Four Years and Finally Done!

Well, well, well.... I did it! It took way longer than expected, but From Death Til Now book 1 is finished... As far as the line art is concerned. The first book clocks in at 152 pages, and it will have some bonus features in it as well. I'll be putting those together, but first thing is first. I have to finish the final 32 pages of the book.

It's been an odd journey with From Death Til Now. I started this project four years ago really and expected I would be finishing it a lot faster than I have been. I suppose thats the case for most. I just simply had a lot to learn about everything that goes into creating a complete comic book. But I am immensely proud that I've followed through and soon the final product will be there for people to read and enjoy.

The other big news is that the preview for my new graphic novel pitch "The King's Game" is complete and in the works for being handed out to publishers real soon. Everything had a huge wrench thrown into it though when my agent, Brendan Deneen, left his position at the agency I'm signed with to become an editor for St. Martin's press. I'm super excited for him and he's been great to work with. Hoepfully I'll get to work with him in the future again, until then, you are awesome Brendan! Thanks for everything.

So, what that's meant for me that I am in the process of transitioning to another agent and I'm excited about the prospect of potentially working with another agent there I'm familiar with. I'll update as that becomes available.

But the preview itself I think is really really strong. When I compare it to The Unknowns pitch I did a year ago, I can't believe it came from the same artist. Speaking of The Unknowns.... This year I willbe starting up my next online project. At this point The Unknowns is leading the way for what will be my first all ages story.

I've recently been doing a lot of thinking about what exactly I want to do with my comics career right now. I'm really proud of everything I've accomplished so far, but one thing is nagging me. I have only one book to show for it (and it's not even done yet)! I've spent the last two years creating pitches for publishers to consider, but so little time focusing my attention on actual projects that I will complete and put out there for people to buy and enjoy. I still very much want to keep pitching books, but I want final products to show for my time even more.

So, with that I will be putting a much stronger focus on just creating comics and finishing the books I have in my head. We'll see how it all pans out, but I have been developing a process for creating my books that is a lot more streamlined and will allow me to blaze through it. Hopefully. I have a few things to consider, but I'm excited. I feel in the drivers seat which is really gratifying.

Here's to an exciting 2010 and my first completed books!

What To Do While You Wait...

It's been a couple of months of waiting on news regarding The Unknowns. We had some interest from a large publishing house, but we're still holding on to any news from them as well. My agent and others tell me no news is good news at this point. I've also read that this isn't uncommon and so therefore, I should chillax. So, I haven't lost much hope for it. The most difficult thing is the waiting. You spend so much time and energy getting something togther, you're super pumped when it leaves your hands and then you wait.... and wait... and wait. I feel bad for my agent. Not only does he need to sell my material, he has to deal with my impatient, sometimes insecure self. He's always been very kind.

I decided to email him recently to ask what he thought I should be busy working on right now, while we wait. He suggested that I start working on the next idea. Because while we still hold a lot of hope out for The Unknowns, having the next thing ready to go can keep us moving. I've already prepared a packet on my Kevin story to pitch the bigger idea to publishers. I actually am really excited about this idea. I think it's going to be really fun and unique.

I then came up with another idea that I've posted a concept piece from here on the blog already. I can't give much away about it here, but after showing it to my agent and others, the feedback has been really strong. So I've been developing a proposal piece for this and that ought to keep me quite busy while we're waitng for final words. No worries though, it's still too early.

Beyond that, I've found that the best rememdy for idleness is just keeping at things. I recently had to set up a priority list of projects so that I could get some things done. It can be hard to be patient, but when you keep the work in front of you, you stay focused and purposeful with your time.

At least that's what I tell myself... before I click refresh on my email box.

Project Round Up!

Things are kind of in a lull at the moment, so I thought it would be a good time to recap the status of my projects.

