A writer's interpretation of the modern world.

I’ve been following Gail Simone, a comic writer for about a year now. I had been reading a bunch of her work at DC and loved what she did there. For the longest time, I couldn’t really pinpoint what it was about her that I was so attracted to, and I recently realized that she speaks for those who can’t speak for themselves. She brings an important, new perspective to the industry that we as readers need to see. She takes her responsibility of being a writer seriously, and I admire that.

And through her I realized that my own writing has been muted, safe, washed by mass media. I’ve been playing it safe, afraid to offend others. Afraid that writing about what I know so intimately, or writing about who or what I am, would upset my audience and leave me vulnerable to scrutiny or attack. But I don’t care about that anymore. I’m grounded. I know who I am now and who I want to be tomorrow.

I am going to be a responsible writer. I’m going to write what I want you to see, not what I think you want to read. I’m going to show you something you haven’t seen before.

From here on out, I’m not playing it safe. My characters and I, we are going to FUCK SHIT UP.

Good Grip – Issue #2 (Coming Soon)

Anyone that knows me personally knows that I’m a sucker for comics. I’ve read them obsessively for years, almost to a bank-breaking point. So being a writer and a comic book lover, I’ve naturally had a desire to write in the super-hero space. But how do you go about doing that when you don’t write for Marvel or DC? They’ve completely dominated the super powered being universes. It’s hard to think of super powers without thinking of the Kryptonian or the X-gene. You don’t want your franchise to be derivative. And you certainly don’t want to get sued if your franchise ever becomes profitable.

Luckily, I’ve figured out my world. It hit me as I was driving home after watching Game of Thrones last night. (Nope, it has nothing to do with Game of Thrones! Much more to do with me forgetting to turn on my radio as I was driving in silence.) In issues #2 & #3, I’ll be exploring the more “fantastical” nature of my comic Good Grip. Up until this point, I had been racking my brain on the mechanics of how my supernatural beings manifested. Now I know.

Let’s just say the idea has a lot of potential. Read all about it in issue #2 and issue #3. If you haven’t even checked out issue #1 yet, What are you waiting for?

Writing is a strange animal. Anyone literate can do it. Just put a pen to paper and be honest or lie. There, it’s done. But in all my years of writing, I’ve learned that its accessibility makes it one of the most challenging things a self-criticizing artist (redundant) can do. There are so many ways to write, and so many ways to present your writing, that deciding what and how typically inhibits the first word.

I am easily the first villain of crippling my own creativity because I don’t know the “where”. I only know the “what”. And then I realized that this is my challenge. I am a writer and I have chosen the path of the rogue. I write screenplays, I write comics, I write books. All are different. But today, I’ve made a discovery. No matter what I decide to write, or where I decide to write it, I will always be the common denominator.

And for that, there is nothing to fear. There is no reason to not start, because the content will always be authentic. It will always be mine.

A few projects are scattered across my journals, my iPhone and my grey matter. All of them are incredibly exciting and in my niche. They’re big stories, they’re dark and they have great characters being thrown into fantastic new worlds. The problem is that all of them are written in completely different mediums. The context-switching is tough. It sounds strange to say it, but all the voices in my head make this effort a bit strenuous. The characters from each of my current projects are ever-present, even when I don’t want them to be. Perhaps it is because I love them so dearly. Perhaps it is because they are out to get me…

But those are my challenges as a writer. And I will face them. But I also have challenges as a person. My first challenge is being an actual person. I have a great job in marketing/advertisement that is budding into a promising career. I also have a writing career that is budding into a promising career. Not to mention a partner, family, friends and most importantly, my cat Zero. I am nowhere near close to finding a balance. I’m actually awful at it. So at this point, all I can really do is just be better.

And I will.

-Lex

Neil Gaiman is nothing short of a master. I picked up this book last week and am giddy with excitement.

Nothing like good old fun research!

-
K Lex

I moved into my studio way back in July but never got around to getting anything up on my walls, which is funny because I moved and unpacked within 48 hours. Guess I just hate decorating. To be fair, I’ve got some Astonishing X-Men comics hanging here and there, but the rest of the walls had pretty been much empty canvases ’til now. I went the wall decal route. Theme: classic video games. Enjoy!

-Lex

I bought a fun new toy last week and went and got shutter happy this weekend when I went to Big Sur. It’s the Nikon D3000 DSLR camera, complete with 18mm-55mm and the 55mm-200mm zoom lenses. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, here’s a mouthful. I’ll let you fill in the blanks:

-Lex

lim*bo | limbo {noun} – an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition

It is a place many of us learned to fear as children, never truly knowing why. Now we think of limbo as a dark place that is quiet and forever. Everything happens in limbo, but nothing changes. It is the worst state of mind. It is the worst place to ever be. But now, Playdead is sending you there.

I started playing Limbo on xBox with my buddy Matt. It’s an excellent co-operative game experience. When I take a wrong turn and get crushed, Matt takes over. While he’s in control making evolved versions of my own mistakes, I’m free to observe and develop my next strategy. Puzzles, it turns out, are what this game is all about. But they are dark and cryptically evil. And they are not easy.

There are a few traps in the beginning. Not an incredibly high learning curve. The game tricks you into thinking it’s going to be an easy ride. Just don’t fall for it. Pay attention. Keep your eyes open and be precise. You can be as smart as you like (and you’ll need to be) but if you have slow fingers, you’re out.

The game frankly gives me chills. It frustrates me to no end, but I find myself addicted anyway. Would I play alone? – Not a chance. Would I play again – Well, I’m practically playing right now.

-lex

2010 WWDC Conference