New release: Spider-Girl, issue #15

On the trail of the Chameleon, Betty Brant has travelled to another dimension and landed in Gotham City, home to the vigilante crimefighters, Batman and Batgirl. They too are seeking the master of disguise, although they know him as False Face. The Chameleon meanwhile has allied himself with former district attorney Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face. None of this concerns Betty Brant right now though, as at Bruce Wayne’s invitation, she has a ball to attend as his disguised guest…

Issue #15: The Brave and the Bold

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Betty’s ‘new life’ in Gotham City continues to have some interesting twists and turns. What exactly does being Bruce Wayne’s date feel like? What is the Chameleon’s plan? What secrets does Wayne Manor hold? All these questions and more may be answered in this issue….

As always, if you have enjoyed this or any other issue of Spider-Girl, please click on an ad in the right-hand column for me. Who knows, one day I may even get paid for this gig!

On to a two-week schedule (just) with this issue – wish me luck to continue on it… this is actually the biggest ever issue of the series, although I didn’t set out for that to be the case… guess I just got carried away especially at the end. So settle in, get your favourite beverage and enjoy the story… and of course, please let me know what you think of it in the comments below or via email.

Finished, and boy did that hurt.

Another issue done. Well, ‘done’ in the sense that all the words I wanted to put into it (13,059 of them, as it happens) are in it. That said, I haven’t re-read it yet for sense or coherency. So sorry, faithful reader – no release today. But soon. By Tuesday, so I can say I’m on bi-weekly schedule, kind of.

As you might have guessed from the post title, this one took a while to finish. For some reason the last scene, a scene that would normally be gravy (a transformation) just took forever to do. I’m not entirely sure why. It might be because I was trying to give it a sense of importance that it didn’t deserve. That’s kind of hard to gauge though; after all, the transformation bits are generally why you’re reading, so I’d imagine your reaction is probably “How could it not be important?”

Eh, I guess the point is when you feel like you’ve written this sort of thing every single different way you can think of, some days you just want to write “Then they got changed into a different outfit and went on their way”. It’s not as if I have actors or actresses in front of me giving me visual stimulation… instead it’s all in my head, and I’ve got to make them do interesting things. Otherwise they just sit around with blank looks.

Anyway, it is done, and in the last few lines I threw a wrench in my own plot because I thought it’d be fun. We’ll see… Future Ghostly might end up cursing my present self. (See what I meant about foreshadowing and plotting?)

Right. I feel like rambling on, so I think I’ll go shoot some posts into the future to make it look like I never leave the keyboard. Thanks for all the recent comments by the way people; I appreciate it a hell of a lot, especially when I’m forcing myself to try and write one more line.

Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’

… rollin’ rollin’ rollin’… rollin’ right along on Spider-Girl issue 15, which is juuuuust shy of 10,000 words in another window right now. I’ve got one more scene to write. It’s a doozy (or should be), but I’m waiting for inspiration to strike.

Incidentally, I am very much of the school of thought these days that writing is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. However, when it comes to writing essentially the same thing over and over in slightly different ways, that 1% becomes pretty darn precious. That one thing being masking or unmasking scenes.

Don’t get me wrong – I like doing them (and oddly enough, I like the challenge of trying to make ‘em different) but still. It can be tough. This one will come, I just thought while I was sitting here in front of the keyboard, might as well say ‘hi’. So – hi! G’wan, say hi back.

Cutting

I’m about 3,000 into Spider-Girl 15, but for the last couple of days I haven’t been that happy with the way the current scene is playing out. I made a decision just a second ago to rewrite, but that means losing a fair chunk of it – and then I figured I’d just share a paragraph I’m cutting.

Looking around, she saw one of the guards coming back toward her as he made a circuit. Slowly, she crossed her legs, lifting them up so that her hemline slid down, revealing more of her stockings and even a touch of garter. Sure enough, the guard noticed, slowing down to look at her. With her mouth taped, Betty had to make her eyes do most of the work; she gave him her best come-hither stare, and come hither he did. He stopped right in front of her as she uncrossed her legs then re-crossed them, surprising herself at how good the stockings felt. The guard leaned down towards her, putting one hand on her leg, sliding it up the fabric.

Like I said, it’s cut… don’t worry, there will be plenty of stuff to compensate.

Bugger-all feedback on issue 14, by the way. What, did everyone hate the Dynamic Duo?

If we were casting…

… this would be my Gwen Stacy. I literally based my description of Betty-as-Gwen on imagery of this lovely woman, so if I had a billion dollars… she’d be on the casting couch. Ahem. Doubt she can act, but hey, she looks the part.

The image is a preview of www.only-secretaries.com, the latest site behind the guys who run OnlyTease.com, which I highly recommend if (in their words) you prefer erotic, not extreme. Well hey, we can’t read all of our erotica, right….

