Sunday, December 31, 2006

Have a Happy New Year

Wow, I can't believe that it is the end of the year already! How time has flown. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is getting ready for a great new year.

My custom unitard from Cool Costumes finally arrived. I tried it on, and it fit so well that it is scary! They did a great job. It fits well, the construction is great, and it arrived well before my deadline. (*applauds*)

Now I just need to work on the rest of the costume. When it's done, I'll post pictures!




Here is an interesting end-of-the year review from Comic Book Resources. I found it to be very interesting, considering all of the hub-bub surrounding late books this past year.

End of Year Review

What do you think?

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Back from Vacation!

I'm back from my Thanksgiving vacation in Orlando. I had a blast! I hope everyone else had a great holiday as well.

I've done a little more work on the quiver for the Speedy costume. The FunkyFoam cover is complete:



Once I've made the cloak, I will make a quiver strap out of the same material. I'll also attach some fake "arrows".

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Quiver

I am working on the quiver for my Speedy costume. I purchased a papier mache wine bottle gift box from Hobby Lobby for about four bucks. I plan to cover the outside of the main body with red FunkyFoam. I will cover the removable lid with yellow FunkyFoam and punch holes in it for the fake "arrows". I'm planning on about four arrows, including the infamous blue arrow. The quiver will also double as a purse, since regular purses are such a pain when in costume. I'll need to construct a strap as well. I may make it out of the same material as I'm using for my cloak (yellow nylon ripstop) so that everything matches.

Pictures:
Box before any changes:



Red FunkyFoam:



To cover the bottom, I placed the bottom of the box on the Foam and traced a circle around it. I used a mechanical pencil, but I had the lead retracted. I scored the foam where I needed to cut it. No lead was needed. I had to score around it a few times to get a definitive line that I could cut. I then cut out the circle with scissors (NOT my fabric scissors!) and glued it onto the bottom of the box. I used a glue specific for FunkyFoam. It is very tacky, even when it is dry.



I'm having a lot of fun playing around with this. Next, I'll be creating a yellow circle for covering the top of the removable lid while the bottom of the quiver is drying. Then I'll cover the cylindrical bodies of the box and lid with red and yellow foam, respectively.

You know, it is really hard for me to tell the true color scheme of her quiver, because it depends on who the colorist is of any given issue. I've elected to go with a red body and yellow trim.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Won't You Take Me to Funky...Foam?

Move over, Funkytown! I have discovered the miracle that is FunkyFoam! I think I have found the material for my bracers for the Speedy costume. It is certainly not the actual material that she would wear, but it does look cool. It comes in 2mm sheets at 79 cents a sheet, so it's a dirt cheap way for me to accessorize my Speedy costume. If it works out, I will adapt the red unitard to my next idea... Iron Maiden! Watch out, Tony Stark! And maybe a gender-bended Flash as well.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Speedy Costume, Revisited

Upon careful consideration, I have decided that I don't have the correct equipment to sew spandex for the Speedy costume. Therefore, I have ordered the red unitard base from a company that makes custom costumes.

For the amount of work that they will put into it, I feel that the price is reasonable(about $140 and change, including shipping and custom construction fees). Here is the link to their web site:

Cool Costumes

I ordered a unitard with a mock turtle neck, attached gloves and "booties", and a back entrace zipper. They can customize any unitard/skirt/shirt made out of spandex or PVC. They can change the neck, the length of the sleeves, etc.,to whatever you want. The site is fun to play around with to see what kinds of costumes one can create.

I'll let you know how it turns out. I am so excited about this. I'm not a standard size, so it will be nice to have an outfit tailored to me! I've gotten an email back from one of the seamstresses about my order already, and she was very nice to talk to.

I will still be making the cloak and the bracers and gaiters and the arrow crest. A friend of mine suggested that I make the crest removable so that I can use the unitard as a base for other costumes. I think that is a good idea -- it will help me get more out of the investment in the base piece.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

New Art for "Nadir"

Angel-gidget has done it again! This is an illustration for "Nadir", chapter 9, with Bart and Raven in the spotlight and Gar and Wally in the background.

Bart to the Rescue

I really like this picture. The look on Bart's face is so angry and so protective at the same time. I think she really captured the emotion well.

Thanks, angel-gidget!