The biggest news is Kazu Kibuishi's "Amulet: The Stonekeepers Curse" is coming out in just a couple of weeks! I was able to be a part of the production on this outstanding book by being a part of the color flatting process. I'm pretty stinkin excited that my first published credit for comics work is going to be on this great series. So be sure to pick up a copy on September 1st! Kazu has also agreed to do an interview sometime soon, so I look forward to sharing that here whenever we can get that done.
I decided pretty recently to take my "Kevin and the Golden Temple" story out of the workings for the anthology project it was originally slated for. No offense to the anthology really, I'm still going to try and put something together for them. I just didn't feel I was doing the story much justice in the way I had to kind pace it and all. I'm still developing this world and I really think the story is something that will be fun and exciting for kids!
From Death Til Now is still continuing on at a steady pace. I've started focusing more on the computer and toning end of things which has been nice. My brain was a bit in overload on the drawing/thumbnailing side of things. I plan to resume regular updates on this book online in the month of September. Hopefully speeding up to a completion of book 1 in the early part of 2010. Looking at Josh Ulrich's color sample makes think volume 2 may almost certainly be in color!

Other than that, I'm busy working on a new portrait commission which looks to be really special. Also, because I can barely contain myself any longer, I started writing the treatment for "The Unknowns" book 2.I still need the series to sell , but I had to get my ideas for how the story would continue down on paper before they slipped away into oblivion!

The next couple of weeks look to be a bit slow, which is alright because my birthday is around the corner and then From Death Til Now will be back to spreading the mystery. For now, its time to do some doodling.

"The Unknowns" Is On The Clock

About a week and a half ago my agent let me know that The Unknowns had been sent out to publishers for consideration for publication. I thought once the book finally got out there and was being looked at by publishers that I would feel a bit more sane about the process. You know, just knowing that the final clock was ticking. Instead, I've found the whole experience to be much more exhilarating and nerve racking than I thought. The thought that this idea I came up with three and a half years ago while sitting in a laundry-mat is out there being seriously considered by some of the biggest publishers in the world, has me altogether humbled.

Comics have been a childhood dream I've clung to far longer than good sense would usually keep people going. I've pressed on despite the ridicule of some of my art teachers, friends and even family. It is a passion to which I know of no real sedative. If anything I know I've gotten farther than many ever have. Merely because I kept going.

I don't know how I will feel once all of the tallies have come in from across the publishing world. I suspect now is a time for dreaming and hoping rather than preparing. But I think most of all I think I will keep going. Just like I always have. Regardless. Why? Because I don't know any better. And because I feel at home when I make my silly picture books. So, cheers to the jitters. You remind me I still care.

I also sat back down recently (as in finished it today) and reread my fifth draft of The Unknowns book 1. During my time away from it I had started to come up with all of these little scenes I thought should be added. As I read it again, I started to think otherwise. This book is the tightly spun story I think it should be. It's no Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in length, but it doesn't need to be either. It sets up the world and the conflict very quickly and establishes the boundaries of our characters. A lot of the character building stuff I had in mind I felt could perfectly wait until a later volume and quite honestly it would be better served there. This book needs to be a hook and as such it needs to causes us all to wonder what's going on in the house of our next door neighbor. And to that end I think it is successful.

I have a ton of corrections and ommitences to take from the text still, but I think that will wait. I want to give myself some time to read some more of the book "100 Cupboards" by N D Wilson before I get ready to pass out. This book is awesome guys. I may have found a new favorite author!

At any rate. I won't be saying much else on the progress of The Unknowns until I know exactly what is happening with it. But in the meantime, I will be busy praying, biting my nails and trying to stay busy with the other ideas coming from my brain. And finishing From Death Til Now.

Kevin And The Golden Temple

I finally finished my first pass at my serialized short story called "Kevin and the Golden Temple." It's pretty exciting to see it locked and the realization of a simple story idea I had years ago come into something pretty fun and exciting. I'm still workingin one possible page to help flesh out a few ideas.

Other than that From Death Til Now is continuing its clip to the end. There's only maybe ten pages left to draw and then begins the process of doing all of the computer shading. Again, if any of you artists out there have time and want to help, please let me know. I am looking for some volunteers.

The Unknowns is still on the burner for now, but I've been rereading my script and thinking a lot work can still be done (surprise right?). I mainly think the ideas could be fleshed out a bit more when it comes to the characters themselves. It feels like it could have a few more quiet moments in it. As it stands it feels a bit like a roller coaster, which is good I suppose. I suspect many changes will still come to mind. Eventually though you got to lock things down and believe you've written the best thing you could. Well, more work ahead I guess. :-)

A New Approach

I recently tried approaching the creation of my comics from a different angle and the results have been positive so far. Before, I would create a simple thumbnail drawing to get the jest of the scene down and see the flow of the storytelling. I would then create the finished drawing on the final page. All in all this was pretty quick but it wasn't favorable when trying to think in big chunks because it required spending a lot of time on individual pages rather than on seeing the overall flow of a scene and the pacing.

