The adage is that freelancers spend 80% of their time seeking work and actually completing assignments the other 20% of the time. Of late, my life seems to be more 95%-5% as several projects of mine have been unexpectedly postponed, leaving me to find replacement assignments.
Since falling into the fulltime freelance life in August 2007, this is the first serious dry spell I’ve encountered so I’m in very new territory.
The problem is, publishing – comics or books – does not work terribly quickly. I went from being booked solid through April to suddenly learning in March things were slowing down to a crawl and then stopping. Not only does this mean the cash flow dries to a trickle, it is also a kick to a person’s self-esteem.
A publisher I began discussing a project with in December has been AWOL ever since. A book editor I pitched something to in March has yet to rely to the notion despite discussing it with him prior to the formal pitch. In April, sent off a Young Adult novel proposal and the editor has yet to respond.
And since I have returned from Spain, I have been working on three different graphic novel ideas for publishers I met over there. They want to see a synopsis, character designs and 3-4 pages of storytelling. So, step one is whipping up a synopsis then working with my Spanish host, Edu Alpuente, on lining up an appropriate artist. Then come the character designs – but artist A suddenly got a paying assignment so work on the storytelling is relegated to the back burner. On the second pitch, the same artist is involved since it was his idea. On the third pitch, the character designs from Artist B are finally tweaked and today I’ll write the sample script pages after spending yesterday taking the synopsis and breaking it down to 46 pages.
As you know, we continue to try and raise money to get ReDeus off the ground in July. I have other pitches with other people and the law of averages says that things should be turning around sooner than later so I remain cautiously optimistic that life will improve.
Until then, I continue to write my reviews at ComicMix and my twice-weekly columns at The Patch so at least I continue to maintain a presence in a few arenas.
In an effort to explain the process, I wrote about the State Convention over at The Patch but wanted to share some personal thoughts here.
As Vice-Chair of the local party, I took on the role of recording secretary at the show, keeping me a little more focused on the action and rooted to our seating section. But that was fine since it gave me a chance to chat with my 27 fellow delegates.
Despite the tedium as we sit hearing every other town record its vote, usually with some slogan talking community pride or jesting (“Greenwich, the town with the longest ride back home…”), there was plenty of energy in the air. It wasn’t as manic as last time, when four years ago Dan Malloy was jumping over chairs to beg for votes.
With our chair, Devon Pfeifer, running around looking after our people and doing work for the Ned Lamont campaign, I took on responsibility for collecting the votes and tallying them, taking the microphone and announcing our results.
As I alluded to at The Patch, there were some votes that changed over the course of a ballot so I found myself returning to the mike to announce the changes. But each time, it meant tracking down my colleagues, many of whom were out stumping for Ken Flatto, chitchatting away for our area, or elsewhere.
It was thrilling to have one of our own running for state office and Ken did well considering his late candidacy. If anything, it raised his profile at the state level which could be beneficial in the future.
And as I mentioned, I was less than pleased to see the “back room” horse trading going and the strong arm tactics and attitudes that seemingly placed our democratic ideals off to the side. Fortunately, I was not alone with my displeasure at that part of the process.
As the day progressed, some of our delegates chose to leave for other commitments so Devon and I were charged with signing in alternates to act as proxy. It meant filling out a form then taking the proxy to the registration desk, having them sign in and show a picture ID. On each ballot form, I had to add in the proxy’s name to match the records.
By the final race, Comptroller, I was tired and worn out, actually falling asleep in the passenger seat as our delegation rode home.
Initially, there were fears from our leaders that this could be a late session, running to 9 or 10 p.m. so they were thrilled that we were done by six. Of course, were I in charge, it’d have been over a lot earlier. First, we drop the singing of the National Anthem and the benediction. Second, uncontested races (Attorney General and Treasurer) should be voted by acclimation skipping nominating and acceptance speeches. Seconds would be limited to one person not multiple people. All speeches would be on a strict timer with the sound manager instructed to turn off the mike at the appropriate time.
