;
This week,s comic has been inspired by the Comic haïkus realized by Salgood Sam‘s class (his website Dynamic Drawing is a must).
Posted in Art, BD, Comics, Writing
Tagged Comics, Dynamic Drawing, Haïku, Salgood Sam, Webcomic
.
My pile is always growing. Here is a snapshot of the current pile. The yellow
paper-riddled book (under the Revue Planches) is The Algal Bowl, Overfertilisation of the World’s Freswaters and Estuaries, which I consult often. Plus a number of unopened magazines I suscribe to…
It’s a sad realisation that I will never have the time to read all the *good* books from my writers friends… So I must proceed to a triage. If the story can’t retain my attention in the first 20 pages, I stop. If I don’t like the direction of a 800-page book, I quit.
It’s always difficult to tell a writer friend I won’t read her-his book. Most of them understand. I taste a lot of different novels, even the 1100-page Donna Tartt bestseller received as a gift…
My perfect holiday on a hammock with books and time!
Note the birdhouse in the fir tree. My 15×70 binoculars wait on the ground besides the books. I have written very little (my 18th novel still awaits its conclusion), but I indulged in a reading feast! The Northern Ontario spoiled us: starry night, shooting stars, northern lights…
I have a hard time drawing trees , so drawing this illustration took the same amount of time as a full comic page! I made a first sketch of the hammock in pencil, then for certain, I took a photo of the tree in question (but not with the same angle, aaah!)
The books I read (I will leave them in the rented cottage as an informal exchange system):
Carl Hiaasen – Paradise Screwed – A series of satirical articles written for the Miami Herald Times between 1985 and 2000. Hilarious but a little sad, when the natural side of Florida is gradually disappearing under the peak for developers.
Tagged art, Carl Hiaasen, J.D. Robb, John Grisham, Lee Child, Patricia Cornwell, reading, vacation
.
I just signed the contract for my 17th novel which gave me the idea. My first contact as a budding writer, years ago, was a not such a good one, and I was saved only because the publisher went bankrupt. This contract is my third with this publisher and their conditions are fair.
There’s a lot more than the traps told by the snakes. CAVEAT: I’m not a lawyer. In case of problems, the best is to consult an IP specialist.
The Writer’s Union of Canada offers sound advice too. More precisions on the US Copyright Office. The website Writers Beware presents a good overview of rights vs copyrights. For those of you pondering about indie publishing, I do recommand the very well-organized series of articles The Business Rusch by the poly-genres author Kris Rusch.
My husband often wears a Marillion T shirt in the comics, a group that he likes.
The page is my hidden homage to Andre Franquin, the creator of the pesky “laughing” Gull featuring in the Gaston Lagaffe series. And in this comic. As for my own signature, it figures in the middle of the page for a change…
And, about the copy…
Tagged art, budding writers, Cartoon, Comics, Franquin, humor, Writing advice, Writing Contract
We lost a good friend this last week-end. The light rain waking me up the same night was Joel’s goodbye or at least, a poetic coincidence.
Joel Champetier did a lot for many of us, and has kept his simplicity and warmth. His SF stories created new trails for us to walk at our rythm.
Posted in Event, Science-fiction, Writing
Tagged Comics, Joël Champetier, Science-fiction, Solaris magazine
The joy of gardening, when spring comes so late!
This comic was “drawn in the dark“.
Imagined, scenarised, pencilled and inked on my Intuos wacom tablet between 8 am and 14h30 today. English translation thirty minutes later.
The Clarion foundation helps budding writers of genre (SF, fantasy, fantastique, horror) to develop and mature their style. I had the joy of being invited by Lynda Williams (the author of the Okal Rel saga) to write a few posts from my own perspective of a SF writer with comic artist.
So my first post was about extending our writing roots to achieve a deeper connection with the reader. The illustrations are my own.
The last one is an account of my big, fat, first novel and its endless incarnations!
