Love Letters
An ode to all the things in which I find love, encouragement and inspiration.
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Halloweek 2010: 6 Classic Spooky Stories
This is the promised blog post! Wooo! In six days it shall be Halloween! Other than Christmas, Halloween is probably my favorite holiday, because of the costumes and the candy, but also because there’s so much to DO and have fun with! I love a good story, and Halloween is FULL of them! Just look at the old ghost stories and creepy tales you find tacked on houses or buildings in old historic towns: they all talk about people who used to be alive, and there’s something dramatic about the idea of spirits hanging on. How many stories have focused on ghosts over the years? But I digress. As you know,…
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(Comic)Book Byte: Quack Quack Quack, 4:4 (Guest Post)
While on hiatus, I have guests doing a few posts for me. Enjoy, and see you when I get back! ~CAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Executive mandate from the Disney corporate offices came down that a comic book work would be made detailing Scrooge McDuck’s life and backstory. The editors at Egmont (the company who licensed the Disney comics) quickly volunteered Rosa for the job, knowing his love for the character would serve their needs well. And Rosa did what is perhaps the most obsessive, crazy, fanboyish thing I had ever seen. He read every Barks comic and took notes on every mention Scrooge made of his past, whether it was a plot point…
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(Comic)Book Byte: Quack Quack Quack, 3:4 (Guest Post)
While on hiatus, I have guests doing a few posts for me. Enjoy, and see you when I get back! ~CAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Carl Barks created Donald Duck as I know him. He created an entire universe around this character, who was smarter, more goodhearted, and didn’t even look completely like the original version, a character people still write today. As his identity was not known for the first 18 years of his career as a comic book writer/artist, he was nicknamed “The Good Duck Artist” or “The Duck Man” for his high-quality drawings and inventive plots which captivated so many children, which are reprinted to this day. The 1954 tale…
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(Comic)Book Byte: Quack Quack Quack, 2:4 (Guest Post)
While on hiatus, I have guests doing a few posts for me. Enjoy, and see you when I get back! ~CAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Carl Barks never directed any Disney shorts, but he wrote, penciled, shaded inked and lettered over 6,000 pages of work over the course of his 25 year career as a comic book writer/artist. The average artist today releases about 220 pages per year, penciled, and I can assure you that the majority of them are not Disney trained professionals. During this time he was responsible for the creation of Scrooge McDuck, Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, Flintheart Glomgold, the Beagle Boys, Magica DeSpell, Duckburg and the Money Bin… and…
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(Comic)Book Byte: Quack Quack Quack, 1:4 (Guest Post)
While on hiatus, I have guests doing a few posts for me. Enjoy, and see you when I get back! ~CAN ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Carl Barks is the most important man in the world to Donald Duck. Sure, he didn’t create him, that was a joint effort between Walt Disney and Dick Lundy (the character designer). And he wasn’t the voice actor, that was Clarence Nash, whose impression of a family of ducks inspired Walt to create the character. Barks didn’t even direct any shorts, though he was a capable gag-man. His biggest claim to fame in the cartoons was pitching the idea where Donald gets his butt-feathers combed and trimmed by…
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Book Byte: Painless Learning!
Happy school year, guys! It’s the weekend and I’m posting an entry about SCHOOL! YAAAY! It’s just that the past few weeks I’ve been getting nostalgic flashbacks of buying school supplies and books, and the morning bustle of my dad, me and my sister getting ready for work and school as my mom rushed around helping all of us out get out the door on time. I remember on very rainy days the house seemed so cozy, and everything about our morning ritual just seemed…strangely perfect. There was a homey bustle to the start of school that I loved then and now. *happy sigh* Okay, so I haven’t been in…
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The Spectacular J.R.R. Tolkien & C.S. Lewis