Eventually, I’d love to find the right hardware and software so all delegations can vote simultaneously with tallies being recorded instantly on big screens. Challenges would then be checked by looking over the handwritten ballots. This way, the voting would take minutes not an hour.
As it is, the Hartford Expo is a horrible place to hold an event with a lousy sound system and lack of food options so forget about healthy eating.
Still, the party wearily left but was also charged up as we now campaign to rally votes for our favorite candidates for the August primary. Personally, every candidate I favored lost out on the party’s endorsement and we’ll see if the primary changes any of that.
Last week I stated I hated political rah-rah events, noting they are messy, longer-than-necessary affairs.
Well, last night, I participated in a local political event that was rah-rah but far more focused and effective.
Prior to the beginning of our monthly Democratic Town Committee meeting we had the 132nd Caucus to nominate our candidate to run for state legislature. We scheduled it for 15 minutes and it took 20 but we kept things moving along. Once we did the obligatory nonsense of picking a chair and a secretary, I rose to give the nominating speech. Recognizing this was to energize the electorate around the candidate, I wrote a one-page speech that seemed to achieve its goal. Tom Drew, our three-term incumbent, smiled and seemed pleased with my words.
Two others gave brief secondary speeches and then Tom spoke and kept things moving.
After that, we had a 10 minute session to select our candidate for Judge of the Probate Court. For the first time in years, we had someone to challenge the long-serving Republican judge and Pamela Jones was enthusiastically endorsed. I rose again to second the nomination.
We then had out regular meeting where, of course, the buzz was all about the court smacking down Susan Bysiewicz’s bid for nomination to run as Attorney General. Her political career has ground to a halt as a series of public gaffes have come back to haunt someone considered a shoe-in just weeks earlier.
And we buzzed about the political hay being made about Richard Blumenthal’s verbal mistakes. I spent time discussing this during the day and even debating it on Twitter with some surprising folk. The bottom line for me is that his actions have spoken volumes louder than his words and will still win the election. Linda McMahon’s actions surrounding this only provides Blumenthal ammunition as the months drag on.
The final key discussion was about our own Ken Flatto and his bid to be the state’s next comptroller. He announced days after two other Democrats and the town machine had to gear up to help him get the word out in time for the vote at Saturday’s state democratic convention. He needs just under 300 votes to reach the 15% necessary to get on the ballot for the August primary.
I spent this morning calling 30 delegates from Newington, spreading the word, chatting up his credentials and qualifications. I suddenly went from recipient of endless calls from all the other state candidates and their aides to being one of those callers. It all felt very odd.
Despite serving the public since 1997, I’ve never been so active in the process and find it utterly fascinating and utterly frustrating.
DC Comics’ August in store solicitations went live today and I want to call your attention to the following:
BATMAN: THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #20
Written by BOB GREENBERGER
Art and cover by ROBERT POPE & SCOTT MCRAE
Big Barda enlists the help of the World’s Greatest Detective to find the World’s Greatest Escape Artist! But when the Female Furies attack, will Batman be able to stop them and save the heroine from New Genesis? It’s going to take a miracle!
As some of you may recall, I wrote an essay for Grey’s Anatomy 101for BenBella’s SmartPop series. The essays covered events during the ABC series’ first two season and is a nifty little time capsule for diehard fans of the show.
In honor of Grey’s Anatomy’s two-hour season finale this week BenBella is hosting a giveaway for a copy of Grey’s Anatomy 101 this week. Anyone interested in this contest, here’s a link. While there, you may want to check out their newly-launched website/blog.
ComiCONN was a well-attended and smoothly-run first time show and for that I am grateful.
Held at a Holiday Inn in North Haven, it was about a 40 minute ride from home and easily found. There were a few hundred fans in attendance and they happily milled about the ballroom which housed the dealers and the guests. People arrived in costume and I must say, the quality of craftsmanship has gone up over the years so we had some fine looking heroes: Batman, Wonder woman, Supergirl, and the Invisible Woman were standouts.
