Writer, Artist, Creator
A question I get asked a lot is what is the reading age group for THE AXIOM-MAN SAGA?
I answer it in the video below.
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With summer drawing to a close, it means it’s time to get off my summer schedule and back to my regular one. Problem is, my regular schedule doesn’t fit what I have coming down the pike.
Presently, I have six books in production and each one needs my attention. I’m finally at that stage where I don’t need to multi-task with them but can work on them one at a time. This will speed up release.
But I want to write. I want to get started on THE BATTLE OF POWER trilogy in THE AXIOM-MAN SAGA.
I’m going to have to spend some think time on this because the variables between my professional life and my personal one don’t always flow together.
Bottom line is I want to get writing and just focus on that.
The fun part about these Public Journal entries is I can make them about anything I want.
Today I want to talk about coffee time, namely morning coffee time.
I have this bad habit of waking up, eating, then wanting to get right to work. I used to do that but my summer schedule has taught me to slow things down and practice self-care. So I have a (new) rule: no working until after coffee. Like everyone, coffee clears the cobwebs and brings focus to the day. And when you’re a writer, a clear head is an asset and I have to remember that each morning until it becomes a habit.
I have an erratic sleep schedule. I go to bed early because I’m tired, then I wake up at 1, am up for a bit, then go back to sleep, then wake up at 5ish, then go back to sleep for a couple hours. I wish I could sleep through the night like Melinda but I wake up with stories on my mind. I also suspect it’s this sleep schedule that makes me groggy in the morning hence why the coffee is so important.
So I’ve slowed things down, in a manner of speaking, and won’t start my day until after coffee and the cobwebs have cleared. I find I’m more productive this way and right now productive is what I need to be even if I’m still on the summer schedule.
As you know, I’m neck-deep in book production. As of this writing, I’m proofing the galley for GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE: TRIPLE FEATURE and that’s taking up most of my time. However, I have been picking at an unaired FREDRIKUS episode and plan to share it once it’s done. When that may be, I don’t know.
The comic will come back. I just need the time and headspace to finish making some books first.
In the meantime, you can read the webcomic by going here.
Thanks.
Writer’s block can be discouraging. You’re on a roll with your project then suddenly you hit a mental brick wall and the words cease. Hours go by, days, even weeks. You just can’t seem to get past that certain point in your story. You kinda know where it’s going but how to get there? Good question.
My suggestion to overcome writer’s block is to write through it. You can certainly pick the project you’re working on and give it a go, but if that’s not an option, write something else. It doesn’t have to be for publication. It could be a snippet, a thought, a blog post or article, poetry, even a rant about how frustrated you are. The point is to keep writing anyway.
That’s been my personal experience and writing anyway eventually beats down that wall and let’s you resume your project again.
This applies to drawing or any creative outlet.
Your mileage may vary.
There’s been a release schedule change.
My summer and fall releases have been pushed back so here’s the tentative new schedule:
Fall:
THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION: YEAR FOUR
THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION: THE LONG YEAR FIVE
GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE: TRIPLE FEATURE
Winter:
BLOOD OF THE DEAD reissue
POSSESSION OF THE DEAD reissue
REDEMPTION OF THE DEAD reissue
Apologies for the delay. With it being summer, my team and I have different schedules so it’s been difficult to align them. Rest assured, these books are coming.
Whenever I get stumped on a story or drawing, I go for a walk and let the idea stew. My thoughts wander from my personal life to my work–namely to the last scene I wrote–and I begin thinking about what should happen next. In the instance of having a lot of tasks to do, I go for walks so I don’t get overwhelmed. This gives me a chance to mentally work through my to-do list and break it down into small daily chunks while still keeping deadlines on track or on shuffle.
I find walks clear my mind–whether alone or with Melinda–plus they are good exercise.
If you get stuck on an idea–or too many ideas–consider going for a stroll to mentally work things out.
Your mileage may vary.
