Wearing the Cape has a big cast, most of which are superheroes. One of the biggest problems this created was the need for careful consistency. Who is the strongest hero? The fastest? How do they stack up against each other? How useful are their powers in specific situations? Fortunately, I had a tool ready-to-hand for … More Power Games: Astra.
Almost a couple of months ago now, I promised to talk more about world-building and superheroes–how I arrived at the Post-Event setting Wearing the Cape takes place in. So let’s talk about comic-book history and choices. Where do superpowers come from? In the golden age of superhero comics, the answer was easy: anywhere. You could … More Cosmic Questions
So, it has now been two months since the April 25th Kindle publication of Wearing the Cape on Amazon. How is it going? Hard to say since I don’t have a lot to compare it too, so lets look at the good and the bad, bad first. The Bad: I published too soon. I’d thought … More Adventures In Indie-Publishing
One of the things I was warned about, when I started marketing Wearing the Cape, was that some nosy Parkers would actually want to interview me about the book. Why? I’m not trying to be obtuse; it’s simply that, as a reader, I was never that interested in authors or interviews with them. If I … More Q&A: Loving The Grilling.
Writers are an insecure bunch, at least going from my admittedly-small sample group. Why? Because if a writer is lucky he will have a writing-group able to help him with style and such, and a few alpha and beta-readers (usually friends unless he’s got an agent and an editor), to help him catch the serious … More The Midas Review
I thought they’d done it. I really, really did. The show started off great, with a solid, pseudo-scientific explanation for why these super-powered people had begun to appear, a conspiracy for them to fight, and a tight-knit plot leading up to a great first-season finish that held the promise of blowing the world wide open. … More Worldbuilding 201: Getting Even.
I was just digging into some serious re-writing when the latest post at The King of Elfland’s Second Cousin popped up. In it, Chris rhapsodizes about the Periodic Table of Storytelling, probably one of the funniest and most creative plotting tools I’ve ever seen. (See Chris’ blog for full-sized picture.) I first encountered it myself, … More Trope: a metaphor, example, literary device, picture–and maybe whatever else the writer wants it to mean..
Awhile ago someone asked me where I got my ideas for Wearing the Cape, and I had to think about it. Not that I didn’t know the answer, but it’s a bit of a story. Comics came first, of course, but the core idea–a socially realistic superhero world–came from a game. A role-playing game (RPG) … More World Building 101: Start with a system.
Writing Wearing the Cape has been, to quote the great Bill and Ted, “a most excellent adventure.” The plot came together two years ago, scene drafts followed, and last year I threw myself into it with a goal of finishing a publishable draft and commencing the Great Agent Hunt in July. I “finished” the book … More Wearing the Cape becomes YWO bestseller!
Marion G. Harmon, A Writer in Vegas. 