Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Brushing with Celebrity on the Floor.

2012-01-23T11:37:00.000-08:00

The other night as I watched the Golden Globes with allthose celebrities passing across the television screen, whether they werewinners or just happy to be nominated or just plain seat fillers, I wasreminded of something that happened this past summer.

Each year I attend the San Diego Comic Con International,and when there is somewhere around 120,000 people packing into the halls itshard to remember a face in that crowd, but a face did come back to me all thesemany months later.

I headed upstairs to attend a panel, though no longerremember what it was, and the line of people waiting to get in was alreadywrapped down the hallway and around two corners by the time I joined in at theback.

There were three guys just ahead of me, two were standingand a third was sitting on the floor (I know how he felt, read my blog on howmuch my feet hurt at the con). When I joined them they were in a discussion ofDC Comic's New52. At that point in time we only had a vague idea of what wascoming, each expressing their own opinions and how to do it better (fans yougotta love us).

Anyway, as the conversation lulled and changed, I eventuallyhad an opportunity to talk about FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY. Ifyou've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you'll know that FGHOG isthe webcomic, which I illustrate and co-write with Shannon Muir. Click the linkto the right to check it out; we're currently celebrating our 10^thAnniversary.

I was carrying with me business cards, some for myself, andsome to promote the comic. They are small and can easily slip into your pocket(which you'll discover cleaning out your luggage when you get home, or turnedinto a mashed ball of wet paper when you pull it out of the washer), but theyseem to work. What really worked for me was that I included a QR Code box onthe reverse side of the card. (QR Code, you know, those strange little boxesfilled with even smaller white and black boxes). People could use their 'smartphones' to scan the code and pull up our webcomic. If nothing else, it was aconversation starter.

While standing in line, it hadn't started to move yet; Igave a card to each of the three guys I had been talking with. After explainingabout the code on the back, the one sitting on the floor pulled out his phoneand scanned the card and checked out a few pages of the webcomic.

I got a polite "Cool," from him.

One problem I have at conventions is that nametags hangingfrom their lanyards and always turn backwards so I never can see a person'sname. Not very helpful.

All I knew was the color of the nametag told me he wasprofessional like myself. So just as the line began to move I asked him what hedoes? Figuring he'd be an artist or something.

He looked at me and simply answered: "I'm anactor."

The line moved on and I didn't get a chance to ask anythingfurther. I had this feeling from his expression that I should have known who hewas, but was also glad that I didn't know.

So, here I am, months later and watching the Golden Globeswhen it hits me.

I am more then ninety percent certain that the man who hadbeen sitting on the floor, who took my business card, and looked at mywebcomic, was the actor Seth Rogen.

Could be wrong of course, watching him now on the stage, andthinking back to the convention, he could have easily disappeared in to a crowdof geeks and nerds, and someone like me would never have been the wiser.

All the same I have to have a little thrill from this…

Seth Rogen thought FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY was"cool."

Influences to Glory - Writers and Artists

2012-01-09T20:49:00.000-08:00

Earliertoday I was in the midst of a Twitter conversation that brought up our earliestcomic book influences.

Everyartist, and writer, has their influences. Not all of us will agree as to whothe greatest or the worst, the most dynamic, narrative, or the worst is. But weall know who influences us.

For me, itgoes nearly to the very beginning of reading comics. I had already read througha digest reprint of JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #100 (written by Len Wein,another important influence to me), which introduced me to the world of the DCUniverse that wasn't the SUPER FRIENDS of Saturday Morning Cartoons.

Here wasnot only the Justice League of America, but also another team that calledthemselves the Justice Society of America. As a little kid, all I knew was thatthese were alternate takes on what I thought were well-established characters.

Over thenext few months I would beginning to pick up other comic books. One comic wasTHE NEW TEEN TITANS by Marv Wolfman and George Perez. The second was an issueof ALL STAR SQUADRON written by Roy Thomas and among many artists was JerryOrdway.

These twobooks would truly build my view of the DC Universe. The Teen Titans very'science fiction' based modern stories with highly detailed artwork, while AllStar Squadron showed heroes in the midst of World War II and had heroes withmagic based powers.

For a whileI believe that Earth 1 took place in the modern day, and Earth 2 in the 1940s,so that even when they did a cross over story they were coming from twodifferent points in time. I soon learnedthat wasn't true.

Anyway,back to my influences.

Forwriting, I couldn't have picked any better writers to follow than Marv Wolfmanand Roy Thomas. Yes, I'll hear people mention who they believe are better withmore complexity to their writing, but for me these two men were thefoundational influence to me that everything grew from.

WhereWolfman knew who to emotionally grab me in one story and then tell greatactions sequences in the next, Thomas knew how to handle dozens of characterssometimes at once. Thomas also knowseverything about what I was learning to call the 'Golden Age' of comics, andspent time in every issue telling something about it all.

Because ofRoy Thomas and the All-Star Squadron, I quickly became infatuated by GoldenAge, and I saw out reprint books of the original stories (there was no way Icould afford the originals, but I found the stories I wanted).

As withmost young comic readers I soon began to create my own characters. But I didn'twant to create them in my modern world. I didn't fit in a New York that I sawthrough George Perez's detailed art. I created my characters influenced byJerry Ordway that I felt had a more 'realistic' style. His faces were and aregreat.

(Imagine mythrill later when Ordway was hired to ink Perez's work on CRISIS ON INFINITEEARTH. The two were so perfect together.)

(SIDE NOTE:I would also discover in the back issue bings the John Byrne issues of FANTASICFOUR, and I bought as many as I could afford over several years of collecting.The greats of these were those where Byrne's art was inked over by JerryOrdway.)

So I'mcreating my own characters, refining them, turning them into something morethan just sketches on a page. I gave them names, and origins, not just thebasic how they got power origins, but why and who the characters are with outpowers.)

I waslooking towards Roy Thomas and his interpretation of the Golden Age, that Ibegan to emulate.

Threecharacters that I developed the furthest were The Torchlight, Speedstar, and aheroine I called FLYING GLORY.

I havewritten stories about all these characters, and as you all know, I took FLYINGGLORY the furthest.

I've toldthe story already as how publishers were interested in a FLYING GLORY comic,one really liked the story that I told, but eventually it became clear that Icouldn't sells a Golden Age story when I was pitching it.

So with thehelp of Shannon Muir I updated the Flying Glory character, made her thegranddaughter of the original and gave her a group of friends that supportedher. THE HOUNDS OF GLORY.

Ourwebcomic FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, currently celebrating its 10^thAnniversary of being online. Everything that I put into a script I owe to MarvWolfman and Roy Thomas, and each panel of my art is so greatly influenced byJerry Orway and George Perez (though I'll never be able to draw hi details andcrowd scenes).

Thank youMr. Ordway, Mr. Perez, Mr. Thomas, Mr. Wolfman for you have made me the comicbook professional that I am today.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Saint Nicholas on the Roof - BestBuys down the chimney.

2011-12-26T17:58:00.000-08:00

A short post holiday blog.

There was an annoying commercial that ran for about two weeks before Christmas, and then it vanished when the company ended up making a terrible mistake.

Here's are my thoughts on it.

First off, one of the earliest legends of Saint Nicholas comes from three young women needing dowry moneys before they could be wed. In one version of the tale hearing of their need Nicholas left a bag of gold just inside the door of two of the girls, and the third girl the door was locked and so he climbed to the roof and dropped the bag down through the chimney.

Another version of the story has him tossing the money in through a window and it lands mysteriously in a stocking hanging to dry over the mantel.

Whether the story is true or exactly how it happened, Nicholas did it out of caring for people who had nothing. He heard of a need and provided for it.

So Santa Clause visits and comes down the chimney with gifts… (side thought: Nicholas didn't have a naught or nice list… just a list of those in need.)

Anyway, the point at hand…

BestBuys produced a series of commercials this holiday season. At least two that I saw, but only one matters:

After ordering online, a mother has come into the store to pick up her purchases, and is amazed by this…

"Looks like Santa's got some competition this year?" The sales clerk says, and the mother agrees.

Cut to Christmas Eve and the mother is standing on the roof (or in the other commercial standing by the tree) when Santa Claus arrives. She's holding her own gifts and laughs at the jolly ol'elf, as if saying 'I beat you'. She even frightens Santa when she kicks a light up likeness off him off the roof.

What is the point of this commercial? What did she win?

Does she think she's in a competition with Santa for her children's love? That's extremely sad.

Nicholas helped children or gave them what they needed, because it was the right thing to do. Parents give gifts because they love their children, not because of some sick competition.

I had already thought up this blog before other news broke just before Christmas…

Bestbuys was having to cancel orders that had been made online going all the way back to Thanksgiving because they didn't have enough of the merchandise.

The above ad suddenly vanished when this news was announced.

May we all remember Nicholas' caring service to others, and live it through this New Year.

Blessed Christmas to you all.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity.

A Bad Review and be Good.

2011-12-16T20:10:00.000-08:00

The other evening I received a review of my novel.

It was my second review, and it was the worst so far. It gave the novel a two star rating. As you would expect, I was hurt and disappointed by such a review. Yet, over the next hour I was able to read through and digest everything the reviewer said, and quickly came to the conclusion that it really wasn't a bad thing.

Yes, I know it's hard to take when someone tells you they don't like your work and then goes on tell you everything that you did wrong. It hurts. Yet, it's a pain like growing pains.

It's like getting a big red F (okay, D) on a test in school after staying up all night studying for it. It hurts, but its not that they want to give you a bad grade. What the teacher and the reviewer want is to get you to do a good job. They want you to succeed.

The reviewer is looking for a really good read and hopes your book is the one.

Remember that the reviewer took his or her precious time to read the book. The reviewer took more time to write a review and explain what they think is wrong with it, what you can do better. They did it because they really want to like the book.

The next day I wrote the reviewer a thank you letter. Yes, you heard me right, I wrote to thank them for giving me a 2 star review. I told them that it was greatly appreciated, and that I would take what they wrote to heart. I would learn from it and use their review to improve the writing of my next novel.

They wrote back, wishing me success on my next novel.

If that wasn't enough, only hours after receiving the review, I was informed that another website liked my novel enough to post it on their page to help in the promotion. Then a day later another review was posted, and this one gave me 4 stars.

That is another lesson; everyone has their own likes and dislikes, their own opinions of your work. Don't take the poor ones too harshly, and don't get too thrilled about the good ones.

Do your absolute best. Those that like what you do will find you and those that don't it will help you get better.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Book Review - "Vickie Van Helsing" By Solomon J. Inkwell

2011-11-23T08:44:00.000-08:00

Review - VICKIE VAN HELSING

By Solomon J. Inkwell

It's hard not to compare a teenage girl slaying vampires with Buffy the Vampire Slayer because there are certainly plenty of those out there, but here the character of Vickie Van Helsing recognizes the comparison.

That's what makes this book a joy to read.

As much as Vickie is the star of the book, and only she can kill the Count, she isn't the only teen who gets the chance to slay a vamp. Every teenager has seen at least one vampire movie at one point in their lives, so when the real the ones show up they already know what to do to defend themselves.

When Vickie discovers she is the descendant of the original vampire slaying Van Helsing it was very hard to believe, but the truth quickly became real in the form of sharp fangs. For she would be the only one who could defeat the returning Dracula.

When I began reading this story, I was in the midst of working out a story of my own and one of the things that I was struggling with was what point of view and what whether it should be past or present tense.

Inkwell deals with the same problems in an interesting way. It isn't just a first person narrative, but one that takes place after the story is over and reads as if Vickie has gathered together everyone's series events so that she could talk about what she hadn't witnessed. In an interesting way, it pays respect to the way Bram Stoker collected together a series of people’s diaries and news clippings to tell the original Dracula story.

Vickie Van Helsing is a light fun adventure.

A Cover Fitting a Genie

2011-11-14T21:12:00.000-08:00

Well, my novel CLOCKWORK GENIE has been available online as an ebook for purchase for nearly a week now (you can click on the link to the right to purchase it at Amazon.)

So far I’ve had two sales. I’m still smiling.

This week I’ve decided to blog about the cover art of the book, which I can talk about since I drew and painted it, myself.

If you’ve been reading my blogs, or following me on twitter and facebook, you know that I am a comic book artist and draw the online comic book FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY. I wanted to be in comics from an early age and started off as an artist, but soon realized I was a storyteller first. The art has kept up with the writing, and here’s an example.

The hardest part of art that I’ve found, even back in my illustration course in college, was the thumbnail stage. I usually draw something once and like that I have trouble trying to draw it in other designs. It was no different for this cover.

My original idea was to show an image of a golden pocket watch in the center of the art. Perhaps even superimposing a woman’s face with in it. But that didn’t quite work. The two panels of my thumbnails here represent that. Have the watch laying on a cobblestone path, or hanging from the title. Discussion this with Shannon, who has been a great help as my editor on this book, she suggested that the watch should hang from the text to one side as the woman walks off into the distance, yet looking back over her shoulder. I liked that idea; especially having the woman proximately placed helped it fit in with the Paranormal Romance of the book’s genre and market.

I liked that but thought that there might be a better way of tying the woman to the watch all the more. Read the book, the watch is very important to her.

So I brought her closer into the foreground holding the watch on her shoulder.

Either of these were still good ideas, so I decided to take them both to the next stage.

Using the 3D program POSER I set up a female figure into the poses I though best fit the images I had in mind.

I don’t usually use Poser in my artwork, but do use it to set up poses to find the right angle and position of the body for the shot. By the time this was done, I knew I’d be using the close up image.

Using the Poser images as a starting point I sketched up and then penciled the pose. I would then add the hair and the pocket watch into the image on separate layers.

Using these detailed pencils, the painting began. Both the pencils and painting were done in Corel Painter.

They way I paint is not what I would suggest for others, do what works best for you. Coming out of my comic book coloring experience, I laid in flat colors first, her flesh tones on one layer, her hair on another, then the watch, and her dress.

Putting the flats against a grey background, I began to paint in the shadows and shades on each of the layers. I like to use a Gouach, Broad Cover Brush for putting in the colors. Then I blend it all in using a Blender tool, different ones create different effects in the paint, and currently I’m using the Grainy Water Blender. Change the size of the point for different areas and purposes.

The same is done with light side of the figure, blending in a lighter color and finish with highlights. Sometimes the brush doesn’t create a thin enough line so I use my Variable Tip Pen, or even the pencil; again adjust the size for what’s needed.

As you’ll see I did the watch on a different layer, but dropped in the shadows on her flesh tones here.

The next part of the job, done in a separate file, was to create a background. Coming up with the right colors for the background had to be just right for the foreground figure to stand right out and not just be flat. I adjusted this several times as my original colors blended too much into her dress.

I then had to design the house for the background. This house is extremely important to the story, so it had to stand out yet not distract from the figure. I did researching and looked at a dozen or more big houses in Bel Air owned by Hollywood stars back in the 1920s and 1930s. Not wanting to copy any one of them, I found something I like and in several and blended into something new. I drew it and painted it at a large size but on a separate layer that I would be able to shrink down and adjust the shade and tone as need be.

Once pleased with the background, I dropped in my figure in front of it. Here you can see how the watch finally was incorporated.

The background would be adjusted a few more times until I was really happy.

The next assignment was to figure out what font would work best for the title on the cover. I liked several fonts, both in what came with the computer, and some that I purchased. Here is a selection of them that I was considering.

I decided to go with Baskerville SemiBold, but without the Italics.

In Photoshop I started off with the title in the same color as her hair, but it didn’t stand out well enough, so changed it to a brighter yellow. Which I then used the Layer Styles to create an appropriate bevel effect on the letters.

The only problem I had now was my ‘four names of profession creativity’… my name was almost too small to visible. I had to adjust the size slightly, and then dropped a black bar underneath the text so it didn’t vanish into the flesh tones of her arm.

So the Clockwork Genie finally had a face and a cover. I hope you like my art, and I hope you really like the novel.

Thanks.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Today's the Day! - My book is out!

2011-11-07T21:55:00.000-08:00

Last time I celebrated all the great authors who are fighting with blood, sweat, and tears to produce a complete novel in a month as part of National Novel Writing Month. I also told you about what came out of my experience NaNoWriMo.

With hard work since that November of two years ago, I am now able to announce the release of my contemporary fantasy novel:

CLOCKWORK GENIE.

Cecilia Orchard lives alone.

She writes fantasy and mystery stories to escape a humdrum data entry job that barely pays for her apartment, food, and bus fare. Then a handsome police detective arrives with news that she is the prime suspect in the murder of her grandfather whom she never knew existed. If inheriting a fortune from a man she doesn't know isn't madness enough, Cecilia finds herself the owner of a powerful genie that could make all her dreams come true, but what are her dreams and is she willing to make the wish?

There’s a real great thrill to know that an idea I had years ago, and all the hard work it took to turn the idea into a story and then into a novel, now exists for others to read.

In the weeks to follow I’m sure to write more about this book, including on how I designed and painted the cover art.

The book currently can be found on Smashwords, and soon will be through distributors including Kindle. I'll let you know.

Thank you all for the support.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity.

NanoWriMo - A Novel this November

2011-11-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

Am very proud of my fiancée Shannon Muir as she begins working on her latest novel as part of NanoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). As she types away at her keyboard, I know several of my online friends are doing the same thing.

I was contemplating starting one as well, but have too much to do this month.

You see, just days ago, I types the two most glorious words to an author, and I typed them twice.

"The End"

I typed it first on a short story, which I submitted to a publisher for consideration as part of an anthology.

Then I typed them again on my first novel.

Two years ago I did participated in NanoWriMo, and completed the novel I worked on that November, but it was far from perfect and had so much in it that there is no way I could truly consider it finished. Even now I know it needs a page one rewrite.

However, about two weeks into that NanoWriMo, I had an idea for a new story. The concept came to me whole, and while not wanting to interrupt the book I was working on; I jotted down a full page of notes of this new tale and put it aside.

But the more I worked on the story for Nano, the more my thoughts lingered to the new one. So when December rolled around, I jumped head first into the new novel.

The first draft of the story flew from my finger over the next few weeks, though I had to admit that the climax stunk. So in the rewrite I discovered other characters that lived with in my novel's world and had their own parts of the story to tell.

As I asked more questions about the characters and the world they lived in the story expanded and became much better.

With Shannon acting as my editor, I went through several rewrites and the story kept getting better. Much more so than what I had originally jotted down in a flash.

Now the novel is finished and I am currently painting the cover art and formatting it properly to be release as an ebook, by the end of November.

All this resulted from NanoWriMo. My original book sits in a virtual sock drawer, and one day will come back to life.

This has been a great experience for me, and I wish an equally great experience to all my friends that are writing their novels this November.

Keep Writing.

The Lyrics of Glory

2011-10-10T19:38:00.000-07:00

As you know, Shannon Muir and I are celebrating the tenth anniversary of our online comic book FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY.

