild
muse
Write This Moment
Visited Upon the Sons
Guard-o-Matic
Sequitur

Way back when this thing was going to be a collection of 31 short stories, I was hoping it would clock in at 45,000 words. The tales grew in the telling, but even with only 10 stories slated for the collection, the book still clocks in at 45,000 words.

I think that’s a good length, so now I just have to wrap up the rest of the production. The stories all need a polish pass and some editing, plus I’ll need to write an introduction and pen some liner notes for those readers who, like me, enjoy the Directors’ Commentary. But the book is really moving toward its anticipated March 15, 2012 release quite well. Exciting!

As my short story collection Headstones & Monuments comes near to completion, the largest and most complicated story is officially done. Tonight, I finished a good, solid second draft of “Visited Upon the Sons”.

It came out a bit longer than I originally planned. I wanted it to be around 10-12,000 words. It turned out to be 16,800 words (that’s about 60 pages). Getting pretty long for a short story.

In fact, in doing a little research, I was shocked to learn that many of the “short stories” for this collection are actually longer than the official short story classification, and instead classify as novelettes and “Visited Upon the Sons” is actually just 700 words short of a novella.

But it is a nice little puzzle of a story. It has a real sense of space and time, and you get the feeling that some real people are going through some really strange things that are hard to believe. Yet, as unbelievable as it seems, you do believe.

I may have indicated earlier that this story is complicated. It’s a semi-biographical story spanning several decades. It’s about the decisions we make and the way we deal with the consequences.

In honor of the lengthy story, here’s a longer sample than usual.

“Okay. I’ll show you.”

It was such a simple phrase – only four short words – but it changed the course of David Harwood’s life.

It was one of those rare autumn days when the weather is Indian Summer-perfect and there was no homework. David and his friends Zach and Casey were just off the bus when they found their conversation turning yet again to the vacant house at the end of the street. It was an old Victorian that had been slate grey with white accents, and now was a uniform ashen tone of neglect and faded beauty. Its lawns were waist-high with wild grasses, and its once-delicate landscaping had long since been overcome by heartier weeds. It looked the part of the haunted house, and as houses like that often do, it was the subject of the kind of rumors that are irresistible to thirteen-year-old boys.

“My friend said an old woman died in there,” said Zach. Zach Meyer was a small, painfully thin creature. Perpetually nervous, he reminded David of a chihuahua all the way down to his eyes, his thick whalebone glasses making him bug-eyed just like those nervous, tiny little yapping dogs. He liked to read comics; old EC Horror collections if anyone was looking, but Spiderman and The X-Men if he was alone. “And her spirit is trapped in that house. She doesn’t know she should move on.”

As they reached the house, David picked up a stick and dragged it across the wobbly wrought-iron fence at the front of the property, sending up a loud rat-a-tat as he did so. He stared intently through the overgrowth at the front door.

“I heard a whole family was murdered in that house,” said Casey. Casey Stigler used to be as tiny as Zach, but had experienced a tremendous growth spurt over the summer. He was now one of the larger kids in the eighth grade, a large, friendly kid with a Monty Python fixation. He was a good friend, even if he didn’t know when to stop the comedy routines. All three boys liked Monty Python, but with Casey, it was always one too many quotes, one too many jokes, one too many funny voices. Still, he was a nice enough kid, jovial, with a massive mop of jet black hair on his head. And from the look of him, Mister and Missus Stigler were going to have trouble filling the kid up.

“That’s B.S.,” said David. “A murder happened here, we woulda heard about it.”

“But we did hear about it! I heard about it, and I’m telling you – that’s what I’m saying!” Casey insisted. “They were murdered in there, and their ghosts are, like, sticking around. Looking for justice or revenge or some kinda crap like that.”

“Where do you guys get this stuff?” David asked, fixing his friends with his gaze. “You guys have been telling me these same stupid ghost stories since we were in the fourth grade, you know that?”

Zach shrugged.

“People talk,” Casey said. “You hear things. That’s all.”

David looked back at the house. He ran a hand through his dirty blonde hair. With his Hollister hoodie and casual good looks, he looked like he’d been plucked out of an ad in the weekend sales circular. A good-looking kid staring thoughtfully at the ocean, or maybe the courtyard of a private school instead of the front door of a slowly collapsing home. That was not the sort of thing the sales fliers liked to show.

“Devil House. Sheesh,” David said to himself, finally.

“What?” Zach said.

“Nothing,” David answered. “Just, Lucinda was talking crazy about this place, too, last week. Must be something in the air.”

“What’d she say?” Casey asked.

“Nevermind. You guys are already scared.”

“Uh-uh!” said Zach.

“Come on,” said Casey.

David looked at his friends for a moment, sizing them up. “All right, I’ll tell you,” he said. “But you gotta promise not to lose it when you hear.”

