How do I make the little e with the hat?
Oct. 21st, 2005 09:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariThe Interview Meme, questions by drkbish.
1) You've always been a big fan of the "War of the Gods" storyline in Battlestar Galactica. In your mind, who would be your dream actor to play Count Iblis in the new series?
In a perfect world, I'd LOVE to see Patrick McNee come back. That voice, that presence, PERFECT for Count Iblis...but unfortuantely, he's a good thirty years out of his last performance as Iblis. If I could get Patrick McNee to do the voice of Morningstar in an animated version of AWFW, I would specifically rewrite Morningstar FOR him. But since he prolly doesn't have the presence he did in the 70s now adays, I could see someone like Michael O'Hare playing Iblael. He's a very un-evil kind of person in all the roles I've seen him in, but he's cold and serious. I could see him underplaying Iblis, and making him more believable in the new series. I could also see Robin Atkins Downes playing a more fearsome, less underplayed Iblis (Although I could see him doing Iblael easily :) ).
2) Given the amount of time and effort put into A Wish For Wings and Closetspace, would you say it was worth it? Furthermore, when they end their runs, would you consider publishing them?
Is it worth it? Financially, no. Personally, absolutely. The comics are incredibly satisfying for me, an I really enjoy drawing and writing them. Knowing that CS is popular and has a large dedicated readership makes me incredibly happy. Unforutnately, it has to take a back seat to work that makes money, because I usually see no cash at all coming from the comics, even with the merchandise people were asking for. During the auction, I made a few months of rent, which was nice, but that's more of a begging and pleading issue than volunteering. As for publishing them, yes - I've given a lot of consideration to that. AWFW, especially. There have been plans to print the first half of AWFW for a while now (Including a "remastered" edition that would make it look more like a comic book than the 3x2 grid I have now), but that's currently on hold until a friend of mine decides wether or not to start her print-on-demand service (I offered the AWFW graphic novel to her to have a title to publish as soon as the business starts).
3) What would you consider your dream job to be?
I really don't know. I've often said I'd love to be writing scripts for television if they'd have me, but I know the sheer amount of rewriting would frustrate me. But I keep going back to scriptwriting as something I'd like and want to do, especially for animated features. I've also thought about beng a storyboardist or designer for series and movies. I've actually helped in the design for some games here and there. I'd really like to do anything creative, wether it's writing or drawing. Considering my resume is littered with technical work (which I'd rather have as a hobby instead of a job), the comics give me the creative outlet I'd rather have as a job, than as a hobby.
4) Going back to the first two questions... it's obvious speaking to you (and in your designs) that A Wish for Wings has a somewhat heavy influence from Battlestar Galactica. What other sources do you consider an inspiration for your webcomics (including Closetspace)?
The most obvious is Robotech, specifically the Macross and Mospeada segments. I literally cut my teeth on those series as a kid. Once Robotech was taken off the air in San Antonio, I managed to collect the entire run of comics to make up for the fact that I had one episode one tape at the time (I now have the whole series on tape and DVD several times over. :D ). When I began work on one of my stories (which has yet to be published), I really wasn't an artist. I was a writer who wanted to work in comics. Unfortunately, the independent comics world is more geared to artists who are also writers, so I got the only comic books I had, the Robotech ones, and began copying them over and over again, till I could "copy" them without looking. There was a long spell in the 90s when I didn't draw anything, and when AWFW came out in 2001, I got a lot of compliments on the art style because "it wasn't that anime crap." I didn't have the heart to tell them it WAS anime, just really OLD anime.
My main writing influence is probably Dune. Despite being a pretty dry (no pun intended) novel, it does an incredibly good job of untying plot-knots into huge widespread strings, then manages to tie them back into a different looking knot at the end of the book...only to do it again in the next book. Babylon 5 was a latter influence for the same reason. Slowly untie the knot for 13 episode, then start work on the next better looking knot for the last 13 episodes. Coming full circle, the new Battlestar series is doing that VERY well. Another very early influence was Doctor Who, and you can see that in the earlier stories, where the same characters have different adventures over time, dropping off and picking up new characters as the serialized story goes on and on.
5) Which actor or writer would you want to meet most, and why?
I would absolutely love to meet J. Michael Straczynski. Absolutely hands down no-questions-asked. He's not only managed to write novels, and write for TV, but wrote a novel FOR TV, and seriously changed the landscape for television writing with Babylon 5. The number of episodic dramas have dwindled while arc driven stories have gone WAY up. I'd LOVE to meet Ron Moore, also, because not only is he writing one of the best series on TV today (possibly THE best) but he did it by blindly shooting spec scripts to Star Trek. I'd also love to meet Rob Thomas, if only to show the staff of Veronica Mars his high school yearbook picture. :)
I'd also like to tell Mr. Thomas (old habits die hard, it doesn't feel right calling him "Rob") in person how much he really shaped my writing, even if I never published much. He was probably one of only three people who had any faith in my writing ability at all during my middle and highschool years. I'd like to tell him that in person.
