Post-Game: Descendants #42: Metal X

This week, I concluded what is likely the story I've sat on for the longest time from inception to publishing. The story of the Metal X Saga spans all the way back to the early days of the Tink and Warrick relationship and is likely the most 'mutated' story that actually saw the light of day.

In this post, I'll talk a bit about the creation of Christina Carlyle and how it related to the development of the Metal X storyline. It all begins under the cut.

Commentary: Descendants Annual #3

I use all the annuals to basically touch base with the characters and remind the readers where all the pieces are on the board. It also lets me set up teasers for later plot points. Annual #3 also had the added duty of doing all this while getting the reader ready for a volume that looked like it had no general direction.

Discussion on the hows and whys under the cut.

Commentary: Descendants #36: Let's Go!

As mentioned in the commentary for Descendants #35, I realized that I had room for two more stories at the end of Year 3 than I originally thought. One of these became the Magical World story, “Demonology”, the other became “Let's Go!”, a comedic issue based on a joke a friend and I shared while talking about The Descendants.

The story of how this quirky tale came to be, under the cut.

Commentary: Descendants #35: Demonology

As I'm in the process of editing back issues at the moment, I've decided to start my blog commentaries with the most recently edited issue; Descendants #35 “Demonology”.

Near the end of Year 3, I came to the horrified conclusion that I had miscalculated the number of issues left and now had 2 more issues to fill before the Annual. These situations where padding is needed is often a godsend when I don't feel constrained by my plants to move the plot and it lets me touch on concepts and characters that aren't immediately integral to the current story and character arcs.

Thus, I used the first of the 'extra' issues to address the magical world and on the often overlooked character of Laurel. More under the cut.

Origin of the Series: The Descendants

This is a continuation of a previous post on my reflections of how I became a writer, stopped being a writer, and then came back to being one. That was a story about me. In some ways, so is this, but more accurately, it's a story about the events and ideas that gave birth to The Descendants.

If you'd like to read more, look under the cut.

A Little Something 'bout History

What we're gonna do right here is go back, way back, back into time.

Why? Besides taking the opportunity to both paraphrase Sam Cooke and steal a much stolen sample from Jimmy Castor (and really, why should I need a reason for that?), this post is meant to give a brief look at my history as a writer/storyteller and the things that influenced it.

Fair warning, it's not for the faint of heart or classically trained. Or really anyone who feels writers should be fed on a steady diet of critically acclaimed entertainment. You have been warned. All others, look under the cut.

Abracadabra: I Shall Create As I Speak

When I first learned of the interpretation of 'abracadabra' as meaning 'I create' and 'as I am speaking', I couldn't help but think that it was an amazingly apt mantra for fiction writers. After all, we weave new people, new concepts and even entirely new worlds simply by telling a story.

Of course, as we work to create the stories that form in our minds and demand to be let out onto the page, or these days, the computer screen, we also take part in our own stores; the stuff of commentary tracks and behind the scenes documentaries—the story of the process.

Sadly not all of us have a film crew at our disposal and since most of the work is solitary and mental, it wouldn't make good film anyway. Thus, the creator blog: a place for fans to come to see what's going on in the head of the talent and creators go to get all their 'DVD extra' worthy material out of their brain.

A:ISCAIS, in case you haven't guessed, is my creator blog, where I will come from time to time in order to talk about my works, offer a bit of commentary and back story, and hopefully shed some light on the place where my work comes from. I invite anyone who is reading this to share the ride and hope they enjoy it.