Here Be Dragons - The RKL Dec Round Up
In which I would love you to exercise your preorder rights :]
♫ Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere. ♫
The Sun Rising, John Donne
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This fortnightly drop goes through what I’ve been up to in my writing - I have to account for myself and what I have to show for my efforts recently. Have I been productive, or not…? A map of my brain, so to speak, and here be dragons.
2023 -- better.
Or worse.
Context is a hell of a thing. 2023 was the best of times and it was the worst of times. I can make it any and all things, depending on where I stand, where I squint, and so with that power in my hands [and mind], I declare: 2023 was alright.
I could complain about any number of things, but a year where A FISTFUL OF PAIN finally landed in hands in all its hardcover glory and DEER EDITOR was finally announced as getting a publishing deal and will be in stores worldwide in a few weeks is a year with some highlights. A year where I’m ending it with a chance to keep pitching a publisher I dig, and I’ve got a new idea I’m deeply sinking my teeth into is a year where I’m still kicking. A year where I started teaching a writing course at the uni nearby and I found it rewarding and exciting and creatively motivating is a year with some new gristle to it. And a year where my family was tested through some decently dark shit and we’ve come out stronger somehow on the other side is a bloody brilliant year, really.
It’s also a year where my worry levels have at times been set high, but thankfully controlled. A year where my writing input was lower than perhaps ever before, but aligning that with family means I can actually be fine with it. A year where I had a decent amount of rejections, and yet I’m still looking to 2024 with some hope for what I can make happen.
Maybe more than any other year, it was all swings and roundabouts. But looking back on it, I can see the good and I’m going to work on just celebrating it.
In fact, beyond recapping the W’s I feel have been present in 2023, I’m just stoked to relate that my brain isn’t completely broken [just the usual and completely normal amount of broken that I somewhat like].
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Holy antlers! A Canberra Deer Editor Exclusive Cover!
This cover makes me smile. It’s for DEER EDITOR #1 and you can only get it from my local comic book shop, the amazing Impact Comics.
It’s illustrated by local legend Jon Sommariva - whose art is always so damn kinetic and fun, and he recently won the 2023 Book of the Year for Older Readers from the Children's Book Council of Australia - which is the first time a graphic novel has done so.
You can scope all the ways to buy this extremely exclusive cover
I love that the team at Impact Comics wanted to support our comic and launch it in such exclusive style. I also love that it’s Jon, who was one of the first people I met in Aussie comics, and he’s always been really supportive and friendly. Genuinely just one of the nicest people around.
I can remember giving my very earliest works to Jon to read, and then later at the same show I was handing them to an editor I had just met for the first time. I told both of them they could read the stuff and then bin it for space/weight/etc in travel, but I’d love it if they read it and I’d love to keep emailing with them.
Jon took that moment and opportunity to tell the editor he’d already read the stuff and that it was good and gave me some big ups. It was a lovely thing for him to do, that he did not have to do, and it’s always stuck with me how gracious he is alongside being talented.
I’m hoping we can have a specific launch night at Impact in the new year, and I’ll post details once I have them.
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200 films.
I’m closing in on having watched 200 films this year and some of them I have really enjoyed. I’m hoping to write some general round up thoughts on them, but I fear time/effort will run away from me, so I’ll just say one of the most recent ones.
I had never seen SUNSET BOULEVARD, and I’m happy to admit I was a fool for having avoided it. That film is completely brilliant, and was not what I expected.
I don’t actually know what I expected, but I did not expect a strange noir/pulp tale within it all. I also did not expect it to just feel so perfect.
Here’s hoping I can really knuckle down and reach 200 for 2023. That’ll sit nicely alongside the 11 books I’ve read so far this year. I have put together a short list of things I want to read this summer break, and I’ll choose from it as the feeling takes me.
I’m currently into EMERALD CITY by Jennifer Egan, and am thoroughly enjoying it.
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For those who care about what I’m writing…
I’m pages deep into breaking a story. It’s something strange [no shock] and with plenty of social commentary [no shock either, really] and a leading character I’m slowly fleshing out and really growing to be intrigued by her.
This will be my next big pitch/swing for 2024. I’m currently just writing and rewriting the general synopsis, seeing what moments/scenes/reveals need to be there, and then as I expand on them, asking myself questions about the characters and their needs in those moments, and then feeding that back into a new synopsis - et cetera, etc.
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Be one of the good guys, because there's way too many of the bad.
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Who is Ryan K Lindsay?
I’m an award-winning Australian comic writer. I’ve been published by Black Mask, Dark Horse, ComixTribe, Mad Cave, IDW, Heavy Metal, Vertigo, and a few more. Kickstarter has been a home for many short comics. I often get to collaborate with great mates, and this brings me joy.
I write about balancing this creative game alongside a full teaching load [currently College English and University Intro to Creative Writing] and a lovely family load and the forever melting brain that is modern man. I think about a lot of stuff, I still don’t know if it’s the right stuff. ymmv.
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POST CREDITS SEQUENCE
I can’t name names, but I did get in a piece of art for Deer Editor recently that is from someone who illustrated one of my top ten favourite comics of all time, and it’s completely gorgeous and mind-blowing.
I am very excited to share it as soon as I can. Maybe I’ll post it here with little writing/blather once I get the okay for it.
Otherwise, I’m about to check out for the end of the year.
I hope you can sit back and collect the pieces of your brain at this time of year and prepare for another year ahead, a better one, perhaps.
Sheezus, i need to do 11 books next year. I think i did TWO this year! it was...pathetic.
Hoping 2024 will be a big year for you!