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Kate promised me a picture reading the comic on the beach.
Didn't expect something quite like this, though. I think it's safe to say this is the photo we'd have to use if we could ever get the comic advertised in an Abercrombie catalog. Turned out rather brilliant, I think.
Kate's a stage actress based out of Boston, Mass. who has recently started training at The Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland, and institution that has produced actors the likes of Olivia Wilde and Stuart Townsend. As a writer who dabbles in many different styles and mediums, it's always lovely to have an actor on the hook to see just how well you're doing.
And Kate has always been the kind of friend to tell me exactly what she's thinking.
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
Dave Baker is like a Swiss Army Knife of creativity. Holding a firm philosophy of "get out there and do," he recently moved to Los Angeles, where the already uber-talented writer and illustrator started getting involved in show business, living what I at least believe to be the dream - words for money. Oh, and comics, and movies, and extras and actors, and celebrities too. I other words, this is one dude who stays busy.
Yet despite that, he's also crazy supportive of his fellow creative types, bending over backwards to buy my book when Paypal momentarily rebelled against us, and offering yours truly a couch in which to sleep on when I [assumedly, eventually] head west myself. He's looked at some of my rougher work, and I've seen some stuff of his that boasts a truly unique voice, and once it sees print is going to wow a lot of folks.
And nobody tell him this, but he's one of my favorite comic artists too.
Whoops.
Having our comic in Dave's hands means a great deal to me. And like with a lot of the people who have sent me pictures with the book, it's nice to feel like there's a whole group of us at this, chasing these dreams. Somehow, all of it doesn't feel quite so impossible knowing we're all looking out.
You can keep up with what Dave's doing on his Facebook fan page, and his Twitter handle is @xDaveBakerx. As you can imagine with all that's on his plate, he stays pretty busy, so updates are sparse, but when they happen, they are most definitely worth your time.
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
I knew Cat for years before I ever saw this beautiful face. But that was what the internet was when I started using it, a great place for people far away from each other to jump into chat rooms and instant messages to play out adventure stories or romances with fellow writers, and others who just wanted to get away from reality for a bit. Or maybe that distinction is redundant.
Probably more than a seed of Cat's influence in "Calamity Cash" - few people I knew exposed me to strong female protagonists as much as she did. Along with being a talented and accomplished ballroom dancer, she's also a lawyer now, working out of the nation's capitol - practically in my backyard [well, like Massachusetts is New York's backyard]. But that doesn't mean she's put down the pen, or stepped away from the keyboard. She keeps a travel blog, to chronicle her oft-indulged wanderlust on the blog "intra'cat'inental" with new stuff posted each time she takes to the road.
She's also got a site strictly for her fiction, which I'd also encourage you all go check out. The url is http://unhingedsoul.wordpress.com and I think - I think - she just might be looking for some feedback.
"How can we know the dancer from the dance?"
Almost need a detective to figure that one out, eh Kitty?
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
I can't speak for Justin or Laura, but for me, one of the coolest things about selling the book has been some of the familiar faces I've gotten to reconnect with. It's been especially nice that, even after all these years since graduating Bennington, a bunch of my peers are still interested in what I'm doing - and want to support it.
Anne's one of those people, and it's been excellent catching up with someone I've often thought of since coming back home, but haven't had any sort of contact with since.Anne's has had quite the academic life since we'd fallen out of touch, going to both NYU [!] and Cambridge [!!], studying Political Thought and Intellectual history, some as fascinating to me as it is over my head - I mean, the history of thought - just imagine!
Of course, she'll still that underclassman who used to swing by my dorm room in the middle night to talk about or borrow comics too. Which is why seeing her with "Calamity Cash" is a real treat.
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
Man, I've known Eli for a long time. When we were kids, we'd stand around in our backyards, and act out whatever crazy adventures in space or the desert of whatever popped into our minds. Really meant a lot to me to see that even after all this time, Eli's still interested in my made up little stories.
Also, it appears that has the newly appointed "King of Beards" he's chosen our book as his crown. Score.
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
The only thing more flattering than seeing the comic with pictures of Marvel's "Runaways" [arguably the most original idea Marvel's had since the original Thunderbolts] in the background? Seeing it in the hands of Cara.
Cara's an impeccable costume and clothing designer with an ever-growing presence in the Boston theatre scene [and beyond], taking an approach to her work that I'm particularly fond of - an eye towards the past, towards the history of her craft. I've always said to write, your best teachers are people who have already written stories. I think Cara might agree the same is true for design, drawing, and sewing.
Along with all that, Cara's a fellow Bennington alum, and an unfortunate witness to many of my lunch and dinner time rants - all of which she seemed to quite take in stride. Always willing to talk coats [stop judging me, guys] or how ungodly Summertime is, and with some pretty impeccable taste in comics [Brian K Vaughn, anyone?], I got back in touch with her while working on Nova, and have had the great pleasure of keeping her company since.
On a purely personal level, it's my hope I'll get to work with her someday.
You can check out her ever-growing body of work [both costumes and sketches], and get in touch with via her online portfolio at http://carachiaramonte.com.
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
Can't even get my own cat to read the book.
Cheri Borgstrom is a wonderful artist and storyteller who you've probably seen me talk about before. What feels like ages back, she ran a small, Blogger-based web comic which, after only a few weeks of reading, she offered me a chance to actually write for. Now, the offending collaborations have since went MIA - I lost my copies a hard drive reformat ago [D'oh!] and Cheri has since closed the previous site comic down, and went on to hone her craft [amazing, because she was already... well, amazing] and start a new, autobiographical strip "Cheeseborger and French Fries."
Which just happens to be part of the reason I'm sharing Cheri's picture today - to give everyone a reminder that Friday is the magic day when her comic updates [temporarily every other Friday - but hey, even on those weeks, read it again! Or start from the very first comic. It's quite spectacular].
Cheri's wonderful to work with, and she's let me peek behind the curtain at her creative process on more than a few occasions. I'm so glad to have had her support on "Calamity Cash" - she even donated a bit extra, yet asked for only a single copy - and we can't thank her enough. It's my hope that we'll maybe work together some day again.
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
Mrs. Tice and I are are war buddies. We weathered a Steven Bach screenwriting class together. And while Steven was great, the thing about great men is that when teaching, they ask for nothing less
Emi is now living in the scene-heavy paradise that is Portland, and thanks to the time difference, I usually catch her on my sleepless nights and pester her to get back into the writing game. I've had the unique privilege to workshop several things she's worked on, and it's always a great pleasure.
You can check out some of Emi's work on her blog "Emi Makes Stuff" where she talks about writing, DIY projects, and snippets of her married life. Definitely worth a place in your RSS.
Order your copy of "Calamity Cash & the Town with No Name" via the button on the sidebar, or here:
"Calamity Cash & The Town with No Name" (25 pages, $3.50, plus shipping): The mother/daughter vigilante team of Tana and Cal Cash are
on the run from an Afro-rocking, Kung-Fu assassin, and have been forced
to make their last stand in a nameless desert town hiding an unbelievable
secret - every last citizen is in the Witness Protection program! Out
of gas, low on ammo, and with their backs against the wall, Calamity and
Mama Cash become the town's unlikely protectors, but with friends so
quickly becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming friends, is the whole
place doomed to burn? And will our heroines be the ones to
light the first match? A modern-day action/adventure western with words
by Randall Nichols, and art by Justin Cornell.