The story involves a team of teenagers who have chosen to put on costumes and be super heroes to support their leader Debra Clay who discovered she has inherited super powers from her grandma who was the World War II heroine Flying Glory.

On top of that, the team is also a rock band, first starting out performing for their high school and in local concerts. Now they are FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY; and their heroic actions have brought more attention to the band and their music.

And their music is our music. Or rather, their lyrics are Shannon's lyrics.

One of the ways that we try to make our comic book unique from other super hero comics, or web comics, is that at least once per issue we include lyrics to a song that the band performs. All the songs that have appeared in the comic book over the last ten years have all been written Shannon Muir.

Music as part of an action adventure is how Shannon and I got to know one another.

When we were younger, and she lived thousands of miles away, we both enjoyed watching an animated television series called JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS.

Originally created to sell dolls, JEM was a well-crafted television series that had and still has an audience and fandom of boys and girls, men and women. Developed by writer Christy Marx the series dealt with a wide range of topics both fun and serious beyond the simple adventure.

As a young teen watching such a show, Shannon did something I never would have had the nerve to do. She wrote to the production company and was soon in contact with Christy Marx herself to learn about the show and writing for animation. Marx soon became Shannon's mentor and friend.

I would later meet Marx online, and then at a science fiction convention. Whatever I said must have impressed her enough because when Shannon was ready to move down here to Los Angeles she asked Christy about me. She must have said something nice, because we've been together for over fifteen years.

The reason I bring this up is that Shannon and I have not intended to make FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY a copy of JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS, it's quite different, but Marx's influence is there.

One such influence is the inclusion of a song per story. There were usually two songs, I believe, per episode of JEM.

In our current issue, as part of our 10th anniversary celebration, Shannon is including three songs as part of the story. The next song page will appear next week.

Shannon has now assembled all her songs written for FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, as well as songs written for another series she developed called ENCHANTRESSHAWKE. Along with the lyrics to over fifty songs, she has also written an extensive history as to where each song came from.

Her songbook is entitled FLYING GLORY FLASHBACK: Celebrating 10Years Of The Lyrics, Words, and History Behind The Webcomic

It can be punched in both paperback book or as an ebook.

To all the fans of FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY as well as those who like music and to discover where lyrics come from, I encourage you to support Shannon and purchase her book.

Thank you all for putting up with this little promotion.

Best

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Book Review - The Chloe Files "Ashes to Ashes" by Howard Hopkins

2011-10-03T15:55:00.000-07:00

BLOG / Book Review

I've been meaning to write another book review for some time now. As we enter the haunting month of October, I thought It only write to post to post my review of Howard Hopkin's "Ashes to Ashes", book one of the Chloe Files.

I have not read the his previous novel GRIMM which introduced our heroine, but turned out not to be necessary as enough references are layout through this story to bring you up to speed to know the world of New Salem and the haunting adventures Chloe has already had.

It was quite fun to start the story off with Chloe reading a novelization of her previous adventure written by one said Howard Hopkins. I didn't know until the end of reading the book that this had begun as an online series to promote the earlier GRIMM, but the important thing was that I didn't need to know.

ASHES TO ASHES is a scary yet fun tale of a girl desperately searching for the man she love while also uncovering clues to her missing sister, and discovering dark secrets that haunt the city that she calls home.

Here is proof that a horror story doesn't need to be full of blood and guts. Enjoy the haunting mystery while Chloe tries to get on with her life.

I may now go back and read the original GRIMM, as well as the follow up tale of The Chloe Files.

What do you do without Joe Chill?

2011-09-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

What do you do without Joe Chill?

Anyone who has followed Batman knows his parents were killed when he was only a child. Eventually the writers at DC Comics gave the killer a name... Joe Chill.

Joe Chill is the unseen presence that was the goal for Batman. A name for that haunting desire for revenge that kept the Dark Knight forever vigilant on protecting Gotham City. Yes, there would be far worse villains than the weasel face little man; the Joker has killed hundreds of people, but Chill holds more power over the hero than super villain.

Over the years there have been stories where Batman came close to capturing Joe Chill, and in some Chill has been captured, or killed. But all the same he remains the cancer created the Batman. The death of his parents always there when he's hunting down killers

I bring this up because of a television show I've been enjoying for the last few years called THE MENTALIST.

In the show, a serial killer murdered the wife and daughter of our lead character Patrick Jane years earlier. He has been working with the police (The CBI, California Bureau of Investigation. They didn't want to use the FBI,) helping them solve crimes, but his real desire is to hunt down the killer Red John.

Red John is Joe Chill for The Mentalist.

Last season every episode was building to Patrick confronting or possibly killing Red John. And so that is what happened.

After watching the season ender I certain the next season would take the series in a new direction. Patrick will have finally solved the case that has been his life for so many years. To me the new season would be: What does The Mentalist do now?

If Batman captures or kills Joe Chill the purpose of his very existence comes to an end. Can Bruce Wayne move on with his life? Can he put the cowl away and lock up the batcave? Or does he keep going because he knows that the mission continues... (forget the fact that many of the super villain exist because Batman exists.)

The Mentalist's new season began this past week (I'll try to keep the SPOILERS to a minimum) with him going to jail for the murder at the end of last season. Through out the episode his sanity is questioned, but his team sticks with him to the end.

So once he's released from jail he should be able to move on with his life, which is what I wanted to see. To see how he can continue help the police (CBI) when he no longer has the obsession. It would be interesting to see the change and development of his character.

But (and here's the SPOILER), the episode ends on Patrick telling his partner that the man he killed wasn't his nemesis, and that Red John is still out there.

It was a rather disappointing way to start the new season.

There are two ways that I believe the series will go from here: 1) Red John is alive and manipulated the whole thing, and will show up every so often through the season (usually one of his followers will get involved and not himself.) Been there, done that. 2) The other way is that Patrick Jane’s psychosis won't allow himself to admit the villain is gone; otherwise he has nothing left to live for.

This second direction is the way I am hoping the show goes will. Because I really want to see Patrick get on with his life, find out that there are more important things in his life than an archenemy. Maybe he might discover things already close by.

There is one more direction his character might take, but I’m pretty certain that a light detective show like The Mentalist would never go, and that would be to reveal that Patrick Jane is Red John. That would be a real depressing way to end the series.

What I really want to see is what happens to Batman when Joe Chill is no longer out there.

In THE MENTALIST what I really want to see is what happens to Batman when he’s finally solved his parent’s murder and Joe Chill is no more.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity.

DCnU - Not quite here yet.

2011-08-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

Less then 24 hours from now the universe will be starting over. Rather, the DC Comics Universe of super heroes will be starting over, with the release of JUSTICE LEAGUE #1.

I’ve been thinking about what to put into this blog for several days since I picked up my last batch of comics.

Last week’s comics represented the end of the old DC universe in a way, and I’m not talking about the end of Flashpoint. But that end bothered me in a way.

Two books had wonderful sunset endings, and one did not. Let me explain.

ACTION COMICS ended with Clark Kent and Lois Lane walking off into the evening twilight, all his problems resolved and finding happiness with her and Metropolis. The End. In WONDER WOMAN; her grand journey, and alternate reality, came to its end happy to find Paradise Island and the rest of the world the way it should be and she sores in the warmth of the sun. The End.

But in another JUSTICE SOCIETY, the ending wasn’t so glorious, no proper curtain down. The final issue felt like the story was rushed so that it would be over before the new universe took over. The Per Degaton story never quite went anywhere, Jessie Quick’s part of his story felt rewritten. And Alan Scott, Green Lantern (the true Green Lantern in my eyes, as I’ve written before), in a really bad looking costume, dies battling a monster/god that hardly had time to know a few buildings down.

The story ends in the cemetery with the question, what now? The answer by Jay Garrick is; we go one as we always have. And The End comes with everyone feeling at a loss.

The Justice Society and all the ‘Golden Age’ characters have always been my favorites, and they haven’t always been given their do.

Jay Garrick stands there and I realize he’s the last remaining member of the original Justice Society. Spectre is someone else, Dr. Fate has been replaced, Hourman’s son takes his place, Sandman gone, Johnny Thunder long gone. Even Hawkman man their great leader died and died again. Only The Flash, Jay Garrick stands alone out of that team; the first super hero team.

It really hurts to see all those characters go out that way. It’s almost as bad as when twenty odd years ago they ‘died’ and were trapped for ‘eternity’ in the Norse Ragnarok.

I grew up reading about these characters, whether it was in the ALL STAR SQUADRON, following their children in INFINITY INC, or collecting any back issues or reprints I could find (and afford). I read them more than any other characters.

A couple of years ago the JUSTICE SOCIETY ANNUAL gave us a glimpse of the ‘new Earth 2’ with a team that was almost the team I remember before the CRISIS took it away. Not quite, but close, especially since it focused on Helena Wayne, the true HUNTRESS.

It was a great thrill to see the original team worked into the continuity of SMALLVILLE.

Now the universe is starting over, and what of my beloved team?

I had no answer for that question three hours ago, and now I have at least a glimmer of hope.

Coming across my Twitter feed @ComicBooked had this message: Justice Society, Earth 2 to return! http://bit.ly/rffbmc

There would be a new Earth 2 on which the Justice Society of America still exists.

James Robinsons will be writing. He’s handled the team quite well in the past, and did fantastic job on Starman. So I am really looking forward to this book, and hope that it will have that same joy of adventure I remember.

So in a few hours (and apparently some people already have the new Justice League in their hands), a new universe is born. (I have to stop thinking of Marvel’s New Universe).

I am glad to know that some old friends will be there, even if they are slightly different.

As mentioned in a previous blog, I will hold judgment of these books until I read them. However I will say this:

I’ll know how well all the books did once DC announces next years summer Event story line.

“When They Met, It Was Murder!”

2011-08-18T21:34:00.000-07:00

This blog is really going to show my age.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a guest blog for the website Para Your Normal about realizing that whatever genre I write in I’m actually writing romance.

For mystery and detective stories, this goes back to when I was the smallest of kids and the television I watched with my parents.

The first came in the form of McMilliand & Wife and follow by Hart to Hart, and I think they played a greater role in my creative mind than many other programs.

There would be many more over the years.

Focusing exclusively on television detective programs, (not including police procedure or lawyer shows), I believe there are three types of Romantic Detectives:

1. Partners in Crime and the Heart.

2. Keep it at Arm’s Reach.

3. The Love ‘em and Leave ‘em.

I could be wrong, but let me go through them in reverse order.

Love ‘em and Leave ‘em - are the shows about the handsome detective who somewhere in the middle of the case he meets the beautiful guest star who needs to help save her father’s business, has been charged with murder, or actually is the murder. Through out the hour we see the two grow closer together and finally kiss (or more), and the heroic detective saves her life. But then next week there’s a new case and a completely new damsel that needs to be saved and swept off her feet. Even as a kid I thought something was wrong in this, “hey, what happened to your girl friend from last week. Are you cheating on her with this new girl or did you just dump her?” Old examples of this loner hero are MAGNUM PI or KNIGHTRIDER and their ilk.

Keep it at Arm’s Reach – These are the stories where the man and woman have to begrudgingly work together and romantic feelings slowly grow between them, but neither willing to admit it to the other. Their sexual tension comes in arguments and jokes while solving the crime. They both will continue to see other people; which breaks the heart of the other each week. The audience keeps rooting for them to get together. This ‘keep them apart’ story thread can work for the first couple of weeks, but if they don’t eventually at least acknowledge their feelings for one another then it’s lost its power. Examples of this are REMINGTON STEELE, MOONLIGHT, and CASTLE.

Partners in Crime and The Heart – Are when our detectives are already in a solid romantic relationship. Usually married. They work together perfectly both at the crime scene and the bedroom. Examples of this are HART TO HART where couple were amateur sleuths who usually just stumbled upon the crimes, or McMILLIAN AND WIFE where he was a Police Lieutenant and he brought his work home and the wife got involved. Most recently there was the short-lived UNDERCOVERS where former spies, now married, are forced back into the game.

Many fans of these romantic detective shows would like to see the “Arms Reach” become the “Partners of the Heart”, but producer and network executives are leery of changing the formula that has been working so far, even if the ratings start to slip after a few seasons. It’s called the “Moonlighting Curse” by some people.

In the fifth season of Moonlighting, our leads had finally acknowledged their feelings for one another, but then ratings began to fall as the season progressed. Later executives supposedly see a correlation between the one and the other and so don’t want it to happen to their shows. In truth, both Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd were in the midst of their growing film careers, DIE HARD had just come out, so their schedules never matched up to be able play the scenes together as were required and the stories suffered for it. (Or so that’s how I understand it).

Truth or no truth, the curse haunts some executives. And has been a concern of audiences of the television series CASTLE where our leads obviously fell in love the moment they met, but never said anything about it. Everyone around them, including Castle’s mother and daughter know he loves Detective Beckett and vice versa. Only when she’s near death and in his arms does he finally admit his feelings.

So this new season starting in September (no, this was not intended as a promotion for Castle), the audience waits to see if they will remain at “Arm’s Reach” or finally become “Partners in Crime and the Heart”.

“Partners” is actually my favorite version of the television detective. The solid relationship with the main couple as they solve the murder together. I grew up on Hart to Hart. I would also discover the classic movie, and then read the novel (twice), “The Thin Man” by Dashiell Hammett. The story of a retired detective and his beautiful and rich new wife. Though the title is a description of the murder victim it would stick as the movie spun off sequel after sequel and eventually and television series. They were the perfect couple for crime, comedy and love. All else follow in their wake.

All of this influenced the writing of my pulp series “Revenge of the Masked Ghost.”

Bit of trivia. When I was young watching the first season of HART TO HART, the opening narration by their butler/chauffer Max said the following line “Their hobby is… murder.” Even as a kid I thought that was a dumb, it made it sounds like our heroes were actually the killers. By the start of the second season it had been changed to “When they met, it was murder.” My boy ears were very pleased.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

“The Devil maybe in the Details, but the Angels are in the Spaces In Between.”

2011-08-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

That might not mean anything to you, but it came to me finishing the latest draft of my contemporary fantasy novel.

When I first conceived this story I was in the midst of writing another so quickly dashed off a few pages and set it aside. Those pages became the outline from which I worked.

What I had at the start was the magical McGuffin, which our heroes and villain quested for, and the name of my main characters. So I put myself upon that same quest to see where they lead me.

Well for one reason or another, several of those names changed between the first and second draft of the novel. Some were too close in sound (try not to have characters names that start with the same letter). Soon other characters showed up they made themselves important and needed names as well.

However, the name of my main character never changed, and would become a very important key part of the story. No matter how unintentional when I started.

As I wrote further into the novel I discovered that her father had changed his family name (for reasons you’ll find out when you buy the book when its released). Near the end of the book my lead character has the opportunity to ask why. I knew nothing about this before I wrote it. Yet the very name I chose answered the question itself. Not only did it give me the explanation of why he had changed the name, but it also told me about a childhood trauma which I hadn’t planned and yet was now the story’s singularity which set in motion all the events which took us through the novel.

It was a little thing, and unplanned, but was an amazing thing to suddenly find I had laid the groundwork for key elements of my story without even knowing it.

The devil as they say is in the details, and if you focus too hard on them you lose sight of the whole. The vastness of world you create for your story doesn’t hold together on the details, but on the unplanned spaces in between them. Don’t listen to hard, but as you type away you just might hear angels wings providing you the creative answers you didn’t know you needed along your quest to compete the story.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

POST-CON-BLOG – My Feet Still Hurt.

2011-07-28T22:31:00.000-07:00

Has it already been a whole week since I took the three-hour train ride south to San Diego for Comic Con International?

Ya, I guess it has, and my feet have finally stopped hurting.

It was crowded as expected, but truthfully it didn’t feel as bad as last year. I can’t explain it, just felt that way. Other than being detoured around massive signing lines, or avoiding the video game corner, I was able to get around most of the floor with ease.

Of course walking that floor or standing in long lines (I avoided anything in 20 or Hall H) did end up killing my feet and legs to hurt and each night ached through the night. A hot bath took care of some of it, but not all.

So like many others, when you’ve walked the floor for hours you are desperate to find his and your feet are killing you like mine, you need to find a place to sit. But all the seats around the tables under the sales are filled and the sun is too bright out on the back patio as you avoid being struck by the sword of a knight in armor, and the Fire Marshal prevents you from slumping down a wall to the floor of the hall our lobby. What are you going to do?

May I make a suggestion? Go sit in on a panel. No, not a panel you’ve been planning to go to, or one that is so popular that you have to grab a chair and sit through to panels to guarantee you’re in for the one you want. What I mean is, go and sit in on a panel you have no previous interest in. One that would never have appeared on your planned out schedule.

Here are two examples. My fiancée just received her certificate to be a library technician, and wanted to attend a panel on Friday titled: COMICS IN THE LIBRARY – self -explanatory. But we got to the room half an hour earlier expecting there to be some type of line and wait out in the hall. The volunteers out front the door let us right into to sit in on the panel right before. This panel we hadn’t planned for was titled: GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR THE NON-TEENAGERS – this title is a bit more open in it’s meaning. Were they talking about kid comics that teenagers wouldn’t read, or were they meaning Adult Comix? So we sat in on it not knowing what to expect. What it turned out to be was another panel on libraries and how they were targeting graphic novels beyond their Young Adult readers. Sitting through half this panel gave us information on libraries and comic books as much as all the panel we had intended to be in.

The second example came Saturday when as creators of webcomics and planning for the future with digital comics, we headed for: “Digital Disruption: Comics, Webcomics, and the Business Model of the Future” with guests Mark Waid and Scott Kurtz. Well again, our feet were hurting and were able to get into seats for the last fifteen minutes or so of the previous panel. This was a Spotlight and not a panel, it focused on Comic Book Creator Peter Kuper. I’ll be hones with you, I had no idea who he was, was never a reader of MAD magazine, and his art style doesn’t appeal to me. How ever his own story was extremely interesting. We sat in as he was describing his development of a comic based on Kafka’s story Metamorphosis. Strange art and story for sure, but I really got a lot out of how we was designing the pages to tell the story and keep the viewer feeling like they were in the horrific dream of the story. He also showed art from the magazine World War 3 Illustrated, much of which was political in nature. Then he talked about how his family moved to Mexico from New York and he showed art work that he did there, and then in turn wound up doing further political work because of it. Sometimes the creator’s life can be as interesting if not more so than that of his creation.

As I said, these were not panels we planned to be in, but we got a lot out of. So at the next convention, whether it’s San Diego and its 120,000+ friends or a smaller local one, you’re feet are going to get tired. So go take some weight off, sit in the back of a panel, relax, and listen. I promise that you’ll learn something new, and enjoy yourself in ways you didn’t expect.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2011

2011-07-20T23:32:00.000-07:00

SAN DIEGO COMIC CON 2011

If you’re reading this sometime between Thursday July 21, 2011 and Sunday July 24, 2011 I’m either on a train or in the midst of a massive crow of my fellow comic, television, movies, video games, and internet fans.