So now I've started creating a thumbail of an entire chapter or scene so I can gage the work as a whole. Then I take that and create a tighter thumbnail drawing that I would then reprint on my bristol and ink. What this helped me do is that I can sketch the scene out in pencil form much faster and get more done in a consolidated ammount of time. Above is an example of a tightened thumbnail. I'm still trying this out so I'm unsure of how much I'll like it in the long run, but the experience has been favorable. I hope it will come more into play and allow for a smoother work flow for when I tackle The Unknowns or some other bigger project. For now, From Death Til Now is the guinea pig.

Added Posts - The Unknowns Production Blog

I went in today and imported all of my posts from The Unknowns Production Blog, to this one. So if you want to read the history of project from a little further back, just click on a post with the tag "Unknowns" and you'll get all of my posts. Such as at the bottom of this post! Hope you enjoy!

Finally A Readable Draft

This past week I finally nailed down the first truly "readable"draft of "The Unknowns." It took four passes at it, but I think its finally in a state where I can bring others opinions in and receive feedback. I gotta tell you, it's quite gratifying to look at what I've finished and see it in printed form, sitting on a table.

My thoughts on this draft are that it is essentially the story I set to tell in the very beginning. It's both funny and scary, while feeling pretty endearing at the same time. It feels like quite a jump forward from my first pass at a finished script a few short years ago (thank you Stephen King). So, now I just have to get it into the hands of a few well trusted friends and my agent and we'll see where things go from there. I'm so tempted to get started on the actual comic, but my better judgment tells me to wait awhile.

For now, I have a story about a boy and a monster to tell, and portraits to finish.

"The Unknowns" Draft 2 Is Completed

Yesterday I finished up my second draft of my new graphic novel, "The Unknowns." It was really gratifying to finally print out a readable version of my script. I bound the whole thing up and set it on the coffee table, then sat back in gratification. :-) I'm tempted to dig into it and start editing it, but I'm taking a break from it to enjoy the moment and let the next piece of feedback come from my wife. She's my editor and sounding board, so I'm excited to hear her thoughts. I just wanted to take a moment to say... I'm excited!

Draft 1 is Complete

Last week I reached a penacle point. I finished the first draft of The Unknowns script. It clocked in at 63 pages in screenplay format. I sat down and read through the whole thing, and I gotta say I am pretty happy with it. It's the best thing I've written. Which may not be saying mucb really, lol. But it reads well and progresses the plot in a concise way that doesn't have much room for fat. My biggest concern is character development, but it feels like the bigger thing for this first book is introduce everyone to the story and setup the essential character elements that can be developed later. I'm planning on making this book around 6 volumes long so there's plenty of room for growth. I think I am gonna sit down and watch some early X-files episodes and other big number 1's to see how much character development was needed in those first installments.

Right now though my attention has turned to draft number two. This is pretty much all I will be doing until I have a publically readable draft that I can get feedback on, from those lucky few. There are a TON of corrections needed and a new scene I want to fit in. Anyways until the next draft... cheers!

Closing In On The End of Draft 1

Sorry for a lack of updates. Things have definitely been moving forward on The Unknowns. It seems we're getting very close to going to publishers with a proposal, so I am leaving that in the hands of my agent and taking any notes he has happily. But on things I can control to one degree or another, I am nearing the end of my first draft of "The Unknowns" book one. Working title at this time is "The Alpha." :-) I like it. We'll see if it sticks.

All things considered I've learned a great deal working on this script. Primarily the value of having a good treatment in place. I have breezed through this first draft because the treatment gave me such a good guide along the way. I simply could pull up the document and work scene from scene. All of the heavy lifting was done.

I'm gonna be putting in heavy duty hours into this project this week to try and finish the first full draft. I'm also considering combining this blog into my personal website http://www.michaeleregina.com/ I need to consolidate information. I've got too many sites I'm updating around here.