Ooooooh, Titans #40 out today! I can't get it until work is done for the day. I'll post my thoughts on it later.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

Happy Anniversary to B & M Amusement

Next Wednesday is the 7th anniversary of B & M Amusement, my local comic shop. Congratulations! We have been with them for a couple of years or so now,and a week just isn't complete without a visit with Buddy, Mary, and Tyler. They have made the mister and myself feel at home in the shop, and I truly appreciate it. Many thanks, guys, and here's to many more years in the future!

For those of you in the Southeast Tennessee area, you might want to pop in and pay them a visit some time. They have the largest back issue collection in Chattanooga. If it's not on the shelf, they can order it for you.

Here is their web site:

B & M Amusement

Saturday, October 28, 2006

Speedy Costume

Well, I have made one small step towards the actual manufacture of this one. I created the pattern for the arrow crest this morning. This one will be an appliqued crest instead of an embroidered one. I liked the embroidered look for the Raven outfit, but I think an applique suits Speedy's outfit much better. The plan is to get some yellow satin for the cape and bracers. I'll make the crest out of the same material. I've never done applique before, so this ought to be interesting!

It was hard to find a good picture of the arrow crest, since different artists render Speedy a little differently. I finally picked a good full-body shot out of the annual and used that as a basis. I played around with triangles for a while, but I was having a difficult time making a completely symmetrical arrow. I finally figured out that I could draw half of it, fold it over, then trace the outline of the other half. (Duh, Susan.) That worked out really well. Now I just need to trace the pattern onto some tissue paper. I use a rather stiff art paper to work out the pattern template. Now I need the tissue paper because it is easier to pin to the cloth.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

Brian May: Queen Guitarist and Astronomer!

For my fellow Queen fans: this is an interesting article that I found on CNN. Brian May is not just a great guitar player!

Brian May

That's just too cool. I may have to catch that book. A man of many talents, indeed!

Less than two weeks (hope hope) until the next issue of Titans. In the meantime, I'm doing a few beta reads for other writers and trying to get in a little writing on my next story. My mojo comes and goes. I need to catch that sucker and lock him up to keep him from getting away.

I can't believe it's almost Halloween! I'll be wearing the Raven costume to work next week, so that ought to be fun. Then I'm going to spend some time getting the Speedy costume together. The goal is to have that one done by Chattacon at the end of January. I've also thought about putting together a "Beast Girl" outfit at some point. That ought to be a fun one. That would make 3 costumes for DragonCon next year!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Super-Fantastic!

Hello everyone --

They did something great for us at work today. This week is Customer Service Week, and they usually give us a treat. My boss took the team out for ice cream. Then we got to see Keith "Dr. Attitude" Harrell speak. He has spoken at some events for our company before, but never to all of us at once.

This guy is something else. I think it is impossible to feel bad if you are in the same state as Mr. Harrell. He is so upbeat, he makes you want to get up and dance! He said a lot of things that I needed to hear, and I really appreciate it and hope I can make use of what he said about attitude being everything. I feel so energetic now, which is good because I have felt terrible this week. I may go out and buy one of his books on tape or something, because this is something I would like to keep with me. His motto is "Super fantastic!" -- and he makes you feel that way.

Comic Book Day today. It's a light week for me, but that's ok. I spent a lot of $$$$$ last week on my hobby, so my wallet needs the break. But it's also Date Night, and the mister and I are going out to eat. (He cooks Monday and Friday, I cook Tuesday and Thursday, we eat out Wednesday, the weekend is a grab bag.)

I hope everyone has a superfantastic day today.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Spiders!

Here is a picture of a beautiful writing spider. The mister took it outside of our basement door the other day.

Writing Spider

I thought I would share it. I think writing spiders are beautiful. I watched them make webs in my grandfather's tobacco barn when I was a kid.

Here is his Snake Eyes costume from DragonCon:


Disco Snake Eyes:

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Even More Art!

My friend Sara (rabbit-of-earth on deviantArt and retro-takeout on ComicBloc) has done two really nice pieces for my stories. I thought I would share them here and in my fanfiction.net profile. I just love them.

Here is an illustration of Gar and Raven's date in "Deeper". So sweet!

The Date


And here is one from "Nadir". This is Superboy holding Gar back from beating the crap out of Wally. Boy, is he ticked off!

