Spilled Ink #18

INTRO

Hey everyone! How was your week?

Things here moved rather quickly and the days kind of got away from me. But everything is good and projects are running along. Even if they aren’t the projects I should be working on (more on this below).

This newsletter will have a big chunk you might want to skip as this is one of the most important weekends in wrestling, and I had to talk about it…

One thing before I go into the updates.

I was invited to a fair but unfortunately, due to work, I won’t be able to attend. But my good friend Daniel Lopes is going to be there and he kindly offered to represent myself and Nightmare Ink in the event. As it gets closer I’ll share more information about it.

And now to the stuff that brought you here.

WRITING UPDATES

I know I promised a new Nightmare Ink Presents and a new chapter of The Haunting of Blackwood Manor for this past week and I didn’t deliver it. Don’t be mad at me. I had planned everything for the release but as you know I’m writing that as I go. There are no pre-written chapters that I can release if I lose track of time or something happens. This was one of those weeks. I got a bit lost and days, as I said before, slipped through my fingers. What I can promise is this. I have plans for this story and characters. And they want to have their stories told, so I’ll keep writing it and I’ll be doing it soon.

One of the reasons I didn’t get to Blackwood Manor this week is because I’ve been working on some new short stories for some submission calls and I dedicated all the free time I had to them. They are stories I’m really hyped to work on mostly because they are a bit out of my comfort zone.

I’m also juggling some stories and some other formats I would like to get my hands on, but it sometimes feels like a stretch. But I’ll keep playing around with them and who knows? Maybe one day I can do something with those ideas.

BOOK REPORT

I just was able to put a couple of pages more on my reading of Ride Upon Midnight. I know I’m doing the book a disservice reading it like this but it’s been really had to find time to read for a longer time.

I need to change this this week.

PULL LIST

Do you believe I went to the comic book store and hadn’t read any of the books I bought there???

What I read, apart from the usual X-Titles, was a lot of Spawn. I already told you that I’m focused on reading all the released issues and getting up to date in it, so I read fifteen issues this week, and I maintain my opinion that this is one of the most versatile characters ever created.

I will keep the adventure of reading all the issues up to 350, along with the adventure of finding the missing issues in my collection. At the moment I’m locking my sights on issues 224 to 349. My usual comic book store has almost all of them except issues 227 and 333, so if you know any store that have them let me know ok?

I also read all the available issues of Seven Years In Darkness, by Joseph Schmalke. The only physical issues I have are SYiD Year 2 #1, which I received as part of the author’s Patreon, and SYiD: The Shamir Worm, which currently is in London waiting to make its way into my hands. So I read the whole thing on Patreon, where the author shares all the pages. And I loved it. I could talk about it for hours and one newsletter wouldn’t be enough. The writing is superb, and the illustrations are gorgeous (did I mention that Joseph is the one who does it all?). This is one of those independent titles that might get under your radar, so I am here to tell you not to miss it. A TPB is coming out, so you can get all of this School for Black Magic first-year all at once. Don’t miss it. And if you want a sneak-peek at the inside art just click the covers below.

ON-SCREEN

It’s WrestleMania weekend so what do you all think I’ve been watching?

Due to time zones, I wasn’t able to watch the first night of the show live and I won’t be able to watch the second one either. But I’m almost finished with last night’s show, only the main event to go, and I’m kinda hyped.

But, before getting into the first night of ‘Mania, I need to tell you about the WWE Hall of Fame. I liked it better when they did a whole ceremony-like thing and not a post-Smackdown event, but I have to say that inducting Paul Heyman was long due. I always appreciate the man if not the persona he plays on TV, but his speech was amazing. The other inductees were all deserving of their spot in the 2024 class, but after Heyman, they lacked a bit of flair.

Now, back to ‘Mania.

First of all, Sami Zayn has dethroned Gunther as the Intercontinental Champion, after what was a grueling match. I’m really happy about the recognition WWE has given Zayn in the last few years. He was always a great performer and he was always relegated to the middle-card. Let’s see if they keep supporting someone who, in my opinion, could really be part of the backbone of the company.

If you are one of the people I talked with about wrestling you know how disappointed I was when Cody Rhodes left AEW to return to WWE. But, he had his reasons and even if I had preferred him to stay with the company he helped create I will always be a Cody guy. With that, I had my share of letdowns as it seems WWE is always willing to let him walk the distance but never get to the destination. And that’s how we got where we are this weekend: a tag team main event on Night 1 where “The American Dream” Cody Rhodes teams with former rival Seth “Freaking” Rollins to take on the “Tribal Chief” Roman Reigns alongside the “Final Boss” The Rock. The outcome of this will decide the stipulation for the combat on Night 2 that will let Cody finish his story and hopefully get the Championship he so deserves. If Cody and Rollins win, The Bloodline (Reigns’ group) will be barred from ringside; if Reigns and The Rock win the combat will be held under Bloodline rules (a kind of no-DQ combat).

I really don’t know how this will go, as I don’t see WWE making Reigns lose two matches in consecutive nights, especially at WrestleMania, so let’s see how this will play out.

EDIT: I just watched the main event for Night 1 and I must say that things will be interesting tonight. Cody and Seth, unfortunately, lost the match. This will make things hard for Cody as he will have to deal with the entirety of the Bloodline in his title match against Reigns. But maybe WWE will make this the underdog comeback and make Cody weather whatever the Bloodline throws his way and end up with gold around his waist? That is what I hope for at least. It’s not that I don’t like Reigns, I do, but he’s been champion for over three years and I like Cody more…

Posters for Wrestlemania XL Night 1 (feat. the tag team main event of Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins against Roman Reigns and The Rock) and Night 2 (the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship main event of Roman Reigns against Cody Rhodes)PLAYLIST

Only ten-something episodes of Lore to finally have caught up with the show, so it’s easy to guess what I’ve been listening to right?

THINGS I’M HYPED ABOUT

The work I’m doing for the submission calls is one of the things I’m most hyped about at the moment, along with that special secret project I’m always talking about.

I’m also hyped about a project by Gorila Sentado that is really close to me and that I’m having the chance to see developing from the beginning. I’ll see if I can share more with you next week.

LAST WORDS

This is all for today, hope you enjoyed the ride.
I truly didn’t want to make this newsletter about wrestling but it kinda got away from me, and believe me there was so much more I could have, and wanted to, told you.

I’ll be waiting to hear from you, as your opinion is really important both to me and NI.

Hope you have an amazing week and that you come back for the next issue.

Until then, let the ink of nightmares flow.

Thanks for reading Nightmare Ink! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.