More from the Land of Twitter - Part 2

When I start to draft these scenes, I'll post on Instagram. One of the styles I use is as free-form as possible with little background and not as many panels. My comics look more like illustrated books for grown-ups.

I also wonder if there's any way I can get short comic stories published by lieu of indies, really small press, and literary journal publishers? I notice there's more journals that have comics and graphic arts in their submission guidelines.

This is what I'm looking at and have been submitting to. I want editing as well. Just like with my short stories.

I'm lazy. So, so lazy. I want to work at my own pace. I'm not good with deadlines
(But getting better) and feel I'd do worse with comic submissions. Especially if it were a regular comic publisher.

I Completed A 20-page Graphic Novel!

Month of February was both a difficult month emotionally, mentally, and physically for me.

I won't get too much into one of the reasons but I can talk about the other reason: I worked on a 20-page graphic novel! It was a rush job as I only had roughly two months to complete it.

Instead of using my special micro nib pens for inking, I decided to use my double-head black designer markers instead. It gave a children's book feel. I drove this idea home especially that I used a junior high school-aged Latin-American boy as protagonist.

I had my mom and five co-workers read the graphic novel and received only positive and heartfelt feedback!

The application package had four deadlines and, on my part, I completed the cover sheet, my bibliography, a resume, and the work sample (graphic novel)! I already had an appointment with a professor colleague who worked on my letter of recommendation. I only have one letter left. That deadline isn't until the first day of next month.

I posted cropped pages of the comic on my Instagram (@Handdrawnbycarmenjr) since it's in the submission process.

Please wish me luck and keep your fingers crossed!

8/9/16 - More musing... A rant here and there

Some people don't seem to understand why I write fiction, why I write fantasy, why I work in anthropomorphism, or why do I read SF/F at all.

I don't know what to think. I do know on some level why I do the art that I do. I know there's a lot for me to say and if the characters looked too familiar, readers might shy away. SF/F brings up the ideas and discusses the topics many normally won't talk about. But once dressed in animal or nonhuman, it becomes easier to get away with speaking about taboo subject matters and controversial topics. I can use such devices and literary genres to tell the stories about mundane things.

I often don't want to tell people where I'm published because of their reaction. The statements can be any number of superficial magazines that they think my submissions are better suited for but this advice couldn't be further from the truth. No, I've learned that some of my writings are categorized under sub-genres. I consider them speculative fiction. That means they aren't mainstream and because of this, my works may be found online or purchased directly from the publisher.

Don't look for me in The New Yorker or other such mainstream and coveted titles anytime soon. I also find a number of women's magazines foolish and some men's magazines even worse. Right now, and you can say I'm limiting myself. I've heard it all before, but I'm better off where you may find me: niche, sub-genre, speculative, mixed genres, and mostly nerdy.

The Art of Plugging Away...

Ahhh... It's been a while since I wrote one of these.

shutterstock photo keyword writer

A lot has been happening with my writing. I'm applying for many writing opportunities, revising, editing, and then submitting. Being a nervous wreck as deadlines approach and I wonder will I be accepted. A short story was accepted, but a query letter's objective wasn't. *weeps*

 rgbstock.com photo by Arinas74

You may have noticed I changed the wording in the title and subtitle for this blog. I think it's more straight forward rather than so enigmatic with the previous title!

I also updated my website, "trimmed the fat," so to speak. I tidied up the wording, paying close attention to my Visitor Tracker on the main page. I've not only been getting visitors from the United States, but also a couple from overseas! It's both exciting and frightening, which is why I decided to tweak the wording and rearrange some of the icon links. Need to be professional at all times.

I'm also looking into more professional freelance writing so that I may supplement my income. The novel is now a 'working novel' instead of a 'novel draft' or a 'work-in-progress'. Its latest was at 580+ pages on the main manuscript. Still writing. Still researching.

I bring one book log (what I call my writing journals)

My two protagonists (c)

to my main job so I can use my breaks and in-between tutoring sessions to write some more. Stacey Hankin and Slasher Castellano are both fun protagonists to write about and that's a good sign to a writer. We need to feel sympathetic towards our characters, even our antagonists, or the tales would never be told.

Again, thanks for reading. As more writing adventures continue, even artistic ones, please watch this space!
The website is a focal point and my 'business card', but my blogs, especially this one, are a diary/journal that I use to keep readers in the loop.

Lastly, SUBSCRIBING to this blog is FREE! I may offer a newsletter in the future that will be attached to it. We will see.
And again, THANK YOU, Dear Readers.

Semester ending.. Got some projects done

LAST WEEK OF THIS SEMESTER!

But, thanks to my new Android notebook (I treated myself to a low-cost netbook), I got to complete a couple of projects: essay for my college's online magazine, my submission for upcoming residency. And just yesterday, finally completed that article idea. *Keep fingers crossed when I submit it*

I will be tweeting/blogging the netbook (I've been testing it and it's exceeded my wildest expectations - gave it 5 stars on Amazon.com)!

Now to updating my Tumblr - it's been sorely neglected.