It can't be that long since my last post, probably less than a week…however, a great many things have transpired since I've been able to put pen to paper…or rather…finger to keyboard.
There's the interview that came up on the Friday or Saturday that went by…you can find that here:
And since then I've been saturating myself in the works of Grant Morrison, Geoff Johns and Mark Waid. If you don't know who they are and what they do then I'm not going to tell you :)
All I'm going to tell you is that they are some of the most entertaining writers around. I think I've probably been reading their stuff for about 12hrs a day…I don't take a break to eat…I perform peripheral tasks relating to the business of living on the side.
Anyway, the thing is that I'd forgotten what an impact positive work like that can have on a mind. I really do not believe that one MUST suffer for art. Sure, sometimes you have to go to a really dark place to create something that can show people the other side of normal…maybe you're in that place already and having to put that on paper only magnifies it…but I think it's equally challenging to write something with an existing mythology and still find a way to put some of yourself into it AND be positive and uplifting in the process…especially with all the red tape that one must endure in certain industries.
So…where is old R.X.E. in the midst of all this? I've somehow managed to transport my brain back to a time when I wasn't 'this guy'…and I used to think that anything was possible…when I used to be the 'other guy'. I kind of started remembering that he wasn't such a bad guy to be. Maybe he was better than I am…maybe he was just different…maybe he's always there and I just need to know when to let him out every once in a while.
I know one thing for sure…that guy had a much more hopeful view of the future. That being said, I'm trying to make some changes with my day to day life. Manual labor is good for the soul. Sitting around writing for 16hrs a day is nice when you've got something to say…but taking some time to WANT to have that time to write BECAUSE you have something to say has its place in the avenues of life too. So I'm going to rediscover my roots…I'm going to invest myself in a little bit of soul exfoliation.
Where that path may take me, I honestly have no idea…but I know that I'm not going to stop writing. That's been the one staple in my life up to this point. More than anything else in the world, I am first…and last…a writer. I've been a lot of other things too…and the time when I was hammering hot iron on an anvil was one of the most purely rewarding times of my life. I don't want to lose that part of myself and drift so far away from it that it becomes a distant memory. I want to feed that memory and touch base with that guy again.
Hopefully I can take the best of both these guys and make a whole new guy who's just a little better than either of them. AND - maybe he'll find a whole bunch of new stories to tell…or at the very least - a brand new perspective.
I'm still going to keep doing the Jane series…I promised I would and I can't just back out of it - I don't want to either. It's not going to be like clockwork but I know everyone will understand and I think they'll probably be better because I'm not rushing with them.
As for "The Price of Metal" - I can't help being a little shocked…but the popularity…or lack thereof…has certainly cemented what I'd only previously suspected. Most people want to read to go on an adventure and have a good time. I'd never gotten so much positive feedback on anything before but the people that actually WANTED to read that story were about a tenth of the people reading Jane.
Still…I'll never shy away from putting an idea out there. Having one person read that story and be affected by it would have been enough for me…and it is. BUT - I'm also doing this to entertain my readers and build a following - maybe when that following is big enough, then some of those people will trust me enough to look at the serious stuff too so I can have some marginal effect on the world. :)
So, that's it for today. I don't know what exactly is going to happen next. I'm going to have to do some serious thinking…but I'll be around ;)
Till next time!
R.X.E.
P.S. Cheers Andy, it's been a real experience living in your head…but every ride's gotta end some time.
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