I’m here pushing my way through to network with other professionals in those same industries.

It’ll be a struggle as it is every year, but I seem to survive.

For most of America who don’t go to such conventions, the most they’re ever going to hear about or see on the news are hundreds of people dressed in crazy costumes. Some you might recognize like Storm Troopers and Slave Girl Princess Leia, or characters from Japanese anime. The proper term for all that is Cosplayers.

What you’ll also see are promotions for blockbuster movies and television shows. These have taken over a lot of the con over the years. The annual invasion of San Diego by Hollywood.

Some people feel the con has lost its luster and become too big, gotten away from the heart of what started it all: comic books.

Well, that part is true, at least to some degree. As large as the con is, comic books take up a very small portion of the massive convention center.

But I want you to take a look at the whole. What are comic books, television shows, animation, movies, books, manga, video games, roll playing games, even Legos, have in common? They all originate from the imagination; whether it is the writer and artist who first came up with a costumed character that would go on to have a special effects extravaganza movie, or the fan who falls madly for the star faring pirate, or shirtless vampire, or school uniform wearing anime idol. The imagination fuels even the programmer who makes your avatar’s sword the power to destroy the great dragon boss.

It all begins with the story, no matter in what form it is written. The 160,000 expected visitors to the con would have nothing to do if someone hadn’t first conceived of the stories, which they have come to honor.

Fandom keeps those stories alive. The Cosplayers continue the stories of their characters. It’s marvelous, and wonderful. Every story lives for four special days.

I am a storyteller, and at San Diego Comic Con International, I stand among my brethren.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

POST GHOST BLOG - The Masked Ghost

2011-07-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

I can’t believe that it’s been nearly a year since I first had the ghost of an idea that quickly became grew and became the pulp serial known as “Revenge of the Masked Ghost.”

I’ve already writing about the “Secret Origin of the Masked Ghost” so I won’t go into it much here other than to remind you that my original concept came out of the question: How does a family deal with discovering that the mysterious masked vigilante is their brother or son? It was long before I was writing away expanding the idea into a full story premise (I was using a pencil on a pad of paper).

I posted the first few chapters on facebook and then chose to set up its own website and keep adding a new chapter every week. A few weeks liker I started a new job so the story had to move to a new chapter every other week.

As I mentioned at the beginning, it was an experiment, but a successful one I think. I usually wrote each chapter with in a day of posting it straight to the web. Proofed as best I could in the time I gave myself, and then would later go back and repost a cleaned up version of each chapter. Probably should have made certain every word was spelled right before I posted, but I wanted to do it this was and so kept doing it.

Twenty Five chapters later and the Masked Ghost has had his Revenge.

So what happens next for the Masked Ghost, for Margaret and Donald Raymond?

I really can’t say, I really don’t know. I do plan on bringing together all the chapters together fill in any plot holes and maybe expand upon some of the character or action scenes. Then possibly will release it as a novel, most like an ebook. I’ll let you know.

Before I do that I have to finish up another novel, that only needs a little more reworking before I declare it done and let it loose on the world.

But don’t worry; the Masked Ghost isn’t too far away from my thoughts. There maybe future stories in store soon enough.

Thank you all for your support, comments, and reading the serial.

I especially want to thank the crew at ALL PULP for posting announcements as each chapter was finished. Please send your support their way. I really liked writing pulp, and it was great to know there was an audience out there.

It was also fun to participate in #TuesdaySerial There are a lot of other great authors there. Go check them out.

For now, the body is in the ground, the mask is folded and put away, but the Ghost is restless. Go back and read the entire serial from the start, and get your friends to do the same.

"Revenge of the Masked Ghost"

Next week I’ll be at San Diego Comic Con International. I’ll try to post something about it for you.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Book Review – “The Ghost and the Goth” by Stacey Kade

2011-07-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

The Internet, and especially Twitter, has been introducing me to many enjoyable books over this last year, which I wouldn’t have discovered any other way. It just takes me a while to read them all (sorry to those waiting for a review).

One such book is the Young Adult Paranormal Romance “The Ghost and the Goth” by Stacey Kade.

Teenagers. High school, and all the cliques and clichés that go with it. It is in this world that Alona Dare lives, dies, and well haunts.

Through the eyes of the recently dead Alona, we are introduced to that high school world where every type of student is put in their own box. Especially the freaks like Will Killian. Yet, only now that she’s dead does Alona discover whom her true friends were/are.

We have all read or watched stories in which our main character can “see dead people,” and have to help the ghost revenge their death or complete some unfinished task from life. Yet, what kind of psychological damage is done to someone with such a ‘gift’? What happens when every ghost around you keeps vying for your attention? No one believes you, and will have you committed.

Kade begins the story with a lighthearted look at high school life and death; then takes a somewhat darker yet fun tone as we witness Killian’s struggle to ignore the ghosts as his life crumbles around him.

Though the book began with some very high school clichés it didn’t take long for the story to get moving and allow us to discover the hearts of the main characters. I was pleasantly surprised by the twist of what was the real threat of the story.

“The Ghost and the Goth” is a fun yet serious tale a high school haunting with just the right hints of romance. When I find the time I may pick up the rest of Stacey Kade’s trilogy.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity.

Book Review – “One Hundred Candles” by Mara Purnhagen

2011-06-30T21:27:00.000-07:00

“One Hundred Candles” by Mara Purnhagen

Often when you put teenager and ghosts together in one story you end up with “the Scooby Gang” as Buffy called he friends, which in turn was a reference to the Hanna Barbara animated series “Scooby Doo Where Are You?” that began back in the sixties.

There is no “Scooby Gang” to be found in the PAST MIDNIGHT series of Young Adult novels by Mara Purnhagen.

Instead we have Charlotte Silver, her family, and friends having to deal with the ordinary struggles of high school life. From struggles with schoolwork, getting a first boyfriend, and the concerns of a family in trouble. These day-to-day struggles only become all the more important when a real supernatural threat enters their lives. A potential divorce is more dangerous than a demon.

Though Charlotte’s parents are paranormal investigators, the story has never been about hunting down ghosts. Her father doesn’t believe in ghosts, it’s just residual energy. It’s about a young woman seeking an ordinary life, and not loosing it when its finally in her grasp.

In a previous review I described “Raising the Dead”, Purnhagen’s novella that takes place between PAST MIDNIGHT and ONE HUNDRED CANDLES as a weekend jaunt. A wonderful little story but has no major impact upon our characters or the world they lived in. I can certainly say that we are deep into the workweek with ONE HUNDRED CANDLES.

The threats have grown for Charlotte; socially, personally, and supernaturally. When it’s over, things can never go back the way they were.

As to Purnhagen’s writing style, I found something quite interesting in ONE HUNDRED CANDLES that I hadn’t notice in the earlier books. She would start a chapter at one point and then jump back and fourth telling the reader of the events that lead up to that moment before finally moving on. Truthfully, I was confuse at first and it took a few chapters to get use to, but then I began to look forward to seeing how she would start off the next chapter. It was a really fun and interesting way to keep us inside Charlotte’s mind and point of view of events around her.

It’s going to be hard to write further reviews of the PAST MIDNIGHT series, as I’ve really been enjoying them and looking forward to the next. Won’t be able to give a non-biased opinion to the next book in the series.

ONE HUNDRED CANDLES burns brightly Mara Purnhagen.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity.

10 years isn't that long... if you're Flying Glory.

2011-06-23T22:01:00.000-07:00

I don’t have to worry about coming up with anything to write this week.

This is a very important week. Not as important as some of course, but for me it is.

This week marks the 10^th anniversary of when our comic FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY went up on the web. (http://www.flying-glory.com)

Don’t know how many of you might remember an online bulletin board called GEnie. But back then, when the Internet was basically text and the only graphics you got to see was when you downloaded them (or when you were trapped with in the shell of AOL), I hung out in several boards had that had to do with writing: Science Fiction Round Table, Script Writing, Animation, and COMIC BOOKS.

With in the comic book writing board, the offered opportunities for people to submit (upload) samples of their writing for other members to read and review. There were many professionals on board and some of them took time out of their busy schedules to read the work as well.

So one day, I decided to participate and submit some of my own writing. This would be a script for a comic book of my own creation. I had previously been sketching out characters I wanted to write. So I chose one and sat at the keyboard and wrote.

I didn’t really know where I was going to go with the story, except that I knew that it would take place during the ‘golden age’ of the 1940s and was to have a slight different pov of events.

And so I soon submit what became the script for the very first FLYING GLORY comic book story.

I was quite surprised when the reviews that came back extremely positive. There was only one, that I remember, that have a major negative problem with the story. And that involved a character I didn’t explain well enough. This character was very important to the whole story, but I understood what the problem was and was easily fixed (though I certainly didn’t want to right then, I had written something good.)

It was a great feeling to have people say that my work was good, and so I knew something should be done with it.

So I printed up copies of the script (cleaned up and corrected, of course) put them in envelopes and passed them around to publishers at Comic Con International (San Diego ComiCon).

The very fact that I thought they would have the time to read my work really says something about me I guess. I don’t know if its faith or stupidity.

But again, surprise upon surprise, months later I get a phone call from an editor from a small, yet well known, publisher that I had given a script to. He thought Flying Glory showed promise. We talked more about it, and I sent him more samples of the comic. (Another dumb move, I guess.)

As fate would have it, nothing ever came about of my own comic book, as the publisher went out of business with in the next year. Have nothing against them; just wasn’t meant to be.

(Who remembers COMICO.)

Years pass, and another former member of the GEnie moves to Los Angeles, and a whole lot closer to me. (A good thing since we’re now engaged.)

Shannon will probably tell about different parts of this, but eventually I decided that Flying Glory needed to be an update. (No, not an reboot, my original characters are too important to me.) So I asked her if she’d be willing to help me come up with a story about the granddaughter of the original Flying Glory.

Debra Clay loves the spot light, believes that she’s going to become a really successful rock singer her friends backing her up in their band. Then things change one day when she discovers has inherited her grandmother’s powers.

FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY is born. A book about teenagers that struggle with their everyday lives and relationship, who just happen to be in a band and are super heroes.

Now we are celebrating our 10^th anniversary with a special Giant Size Issue 14 where we will discover a secret that has haunted Flying Glory for decades and will be a threat for many years to come.

Over the next year as the story progresses, I’ll be writing about different important things have made the Hounds of Glory the band to watch.

Oh, and remember that character my one critic thought I should change. Well he’s back in this story too. I wonder if you’ll know who it is.

Now sit back as we begin a ride through rocky life of Flying Glory and all her family and friends.

BOOK REVIEW - STOLEN DREAMS by Stacy Kennedy

2011-06-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

It struck me the other evening that the very first story I wrote for a high school Creative Writing class was a Paranormal Romance. A woman looses a man in a terrible tragedy, his love for her keeps his ghost near but he can no longer be with her, so helps her find a new love.

A rather simple story, thinking about it now, but it was high school so what can I say. The teacher liked it, and I got a good grade, so that’s what counts.

I never thought of calling it “Paranormal Romance” back then. All I knew was that I liked ghost stories, and stories with strong character interaction (though I probably didn’t call it that.)

This all came to me because I have just finished reading STOLEN DREAMS (Book One of The Lingering Spirit series) by Stacy Kennedy.

Tess is a hard working businesswoman who’s greatest problem is her best friend sending her out on blind dates. That and she can see ghosts. Most ghosts are simply an annoyance to the young woman who would far rather get on with her life than help them reach the other side. That is until one extremely handsome police detective starts haunting her every waking moment.

Help solve his murder, and he’ll be out of her life for good. She had no intention of falling in love.

There are two types of books on my book shelf (or e-reader): the ones I don’t want to put down and keep reading until they are done, and those I put down to eventually get back to. STOLEN DREAMS is one of the former. I’d switch on Kindle on my phone whenever I could to keep reading. (That’s a bit much I know, but I was reading during breaks at work).

Part of what kept me reading and wanting to know what happens next was that about a third of the way through I got an idea of what the outcome was going to be, and I wanted to know if I was right or wrong. Reading all the way to the very last page, I kept expecting something to happen. There were clues along the way; lines spoken, and lines NOT spoken that kept pushing me down this train of thought. Yet at the very end I still don’t know if my theory is correct or not.

Perhaps it is because of my own expectations, but the one disappointing thing of the entire book was the ending. The last hundred words is a let down. As the title suggests: STOLEN DREAMS (Book One of The Lingering Spirit series), This is the start of a series, and because of this final scene feels incomplete. As if one more chapter had been written to conclude the story, but was taken off so the novel could become a serial.

Am certain that I am still correct about a certain part of what has yet to be told (though I won’t tell you. Spoilers), and I look forward to finding out. Beyond that, STOLEN DREAM is an extreme enjoyable Paranormal Romance, where the physical desire for what cannot be had grows in to a far greater love.

Maybe someday I’ll revive my high school story, and write a Paranormal Romance on par with Stacy Kennedy’s ghostly detective.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

http://kevinpsbroden.blogspot.com/

DC Comics - Reboot or not to Reboot.

2011-06-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

Reboot or not to Reboot

I have dreamt of working on a comic book for DC Comics since the beginning. I was DC fan my whole youth and really didn’t ‘discover’ Marvel until I was in college. (Collecting back issues of John Byrne’s Fantastic Four got me in the door.) Believing that dream may soon be a reality, I am fearful of expressing my opinion, good or bad, about the upcoming reboot of the DC Universe. It might prevent me from being hired there.

Truthfully, the idea of a company wide reboot is a good idea.

Originally, a similar new start was suppose to happen at the end of CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS all those years ago. And I thought that would have been a good idea also, but it didn’t happen. I won’t blame anyone but a lot of miscommunications and editorial issues got in the way and the newly created single universe was more confusing than the multiverse previously (See my review of JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #50 for more on this).

The idea of being able to introduce the DC Universe, its heroes, villains, and supporting starts to a whole new audience, without them feeling like they’re being dropping into an unknown warzone that’s been going on for years, is extremely good. I am looking forward to seeing how they pull it off.

However, (and here comes my fear), I do have some concerns. If this ‘reboot’ does start everything over from scratch, what happens to certain characters? Even though Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the like are all modern characters now, I hope and pray that the ‘golden age’ characters of the Justice Society and their associates still existed during the World War II era. Selfishly this concerns me more than anything else happening in the DC Universe. But I must have faith in the great creators, writers, and artists to take these original characters and treat them right.

My other concern is that the reboot isn’t going to be total. This was one of the problems that came out of the first CRISIS. Even though a whole new world was created, certain events of the old still existed. The worst that comes to mind was that Superman had never been Superboy, and yet the Legion of Super Heroes still have memories of interacting with the Boy of Steel. So John Byrne and other creators had to come up with an explanation for it. I did like some of the writing of that story, but in the end it turned out extremely confusing and even messed up the origin of Supergirl.

To counter that. I think George Perez’s version of Wonder Woman may have been the best post CRISIS book. What do you think?

So my fear is that even though we get a new start, and have a new audience introduced to these great characters, there’s still going to be baggage that will confuse people. Heck there’s a lot that’s happen over the last decade that confuses me.

I am trying not to make judgment calls on any of the books as they’ve been announced. Really. I want to experience them on my own one at a time. Decided to buy this one or that at the comic book shop. (I won’t get into the digital debate here.) Some I will like, others I won’t. Because that is how it is now.

So far, I have only seen two book covers and their descriptions that turn me off, but you know what? Even they deserve the right to be looked at further, read, and given a chance.

To those creators, writers, artists, and editors, I know you will give it your all to turn out absolutely the best work. Thank you in advance for whatever it is you create.

My only wish is that a year from now, we don’t have another Crisis or Flashpoint which puts everything back the way it was.

Just whatever you do, don’t ruin MY Justice Society of America. I still want to write them someday soon. Got this story I want to pitch…

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Writing the Challenge of Dreams and GoBots

2011-05-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

Who remembers the GoBots? That show that was always in the shadow of the Tranformers? To think if it had aired only a few weeks earlier history would have been completely different. (Or not.)

I don’t have a lot of memories of the series, beyond the original “Challenge of the GoBots” mini-series, but it was fun. What I do remember is what resulted from watching it.

It was probably a few years after GoBot’s went off the air, though Transformers was still going strong, that I had a dream.

I’m not one to make a big deal out of my dreams, write them down or tell people about them, but from time to time a dream will be memorable enough that I eventually do something with elements of it.

In this dream the GoBot’s existed and somehow I was the human child of two of them. Strange, I know, but that was what I remember from the dream.

Sometime after that, weeks, months later, I began to write a story based on that.

Here’s rough synopsis of that story I wrote in Junior High:

Two giant alien races are at war and using Earth to fight their battles. As the story opens; the heroic ‘good’ aliens discover two elements of the villainous ‘bad’ aliens current plot. The first part is a massive machine that has ‘transmutative’ abilities that is able to transform one object or being into another. But the heroes have arrived to late, as one of the ‘bad guys’ has turned herself into a human so that she get close to a scientist who has invented a weapon that could either end the alien war or destroy the earth.

All they know is the scientist is on a cruise ship, and clues point that the villain is headed to board the ship. So the first officer of the good aliens becomes a human as well. He makes his way onto the cruise ship as one of the passengers. Then finds out who the scientist is he’s looking for and arranges to sit at the man’s table for meals. He also meets an extremely beautiful woman also at the table. They are polite but don’t get along, so the scientist’s wife makes it her missing to get the young couple together. Which by the end of the cruise does happen and they fall in love.

You guess it, the woman is the evil alien. Now neither can return to their original form, but convince the scientist to never build his weapon.

Not very good, I know, but what can you do I was a kid.

What’s important about this story is that it was truly the very first story I ever wrote that had a true beginning, middle, and end. I like to believe that I improved my writing abilities a little bit with each story I wrote from than on.

Even though it was very derivative of at least three shows I had been watching, it still was mine and it got me started.

And the fact that it originated from a strange dream I had longer before is also a good lesson for all writers.

Don’t dwell on everything that happens in your dreams, but recognize that your subconscious is sorting through millions of thoughts and ideas that go through your head. So when you remember something interesting from a dream, file it away because you might just well use it in that animated TV script you’re writing, or that novel, or feature film.

Your mind is a vast treasure trove of ideas, and sometimes they have to yell at you through dreams that they want to be told as stories.

Of course I’ve never been able to come up with a story from the dream I had when I was seven, where my grandmother turns into a giant spider with vampire teeth.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

“More Irish Than the Irish” – Review of IRISH MOON by Amber Scott

2011-05-19T23:11:00.000-07:00

“More Irish Than the Irish”

It is a feeling I have every time I visit my cousins in Ireland, most of all in the North also known as Ulster. Though I am a second generation American, I feel so much like one of them, so much a part of the Emerald Isle that I never want to leave in though I know I must.