Another interview done with Susan Moses for the "Susan The Talking Tranny" webcast.
> What motivates you to do your comics?
The drive to tell stories mostly. There's nothing more satisfying to me than to do a comic every week, and have people read them. Because then these characters living in my head now live in my reader's heads. And the more people read them, the more they're alive in other folks' minds.
> What kinds of reactions have you gotten?
Mostly good reactions. Folks enjoy bother my comics as far as I can tell and bad reactions are pretty few and far between. I've had some scary stuff happen, though. A Wish for Wings uses these protagonists called The Shadows, based on a paranormal phenomena called "Shadow People." After A Wish for Wings got featured on a paranormal website, I got a letter with a phone number telling me I needed to be debriefed on my involvment with the Demon Folk. Needless to say, that one got thrown into the garbage.
Closetspace gets a completely different reactions, though. Mostly people telling me how much Carrie's story seems to be their own, or how seeing another trans character struggling through her life has really helped them in their own struggles. Many ask for advice, but I'm just a webcartoonist, so I point them in a direction where they can get better help.
> Do you think you will always do your comic, or will you eventually move
> on, or do some other non-trans comic?
Closetspace and A Wish for Wings have specific endings. In fact, A Wish for Wings is over half over. Closetspace is a long ways from being finished, but the entire story is plotted to the end. Closetspace will probably be my only trans comic, and while A Wish for Wings and an upcoming project has a gender switching character, it won't be specifically about them.
> Also how much of what you draw is based off of your real life?
Closetspace has almost no bearing on my real life at all. The storyline evolved from a what-if situation where I thought maybe I could move in with a woman as a woman and never let her know I still had all my giblets. But beyond something I thought about for all of five minutes, none of my life is in that.
However, in A Wish for Wings, the entire story is a hero-retelling on my own life, with specific events corresponding to specific events in my own life. And upcoming storyline tells about my experience with the 2005 Trinoc-con, while a previous one involved my time involved with the Cartoon Fantasy Organization in the late 80s.
1) You've always been a big fan of the "War of the Gods" storyline in Battlestar Galactica. In your mind, who would be your dream actor to play Count Iblis in the new series?
In a perfect world, I'd LOVE to see Patrick McNee come back. That voice, that presence, PERFECT for Count Iblis...but unfortuantely, he's a good thirty years out of his last performance as Iblis. If I could get Patrick McNee to do the voice of Morningstar in an animated version of AWFW, I would specifically rewrite Morningstar FOR him. But since he prolly doesn't have the presence he did in the 70s now adays, I could see someone like Michael O'Hare playing Iblael. He's a very un-evil kind of person in all the roles I've seen him in, but he's cold and serious. I could see him underplaying Iblis, and making him more believable in the new series. I could also see Robin Atkins Downes playing a more fearsome, less underplayed Iblis (Although I could see him doing Iblael easily :) ).
2) Given the amount of time and effort put into A Wish For Wings and Closetspace, would you say it was worth it? Furthermore, when they end their runs, would you consider publishing them?
Is it worth it? Financially, no. Personally, absolutely. The comics are incredibly satisfying for me, an I really enjoy drawing and writing them. Knowing that CS is popular and has a large dedicated readership makes me incredibly happy. Unforutnately, it has to take a back seat to work that makes money, because I usually see no cash at all coming from the comics, even with the merchandise people were asking for. During the auction, I made a few months of rent, which was nice, but that's more of a begging and pleading issue than volunteering. As for publishing them, yes - I've given a lot of consideration to that. AWFW, especially. There have been plans to print the first half of AWFW for a while now (Including a "remastered" edition that would make it look more like a comic book than the 3x2 grid I have now), but that's currently on hold until a friend of mine decides wether or not to start her print-on-demand service (I offered the AWFW graphic novel to her to have a title to publish as soon as the business starts).
3) What would you consider your dream job to be?
I really don't know. I've often said I'd love to be writing scripts for television if they'd have me, but I know the sheer amount of rewriting would frustrate me. But I keep going back to scriptwriting as something I'd like and want to do, especially for animated features. I've also thought about beng a storyboardist or designer for series and movies. I've actually helped in the design for some games here and there. I'd really like to do anything creative, wether it's writing or drawing. Considering my resume is littered with technical work (which I'd rather have as a hobby instead of a job), the comics give me the creative outlet I'd rather have as a job, than as a hobby.
4) Going back to the first two questions... it's obvious speaking to you (and in your designs) that A Wish for Wings has a somewhat heavy influence from Battlestar Galactica. What other sources do you consider an inspiration for your webcomics (including Closetspace)?