Come watch me unbox this killer Kickstarter reward: Blackthorne – A Cauldron of Hate No. 1 by Colin Work
Comics are cool!
For more on Blackthorne and Colin Work, please visit https://colinwork.wixsite.com/colinwork
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I discovered this link through Warren Ellis’s blog. As a paraphrase of what it’s about–though I encourage you to read it–it basically says that blogs have now been geared toward getting traffic via catchy headlines and, simply, have become a complete defeat of what blogging was meant to be, which is merely a place for someone to log their thoughts and personal items and create content of interest without getting all gimmicky about it.
The argument put forth over at Ribbon Farm is a compelling one, especially to someone like me who hates the pursuit of money and fame and popularity. (If those things are an honest byproduct of what you do, that’s different. I’m talking about making those things one’s goal(s) as the error).
The idea of writing a blog where, even if it had just an audience of one (me), is tantalizing. I’m very anti-establishment by nature and tend to see the strings in what people are doing (especially in the creative industry). It all comes off as so flimsy and childish. I’m not knocking my fellow creators but am talking straight to whomever this entry here at Canister X and over at Ribbon Farm speaks to. Should a person not be of interest through genuine organic efforts instead of a blatant attempt to sell a product? Shouldn’t who they are be more important than what they make? When did an inorganic object of extremely limited value replace a person whose value is limitless? Something’s not right here.
I’ve always been partial to the random, the underground, the unique. Maybe because those are my roots and are a constant theme in my work (taking an idea and trying something new with it, consequences be damned). There has always been a soft spot in my heart for that guy or girl with an obscure blog from some other part of the world, the kind of blog you read where you don’t know if you’re the only audience member or not.
Capitalist culture would call blogging for no one a wasted effort because it doesn’t–or is unlikely to–yield a financial result.
This is foolish.
Blogging isn’t about money despite what the marketers tell you (who want you to visit their blog for information so they can sell you something).
Blogging is about showcasing a life in thought, word, and deed. Blogging is about honesty. It’s about talking to the world about anything that interests you or is on your mind and heart.
I might not have always succeeded, but since I’ve been back after being ill, I’ve made every effort to showcase myself and what I do and talk to you honestly through my blog entries and newsletter. Sometimes you might have enjoyed what you read, other times not. And that’s okay. I’ve been doing this long enough to know I won’t hit a chord with everyone. The magic is in the honesty. The magic lies within you, dear reader, when you commit the simple act of reading regardless of how you feel about what you’re reading. It’s the fact that you did take the time to read the words of a person you only know through a screen. And maybe that’s the secret right there? Taking the time to read the words of a person–a very real person with a physical body and mind and heart and spirit–whom you never met. Like I always say, time is the most valuable thing a person has and its wealth surpasses anything we can compare it to. The fact that a person takes that precious commodity and spends it on you is magic.
Here at Canister X, the Realm of Heroes and Monsters, there is a certain blogging style, a way of communicating that’s in a constant state of adjustment and fine-tuning but one that has a core that has been in place long enough that you know what to expect from me. If I segue into experimental blogging styles, I hope you come along for the ride. Or I might start a new blog where I can fiddle with blogging conventions until I find a method I like and is an honest expression of myself. Time will tell.
In the end, it does indeed dismay me that blogs are often started as business ventures versus public journals. I get the reasoning behind it, but it doesn’t sit right and that’s probably because it replaces a person with a commodity and, in the end, it’s our replacement of people for commodities that caused the world to be in the state it is currently in.
Here is where everything is standing as of this writing:
THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION: YEAR FOUR – Galley approved; cover 95% done.
THE CANISTER X TRANSMISSION: THE LONG YEAR FIVE – Galley approved.
GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE: Galley received for one final pass.
At the current rate things are going, we’re still on schedule for late August. Lots of work to do yet, but a good chunk of book production has been done on the above. I’m now at the stage where I plan to work on the titles one at a time.
Onward.