“More Irish Than the Irish”

It is an equally strong theme that runs through the pages of IRISH MOON by Amber Scott.

In an ancient Ireland that has ignores most of what goes on in the rest of Europe and where magicks still live and thrive in the shadows and trees of the land, a threat has arrived.

As a wedding approaches love and passion is in the air, but not for Breanne who is more concerned with her studies with the old druid. But when he turns up dead and a stranger arrives her life is turned completely upside down. For Ashlon, he only wants to finish his knight’s quest and put Ireland behind him. However he is drawn to the people and this magical land that he soon finds himself “More Irish Than the Irish”. Yet, destiny has greater plans for these two, pulling them together for purposes far greater than their burning passions.

IRISH MOON is the first ‘romance’ novel I’ve read and though the passions of our lead couple grow through out the novel until they can no longer contain it, this erotic passion never over powered the story, the adventure, or the characters themselves. The growth of their love is intricately tied to the quest they find themselves on.

Following Breanne and Ashlon as they struggled with their own goals and doing their best to avoid one another become an enjoyable character study of love and passion.

Perhaps it is out of pop cultural clichés, but I was pleased that I never caught onto who the true villain was of the story until the reveal. Excellent and well done.

My only complaint I have with the story is that three of the supporting character’s threads aren’t fully resolved by the end of the book. This appears to be leading towards the sequel novel ENCHANTED MOON for at least two of these, and yet I was hoping to discover more of the motives of the King.

Over all IRISH MOON is an extremely enjoy tale of love and the Irish that pulls at my heartstrings for my ancestral home where any visitor will find themselves “More Irish than the Irish.”

IRISH MOON is my latest exploit into reading an e-book. Like Mara Purnhagen’s RAISING THE DEAD before it, I read Scott’s novel on the Kindle app on my Android phone. Though I have learned how to alter the size and readability of the file in the app, I found a continuing. Through out the book apostrophes vanished or were replaced boxes, and some quotation marks were at the bottom of a line instead of above. This seems to be a problem with the app, and after a couple of chapter did not remain a distraction.

Here’s hoping you enjoyed my third attempt at a book review (fourth if you count the comics), I may be doing this more often but understand I’m not the fasted reader when it comes to novels. I’ll let you know what I’m reading and if it’s worth a review later.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Comics From Last Wednesday

2011-05-05T21:23:00.000-07:00

Comics From Last Wednesday

by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

I don’t always get my weekly comics fix on a Wednesday, just whenever I can make it to the comic shop. Either at Cornerstore Comics in Anaheim, or House of Secrets in Burbank. Depending on where I’m at.

This past week I picked up just a few books, among them were:

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #50 and ACTION COMICS #900

Anniversary Issues can be great. You’re promised something special in them, more pages, more art, and more story. Sometimes this really pays off great, other times it just feels like they’re just filling pages, some only with reprints.

Many times the Anniversary issue is the big climax and ending of a story that’s been going on for many months. If they’ve planned it out, the conclusion will be perfect in the big issue, but sometimes a story ends up being cut short or stretched too long so they can end on the Anniversary issue.

What follows are my thoughts more then reviews of these two Big Anniversary Issues. You don’t have to agree with any of it, but please read along.

JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #50

Let me start with saying I love the Justice Society and have ever since the very first comic I read and became enthralled with all the citizens of Earth 2.

I really got into them with the All Star Squadron and then continued to read about the characters and collected earlier books as well. Infinity Inc. would follow, but I was more interested in the Golden Age characters.

Then came CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS. The epic event crossover all others hope to be and fail.

The Crisis merged all the universes together into one “consistent” DC Universe. Supposedly it was done because the multi-earths were confusing readers.

It never confused my 12 year old mind.

Afterwards things really became confusing.

For one important point, Superman was no longer the first of the super heroes that would inspire all the rest. There had always been something in the older books that the heroes looked up to him. That wasn’t so any more.

On a personal note, several of my favorite characters ceased to exist, or their origins were thrown into chaos. The chaos struck the worst for Power Girl who was no longer the cousin of Superman. They tried to make her a descendent of ARION OF ATLANTIS. It didn’t work.

As for the missing characters, The Huntress, Helena Wayne, daughter of Batman and Catwoman.

What became a real problem to me was the modern age of characters sometimes acted as if they didn’t even know the earlier ones existed. Some stories were written about villains who hypnotized the entire world to forget the heroes. Just as they had forgotten the city of Keystone City was right next door to Central City (in this new world).

That never really worked for me.

Recently, Len Wein wrote the wonderful series called LEGACIES, which provides a great overview of the history of the DC super heroes. Though it also required time to be ‘squashed’ so that though World War II happened 70 years ago, the golden age of heroes didn’t seem to be that long ago. I can live with it so the great history of the JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA still exists.

With all that behind us, I bring you to Issue 50 of their current series, written by Marc Guggenheim. The first eleven pages, drawn by George Perez, makes the purchase of the entire book worth the cover price to anyone who loves the DC Universe, and even more so to someone like me with such love for the Justice Society.

From his first appearance it was known that Barry Allen had been inspired by a comic book of the original FLASH. The same type of inspiration is the theme of this first story about the JSA and their Golden Age contemporaries, and is told from the point of view of all the Silver Age and modern heroes that are inspired by them. It is a beautiful and simple example how important those original characters still are.

(SIDE NOTE: The concept of the SILVER AGE doesn’t really exist any more as most characters seem to only have appeared in the last ten years. The exception being Martian Manhunter.)

We begin to get a glimpse of the ‘main story’ of this book as we get different shots of the villain Per Degaton as he has fought different incarnation of the JSA/ALL-STAR SQUADRON. But what’s important and fun to see is the first of these pages where we find ourselves on EARTH 2 or rather the NEW EARTH 2 that was created during the events of INFINITY CRISIS.

This Earth 2 was last scene a couple of years back in a JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA Annual where they meet their counterparts of the JUSTICE SOCIETY OF INFINITY. It’s a name that shows us just what’s different in the world that is extremely close to the original Earth 2. Here its obvious that Star Spangle Kid was not only able to have his Super Squad (from when ALL STAR COMICS was revived in the 70s) and that the children of the Society actually became members instead of forming INFINITY INC.

In that earlier story not only do we deal with the chaos of Power Girl’s life, especially now that she knows she is the cousin of Superman but of an alternate earth and died in the latest Crisis. On top of that I finally got to see Helena Wayne as the Huntress as she was meant to be and drawn by Jerry Ordway, one of the artists who worked on Infinity Inc and her own series in the back of Wonder Woman back then.

It’s great to know that version of the team exists, (that’s the team I really want to write for.)

The next story in this anniversary book is actually a tale that’s been told several times before. About when the Justice Society faced off with the House Un-American Activities Committee. Originally to explain why they had been missing for so many decades. This time it takes a personal look at the team members as they have to make the decision of turning their back on a government that has turned its back on them. I’m not a major Howard Chaykin fan, but his artwork really works for this sequence, and it’s an excellent telling.

With that the book brings us to present day and we discover what Per Degaton has been up to.

Truthfully, this part of the book, though tied to the others, it is the least appealing to me. And that maybe my own fault, as I have missed several months of both JSA books so somethings are not quite so clear to me. I certainly don’t like the new ALAN SCOTT/GREEN LANTERN costume, but as I said that’s me.

Even with that, if you have any interest in the JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA and the DC Universe, this book is worth having.

ACTION COMICS #900

Over the last week this issue has gotten a lot of news coverage. You know about that, I’ll mention it briefly later, but let’s not dwell on it.

A special anniversary issue of a comic book should still be an issue of the series, and that is what we have here.

Here is the conclusion Paul Cornell’s great story focusing on Lex Luthor and his robot Lois Lane. It had been a great ride as Lex ran up against some of the greatest super villains of the DC Universe and now achieving his ultimate of goals and finally destroy Superman.

Yet as with all great egos, Lex brings about his own undoing, but not in any expected way. Even the reappearance of Neil Gaiman’s Death is welcome, and experiences the events of the story only in the way she could.

I have one complaint about this story, and only one, but it could appear to be major. I was looking forward to a conclusion to a great story, but was disappointed to find that we were being thrust right into the REIGN OF DOOMSDAY. I’ve never been into any of the Doomsday stories, he was one of those characters that served it’s purpose and should have been left to die, but came back time and again.

Even with that complain, I am very please to see Paul Cornell will remain at the helm as writer and I know will not be disappointed.

The next story in this anniversary book, entitled “Life Support” by Damon Lindelof, is a short quiet moment from a doomed world. Too bad one of the other stories in the book got all the news coverage, because this little tale speaks volumes far beyond any controversy. Forget the other story, pull out your copy of Action Comics #900 and read this story and I dare you note to shed a tear when its over.

“Autobiography” by writer Paul Dini is about Superman’s experience with alien worlds, and how someone like him will eventually be seen by other worlds. Not really a story, but just a conversation between being mightier than mortal men.

Geoff John’s story is surprisingly disappointing. A cute glimpse into Lois wanting to know Clark’s friends from the future, but it just doesn’t work for me.

Now comes “The Incident” by David S. Goyer. I don’t want to get involved in this non-controversy. It’s a very good story. Superman would do what he did in this story, because he helps people, any people that need help. As to the American issue, I’ll only say this: Over half of the original Justice League of America were not Americans, they were either foreigners or aliens, and two worked for intergalactic police forces who thought their jurisdiction superseded the local constabulary. (I’ll let you figure that all out for yourself.) My only question is where is this going to lead? Is there a story line planned out? Hasn’t Superman appeared to be an enemy of the state already, a threat to national security? Ask Lois’ dad. I hope we can get away from such stories. It’s rather tiring.

The Richard Donner script that follows is good, and though I’m a scriptwriter myself I found it hard to read in this format. sorry.

I really like the Brian Stelfreeze two page spread in the back of the book. Many years ago, Mr. Stelfreeze spent half an hour on the phone with me talking about working in comic and what I should do. I feel bad never staying in touch with him. He’s a great guy and a great artist.

So here we are, two very enjoyable anniversary comics out the same week. One gets more attention than it deserves, and the other should be read by many many more.

I don’t know if these are well written reviews of these comics or not, but I hope you enjoy them, and go buy the books and enjoy them for what they are. Good story telling.

Seven Subjects Over A BLOG

2011-04-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I made a fool of myself with my blog. No doubt, I will make a fool of myself again this week. This certainly is not something I intend to do every week (unless you like it), but I did promise to write up seven ideas for a blog over the week and briefly write about them here. So let’s get to it… Oh, you really want me to do this?

One of the first ideas that came to me was while I was standing in line at a local restaurant. This is one of those ‘greasy spoon’ like places. It has a lot of business from the different car dealerships and repair shops around it. So you know it has to be good. Actually the restaurant has been there for at least fifty years. Far better then most in town.

Anyway, one of the usual things I like to order in this restaurant is a corn dog. But when I looked at the menu board I did a double take and had to check what I saw was right.

A Hot Dog is $1.95

A Corn Dog is $1.45

Exactly what’s in a hot dog that requires another 50 cents?

I know the meat in both of them isn’t really any different, and probably not very health, but what makes a bun more expensive than the corn meal dipped in hot oil? With a corn dog I get a free stick.

No answer to that, but have to say that corn dog tasted far better then the ones at a chain a few blocks away.

What I heard in the office? or A really bad pick up line.

“Are you a 501c?”

It’s a good thing I work for who I did.

Wednesday night I attended the Writer’s Guild of America west, Animation Writers Caucus Schmooze. We gather at a local restaurant and have a guest speaker. Some months it's a small group of us, and sometimes like this month the room can be packed. (It doesn’t help that there was another large party and they had stolen several of our chairs and tables.)

Last nights guest was extremely intelligent and interesting, and there was a lot of information he provided us. I could tell that even some of the more veteran writers around the table were impressed and learned something.

Maybe I’ll write about all that someday.

Around this table were writers I have known for years, some worked on shows that I grew up watching, others are writing some of the best animation on television today, others like me are struggling to find the next writing assignment. There were also those, who call themselves “aspiring”, who are just starting out or in school, but have the dream.

And all I could think about, seeing all these people is this: These are animation writers, I’m one of them, and I belong at this table.

The next few subjects I jotted down over the week are all comic book related. I’m really nervous to write about some of it because I worry about not being able to get work at a publisher because I’ve offended them with a comment about how they handle this or that, or why they did that, or why so and so is no longer on a book.

Well you know what, like all fears, we have to put them aside and be truthful. Don’t do or say something offensive on purpose, but you must still express your own true thoughts. Because only then can people really know what you are like. Even if they may not like what you have to say, they might still be willing to listen and converse. You might come out ahead because of it. But if you say nothing and hide behind your fear, then nothing will happen.

Pause, hiding behind my fear for another moment.

The very first thing I jotted down in my notebook after promising to write this list was this:

“Those Epic Events in Comic Book Universes”

I don’t really know what I want to say about these. I loved CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS when it first came out, and I followed several of the other events over the years after that. But recently (and this goes for both Marvel and DC) the Events seem to constantly overlap one another so that its one never-ending event. Lots of it confuses me, especially when I haven’t been reading certain books for a while.

I won’t deny that the events help sales of certain books, and that’s a good thing. But I’d like to have a pause between them from time to time. Would be nice. That’s why I like reading some of the smaller books that aren’t the flag ship titles or characters.

Don’t get me wrong. I’d love to be part of a massive company wide event sometime. I even have one such cross over story worked out in my head. I know who should write and draw the main series that would spin off into the other books. But with the way I write, this wouldn’t be some major Cosmic Apocalypse, which kill off a dozen characters to have them come back later. This would be a more focused story which would allow each character and book to show off what they really are all about and if a reader picked up an issue of SuchandSuch Men they wouldn’t have to worry about the rest of the crossovers. They would have a good story in their hands with out the rest.

That’s just me. There are far more experienced people out there who know how to make all this work. Just hope they will hire me someday.

I won’t jump on either side of a ‘controversy’ that isn’t one, at least not now. I’ll only say this. Superman isn’t real, people.

Final comic book note. The Justice Society of America. I love the Justice Society of America and all their related characters. I have from the very first comic book I ever picked up. So I feel guilty for not buying issues of their book over the last several months. I don’t blame the writer of the stories, I just couldn’t get into it. I probably should have, because I don’t understand Alan Scott’s new look. Not liking it, but that’s me. I know some artist worked hard on designing it.

I think I will be writing a review in the next little while of Justice Society of America #50 that just came out.

For now, just let me say again, I love the Justice Society of America.

There, done. Seven subjects for my blog. Each one could be expanded upon to fill an entire blog. Maybe two or three of them will become their own blogs. We’ll just have to see.

Lastly, a note to you and myself as I did last week: Whatever you do, don’t try to act silly and foolish to cover up the fact that you have nothing to write about in this week’s blog. It doesn’t look good. I should know. Look what I’ve been writing.

Next week, a blog I hope will be worthy of having the label:

FOUR NAMES OF CREATIVE PROFESSIONALISM.

These last two certainly weren’t.

Another Filler Blog - Go read my serial instead...

2011-04-21T23:09:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it’s just hard to come up with ideas to fill this blog. I totally missed one a couple of weeks ago. I really hate when that happens. Feels like I have let my readers down, and maybe even more so I let myself down by not accomplishing what I have set out to do.

Coming up with ideas for non-fiction articles and blogs are much harder than fictional tales of giant worms that live in the sun—

[Hold on a sec, I better write that down before I forget—Darn, lost it.]

That’s exactly what I mean. You can come up with the wildest or most serious or most funny piece of fiction easier than it is to work up a worthwhile article or blog with substance that the audience can enjoy and get something out of and maybe learn from.

This blog is not going to be one of those because I’m already running out of steam.

Here’s what you can do, and what I can do, as a way to start working up better ideas for your blog and not just waiting to the last minute to fill space. (I'm not doing that; really I’m not doing that. Well, maybe, a little.)

Make quick notes to yourself through the day and through the week. They don’t have to of anything important, just a thought you had, a person you met, a funny sign you saw, a stupid commercial, a news article that intrigues you (that’s important, be certain to read and not just blogs like this one). Write down a few words about it. The act of writing, even those few words will begin the creative juices flowing. Maybe those juices will run dry and that idea won’t amount to anything, but that’s okay, keep making note. The more you do it, the more the ideas will grow and develop.

Apparently this one didn’t work out to well for me.

So here’s the deal, I’m going to be making notes of blog ideas through out the following week. Then next week I will show you the seven best of those ideas and actually write a blog about them.

There’s my blog for the week.

The “Space Worms From Hell” wasn’t very good either.

WEBCOMICS: What's Cooking?

2011-04-16T23:43:00.000-07:00

I should have had this blog up two days ago. I should have had a bog up last week. Sorry.

I began writing this week’s blog about TAXES. About how I am very happy to be filling out my taxes this year, because it means that I’ve had a job this past year worth taxing. I know a lot of you out there hate paying taxes, but after so many years of not having a job, I am excited about having taxes.

I can now tithe to God and give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s

Putting that aside, I now know why this blog was delayed. So I can tell you about something that arrived in the mail today…

It was a large package, which came in USMail.

Inside the package were three smaller identical packages.

Inside each of these packages was a copy of a book.

Inside the book was the first every published FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY comic page.

Yay! We’re published.

Ego moment over.

So what was the book that published FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY.

“It’s a cook book!”

(Sorry, couldn’t resist the Twilight Zone references).

Really, our webcomic has been published in a cookbook along with dozens of others.

The book is called:

WEBCOMICS: What’s Cooking?

Inside 60 webcomic creators bring you not only their visual stories, but also their own culinary arts with special recipes of their liking.

For us we created our very own “Spicy Guacamole Spread”

Yum!!

Okay, joking aside, there’s a reason why all these great webcomic artist and writers got together to produce this cookbook, and that’s to raise money for local food banks.

As someone who volunteers with FIES: Fullerton Emergency Service; I know how important every single dollar, every single penny is that comes into food banks and other related community organizations. So the money raised by our little four-color comic cookbook will be well used and will help many.

You can order your own copy of WEBCOMICS: What’s Cooking? here: http://tgtmedia.com/

Go buy a cookbook, read FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, and enjoy our Spicy Guacamole Spread. I know you want to.

“Don’t take NO for answer!” Right, but it is an answer.

2011-04-01T16:25:00.000-07:00

“Don’t take NO for answer!” Right, but it is an answer.
by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

The other day a friend was griping about being told NO by studio executives after he pitched them a show idea. He was really upset, and needed to vent.

In the back of my mind, I’m screaming, “You Got to Pitch a Show!”

One of the greatest entertainment industry experiences I’ve had so far was when I got to pitch my own television series to two of the cable networks.

The difference between his pitch and my pitch was that he got an answer.

For my friend he received the answer of “No.” For me, I didn’t get any answer at all.

After weeks went by I had to write e-mails and make phone calls until I finally discovered that they had chosen to “pass” on my show. Somehow everyone else knew that both networks had passed on my project except me. They didn’t tell me.