Very Angry Beast Boy


I think she captured the spirit of the scenes quite well. Her style is awesome, so check out the rest of her gallery while you are there. I hope you enjoy them, too.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Stair Luge Samurai Art!

Hello all,

Angel-gidget on deviantArt has just created some art for my short story "Stair Luge Samurai". It is absolutely adorable. I love Bart's expression especially.

Stair Luge Samurai

I'll be adding the link to this to the other story art in my fanfiction.net profile. I enjoy and appreciate every piece of art that someone creates based on my stories. All of them are great, and I look at them over and over again and just enjoy the fun that people are getting out of the stories. I hope you enjoy the art as well.

KTH

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

More DragonCon Photos

The gentlemen that I met at DragonCon (including Beast Boy) have now posted their DragonCon photos on the net for all to see. I thought y'all would like to see them.

Frank Hui's DragonCon Photos

The DragonCon photos are in the link sections at the bottom. There is a picture of myself with Beast Boy on the first page of the third section. There are a lot of great photos here. These guys had lots of great costumes for the Con.




It's such a beautiful night here in Chattanooga. It's just a little cool. The stars are out. The mister and I just sat down in the driveway and stared at the constellations for a bit whilst the cat circled us. She was wondering why we were in her usual napping spot. The breeze was delicious but not quite chilly. It's refreshing to have some cooler temperatures after the summer heat. I haven't gone out to look at the stars in quite some time. I'm glad I did. There's something so peaceful about sitting on my porch and then gazing at the night sky before retiring for the night. Fall is my favorite time of year, and I think for us it has come early.

I say early, because this part of Tennessee usually stays pretty warm until October. I saw a joke on the internet once that described our seasons here: Almost Summer, Summer, Still Summer, and Christmas. We're almost ready to leap into Still Summer, I guess. But I'm excited. I love October. I love turning leaves and fresh apples from the Orchard up on Signal Mountain -- all the Galas, Fujis and Arkansas Blacks that I can eat. Mmmmm... a good crisp apple and a wedge of Brie is just heaven on a plate. Now I'm making myself hungry, so I'd better stop.

Good night, friends. Take a moment to enjoy the stars. Pax.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Next Year?

I'm already thinking about a costume for next year. I do plan to re-use the Raven costume. I'd just like to have different costumes for different days. I was thinking about going as Speedy (Mia Dearden). I like the simplicity of her outfit, and I've always like archers. Plus, I didn't see any Speedy's at the Con, and I'd like to have a costume that's fairly unique at the con. I've found a website that talks one through making a bodysuit patten. I would definitely need to make my own -- nobody makes a pattern that fits me exactly, no matter what the style of clothing. I have a good pattern for her short cloak that I think will work. This ought to be fun.

Monday, September 04, 2006

DragonCon pictures

I am back home! I am exhausted, but I had a blast. I even met Beast Boy and Nightwing, two very nice gentlemen, in the Hyatt lobby. They got some pictures of me, and we took pictures of them, for our respective web sites. BB's costume was very well made. After the time it took just to make my cloak, I can appreciate the kind of work that he put into it. I hope I run into him again next year.



There were a wide variety of costumes at the Con this year. There were more superheroes than last year. Most of the ones I saw were X-Men, although I did see several Nightwings and a Batman or two. I saw a well-done Wonder Woman and at least one Hawkman. There were lots of elves and hobbits. Star Wars was well-represented by a veritable army of Jedi and clone troopers.

Here are some more pictures:

A Colonial Warrior from the original Battlestar Galactica series:


And a Cylon:



The Hulk:




And, wouldn't you know it, a plethora of Ghostbusters. They were very popular this year.


A very nicely done Moon Knight:



Shaun of the Dead:




And more Leia's in metal bikinis than you could say grace over:

Monday, August 28, 2006

Ready for Teen Titans #38...

(*tap tap tap*) I'm trying to keep myself busy until Wednesday. I really need to be packing for DragonCon. I'm spending most of my time prepping for the writer's workhop on Thursday and Friday. I'm really looking forward to the workshop.

As a child of the 70s/80s, I found this blog entry rather amusing. Even those of you who have not read comics from this era might find it humorous. This post is from Comic Book Resources.

