JanerBlog

More sketchbook fun

I was scanning and prepping ten new pages tonight, and I thought I'd share some of the better-looking sketches from the storyboard book. Some are from upcoming scenes, and some are just me doodling.

Screw it, I'm writing fiction.

After wibbling and wibbling over an upcoming scene, and talking to both Jim and Pam about it, I've decided to proceed with a scene I've written, as-is. It involves using Goethe as a sounding-board for Kempelen. We know for a fact that Goethe did see Kempelen's machine (he wrote Charles-Auguste about it) but I have the scene taking place at Kempelen's house -- and it's far more likely that Goethe was only one of the countless thousands who strolled past the machine when it was displayed in Frankfurt and Leipzig during its 1783-85 tour. It's highly unlikely that Goethe was anywhere near Vienna at the time, and Kempelen was old enough that he wasn't really traveling anymore. Still, there's not a historical figure (or character so far in the story) who is better suited for the conversation, and what the scene needs to accomplish: a discussion of the unification of art and science.

So? Screw it. I'm throwing the facts under the bus on this one and going for what the story needs. The audience needs to see the speaking machine demonstrated, the story needs a parry-riposte on art versus science, and von Kempelen needs to get off the self-pity pot. I'm writing historical fiction, so there.

And to soothe my conscience, I've updated the parameters of the About the Story page:

Clockwork Game is a mostly-true story, a dramatization of actual historical events, retold with as little conjecture as possible. I have, however, taken what I consider small liberties to make the story flow more smoothly. I have condensed certain events, and occasionally places, into representative moments that capture the spirit of the story more than the true letter of its history. Some characters, whose names and histories were lost to the predations of time, had to be created almost entirely from whole cloth. Strong--but not ironclad--proof exists for the actions depicted in certain scenes. And, of course, dialogue and personalities had to be invented, based on whatever writings were available.

All this being said, I am doing my best to remain faithful to the facts and personalities of the individuals, and will note any purposeful deviations, and my reason for doing so.

Man, I take this shit way too seriously.

Edited to add: Know what the dumbest thing is? Another week after I wrote this, I deleted Goethe from the story entirely. He's gone. And know what? The story's much, much better for it.

Ohwha Tanerd Iyam

For Christmas, I bought myself a few indulgences -- a couple picture books that are historical trivia/glossaries/companion pieces to the Patrick O'Brian Aubrey/Maturin books, a couple more reference books about The Turk, and this, which I found on eBay. I'm going to find a wee tiny frame for it. Does anyone else want some pretty, cancelled stamps from Slovakia? I'm not a collector myself, but if you are, speak up and I'll send them out.

(Slovakia also struck a coin with Kempelen's face on them, and Hungary did one with the Turk on it, and I'm chasing both on eBay right now. What a colossal nerd I am.)

Sketchy

I've been so obsessed with the long-format, full-length graphic novel storytelling of Clockwork Game lately that I've started keeping a sketchbook to diversify my artistic output. I'm really crummy at doing spontaneous drawings; I always want to do way too much work, and wind up getting mired in yet another long-format project.

So, without further ado, a meme swiped from Dylan: Ten Representative Objects from my Life, in a Box:

(I'm assuming by "objects" they mean inanimate ones, so the obvious dog, cat and husband got left off the list.)




Next, a new, self-inflicted assignment where I get people to suggest weird things for me to draw, called Things I've Never Drawn Before:

"Pony riding a person" from Paul's niece, Erika; "Bear on a Unicycle" from Dirk Tiede; "Stethoscope" from Paul.

And finally, "Tiger versus Narwhal," inspired by this picture:

Bakin' bakin' bakin'

Man. It's 10:30 and after twelve hours of work, I'm finally done with Christmas Baking:

• A Quadruple batch of pretzels


• Peanut butter Rice Krispies Treats with dark chocolate on top


• Altoids brownies


• Butterscotch brownies


• Oatmeal raisin cookies

For some reason, this year's baking didn't turn out all that great. I mean, it'll all taste okay, but cosmetically it was kind of a disaster. The butterscotch brownies had this huge bubble in them and when I cut into them, the "roof" shattered, leaving this kind of pecan-pie sticky interior with nothing on top. Fortunately I was able to find a bit of topping that almost fit on each piece and kind of stuck them together.

The Altoids brownies came out okay, but the oatmeal raisins spread so much they're like lace. Again, tasty and crispy, but not very good-looking. The one good note was the pretzels... they came out as good as always, though I used up the last of the lye and am going to have to scramble to find some for this year's soapmaking.

Now I'm going to wind down for the evening and watch some movies and drink some port; I'm too exhausted to plate them up for folks tonight. Happy winter holiday of choice!

Artistic Masochist

Man, I'm an artistic masochist lately. This week's page had four separate crowd scenes in it. Four. I am a real glutton for punishment.

On the other hand, I've really crossed a mental line with the story, and despite the horrendous amount of time each page requires of late, I'm having a real blast. The pages are looking a heck of a lot better than they were, and -- fortunately or unfortunately -- I'm probably going to go back and start tinkering with earlier pages once I get this chapter done.