Synposisesesesessss

A big step has pretty much concluded in the process of getting The Unknowns out there to the world. The past few weeks I have been writing and rewriting the synopsis for the book, in an attempt to get my story across in a concise way. I've had to write many things before in my life, but this sort of project is the one that just really is a challenge to me. I don't do well communicating what I mean without rambling on and on about it. Even with my stories, I tend to think I'm more Jules Verne than say H. G. Wells. Josh Ulrich likes to pick on me saying that its nearly impossible for me to tell a short story because I will create an epic from the material. So, attempting to widdle down a book series into a matter of two pages or so, was the works.

I managed to get it done though and that marked the culmination of the journey in looking for an agent. I'm happy to say I am partnering up with Brendan Deneen of FinePrint Literary to try and take this book to the masses. He's been extremely supportive of the concept for the book and helpful in aiding me into these uncharted waters (for me anyway). I really appreciate his patience with helping this project be successful.

So what to do now that we're kind of on to the next phase? Well, I plan to keep writing. I'm finding that a major part of the overall story may need some reworking. Its more of a change to when and how I give information about the characters than a ultimate change in direction. It's still pretty major though and could warrant some extensive rewrites. That's what first drafts are for!

The next few weeks I expect I'll spend some time getting some other obligations off my table. I have some websites I am redesigning for myself and businesses (my parent's restaurant haha). My personal website has not been redesigned in almost three years. That's too long. This needs a remedy.

The Unknowns production won't slow down though really. I'm still working through a ton of material and I even got the idea today for exactly how book 2 could start off. Progress is being made.

Books Every Writer Should Read

Sorry there haven't been many updates lately for those of you following this blog. A lot of things have been going on related to The Unknowns as well as other projects in general. The things involving The Unknowns I can't quite get into yet, but once things get more final I'll be sure to post them here.

One of things I wanted to get into here on the blog are some books that I think are really worth spending your time reading if you are a writer or a creative person. As a comic book artist I spend most of my time thinking in words and pictures. In a way its a cheap form of writing because I don't have to think about the formal nature of writing story in prose or script format. This is something I am working to remedy. I truly want to be known as a better writer/storyteller than I do an artist and as such I need to learn the craft more. Here are some books that have been really helpful over the years and currently:



Orson Scott Card's book "Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy" is one of the best books I have ever read on the subject of writing. In it he explains how we can create believable and tangible worlds. Some of his stories about how he created a new story have helped spur me on to new ideas.


"The Man Who Heard Voices" is more here because of its attention to the way so many of us all feel as we create the art that is in us as visual storytellers. Regardless of your thoughts towards M. Night's movies (I for one think he's pretty much amazing) I think everyone can find this book to be a reminder that even those who are successful at their craft wrestle behind closed doors.


"On Writing" by Stephen King is pretty much the mother load when it comes to a book that is profoundly helpful and entertaining. Part memoir and part how-to, this book deals with topics as mundane as grammar to how to discover a story. This one is my current read, but it is one that I think has done more to help my work ethic than any other book as I remember: to be a great writer you must; read a lot a write a lot.

Early Self Doubt

One of the things that really matters to me in creating this Production Log is being as truthful about things as I can. In a way this is sort of a "dear diary" thing for me.

As such, I really wanted to talk about some of my inner struggles as of late. I know that the artists road can be hard and lonely. I often can feel that way. We piddle away by ourselves in offices, at tables, in front of the computer, or a canvas. It is a rare thing that we would have some one with whom enjoys the creation of art alongside of us. I am lucky enough to have a few people I am close to who I can enjoy that with, but there are many nights, where I plug away wondering: Will this is ever happen for me?

To me making comics isn't just a idea or pass time that engage in to be constructive. It is the thing I have wanted to do for almost twenty years. Sure there have been times when I have deviated to one degree or another, but for the most part this has been it.

It's been hard knowing that creating a comic and pursuing a career in it consists of spending tons of time honing your craft with very little payoff if any in the end. But it isn't impossible and if it is possible then I usually don't give up. The Unknowns is a book I firmly believe can and will find a publisher. Some nights though its hard to be patient and remember that nothing worth having comes easily or without great patience.