The most obvious is Robotech, specifically the Macross and Mospeada segments. I literally cut my teeth on those series as a kid. Once Robotech was taken off the air in San Antonio, I managed to collect the entire run of comics to make up for the fact that I had one episode one tape at the time (I now have the whole series on tape and DVD several times over. :D ). When I began work on one of my stories (which has yet to be published), I really wasn't an artist. I was a writer who wanted to work in comics. Unfortunately, the independent comics world is more geared to artists who are also writers, so I got the only comic books I had, the Robotech ones, and began copying them over and over again, till I could "copy" them without looking. There was a long spell in the 90s when I didn't draw anything, and when AWFW came out in 2001, I got a lot of compliments on the art style because "it wasn't that anime crap." I didn't have the heart to tell them it WAS anime, just really OLD anime.
My main writing influence is probably Dune. Despite being a pretty dry (no pun intended) novel, it does an incredibly good job of untying plot-knots into huge widespread strings, then manages to tie them back into a different looking knot at the end of the book...only to do it again in the next book. Babylon 5 was a latter influence for the same reason. Slowly untie the knot for 13 episode, then start work on the next better looking knot for the last 13 episodes. Coming full circle, the new Battlestar series is doing that VERY well. Another very early influence was Doctor Who, and you can see that in the earlier stories, where the same characters have different adventures over time, dropping off and picking up new characters as the serialized story goes on and on.
5) Which actor or writer would you want to meet most, and why?
I would absolutely love to meet J. Michael Straczynski. Absolutely hands down no-questions-asked. He's not only managed to write novels, and write for TV, but wrote a novel FOR TV, and seriously changed the landscape for television writing with Babylon 5. The number of episodic dramas have dwindled while arc driven stories have gone WAY up. I'd LOVE to meet Ron Moore, also, because not only is he writing one of the best series on TV today (possibly THE best) but he did it by blindly shooting spec scripts to Star Trek. I'd also love to meet Rob Thomas, if only to show the staff of Veronica Mars his high school yearbook picture. :)
I'd also like to tell Mr. Thomas (old habits die hard, it doesn't feel right calling him "Rob") in person how much he really shaped my writing, even if I never published much. He was probably one of only three people who had any faith in my writing ability at all during my middle and highschool years. I'd like to tell him that in person.
Another interview done with Susan Moses for the "Susan The Talking Tranny" webcast.
> What motivates you to do your comics?
The drive to tell stories mostly. There's nothing more satisfying to me than to do a comic every week, and have people read them. Because then these characters living in my head now live in my reader's heads. And the more people read them, the more they're alive in other folks' minds.
> What kinds of reactions have you gotten?
Mostly good reactions. Folks enjoy bother my comics as far as I can tell and bad reactions are pretty few and far between. I've had some scary stuff happen, though. A Wish for Wings uses these protagonists called The Shadows, based on a paranormal phenomena called "Shadow People." After A Wish for Wings got featured on a paranormal website, I got a letter with a phone number telling me I needed to be debriefed on my involvment with the Demon Folk. Needless to say, that one got thrown into the garbage.
Closetspace gets a completely different reactions, though. Mostly people telling me how much Carrie's story seems to be their own, or how seeing another trans character struggling through her life has really helped them in their own struggles. Many ask for advice, but I'm just a webcartoonist, so I point them in a direction where they can get better help.
> Do you think you will always do your comic, or will you eventually move
> on, or do some other non-trans comic?
Closetspace and A Wish for Wings have specific endings. In fact, A Wish for Wings is over half over. Closetspace is a long ways from being finished, but the entire story is plotted to the end. Closetspace will probably be my only trans comic, and while A Wish for Wings and an upcoming project has a gender switching character, it won't be specifically about them.
> Also how much of what you draw is based off of your real life?
Closetspace has almost no bearing on my real life at all. The storyline evolved from a what-if situation where I thought maybe I could move in with a woman as a woman and never let her know I still had all my giblets. But beyond something I thought about for all of five minutes, none of my life is in that.
However, in A Wish for Wings, the entire story is a hero-retelling on my own life, with specific events corresponding to specific events in my own life. And upcoming storyline tells about my experience with the 2005 Trinoc-con, while a previous one involved my time involved with the Cartoon Fantasy Organization in the late 80s.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
How do you make the little e with the hat
Date: 2005-10-22 02:41 am (UTC)Cheers,
Gwen Smith
no subject
Date: 2005-10-22 03:23 am (UTC)Morrigan: "Dammit, the Shadows took away our leftover pizza while we were gone."
Hanna: "And they locked me out of the art room too."
Andrea: o/' "Willy Wonka, Willy Wonka, the amazing chocolateer..." o/'
no subject
Date: 2005-10-22 03:55 am (UTC)