Review: Mister Miracle

Mister Miracle by Tom King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm literally going to get "Darkseid is." tattooed on my arm. No joke. I get a new tattoo every year, and this is going to be my next one. I already love Tom King's work so much I want to have his babies, but I do not mince words with I say Mister Miracle is a crowning achievement. Not only is it deep and emotional, but it also opens the mind to what comic books can be. It's that f%&@ing good.

Since nitpicking is my strong suit, I'll start there. If I can at least. I bounced possible complaints in my head, but there were soundly defeated by the positive vibes I feel for this book. The only one that stood up to this fairly one-sided mental battle was the bits involving Metron. It was a little too obscure and not fully fleshed out as far as explaining what he is even doing in this book. The cliffhanger at the end of issue #11 has no real resolution to it in regards to that singular plot point. I'm not saying #12 makes for a bad ending, it doesn't, but his involvement leads too much into fan theory territory. And I hate fan theories.

Besides that singular issue, the writing is God tier good. Seriously, one of the best books I've ever read. Well, the best within the last several years at least. The best comparison I can make is the movie Vertigo. Where everything is just so nuanced and layered. Grappling with issues like suicide and depression in a way that connects with whatever you call a soul. It also maintains a thorough plot with each issue laying out every point in express detail. I seriously don't know where Tom King goes from here.

The art is awesome. It matches perfectly with the story and conveys each aspect in the way comic books were meant to. Mitch Gerads and Tom King as a true dream team. I honestly think I'm running out of ways to say this book is great.

I try not to fanboy, it leads down a path of liking things that aren't genuinely good. Or worse, justifying things you would consider mediocre otherwise. Like saying Bumblebee is the best Transformers movie while ignoring how a legless pug could jump over that bar. The worst, of course, is not being able to like something that is great because some aspect of fandom tells you not to. I'm looking at you Star Wars fans. Regardless, I try not to love this book because I'm a fan of Tom King. I am a fan, but I would hate if I loved something that wasn't actually good. I still think this book is great, and you should too, but I pray to the New Gods that I never become that person.

Darkseid is.

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FML and an Honorable Mention

You should never write when you're under the heavy influence of either anger or depression. But my two fans won't be able to sleep tonight if I don't update them on the Atlanta conference that I just got back from. So, which negative emotion is coursing through my veins? Read and find out.

Disclaimer: The bit about the conference is towards the end. Not that you should skip to the end, but I don't want you to feel I'm burying the lede.

First up we have the Alabama Book Festival. To be honest, it felt like an off year. Even the food vendors were lacking. Which is a shame because I was really looking forward to a hot dog. Usually, it's an all-day affair for me, a holy day even. But, this year, I didn't show up until late in the morning (which is actually good because it was also Record Store Day). The first event I wanted to do was a poetry workshop. I was glad I decided to go because it was well worth attending. After that though, I should have left. There were no interesting guests and the book store was almost entirely travel, history, or true crime related. Even Christian literature had trouble showing up that particular Saturday. The next event of note was the comic book panel with the creators of Tuskegee Heirs. It was a good panel, but the lack of food had me more than a little tired. Then a massive wasp came into the room and everyone was super alert.  I wanted to stay for an indie publishing workshop at the end of the day, but I just didn't have the energy. So I left with no new books in hand. On the bright side, my to-read shelf is still only slightly overflowing.

I spoke last month about entering a short story contest, but that ended in failure. Well, at least sort of. I just decided to not enter because it turns out it had an entry fee. Unless the fee is something small to cover the use of a third party form service, the fees are usually bullshit. At least my work on the short story wasn't a waste of time because I will enter it into the Writers of the Future contest after I give it one last go through.

Speaking of Hubbardville, I'm getting an honorable mention for my first quarter entry. I know it's just one small step above a rejection, but it's a start. I should probably shop the story around. If you're reading this and know someone meaningful that publishes urban fantasy, comment below.