‘Pass’ is another word for ‘No.’

A ‘No’ hurts, but not hearing anything hurts a whole lot more.

I have waited days, weeks, and even months to receive answers from story submissions, art consideration, and even job interviews.

This is one of those places where “no news is good news” doesn’t work. For one reason or another, the person you made contact with just doesn’t get back to you. Yes, a lot of them are busy and even their assistants don’t have the time to respond to every entry that is sitting in their slush pile of scripts, art samples, and resumes. Others however truly don’t like to say ‘no’. That makes them the bad guy, and they don’t want that. If I don’t respond, just take it as a ‘pass’, I don’t want to hurt your feelings.

Whether that’s true for all of them or not, I don’t know. But a form letter would be nice from time to time. At that least that tells me that my manuscript made it to your office. And if it required coverage, there might be a check mark next to the reason you chose to ‘pass’.

It’s an answer.

It might not be the answer you’re wanting, but it is an answer.

Anything beyond a form letter with even the smallest explanations of why they said ‘no’ is also not what you want to receive, but it is what you need to receive.

Now that you have an answer, learn from it, so the next time you submit – whether it's the same pitch or not – you will be better than you were before.

Next, here comes the part where I will freely admit I’m not good at:

Get an answer! Follow up.

Write a brief thank you message to whomever you just met with: the studio executive or the hiring manager, or whoever it. Thank them for taking the time to meet with you and briefly remind them what it was about.

After a couple of weeks if you haven’t heard back, write another short note. Reminding them of you and your project, and you hope to meet with them again whether it is on this or another.

As I admitted, I’m not good at this, but I do my best. My networking skills need improvement, but the only way to improve is to do.

Don’t be rude, but fight to get an answer.

So “Take No for an answer.” Learn from it, find out what they didn’t like. Improve upon it for the next pitch, interview, drawing, or audition. Turn it around and make their next answer to you a ‘YES’.

RAISING AN EBOOK APP or RAISING THE DEAD

2011-03-24T21:19:00.000-07:00

Just amazed myself. In less then forty-eight hours I read a novel. A novella actually, but I never read books that quickly. The only reason I ever finish a novel in a short amount of time is that I can’t put it down.

Which is rare.

Am getting head of myself. Let’s start again.

Several months ago a publisher asked for reviewers of some of their books. They gave me a nice selection, and I picked three. Two of these books I have started multiple times, but just haven’t gotten into them.

I did, however, read the third book: PAST MIDNIGHT by Mara Purnhagen. (See my first book review HERE.)

Because at the time I did not have a tablet or phone that could read other ebook formats, I requested these to be in PDF format and I read the novel on my computer screen.

Since then I have a new cell phone. Though reading PDF files on the phone works, it’s not as simple as it should be. I have to zoom in to make it readable and the text blurs as I move down the page.

I was pleased to find the Kindle App for my droid phone. To test the app out I needed a book to read (Sorry, Jane Austen, but the copy of Pride & Prejudice that came with the app isn’t going to do it for me. Maybe some other time.)

So I went to Amazon and grabbed a copy of Purnhagen’s RAISING THE DEAD.

I’ve been looking for her ONE HUNDRED CANDLES in stores for some time now. I would like to actually own one of her books. (I did buy a copy of PAST MIDNIGHT for my niece’s birthday.)

The first thing I noticed when opening the book up on the Kindle app was the clear the text and ease to read. That’s a major plus over the PDFs. The turn of the pages was smooth.

So far I have only found one negative about the Kindle app, and it is only noticeable when looking at the title and other opening pages. It seems to split pages in odd locations. Like the last three lines are thrown onto a new page/screen. Publishers must certainly be looking into redesigning these pages to fit tablets and phone apps.

And now RAISING THE DEAD.

Only weeks have past since Charlotte Silver’s ghostly experience in PAST MIDNIGHT and now she doubts if they ever happened. When a horrendous storm floods the town and coffins float down the main road, Charlotte recruits her friends to help an old man restore his family cemetery.

As stated, this was an enjoyable story that by the end has very little to do with ghosts and the paranormal but about how Charlotte deals with the experiences around her. By the end Charlotte hasn’t grown much past her concerns and doubts, yet at the same time is ready to face the day a little drier then when the story began.

The characters continue to be interesting and multi-dimensional with none of the clichés of teenage life.

The best way that I can describe RAISING THE DEAD is that of a weekend. The big massive events happen at school or work during the week, and you know there will be more excitement next week, the weekend are those smaller ones in between. There are things that happen, but we know more is to come. I doubt it is necessary to read before ONE HUNDRED CANDLES, but it is certainly fun and enjoyable on its own.

I intend to follow Charlotte Silver as she lights ONE HUNDRED CANDLES and then goes BEYOND THE GRAVE. Though I do still intend to buy at least one of in a bookstore and hold it in my hands, there’s still something about the feel of book paper.

Am currently reading a fantasy romance novel that takes place in what is now my beloved Northern Ireland, and I am enjoying it, but it’s going to take me a whole lot longer then forty-eight hours to read.

“Hey, Red! Forget about the Wolf, you’ve got bigger problems at home.”

2011-03-10T23:37:00.000-08:00

This weekend marks the opening of the movie RED RIDING HOOD.

I won’t be seeing it. Wait, wait. I have nothing against the film. I’m sure that the writer worked very hard on the story, a crew worked very hard to make the sets and special effects look just right. That they cast the perfect actors and actresses.

Each and everyone who had a hand in the movie all deserve a round of applause even if there are no awards accompanying it.

As mentioned, I have nothing against the movie, other than the obvious fact that they’re trying to grab the TWIGHLIGHT audience. If they succeed, good for them, but I think they’re trying too hard.

Okay, that’s the last of my opinion of the movie. Now I want to talk a little bit about the original LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.

We all know the basic story. Girl who loves wearing her new Red Hood, is told by her mother to take a basket full of goods to her Grandma who lives way out in the woods. Along the way she meets a wolf, hungry and intrigued by the girl. She travels on to Grandma’s house. Only to discover the wolf has disguised himself as Grandma. She is later rescued by the Woodsman.

In some of the more gruesome tellings of the story, the Wolf ate Grandma before putting on her clothes. Ooo, yuck.

And for the life of me I can’t remember where the Woodsman comes into the story before saving the day at the end.

But all that, the Woodman and even the Wolf, aren’t all that important. There’s a greater problem going here that needs to be dealt with.

Why is Grandma living so far out in the woods, by herself?

Our main character is a girl with an interesting fashion sense, who lives with her single mother. We have never seen a father, have we? He probably died at some point (let’s make him heroic, and helped the King defend the land).

[Side note. This is why Red would never fit in with the Disney Princess’. In most of those classic tales, the girls don’t have they’re own mothers. PRINCESS AND THE FROG is the odd one out.]

Back to my nonsense. Red lives with her mom, who every so often remembers about poor old Grandma and sends the girl off with a basket full of goodies.

Who is Grandma? This little old later who looks forward to seeing her grandchild visit. Is she’s the mom’s own mother, or her mother-in-law? How independent is she? Able to take care of herself?

When was the last time the two women spoke to one another and didn’t use poor Red as a go between? Then to send the girl out into the woods knowing that there were dangerous wild animals out there?

Why hasn’t Grandma moved in with the rest of the family to be taken care of like she should be?

That last question is rather serious in our present day world where Grandmas are put into homes all by themselves, and every so often we remember them and go for a visit.

So, who’s the real bad guy in this story?

Ya, I probably thought too much about this. This is how I see stories sometimes, looking at the characters and what goes on beneath the main action.

I don’t think my story would make a very good movie, do you?

I have nothing to complain about - iget2work

2011-03-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

When I began this weekly blog I had two agendas. The first was to talk about being a writer and provide what every advice I have, which may not be much. The second was to document my experience in my job search, whether it was in the entertainment industry where I long to be, or just looking for a “day job” locally. Sometimes that later topic became quite frustrating and maybe a little annoying to my readers.

During one of those annoying moments several months back, a friend suggested I put my thoughts on to video and post it online. She said it would be good therapy. I don’t know about that, but I have thought about making a video.

My friend’s name is Sue Wolf and along with Nick La Penna has created a compelling film entitle “The Unemployed Quilt Project.”

Looking at Sue’s website http://iget2work.com you will find humor to lighten your mood, tips to and links for the unemployed, and for job searching, and you will also find the stories. Video after video, after video, of people expressing their thoughts and emotions about having been fired and unemployed. This ‘all things work’ blog came into existence in 2008 and since then the Unemployed Quilt of videos has been growing along side the Labor Statistic’s monthly report.

From all this, the two filmmakers have assembled a short film, that like Andy Warhol provides the unemployed 15 minutes of fame with a sometimes humorous, sometimes emotional, and sometimes tragic, but always-realistic look into their lives with out a job.

Shot on location in New York and Los Angeles, the filmmakers premiered their movie online for audiences to experience this voyeuristic yet intimate look into the lives of the out-of-work employee. The movie can be viewed either on the http://iget2work.com site or on YouTube:

Full 15 Minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDJ5dxvL238

2 Minute version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xM1Vush4I4o

30 second trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ9gNwXtihU

Reading over the press release for “The Unemployed Quilt Project” you can see all the great work that these filmmakers have been involved in:

Sue Wolf; director/ producer: known for ground breaking HBO comedy shows “One Night Stand,” “Uptown Comedy Express” and “Woman of the Night” Sue has worked for Comedy Central, MTV, Disney, Lifetime, CBS, ABC, TBS, UPN. Hit programs include “Richard Pryor: I Ain’t Dead Yet Muth#rF^%ker”, “Legends: Rodney Dangerfield,” “Dinner and a Movie” and “Comedy Central Roasts.”

Nick La Penna; writer / producer: who's work includes projects for MTV, ABC, Sci Fi, CNBC, ShopNBC, CBS, Food Network, USA Networks, Family Channel, TBN, Vh1, A&E, Fox and International Syndication including the pop culture hits “Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous,” “Runaway with the Rich and Famous” and “Fame and Fortune and Romance.”

Both Sue Wolf and Nick La Penna are unemployed.

After watching the movie I feel extremely embarrassed by some of my previous online grumblings about my job search. I have now been employed for nearly four months, first at the local community college and then at the Foundation that supports the college. The jobs are part time and certainly not where I want to be, but I am employed and have been blessed. I have no right to complain about what I have.

If you are not moved by this film, than I’d ask you to take a moment and consider just how far away you truly are from The Breadline that is Online.

If you would like to participate in the “Unemployed Quilt”, or like to help these filmmakers, you can contact them at the website http://iget2work.com or write e-mail them at iget2work(at)iget2work(dot)com.

At some point I may add video to my blog, but anything I have to say will never compare to one second of this movie.

This is not how you want to find your friend’s name in Twitter’s Trending Topics.

2011-02-22T21:54:00.000-08:00

This is not how you want to find your friend’s name in Twitter’s Trending Topics.

At noon today I took my lunch break and ran up the block for a hamburger. While waiting for my order, I checked the latest messages running through Twitter. My heart sunk at the news I read, and all the messages that follow.

It is now eight hours later and the name DWAYNE MCDUFFIE is still trending, not only here, but in New York and the whole United States Trending Topics.

If that doesn’t tell you about how much of an impact Dwayne made upon comics, animation, and yes, the world, then I don’t know what could.

Even for a writer, putting words together for something like this is hard, so please forgive me if none of it makes any sense.

I’ve known Dwayne for several years; mostly through the WGA’s Animation Writers Caucus and the monthly Schmooze dinner we would all have.

Through that I got to meet many of the writers of animation I greatly respect. Getting up the courage to talk to them one on one however has always been a problem to me, especially when it came to asking for work.

At that point in time I had decided to write e-mails to several people in the industry to ask if I could at least have “informational interviews” with them to talk about their jobs and the studios they work for. These little meetings were not meant to get me hired, just to learn and get them to know me.

One such “informational interview” was with Dwayne McDuffie when he was working at the Warner Bros. Animation while it was still in Sherman Oaks.

He gave me over an hour of his important time, to answer my questions and listen to me ramble about my own work and what I hoped to do. In the middle of all that we got to talk about JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, the series he was working on at the time and which his name would be forever linked.

Along with saying how much I enjoyed the series, I mentioned that I had a couple of ideas for episodes of the series myself. He then said words that stunned me; ‘let’s hear one.’

I was shocked. As mentioned, I came just to chat with him; I wasn’t expecting anything more and certainly hadn’t prepared to pitch a story. Yet, there was Dwayne willing to listen to my ideas.

So in a nervous torrent of speech I told him the story would be about the Martian Manhunter and that there was still one more ‘White Martian’ left on Earth. I told him about a man who was trying to forget his past, and about the family that love him unconditionally. I told him about what happens when the truth is discovered, and whether or not J’onn J’onzz was capable of forgiveness.

Dwayne quietly listened to me; not interrupting when I had a bit of continuity wrong, he just listened.

When I was finished, Dwayne told me that it was an interesting idea that showed promise and that he liked it. He then told me to write up a proper synopsis of the story and send it back to him for consideration for the next season of the series.

Once home I wrote the story up, had it proofed, and e-mailed it back to him.

The self-analyzing critic in me screams that what was written up wasn’t anywhere near as good as what I pitched him, but that’s not important.

He thanks me for doing so, and we chatted several more times about it. As these things go, they didn’t buy my story, but I was still blessed by a great experience.

A great experience that only Dwayne McDuffie was able to give to me.

Thank you Dwayne, God Bless.

It’s taken me over an hour to write this. It is now past 9:30pm and across the United States of America a Topic is still Trending: Dwayne McDuffie.

School Daze

2011-02-03T21:50:00.000-08:00

I began this blog while sitting in the bright sun in the open quad of the community college where I’m currently working, during my lunch break.

Sitting here I think about how much has change. You see, this is the same college I attended oh so many years ago (don’t go there, you can figure it out.)

Since I was there several building have been torn down and new ones were built in their places. I spent many long days in the library. Wish I had this new library back then. The buildings they replaced didn’t fit with the original pre World War II architecture, but they tried very hard with these new buildings to make it match. Most of it looks like it belongs here now.

The new cafeteria and student center is fantastic as well. Imagine dinning hall from Harry Potter, but with out the floating candles.

What I was also seeing across the campus were all the students. College students are college students no matter what year they are from, but I kinda wish I had attended school this year and not when I did.

There are more geeks and nerds on campus and I would have fit in so much more.

Back then I would have been laughed at for having a SUPEMAN t-shirt. Now it's a norm along with others. Standing in line for lunch the other day I over heard a girl talking about her character in WORLD OF WARCRAFT. A couple of very muscular, could be football players, guys were playing a game of MAGIC THE GATHERING in the middle of the cafeteria.

Some girls, and some guys, go about with hair brightly colored that they look like they stepped right out of a Japanese anime.

Another girl went past me on her skateboard dressed in Steampunk gear.

I want to go to this school and not the boring one I went to.

Okay, I’m being silly, but I really haven enjoyed being back on campus for the last few months working on the school’s alumni newsletter. Maybe I’m being sentimental, but this job ends next Monday.

Looks like might be continuing part of the assignment, but not on campus. Not around all the cool kids.

Can I go back to school?

No. I don’t want to go back to school. I want to work. I want to work at a television studio.

How do you throw your Batarang?

2011-01-27T23:48:00.000-08:00

I had a thought about Batman, or rather, a thought about Baterangs.

I don’t know when Batman began to toss about the Baterangs, but I’m more interested how the Dark Knight used and uses them now.

When I was a little little kid, and before I began to read comics, Batman existed in two locations: As a member of the Super Friends and The Batman live action TV series from the 60’s which I only saw in reruns.

Don’t recall if Batman ever used a Baterang in Super Friends, but I do remember the one used on the Batman series. Even as a kid it looked extremely heavy and couldn’t possibly be thrown properly, or how was it stored in his utility belt, but that wasn’t the point on that show, was it?

The use of Batarangs have changed over the years, from being used to knock a gun out of a bad guy’s hand they became Ninja throwing stars that actually imbed themselves in the bad guy’s hand.

Before someone writes in, yes I know that in the earliest Batman stories he did have a good. But that didn’t last long; the character has over the years become very opposed to using a gun. (No, let’s not talk about that gun he used in Final Crisis.)

But these little bats, made of metal, plastic, or fiberglass, (What do you think?) has changed in their use.

I suppose the change began with Frank Miller’s DARK KNIGHT RETURNS and YEAR ONE, and within the themes and mood of those books that the use of these as weapons is understandable.

But is that really how the batarang should be used on a regular basis.

While checking online to make certain I was spelling ‘batarang’ correction I came across this page on ComicBookresources.com written by Brian Cronin and provides an image of one of the very first uses of the Batarang to help him escape from a trap. It also answered my question from earlier; the Batarang first appears only months after Batman premiers.

The Batman movies have only added to this as “all those wonderful toys” became more like weapons. Even the Batmobile is a tank, which tears up the streets of Gotham.

Yes, I respect every writer and artist’s use of whatever bat-paraphernalia they need to tell the best story they can, but for me I’d prefer a Batarang that helps not hurts.

Going through several of my favorite Batman stories from when I was first reading them I discover that Batman didn’t even use the Batarang in many of them. In those stories he was more detective than action hero.

Duck! I'm about to throw my Batarang.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity.

Drawing upon a Ghost, a Masked Ghost.

2011-01-20T19:59:00.000-08:00

I know this is Thursday night and I usually fill this space with one of my rambles about writing and about searching for work. This time I'm not going to talk a lot, but show you something.

Some of you know that on every other Tuesday I post a new chapter to my pulp novel serial REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST. Chapter 14 went up this week. Well, I wanted to take this opportunity to show off some of my skills beyond writing, and show you what the Masked Ghost looks like:

I illustrated this entirely in Painter, based on a photograph that I posed for.

Am hoping that it adds more of the pulp novel feel to the story. Looking forward to doing more.

Let me know what you think of it. Especially if you're a publisher needing artists. :)

Best,
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity
As as Artists as wells as a Writer.

A Ramble of Glory

2011-01-13T23:06:00.000-08:00

I can’t think of anything to put into my blog this week. At least certainly nothing worth a few hundred words that might be anyway interesting to you.

Just over three more weeks of my job at the community college, and the good news in that is that my hours have increased from 12 to 30 hours a week. Am still looking for something that I hope to start soon after, but having that extra pay.

A lot of work that I’m doing now is working on a database in Excell, it’s not as interesting as working on the Alumni News Letter (You can see a sample of my work here: http://conta.cc/g8gSPc), but I’m still blessed to have the job and the paycheck.

While I’m writing this, I’m finishing up the pencils of the latest page of FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY. We’re currently in the middle of Issue 13 of the book. Or it would be if this were published as a book. But I also realized that if this were published as book, wishful thinking would put the Issue number somewhere around 114.

