🙄Catching Up with Myself
Re-justifying Newsletter Cred
Every episode of Into the Storymaze = writing ideas or writing-in-progress; something creative I’m excited to share; a highlight from my comic book writing; and a quote that’s worth a think.
If I was better organized with my newslettering, this'd be part 4 of my 4 part "Cryptic" script. Readers will (may?) remember an audio drama about alien conspiracies and government coverups and devils on the moon. That final part is right over there, on the other screen. Honest, you just have to lean over a little and you'll see it — listen, don't strain yourself. I'll post it with catch up links next week.
I'm already straining your patience with the long gaps between posts. Rather than apologize, here's where what I've been up to wandering — and apparently quite lost in — the Storymaze.
💥 I just turned in over 24K words of script on a new 5 part series for Blackbox Comics. This was based on an initial concept springboard by publisher and editor Dimitrios Zaharakis, but developed into a character and world we've co-created.
Big props to Terrificon for bringing us together! It's been fun so far, and there's more to come as an artist gets brought into the picture and it starts to come to life. World building is exhausting — next time I'm setting things in Ordinary City, USA, in an empty warehouse.
💥 I turned in 52 pages of plot for 5 issues of another [REDACTED] comic book series. The editor "loved every bit of it" — but for various reasons on the publishing side, the original page count has been reduced by 20 pages. Gaak, as Bill the Cat used to say. That means a whole new look at pacing an already perfectly paced story. (Ahem, says the humble writer.)
Fortunately said editor offered to take the first pass at red-lining. That's still going to be 90 pages of [REDACTED] and [REDACTED]. Read that paragraph over as many times as you like, there's not a clue as to what it's going to be — but [REDACTED] are going to [REDACTED] their [REDACTED]!
💥 While I appreciate the kindness of strangers, I'm not depending ONLY on others to restart my comic book storytelling. The long-gestating comic series I've teased with Karl Waller has a first issue that has all the principal black and white art done, and is being colored by Wesley Wong, and lettered by Eisner nominated Pat Brosseau. Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith of Comic Craft designed a truly killer logo. (Here's a tease:)
(Geez, I hope there’s more!)
In prepping for a Kickstarter launch, I have been getting printing quotes, budgeting shipping, prepping a social media barrage, writing and producing a "launch trailer" — in truth, doing a bit more than I'd like, but doing exactly what needs to be to make this real. I think you'll like it, and I'm excited to start sharing even more in the coming weeks.
📝 For various marketing clients, I wrote (close to) an entire website for an ad agency in Dallas, as well as 10K words on AI and Web3 for their "thought leadership" blog; along with another website for a "financial services" firm, and a new web feature for a company creating specialized sound systems for NASCAR. On the video side, I've scripted projects for real estate redevelopment, construction safety, and to raise awareness around a rare disease that affects just 250 people in the whole world.
Plus: multiple interviews with professionals in the accounting industry that I'm turning into corporate profiles; theme development for technology and non-profit symposiums; and the "usual suspects" of advertising concepts, direct mail and email campaigns. (Yes, I'm partly to blame for all that "stuff" jamming up your on-screen and IRL in-box.)
🎙️ This coming week: I'm moving into production on a 16 episode podcast that I'm producing for NATO (Wait — WHAT?!?) — turning a collection of their public policy papers into audio books and interviewing a number of their professors based around the world.
🎓 AND…my son graduated college, with a bitchin' Bachelor of Science in Architecture. (It actually says that right on the degree: Bitchin' B of S.)
So I'm not to be *forgiven* for letting this newsletter go dark. But at least I haven't been spending all my time playing Tears of the Kingdom. (The truth of that is because I still haven't finished Breath of the Wild…but I'm getting close, Zelda, I promise — just keep those blood moon warnings coming!)
Video games bring to mind solo action — and there can be an admitted appeal of just you and screen world, sometimes. But doubling up on the controllers — especially in the too-rare form of co-op gameplay — can be a special treat. I was reminded of this as me and my son took on "Untitled Goose Game" — a truly inspired bit of zany where you honk, flap and annoy a neighborhood with no goal higher than mischief.
As we wandered as two geese a' goosing around an English village, we were assigned varied bits of clever chaos: break a treasured vase, dump a pub owner into some tomatoes, send an old man sprawling off his stool, steal produce from a local farmer, bully a small child into a phone booth.
Typing it out like this it sounds unduly cruel, but, trust me — when you're a goose, it's all in good fun. And when there's two of you checking off boxes on the torture task list, there's quite a bit of extra joy in figuring out how to get the humans to slip up, trip over, or look the other way. Honk.
From a Storymaze perspective, games like this are also a joy in terms of their free-wheeling nature. Even with an end game in sight — the village is only so big, there are only so many villagers a couple of geese can terrorize — sometimes it's just fun to wander, paddle, shock, trample and peck like a white feathered kaiju. I had this one on my Switch for a while, but I'm glad I waited 'til my won was home from school to really (wait for it) "spread its wings." Honk honk. (Special reward: when you finish the truly hilarious "last task" you're given a whole new list of bonus annoyances to unleash.)
My invitation to the Richmond, VA comic con back in March provided me an opportunity to go utter and complete fan-boy when I found out Charlie Cox (Netflix and Disney's Daredevil, for those not up on their on-screen hornheads) would be another guest at the show. (Somewhat higher profile than ye olde writer, gentle readers, but — technically, I can say we were both guests!) I lept to the front of the "Please please me me!" line with the show organizers for a photo op with Mr. Cox, and that got even more Man Without Fear magical when it turned out DD creators Ann Nocenti and John Romita, Jr. would also be in attendance.
Unfortunately, Charlie was VERY in demand and it looked like our chance was not going to find the time. But at literal last minute intervention and appeal by the con's showrunners basically intercepted him on the way to the airport. As he was grabbing some snacks in the green room, they pointed him out to us and he gracioiusly stepped in for a "Oh, you guys worked on Daredevil, too?" moment.
The fact there were multiple photos being shot by multiple camera at the same fleeting moment resulted in no two of us looking in the same direction at the same time. But thanks to a lil' iPhone live photos and photoshop magic — I found a way to give us all the same line of site for this Hell's Kitchen Noir you see here.
(On a subsequent trip through the green room I spied the Kingpin himself — actor Vincent D'Onfrio — scrolling through his phone while catching a moment between his own demanding signings. I decided it would be bad form to geek out and ask for a photo op, but I did not want to miss the chance to commend him on his effective performance.
While it was disconcerting to align this very NICE man with his very EVIL screen persona, it was a bit of a thrill to hear his effusive praise of comics and comic book creators as a positive influence on him discovering how to play his role. I choose not to let on that I rose to DD fame writing a story called "The Fall of the Kingpin" — best not to press my luck!)
“Creative living is where Big Magic will always abide.” — Elizabeth Gilbert
Amazing Times
I’m D.G. Chichester. If that looks pretentious, feel free to just call me “Dan.”
I earned my storytelling cred writing comic book titles like Daredevil, Terror Inc., Nick Fury Agent of SHIELD and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, along with digital widgets in the world wide web of advertising. I like weird tales, so if things here bend that way — now you know why!
Folks seem to like the comic book adventures I’ve written, so if you haven’t checked one out — please do. Many are now available in fab collected editions.
For the eager moments between newsletters…
@dgchichester — 280 characters from the Twitterverse
@dgchichester — images via Instagramland