What We Can Learn and Questions That Are Raised by Early 1970s Comic Books

Most of the images and disucssions are from old Marvel comics. I did read more Marvel back in the day since I was a big X-Men fan (who could forget the Brood? The best Alien wannabes around!). I also enjoyed ROM, any story with Ben Grimm, and What If?




Since I posted the link to Tony Daniel's Wizard interview a while ago, I thought I would post his latest Newsarama interview. Go Tony!

Tony Daniel Interview with Newsarama

I was sad to hear that we won't see his pencils in #38, but I am curious about his fill-in artist. We shall see on Wednesday.

Monday, August 21, 2006

The Costume!

I'm still tweaking the bird's beak on the hood, but the body of the costume is done, thanks to the big, big help of my wonderful husband.

The shirt is actually 2 layers: one long-sleeved shirt with a zippered neck covered by a sleeveless spandex workout top. I embroidered the raven crest on there. We have yet to see consistent pictures of Raven's costume, so I just created an "idealized" version of the breastplate. I created a paper template and transferred it to the spandex top with tailor's chalk. And that was harder than it sounds! Then I embroidered it with a simple backstitch in a metallic thread. Again, spandex and metallic thread are very difficult to work together!


Here's a back view.





And a front view (ignore my hair, it was being naughty).






And a view of the hood, the beak is folded under because it, too, was being naughty.


A closeup of the embroidery

Sunday, August 20, 2006

DragonCon Costume Almost Finished!

Hooray! The cloak is almost done. All I need to do is shape the hood and do a little tacking of the liner to the main cloak body, and I'll be done. WHEW! The hubby and I have worked on it very hard for the past few weeks. I'll post pictures when the hood is totally done, hopefully this week.

Now I've got to get some sleep before I slog back to the salt mines tomorrow. This weekend was far too short.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Boots!

I'm about to laugh myself silly.

You know how I spent that time and sweat looking for the pixie boots for my Raven costume?

I went to Payless last night. New Fall shoes are out. I found: suede, no-heeled boots.

The only difference is, my boots are ankle boots, and these are knee length. And mine were cheaper to boot! (Pun intended. (Groan))

I just thought that was supremely ironic. I thought I'd never see boots like that again. Maybe they'll make the ankle-length ones again, too.

And I may have to buy some knee length ones purely on principle.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

I Need a Titans Fix... help!

(*sigh*) I'm still trying to be patient, waiting for the next issue of Teen Titans...

The cloak is almost done. We really tried to finish it, but we ran out of steam. However, we do have time to get it finished; but we are both ready for this little project to be finished! We attached the hood. The lining is attached on the sides. We just have to trim and hem the bottom of it so I don't drag the floor. The cloak is taller than I am! I was standing on a stool, letting my husband mark the hem, when I felt like Fezzig in "Princess Bride" -- I was wearing a holocaust cloak! I started to say "I am the Dwed Piwate Woberts", and without skipping a beat, my husband said, "Dere will be no survivors!" He knew EXACTLY what I meant. We think so much alike.

I had to make a large cloak to accomodate my slightly rotund torso. Unfortuntely, most clothing and pattern manufacturers assume that if you are large around that you are also tall. I am living proof that this is not necessarily true. We have to cut 9 inches off the back of this cloak just so I can walk in it! I'll have to watch out for escalators at the con, too. And there are bunches of them at DragonCon. Safety first!

I did not get any writing done this weekend. However, I did give my truck the first bath she's had in a while. BITT (Basham Industries 2000, KITT's cousin, she's a truck) is much happier now. It finally cooled off enough to where I could stand to be outside for more than a few minutes. Praise the Lord and pass the cold front!

Friday, August 11, 2006

Tony Daniel Interview on Wizard

It's the weekend! Hooray! Well, almost. Four more hours, and I'm on my way to the old homestead. I think I can hang on that long.

Wizard has conducted an interview with Tony Daniel on his latest run of Titans, including a few tiny hints about the future:

Tony Daniel Interview

It's a good read, and I hope you enjoy it.

I'm really, really going to try to finish my cloak this weekend.

Have a good one, guys!

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Patiently Waiting for August 23rd...

... and working on the prewrite for "Dawn Child". I took a lot of notes for it last night, and it's coming along nicely.

