Tag Archives: female author

Aug18

Have I Been Wrong About Fan Fiction?

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Art from my First Fan Fiction: Slayers Encore (2002)

Fan fiction: it’s something all writers do (whether they’re aware of it or not). When it’s good, it’s an innocent joyride in someone else’s vehicle. Worst-case scenario, it’s a naive early attempt to be the next ____ (Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, George R.R. Martin etc.) with new names on the characters and a worn old plot device. In both cases fan fiction is written for the sheer love of a series, created out of a desire to see our deepest fan-desires put into words. There are thousands upon thousands of forums and websites dedicated to fan fiction, probably in numbers to rival the #1 commodity: porn.

While I myself have dabbled in the art of fan fiction, I decided early on, that if I was going to be serious about my writing, I should steer clear of other people’s works and instead concentrate on my ability to write original stories with my own characters and canon. I spent years building the worlds of CRIT! and Skeleton Crew among my other works and I think I did a good job. Fan fiction helped me build those skills, but I was ready to fly on my own now.

So I said goodbye to fan fiction and never looked back. I haven’t written any since 2004. I tell everyone in my panels that fan fiction is a skill builder—an exercise to build story-writing skills without the hassle of creating a new world and characters. It can help form new authors, but no self-respecting author wastes the bulk of their effort on it. Messing with copyrighted works makes publishers uncomfortable and it’s a sign of unprofessionalism.

At least, it used to be that way.

Now more and more big-name franchises are plumbing fan fiction for writers. This decade, entertainment companies have discovered that fan fiction is an untold wealth of hidden talent, and what is more, their fiction is a testing ground for how well they work with a given canon! Doctor Who, Star Trek, and other properties are taking note and are asking to see fan fiction from future writers!

…And I don’t have any.

I’d disciplined myself for so long, with the aim of building my credibility, that I’ve shot myself in the foot. I’ve lost 3 writing opportunities so far because they’d asked for a sample of fan-fiction and I’d had no time to write any.

I’m already struggling to make my mark on the internet. This just seems like an anvil dropped on my head. I also have to admit that I was wrong about fan fiction and lament for the stories I never wrote—ideas that have long since disappeared into the ether.

The game has changed again, and I’m left holding 3 aces in a game of Jenga.

 

 

May12

Still plugging away

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Now that the Rogue’s Guide is completed and launched, I’m turning my attention more to the Must Love Dragons relaunch and it’s been sloooooooooow going. A lot needs fixing which leads to more fixing and further flaws… you guys ever seen the money pit?

(Property of Universal Pictures)

At least the foundation is good. (I’m laughing as I type this because we just found out we have to replace the house’s trimming and get the roof inspected here at Wineberry House. Plus we have ants.)

In the meantime, here’s a draft of the new cover art we’re going to be using for MLD (some alterations in text, and art etc. pending). Overall I’m pleased with it. I love how Linus looks kind of cool, but also like you want to punch him in the face. We’re going to do similar half-face images for the other 2 books in the works. I like the half-face because it leaves a lot of room for the reader to fill in the rest with their imagination. I hate seeing an image of a character I like and not have it match the image in my head.

(Btw, my brother modeled for this. I think he did a great job)

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copyright(c)monica marier, 2016

 

The only other thing of note text-wise is that Wendria’s name will be changed back to Kiyana to match the CRIT! comic, since Both CRIT! and MLD will be launched by the same publisher, Tangent Artists. The Linus Saga, in essence, will be presented as a “novelization” of CRIT! despite the deviating story-lines. Nothing will change storywise other than the names and a few minor details, but the company feels we should unify the whole setting to better match our existing publications featuring Linus Weedwhacker.

Comments? Concerns? Think I’m out of my gourd? Leave a comment.

 

 

Nov22

I Need a Tumblr of Gin

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The other day I swished the dust off my Tumblr account (yeah, I actually have one.) It was suggested, by a friend and colleague, that I get a tumblr account and keep it active. I agreed to do this, but honestly I feel like this:

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Weeeeeee-oooooooo-eeeeee-aaaaaaah…

I have no idea what I’m doing. Do I post things I like? Do I post work-related stuff? What’s a page? Oh, so it’s kind of like a blog meets facebook. So why do I have a blog and facebook???

Honestly it’s going to take some time until I figure out what I’m doing. In the meantime, I’m mostly going to posting pretty gifs and random pics until I know what’s what.

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You know, like I do.

You can follow me at doctortangent.tumblr.com while we try to figure this out together and I’ll still keep posting on this bloggy thing as well, no worries there. Onward to the big and scary beyond!