New release: Spider-Girl, issue #14

When the master of disguise known as the Chameleon was judged to be the greatest threat to her double identity, Spider-Girl enlisted the Fantastic Four to banish him to another dimension. Now, having discovered the Chameleon is still causing havoc, Spider-Girl has crossed dimensions to track him down…

Issue #14: Gotham Nights

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At last… Crossover begins! Spider-Girl has arrived in Gotham City, and she doesn’t exactly get a warm welcome from the natives… but there are crimefighters in this world, too.

As always, if you have enjoyed this or any other issue of Spider-Girl, please click on an ad in the right-hand column for me. You’ll feel better, and I guarantee you’ll go to masking heaven.

I know it’s been a real long while between issues but please, do tell me what you think. I was considerably creaky starting this one, so don’t expect my best work, but I do like the way it turned out. Anyway; comments are always welcome, especially speculation and your ideas for how the story might go in future!

Finished an ish. Maybe.

Might have just finished Spider-Girl 14. Not sure. Gonna sleep on it. Unsure whether the scene break I just came to is a good issue break, or whether I should go on a little further… but then, it’s over 10,000 words (just) and I’m thinking the next natural break is several thousand words away.

Hence: may have just finished the issue.

Had a lovely “Oh, wait, wait WAIT – this would be SO MUCH BETTER if I did it this way” moment earlier, right in the middle of a scene which I already had completed in my head. The change was so blindingly obvious, but at the same time led so naturally to some other stuff that I want to do, that I just had to make it. It’s funny (Well, to me) but I was so excited I wrote the ‘revelation’ down underneath the text as I typed, as if I was going to forget it. Not likely. Still, three words can change a lot of stuff, especially when those words are ‘[CENSORED] AS [CENSORED]!!’

(You didn’t think I was going to spoil it, did you? Especially when the payoff isn’t going to happen until issue 15… at least. I’m not that cruel.)

I have to say, these are the bits you live for as a writer – or at least I do. Not the moments when the characters ‘talk to you’ (because I don’t feel they do; wanky as it sounds, I feel like they just talk, I listen and transcribe) but when the character’s actions suddenly skew the plot in a new and altogether better direction than the way you were already travelling. That’s when you give thanks to The Muse.

Well, I am knackered, as we say in England; I think I’ve written over 7,000 words of this issue in the last couple of days. Don’t get too excited yet but I think the groove may be back. Shhhh! I said don’t get excited….

New release: Spider-Girl, issue #13

Bennett Brant is dead. Betty must now face the responsibility of claiming his body – and then deal with her mother, also recently hospitalised. Meanwhile, an old foe is about to re-surface in an unexpected way….

Issue #13: Crossing Over

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The definitive end to the Dr. Octopus arc… even though Dr. Octopus doesn’t appear in it, the repercussions of Spider-Girl’s confrontation with him will be felt for a long time to come. This is really a ‘bridging’ issue, wrapping up a lot of plot threads and pointing the way towards Crossover, as you might have guessed from the title….

As always, if you have enjoyed this or any other issue of Spider-Girl, please scroll down on the right and click on an ad for me. Takes a mere second and makes me feel all fuzzy and warm inside. Although sadly, not rich at all.

Finally, to anyone leaving an anonymous comment: thanks for starting to leave your initials… makes it so much easier to figure out who’s saying what. Keep it up for me okay!

More news on ‘what’s next’ soon.

Very, very quickly…

Much to my own surprise, Spider-Girl 13 is done!

I’d been tapping away at this for ages in fits and starts, just getting a few paragraphs done here and there, maybe a scene at a time… and then last night I realised I was a scene away from finishing. So I just wrapped it up.

It’s a bit of a ‘wrap up’ issue, and completes most of the dangling plotlines from the previous arc… and also establishes things for the next arc, which I know you’re bored of hearing about right now – Crossover.

I’ll do some clean-up on it in the next day or so, and hopefully will post before the weekend. Then it’s back to Project T and whatever else the noggin decides it wants to write!

Have a great day or night, depending on where you are….

New release: Spider-Girl, issue #12

Betty’s audacious impersonation of her own brother is severely tested, as she gets further embroiled into his life!

Issue #12: Turning Points

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The concluding issue of the Dr Octopus arc! Believe me when I say that after this issue, things will never be quite the same for Betty Brant!

Sorry this has been a long time in coming, but editing and proofreading it took a while, as it’s close to 13k words!! Get comfortable though, enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Quick tip of the hat to Steve Zink for the title of this issue; by complete coincidence it turns out that it’s the same title as he used in the single issue continuation of my original two issues of this series, all those moons ago. There are other coincidental similarities too!

Finally, to any anonymous commenters: I love ya and want to hear your views! But would it hurt to leave a single initial with your comment, or maybe two? Help me keep tracking of who’s saying what! I can’t track our chats otherwise, and I really want to do that… cheers!

That’s all for now. More news soon. As always, if you enjoyed the issue or the series, consider clicking on an ad for me.