I did work on my cloak this weekend, but only on the hood. Maybe I'll get it finished this weekend.

Feeling kind of blah tonight, but the hubby and I made some popcorn chicken and tater tots for dinner, and I feel a little better. It's like magic comfort food; no matter how lousy I feel or how un-hungry I am (and I'm hypoglycemic and I have to eat) I can always eat that.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

Wizard World Chicago This Weekend...

... and I'm not going. Mainly because DragonCon is just around the corner, and I need my $$ for that. There are some neat things going on there, though, and I enjoy reading about them on the Newsarama and Wizard websites.

Here's a good article on a writing class conducting at WWC:

Paul Jenkins: Writing Soup to Nuts

I'll post other articles that pique my interest -- maybe you'll like them too.

The Raven costume for DragonCon is coming along nicely. I got my boots in the mail this week. My wonderful, lovely, 1980s black suede pixie boots. I wore these little cuffed boots in high school, and I wonder why they ever went out of style. They are the most comfortable shoe ever made. (Here's a real head-scratcher -- they brought back JELLY SHOES, for crying out loud, but not pixie boots.) But I think these little boots are perfect for the OYL Raven costume. I hope to get my cloak finished this weekend as well. Just a few more weeks to go!

I got "52" #13 this week. Creeepy. I really feel for Ralph. The poor guy has been driven over the edge. I really want to see how this all turns out for him; we are only 1/4 of the way through their year, and I know we have more twists and turns going. Was that really Sue's spirit talking to him? Was it a trick of the Cult of Conner? Was it just wishful thinking that was so strong that he made himself see it? I don't think anyone else saw it, did they? Brrrrrr.

I loved the "Outsiders". What a great view into the Brain/Mallah relationship. They are becoming some of my favorite villains (although non-psycho Slade will always be my true fave). It really made me see why these two would have that kind of relationship -- they can talk about deep subjects on the same level. No matter who is involved in the relationship, that's something you've got to have, I think, in order to keep a good relationship going: the ability to really communicate and talk to each other. These two seem to have what a lot of good guys seem to lack in their own relationships. Scary.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Great Titans News

Some great Titans news came out of ComicCon this weekend:

- Mr. Johns says that Raven is returning to Teen Titans! Yayness! Now we just need to see when and how and what's going on with her now.

- DC is getting into Direct-to-Video animated movies, and one of them will be "The Judas Contract" arc from the Wolfman-Perez era. Both Wolfman and Perez will have a hand in the project, so I'm sure it will turn out well. Looking forward to this.

- A Terra mini is in the works. I'd really like to know what is going on with the connection (if any) between Terra I and Terra II.

The Raven costume for DragonCon is coming along nicely. The mister helped me piece the main body of it together this weekend. (I'm terrified of the sewing machine.) Now I need to work on the hood, which will be a real challenge. The pattern I bought has just a normal hood, and I have to adapt it to get the bird's beak. This oughtta be fun. I also did the accessories (the jewels for the belt, cloak clasp and gloves). I used a plain gold-toned chain-link belt (Target, $12) and used glittered red felt as the jewels. Each link is a large oval, and I just cut out matching felt ovals and hot-glued them in. I hope they stick -- the metal is not liking the glue very much. I think the glue gun will go with me to the Con! For the jewels, I bought some small wooden disks that were intended to be used as plates in a dollhouse. I painted them with some gold paint. Then I used my trusty glue-gun to glue flat glass beads to them. I just hope the glue holds.




Here's the link to a more detailed report on the ComicCon panel with Grant Morrison and Deepak Chopra on "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes":

Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes

Friday, July 21, 2006

Gearing Up For DragonCon

I'm reading a lot of the articles on Newsarama and Wizard about the current ComicCon in San Diego, and they've got me all excited about DragonCon next month. I'm working on my Raven costume now (OYL version), and I'm very happy with the way it is turning out now.

I'll be attending the writing workshop that happens just before the Con opens, so that ought to be helpful in polishing up my stories. I'm looking over the website for the Con as well to try and plan all of the tracks that I'd like to attend. I definitely want to see the 'BattleStar Galactica' panels again. Richard Hatch moderated one last year, and it was a great presentation. He's a very inspriational speaker. He's at ComicCon this year; here's an article on his panel:

Richard Hatch at ComicCon

For you Deepak Chopra fans: Dr. Chopra showed up at ComicCon on a panel with Grant Morrison to talk about "The Seven Spiritual Laws of Superheroes". As a practioner of yoga and a comics fan, this really piqued my interest:

Dr. Chopra at ComicCon

This is an overview of the panel. The article promises a full transcript next week. I'll keep an eye out for that one as well.