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Nov17

You Are Your Job

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This is advice that I am putting out to all people who build their business from home. The internet is a wonderland of opportunity where anyone can sell anything to anyone. But it’s also bigger than you think and it never forgets you. What self-starter people need to realize is:

YOU ARE YOUR JOB.

Most people in the 9-to-6 world out there? They get to go home. They get to leave their place of work and go home and the job stays there.

You don’t get to do that.

Most jobs are manned by hundreds and thousands of people. They’re protected and shielded from being singled out because they’re just one ant in a colony. So what if they say something or do something on the internet? It’s not like anyone’s going to connect them to their place of work. And most times they’re right.

You don’t get to do that either.

Because you are your job.

So what baffles me is going online and seeing young independent businessmen and businesswomen go onto the internet and act like spoiled children. They bully, they libel, they slander, they harass and generally act out to get attention or vent frustration online. They do this under their own names, and in full view of their potential customers.

And then they wonder.

They wonder why they didn’t win a competition. They wonder why they didn’t get commission work. They wonder why they didn’t get into a convention.

And then they continue to complain, whine, and bully.

Well maybe it’s because they not only ruined their personal reputation, but because they ruined their company’s reputation too. They messed up because they never thought it would affect their business life and they’re shocked when it does. It always does.

Because you are your job.

And that’s hard! There’s been so many times when I’ve wanted to take someone down a peg, where I’ve wanted write a rant that “it isn’t fair,” where I’ve wanted to complain about a really hard customer I’ve had. I understand that. It happens to us all.

But I can’t talk about it online.

That group I’m making fun of? One might be a client, and they’re having second thoughts about recommending me to their friends.

That convention I’m whining about? Their chair is reading every word and deciding to never work with me again.

That more-famous artist I’m denouncing? They might have been planning a collaboration with me and now they’re deciding I’m not worth their time.

I am my job.

Which means when people have a problem with me, it affects my job. I don’t get to hide behind the anonymity of someone who works at J.C. Penny’s or Starbucks. I don’t get to act like a bitch to people and not have it follow me home. I work at home.

So if you’re an indie businessperson trying to get a leg up? It’s time to wise up. It’s time to be cautious, always take the upper hand, and to walk away from the keyboard when angry. It’s time to second-guess yourself, and never let your emotions get the better of you, and to never let your despair lead you to prejudice and hate. Most of all, it’s time to stop acting like a spoiled child with a grudge.

You’re in the business world now. Act like it.

Our jobs are fun, creative, and sometimes even rewarding (if we’re lucky), but with it, we lose that ability to take off the mask.

You are your job and you can never NOT be your job.

Are you ready to deal with those consequences?

If not, then maybe—just maybe—you shouldn’t post that.

Sep29

Get ready….

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Okay, here we go again! Leaves are fluttering in the air, a cold damp wind is shaking the windows, and I’m coughing up green junk, it must be time for…

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Yesiree, Bob. There will be 31 days of 31 drawings, some quick sketches, some detailed works, others assignments masquerading as frivolity. In this I hope to hone my skills as an inker and maybe stop hating inking as a chore in general. For FULL information on inktober, please click the graphic which will take you to mrjakeparker.com and the originator of the Inktober initiative.

In addition to Inktober, and as a way to school myself in the genre, I will ALSO be attempting my own challenge:

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The rules are as follows

  • For every day in October, watch one horror movie.
  • Post about it on your blog or on my comments.
  • Tag it as #carpescream2015

And I leave the interpretation of “horror” to you all entirely. It can be a pyschological thriller, or a comedy or family feature. It can even be from a TV series, as long as it has a halloweeny feel to it. I did this last year and I had so much fun watching the movies (that I’d otherwise be too squeamish to watch) and picking up a better appreciation for the industry and the art of horror.

So get your playlists ready, and your pens uncapped.

October is going to be a wicked fun month!

~Monica Marier

Aug29

A Note About My “Mission”

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I’m finding more and more that people expect me, as a woman writer, to write more things that will change the world, question cultural norms and in all other ways make the patriarchy rattle their sabers.
I’m always asked, “but what are you trying to SAY? What’s the MESSAGE?”

Really, I just want to write funny stuff with characters I like (and I hope you like), but I’m always questioned on why I wasn’t “addressing issues,” or taking a political/feminist stance on life today.
Look, guys, EQUAL RIGHTS is me being able to write something funny, and not to have people question why I’m wasting valuable time that could be spent proselytizing.
No masks and no compromises. I don’t want the only time I’m in the spotlight to be when I’m standing on a soapbox.