I spent some time chatting up old pals like Jamal Igle, Tom Chu, Ron Marz, and former neighbor Jerry Ordway. We networked, complained about the sorry state of affairs for freelancers and signed some autographs.
Longtime artist Frank McLaughlin, Mike DeCarlo, Jerry, and I were on a comics creators panel, moderated by Comic Book Artist’s Jon B. Cooke. Joining us and making it a special event was Richard Giordano Jr., representing the late, great Ðìçk G. We chatted about comics, comics history, our careers and slowly, Jon brought us around to celebrating Ðìçk’s life and career. Our hour stretch by another thirty minutes and we were nowhere hear done and the 40 people in attendance seemed pleased.
Also enjoying himself was my nephew Nicholas, a high schooler who is the only member of the extended family who is a fan.
A fine time was had by all and I look forward to next year’s event.
Connecticut has not had a comic book convention all its own in a long, long time I gather. Instead, people either flock north to Boston or south to New York City.
On Saturday that changes when ComicCONN debuts in North Haven.
The con has a robust roster of creators, most of whom are old pals that I truly am looking forward to seeing including Ron Marz, Jamal Igle and Jerry Ordway.
Sadly, Ðìçk Giordano was scheduled to fly north and appear with us, but his passing now means we get to celebrate his illustrious career. The programming is minimal but at 2 p.m., I will be among those swapping stories.
By all means, if you’re in the area, come by and say howdy.
While I firmly believe in the Democratic process, I find I have little patience for rah-rah events. When there’s juts one candidate running for a post, the meeting should be brief, perfunctory and get everyone focused on the campaign itself.
I apparently am in the minority on this point so last night delegates from across the fourth congressional district gathered at Central High School in Bridgeport to anoint Jim Himes as the Democratic candidate for Congress. While a foregone conclusion, what could have taken thirty minutes was stretched to close to ninety.
Everything about the event had a haphazard feel to it, from the poorly decorated gymnasium to the lack of an adequate sound system. Upon arrival, delegates had to sign in then sit in our assigned town places. There was a great deal of hob-nobbing going on as people renewed acquaintances and candidates for various state offices worked the gym in the hopes of solidifying support before moving on to the state convention next week.
Around 7 we were finally called to order. Himes’ two young daughters led us in the Pledge of Allegiance and then a woman sang the National Anthem. We then had a moment or prayer, which I found utterly out of place.
After that, we had to go through the staged selection of chair, vice-chair and secretary for the evening’s event. Since it was all planned in advance, people had speeches prepared and from our corner, Connor Pfeiffer stood to nominate his mother, Devon, our town chair, as secretary. We then took a vote to adopt the State Central’s rules for the evening, a vote I abstained on having never been sent them for review as a delegate.
We then had a lengthy nomination speech followed by an evening lengthier second. Had the sound system actually worked, both might have had more emotional impact. Finally, someone moved that we nominate Himes by acclimation which was done with rousing voices. Himes took the podium and made a strong speech about what he’s done and what needs doing.
When he finished, for some reason State Rep. Bruce Morris took his turn at the microphone and went on for a while. Before we knew it, the meeting broke up without anyone moving to adjourn – so much for the rules.
From Central, we headed across town to the Black Rock section and Matty’s Café, a rundown dump of a bar for the after-party. At least the drinks were cheap and the Met game was on one of the televisions. It grew crowded as people chatted, candidates shook hands, and slowly Himes himself made a circuit.
Obviously he was happy, and when he got to our table, the talk was about supporting small businesses, which would be where job growth would actually occur in our state.
All in all, it energized the already committed and time will tell if that will translate in actually getting out the vote in November. My guess is it will since we have many key offices to fill at the state and federal level.
Since a comment about going to a shooting range on Saturday elicited much feedback, I figured I’d elaborate.