NOTE: For fun, compare to the previous First Draft sample I posted. Anyway, I hope you enjoy. The collection is slated for release in Mid-March, in digital, traditional paper and audio versions.

A couple of years ago, I did a story called Payload for Tom Dell’Aringa’s second Marooned collection. The story dealt with Lian Fischer’s mission to Mars, and detailed how she became stranded on the red planet. The story met with a decent amount of success, and so I’ll be doing a second part to the story. This second story will deal with her interactions with the mysterious underground glowy-eyed rockosauruses, The Dark Ones.

The second story will be around 8 new pages, and appended to the first 6 pages, to really flesh it out.

In this new paper and digital release, Payload will be joined by new stories by Tom Dell’Aringa, Denver Brubaker and James Anderson. Called Dr. Ugofandian’s Unbelievable Adventures, the book should be a whole lot of fun. Look for it in Spring 2012. More details at Tom’s Marooned site.

Yes, that’s me up there, putting down the details first, inking old-school: pencil, paper, ink and light-table. This is how I’ve been inking for 30 years, and although I have a nice Cintiq at work, I cannot justify the thousands of dollars for one at home. So I imagine I will continue inking this way until something changes. Maybe I’ll win the lottery one day? Or maybe everyone will buy a copy of Moon Town? Hey, a guy can dream.

Second stage – I use my brush pen to fatten up the lines and do some blackspotting.

Aaaand finally the finished piece.

What’s that you ask? How can you get your very own Moon Town inking and a free copy of book #1? I thought you’d never ask! Go to WishTales Publishing – you’ll find a bunch of great pics to choose from, just in time for the holidays. You’ll be glad you did!

]]> http://steveogden.com/blog/2011/12/inkapalooza/feed/ 1 http://steveogden.com/blog/2011/12/moon-town-inking/ http://steveogden.com/blog/2011/12/moon-town-inking/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 16:46:19 +0000 Og http://steveogden.com/blog/?p=2370 Here you see me working on an inking for the latest Moon Town fan, and I am grateful to him for his support. The finished inking and a copy of Moon Town book #1 are wending their way to him even as we speak. If you want a copy of your very own, you can get it at WishTales…

I could use your help. There are a variety of items at the WishTales store which you or your friends might enjoy. There’s Moon Town book #1 (soon to be book #2 as well) as well as Croaker’s Gorge and a few original sketches, some buttons and magnets. In short, I think people should check out WishTales, and that’s where you come in.

I would like you to tell your friends about WishTales, and in return, I offer you a chance to win a brand new, still-in-the-box, never-been-read Game of Thrones box set. Here’s how to enter the drawing:

1. If you haven’t done so already, join the Moon Town Facebook page (click the link, and then click the “LIKE” button at the top of the screen).

2. “SHARE” THIS Facebook post.

On DEC 7, I will pick one name from those who have shared that post as the winner. Simple as that. Are you with me? Good! See you there!

Share this post to get a chance to win Game of Thrones and help out Moon Town. More info here.

I just wanted to let you know about the books and other goodies that are available at WishTales Publishing. There is Moon Town Book #1, of course, and Croaker’s Gorge Book #1. But there are also original inkings, some buttons and magnets as well, all high quality, professional merchandise at reasonable prices.

There’s still time to get these to you in time for you to give them as gifts to yourself or someone you like (NOTE: You could also give these to people you don’t like. We don’t discriminate).

Thank you, and see you there!

I’ve designed User Interface for years. Yesterday’s Dilbert struck a chord with me. For all their popularity, smart phones have some really difficult UI problems.

It’s been very challenging to write it, and it’s scary as hell, but I think it’s really coming out well. Here’s an excerpt from the first act:

“Okay. I’ll show you.”

It was such a simple phrase – only four short words – but it changed the course of David Harwood’s life.

He was only thirteen years old. It was one of those rare autumn days when the weather is Indian Summer-perfect and there was no homework. David and his friends Zach and Casey were just off the bus when they found their conversation turning yet again to the vacant house at the end of the street. It was an old Victorian that had been slate grey with white accents, and now was a uniform ashen tone of neglect and faded beauty. Its lawns were waist-high with wild grasses, and its once-delicate landscaping had long since been overcome by heartier weeds. It looked the part of the haunted house, and as houses like that often do, it was the subject of the kind of rumors that are irresistible to thirteen-year-old boys.

“My friend said an old woman died in there,” said Zach. Zach Meyer was a small, painfully thin creature. Perpetually nervous, he reminded David of a chihuahua all the way down to his eyes, his thick whalebone glasses making him bug-eyed just like those nervous, tiny little yapping dogs. “And her spirit is trapped in that house. She doesn’t know she should move on.”

I’m deep into the second act now, and really think there’s another 3, 4, even 5000 words left in this thing. I’ll keep you posted.

Thanks for reading!