Grateful and Embarrassed!

I’m sort of embarrassed to say this, but after reading Derek’s post last week, I realized what a failure I have been. You see, Derek mentioned that while he is working on issue #7 of Poverty Pack, he realized that this is the furthest we’ve gotten when it comes to a run of creating comics. Now, I say I’m a failure because I haven’t been able to continue a story past a couple issues. Not to say that I couldn’t, but I just haven’t been motivated to do so.

Hello Stachers! This is another Fabulous Frog Blog brought to you by the emotion of embarrassment. So as I mentioned, we haven’t done a comic past issue #2 in the past. I wouldn’t say it’s solely anyone’s fault, but I think I’ll take most of the blame for it. Some of it, I can’t take the blame. Especially when we work with a group that just seems to have conflicts of direction with the overall story. I guess you could say it’s a case of too many cooks spoiling the brew.

Other times I have created stories, I just sort of wrote myself into a corner without any plans of how to get out. I would throw things into stories that seemed like it would be cool and interesting, but I didn’t have any concept of how to resolve what I had started. Sometimes that works, and for some writers it’s what they do and they do it well. Case in point, Poverty Pack #1. First drafts of the issue didn’t make sense at the end. And poor Derek had to draw that drivel! The actual issue of what you have read is a big re-write and scrapping lots of what I had done before. It was supposed to be a split issue, where one half dealt with the heroes of Poverty Pack, and the other half was to introduce all the villains of Run Down City. And even with the re-write, to make a confession, I had no idea of where I was going with the story. Yes, it was a mystery, and I wanted to build suspense of finding some sort of clues to be revealed later, but I didn’t know what those clues were and where they would lead. So when it came to issue #2, it was tough to get through for me. But after sitting down and working it out, I was starting to get an idea of what to do. By the time I was done writing it, I knew how the thing was going to end. And I think you can get a feel that the end of the story arc was much better than the beginning.

Now, when it comes to writing story arcs for Poverty Pack, I have my method, and it works for me. I know where I want to go and sometimes it leaves me room to add more stuff. Yeah, I’ve gone overboard and added more than I thought I was going to, and the story goes longer than I thought it would, and I’ve had to trim some of the fat, but I’d rather have to get rid of some good stuff to use later than having nothing to put in there in the first place.

And I’ve also got to say, out of all the attempts Derek and I have done, this is the most fun to work on. I believe we have something unique and entertaining to everyone. Maybe that’s another reason why I’ve been so into wanting to continue what we are doing. I truly do believe in Poverty Pack and Poverty Thrill Adventures!

So as I look back, and see pictures of us at convention with our library of books, and then I consider all of the books we have ready for print, or almost ready for print, I am completely stunned by all that we have accomplished! And when we get to see our fans at conventions and they keep telling us that they love what we do, that gives us such a feeling of pride, it’s something I will never forget and never take for granted.

So why am I bringing all of this up? To say I’m grateful. This week is Veterans Day. It is a time for us to honor those who have served our country so we can be free. I truly believe that these are the real heroes of the world. They do something that I could never do. They are the ones who let me to do the things that allow me to write crazy stories and publish funny books for all of you. So as you all hopefully have the day off, or even if you do have to end up working, thank a veteran for their service.

That’s all for me and my soap box! Have a great week! Be good to each other!