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DC's Mad Hatter tea party
News and reaction to DC’s reboot of 52 titles in its catalogue this September has been rumbling on since I blogged about it last week. First I’d like to forefront a couple of repsonses that contain useful insight for the DC executives. Comic Book Resources put up part of a fantastic discussion with Dan Harmon, the creator of the comedy TV show Community, about creating a writing staff with an even gender split. It’s called “We have to stop thinking of it as a quota thing and think of it as a common-sense thing” Here’s an extract: There’s the same percentage of genius happening in both genders, but there’s less…
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be part of the solution
It’s no surprise to any of my regular readers that I’ve considered myself a feminist from the moment I understood what it meant. Most importantly, I have always stated that fact without embarrassment or the need for a self-deprecating modifier (‘but I like men!’, ‘but I never burned a bra!’, etc. etc.). Yet, for me it comes with a responsibility. I always remember that it’s due to the legacy of action by past feminists that I enjoy the right to vote, as well as a raft of anti-discrimination legislation. It’s up to succeeding generations of women to continue their mission for equality and fair treatment for everyone (irrespective of gender,…
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in the spotlight
The image on the right happened the night after I returned to my hotel room after the ZeBBie Awards in Dublin. Perhaps there was a version of “I feel pretty” playing in my head, as I don’t get the opportunity to dress up often. This started as a blurry picture of me without my glasses (rather appropriate), and as I do sometimes I began mucking around with the image. Of course I should have gone to bed, but after the buzz of a party I wasn’t in the humour to sleep. I ended up looking a bit like a comic book character, which dovetails nicely with what I’m writing at…
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Róisín Dubh 1 out
There’s been a lot of fuss and bother in Dublin over the last two days: roads closed and traffic diverted, which has made some people cross. On the same day royalty arrived in Ireland issue 1 of Róisín Dubh was delivered safely to Sub-City in Dublin despite the government kowtowing. If you wish to purchase it online it costs €5.00, plus €1.00 postage for Ireland, €1.50 for England and and extra €0.50 for other countries. Copies will be arriving in Sub-City in Galway by Monday, and in other outlets soon. Issue 1 is a limited run, so get your copies while you can! We’re already at the editing stage of issue…
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a busy period
I’m coming into a busy couple of weeks and I’m unsure of how much time I’ll have to allocate to blogging. While there is a certain requirement these days for people to blog/tweet/etc. on a regular basis, it does impinge upon my allotted ‘free’ time. Over the coming two weeks that free time is shrinking considerably as a large project with a tight deadline just landed with a thud on my desk. I also have two active projects that are simmering, with one of them coming up to a whistling boil. So, here’s a photo I took in Stockholm, during my recent trip. It’s one of a series of murals…
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Voices from the Past
Voices from the Past is a new e-anthology of flash fiction edited by Scott Harrison and Lee Harris from their fledging imprint H&H Books. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital. There are two editions available to buy (in both ePub and Kindle formats). The standard edition costs £0.99 and the premier edition costs £2.99. The premier edition is identical to the standard one, but it allows people to offer more money to the Great Ormond Street Hospital if they wish, and considering how much fiction you’re getting for your money you might not mind opting for the slightly more expensive option. Here’s the…
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Jennifer Wilde
Here’s the cover of my latest comic book project, Jennifer Wilde. Like with Róisín Dubh, Rob Curley of Atomic Diner Comics approached me with a story concept, which I developed further with Rob and from that I wrote the comic book scripts. It will also be a three-issue comic book series. Our artist is Stephen Downey, and he’s not only doing all the interior art but the covers and the lettering too. The above art is the cover for the first issue. Stephen has been motoring his way through the script of the first issue but with no drop in quality. It’s been a joy to watch the evolution of…
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Vic podcast is live
Thanks to dynamic duo of Sharon Ring and Del Lakin-Smith at Dark fiction Magazine my short story ‘Vic’ is now available as a podcast in its latest issue titled ‘The Waste land’. The TOC is: The God of Rain by Tim Lebbon (read by Marty Perrett) Vic by Maura Mchugh (read by Kim Lakin-Smith) My Love Sick Zombie Boy Band by Damien G Walter (read by Sam Moffatt) The Ease With Which We Freed The Beast by Lucius Shepard (read by David Moore) ‘Vic’ previously appeared in Black Static issue 10 and Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror 2010, edited by Paula Guran. I always approach listening to a podcast…
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Roisin Dubh 1
After a delay on the Róisin Dubh comic book we’re getting close to a release of the first issue. It’s a three-issue mini-series, and this is the cover of the first chapter of the story, drawn by Stephen Byrne. Stephen Byrne is doing all the lettering and covers, as well as the interior art for issue 2 and 3. We’re at the stage of adjusting the niggling little details of the first issue before it gets signed off and sent to the printers. All going well the first issue should be on the shelves by the end of the month. I finished the last draft of the last script on…
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women in comics in UK/Ireland – overview
There are occasions when perhaps it’s best not to promise a blog post on a subject. Regular readers might remember that in January I commented upon the utter lack of women comic book guests at the forthcoming Kapow! comic book convention in London. This was followed by an entry in which I posted a number of women artists/writers working in the field in the UK (and Ireland), with a promise to put together a much more detailed listing of women working in the field. The follow-up post has been a long time coming because: There are loads of women working in comics in the UK and Ireland People might remember…