I really enjoyed TT #37. Steve Dayton grew a spine and took Dr. Caulder down a deserved peg or two. However, I would have liked to have seen how he got to that point from his state in the previous issue, where he had a somewhat tenuous grip on reality. That would be an interesting story in itself (not to mention the story of how he got his body back in the first place, maybe in a "Secret Files and Origins" or something like that).

I'm very sad that Gar is not going back with the Titans, but I think we'll see him again. Change is a constant, and he's been off the team before. He's a wonderful character that has really grown up over the years, and I really want to see that character continue to grow. I'm glad to see he has his family back. Maybe now that Rita is with Steve, Steve will stay more stable and they can develop a good relationship. I can understand his desire to stay, in that light. I'm hoping the DP will have lots of guest shots in the Titans.

I really like Kid Devil and Rose as members of the team. Blue Devil's treatment of Eddie is heartbreaking... he should have come when he said he was going to, and if he didn't intend to come, he should not have gotten his hopes up. Poor kid. I like the friendship between him and Rose, even if it doesn't develop into anything romantic. She is very protective of him, like a big sister.

I loved the Raven panel at the end. Sooooo, maybe they didn't break up. At least not the way Robin presented it. Robin wasn't lying -- it's what she wanted people to think. Now, we have to find out what the 'something strange' is. I'm definitely hooked and look forward to seeing how things play out.

Overall, I liked the issue, but I felt that it was rushed in parts. The BoE fight was kind of short, and a lot was packed into it. I don't mind a lot being packed into it, but darn it, some months 22 pages just ain't enough.

SQUEE! There's talk of a Doom Patrol movie! No mention of Garfield Logan on the team, but I think the movie is a cool concept anyway. I'm definitely in line to see that one. If the movie is successful, maybe they'll get lined up for a new series that will actually stick around for a while.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Fourth of July! It's hot and muggy here. We may get some storms later. I do hope we get to see the fireworks -- the mister is so looking forward to them.

Only a couple of days until the next issue of Teen Titans! I'm so excited! I've seen the previews of some panels on Tony Daniel's blog over the past few months, and I'm ready to read it. I hope we get some clues on what happened between BB and Raven over the OYL. I'm ready for some kind of indication of... anything!

This week's pull list:

Detective Comics #821
Secret Six #2 (this is a really interesting team)
Supergirl #7 and #8 (two on one day? that's weird)
52 #9 (Please let Kori live!)
and of course... TT #37

I think the mister has some Marvel comics coming this week as well. He's collecting the "Civil War" crossover event. I really need to read it. I've been reading some of his "Captain America" comics to tide me over until we get some TT action again...

Saturday, June 24, 2006

New Tomb in Egypt

Today I heard that a friend of mine was involved in the study of the new tombs that were discovered in Egypt last year. The team has put together a web page of photos of the site. Here is the link if you would like to see them:

Tomb KV-63

Saturday, June 10, 2006

"Coyote" Commission Completed

Hiding-Daisy on deviantArt has just completed my commmission for "Coyote", chapter 20. I must say that it is beautiful. This is the chapter where Raven meets Thunder Horse in his "soulscape". The image was too large to fit the entire picture on the scanner, but here is the heart of the picture:

Thunder Horse

Saturday, June 03, 2006

"Nadir" Has Been Posted

I'm dancing. I just posted my latest story in the "Twilight Child" story arc: "Nadir". Here is a link to it:

Nadir

If you haven't read any of the other stories in the arc, I suggest you start with "Twilight Child" and read the stories in order. The stories are listed in order with their links in my "Links" area on the right side of this web page.

Let me know what you think! If you cannot leave a review on fanfiction.net because you don't have an account there, feel free to leave a comment on this blog. I look forward to hearing from everybody.

