What's it worth to you?

June couldn't understand why she failed her driving test

Just found out that The Price, a story I wrote and Dan Cornwell drew, is going to be in Futurequake 21. Yay!

But, kinda, boo! It was supposed to be in Something Wicked, and there's been a last minute substitution. Bah. I've never been in that.

Still, that's churlish. It's always great to see a story in print.

Go. Buy. Futurequake. 21 (In July, when it's out. You'll get funny looks if you try sooner.)

Zarjaz colouring

High five, punk!

I'm entering the Judge Dredd Megazine short story compo. Me and every other aspiring writer, I guess.

The deadline is a day away. I should be polishing my turd story until it shines. Of course, it'd need to be finished for me to do that...

But instead of writing, I'm grinning at the colouring done by Owen Watts to my recent Zarjaz story as drawn by George Coleman. This is part of a Master Plan. Seriously, if I had a long Dali-esque 'tache then I'd be twirling it now.

But I don't so, um, better stop time-wasting and crack on.

I'm in Zarjaz. Yay me!

I'm talking to you, punk!

Did you know that if you have something in the small press then there's a legal requirement to post about it on your blog? s'true, that. Why else does everyone do it, mm?

And as I'm in the current Zarjaz with Rich Pickings, sublimely illustrated by George Coleman, then I better do mention it here - hadn't I? Especially as it's a story featuring the ultimate Lawman, Dredd himself!

I've never been in Zarjaz and never written a Dredd before, so I am proud of this. I'm gonna try to get it coloured, too.

Also, credit where credit is due: the idea of the story (well, the future-sport of competitive nose-picking) came from a boozy get together of some 2000ad fans in 2010. That said, the idea from the get together earlier this year, well, that is unlikely to get written by anyone any time soon.

He watches from the cracks behind your eyes

Clearasil isn't going to cut it this time.

So I blunder on.

Sometime I write stuff and sometimes artists make it into pretty pictures. Then you get something like this.

Jon Taylor can draw. He says his "hand just took over". What he means is that he was possessed and must be watched for signs of inter-dimensional madness.

This is from a 10 page strip coming later this year to a small press mag somewhere in your insignificant world, mortals! I dare not say more for fear of tearing apart the veil over your puny minds.

2-in-1

Warning: Don't let invading aliens stick this in your head

I've just finished a five page script: Spike.

I'm chuffed with it. Not because it's particularly original or especially good. No, the thing that pleases me about it is that I have learned a lesson: you need two ideas to make a decent short story.

What do I mean? Well, I've come to the view that one idea is not enough. I'm re-doing a lot of half written scripts to combine their ideas into one story, and I think this approach has mileage. In fact, I think it recognises that some of the old ideas were not strong enough on their own - which is why they were never finished. Now, though, they can be boiled down to their constituent parts and remade into something new and monstrous. And better, too.

Have a story about  mind control? And another about the internet? Why not combine the two? It's still cliched, but it's got more going on in it.

The result is something that I know is better than its two predecessors. Of course, I still need to convince an artist and editor that's the case.

The Subtle Art

The ketchup factory nights out were legendary.

I'm trying to be more subtle in what I write. Blood and violence is all well and good, but the idea is to have a story too. It takes time and somehow feels less fun. That makes me a terrible person, I know.

Meantime, I've had a couple of scripts accepted by Dogbreath. Riley's Collar is ...um... not subtle. Skin Deep is a bit more thinky. But still has mutants and people getting shot. One step at a time, eh?

Edit: I should add that the above picture is by Dan Cornwell, for Cloudbusting, a three page strip we did and then abandonded. I'm recycling the idea in something else.

Everything I know I learned from Alec Trench

You said it, Alec!

Tharg rejects a script shocker!

It took 18 months (May 2010 to December 2011) for the Green Jobby to say "no." I wonder if that's a record? Regrettably, there was no feedback - just an "unsuitable for 2000ad at this time." Still, he's a busy alien so you can't expect too much.

Now my proposed FutureShock, Schrodinger's Hat, will become a prose story. The title is too cringe-worthy to be allowed to die.

Hopefully the next rejection won't take as long.