Spilled Ink #7

INTRO

Here we are again. That time of the week when you get to hear me rambling on and on about all kinds of stuff. Thank you all for still being along for the ride.

Also, thank you to everyone who commented on and gave their opinion about the changes I made to the newsletter. Your feedback is really important to me and I want to make this little project fun for everyone reading it. So, keep sending your suggestions and get back to me on whatever topic you may want. I’m here to hear you out.

I’ve also been pondering if I should change from Substack to any other platform due to the issue that has been going on for some time, and that I only knew of because I read about it in some other newsletters. I honestly don’t know if it would be the right time for me to jump ships but I’ll keep an eye out and see how things go.

New stuff to talk about quickly. You probably received the first issue of my new project Nightmare Ink Presents. This is in part a convergence of the prompt thingy I did back in December and the idea I had for featuring an exclusive story in the pages of some issues of the newsletter you are now reading. Deciding to turn the exclusive story into an exclusive publication of its own was one of the changes I had in store for you with the new iteration of the newsletter, and I hope you enjoy it. The first two chapters are out now in a 2-for-1 post so, go read it now, if you haven’t yet. And leave a comment too. Go on, I’ll wait.

Ok, now that you’ve read it and commented on it let’s keep this show going.

WRITING UPDATES

As I said above, and at the risk of repeating myself, I’ve started doing a weekly released story, The Haunting of Blackwood Manor and that will be one of my main focus at least for now. I’m already editing chapter 3 for release. There’s more to this project as well, but there’s still some time before we get there.

But this won’t be the only thing I’ll be working on. I’m working on a secret future release, that should be out in the last trimester of the year. What can I say about it? Nothing much to be honest. Some people are in the know about this but not that many, at least for now. What kind of peeks at this work would you like me to give you?

I also sent a story to a submission call yesterday, if you are reading this on the day it came out if not it was a Saturday in January. It’s my first of 2024. Let’s see how it goes. It’s Readings from Cursed Room 301 from Mad Axe Media and it seemed like an interesting one to do. And it was! The thing is, in the moments before and when I pressed submit I was positively sure the story would be a good fit for the call but as soon as I did I started having doubts if it was… But, it’s sent and I feel like I wrote something nice. If you want to see a bit of the call just check the images below.

Doesn’t this seem fun? I thought so too!

BOOK REPORT

Nothing new here as I just finished reading Blessed Skeletons and I’ve got to say that it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever read. I went in completely in the dark about the book and if you want me to be honest that’s the best way to read this. Everything will come as a surprise and as one of those sucker punches you didn’t see coming. I liked this one so much I’ll make sure to get a copy of it when it comes out, but not only that I will get all of Robert Weaver’s other work. It truly was the right book to start the year with.

Now I just have to decide what I will pick up next and I kind of have a book in my sights. It’s one I started before but because of not having the time to commit to a lengthy book (and there are two of the series) I had to put it down because I was doing it a disservice. But I’ve been thinking about it and I remember everything that happened up to the part I was at, so I have already some pages in!

Tune in next week for more on this!

PULL LIST

As I’ve stated before, comics are easy to snuck in on the daily coming and goings of life so I was able to sneak a few more this week.

Not only am I keeping up with Fall of X (since I now only have to read two or three X-titles a month to be up to date) I also snuck in issue 2 of Crave by Maria Llovett. This series might be deceitful as it begins with what seems to be only a more sexual take on social media and apps but is now taking a turn to the problems and moral questions of the use of said instruments and what might happen if one follows those platforms as the right way to interact with others. From the preview at the end of this issue, I think issue 3 won’t be for the faint of heart.

I also read Starhenge, which I bought at Mundo Fantasma my go-to comic book shop, by Liam Sharp and I was blown away. I already had seen pieces of the interior art in the single issues and I knew that part would be amazing but the story of this is truly engaging and so good. One of those cases in which one can’t end up thinking “Why didn’t I think of this?!”. It revolves around three timelines - past, present, and future - and it’s basically a retelling of Arthurian mythos. I truly can’t wait for more of this story.

This was something I’d been meaning to read for a long time and I finally decided to pick it up. Spectators is being serialized in Brian K. Vaughan’s newsletter and is written by, well, Brian K. Vaughan and drawn by the incredible Niko Henrichon. It’s the most adult material I’ve seen from Vaughan’s and it might not be a story for everyone as it deals with violence and it’s pretty graphic at times, oh, and sex. It is extremely sexual. As the author himself wrote, “For the last fifteen years or so, Niko and I have been eager to collaborate on another story, one even more ambitious in scope and subject matter than Pride [of Baghad]. The idea that excited us most is a graphic novel called Spectators, a planned 300-plus page self-contained epic about…well, a lot of things, but at its core, it’s a story about sex and violence, and why so many of us spend so much of our lives watching both.” You can read it on Exploding Giraffe, just look for the post that has the first 200 pages and just go on from there.

Let’s see what next week brings in terms of comics. I will also restart reading all of the horror comics I’ve been buying for the last few months and that I used to talk about here.

ON-SCREEN

Some time ago I was called out for not having seen almost any Disney movie since The Lion King, so I was made a list of what I should watch. I’ve been going through said list as time allows, doing a kind of rudimentary streaming party, and this week I got to watch Tangled. It was fairly entertaining and I liked it, even if the story is a bit different from the Rapunzel story I knew from my childhood. Not what you’d expect from a horror author right?

I also continue watching Percy Jackson, and I must say that it’s refreshing to follow something on a weekly basis.

That said, I’ll try to watch Echo this week. I liked her character in the Daredevil comics so I want to see what they manage to do with her.

PLAYLIST

I continue making my way through Lore, so nothing new here except I found this band I don’t really remember how but I’ve been listening to it a bit in the last few days. They’re called VENUS GRRRLS and I was going to leave you with the video for their song Hex but for some reason, the embed link isn’t working, So you’ll have to click the song title to open YouTube.

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

Again, and as I stated above, I’m super hyped about the secret project I’ve been working on and I can’t wait to share more with you when the time for that is upon us!

I’m also very hyped about some events that are coming soon and where I’ll be present with maybe some new physical products. You’ll be the first to know about them if they truly come to fruition!

One thing I’m kinda hyped for is the new story that started this Wednesday with the launch of Action Comics #1061. It’s written by Jason Aaron, and I loved his work on Thor and Avengers so I’m kinda hyped to see what he’s going to do with what is, in my opinion, one of the harder characters to write.
This one I was able to embed so enjoy this little comic trailer.

LAST WORDS

As always I hope to hear from every one of you and to see what you think of this week's newsletter. Ask me things, about myself about the projects I’m working on, or that I have in mind. All is fair game.

Don’t forget that there will be a new issue of Nightmare Ink Presents later this week, most certainly on Wednesday, but maybe Thursday, depending on how the week goes.

I won’t take any more of your time, so see you next week for more updates.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

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