Normally, our visits to Deb’s brother John and his family usually include helping John get something accomplished. I never mind since he’s done far more for us and it gives me a chance to learn how things work and to use tools I never have occasion to otherwise. Last time, for example, I helped him build and install new front steps at his home.
He called last week and wanted to suggest we actually do something different, go to the local shooting club while the women attended a baby shower for our niece Julie. Now, the last time I shot anything was a BB gun back at summer camp some four decades ago. The last time I held a real gun was at the Charlie Santiago murder trial when I was on jury duty in 2003.
I was intrigued since writers should have hands-on experience with different tools, weapons, and the like if we want to better understand them (of course, that’s said within reasonable limits – I certainly wouldn’t expect to murder someone just for the experience).
It was gray and drizzling as we arrived at the range and he carefully explained the rules and regulations. I signed a waiver absolving the club of all responsibility should I somehow wound myself. We began with a .22 rifle at 50 yards, with John showing me how to load the magazine, aim, and fire. A new target was set up and we took turns.
I fired probably three magazines’ worth and was clustering my shots on the bottom right quadrant. John was impressed at the consistency while I was adjusting my stance and grip throughout. I focused on the recoil, the sound of the shot, and the arc of the spent shell casing. My right shoulder certainly took the brunt of the firing and I concluded my small hands would never allow me the same kind of grip John effortlessly demonstrated.
We moved on to pistols at 25 yards, beginning with a .22, which had a lighter feel and kick. I managed the traditional pose but also grew comfortable with other positions as I focused on aim and the squeeze of the trigger. John was being incredibly patient (and no doubt somewhat amused).
Next up was the heavy duty .45 pistol, the kind used by soldiers and pulp magazine crime fighters dating back to the 1930s. The recoil was much more pronounced and I never had a comfortable grip. In time, I began moving the pistol in anticipation of the recoil which spoiled the aim. Amusingly, one of the shells arcing from the gun smacked me in the forehead.
From there, we tried the .357, a revolver with .38 police special bullets, another tried and true weapon. The kick was lessened a tad from the .45 but at neither time did I ever manage a long, steady position, with requisite lack of target success.
Overall, I hit the targets quite a bit, which thrilled me. I also hit the wooden frame, which John helped install just a week earlier. It was a great learning experience and frankly, more fun than I expected. I doubt this will become my new hobby but I won’t say no if invited to try again.
Mark Martinez over at Trek Movie reviews this week’s Captain’s Log, a one-shot focusing on Captain Harriman. Niftily written by Marc Guggenheim and well illustrated by Andrew Currie, it’s worth a look.
At the end of his review, he confirms the next three releases in the series and we can finally start talking about this, something I alluded to back in 2009.
Mark wrote:
IDW hasn’t solicited any new comics in the Captain’s Log series yet, but IDW tells TrekMovie there are three more to look forward to, finishing out the series by the end of the year. IDW has lined up a stellar group of creators for the rest of the captains, including Robert Greenberger’s return to Star Trek comics. Here is the schedule as far as we know
• September: Pike (TOS) by Stuart Moore, with art by J. K. Woodward.
• October/November: Jellico, by Keith R. A. DeCandido, art by Gordon Purcell
• November/December: Garrett by Robert Greenberger, art by George Freeman
All in all, five Star Trek veterans and a fellow who’s worked on Captain Canuck, The X-Files and Elvira. What’s not to like about this scenario?
Even though George has had the script since last fall, I have yet to see any of the artwork and have to admit to being understandably curious. My editor, Scott Dunbier, assures me all is well.
Still, I want to see this, it’s been a while. The story takes many cues about characterization and crew from Ilsa Bick’s Garrett novel, Well of Souls, a part of the Lost Years event, so I tip my digital cap in her direction.
I’m also delighted to see my old pal Gordon Purcell once more drawing Trek, working with another close friend, Keith (Krad the Obscure to many of you).
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