Now, the main event. The Atlanta Writer's Conference. Truth, I'm not totally sure I want to talk about it. It's still too early to say if anything will come out of it, but I have serious doubts. The highlight is that an editor really liked my sample, but she doesn't take unagented manuscripts. I could probably do an entire post on what is wrong with that, but I'll leave it be as it will not solve anything. The good news, I have a lead if I get an agent. The bad news is that I'm not likely to get an agent any time soon. Later this month I am sending two query letters to agents I met at the conference, so not all is lost. If anything, I learned that I should be more picky about who I pitch to instead of just throwing at everyone with their mitt out. Especially if I have to pay a butt load of money just to get in the room.

Plus side, I reacquainted myself with a couple of cool guys who are in the same boat as me. Or the same peas in the same pod. Which ever cliché suits you.

I could go further into detail about the conference, but I won't waste the time. My life, at least currently, isn't a zero sum game. In fact, it's going pretty well. We're moving into a bigger house later this year. My wife is super hot. Will probably start having kids by year's end. My friends are better than your friends. It just feels the lack of progress on my writing tips the scales into the negative. I know it's not true, that my life is awesome. Well, at least better than most. What am I feeling? Hopeful. It's just mixed with being angry and depressed. You know, how being alive is supposed to feel like.

Last note, I'm going on my honeymoon at the end of May, so it's unlikely I will do a blog entry at the beginning of June. If anything important happens, I'll be sure to like you know. If not, I'll catch you in July. I might do one before I leave, but, if you don't hear from me by May 31st, I'm too busy drinking German beer and trying to impregnate my wife.

Comment below if that was TMI.

Progress with a Side of Failure

Pitmad was a failure. I'll just start off there. It's also probably my last attempt to follow through with that event. I've found that it's heavily skewed towards YA, which shouldn't be that much of a surprise since the event takes place on Twitter. I personally wasn't expecting much, but what bothered me was that I saw people with really good pitches gain almost no traction because their stuff was adult. It's also a breeding ground for "publishing" companies that don't do much better than if you just put it out there yourself. If their only releases are anthologies with a book cover that is just a stock photo overlaid with some text, they aren't a real publishing firm. I know this sounds like a rant (because it kind of is), but the whole thing left me sour. If you couldn't tell.

In better news, I turned in the samples for the writing conference. I suppose I should get used to deadlines if I want to succeed in this writing thing. I won't know what the editors think until the conference in May, but I think I've put my best foot forward. I'm not likely to do another blog entry until after the event, so I should be able to at least give my first impressions of how things went next time you hear from me.

I should really keep notes on what happened during the month so I can reflect more easily. All of this is just off the top of my head and that's not a good way to maintain a blog. I know I'm screaming into the void, but that's no reason to be terrible at it.

After I turned in the sample, I resumed editing my first book. It's mostly just small changes, but it has to be done. I'm also re-working a short story for a contest. The contest isn't science fiction-centric, but I'll try anyway. If anything, if I get rejected, I can always try the Writers of the Future contest. Speaking of which, they still haven't announced the winners for the first quarter. There's a whole heap of drama around that, but I won't get into it. I just hate refreshing my email for rejection letters.

And then there's poetry. I entered a random piece of work in a contest of its own. Didn't win. Not that I'm surprised. My poetry is trash. It's slowly getting to the point of readability, but it's not there yet. A good friend of mine introduced me to a poetry/spoken word weekly event, but there is no way I'm reading my garbage in there. I might try to do some spoken word stuff. I have a few pieces I could dust off. But it'll have to wait until after the conference. Everything is waiting until after the conference.

I know I said last month that I needed to get started on my newer projects. No real progress was made on that front. I just don't have the time while things that could actually be published within a year take precedent. My goal for Thermal Kings is to have the narrative, setting, and outline fully planned out by the end of October. I should probably work on that first thing after the conference. After I get the short story turned in, I need to work on my actual pitch for the agents/editors. Talking to people has never been my strong suit, which might explain why I write.