“Tollers, there is too little of what we really like in stories. I am afraid we shall have to try and write some ourselves.” – Lewis to Tolkien If you asked me to name the two authors whose written works made the biggest impact on my younger years, they would be John Ronald Reuel and Clive Staples, better known as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. C.S. Lewis grabbed my attention as a kid with the Chronicles of Narnia, and Tolkien was there for me in middle and high school with The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings, which is my favorite book and film series of all time. I’ve been…
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Internet Picture Serials
The internet has really given people a new lease on their creative life. They can create blogs, make their own videos, podcasts, Twitter characters and stories (EDITED years later: not to mention trans-media storytelling), anything, really! Storytelling has really evolved, and people have been taking advantage of it! For those of you who love blogging, I’m sure some of you like me have dreamed about creating a made-up story in installments on a blog. It’s like a serial story in a magazine without the subscription fee ^_^ Many people have gone out and done just that, and it makes it even more fun when they include pictures. As they say,…
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The Secret of Kells
“I have seen the book. The book that turned darkness into light.” When I was in Dublin a few years ago, I had a chance to visit Trinity College and tour its library and museums. It’s famous for being the home of the Book of Kells, which was illuminated by Irish monks and survived the Viking attacks in the late 700s and early 800s A.D. Considering the content of my novel having a lot to do with illuminated manuscripts and monks, it’s always been an area of interest for me. When the 2010 Oscars aired, I first heard of a movie listed in the Best Animated Film category called “The Secret…
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The Origins of Automata and the Uncanny in “Edison’s Eve”
All moveables of wonder, from all parts,/Are here–Albinos, painted Indians, Dwarfs,/The Horse of Knowledge, and the learned Pig,/The Stone-eater, the man that swallows fire,/Giants, Ventriloquists, the Invisible Girl,/The Bust that speaks and moves it goggling eyes,/The Wax-work, Clock-work, and all the marvelous craft/Of modern Merlins, Wild Beasts, Puppet-shows,/All out-o’-the-way, far-fetched, perverted things,/All freaks of nature, all Promethean thoughts/Of man, his dullness, madness, and their feats/All jumbled up together, to compose/A Parliament of Monsters. – William Wordsworth, The Prelude While doing some research for my webcomic a few months ago, I read a remarkable book called “Edison’s Eve” by Gaby Wood. It discusses the historical significance of automata from their initial…
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Whisper of the Heart
Mr. Nishi: It’s a special kind of rock called a geode. Hold it close to your eye and look inside…Those crystals are called beryl. There are pieces of raw emeralds deep inside them. Shizuku: Aren’t emeralds worth a lot of money? Mr. Nishi: Sure, but they need to be cut and polished first. When you first become an artist, you’re like that rock. You’re in a raw, natural state, with hidden gems inside. You need to dig down deep and find the emeralds tucked away inside you. And that’s just the beginning. Once you’ve found your gems, you have to polish them. It takes a lot of hard work. Oh,…
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Hey, Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time!
Interesting title. Thank you. I cannot take credit for it. Not quite a writing charity or an author dinner raising money for illiteracy, but it’s so noteworthy and creative and…well, authory, that I knew I had to write a little bit about it’s existance. “Hey, Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time” is a website where, as they say themselves (capslock and all): NOW IN ITS TENTH INCARNATION SINCE BEING LAUNCHED IN 06.1998, IS AN EXTENSION OF A PERSONAL ART COLLECTION OF VARIOUS ARTISTS INTERPRETING THEIR FAVOURITE LITERARY FIGURE/AUTHOR/CHARACTER THAT HAS BEEN ACCUMULATED SINCE 03.1998. Basically, it’s a website where illustrators and artists do up pieces involving their favorite books or authors…
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In Praise of Miyazaki-San or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Anime
<< Edited May 12, 2010 >> What defines inspiration to a writer? I’ve spent a good deal of time reading, and have found some favorite authors, but there’s always more to it than just BOOKS, isn’t there? Stimuli is all around us. An artist’s source of inspiration is the very world around them, and they can step into worlds of another’s creation to find inspiration for their own. I have a deep and abiding love for music and brilliant composers, and amusingly enough, I’ve spent more academic class hours studying films and scripts than actual creative novel writing, so I have many things that have shaped my personal creative style.…
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"I was trying to feel some kind of a good-by."