I am working on four more writing posts. Coming soon: The secret well of ideas, a another take at the well-known fan question: where do you get your ideas?
Posted in Science-fiction, Writing
Tagged budding writers, literature, lynda williams, novel, Science-fiction, Writing, Writing advice
As a SF writer, research is an essential part of my work. But I sometimes do too much of it!
If the finished product is burdened with heavy lumps of exposition, those annoying scattered blocks will slow down the story – and the reader’s interest.
Many people saying “You know, I don’t like science-fiction” are often more afraid of those lumps, than they would be of a gripping story with warm-hearted characters affected by loyalty conflicts.
Even for fantasy world-builders, the internal logic of the magic-or-supernatural workings requires a fair amount of thinking. And, as magical as the world is, the story must be well grounded in reality. How many fantasy novels, for instance, demonstrate a total lack of knowledge about equine biology and maintenance? One of my friends, who raises horses and loves fantasy, is appalled by what she reads.
And some SF or fantasy authors, too proud of their word-building, dump large exposition blocks on the unsuspecting reader! “I suffered for my art, and so must you!”
Research is like an iceberg.
There is the emerged part, the novel that you enjoy. But whatever the number of pages, there is a larger, hidden part underwater.
Not enough research under it and your story collapses under the contradictions, impossibilities, logical errors and paper-thin characters.
But when the universes and societies are lovingly built, the strong foundation even allows other writers to participate in it! Two examples: The Darkover series by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the Honor Harrington series by David Weber have spawned many paper children.
According to the readers’ ages or familiarity with the concepts, the submerged part of the iceberg is around 90%. For a simpler story, you may choose to tone down the emerged part. A story aimed at children will be a smaller icebeerg. A vast work, like the Martian trilogy of Kim S. Robinson will be a huge iceberg!
Hal Clement, in my view, left more of his research over the waterline… But that was the good ol-days of science-fiction writing! I found Needle, aimed at young adults, captivating, even when the concept of “teen” and “young adult” did not exist at the time!
In my latest SF novel, La spirale de Lar Jubal, aimed at YA, I set aside about 99% of my painstaking research and physics calculations for the space station, to concentrate on the visual and dynamic aspects, and on the character’s conflicts.
Nevertheless, I put some visual information at the beginning of the novel.
In my upcoming SF novel, aimed at the “Oh, I don’t like science fiction” crowd, there are very few numbers, but more active descriptions of stunning settings and actions. The planet and science aspects are explained only by their impact on the characters’ lives.
And I must manage, of course, the sense of wonder…as this Winds of Tammerlan novel cover suggests.
Another time, I will explain why science-fiction is like chocolate…
Posted in Science-fiction, Writing
Tagged budding writers, expository lumps, Les vents de Tammerlan, Science-fiction, Writing, Writing advice
The 2011 Clarion UCSD Write-a-Thon is almost over!
Since the Clarion overlapped the end of the Whittaker contest, I worked harder and produced more new texts… and some SF poetry! I did modestly on the Whittaker final tally (310 points) but was gratified by the production boost.
Here is my short fiction writing during the 6-weeks Clarion (counting two weeks of family vacation!) Feel free to visit my Write-a-Thon Writer page here to send a small contribution for the Clarion Foundation.
– The Robe (SF)
– Wrinkles (fantastic)
– A Short Stay at the Caracalla’s Resort (Dark SF)
– The Patroness (fantastic)
And for my current works in progress:
– about 10 000 words on the last novel in the Chaaas series
– near 5000 words on my next SF YA novel (52 000 words) to be published next February
– Writing on two short-fiction pieces in progress.
– Editing on the synopses on two other short novels
– Plus… 6 brand-new pages of a new SF graphic novel! (Extract here) I’m normally faster on the draw, but my free time is limited!
Posted in Science-fiction, Writing
Tagged Clarion, Clarion Write-a-Thon, graphic novel, Science-fiction, Whittaker Prize, Writing
Echoes of a Sunday artist 