No, really. I mean it. This coming June marks the 10^th anniversary of the first appearance of FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY. And if we had been continuously publishing since there we’d be reaching 120 issue come June.

Of course, it might not all be FGHOG, because I’d also be doing the supporting book TALES OF FLYING GLORY which would be stories about our heroine’s grandmother back in World War and other characters that have appeared in the background, been hinted at, and other who are still waiting to surprise you and us.

We’ve got a lot planning for Flying Glory and her rock bank of heroes, and I’m sure I’ll be writing about some of them here too.

On other story notes, when I began this job I told you had to stop putting out a new chapter of REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST each week, and now only put it out every other. I’ve found that works the best for me and probably will continue to do so even after this job is finish. In the next week or so I’m also hoping to put up some artwork based on my vigilante and his friends.

Began this by saying I couldn’t think of anything to write. Apparently I always have something to say. I’ll let you decide if it was interesting or not. Got to go send the penciled art off to my editor (co-writer and fiancee).

Night all.

Reaching for the Stars or at least the next rung on the Ladder

2011-01-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

Last week I wrote about what I’m going to do with this New Year. Not make resolutions, but be resolute that I will accomplish great things.

The year has already started off positively as the comic book and entertainment news website comicbooked.com did an article on my work: http://bit.ly/ftRgiS It’s only a short little article, but it's a start. It’s a good feeling that people are noticing me.

Along with my two days of employment, I’ve been focusing much of the time on hitting the online job boards and applying for as many positions as I can.

[Note to discuss: My dad thinks I should be out knocking on doors to find companies that will hire me. But everyone I talk to always send me back to their online job boards. Has anyone found companies that aren’t using the Internet to hire people?]

My job search begins by telling the online system that I’m looking for work in Burbank and Glendale (read last week’s blog to find out why, it’s must), then mark the departments of the company I’d like to work in if those parameters can be set. Otherwise I just ask to see all the openings available since the last time I visited the site. (Note to anyone at Disney: Please put a date stamp on your job descriptions so I don’t have to read through pages I’ve already applied for or passed over.)

As examples: In production for animation and television, I’ve applied for Production Assistant, Production Coordinator, and the like. For more clerical positions I have been applying for Administrative Assistant and Executive Assistant positions.

It’s not that those are the only jobs I want to do far from it, but script-writing jobs very rarely appear on job boards. I say ‘very rarely’ because the first professional animation writing assignment I had came from a job board posting in the Hollywood Directory Online. It turned out nicely, though the show has never aired in the U.S. Though I would worn you about many writing assignments you find on line, some will be great, but most will expect you to do it for free or with the promise of deferred pay when its all finished and they sell the project. You could be dead by then.

So in one way or another I have been looking for positions based upon my experience in those fields. Figuring that if I can get in on that level I can gain the experience and knowledge I need to move further up.

A mistake I made years ago while in was college; I didn’t look into internships. Probably would have helped a whole lot, but now its too late for those sorts of thing. Of course at that time I didn’t have a car so couldn’t drive the forty miles to the studios each day. So I’ve been looking for other ways in.

I know that what I’m looking for in the above assistant positions is a “day job” so that I can have a financial foundation while working on my writing and art on the side. I’m not stupid to think that I can make all the money I would need just from writing (though one can dream). But I also know that if I can find the right position in production or development there might be the chance I could move up into a level where I could have real influence on shows. (He’s still dreaming, right?)

The rambling all finished (one hopes). I’ve made a realization that I’m shooting too low. I’ve been applying to openings that fit my experience not my goals. Yesterday I came across a job that is way beyond my experience by a number of years in several different areas. However, it was a job I knew I could do, a job I would love to do, working on a property I already know and have a passion for, and for a company that I’ve dreamed of working at for years.

A decision was made. I wrote up a cover letter that sold me on my passion and knowledge of the property and tell them that I could do the job. As I said, the job is above my level, but I’ve chosen to shoot for it.

It’s actually a scary decision to reach beyond where you know you’re comfortable, but sometimes its what you’ve got to do. Stretch that arm up to the next rung of the ladder or to the one above that. After all, only with stretching do your muscles become accustom to doing the new work.

I may not get this job. I might not even get called in for an interview for it. But what is certain is that I won’t get if I don’t apply for it.

Shoot for the moon and maybe you’ll hit the neighbor’s fence. Shoot for the fence and you may hit your foot.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

What will we make of the New Year?

2010-12-29T21:34:00.000-08:00

The year 2011 is only a couple of days away.

Was it not just yesterday that my family and I were eating specially made snacks and watching the Times Square Ball drop on television to usher in 2010? Heck, it was only yesterday that we were all running around worried about Y2K.

So with the New Year this weekend my blog, like so many man others, must provide something to celebrate it. There’s an unwritten rule, (or it’s written on someone’s blog). Should I write an End of the Year Wrap Up, or the proverbial New Years Resolutions? Neither sound very enticing, but stick with me and lets see where this takes us.

What will the New Year bring? More importantly, what will we bring to the New Year?

That really is the question, isn’t it? What are we going to do to make the New Year better than the previous one?

A year ago I had written a novel as part of Nanowrimo. Once completed, I set it aside and wrote the first draft of a second, much better novel. Now, a year later, I am nearly finished with a fourth draft of the novel. In this next year, I WILL finish it, find an agent, and have the novel published. You’ll all buy it, right?

A year ago I was unemployed. I’ve been unemployed for several years. Today I am employed in a short term, part-time job that I thank God for every minute of the day. In the year to come I WILL BE employed in a full time job. My desire is to be working at one of the animation or television studios, preferably as a scriptwriter. Even if I cannot have that, IT MUST be in the Burbank/Glendale area. It must be there so I will be near my fiancée.

Three and half years ago we became engaged. I called her from Ireland to make it official. Now in this coming year, I WILL do everything possible so that we will be married. We will marry in the eyes of God, of family, and friends.

FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY will continue as we celebrate it’s tenth year as a webcomic. I will continue to write the REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST and find a conclusion.

I know not how any of this will be accomplished; with God’s guidance I intend to do everything possible to make them all happen.

Everyone is welcome to help.

Hey, a year ago I could barely manage to post my blog annually, now I have something up practically every week. I even have a regular following. Thank you all.

Have a blessed New Year, may it be everything you make it, and accomplish all you set your mind to.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and to all—Get out of my way!

2010-12-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL and to all—Get out of my way!

As wonderful a time of the year that Christmas is suppose to be, more often than not we hear people grumbling about not finding the right gift for the right people, or standing in line to buy the wind up monkey pocket vacuum because they couldn’t really find anything else. More likely they complain and curse about the parking lots around the shopping malls. “I only came for one thing, and spent an hour looking for a space to park.” So did everyone else, fella.

The other day a woman practically cursed out my mother who was only being nice to let her enter the store first. Thousands of people show up in shopping malls between Thanksgiving and Christmas that never go near those stores the rest of the year and we complain that they’re always in our way. Remember we’re a crowd to someone else.

As terrible as that all is I want you to think of something. Think of a young couple caught up in a crowd far worse then the one you were in today.

They had traveled a distance from their small town until they reached the city. Though the city is where the man’s family came from they may have been there before. The crowds have over flown the city having come from far and wide. To make matters worse none of his family wants to have anything to do with them. His aunt and uncle refuse to recognize them. His cousins would walk on the other side of the street when they approached.

Why was this?

Simple, they’re all offended by the fact that his young wife got knocked up before they were married. She claims the Holy Spirit visited her one night. So his family sees the girl as an adulterous (I chose not to use a stronger word) with a bastard son on the way. A ruin to the entire family.

Because of this none of his family will spare a room or roof for the young couple to spend the night while they’re in the city. They couldn’t even find a corner at the local pub. Someone finally took pity on the pregnant mother and let them spend the night out in the garage.

If it was today, imagine them in the back of the mall parking structure, stuck between SUVS in compact spaces. After all, the animals around them probably belonged to everyone who had traveled to the city for the census.

In the most crowded and dirty of cities a child is born.

So remember that on this Christmas Eve when you’re running out to find that last minute gift, for that aunt you forgot, and must fight the parking lot hordes rushing for the mall. Remember that Joseph and Mary struggled through far worse crowds in far dirtier environments and the gift they brought into the world is far greater than you can get at the mall or online.

On this eve of our savior’s birth, I wish you all a Merry Christmas.

God Bless,

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

A Bat-Signal from out of my past.

2010-12-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

My job working on the Alumni Newsletter for the college I graduated from involves a lot of sitting at the computer and writing (Guess what I’m doing now.) Every so often I get to do a little something fun in researching the stories we may include. Recently I was giving the link to the college library’s archive. It includes photographs from through out the school’s nearly one hundred year history. The archive also provides every single issue of the student newspaper from when it began in 1923 as the Weekly Torch on to becoming The Hornet

Which includes the three years I worked on the paper.

Here’s a bit of trivia. When I attended the college they were just instigating a smoking ban in the student center and cafeteria. Today, they have declared the entire campus smoke free.

So I couldn’t help but to look at all the cartoons and illustrations that I drew for the paper, and the articles I wrote. One of my first editorial cartoons won an award for the school. Only wrote a few news stories, but did contribute multiple times to the Opinion, Entertainment, and Feature pages. I even got the opportunity to have a science fiction story published in the paper.

Not surprisingly I wrote about comic books on numerous occasions. In my memory the greatest of these was when I was given an entire page of the newspaper. The February 3^rd issue was still a few months before the original Michael Keaton / Jack Nicholson BATMAN would reach the theaters. But I chose the time to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of The Batman’s creation. (You can work out hold long ago that was, and how old I am, I don’t care.)

Along with talking about the history of the character, and providing a tone introduction in Batman’s own words, you’ll find some other interesting points. To the right of my fully painted image of the Dark Knight, you’ll find an article with a by-line that reads Michael Campbell. Young Mr. Campbell was always the fantasy version of myself that lived inside the DC Universe. What greater correspondent could a newspaper have? In the fictitious article, Michael gets to interview Commissioner James Gordon and meets his wheelchair bound daughter Barbara.

I had forgotten I had written another article for the page entitled: ROBIN: THE CONSPIRACY OF MURDER about the “Death in the Family” story line and how readers got to decide the fate of Jason Todd. I even quote Denny O’Neil: “It would be a really sleazy stunt to bring him back.”

Lastly in the bottom corner was the only advisement that helped pay for my Special page. Sadly Adventureland Comics has long gone out of business, but it was a great little store from which I bought my weekly haul of comics and just a few blocks from the college campus.

You can read the page at the Fullerton College Library Archive. Go to Page 6 of the issue.

I’m embarrassed by the mistakes I’m finding, yet am still quite happy proud with how it turned out all these years later. It’s good to remember where we came from to know where we’re at and where we’re headed.

To think that I am still writing about super heroes and comic books after all this time. Wonder what Michael Campbell is doing; I should probably look him up.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity.

Spellchecker can be your friend, but don’t let it be a crutch.

2010-12-09T21:59:00.000-08:00

I write the above, and this blog, not just to teach those who need to know, but to acknowledge I have made the mistake of relying too heavily on computer spellchecker programs many times.

If you can’t recognize your own faults and learn from them, how can you teach others?

That squiggly red line for spelling mistake, the squiggly green line for grammar, they show up regularly in my work, and I try my best to squash the squiggles. (Squash the Squiggles. Would that have made a better title?)

A great thank you goes out to all who have stuck with me and reading both my blog and my serial ‘Revenge of the Masked Ghost’ for the last several months. Not only because I’m really glad to know you like my work, but that you’ve put up with a ton of mistakes slipping through. (Look there goes a red squiggly now; I just typed ‘miskates’. Interesting sounding word, but wrong.)

Went back and reread my book review as well as the Megamind blog, and I’m embarrassed by how many mistakes were in both of them. Really surprised when a totally wrong word shows up. Spellchecker can’t help with those. Have no excuse for any of it other than to say I write each blog (including this one) rather quickly at the last minute. Shouldn’t do that, I know. I did correct the mistakes in those entries.

I didn’t get hired for a writing assignment recently because the client found spelling mistakes in the writing samples I submitted. He thought I had a lot of good ideas, but couldn’t sit over my shoulder and correct each mistake that came along. Of course, he’s right. Even though there would be an editor on the project it’s her job to fit it into the over all theme and format of the book, not fix each and every wrong spelling or misplaced comma. Those should have been take care of long before it gets to the editor’s desk.

Lesson learned. I’m trying very hard to correct every mistake I can possibly find, though I will invariably miss something.

Sometimes I think the spellchecker is wrong. Is the word ‘correct’ used correctly? Computer says it’s not.

I admit to having a problem with ‘sound-a-likes’ such as ‘then’ and ‘than’. I need to pay more attention to that.

Next lesson. After you’ve squashed the squiggles, print the darn paper out and read it.

Yes, we’re supposed to be a paperless society, but it’s not going to happen. Print it out and take a pencil to it. There’s something even better you can do to find mistakes, read it aloud. It’s embarrassing, sure, but find someplace you can be alone and read to hear your own words. You may even find that the words (even spelled correctly) aren’t the right ones after all. Hearing is far more powerful then sight when it comes to catching problems.

When I’m finished with this blog, I’m going to follow my own instruction and print it and read it aloud.

Lastly, there are people who see bloggers as the new journalists of our society, if so they should at least try to learn the proper style of newspaper and journalistic writing and that includes getting your words spelled right.

I may not go back and correct every mistake in all the blogs I’ve written, but do intend on proofing again each of the chapters of the serial.

Again, thank you for putting up with my bad spelling, because without fixing that I can’t truly say…

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity

Anxieties, we all have them I know, but...

2010-12-03T16:10:00.000-08:00

As I write this, my father is heading to the doctor’s office, five days ahead of his appointment. He’s okay, but has had an odd rhythm to his heart beat for the last couple of weeks. He had a pace maker for several years now and maybe it just needs some adjustment. His regular doc said to see the heart specialist a little sooner just to be certain.

I mention that in starting this blog out of concern for my father. He has supported his son for so many years, far more than what should be expected of him. I love him and the rest of my family very much.

I’m at the point of my life that I should be taking care of my parents, be married and have a family of my own.

But that’s not how things are.

Am not blaming this ‘economic down turn’ or recession, or whatever you call it, for the situation I’m in. I’ve been here a whole lot longer then that. Certainly cannot comparing myself to so many people out there who are suffering far worse.

But I feel guilty not being a better support to my family, or to my fiancée. A fiancée who has been so patient with me, that if it wasn’t for my financial situation I would have married her years ago. Should be at her side constantly, but I’m not and that makes me feel terrible.

I am blessed with the current job I have, but it’s only two days a week and will end in February. I don’t know what I am going to do next.

Also, don’t know what else I can do to find a job that I’m not already doing.

I’d prefer a job at one of the studios, especially in animation, but it doesn’t have to be; “I’ll bring my own broom.” A long-term job does need to be in the Burbank/Glendale area so I can be near my fiancée and she can keep her job once we’re married. Suggestions?

Don’t mean to run down this path again and complain to you all about my problems, I’m just in the mood to write this out as I wait for my dad to get back home with a report from the doc.

You know, as bad as yesterday’s headache was (I see people are regularly reading the blog about my killer headaches), it’s really nothing compared to worrying if your parent’s heart is going to stop.

My dad just got home. The doctor was able to explain to him what the odd rhythm is, and that the pace maker has recorded a whole lot more of them. He also explained why my dad has been feeling them more often recently.

It turns out not to be anything to really be concerned about, thank God. So with the answers provided the anxiety is gone.

But that doesn’t stop me from worrying about him and the rest of my family and praying that I can do more for them.

Thank you Lord.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

2010-11-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

I am Thankful for all that the Lord has given me.

I am Thankful for my family who has supported me through thick and thin.

I am Thankful for my fiancée who has so much patience.

I am Thankful for the part time job I currently have.

I am Thankful to you for reading my blogs and my serial and comic book.

Most of all, I am Thankful for Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. God Bless.

The Road is Narrow and Long, but full of Curves.

2010-11-18T21:49:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I told you that I finally got a job. I still have it, Thank God.

As I got started it soon became obvious that I’d be doing something a whole lot different than I expected.

While I am a writer with a background in comics and animation and fully intend to continue to do more of both as well as episodic television and my novels, I had gotten to the point that I had to find a job outside the entertainment industries.

In the past, however, anytime I moved off my original path things never went well and I found myself guided back on to the road of my goal.

So what does this have to do with my current job? A lot, actually.

Through people I know personally I got an interview at my local community college. The very college I got my AA in Drawing and Painting. What I understood the job to be was as an office assistant, using Word and Excel and answering the Phone. Well, that’s not quite right.

What it turned out to be was managing and writing the Alumni News Letter.

Wait, did you read that right? I’m writing. I actually have a job writing. You don’t know how thrilled that makes me.

Not only am I just going to be writing the “look what’s happening on campus” and the “we need money” articles (I’ll do those too), but I’ll also be writing more creative articles about the people and the history of the campus.

It’s not animation or comic books, but its still back on the path where I belong.

I’m a writer, and I’m writing. It’ll only get better.

My point in all that ego boost is that many times you will hear that no matter what you need to stick to your dream. If you love it, no matter how hard it is, you’ve got to keep at it no matter how hard it may seem.

And this is where I return to the road I began on. Where you want to go, your goal is on a long narrow road. As long as you keep moving forward you’ll reach eventually. Sometimes that road has a lot of bends and curves in it, and it feels like its taking you far from your goal but what its really doing is taking you on the scenic route so that you’re all the more prepared for the goal when you reach it.

Enjoy the road, its an adventure.

Can I write a Book Review? - PAST MIDNIGHT by Mara Purnhagen

2010-11-11T17:50:00.000-08:00

As mention previously, Twitter has become an excellent networking tool as I make contacts through out the entertainment industries: I’ve gotten to chat with fellow writers, comic book artists, animation producers, and publishers.

Because of networking with those publishers I’m doing a something different with this column. I’m writing a book review. Or, I hope I am. Those familiar with my writing will know this won’t be an ordinary book review.

Through Twitter I connected with Harlequin Books when they made a request for bloggers to read a few of their Paranormal Romance novels and write about them. So that’s what I’m doing. Harlequin provided a list of books and I selected three to read and see if this was possible for me. If from the first of these is any measure, I chose rightly. So…

Tonight’s ghostly tale is:

PAST MIDNIGHT

by Mara Purnhagen

Published by Harlequin TEEN

It’s hard enough for a normal teenager to make friends when they move into a new school, and the greatest fear is that their parents will embarrass them. For Charlotte Silver, who sees herself as far from normal, being embarrassed by her parents is only a small part of her horror. Her family are paranormal investigators with the intent of disproving the existence of ghosts. This time the ghosts have chosen to prove they are very real by attaching themselves to their daughter. Charlotte must discover if the ghosts are haunting her or asking for her help while trying to maintain the semblance of a life at school.