J. D. Salinger, author of “Catcher in the Rye” died yesterday (Jan. 27th) of natural causes, at the ripe ol’ age of 91. {read the article} The funny thing is that I thought he died long ago. That’s how reclusive he’s been. His only published novel is “Catcher in the Rye,” and a few short stories, including “Franny and Zooey.” I first read “Catcher in the Rye” in high school, with our grade divided into different period English classes, and in my small group I was surprisingly one of the few who expressed enjoyment reading it. I never fancied myself having teenage angst at the time, though looking back, I…
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The Fantastic Tom Siddel (Gunnerkrigg Court)
Webcomics count as books! Oh, do they ever! That is, if they’re good and seem more like a mini series than a bunch of random strips. One of my favorites is a gem of visual storytelling in both art and writing: the incredible tale of Gunnerkrigg Court but Tom Siddel. Within the first week of my attendance [at Gunnerkrigg Court], I began noticing a number of strange occurrences. The most prevalent of these oddities being the fact that I seemed to have obtained a second shadow… It tells the story of Antimony Carver, and her journey to discover the mysteries of her sprawling, industrial school–Gunnerkrigg Court–which is so much more…
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The Delightful Maud Hart Lovelace
Merry Christmas Eve, everyone! I have a special Book Byte for you. On this wonderful night, my heart is warmed by thoughts of Christmases during my childhood, and all the happy memories I have of days gone by. So, I felt it only fitting to talk about one of my favorite heartwarming book series. I’m only sad that it took me so long to finally hear about it, but I’m so happy that I can read it as an adult. It’s even more of a pleasure. Maud Hart Lovelace is not an author many recognize by name, but those who do, it’s safe to say they are fierce fans of…
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826 Valencia
Another new little posting series: The Write Stuff, *groan* where I post interesting, quick morsels of info involving the grooming of the next generation of writers, anything from awesome teachers or inspiring stories, to non-profits, to anything else I think counts. What do you get when you cross learning to write with an abiding love for all things piratey? Why, 826 Valencia, of course! As one of the locations of the 826 National centers, they tutor kids in writing. Here’s a bit about 826 Valencia in their own words. From their website: Founded in 2002 by author Dave Eggers and educator Nínive Calegari, 826 Valencia is dedicated to supporting students ages…
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In the Realms of the Unreal
Sometimes, authors and artists fantasize about being hermits. It’s a romantic notion: cast off worldly things like cell phones, the internet, acquaintances and jobs, and run away where there is no one to bother you, and you’re blessedly detached from the looming, ugly world that threatens to come between you and your creativity. I still get nostalgic for that strange place of creative bliss that I’ve only found a few times in my own mind, yet, I’d never really thought about the flipside of this coin until I heard the unusual story of Henry Darger. I’ve just finished watching “The Realms of the Unreal” documentary about the life of Henry…
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The Illustrious Terry Pratchett
This is the first Book Byte-featured author so far that is already published, and has considerable notoriety and very devoted fans. I started reading Terry Pratchett (or I should probably say Sir Terry Pratchett!) in high school, and I’ve been on a quest to read all of his Discworld series since! (Quite an endeavor, as there are over 20 books and he keeps adding more.) With an infectious, comical writing style that reads like a witty, British comedy, Pratchett creates a fantastic, magical world that is alive and thriving (if not a bit grubby and smelly at times, but it does its best ^_^), and engages the reader so much…
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Lisa Patton
Lisa Patton and I met by random chance at a car repair shop as I was leaving and she was entering. After a mere minute-long conversation, we found out we were both authors, and we’ve been friends ever since! FIRST LINES: “Memphis is my home. It always will be no matter where I live. In the South we have a tendency to be possessive of our hometowns.” It’s about a Southern belle and her tales of moving up to Vermont and running an inn with her family. Lisa has also been an innkeeper in Vermont, so I think it’s safe to say that this book has a lot of truth…
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Jeanette Bennett (and Wendell Howe)
Jeanette Bennett received a new lease on life when she took a pause from a “real” job and began pursuing her passion as a writer. She’s been gaining notoriety on the web for less than a year now, which is a testament to her popular writing experiment! She’s been seeing how well she can write a story on twitter though the eyes of one of her characters, and it’s safe to say that she’s been wildly successful! A bit befuddled? Well, if you’ve never heard of Dr. Wendell Howe, the time traveler from the 27th century, then I pity your loss. But weep no more! It just so happens that…
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Chris Carlton Brown
I’m going to start a new little series here on me blog: the Book Byte, where I briefly showcase writers or books I really like. I’ll cover my favorite mainstream ones, but especially ones published by personal author friends, because I believe we writer types should help each other out! So, in the words of Strong Bad: “Let’s take a look. A book-look.” Chris Carlton Brown is a dear friend of my family. “Hoppergrass” is his debut book, and I was lucky enough to read it earlier this year. FIRST LINE: “It’s always a clean, white car—this time a Ford.” It’s a story about a teen juvie and his stint…
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National Novel Writing Month
I’ve been so excited to post this entry, and now that it’s October the time has come! Behold, the amazing wonder that is National Novel Writing Month (better known as NaNoWriMo!) The premise: come up with an idea for a novel, and write all of it in the span of one month, specifically November! I won’t be participating this year, but I’ve thrown my hat in the ring in years past! I used it mostly to write back-story, though. My main problem was that I always had a novel I was working on (the one I just finished), and according to their rules you need to start a brand new…
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Blogs du jour avec hollandaise
I love to blog, and honestly, watching “Julie and Julia” yesterday just fueled the fire. It was about good food, book publishing AND blogging, among other things! Needless to say, I love it when favorite things come together. ^_^ On that note, I just wanted to share a few blog entries I ran across recently. Of course, I’m always on the lookout for seasoned writers on the web; people who have been around the block a few times and know the world and know the life, and this is a great opportunity to introduce one of the ones I follow: Cures for Writer’s Block & some Preventatives. ~ I first…