So as a quick note, I just want to encourage many of you out there who have the same feelings to keep plugging away. I truly believe there are many careers out there for us artists. But while you wait, don't forget to enjoy the process of creation. If you can't LOVE this craft now, you won't love it later.

Anyways. Back to the grind.

Two More Scenes Down

I spent my time over the weekend (which is Weds and Thurs for me) getting some writing done. I'm actually just a couple of scenes away from where the book pretty much gets going and doesn't stop until the end.

One of the things that's been happening as I write the first draft of the script is that I'm thinking of all these scenes I want to add in later that were not in the original draft of the treatment. But rather than stop, think of how those scenes fit into the bigger work, and continue with the script; I've been writing these scene ideas down in a separate document so that when I go back for the second draft I will include them.

I remember listening to an interview with Philip Pullman about writing and him discussing how the best thing with the first draft of any story is to just GET IT OUT. In other words, just write the stupid thing. Don't stop and correct every misspell. Don't second guess the structure. Just get it on the page so that you can rewrite later. There's the old saying, writing is rewriting. I think this is true. So far I've discovered that spending some time developing a solid treatment has allowed me to move with a confidence I didn't have before. The script is coming out quickly and I think will require very little reworking as a whole.

Then again what do I know?

I just realized that I was going to post about my process. That will have to wait. Writing continues.

Writing Continues...

I want to say thank you to everyone who has given me positive feedback on the preview pages I've displayed on this blog and other sites. I'm still keeping most of it close to the chest, so I don't spoil things later!

I spent most of this week, after going back through the treatment, writing the next two scenes from the prologue. It's the first time we meet the other co-star of the story; Todd.

I don't know how many of you own the extended editions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but they have a great segment on all three of them that just focuses on the writing of the movie. Each one lasts about thirty minutes and I have found it really invaluable to hear their wisdom when constructing my scripts.

On the Fellowship of the Ring set they discuss the introduction of Mary and Pippin in the story at Bilbo's party. They explain how they basically made up the scene in which they steal a firework from Gandalf's stash and disrupt the whole party. The interesting thing about this scene is that they discuss how their goal script-wise was that they wanted to accomplish two things in one moment. Introduce the characters and say something about them. I've found that when writing, if you you can do two things at one time in a script you are creating a much more effective script.

The first two scenes after the prologue reminded me about that. I wanted really badly to set Todd up properly. We have to get him very quickly, because the story gets moving in a hurry after that and the character arcs need to be identifiable.

I've read back through the scene and I feel pretty strong about his arrival. The difficult part now is writing the dialog of Chloe and Todd together. That's my next mess to deal with.

Next post I'll spend some time talking about my actual process for creating these pages. So check back in about two days! Now its time for some chicken.

The Start of the Blog

Hello everyone! Welcome to the official production log for my new graphic novel series, "The Unknowns" which is currently in preproduction. I wanted to start this little log up to share with you all the progress I going through in producing this new series as well as a way to keep the memories myself! :-)

For now a brief synopsis of the series as it stands. The Unknowns is a mystery series following two kids, Todd and Chloe, as they work together to reveal a sinister secret that has been plaguing their neighborhood and town. I hope for the overall series to last about 6 books and to culminate in a rather big finale that ought to be quite intense.

Currently I am seeking representation for the book and the goal at this time is get it picked up by a publisher of young adult and children's lit. I have a completed chapter that I have been using as an example of what the book will look and read like. I think it has been my strongest work without question. I have high hopes that this book will find an audience.


Today I spent some time going back through the story treatment for book 1. So with McFlurry in hand and my cat overlooking, I got to work on the last draft. I've been working on this story now for about three years or so when I was wanting to develop a story that would work well for a tv show; just for fun. The core idea for the series has remained but the particulars of how the actual story plays out and the characters involved has changed quite a bit. I finally decided that I would like to develop this story as a young readers series of graphic novels about a two years ago. Most of last year was spent drafting up what would be the final intro and developing the look and feel of the book. The end of the year I completed the 13 pages including a cover.

So as things stand I will be diving back into the actual script this week. Should only take a month or so to bang out the rest of the first draft. I will share with all of you the trial and errors I will undoubtedly incur while putting together my new GN. I hope you enjoy. Let me know all of your thoughts. Here's a peek at the cover and a few pages from the book. Click the small picture to see the larger file.