Hopefully that said everything it needed to with out any spoilers.

PAST MIDNIGHT drops us quickly into Charlotte’s life and relationship with her family. How she both admires and is jealous of her sister Annalise, and how she feels ignored by her parents who are always into their work.

Then introduces her and us into the world of a new high school.

I was very pleased that no time was wasted on the “new kid” cliché of being scorned by everyone else. Yes, there is one who doesn’t like her and makes it well known, but Charlotte is a strong girl doesn’t let it get to her and is soon making friends and fitting in with out too much trouble.

That’s when local secrets are discovered and the ghosts go bump in the night.

I won’t go on any further about the story, other than to say I really enjoyed Mara Purnhagen’s take on both the supernatural and the natural world of high school. All the characters were interesting and multi-dimensional, and not one cheerleader acted like a ‘cheerleader’. That alone was refreshing.

One other reason I enjoyed PAST MIDNIGHT was its ease of reading. No, I don’t mean it was a simple book, by no means. Charlotte and all her friends are intelligent and worth getting to know. What I mean by ‘ease’ is in the practical ability of reading it.

Let me explain. Though I know the sales of e-books are increasing, I haven’t yet purchased a tablet reader like a Kindle or iPad, (if you’ve read my previous blogs on my job search, you’ll know why). In the past I have found reading extensive amounts of text on my computer monitor to be tedious and I would quickly loose interest and move on to other things like drawing my comic book or my own writings. (It’s also why I don’t like my blogs to be extremely long.)

I say all that to make a point. When I opened the pdf for PAST MIDNIGHT, I placed it on the right side of my monitor to read while working on other things. The intent was to read a little at a time, but quickly found myself distracted from my work and returning to reading the novel. With each new page of Charlotte’s life I wanted to read more and was never once bothered by the fact it was on the screen.

Maybe it was because Purnhagen’s writing style is smooth and similar to my own, (more likely it's a whole lot better than mine), but I actually found it difficult to stop reading and was hoping for another chapter after the last.

Even though I’m not a teenager (by a long shot), this was an enjoyable book worth my time, and I am truly interested in reading Mara Purnhagen’s other books (there are two sequels to PAST MIDNIGHT in the works). This time I’ll even purchase them myself.

Now if only I had a tablet to read them on.

That was an interesting little experiment. Let me know if you think I should do other book reviews, or comic and movie reviews (My blog about Megamind earlier this week doesn’t count. ). I’ve still got two more of the Harlequin books to read; even if I don’t do reviews will let you know what I think.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

(Who looks forward to having someone write a review of his novel when it’s finally published.)

That was a good movie, I had nothing to do with it.

2010-11-08T11:55:00.000-08:00

Wow – That was a really good movie, and I had nothing to do with it… kinda.

As part of my continual desire to work in the entertainment industry I have taking many temp job. Not as many as I would like, in the areas I would have liked, or for as long as I would have preferred. They have varied in the different types of companies and departments I’ve worked for.

The jobs have mostly been desk jobs, answering phones, typing, and filing.

One job I had a few years ago was at one of the major motion picture studios. Which in itself is a thrill to me, being able to walk the studio lots is really exciting. I don’t care if I see a celebrity or not, this is where the magic happens. I am part of that magic.

This particular job was actually for a producer and his production company that was leasing offices upon the studio lot. His regular assistant was out and I filled in for a couple of weeks. I answered the producers phones, arranged conference calls and meetings, filed, and arranged delivery of scripts and other required necessities. Another assignment I handled, usually during the down times of the day, is what is called “Script Coverage”.

Numerous scripts are delivered to the producer each day ending up in his ‘slush pile.’ Agents, representing their client writers, send these scripts with the idea that it would be ideal for the producer to consider it for production. The producer, however, doesn’t have the time to read each and every one of these scripts; it just isn’t possible or he’d never be able to get anything else done like produce that movie you worked so hard on to write.

So one of the producer’s assistants (little old temp me at the time) reads the script for him and writes a brief summary about it and whether he should consider purchasing the script and eventually producing it.

While working for him I read multiple scripts, wrote up my thoughts about them and if I thought they would make good movies or not. Two of the scripts were terrible, one was interesting but I wasn’t certain could find an audience in the current market.

The fourth script was a super hero movie. As a comic book fan this was something I could get into even if it was bad. I also recognized why the agent had sent it to this producer for he also has connections to comics. So when nothing else was going on in the office I sat down to read it.

Interesting. This is a super hero movie from the point of view of the super villain. I like. Oh, that next bit was unexpected, and the villain wins. Or does he?

After finishing the script I wrote up my summery and opinion and told the producer that he might like this one, and to consider it.

Several days later my temp job there ended as the regular assistant returned.

A few years have now past and a certain big headed, blue skinned, super villain is stomping all over the adverts for an upcoming film. Okay, another super hero film, cool. Then in the last couple of weeks before the release of the film they start showing a new series of commercials for it with certain scenes that seem very familiar. So I was very curious to see if this was the film I thought it was.

So yesterday, my fiancée and I got the chance to attend a studio movie screening:

MEGAMIND

I sat there enjoying the entire film, and loving the fact that the audience was laughing at all the right places, and the story held together very well.

About ten minutes into the film I no longer had any doubts. Here before my eyes was a successful animated super hero film, and it was the script I had read several years earlier. I got a bit of a thrill of that. Especially since I had written up positive Script Coverage for my producer.

Megamind had an opening weekend as being number one at the box office earning $47.7 million dollars (according to the Hollywood Reporter).

As much as I would like to believe that what I wrote about that original script got this movie produced, I know that isn’t so.

Remember how I said that agents send out copies of their client’s scripts to producers. They do, to multiple producers and studios. The producer I was temping with at that time was probably only one of many that received a copy of the Megamind script. He did not produce this movie, nor did the studio where I temped.

Somewhere out there in the great Hollywood wasteland is another assistant, maybe a temp, who wrote up script coverage, which made it to the right producer at Dreamworks. I tip my virtual Script Reader’s hat to them. Maybe they’ll read one of my scripts someday soon.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

A change in the weather, a change in the Deadline.

2010-11-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Hey, look, it’s Thursday evening and time for my weekly brain dump of a blog.

Thanks everyone who has been taking time out of your busy schedules to read my rambles. I really appreciate it.

This blog was always supposed to be about my writing and about my career. Sometimes, however, it became a place for me to vent and complain. I don’t want that to happen regularly.

A few weeks ago I wrote about my job search and how it hadn’t been going well, so I have been devoting a lot of my time to writing and drawing the webcomic FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, my novel, my serial REVENGE OF THE MASKED GHOST, and this blog and pushing to keep a deadline for each one of them as if I was on a paid assignment.

It looks like my deadline schedule is about to change.

I have a job.

(I can hear you all cheering out there. No wait, that’s a cricket outside my office window.)

Yes, that’s true, I have a job. Or rather a short term, part-time job between now and this coming February, but it is a job.

I praise God for this job as I would any other.

Being a part time job of only twelve hours a week I should still have plenty of time to write. Hopefully I will find someone who will pay me to write, but I’m still going to write no matter what.

Which brings me to the shifting of my deadlines. I don’t want to really change anything, but know something has to give a little.

Each new page of the webcomic will still be posted on Sundays, and this blog should still be able to make its appearance each Thursday (as you can tell it doesn’t take much brain power). As much as I don’t want to, am going to post the serial every other week. Not only will it ease up my schedule, but I’ll be able to improve on the story.

I intend to post the next chapter this following Tuesday, and then two weeks later.

Thank you for your understand and support. It’s really been great to know that people are out there reading my stories. Know any publishers or producers you could point my way? (Seriously: Does anyone need an assistant for a couple days a week?)

Would love to hear from you either here in the comments section or at my Twitter account: Kevinpsb00

Thanks, have a great weekend.

HALLOWEEN – I’m dressing up like a Missed Deadline.

2010-10-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the very first costumes you wore for Halloween?

I’m not meaning the ones your parents may have put you in when you were an infant. “Oh, isn’t that a cute little pumpkin.” The ones you chose yourself.

Do you remember those plastic sheet costumes? Even as a little kid I thought they were dumb (forgetting itchy and hot). I wanted to be Superman, not wear a picture of Superman. The plastic mask was bad enough, with that dry rubber band to hold it on. We all knew it would never survive the night.

Even though I had seven years of marching in my elementary school’s Halloween costume parades, I only remember maybe three of the costumes from back then. I was Dracula twice, (and a magician using the same outfit), and The Mummy.

After Elementary school I don’t believe I put on another costume. I was picked on enough in High School; I didn’t need another reason, (see last week).

But I did go to one Halloween party during college dressed as Doctor Who. Or as close to being dressed as Doctor Who as I could.

(Has anyone else noticed how writing about Doctor Who confuses the grammar checker in your word processor?)

Back then I was a big Tom Baker years fan of the show but also liked Sylvester McCoy. So my costume, which was thrown together from clothing I had, became a merger of the two. I even took the time to draw red question marks on my shirt collars as was worn by Peter Davidson, Collin Baker, and Sylvester McCoy. Really wish I could have had McCoy’s umbrella. At the time that would have been cool.

No one, absolutely no one, knew who I was dressed as. And so ended my Halloween costumes.

Now I keep thinking about being invited to a Halloween party and dressing up. Times sure have changed since school.

Back in school, High School and even college, no one would have shown up with a Superman t-shirt, and yet now its very common to see such a shirt around town, or a Batman, Flash, or Green Lantern (even a Darkest Night) shirt. For girls the Supergirl or Wonder Woman logos aren’t all that rare.

On top of that dressing up as different characters isn’t all that rare.

When I first began to attend the San Diego Comic Con, there would be dozens of people dressed up for the Saturday night Masquerade. Now those costumes are out the entire con every day.

Not only at the Con but also because of Anime strong influence on American popular culture, cosplay has become a regular part of lie as well. I’ve seen girls wearing catgirl hoods around town.

Then there is Steampunk, which I’m only beginning to learn about, but has some of the most fantastic costumes. Though based on a alternate world where technology took a different turn, there is still something solid and real about the costumes. As wild as the costumes are, they might be something I’d be interested to slip into sometime, if I could afford it.

If not that then I might dress up as Doctor Who again, this time David Tennant or Matt Smith. I think I look like Tennant when he was wearing the pajamas.

Or I’ll just dress up like this Deadline I’m just barely going to make.

One last thing before I sign off.

The webcomic I write with Shannon Muir: FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY, is included in a collection that is published. “Webcomics: What’s Cooking” Is a cookbook produced by webcomic creators and it will feed the hungry in both Canada and the U.S. Preorders open up Friday October 29, 2010. http://tgtmedia.com/preorder/

Help Flying Glory save the world in a real way.

Trick or Treat

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

An Extra Blog - Bullied.

2010-10-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

I normally write and post my blog on Thursday, but since I was able to post, both the comic and novel chapter on Tuesday why not try to force the blog to go up Wednesday.

Enough of my normal humor, I’m writing this blog and hope to post it on Wednesday, October 20, 2010 to give my two cents worth related to this being “Spirit Day” and support anti-bullying. I don’t have anything purple to wear today, so this blog will have to do.

‘My two cents’ may be all that my thoughts and experiences are really worth compared to those kids who have suffered so much that they felt that the only way out was by ending their lives. I can’t compare my experiences to them.

With that, I want to at least right about what experiences I did have.

Bullying began for me in elementary school. For some reason because I wore glasses some of the other, students thought I was smarter than them. It wasn’t true, I struggled for every C I got.

There are three bullies I remember from those first years of school. One event turned into some fight that he actually punched me in the stomach and I passed out. The strange thing there is that after that event he and I became good friends over the next months and years. I invited him to my birthday parties even.

The second of these was a guy who got his jollies out of picking on just about everyone, including the teachers. It got so bad that they kept sending him up an extra grade each year until he was finally out of the school. The teachers couldn’t do anything with him. The sad thing is that I recently learned that he was homeless and living under a bridge.

The third of these elementary school bullies I truly don’t remember, but a couple of years ago I was approached by him to meet and have lunch. It was part of his alcoholics anonymous 12 Step program. He had to go and apologize to anyone he had ever hurt or offended, and he remember something he had done to me. I don’t remember, so it was easy to forgive. Would it have been easy if I did remember? I’d like to think so, but don’t know.

In Junior High (or Middle School) I had bullies there as well. To avoid most of them I spent lunch either in my next period classroom or the school library (did improve my reading skills). One bully once shoved a container of what he claimed to be as marijuana into my face. When I knocked it aside and the contents were scattered all over the ground he tried to get my parents to pay for his ruined chewing tobacco. Another kid in the school was a real mean bully. He was physically smaller than the most and so picked on us weaker kids; he created a bulldog attitude to survive. I have no bad feelings towards him, and those that I did washes away the day of our Jr. High Graduation. Whether they were kids seeking revenge, or just bigger bullies than him, grabbed hold of him put him in a supply closet and shaved his head. I had survived those two years (and actually two schools), a whole lot better than he had.

High School wasn’t much better. Again, I spent much of my free time in the library or away from other students as I could. I know that my shyness and staying away from others resulted in other problems in the years to come, but I survived those as well. Though the water balloon in the face that shoved me back into the handle of my locker certainly didn’t feel good.

Once I reached my High School years I had begun to mature in my thinking more in how I handled things even if it was more passive aggressive then most people would.

One day in my Freshman year, I did something no one is supposed to do. I wandered into “Senior Corner” and was quickly approached by two football player sized guys. “Let’s can him.” Before they could grab me, I looked at them and said, “What can? I’ll get in it for you.” They looked at me, realized that I wasn’t going to let them have any of their fun, and then walked away.

A similar event happened during Swimming Class. I liked to get into the water, but was terrified of the diving board and everyone knew it. But on day came the time the coach required us to all jump from the high dive. I got up there and froze. I don’t know how long I was up there, but long enough that the couch came up and pushed me off the board. I splashed into the water. Still never went up there again, but I got past that. But it wasn’t good enough for the class bully. This guy was always kicking at me on the stands or pushing me around the water. Than one day as the bell rang for us to hit the locker rooms I was climbing out of the pool and he turned around and shoved me back in. I fell face first into the water and stayed there. Passive aggressive me won again, because the bully leapt into the water and pulled me out. Realizing that I was okay, he got upset and screamed, “don’t ever do that again.” “Me?” What had I done? The important thing was he didn’t pick on me again.

As stated above, I cannot compare my life to others who struggle not only with the bullies of the world, but how people including their families see them. I have none of those experiences. What I can say is that I survived even if at the times I didn’t think I would.

Wish I could promise that everything is going to turn out okay, “It gets better,” but what I do know is that I survived.

So this is my little blog about my experience being bullied it doesn’t feel like anything. Maybe I’ll still post a regular writing related one tomorrow.

Shhhh... This place might be blogged.

2010-10-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Went to an industry gathering last night about – Well, I can’t tell you what it was about, we were sworn to secrecy.

Because I can’t tell you what it was about got me thinking about something, and so I’ll blog about that instead.

When the panel began, the representative of the place hosting it reminded us that there was no recording or pictures taken allowed. Before she could finish; the moderator of the panel made the point that ‘blogging’ would not be allowed. Repeating, ‘please don’t blog’.

It made me realize just how much has changed in personal recording devices and how they’ve been implemented over the years.

When my mother was in college, she thought there had to be a way to better study the teacher’s lectures.

So one day she wrote to RCA suggesting they provide her with a portable audio recorder, saying it would be an ideal way to help students study the class lectures if they could listen to it over again. She suggested that if she could have one it would help promote sales to other students once they saw how it worked.

Realize that at the time, even though it was battery operated and considered ‘portable’ this was a reel-to-reel tape recorder that came in its own briefcase like carrier.

The kind people at RCA wrote her back, and plainly said ‘No’. They had no interest, or believe that their recorder could be used in a classroom situation.

My parents eventually did buy a similar reel-to-reel device they used on a vacation trip.

Decades pass and the cassette tape is born. Another battery operated device we could carry but even it was too large to have sitting on your classroom desk. And the placement of the microphone was never good. (I use to record the audio of TV shows with that, this was before we got a VCR.)

That, in turn, led to me getting a mini-cassette recorder, and here’s where we get back to the subject.

I once attempted to use my mini-recorder in a class, but the teacher wasn’t too happy with it. But it turned out that all he wanted was for me to ask ahead of time and not just start recording.

There are places for recorders to be used, and there are placed for them not to be used.

These mini-cassettes turned out to be useful as I went to work on the college newspaper for when I did interviews with subjects. I interviewed comic book artists Brian Murray (Young All-Star’s, Supreme) who had been a student at the college a few years earlier, and science fiction writer James P. Blaylock who was teaching a class that semester.

The mini-cassette eventually was replaced with a digital recorder. Did the job nicely, but came along a little too late.

Now practically everyone has a digital recorder in their pocket or strapped to their belt. It’s called their cell phone. Hey, not only can you record the audio of a teacher’s lecture, you can record the video of him droning on and on while the students fall asleep. Then put it up on Youtube not just for your own use and for other students to study by, but to be watched by the rest of the world as well.

We have so gotten away from the intent of my mother’s original idea of being able to have her teacher’s lecture at hand when she needed to study for the exam.

Now there is an expectation that there will be a recorder of some device in every gathering of more than two people.

Cellphones are ordered turned off not because of that terrible ring-tone you have, but because you might well be recording something.

Signs are put up everywhere with the order that all recording devices can not be used while in this building or listening to that speaker, or watching a clip of an as yet unreleased movie. Heck, when on a movie lot I have to leave my phone in the car because people are so paranoid that the smallest video clip will leak out. Not that they’re wrong in their thinking, but I would have liked to have had my phone. I never use the camera anyway, right.

But even with the order that we can’t use our recorders, things have gone even further than that now.

“Please no blogging.” Live blogging? How is that even possible? It’s hard enough for me to take notes during a panel discussion, let along put it all out in some coherent fashion on to the web, live.

But it does happen.

All you Mac fanatics I am certain were watching the streaming live blogs a few months back as Steve Jobs talked about the latest released of the iPhone, iPad, and MacTV. Remember how he attempted to show off the wireless feature of the camera feature on the iPhone? Remember how it didn’t work? Remember how he had to plead with the audience for everyone to stop Live Blogging because it was slowing down the wifi of the building and he couldn’t do his little presentation? There was so many bloggers there all writing about the exact same thing, that they became part of the story themselves.

So in our little secret panel discussion of last night the moderator was more concerned that secrets would be leaked out in a live blog than they would be through an audio or video recording off your iPhone.

That’s the world we live in now, everything (including this) ends up on a blog.

Beware the power you wield.

Shhhhh… the place maybe bugged – or is it blogged?

And there’s my blog for the week, it’s still Thursday on the West Coast.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

“Four Names of Creative Professionalism”

And not yet live-blogging.

Oops - "The Dog Ate My Homework" - Not!

