As part of my never-ending search for visual reference material, I came upon Voyage pittoresque de la Grèce, by Count Marie Gabriel Florent Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier, published in 1782, or maybe 1822, or maybe both (it's a multi-volume work). It's not perfectly clear to me who is responsible for the illustrations, which I'm guessing weren't executed by The Count. My French is not great, ...
2021-01-05 23:50:09 +0000 UTC View PostDelilah Dirk Four (or "DD4") will be the fourth book in a series of graphic novels about Delilah Dirk, 19th-century Europe’s premier brash lady adventurer, an international mistress of swordsmanship, master of blade-based conflict resolution and/or instigation. She has a distaste for being cooped-up and a soft spot for good tea.
THE DELILAH DIRK BOOKS<...
2021-01-04 22:53:13 +0000 UTC View Post
I was watching a Fortnite stream last night, wherein the streamers were talking about the process of learning improv and stand-up comedy. They said, “things will be bad until they’re good.” Delilah Dirk 4, too, “will be bad until it is good,” just like every book before it. The story will have holes, mig...
2021-01-04 19:09:00 +0000 UTC View Post
This is PART SEVEN(!) of a series of posts about preparing for DELILAH DIRK BOOK FOUR, a new graphic novel.
Years ago, when I was first entertaining the idea of dipping my toes in the publishing world, there was no mistaking it: there was self-publishing (or “vanity publishing”) and Real Publishing. The former was inferior, and the latter was not only superior, b...
2021-01-01 18:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
This is PART SIX of a series of posts about preparing for DELILAH DIRK BOOK FOUR, a new graphic novel.
In Parts One and Two, I investigated the methods with which I made the first three Delilah Dirk books. In Part Three, how I could afford all the time I needed for those projects. In Part Four, I outlined some creative goals for DD4, and in Part Five, why I needed to...
2020-12-29 18:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
This is PART FIVE of a series of posts about preparing for DELILAH DIRK BOOK FOUR, a new graphic novel.
The last time I made a graphic novel was Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules. I like that book. I’m proud of how it turned out. I look at it now, years later, and I see little forgotten elements that make me happy. But I can’t repeat the process I used to ...
2020-12-22 18:01:00 +0000 UTC View Post
This is PART FOUR of a series of posts about preparing for DELILAH DIRK BOOK FOUR, a new graphic novel.
What am I trying to accomplish with Delilah Dirk 4, and what do I want to to be different about the process of getting there? How will I gauge its success? The old advice is to make the book you want to read, but is that good advice?
Some would arg...
2020-12-18 18:00:04 +0000 UTC View Post
This is PART THREE of a series of posts about preparing for DELILAH DIRK BOOK FOUR, a new graphic novel.
How does someone afford to take the time to make a 200-page graphic novel? The project can take years, and that’s a long time to go without a reliable income.
My first book, Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant, needed only a year’...
2020-12-15 18:00:03 +0000 UTC View Post
This is PART TWO of a series of posts about preparing to make DELILAH DIRK BOOK FOUR, a new graphic novel.
All my previous comics experience had involved working in small chunks, and now I was embarking on the task of writing and illustrating one long 200-page graphic novel. I needed a way to manage this huge amount of work.
I adapted a technique I a...
2020-12-11 18:00:06 +0000 UTC View Post
This is PART ONE of a series of posts about preparing for DELILAH DIRK BOOK FOUR, a new graphic novel.
I’m ready to start work on Delilah Dirk Four (DD4). I have a story outline I like, a number of scenes worth trying, some places I’d like to go, and a good mix of character ingredients. I know how to make a graphic novel, too—I’ve done it ...
2020-12-09 01:14:05 +0000 UTC View Post