WOO

Demeter and Tiede projects done. More stuff to announce tomorrow.

Status Update

Dialogue for the Demeter and Tiede projects is done. Filling in scene descriptions now.

To Tim Demeter and Dirk Tiede:

TODAY IS THE RECKONING.

I will be writing your long, long-promised stuff TODAY.

TODAY.

OR DIE TRYING.

Thank you for your patience.

Non-Post Post

Hard at work on ghostwriting this morning, so no time to blog much. I'll catch up in the afternoon.

If you like bad art, here's a rendition I did of the kilt-wearing McKenzee of Sinister Bedfellows.

Productive!

Done today:

Five sets of breakdowns for Penny and Aggie. More coming tomorrow, Gisele!

Outline of Divalicious, last two chapters.

Two solicited proposals for short Tokyopop pieces.

Relatively quick session on "Sketch." Unfortunately my best line of today would give the whole project away.

And fixed the Fans RSS feed (with Zach Lewis' help).

I wish every day left me with this much to brag about.

Best Lines of the Day

Finished: Marathon six-hour-plus "Sketch" session, completed via phone, Skype and Google Documents, despite two interrupting phone calls and a thunderstorm which briefly knocked out power, then knocked out my Internet for twenty minutes. WE HAVE SURVIVED AND CONQUERED.

My best line of the day: "Maybe that's what I want. You want to watch? Or you want to do the taking down?"
My collaborator's best line of the day: "Y... you-y-you-YOU NEED TO FIND JESUS, SIR!"

The Pleasures Of Google Docs

Using Google Documents to collaborate more openly on projects like "Sketch" and the Cool Cat Studio finale. I miss page breaks and word count from MS Word, but I love what it does for the writing process to get back-and-forth from people I trust. I'll be using this one more in the future.

My Best "Sketch" Line of the Day...

"Vas deferens."

My Best "Sketch" Line of the Day...

"[It's] A statement of Muslim tradition. It's not observed by all Muslims, but it's not to be trifled with. I memorized it after hearing of certain political events in Denmark. The statement reads: 'Those who paint pictures will be punished on the Day of Resurrection and it will be said to them: Breathe soul into what you have created.'"

Matrix Update

Only managed to complete about 3% of Phase Three so far, but I'm getting some help from an unexpected source which should make things go a lot faster next week. Can't wait until I can tell you who this guy is and why he's so cool.

Also Done Yesterday...

Very, very productive Penny and Aggie and "Sketch" story meeting with Greg Eatroff, which grew out of an early viewing of Ratatouille. Film analysts are watching Pixar for signs of a stumble, citing internal politics at Disney, the gut reaction to the topic of rats in the food industry (which affects licensing) and the fact that it's the most unspellable major movie title of the year.

I'm hoping that good reviews and Pixar's brand overcome these factors, because Ratatouille is a treat.



After it was over, Greg and I realized the film hits its protagonists with seven different challenges in its third act, yet never feels rushed or jumbled.

"Seven," I said to Greg. There was a pause.

"Would it be possible to do eight...?"

And we were off.

Secrets...

I know that these "secret stuff" posts are either tantalizing crumbs or puzzling stats, but I want to show you, as best as I'm able, the things that fill my days.

Currently I have three secret projects.

One is code-named "the Matrix." Phase Two complete this morning. Hoping to be able to reveal this before the end of summer. Hint: not fiction.

One is that thing I'm doing with that guy, code-named "Sketch." Hoping to announce this fall. Hint: fiction.

And one is ghost-co-writing for a newspaper comic. I can't even give too many hints about that one, because it's ghosting! Probably won't reveal it until the gig is over, which could be years. But there it is. Code-name: "Refrain."

What Is The Matrix?

Project, codenamed "Matrix:"

Phase One complete.

Phase Two 98% complete. Estimated time to completion: 2 hrs.

Phase Three far more challenging. Estimated time unknown. At least it'll be fun before it gets boring.

Phase Four -- Do I have the needed programming skills? Uncertain. Outsource? If so, confidentiality a must.

Phase Five: rollout. Generally the easy part, but be! Cautious! Too much going into this to fumble.

Quote From That Thing I'm Doing With That Guy.

I still can't tell you what it is but I'll post a few snippets of dialogue. Here's one from one of our more eccentric characters:

"Of course I respect Schulz. He taught hundreds of millions of people that life is unrelenting misery, that they will never kick the football or talk to that red-haired girl or even fly a goddamn kite correctly. I hope I can piss on the dreams of one-tenth as many people! But he should never have stopped doing the strip. That work was the only thing holding him together. He died almost instantly after he quit. If he'd stayed with it, he could've had another year or two at least, maybe more, and if Charlie Brown's life was bleak before, can you imagine what Peanuts would be like if Schulz was a half-dead zombie, unnaturally kept alive by sheer work ethic? Now I hate everything Johnny Hart stands for, but I gotta say, I want to go out the way Johnny Hart went out. Heart attack right at the drawing desk. Hard. Core."

(Thanks to The Comics Curmudgeon for the Johnny Hart observation.)

Mystery Project.

There are a few projects I need to keep under wraps for various reasons, even though I'd love to tell you about them. All I can do is drop a few hints.

I'm doing a collaboration with a longtime friend via Google Docs. Yesterday we managed to crank out 15 pages together, and I learned two things:

The time students are required, by generally agreed-upon etiquette, to wait for teachers to show up if the teachers are late to class: twenty minutes. Or sometimes ten minutes for regular professors, and twenty for PhDs.

Water Ice is a concoction without which Philly just wouldn't be Philly.

This one will be a while in the making, but I'm feeling good about its future.