Nov25

Coming Soon!!!….

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Okay, so I’m going to try something really crazy and something I probably should have put a LOT more planning into, but what the hell—I’m going to try it anyway!

I want to give you all a present this Season. And I mean EVERYONE.

I thought about doing more holiday cards, but this is kind of the next step up, so I hope this will excuse my lack of mail this year, because ALL of my effort is going to go into this.

Fingers crossed everyone and wish me the best. This is a project that was 12 years in the dreaming, that I’m FINALLY going to do. I’m so freaking excited! It launches December 1st and will keep right on rolling until the 25th so be sure to check in every day!

Love you guys! ❤

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Okay, so maaaaaaaybe I’m in over my head.

Nov18

Why I stand with Revolva

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This morning someone posted this on my wall: it’s an article from Revolva’s blog, where the contortionist was contacted by Oprah’s people to perform as a side act for the “Oprah’s The Life You Want Weekend” that would draw people from all over the country with its $99-$999 tickets. Only one caveat… they didn’t want to pay her. You can read the whole account here.

A few people commented that Revolva’s response was just a temper tantrum—a beat-scene avant garde complaining when  the honor of performing for Oprah should have been enough. That this could have been a huge opportunity for her. That she was lucky to be contacted with such a huge queue of people dying to get in. That this article was simply because she felt slighted.

I saw red for a moment and then in a frenzy of rage-fueled justice I wrote this in reaction to the people who took Oprah’s side.

Revolva’s not “feeling slighted” by Oprah’s company and she makes a good point. This is about a billionaire empire that is trying to stiff a hardworking woman.

Did her booking agent get paid? Yes. Did the venue get paid? Yes. Did the roadies, the techies, the caterers, the marketers, the transport, the hair, the makeup, the wardrobe, and everyone else it took to make that show get paid? Would the show be the same if there was no one to light the stages, or put them up, or to coordinate everything? Of course not ! They’re valuable people.

So, don’t you think the people on those stages deserve the same professional courtesy as a roadie or a techie? Doesn’t she deserve to be able to pay her rent and buy food like everyone else? 

She wasn’t “slighted” by OprahCorp. A billionaire wanted services from her and thought that her services were less important than her hair and makeup. That she was less important than the people who light the stage. That she was worthless, or at the most only worth the toll for the bay bridge.

That’s what it’s like to be an artist today. We’re always supposed to be grateful to be chosen. We’re supposed to feel lucky that we’re gifted. We’re supposed to share our gift with the world… only we’re not allowed to ask for money for it. The “glory” is supposed to be enough.

And there’s very little of that too.

*mic drop*

Nov12

Hell is in the Details

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It’s NaNoWriMo time!

It’s been almost 2 weeks now since I started on this year’s NaNoWriMo. I’m busy working on a prequel to the Linus Saga, in which we get to meet young(er) Linus as he meets Deirdre for the first time. I’ve been doing NaNoWriMo’s since ’08 and it’s consistently how I get most of my writing work done.

But I get distracted, hell everyone does, but my worst foible is research. I LOVE research. I’m an absolute Hermione when it comes to getting all the facts and trying to magick up my own rules for my world. It’s led me down a few rabbit holes like the article hole, the Wikipedia hole, and the ever dreaded Elven Dictionary hole (although that one’s probably just me.)

Case in point, today I have spent an hour trying to research poop. That’s right. POOP.

I need to know how Dragons poop. Do they have pellets like raptors? Do they grind things up with gastroliths or maybe their bodies make their own calculi? Do their bodies do something incredible with the parts they can’t digest like fossilize them or do they incinerate the their waste in their own furnaces? How does that work?

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This doesn’t exist apparently.

Will all of this make my book all that better? Who can say? Who all out there is interested in how Dragons poop? If only one person is nodding right now, then congratulations. You’re the reason I’m looking up bezoars and mineralization. I’m doing this for you.

Okay, I got to get back to it now. I’m about 200 words away from hitting 20,000. Good luck to everyone else out there doing this! And good luck staying out of the rabbit holes!

~Monica

Oct17

Inktober Day 16

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Today I’m busy with a sick kid, so I gave myself a timed challenge to see how quickly I could draw Linus. I did this complete with pencils underneath in about 7 minutes.

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Linus Weedwhacker by Monica Marier available for $20

Linus is an OLD friend of mine, so I’m starting to really memorize his features to the point where drawing him is almost automatic. It’s very rare that I have a handle on a character like that, since consistency is one of my biggest hurdles. That’s all for today, bye!