Friday, June 02, 2006

"Nadir" Posting This Weekend

I am only one chapter shy of having the revisions complete. With luck, I will be posting my next story on fanfiction.net sometime this weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Superman/Batman #26

I just picked this up today. It's the Sam Loeb tribute issue. Sam is the son of Jeph Loeb, who is one of the major writers at DC. He passed away last year after a bout with cancer; he was only 17. He was writing the idea for this issue for submission to DC as a published story. A group of writers and artists got together to complete it. And what a tale it is! It's more than just a tribute issue. It's a truly funny story about the friendship between Superboy and Robin. I laughed so hard in places that I thought I was going to hurt myself. It was both enjoyable and memorable. If you are a Titans fan at all, you need to pick it up. Some of the female Titans make, er, rather interesting cameo appearances, so to speak.

Of course, this is my version of Superboy's favorite scene:

Beast Boy in Paradise

There was another story at the end. "Sam's Story" is a story of Superman's youth, when he knew a young man named Sam who died of cancer. This story was so touching -- it makes me want to cry when I just think about it. It made me feel like Sam was someone that I would have enjoyed meeting. I am certain that, from the way he is portrayed in this story and the way his idea was played out, that he was truly a bright light in this world. What wonderful stories this young man must have had to tell!

I am thankful that he made my day, hell, my month, a little brighter. He gave me some laughs when I really, really needed them. I wish I could thank him for it. I honestly think that is what storytellers live for -- to hear that their story meant something to somebody and that it made someone's life a little better, even if for just a little while. This story did that for me. I do thank the staff of DC and his father for putting together such a wonderful and fitting memorial for him. I honestly think he would be proud of how his idea came to life. I think this issue will be loved for a long, long time.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Some New Art Stuff

I went shopping at Michael's today for some new art supplies. I purchased a ringbound sketchbook to carry around and a larger sketchpad for bigger projects. I hope that the little tote-book will let me practice more than I do now. I also bought 2 of those blue pencils that don't show up on a scan of a picture. I can use those to start my digital art.

My husband just created a new deviantArt site for his photography, if anyone would like to see his photos. He really likes wildlife and sunsets:

howler422.deviantart.com

Friday, May 26, 2006

Teen Titans #36

WOW! This was a great issue. I think I've read the words off the pages already. There is a lot going on. Questions are popping out of my head all the time as I wonder what is happening.

The Chief -- just, wow. Not what I expected. Of course, I have very little knowledge of the Doom Patrol outside of that I've seen in the pages of the Titans. My first experience with the Chief (when it wasn't a flashback) was in Titans #32 when the DP's memories got restored by Superboy's Reality Shaking Punches. I thought, "Wow, this is a Professor-X kind of guy that could help Raven out with her changing powers." I had no idea he was such a control freak! I got goosebumps when I read the conversation between the Chief and Rita as they operated on Kid Devil. Brrrrrrr! Now I'm thinking, "Keep him FAR AWAY from Raven!"

There is some kind of mind manipulation going on here. I have heard speculations by others on the forums that Mento's helmet may be involved in it. Steve is convinced that he needs to keep it on, that's for sure. I'm inclined to agree with that guess. Gar may not be as completely into the cult of personality as the others, but I think there's some influence there. (Personally, I think the Chief may have been responsible for BB's dreams that led him to seek out the DP in #32. There's no evidence of that, but I found it interesting that Chief claimed to have the same dreams.)

I can't wait for the next one!

Monday, May 22, 2006

Good News on Raven Mini

Thanks to my good friend DeTroyes for giving me the following link. It's an interview with Marv Wolfman about the Raven mini-series that he is writing:

Wolfman Interview

This makes me happy. I think this mini-series is a good way to "bridge the gap" between Marv's original vision of Raven and Geoff John's vision of the character. I think it will give us a lot of that off-panel "slice of life" that we die-hard Raven fans have been chomping at the bit for. I am really looking forward to this mini-series.

I'm also making additions to my "Beast Boy" playlist on my MP3 player. These are songs that have either some kind of animal theme OR remind me of Beast Boy's personality. Here are the songs that I have so far:

"Animal" by Def Leppard

"A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis

"Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stones

"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

"Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees ( I can just imagine Gar strutting down the street to this)

"Generic Blues" by Weird Al (He has to have a Weird Al song. )


I'm looking for other songs. Any suggestions?

Friday, May 19, 2006

Still in Beta...Closer

I am receiving my edited files back and am making corrections. Soon!