2010-10-08T22:48:00.000-07:00

When writing a blog, there is no such thing as ‘the dog ate my homework.’ Unless the dog is a virus that eats up your files, destroys your hard drive and years worth of work is destroyed. But there’s no such virus here, and that dog don’t fight or bite.

After writing up a blog two weeks ago about how important it is to meet your deadlines, here I sit having missed a big one. With no excuse except that I forgot.

I can tell you how last Friday a freak storm passed through our town, didn’t last more then an hour but it knocked out our power for eight hours. I was in the midst of working on the comic page and this through me so behind that I wasn’t able to get the page posted on Sunday like it should have. It didn’t go up until Wednesday (that power outage did give me the time to hand write three pages of serial, but still wasn’t enough).

After posting the artwork for page 6 and jump at page 7 and get going on it hoping that it’ll be posted on time this Sunday.

So I totally forget that this blog was due yesterday.

And that, dear editor, producer… reader is the only excuse that I can give you. I forgot.

Take that, as you will. I messed up, and missed my deadline.

So here I am writing this apology, not only to you but to myself. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to keep my promise and get this posted on time, just as I wasn’t able to get the comic posted on time Sunday.

I’m sorry.

So if there are any producers, or editors, or publishers out there reading, know this: If you’ve hired me to do a job, write article, story, or script, and I miss my deadline. There is no one, and no reason, to blame but myself.

That said I now have to tell myself not to let it happen again. I’ve got this blog (which is mostly filler I guess), and I need to finish the pencils and inks for the next page of the comic, start the next chapter of the serial, my week goes on and I will stick with my plans to produce all this as if I was being paid for all this.

Next time won’t wait till the last minute to come up with a subject for my blog.

Again, oops, I’m sorry.

Let’s get it right next time.

Thank you for understanding.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Professional Creativity – I want my Creativity to be as Professional as possible.

Banned Book Week

2010-09-30T23:13:00.000-07:00

It’s Thursday already, and though its time to write this blog again, I can’t believe that this week has nearly slipped by and only now did I realize that it was BANNED BOOK WEEK.

This week unfortunately slips under the radar most years. It hardly gets any mention on the news programs, unless they need filler for the last minute of the program and there’s no cat stuck up a tree.

Back when I was in college (all those years ago), the campus library had a window display each year to show the books that some people didn’t want them to have available to the students. I was pleased to see the Library was supporting the week.

Check out the American Library Association’s website for lists of books that have been banned this year.

One year, when BBW came around and working on the college newspaper, I got the opportunity to write an Opinion piece for the Op-Ed page. I wrote it about Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and did an illustration to go with it.

Am certain I don’t need to remind any of you the story is about a not so distant future where a Fireman’s job is to burn, to burn books, to burn thought. Anything that might offend or up set someone, not just the state, or someone’s religion, or race, or corporate employer. Why have something that could cause conflict between two people. Get rid of it all, burn it.

Sounds frighteningly familiar to something that nearly happened recently, doesn’t it?

As a Christian I am horrified that anyone would think of doing such a thing was the Will of God, or want to do it for any other reason.

No need to run that in to a rant, everyone has his or her own opinion, just don’t let it be forgotten.

Here are a few books that are on this year’s list that one or more people found offensive:

Anne Frank, the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
The Cartoonns That Shook the World by Jytte Klausen
ttyl by Lauren Myracle
Twilight by Stephenie H. Meyer
Dragon Ball: The Monkey King by Akira Toriyama

The rest of the list can be found at the link above. It is, unfortunately, much longer than this.

Here’s another list to check out: Because my first creative passion is comic books, check out this link on Huffington Post of the Top Ten Graphic Novels that have ended up on the Banned Book list.

There are a lot of books I don’t like, a lot of TV shows, a lot of Movies. Some I’ve seen and read, others I have chosen not to. I may not like them, but the writer deserves to have his creation exist and to be read. Heck, he deserves to have it liked or disliked, because that’s what makes it alive. People reading it, and discussing it.

Oh, and to my brother and sister fundamentalist Christians; the book that we believe to be the greatest book in the world… The Holy Bible. It ends up the BANNED BOOK list each year as well.

I don’t intent to make this blog political, and I don’t think censorship is political. It simply prevents us to speak, to write, to read, to learn.

If you’ve found my blog, you’re probably a writer, artist, or someone in related entertainment industry, or plan to be. We all don’t want our work blocked, but even if people don’t like it I remind you to make it the best art and story you can make.

Thank you for reading.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity

DEADLINES – “I’m going to make this one.”

2010-09-23T23:16:00.000-07:00

Maybe this week I’ll actually meet my deadline and post this blog on a Thursday like I promised myself.

But worried I’m going to miss the deadline for finishing the artwork of my web comic.

Which got me to thinking about deadlines.

Since I’m “between” assignments right now, I have had to created self-imposed deadlines on myself or I wouldn’t get anything done.

Here are the deadlines I have set for myself right now:

Sunday – The latest page of FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY has been penciled, inked and approved and I post it to the web site.

Tuesday – The next chapter of “Revenge of the Masked Ghost” is posted to my note page on facebook (Which maybe moving to its own site soon.)

Thursday – I post my "Four Names of Professional Creativity" blog (hopefully this got posted on a Thursday).

Saturday – Study and Prep for the Sunday School/Bible Study I lead Sunday mornings.

You can find most of the links for these over there on the right, and if you’re reading this you’ve found it already and don’t need the link.

As I’m writing this I am also penciling more of the comic, and working on a novel. One thing I am good at is multitasking, but it doesn’t always help.

I need to have these deadlines, not only does it force me to get the work done it also keeps me thinking in the same mind set as I would when employed to do the work under even tighter deadlines.

If not for these deadlines I’d constantly be finding reasons not to do the work. It’s so easy to get distracted as is (thank you Twitter).

One of the hardest things for me to do is something I really need to do more of. That’s to write spec scripts (samples of my writing, either a movie, a television show, animation, or a comic book). If I know someone is interested in my work and wants to see a sample, or is willing to let me pitch for their project, I can write up a good sample in a short time. However, if I don’t have a goal like that it becomes hard to build up the energy to write. So I need to force a deadline and goal on myself to get it done.

It’s coming on a year now since I decided to participate in NANOWRIMO, National Novel Writing Month (http://www.nanowrimo.org/) I had a vague idea for a science fiction novel and so signed up for it. In Nano the writer has thirty days to write 50,000 words of a novel. You don’t have to complete the story, but the goal is to reach that number.

Surprisingly I reached 50,000 with a couple of days to spare, and actually finish the entire first draft.

The problem I did have with the story was that though I knew where it should end up, it was all over the place with far more characters then planned taking different paths to reach that end. Every so often I go back and take a look at it, there’s still something there but I have to rip it apart and workout a detailed outline to put all the parts back together again.

What made it even more frustrating was that about a week into Nano I had an idea for a completely different novel, which would have worked out a whole lot better if I had begun with it. But I had committed myself to the first story and was going to see it through. I paused long enough to write down about a page worth of notes on the new story and then got back to Nano.

Once I completed the Nano novel and feeling victorious I gave myself a few days off and then turned to the second story. And I surprised myself by having the first draft of it done by the end of December.

With Nano I was proved to myself that I could complete a major assignment under a deadline, and the second novel proved that it just wasn’t a onetime event. Though I didn’t have someone else counting down the days I pushed to get it finished before the end of the year, and I succeeded.

Lastly, as I approach the deadline for this blog I want to mention that a Deadline can also be considered a Finish Line of a race. Whether you’ve been given an assignment, or working on a personal project you run for that line. When you cross the finish line or beat that that deadline, if you’ve worked your hardest and done your best work, you’re already victorious. The acclaim, the fortune, the fame, that’ll come later.

And with that little gem I’m just going to make this deadline with about an hour to spare.

Oh, one more thing. I just finished the pencils on the comic page, so I will be able to meet the deadline for FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY as well.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Professional Creativity.

My Job Search is Jinxed.

2010-09-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Okay now you guys are forcing me to actually write something for this week’s blog. In the last hour the site has received 14 visitors, 27 in the last day. That’s more than I’ve had at once since I began this blog.

Do I really have anything to say that’s worth reading? I’m humbled.

Now, where was I?

I did promise you something about how my job search is going, so I should keep my promise.

Even mentioned in one tweet that I thought my search was jinxed. Don’t really in that. But sometimes it sure can feel that way.

Here are a few examples:

Once I “unofficially interned” with a producer at a 3D computer animation house. I helped him with a few scenes of the he was on while he helped me assemble a good portfolio of work to submit. I modeled props like guitars, trashcans, and buildings, and even lunar traveling tanks. I also did composite work that had a space fly along a street not too far from my house. I then submitted the work to the company itself. A few weeks later I got my tape back and a letter saying I wasn’t ready. Disappointed, true, but the bad part was that very same day while I was there everyone else received their pink slips and the company shut down.

It’s not my fault, I swear.

Another time while working through a temp agency, I got to work for several weeks in the consumer produces division of one of the major studios. After which I received a glowing letter of recommendation from the studio’s rep of the temp agency, they looked forward to working with me again. Not long after that the representative left the agency and I never got another job from the studio or any other company.

What did I do?

A third example was when I had a job interview at another one of the studios. It was to be in a department that handled advertising for the television network and its Internet presence. I met with two executives. The interview went really well, and everything looked like it was going to happen. They really liked me. Then a week later a hiring freeze came down on the entire company. Not only did I not get the job, they didn’t hire fill a position they desperately needed to.

Yes, I know everyone is suffering in this economy and there are a lot of people out of work. I have no right to complain, because I have a family who can take care of me. But the truth is, I’ve been struggling on this job search a lot longer then this ‘downturn’ has been happening. I’ve been searching for a job for a whole lot longer.

I knew the freelancer’s life was going to be hard. I wasn’t fooling myself. If I’m going to be a writer and artist there are going to be times when there isn’t work. So I’ve been looking for a “day job” which I can do when not drawing or writing. I’d prefer to find one of these jobs in the entertainment industry someplace, but I’ve been looking elsewhere too.

Guess what… it’s just as hard as finding that writing assignment.

They say it’s “who you know” that will get you a job. Well, I know quite a few people at several studios, production houses, and comic book companies. But that hasn’t made it any easier. Plus the fact everyone you talk to wants you to apply online makes it hard to be personal and sociable while trying to convince them to hire you.

So whether it’s jinxed or there just aren’t any jobs out there, it’s real frustrating to feel like I’m so close but the doors just won’t open.

Yet, I don’t give, and I can’t really complain because I know there are others who are in far worse shape than I. Did you know that 1 in 7 American’s are in poverty.

My mother is on the board of FULLERTON INTERFAITH EMERGENCY SERVICE that helps family in the North Orange County area. Watching these family line up for two bags of groceries reminds me that I’ve had things pretty good, and I’m quite blessed.
(I’ll go into FIES in more detail another time.)

So I keep moving on. Maybe the “day job” I’m suppose to have isn’t anywhere near the entertainment industry, but I’m not giving up.

No matter what keep going, keep doing. Even where we are at now, we’re all successful, and no jinx is going to stop us from succeeding.

Okay. Done. A day late, but done.
Thanks everyone for reading. I’d like to know your thoughts.

Best,
Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
Four Names of Creative Professionalism

“Secret Origin of the Masked Ghost”

2010-09-09T22:07:00.000-07:00

Secret Origins - Original vs Unique Characters

You didn’t really expect me to tell you the hero’s origin here did you? You’ll just have to keep reaching the chapters of “Revenge of the Masked Ghost” as I post them each week.

For those of you who aren’t following me on Twitter (@Kevinpsb00) or Facebook, I have begun writing a serialized novel which I am posting on my Facebook account entitled “Revenge of The Masked Ghost” You can find a link to it on the right side of this blog, as well as links to other important things in my online life. Check them all out.- - - > > >

‘Masked Ghost’, Ya, I know it’s not the most exciting name, but it says what it needs to. Like writer Mark Waid has admitted, I have a terrible time coming up with character names. Civilian names are actually easier to come up with than costumed nom de plumes. You try to come up with a really interesting name for a guy in a mask and tights that hasn’t been used a dozen times. At least this isn’t the 90’s when all I would have to do is find a way to use the words ‘Death’ or ‘Blood’. Only slightly a joke there.

I’m still proud of FLYING GLORY and her grandma I now call OL’GLORY.

Now on to the origin. Every kernel of a story idea isn’t always original. Especially if you want to tell a tale about mystery men and super heroes. Man puts on mask and fights crime, or avenges the murder of family members; whether he has super powers or just uses his fists, that’s basically it.

That character, his mask, tights, and cape, can be so much more than that depending on what the writer, and the artist, who brings him to life. What makes Peter Parker a great character? Is it his powers, or the death of his Uncle Ben teaching him to take responsibilities for his actions? The Fantastic Four are great team because they’re a family.

I could go on.

Each writer takes a shot at

Now I’m frightening myself, because there’s no way I can compare myself to the greatest writers of the last 75 years of super heroes. I wouldn’t dream of even trying.

The reason why I mention all is that I know at first glance the “Masked Ghost” will appear very familiar. I’ll admit that I really enjoy the original costumed mystery men like the Crimson Avenger, the Green Hornet, and the original Sandman. And my hero has the same type of business suit and fedora. Though he doesn’t have a stereotypical Asian sidekick like to of those did.

(Unimportant aside: The word ‘sidekick’ is in Word’s spell check. Did that word exist before the creation of masked heroes?)

I’ve wanted to write about one of these old style mysterious vigilante’s (realize that the term super hero wouldn’t come into existence for several years,) but didn’t want to do just any story. It had to have something unique about it.

Then about three weeks ago I had a thought; not about the hero himself but what would the family be like if they suddenly discovered he was a masked vigilante. That’s all I’ll tell you about that idea, except to say that from a single thought grew a whole concept. I first brain stormed for about a page, and then for three more pages I began to work out what the first story would be about. A day later I had worked out the beats for a 25 chapter long story. It grew quickly from there.

I don’t know everything about what’s going to happen to our hero and his family, and I know absolutely nothing about criminal he’s hunting. But it’s all coming together, and you will be discovering all his secrets as I do

So why this blog, besides promoting “Revenge of the Masked Ghost?” I want to tell all the new writers out there who want to get into comics and super heroes not to worry if your ideas aren’t a hundred percent original. Whether you get a chance to write for an existing mystery man (or woman) or create one of your own, make the story write come from your heart. That way your story will be unique and special. Make what’s been around for years new and make it your own. I’ve done that with Flying Glory, and hope I’m doing it with “The Masked Ghost.”

On a side note a ghost out of my own past showed up to haunt me last night…

Jordan Jennings (@JordanCJennings on Twitter) of CBO Productions did a review of the first issue of Image Comics SUPREME as part of his Field Guide To the Comic Book Bargain Bin series. He gives a very interesting look back at this character created by Rob Liefeld. What makes this a haunting to me is that comic was my very first professional job in the industry. I drew background and did color comps on several pages. I continued to work with Brian Murray on the next several issues of the series, and also did colors for other books as well. Thank you Jordan for reminding me of the great experiences I had.

Talk to you all next week.

KPSB

The Headache that Ended the World.

2010-09-02T21:51:00.000-07:00

This blog should have been posted early this afternoon, and it’s almost 9pm and I’m just now writing it.
I have been working on other things today; penciling the latest page of FLYING GLORY AND THE HOUNDS OF GLORY (www.flying-glory.com), as well as writing more of my novel and starting a new story I’m hoping to post online soon.
But all of that got side tracked by a headache that hit me this morning and hasn’t really gone away tonight.
I threatened on Twitter to write about my headache if I couldn’t think of anything else…

I got that close to writing about how I have suffered with it for years, but I won’t go into that.

What I will do is go back to what I’ve been talking about the last few weeks. Taking things that life hands you and turning them into stories. The headache is one major example of this.
I’m really into time travel stories (a major Doctor Who fan, in all his incarnations), so I built this who epic story based around time travel. In this story my main character had to travel back a few days, during which he already existed. What would be the repercussions of such an event.
The easy out was that the time traveler could not be seen by his previous self, but he also had memories of an extremely bad headache a few days earlier and now discovered he had that because he was very close to himself.
So I always imagined that the reason I suffer such terrible headache is that sometime in the future I’m going to have my own time machine and come back and try to visit myself.

Okay, that was really silly and probably a waist of your time, would you like to have a time machine and go back and prevent me from writing this? Maybe you already did and that’s why I have this blasted headache. Thanks a whole lot.

Hey, at least I’m keeping my promise to myself and writing a blog every week. Doesn’t have to be good, does it? Going to go rest this head now.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden
"Four Names You Need To Remember"

Hitchhiking across the Galaxy to find your Writer's Voice.

2010-08-26T15:09:00.000-07:00

What am I going to write about today? I have no idea.

Or rather, I had no idea until about three minutes ago, at which point I checked facebook to discover one of my friends had posted a news article stating that the UK’s television network BBC4 would be airing an adaptation of Douglas Adam’s science fiction comedy novel Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.

So why does this warrant a mention in a blog about writing? Because it reminded me of reading the original novel, and Adam’s magnum opus The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

The question I would like to pose to you this week is this: As a writer have you ever found yourself writing in another author’s voice? Was it intentional, or purely by accident?

Years ago while in a college creative writing course I was assigned to write a comedic short story as part of my final.

During that same semester, a friend of mine loaned me his copies of the original Hitchhiker’s trilogy (I have never read the books that followed). As an avid fan of Doctor Who (at that time I was really into the Tom Baker years), I really enjoyed the Douglas Adam episodes. (If you like the Matt Smith run, go check these out). So I really got into his novels.

Hitchhiker was slowly seeping into my unconsciousness as I read the novels that semester. So that when given an assignment to write this short story I found myself writing with Mr. Adam’s voice. Even my teacher noticed it.

Got a pretty good grade on it too.

That wasn’t the only time I ended up writing in another author’s voice. After I read a Sherlock Holmes story, I end up writing certain scenes with Arthur Conan Doyle’s voice. And because I read tons of Ray Bradbury, I can come up sounding like him as well.

That works for some things, and Adam’s voice works for others, but you know what voice really works best for my stories?

My own voice.

Sometimes I think it would be a whole lot better if I could write that that author, or that scriptwriter, but in truth it really wouldn’t be. More likely it’s going to come across as a poor imitation.

I may not be the greatest writer in the world, but I’d far rather not try to imitate the greatest writers in the world. Learn from them, absolutely, but not copy them.

I wouldn’t be surprised if my writing voice has picked up mannerisms from Adams, Doyle, Bradbury, and others, but I sound like myself. Whether I’m writing a short story, novel, script, or comic book, or even my little old blogs here, it’s going to be in my own voice?

Learn the from the voices of the author’s you greatly respect, then go an find your own voice.

Okay, that was nice and short. Actually had a point to it.

Thanks for reading.

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Four Names of Creative Professinalism.