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Review: Blacksad

Blacksad by Juan Díaz Canales
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was going to try to open this review with a cat pun of some sorts, but I couldn't come up with anything. I just didn't leave this book with enough emotional investment to try as hard as I possibly could. This book is serviceable, even likable in some parts, but doesn't really convince me that it's worth more than a single pass. Bottom line, it's okay.

I wasn't completely sold on the idea on a noir cat story walking into this, and that's on me, but the book doesn't do a super great job selling it once you're in. The writing is just a little too standard for my tastes. It isn't bad but doesn't do well enough to fully engage me. There are sparks, but no ignition. For example, the opening to issue three is clever as all hell, but it isn't that good throughout the entire book. Plus, the narration can be nonsensical at times, which might be on par for the noir genre but is still annoying.

Probably my biggest problem with the writing was the lack of world building. It just borrows too many ideas from real-world events to create its world and characters. It mostly takes generic concepts about racism and dames to blend together with anthropomorphic characters. The thing is, if so much of this book is taken from the real world, why even bother with animal-like characters? With a little more creative world building and slightly tighter writing, I probably would have enjoyed this book a lot more.

Art-wise, I will say is fan-fucking-tasic. It's perfect for what intended purpose of the comic and is just great art in general. Some of the direction and paneling is uncreative, but that criticism is coming from a guy whose favorite method is nine perfectly same rectangles. If I graded this book purely on the art, I would have given it five stars.

If I was to sum up this book in one phrase, it would be: It's almost good. Which sucks. Because, despite popular belief, I want all books to be good. Instead, what I got was only okay. It's coke zero when I wanted a coke. I can see people loving this book, and that's okay. Blacksad isn't trash, but I wouldn't read it again on purpose.

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Review: Dune

Dune by Frank Herbert
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Despite the rabid nature of love that I pour onto this book, I will fully admit that it isn't for everyone. It was barely published in its time, and would never have a chance of being successful today. It violates so many rules of storytelling that I'm surprised Hemingway hasn't risen from his grave and thrown a yellow flag in protest. It treats every detail evenly, both important and mundane. It practically tells you word for word what is going to happen from the very beginning, leaving almost nothing for surprise. It's written in third person omniscient, which is a death curse to most regardless of the quality of the prose. And, perhaps most troublesome of all, it's dense. Far denser than it needs to be, requiring a hundred ten percent of your attention span.

The question must be asked: If Dune has so many fundamental problems, why do uber nerds like me love it so? The answer: It's complicated. Literally. Dune is so layered in its complexity that it's near impossible to write a proper review without going into deep philosophical analysis. It touches so many bases on religion, politics, ecology, and even invents some new subjects we didn't even know we needed. Much of the book could be taken apart and examined deeper for unexpressed meanings. And, unlike a David Lynch film, will actually have them.

That's the gift and curse of Dune. It can't just be read, it has to be absorbed. If you walk into this thinking its a cool read about deserts and giant adorable sandworms, you'll be sadly mistaken. It does have that, vast plains of sand and the cutest invertebrates in literature, but those are merely backdrops to a deep narrative of message and warning. That's the good news. The bad news is that most of that depth is buried between the lines.

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Review: POS: Piece of Sh*t

POS: Piece of Sh*t by Pierre Paquet
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

It's difficult to rate a book that has unlikable characters. Even if the character is a jerk or just plain evil, they can still be likable in an engaging sense. It's even more difficult with this particular book because the unlikable character is unlikable by design rather than just shitty writing. So I tried to examine this book by other aspects than just the character. It was then that I discovered it wasn't just the main character that was unlikable.

Perhaps the biggest problem with this book is the plot structure. It seems to have a habit of focusing on a specific story aspect and jumps from subplot to subplot without much connection or organic flow. Basically, it reads like this: something happens then, four or five days later, something completely unrelated happens. It's not really a story but rather a sequence of scenes that aren't tied together very well. It's so bad that the epilogue is used to conclude a common story thread rather than be an afterthought side story like it should be.

Like I said before, the main character is unlikable by design, but that doesn't change the fact he is unlikable. What probably bothers me the most is that a good deal of the shit that happens to him is his own fault. If anyone says, "How hard can (pretty much anything) be?", don't get into business with them. It's not just a comment against the book, but general life advice you should take to heart.

The art is serviceable, but I didn't care much for it. It tells the story well enough, but this book was obviously done on a budget. I'm not saying only big-budget books should get noticed, but poverty isn't an excuse for a lack of talent. That being said, my biggest problems are still with the writing, so I still would have liked this book if the art was the same but had a better handle on its structural issues.

I can't really recommend this book. Obviously. I'm generally a negative person, so I'll seemly shit on a book I actually like. But, that is merely nitpicking without taking in the overwhelmingly positive nature of it. This book, however, has serious problems with its ability to tell a story. I get its point, but, like a bad joke, just because you get it doesn't mean it's funny.

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So Many Frying Pans, So Little Fire

Did I get stuff done during the month of February? Kind of. The number one thing on my to-do list, at least as far as writing is concerned, is the writing sample for the conference in May. The due date is April 3rd and it's not 100% just yet. The query letter is in a good place, but the synopsis needs to be completely redone. There is also the first nineteen pages in which contains the first two and a half scenes. I did the first scene this past week for reasons I'll get to in a moment.

The first Pitmad event of 2019 is next week. For those who don't know, Pitmad is a writing event on Twitter where you use a single tweet to pitch your completed book. Agents use the hashtags to keep an eye out for tweets that interest them. Considering most people can't get a solid argument down in 280 characters, I don't understand how you properly convey an entire novel in that length, but it might be a good opportunity to hook up with an agent. I've already written the tweet I'm going to use, and it should be good enough to spark something. After an agent likes the tweet, I send them a query letter and/or a sample of my book. I'll probably never hear from them again, but who the fuck knows. Side note, I might do a separate blog entry if it's eventful enough to warrant it.

As part of the writing conference, an editor went through the sample before I send it off to the big wigs. Basically, the feedback was to completely redo the query letter and synopsis plus some notes to help the flow of my novel. The reason I did the first scene was there's going to be a meeting, unrelated to the conference, on the first page of my novel on April 6th. Since it's on the far side of Atlanta, I'm not a 100% sure that I'm going, but I needed to send my first page by today (March 3rd). Honestly, the editor's notes weren't super helpful. He had a bunch of stuff he wanted to take out, but doing so would have made my novel tone deaf. After editing that first scene, I might have used about 40% of his notes. That's a failing grade in most schools. Still, I shouldn't complain about anything that makes my novel at least a little bit better.

The new book(s) are on hold until I get that conference package ready to go. I also plan to start sending out queries again once it's finished. Most agents ask for the things that are in my sample, so I can't query until it's done. Once the package is done, and I start querying again, I'm still going to work on editing my first book. As for my third book project, tentatively titled "Thermal Kings", I will continue to write and rewrite that first chapter. I will also plot out the book and hope to have the entire thing planned out by NaNoWriMo. I'm not getting married this year, so I shouldn't have anything holding me back from doing it this year.

Poetry. Fucking poetry. It's gotten better but still isn't good enough for human consumption. I might have said that last month, but it's the truth. I still need a good rhythming rule. It's a process. I plan to release the entire thing once I get a few hundred poems done. I can't guarantee it'll be worth reading though.

Starting this coming month I really need to get back into my newer projects. It's been a while since I've actually worked on them. I've been stuck in editor mode for too long. Once I get the synopsis done, the rest of the package should be easy peasy. Colony Earth is going on hold until Variant War's next round of edits is done, but I'm really itching to get back into it. So that leaves Thermal Kings as the project in which I will actually write something. Here's to having something to report by the end of March.

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