Disturb us, O Lord
when our dreams have come true
because we dreamed too little;
when we have arrived in safety
because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord,
to dare more boldly,
to venture on wider seas,
where storms shall show Thy mastery,
where losing sight of land
we shall find the stars.

In the Name of Him
who pushed back the horizons of our hopes
and invited the brave to follow him.

Amen.

An Open Forum on Comics, with Philip Tan and His Amazing Friends
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Come join us this Thursday, December 17, for an open forum on comics and graphic novels, with Philip Tan and his Amazing Friends! The event will take place at the NGF Room, 1/F De la Costa Building, in Ateneo de Manila University.

In addition to Tan, who’s done work on Green Lantern and Batman and Robin, among other stellar books, the forum will also host Carlo Pagulayan (Agents of Atlas), Heubert Michael Khan (Unstoppable) , Ernest Jocson (Maze Agency), Andrew Drilon (Kare-Kare Komiks), and others. A portfolio review will be held afterwards. Lots of fun will be had throughout.

More Pinoy Graphic Novels Please!!!
Carlo Vergara
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With 2009 about to close, I hope 2010 and beyond will see more major Pinoy graphic novels being published. This year had the compiled El Indio (Francisco Coching), the compiled Elmer (Gerry Alanguilan), 12 (Manix Abrera), Underpass (Summit Media), Trese: Mass Murders (Budjette Tan and Ka-Jo Baldisimo), Where Bold Stars Go To Die (Alanguilan and Arlanzandro Esmeña), etc. etc. etc. Compared to previous years, a lot of major comics work. If the publishers of the above are all members of the National Book Development Board, next year's National Book Awards race will prove interesting.

It took a bit over ten years for Pinoy graphic novels to get this far, beginning with Arnold Arre's groundbreaking work on The Mythology Class. Now that book publishers are beginning to dip both feet in the graphic novel medium, it's high time for all you aspiring graphic novelists to pick your brains, hunker over those keyboards and drawing pads, and churn out material.

My personal definition of a graphic novel may not be the same as that of my contemporaries, but you don't have to start with a 140+page behemoth. A 64 to 80-page graphic novella will be a good start as any. This page count is enough to be square-bound for the bookshelf.

Start with a simple story--your epic star-spanning ideas would be good for future works once you get the hang of things. For those who don't already know, I started solo in 2001 with the 56-page One Night In Purgatory. It features only two people and the consequences of their past.

If you're hoping to get the interest of a book publisher, however, it would be advantageous to add a bit of urgency and relevance to your story. Apart, of course, from it being well-written and drawn. There are stories everywhere, from the Ondoy experience to the contact center explosion, from the Ozone tragedy to OFWs. I'm sure One Night In Purgatory wouldn't pass a book publisher's standards, simply because the story leans toward the generic end.

You can spend the next two months (December to January) working on a suitable plot, researching, making a preliminary draft of the script, and developing visuals. The month following (February) can be used for script edits and polishing, plus finalizing the overall visuals. Devote four to five months (March to July) for artwork, lettering and book design.

If you don't have a publisher, there's always the Web. But having your work printed by a professional publishing house is a snazzy reward for many aspiring authors. You may not rake in enough to make a living off of it, but it's a great add-on to the credentials.

All the best!!

***from the blog of Jonathan Carroll***
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Part of the act of creating is letting go. I remember very vividly when writing The Land of Laughs that I reached the part in the story where the dog speaks for the first time. I wrote the passage and stopped. I thought-- the *dog* just spoke-- that's crazy. But a moment later I said okay, let's just see where that goes. In an essential way it was the turning point of all writing I have done since then. My paradigm moment came about because I simply let go, accepted the nutty for fact, and kept moving.

The Germans have a nice phrase about trust in romance-- 'fall back and I'll catch you.' The same could be applied to writing or any art, as far as I can see: If you believe you have it in you, write whatever it is you want and stop thinking about approaches or limitations or or or... Just *write* it. Clear your mind of hesitation and everything other than the sentence you are trying to write and do it. Then write the next one. The more you think about it, the less well you do it. Start with a phrase or a character you like or who intrigues you. Then begin to spin a spider's web out from that center point. But don't *think* about it.

Very often when I begin a book or story, I only have a single line or image which I put down and then think--who is this? What are they like? 'Haden was in trouble again' is the beginning of GLASS SOUP only because I liked that line. After writing it I thought-- who's this Haden? He's a handsome asshole. Okay, what does he do? He’s a tour guide. Where does he do it? Etcetera.

Don't think about it-- just be a spider and spin the web only you can design.

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Hello all!

By now, copies of TRESE:MASS MURDERS should be available in National Bookstore and Fully Booked. Copies are now available at Powerbooks and Pandayan, as well as Comic Odyssey and Sputnik.

This weekend, me and Kajo will be at Mangaholix's M3CON at the World Trade Center. [link]
We will be there, Nov 21 & 22.

There's also going to be an UNDERPASS press con on Nov21 at the M3CON.

Skyworld will also be made available at the M3CON.


But! Wait! There's! More!

On November 27 (fri), we'll be squatting around Sputnik at Cubao X.
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Will be there with Kajo, Ian & Mervin of SKYWORLD, and Paolo Fabregas of FILIPINO HEROES LEAGUE. Copies of our books will be available and we'll gladly doodle on them if you give us beer. (Well, the beer is optional, just buy our books. Please.)

So, there!

Hope to see you either this weekend or on the next weekend!

--budjette
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"It's never too late to be what you might have been." --George Eliot