One of the minor benefits of being a self-publisher is that I don't have to release my book until its ready. This can be as much curse as blessing: one has to know when to stop tinkering and print the darn book already. However, it does give me the luxury of going back and bringing the early versions Kempelen and Anthon closer to their final look. I wound up deviating from the model sheet as I found out more about the characters' personalities, because the changes looked better and rang more true than my original designs. It will also give me the chance to make the entire chapter more cohesive, artistically -- the advancements I've made with page composition and execution in the last fifty pages are really visible to me, and I hope they will be to my readers, as well.

So yeah. Visible improvements (at least, I think so, YMMV) are a good thing, except for my free time.

TubaChristmas!

As a rule, I hate hate hate Christmas kitch. It's awful, and offputting, and annoying. However, today I found a bit of kistch that I could totally get behind: TubaChristmas, in which tuba choirs across the US get together to play carols. It's the perfect blend of proud nerdery and genuine holiday cheer, both of which are usually lost in the commercial-season traffic. Visit the site for a TubaChristmas near you, or just watch some clips on YouTube. And yes, I already sent the link to David and Rollande, you betcha.

A proposal

... And it's back to the Café, with Philidor and his chess mafia. Come back next week to find out what Kempelen's got planned.

Since there isn't a whole lot of trivia to go with this page, and since I didn't include a comics link last week, I'll give you three this week. The first is to a brand-new fantasy webcomic by Ben Avery, called Music of the Spheres. It's just getting started, but hey, there's a dragon on the very first page, so it's bound to be good. Ben's a really nice guy, and you may've already heard about his collaborations with George R. R. Martin and Marvel comics, The Hedge Knight and The Hedge Knight II: The Sworn Sword. If you haven't already checked them out, you totally should; the Song of Ice and Fire books are some of the most engaging fantasy novels I've ever read, and the prequels (sometimes known as "The Dunk and Egg" books) are safe in Ben's capable hands. He also does a series of graphic novels for Zondervan publishing called TimeFlyz and has a couple other series in the works as well. Ben's definitely a guy to keep your eye on, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how his webcomic turns out.

The second and third links are to fellow historical webcomics (there are so few of us out here, we've gotta stick together). Both of these comics are contemporary with the current chapter of Clockwork Game, and each features an opposite viewpoint of the same conflict: the American Revolution. Loyalty and Liberty tells the story from the British side of things -- with cats -- while The Dreamer gives the side of the upstart Colonists -- through the eyes of a high-school girl.

The Dreamer, by Lora Innes, has been ongoing for a while and is up to Chapter 5. The art feels like it's found its footing, the coloring's lovely, and the pacing between the modern and historic plots seems just right.

Loyalty and Liberty, by Tamara 'Meezer' Clarke, only has twenty-five pages up so far, but I've enjoyed what I've seen, and am looking forward to more.

Yay for my fellow history nerds.

GIANT KILLER MONSTER STARFISH THE SIZE OF A MANHOLE COVER

A bunch of you have heard me go off about how unbelievably cool Pycnopodias are, including one of my favorite stories, "Giant Killer Monster Starfish Versus Two Sea Snails." Well thankfully, some kind soul has uploaded the video clip from whence the story originates. The Pycno showes up at 5:00, but the whole thing's totally worth watching. Kat? You should probably send this to your parents so that they'll finally understand that I wasn't completely crazy, just overcaffeinated and blown away by the sheer awesomeness of marine biology.

First Crosscountry!

Went out to the Kleinstuck nature preserve this afternoon for my first crosscountry ski expidition of the year. I took it easy because I haven't been exercising very much lately and I don't want to hurt myself, but I still did two full laps of the preserve, about 45 minutes of good full-body movement. I feel great.

The trail was gorgeous -- enough hikers and joggers had been through that the trail was packed down nice and slick -- it's always more pleasant when you don't have to fight the snowpack on your first trip out. The temperature was just perfect; right around freezing so the snow didn't clump to my skis, but not so cold that I had to wear more than two layers of clothing. Ironically, my ass is almost always frozen solid by the end of a good ski trip, though the rest of me is rosy-pink and warm with exertion. All that insulation, and it still winds up being the coldest part of me.

Also, I'm looking for additional ski partners in the Kzoo area -- Atis, do you and your wife ski? -- because both of my regular locals punked out on me today. Let me know!

Neurotic City

Over the last two weeks, I've been neurosing pretty hard about a number of creative issues, some internal, some external. Several of my friends have been very patient with me, enduring long phone calls while I get the garbage out of my system, and I just wanted to say thanks, guys. I know it's all irrational worry, but it really does help to talk it out. I'm feeling a lot better, not just because of your reassurances, but because each of you gave me different, but equally solid advice on how to get around the worry by doing positive things to regain control.

Thanks for loving me enough to listen, and thanks even more for caring enough to kick my arse.

Sometimes I am really ashamed of my generation.

Lying in bed this morning, listening to Morning Edition, we hear this young guy bellyaching about how hard this recession has been on him. "This is haaaaard. My generation has never known a recession in our lifetimes! You're supposed to be able to buy a house, and have a good job right out of college, and nobody will loan me money anymore, and and and... I just don't know what to do!"

And Paul rolls over and says in his most nasal whine: "I can't be out of money! I still have checks in my checkbook!

Criminy. Grow a pair, would you, Gen X?

Yes, times are tough, and yes, they suck right now. The rest of you guys are just now finding out how bad Michigan's had it for the last ten years. Hurts, don't it?

We'll get through this, we really will. Won't be fun, but it'll be a hell of a lot less painful if we all start acting like competent adults with a task to do instead of whining about how much we don't have.