And Teen Titans #36 is due out next week!

I have seen the cover for #39 (see Tony Daniel's link on this page), and I love it! It is good to see Raven on a cover again. I am excited to see what happens next.

I was feeling depressed about the whole BB/Rae breakup that was revealed in #34. I have decided that I'm just going to treat it as a mystery for now. We don't know why they broke up. We don't know if they actually did break up. It could all be a ruse of some sort. I'm just going to sit back and see how it all unfolds in "52" and in issues of "Teen Titans".

I hope that "Nadir" cheers everyone up, too.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

"Nadir" Is Completely in Beta

Whew! My alpha pass is complete, and all of the next installment is in the hands of my beta readers! I am excited to have gotten it this far. I still think the post date will be early May. I hope it's worth the wait!

And I'm all anxious about getting #35. I hope they at least mention Raven in this issue. According to the solicits, though, we may not know anything much until July. C'mon, guys, find our girl!

Monday, April 10, 2006

"Nadir" On Way to Beta

Hello all,

I just sent the first half of the story to my beta readers. The last half should go this week. It will definitely be a May post date at this rate. So stay tuned!

TT #34 has me all on tenterhooks now. They got together and broke up over the year? Oooooh, I really need to read "52" when it comes out, then. I am ready for #35! I want to know what happens!

Saturday, April 01, 2006

"Nadir" Rough Cut Complete

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since February! Sorry, guys!

The rough cut on "Nadir" is complete as of 7:15 this evening. YAY!

I will start one of 2 alpha passes tomorrow. Once those are done (at least a week, maybe more), I will be sending the story out for beta.

I still don't have an exact post date, but we are much closer than we were! I'm really excited about this story and hope everyone enjoys it as much as they have the previous stories.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Attention X-Files Fans!

Are you a rabid X-Files fan? Are you a roleplayer? Then, my friend, there is a new forum in town that lets you be both. My friend Moo the Quacking Cow from the RBSU (Raven and Beast Boy Shippers United) forum has created a forum all her own.

Here is the basic idea. There is a list of available X-Files roles in the Roleplay Applications board. Sorry, Scully and Mulder are taken! Take a look at that thread and see what available role you would like to play.

1. You can sign up for an account under your own user name following the normal forum registration procedures.

2. Pick the role you would like to audition for from the Roleplay Applications Board, Applications Thread.

3. Send a PM (Private Message) to Mulder (Admin) to audition for that role. Make sure you PM is in character!

4. Mulder will let you know if you pass muster for that character. If so, you'll get a new account with that role as the screen name.

Be sure to view the posting rules and be prepared to come in character!

I'm Langly, by the way.

Here is the link: X-Files Roleplaying Forum

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

New Link

Greetings --

My good friend Pliskin MacReady just created his own blog. It is still "under construction", but he will be adding his own short stories and musings to the great blogosphere soon. Please check out his link over to the right and take a look at his work.

Pliskin MacReady

Work on "Nadir" is progressing, although I am still a long way from being finished. I am really excited about this one. It will be more action-oriented than the previous fics, although it will continue to reveal the mystery of the backstory of Raven's backstory. And for you Bart fans, there will be more Bart goodness.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

New DeviantArt Site

Hello, everyone! I have created an account on deviantArt for my "Twilight Child" fanart. I have some pieces that I have done myself there, as well as some beautiful pieces done for me by SparkyX, BakaNeko021, and one coming soon from MootheQuackingCow.

Here is the link:

KTHunter.deviantArt.com

I will continue to post updates to the fanfic writing here, but I will be posting all new art to that site. It is much easier to organize the illustrations that way.

Part 4 of the Twilight Child series, "Nadir", is currently in progress. I still do not have a publish date.

Sunday, January 01, 2006

An Older Drawing


I found an older drawing from my college days over the weekend and thought I would post it. It's not Teen Titans -- it's my fave band of all time, Def Leppard. I drew it back when Steve Clark was still with us. I was really proud of this one. I drew this as a composite from several photographs from their biography, "Animal Instinct". If I remember correctly, some tracing was involved as well. Hope you like it. It does look a little odd as the pencils have faded over the past 15 years . . .

And here is the same image, with a little bit of correction in PaintShopPro: