Soooo...

... he said, looking around a little furtively. What's going on with me?

Well, the mask fiction - indeed, the prose fiction - is a little light, right now. As I said in the previous post, I've been concentrating on 'other' writing recently. I've finished another play recently (Yaaayyyy!!) which is going to require a lot of polish to get to a performance level. At the same time, in conjunction with the actors I worked with for the reading of the first play, we've decided to stage it next year at a fringe festival here - so that is now taking up a certain amount of time too, with new drafts and revisions and discussions about all sorts of stuff.

The interesting - well, to me - side effect of all this is that the moment this stuff takes off, my urge to write mask fiction diminishes. No prizes for guessing the two are sort of interconnected. The better I feel about me, as a person and as a writer, the less I feel the need to write fiction that frankly, doesn't do much for making me feel recognised and validated. (Perhaps now you can see why I value your comments so much.)

So, that's why the fiction you're used to seeing here has pretty much dried up. I don't have enough time to sustain two writing 'careers'. However... before you write me off, here's the good news. I'm smart enough to know this doesn't mean I'm quitting. Hell, I drafted this post once before, and something about writing it made me go scribble down 1,600 words of Spider-Girl issue 14, so I still like doing it. I'll just be doing it a lot slower. Make sense?

Anyway, my sustained mask fiction burst at the beginning of this year had a lot to do with getting my other writing going, so much as you might hate it, dear reader, you had something to do with this situation. Which I won't forget... and I thank you for.

Okay, back to writing... of all kinds.

Wherethehellyoubeen

So... where have I been? Easy... not here. Been writing. But not here.

And that's in a dual sense; I haven't been writing mask fiction, I've been writing other stuff. I've been working on a couple of different things this year - both plays - and one of them is shaping up quite nicely. I have actors interested, we've done a read-through of it, and it's looking good. So that's taken a lot of time, and other stuff has slipped.

Doesn't mean I'm going away for good, just means my energies aren't as focused as they have been at other times this year on this stuff.

When I do switch back into mask fiction mode, Project T is what's been worked on, and that still progresses in fits and starts. I hope to have it done pre-Christmas, which (I think) is a sort of realistic timescale.

That's it! Just wanted to say 'hi'. Feel free to drop me a line - my name at gmail dot com.

Gratuitous video posting

Because frankly I don't have much else to say (Yes, I'm writing; no, it's not done yet, whatever it is you want to read) and because YouTube seems to have gone wonky and posted this as a week old, here's a recent Kitty video which impressed me:



That is a Greyland Films 'Liv' which I have to say, has never looked better. Looks so real I just want to rip it right off....

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

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

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....

Sunday morning word count

Project T now stands at just over 44,000 words. (I'll admit, I came to a natural break point just shy of 44K, so I added a few more. Just so I wouldn't lie to you. I'm like that.)

I have a strong feeling there's at least 15, maybe 20K more in this thing; the scene I'm writing now is probably several thousand long, and there are several more scenes just like it before it's done. I guess I'm over half way... maybe. I don't know, I'll just keep going and it'll be done some time.

I know it must be annoying to some of you to read this, but I figure you might prefer to know I am actually writing, as opposed to just jerking off or checking YouTube all day.

Also, Spider-Girl 13 is progressing, slowly. It's probably likely, all things considered, that I'll release it before Project T's completely done. Right now though, Project T has it's hooks in me, so that seems to be what comes out whenever I sit at the keyboard.

So how're you guys?

It's good to talk

I highly appreciate everyone who writes to me - in email, comments or IMs - and I hope you keep doing so.

Kind of an out-of-the-blue statement, maybe, but I've been thinking about it. There have been some days recently when I've been anxious to talk about my inner thoughts, inevitably intertwined with my fetishes, and of course in those cases the only people I can go to are people like you - people I know online. While I may never have met any of you, and may never do so (Kind of a sad thought, in a way) it helps me enormously knowing you're there.

In some cases you're just an amorphous 'thing' - an audience member, a person who I know will appreciate a piece of writing. In other cases you're identifiable people, people I've gotten to know over months or years of correspondence, who I'm able to talk about very specific, precise and personal things. That is really incredible to me. While I love my wife, and can talk to her about anything including this - she doesn't really get it. Which is fine; I don't need her to. Some days, though, I just need to talk about this stuff, and sometimes I need to do it in exacting, nerdy detail!

For those times - past and future - thank you to those who have listened, and to those who have responded, whether it's been somewhere like this, in an email, or an IM conversation. It's always welcome and I hope it is for you too.

Owww.

I had to go to the dentist today for two fillings, and the anaesthetic is just about wearing off. So oww.

The fillings were replacing existing ones that were getting old, although that doesn't make it any less fun to have done. I was in the chair for about an hour - and though I tried to distract myself with thoughts of beautiful women and kinky situations, it was hard to do it while the dentist fiddled around in my mouth. On top of that, I didn't like the idea of getting a hard-on mid-procedure... would have been kind of hard to explain.

Anyway. Just wanted to check in and share my pain. I'm going to try and write for a bit, although I'm not sure how long I'll last. Project T beckons, although SG ish 13 is also progressing, just so you know.

Three lines = three thousand words

In another tab, Project T is sitting at 34,390 words... so about 3,000 more than last night. That's 3,000 words drawn from three lines in my plot description, and there's a lot more to go... lots of fun stuff I hope.

In case you're wondering that 3k took about two and a half hours, with few interruptions (assuming that rating songs in Pandora as I listen to them doesn't count as an interruption). Not much of a boast by the way. Well alright, a little one. Generally though, I can churn out 1,000 words or so an hour of any kind of writing if I'm 'in the zone' and know where I'm going. In this case, I have a pretty good roadmap.

In a comment on my previous post, RJW suggested that I might give out some practical tips to writers. Well, here's an easy one to start with: just write. Sounds pretty frickin' obvious I know, but unless you're willing to devote close to three hours of a weeknight to just sitting at the keyboard and getting the words done, you won't get much accomplished.

Of course, I only get to issue smug directives like that on nights like this. Come back when I've been staring at a blinking cursor for a whole evening - you'll get a different GW.

Project T, as of tonight...

31,228 words.

That is all. G'night!

A couple of questions answered

Hey folks. A slightly hungover Sunday morning for me, after a cocktail party for a friend's birthday last night. Cocktails are the devil's work - hangovers are either his too, or Jesus'. Can't figure out which.

Thought I'd pop in briefly and address a couple of things in comments. In response to my suggestion that the next thing I release won't be a Spider-Girl story, well, that assumes everything goes to plan. I have Project T on the boil, but honestly, I'd need to get a lot further ahead in that before I feel comfortable unleashing it. More likely, I'll finish this short story idea I had whilst returning from my business trip. It kept me smiling all the way home, so it's a nice potential one. ETA? At least a couple of weeks, so don't get too excited yet.

Another point raised by Liz Rees (hi Liz!) was the ending of Spider-Girl 12. While I won't spoil it here suffice to say it actually is pretty much the exact same plot as an early Spider-Man issue, so it wasn't something I came up with really. The big difference here being exactly where Betty stands in the story. I was quite pleased with it though; the ending is a springboard to a lot of stuff, and it all comes from her character, so that's the best kind of plot development.

Finally, a small favour. Clicked on an ad recently? Don't go thinking for a second that I'm rolling in dough here, 'cos I ain't, but in terms of clicks this month has been waaay lower than last month. I know I moved them down on the right, but still, they're easy to find. Just takes a second of your time. As I've said before, if you've enjoyed anything I've written... click on an ad for me. Ta.

Ten minutes in a hotel room

Call this a writing exercise if you like; call it stream of consciousness, call it a warm up. Here's ten minutes worth of waffle from a hotel room. I'm away on business, and as often happens in these situations, the siren's song of an empty hotel room, an active internet connection and time on my hands leads me to want to do one thing: write.

I have a weird thing about hotel rooms, and being alone in them far from home. They bring out this guy, the guy I am now, the alternative writing persona who's not that far removed from "randy Pan, the Goat Boy" as Bill Hicks would say. I've written some of my best stuff in hotel rooms, to be honest, although one problem I definitely do have is starting stuff in environments like this and not finishing. Not a good habit.

I don't know what it is, but I'll struggle to define it. It's something about the delicious anonymity of hotels, the idea that anyone could be here, that anything could happen. You could do anything in these situations and the likelihood is no-one would ever find out. I should stress it's never, ever happened to me, at least not since I've been married. I've had a couple of intimate encounters in hotel rooms, and only one of which I can recall being particularly fun... but they were all in my 'wild' and 'carefree' single days.

These days, I tend to confine myself to wild and carefree writing. Here, undistracted by anything else, I get some of my best ideas down, my best work. I think it's partially just because of the inherent romanticism (for me) in the idea of being a writer at work in some hotel room. There are plenty of examples of writers who have holed themselves up in hotels to do their work, so many in fact that there are well known fictional examples too (The Shining, anyone?). We like the idea of being focused. No past, no future, just the present - the keyboard, the screen (or paper) and The Writing.

Three minutes left. So what's it going to be tonight? I don't know. First of all I think I'll get down some of the ideas I have had rattling around my head in the past couple of days. A refinement of an old idea, a sort of riff on Charlie's Angels. Something involving twins, and probably, trains. Something else that just came to me involving a hotel - duh. When those are noted (Never, ever let go of an idea, folks... you never know when you'll need 'em) I'll strive to work on something in progress. Inch towards completion.

Dying seconds. Hope you've enjoyed recent stuff, I really appreciate all the comments; feel free to keep 'em coming. I'll be releasing something else next, something not Spider-Girl; there, I said it. We'll see.

Right. Off to it.

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

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

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.

Oooh, dear

Just logged in and saw that I haven't touched any of my writing since the 6th. Two whole days without a single word being written. Oooh. Not good. Why the break? You really want to know? You probably do. You ain't gonna like it though....

I had what I described as a 'perfect storm' of gadgets happen to me earlier in the week, and it consumed me for a bit. First, a (very) shiny new MacBook Pro, courtesy of my work. (I first asked for a Mac when I joined, so it took just under three years; not bad really.) Behold the shininess!

Alright, I'll admit it, some of the shiny might come from the flash. But not much. Of course, this shouldn't affect the writing much, really - in fact I hope the opposite is true, as the true spirit of Apple takes me and I find myself possessed by the muse, wearing a beret, and hanging out in coffee shops sipping a perpetual espresso.

Of course, the fact that re-learning how to do everything (just posting that picture took me 15 minutes of work) shows you that some adjustments may have to be made.

This isn't what you should worry about though, folks. Worry about the fact that despite me doing so well this year, writing so much more than I ever have... I've gone and got myself a distraction. Yes: I also now own an Xbox 360.

This will be an interesting test of willpower.

No surprise there, then

Yeah, so as you can see I didn't post Spider-Girl #12 this weekend... apologies for that. I'm going to try and find the time to edit and post it this week, because my weekend is looking very busy. Have some patience here people - it's as big as issue #11, with a lot more twists, turns and emotional rollercoaster type stuff... so that takes time to get right.

The weekend wasn't a total loss on the writing front, though. I did make a bit more progress with Project T, and also refined the idea of Project B a bit more with the help of a secret co-plotter who I consult with on these things. There are many more twists and turns to it now, and I think I know how it needs to be written (ie, what voice, etc). The question now just is, when will I write it. Don't hold your breath just yet!

Heads up

This is a quick post to give you advance notice that I can't guarantee Spider-Girl #12 will go online this weekend. I know I've left you all hanging on anxiously, but don't get too excited. The next issue wraps up the whole Doc Ock arc, and while I hope you like it, I doubt you'll like it as much as #11. I know I sure as hell didn't like writing it as much.

Anyway, I have quite a few things to do this weekend and also I know I'll want to take some time to edit and polish #12, so I'm just saying right now that I can't guarantee it'll appear in the next two days. Just FYI.

Elsewhere, I've been enjoying moving forward with Project T, which sits in another tab at just over 28k words now. I don't think I've said this before specifically, but I generally aim for a PG-13 (in US parlance) sort of rating with Spider-Girl... there's quite a lot of talk about sex, and implied sex, and occasional actual sex... but it's not full-on, Technicolor sex. Nor are there curse words - y'know, to save the kids.

Well, it's nice to occasionally write full-on Technicolor sex and use as many curse-words as I like, put it that way....

Oh! Also, I came up with something entirely brand new in the ol' shower this morning. By the time I'd had breakfast the idea was pretty much locked. However, I had another thought this evening which I thought I'd run by you.

This story idea could basically have a character in it that's a female, masking as another female. Or, it could be a man, masking as a woman. Then it hit me; maybe it could be both. It might be fun to actually write two different endings to the story - or two different second halves, I guess - and let you choose your preferred kink.

Good idea? Bad idea? Let me know. Got no idea when I might get to writing said idea, but hey. We'll call it Project B for now.

Progress on Project T

Welcome to August. Don't know about your part of the world, but after one of the wettest summer periods on record here in the UK, it's good to see (and feel) some sunshine....

I had the day off work today, so I managed to get a bit of writing done, and it wasn't on Spider-Girl. Instead I tapped away at Project T, which I know I've mentioned recently, but I'm not sure I've mentioned that it's over 25k words now. I'm definitely finishing this thing before I actually release it, but when I do let it loose I may serialise it, I may not. Any preferences?

I think sometimes when I release really big chunks of writing, you guys either don't read it or don't have the time to read it. I sympathise - I can be the same way - but obviously I don't want to write something of maybe 40-50k words and then have no-one read it...!

Aaanyway, it's going pretty well right now, is Project T. I've been doing some re-plotting and I like the shape of it now. So all I've got to do is keep banging away at it.

BTW, clicked on an ad recently? They're just down and to the right. Just sayin'.

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #11

Spider-Girl defeated! Dr Octopus on the loose! And Betty's brother, Bennett, appearing in her life... but why?

Issue #11: My Brother, Myself!

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

The second half of this four-issue arc... things get very interesting for Betty this time out. As you can probably guess from the title....

This issue has some of my all-time favourite scenes in it, which I've written about previously... even though it was tough to write. It's a big one (11k words) and there's a lot of plot to swallow, but it's all important, I promise you. When everything comes together in the next issue, you'll need to know where you stand... and trust me, what happens in this issue and next will have repercussions in the series for a loooong time to come.

Love to hear what you think of the issue; if you comment using the anonymous option, do me a favour and leave an initial or a pseudonym or something so I know who's talking! Email always welcome as well. After last week's issue the mailbox has been bare, so I'd like reassuring you're all out there...!

Projects update

So, according to my stats, one of the more popular pages here is the one where I first introduced my various 'Alphabet Projects'.

Quite possibly that's just because it's linked from the right hand side as the only place to get more info on Project T, and if you're not a fan of Spider-Girl, then I guess I could see why you might want to know more on what else I'm working on.

This post's for you, then.

Project T is in fact making a bit more progress. I've basically just completed another big scene in it, so another large chunk is done. Weirdly enough that scene has proved that my previous concern - that the main action would be "boring to describe" - doesn't have to be such a concern. (Although I sort of cheated in said scene to make it work.) Anyway, the story moves along organically, this one. I know where the final destination is - in fact, the plot's quite tight - but there will probably be some... interesting side-roads along the way.

Just to satisfy those of you into 'certain things' by the way, I'll classify some of these projects so you know what you'll be getting (others I won't, because I don't want to spoil the surprise). In this case, Project T is a 'M2F' masking story (male to female... crossdressing... transgender... whatever) involving bodysuits. Those are your keywords.

Let's see... Project AC is pretty much back-burnered for now. The initial idea was pretty huge, and while I've fleshed it out some, I haven't gotten too heavily into it. I have some hand-scribbled plot notes (in fact, I worked on those today) but not much else. I'm not giving too much away by saying it's kind of similar in tone to Spider-Girl, so honestly I can't see me getting to it any time soon. Unless inspiration strikes.

The other thing I've revived is a really, really old story from 2001 or thereabouts, which I did quite a lot of work on way back then. I mentioned this before - it's called Love Hotel. I can see myself getting to this at some point and just blitzing through it. We'll see.

That's it. I'll update the sidebar, I think, too.

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #10

Betty Brant re-employed by the Daily Bugle... as Gwen Stacy. Perhaps her life is getting back to normal... but life has other plans!

Issue #10: The Octopus Awakens

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

This four-issue arc continues... as always, love to hear from ya in any way you like. Tell me what you think of the issue, tell me where you want the series to go next... whatever you want.

While you're here, click a couple of more times for me... one on the poll on the right, which is asking what you think of the last arc (featuring the Green Goblin!) and perhaps on an ad - boy's gotta eat!!

Well, I guess I'm full of it.

I'm over 2,000 words into Spider-Girl issue #13. So much for that break of mine, eh?

Well, it helps that it's a 'bridging' issue, as I thought it was going to be; I'm tying up fairly essential plot elements that were left over from previous issues, and introducing things for the next big arc... codenamed 'Crossover' as I've said before.

I remembered what I meant to say the other night. I will be writing a 'cast of characters' post at some point, hopefully this week. If you're struggling to tell folks apart in 'Project SG' then hopefully this'll set you right; and if you're a Marvel fan wondering just what the hell kind of changes I've made since I started, well, this should sort you out as well.

Alright, that's it for now.

Couple of little things

First of all... ads have been moved down to the bottom of the sidebar on the right. Please don't forget they're there! I've expanded the ad box too so there's a few more choices to click on. Go on, go do it now; new fiction's out today, after all. Hold down 'Ctrl' (or... what's the Apple equivalent? Ah, you'll know) and you won't even leave this page.

Second... new poll. I'm not going to ask you guys for a vote every single time I post something. Instead, I thought I'd wait until a whole arc is through. So - here's the poll for the Green Goblin arc, which ran from issue #5 through to issue #8. Liked it? Hated it? Here's your chance to make me feel all warm and tingly inside. Or all empty and hollow. Either way, I can take it... so vote for me, would you? Remember - you're voting on the whole arc, overall. Hope that's okay.

Third and final. I know there was something but I'm too tired to recall what it is. Must... sleep. Night everybody.

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #9

The Green Goblin has been defeated. Now Betty has to deal with the mess he made in her two lives....

Issue #9: Double Life

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

The beginning of a new, four issue arc - I hope you enjoy. Let me know what you think in a comment or an email, and while you're here... click on an ad to show me your appreciation.

Back to the grindstone!

At long bloody last

Just wrote the last few words for issue #12 of BBTSSG, as you might want to call it. FI-NA-LLY.

I tell you, this issue has been an absolute bitch to finish. Even though from the looks of things it 'just' took me a month or so to write, it felt waaaay longer to me. The whole thing seemed to move along in fits and starts, and I mean literally - some nights I'd sit for two hours and write two paragraphs. First I didn't feel like the issue had enough, well, eroticism in it. Then, after I figured that out, I realised I had to go back and rewrite something in issue #11 that changed quite a few things in issue #12. Gaaawwwwwdddd! With all that crap in my head it's a miracle I can come up with new ideas.

Oy. So where does this leave me?

Well first of all, my early plans to keep at least a 'clear arc' between whatever I'm currently writing, and whatever I'm currently releasing, are shot to hell.

That's because right now, there's no bloody way I can dive into issue #13 and beyond - which starts the next big arc, codenamed 'Crossover'. (The way I was previously planning, I'd finish 'Crossover' before I'd even release the arc I just finished, which covers issues #9-12.) I can't do that though. For one thing, I have no idea where 'Crossover' is going, precisely. It's like I can see the target but I need to hit the bullseye. I need to re-plot the whole thing, figure out what the high points are, and hopefully get a handle on how many issues it might end up being. (Because one thing I am going to keep doing is completing arcs before I release them. If - God forbid - I give up on the series entirely, I don't want to do it in the middle of a half-released arc. I'm not that cruel....)

More importantly, right now, I'm just plain tired of writing this series. Issue #12 took a lot out of me - this arc as a whole, in fact. I still love the characters, love where they're going, but it's starting to feel a little same-y. The plot of 'Crossover' should freshen things up a bit, but I need a break, to let me recharge the batteries, get enthused for it again... so that it feels fresh when I write it.

So what about that break. Well, I have a couple of other things on the go. I have an old, half-completed story (called 'Love Hotel') which I dusted off recently and might well try and complete; it's maybe a third, perhaps half-finished, and after some intensive plotting sessions with a fellow author recently I know what I need to do to finish it off. It's a 'straight' (ie, no superheroes!), one-off story too... and pretty damn hardcore. So it'd be a real change of pace for me right now.

Second, I do have that Susan Storm mini-series idea... but I'd need to knuckle down and plot that a bit more carefully. I also now know, having finished issue #12, that I'd probably have to write issue #13 before I can get to it. That's because...

... issue #12 ended up being looooong. For the record, it's the biggest issue to date; over 12,000 words in total. Partially that's because I added all that 'extra sauce' to it (Yeah, 'slight twist', my ass), and partially it's because there was a lot of plot to get in. And there was actually even more to fit into it in the original synopsis. So that stuff, which is an essential bridge to the Susan Storm mini, will now have to go in issue #13. Which as I write this, I'm starting to think might have to be a standalone issue. Followed by the mini. Oh God, I'm rambling like a maniac.

Alright, one more thing and out. The nice coda to all this is my word count. Issue #12 takes me to over 100,000 words written for the series so far; that's the size of a decent novel. Pretty cool.

Now click an ad and get outta here. Issue #9 will be out before the week's over. Promise.

The final arc...?

I think I just got down, in extremely rough, stream-of-consciousness form, the details of what will probably be the very final arc of Spider-Girl. The idea just popped into my head, and before I knew it, I had the whole thing down.

It has the word 'death' in the (provisional) title....

Don't worry, it's a really long time away - I'd guess, maybe something beyond issue #40 (50 would be a nice round number to finish on, wouldn't it? I can dream!).

By the way, I've always had a post-series future planned, too. So even the 'end' wouldn't be the end. But if I can do it right... boy, it'll be one hell of a finale.

Going commercial. Kinda.

So first of all: don't panic. I'm not about to start charging you for anything. (Although, if anyone wants to pay me, my rates would be reasonable.)

However. Long-time readers and friends will know I've thought for many, many years about just how I might make a bit of money (however small) from the effort and time I put into writing fiction that's primarily, let's be honest, there to help you get off. I mean, even the lowliest of working girls and boys get paid, so why shouldn't I when the results are the same, right?

Okay, I don't want to put anyone off their food here, so I'll get right to the point. I've slapped some Google Ads here on the blog. So from now on, here's the simple request I'll add to any fiction I post:

If you liked what you just read, go to my blog and click on a Google Ad.

That's it. If enough of you click, I'll get a bit of cash. I think this is pretty much a win-win situation for you and I, because:

• It costs you nothing but the click, and the time to load another page. (And if you're smart, and running a modern browser, you've probably got tabs going on. You can open stuff and not even look at it.)
• Did I mention it costs you nothing?
• The ads are targetted by keyword search, so hey - you might even find something useful via one of them.
• And being Google Ads, they're completely unobtrusive. I've moved the ads up to the top right for a while just so you can see they're here; but before too long I'll slide 'em back down the sidebar. They're just links.

I absolutely cannot see any reason not to do this. So basically, if you've ever read one of my stories and liked it, click on an ad or two. Heck, click an ad each time you visit this blog. Costs you nothing. Gets me cash (eventually, it takes a lot of clicks). We all benefit. Click one now!! Heh.

Just for clarification: I will always be writing and releasing fiction for free. I will not hold you folks to 'ransom' before releasing fiction ("If I don't get 5,000 clicks no-one gets any more Spider-Girl!!!" or similar). I will not install any kind of intrusive ads at all (no pop-ups, pop-unders, or similar). If Google Ads changes to do that kind of thing, I'll drop them.

Finally, for those of you concerned about your privacy... I don't think you should be. Google Ads don't look at you or your browsing, they look at the page they're on. Considering the sort of sites I've seen appearing so far on the ads (mostly, about writing) I am pretty damn certain you'll be okay. But frankly, if you're really concerned about what some anonymous corporation might know about you by checking your web browsing habits... well, I can direct you to some good conspiracy sites.

I would very much like to hear your opinions on this, good or bad. I've always listened and reacted to people's opinions and comments, and I'm not about to stop. So feel free to comment below or email me - the address is my name at g mail dot com.

Annnnnd finally... one day I may well produce actual printed material of mine that you can buy (reprinting stuff you can already get on the web for free, natch). If anyone would be interested in buying a 'Collected Ghostly Writer' I'd love to hear from you too. Right now I think I might be the sole person in the world interested, but you never know...!

Rewriting ripples

Issues #11 and #12 of Spider-Girl dive into her family history in a big way, so I did some research early on... although that mostly consisted of reading early Amazing Spider-Man issues.

Turns out though, thanks to the industrious Kurt Busiek, I had some more history to read about. See, Busiek wrote a series called Untold Tales of Spider-Man, which basically 'filled in the gaps' in the really early issues of Amazing, adding extra detail. Detail's great, don't get me wrong, but recently I found some details that basically meant something I'd already written... really needed to get re-written.

I put it off for a while but this morning decided I wouldn't be able to keep writing issue #12 until I'd re-written the portion of issue #11 that was affected by this history change. Y'see, this is a fairly crucial part of the plot, and I knew when I made these changes it'd affect a lot of other stuff; like chucking a rock into a pond and watching the ripples. Sure enough, as I rewrote the one scene and started skimming through the rest of the issue, I began tinkering with lines, changing reactions and so on.

That process is going to have to continue with issue #12, which I'm motoring along on now. The good news is that this change gives me a potential plotline which might be interesting - and might lead to Betty doing something constructive with that Peter Parker mask she found....

A peek at my folders

As I may or may not have mentioned before, I'm using Google Docs & Spreadsheets to write with now. I like it a lot, because it lets me write with all the tools I generally need (word count, spell check, etc) and generates simple files when I'm done. It's not perfect, but it's pretty damn good for a free web app. (Biggest limitation is, of course, that it's on the web - but I haven't had much need to do offline writing for a while.)

Today Google updated Docs & Spreadsheets with a new look, which was a pretty big surprise when I logged in, considering I've been looking at the same interface for over six months, I think. So when I saw the new layout I thought I'd give you a peek at what I see every day when I sit down to write - click to make big:


Yeah, I obscured some stuff in there. C'mon, you're not the kind of kid who opened their presents before Christmas morning, are ya? No, of course you're not... just keeping a few things hidden before they're ready to be revealed. Had to rename a few folders too - ain't I a stinker?

Alright, off to bed. I have a feeling I'll be turning over the Brant family tree in my head a few times before I drift off.

Another quick update

Hey guys and gals, just wanted to drop in and let you know how things are progressing.

The muse - not that there is such a thing, I'll tell you about it sometime - has swung over to Spider-Girl recently, so I'm now progressing on Issue #12 again. I had a good hard think about what was bothering me about the issue in the shower one morning (Get my best thinking done there - try it) and I came up with a slight twist that's made it more fun to write. Sure, it's entirely gratuitous, and you'll know it when you read it... but believe me, you'll enjoy the issue more with it. Without it, you might as well just read any Spider-Man comic from the last 40 or so years...!

What's better though is that when I sat down to write that little extra scene, I ended up with another additional twist being added in; a far kinkier one. So that's taken a bit more time to incorporate into the story, but I think it's been worth it. I'm laying groundwork here... it'll pay off.

Apart from that... not much to report. Sorry to anyone who hoped I'd be writing something else, but I find it hard to not finish things that are half-done. God, amazing I can even say that, these days...

Progress and ideas

Bunch of stuff I want to fill you in on, quiz you on, and more... so let's get to it.

First of all... progress on Spider-Girl issue #12 has been pretty slow. If you're keeping score, this is the last issue in the current arc I'm working on - the one after the Green Goblin arc, which just finished.

To be honest, I think I'm a little stalled on it because I'm not sure about the whole issue. It's a pretty simple plot, but there isn't much meat to it. Dramatically there is. Erotically there sure isn't. I know, I know... write for myself. It just isn't doing much for me. I probably need to just get in there and do it, but the fact is, it's not motivating me much. Unfortunately, until it's done, the next arc doesn't get started.

That particular arc - which I referred to previously as 'Crossover' - is going to need a complete re-plot too, I can sense it. The good news is I know where it ends up. The bad news (for me) is the necessity to plot out a whole new run... oy. Not much looking forward to that. It's hard to explain why, really. I guess the best way to explain it is to say that sometimes, too many possibilities make it hard to choose.

However, here's some good news. I got an email from a reader who threw an idea at me involving Susan Storm... it sparked something and before I knew it, I had a mini-series plotted for our Invisible Woman. As you know Susan's discovering how much fun disguises can be, so never fear, it'll be right up your alley. I'm thinking right now I may write that as a break while I'm re-plotting 'Crossover.' I just have to get issue #12 done first.

Of course, I could just go work on Project T. What say you all? Any preferences for where I should be putting my writing energies?

As always, feel free to comment below or email ghostlywriter [at] gmail /dot/ com. Yeah, stupid anti-spam attempts, it'll do bugger all I'm sure. All thoughts welcome anyway.

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #8

With Susan Storm masquerading as Spider-Girl, and Spider-Girl using the identity of the Invisible Girl... who will finally defeat the Green Goblin? Find out inside...

Issue #8: Seduction of the Green Goblin

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

This is it, the final issue of the Green Goblin arc... his nefarious schemes and motives are finally revealed. But that's not all... in this issue you'll find out just who wears the Goblin's mask. Is it who you think?? Perhaps yes, perhaps no....

Enjoy the issue, and I'd love to hear about it through all the usual methods. As previously mentioned, there will be a slight delay before the next arc begins, but at least this way, you aren't left hanging.

Hope you like it, folks! Leave me comments and send me good writing vibes!

Confession time

Alright, gotta 'fess up here: I haven't been writing much lately. Okay, to be more specific, I haven't been writing much of the fiction I know you, specifically, are interested in. Sorry.

I've got two plays on the go. The first I've been working on since January, but I took a long break and just recently came back to it. It's close to being finished, so I want to push on through. The second, I just got the idea for this past weekend. As the idea is pretty 'hot' I want to get on with it, so it's been tinkered with recently.

Working on these two things doesn't leave me much creative time for anything else. Sorry.

So, current plan is to release Spider-Girl issue #8 this weekend, which finishes the Green Goblin arc, and then we'll go on a short hiatus while I try and find the time to finish #12. Once that's done, I'll start releasing it as I move on to the very big arc I have plotted after that.

Apologies then, but things might take a while to reach fruition. I haven't stopped though; I'll always come back to this stuff eventually, as this blog sort of proves...

Antonia

I absolutely promise I won't do this very often, but I have to say... this is mighty hot.



Now I wish I knew a little Spanish....

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #7

Blackmailed by the Green Goblin! Forced into committing crimes! How can Spider-Girl stop his scheming - when he knows her true identity?? Find out in...

Issue #7: Crimes of the Green Goblin

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

Hold tight folks... keep your arms inside the car at all times. This is the penultimate issue of this arc, and it is a doozy (and I ain't just saying that). I told you last time that I thought you wouldn't be able to guess where this issue would go... tell me I'm wrong!

What's more, we've still got an issue to go... and a few more surprises to boot. Enjoy the issue, and do let me know what you think by leaving a comment here, sending an email, a carrier pigeon, semaphore... whatever is your preferred method.

To quote The Man... 'nuff said!

Punching it up... and breaking 10k

So yesterday I told you a little bit about a scene I'd written for issue #11 that unexpectedly went to an even higher rating on the ol' "How Turned On Is Ghostly While Writing This" scale. (Said scale starts at 1 - A Slight Quickening Of The Pulse, to 10 - Can't Actually Finish Writing This, Must Take Care Of Business.)

Anyway, overnight and this morning I was pondering over said scene, patting myself on the back a bit, reliving it in the glorious Technicolor, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround environment that is my mind. And I realised there was something missing.

There's a lesson here, fellow writers: never assume because a scene seems great at first pass, that it's as great as it can be. (Or, to repeat myself: writing is rewriting.)

There was indeed something missing... it was a little peek at our protagonist's inner feelings. (I'm not spoiling anything by saying it was Betty.) I needed to know a bit more about what she was feeling, and more importantly, why she was feeling it. Y'see, overnight one tiny line of dialogue - the one that got me so hot and bothered - had also revealed a simply delicious new plotline. Said plotline manages to accomplish several different things that I've wanted to do in the series, and even introduces a whole bunch of new, entirely kinky stuff. In other words, I really want to write it. (And why is it, exactly, that I'm always jonesing to write the arc after the one that's up next? Hmmm. Absence make the GW lust stronger....)

Anyway, I needed that extra detail to lift this scene up, to make it more important in the grand scheme of things. Y'see, even though this scene takes place in issue #11, you'll look back on it from about issue #22 or so and go "Aaah... I can see where this all started." I'm planting seeds.

So today, with that thought in my mind, I went back to edit said scene, and punch it up a little. I wanted to improve it. And I did, I feel. I sweated over every line, every comma, every word... reading, re-reading, gauging my own reaction as it slowly moved along The Scale to an 8, a 9... an oh me oh my. I thought it couldn't get any better.

But get this: suddenly, it did. At the end of the scene, in a throwaway moment which I'd already written in a hurry to wrap the issue up, a tiny little thought occurred to my deviant mind. "What if she does that before she does that... oh yes. Oh, yes." That little moment suddenly became a much larger moment, and lifted the ending of the story another notch. To a 9, no doubt in my mind... although of course, your mileage may (probably will) vary.

A great day for the writing, then. Another little milestone was passed, too, although it's not one I'm boasting about. With the additions I made today (about 500 words or so), Spider-Girl Issue #11 just became the first issue to break the 10,000 word mark. This isn't exactly surprising to me... the issues have been climbing in words ever since issue #1, as I get more comfortable with the characters and want to explore things more thoroughly. On top of that, to be honest, the more scenes like the ones I just described I put in, the more the word count rises. Detail, detail, detail... that's what it's all about.

Anyway, enough self-congratulation. I imagine it must drive a few of you crazy to read this stuff. Sorry! Just rest assured... it's all coming to you sooner or later.

Time for a cold shower

Wow. It's always, always just wonderful when a story takes an unexpected turn and what results is so much better than what you planned.

I just finished Spider-Girl issue #11, and I was working in that whole issue towards a particular scene - yes, a transformation scene. I'd been working out in my head specific 'beats', specific moments that I wanted to do, but honestly with these sorts of things I just tend to let it happen, and let the writing flow. All that bollocks.

However, what I've found to my utter amazement several times now is that right in the middle of those scenes... I'll figure something out that's so, so much better than what I thought. Suffice to say in the scene that I just wrote, an incredibly kinky (Well, to my mind) idea suddenly jumped into the middle of it and made it soooo much sexier. Mmmmm... hmmm.

Sorry it'll be a while before you see it. But hey, look on the bright side; as I like to keep a respectable distance between issues I've released and issues I've finished, putting the 'finished' tag on issue #11 means you're that much closer to issue #7. Which I don't think y'all are gonna see coming....

Oh - happy Memorial Day if you're in the US. And happy, er... wet Bank Holiday if you're here in the UK. A perfect day to stay at home and read some dirty fiction.

B, B and B

What is it, three days since I said this:

'try not to have two characters with the first initial'

.. and here I am this morning writing about three characters, all with the initial letter of 'B'. Dammit.

Worst of it is, they're all characters from Spider-Man history, so I want to keep them all named the same. And one of them has a surname beginning with B so I can't even cheat by calling them by their second name!

Damn you Stan Lee and your easy to remember alliterative names. Damn you all to hell!!!

Good morning (good morning!)

We've slept the whole night through...

Well considering I started this morning by dropping my laptop onto our wooden kitchen floor (Thank you, Laptop Gods for letting me escape with no damage... and thank you to Lenovo for hard drive shock protection!) things got a lot better as soon as I checked my email.

Another message from Steve Zink over at Maskingwriter was first. Steve's a fellow author who I know appreciates the value of commenting on stories (and whose prodigious output I will probably never match). If you've never read any of his stuff then frankly, why the heck are you still here - get over to SuperStories and read all 100 (!!) of his published pieces on there immediately.

Second, I heard from another author who I'm not going to name write now, as they are working on a new piece of mask fiction... we've been batting emails back and forth about it and OH MY GOD I WANT TO READ IT RIGHT NOW DAMMIT. Those of you who know my tastes may have an idea of what kind of thing I'm hoping for... and I'm sure none of us will be disappointed. Believe me, if this thing turns out good I'm going to be shouting from the rooftops.

Speaking of rooftops and shouting (??) my third email was from Andy Rodriguez, who is the owner and principal creator at New Phoenix Filmworks.

(Long aside to set the scene: New Phoenix is an outfit I've had my eye on for quite a while; they make superheroine short films. Now, I've been a subscriber to a number of superheroine sites over the years, most notably Superheroine's Demise, but frankly I've never been happy with any of them... the primary reason I want to look at this stuff is for transformation scenes (Surprise! Not) and generally, they're just not on the agenda; it's usually the euphemistically termed 'peril' that superheroine sites are primarily concerned with. I'm repeating myself here - go read this previous post if you want to know more of my thoughts on this.

Anyway, to finish setting the scene, I've exchanged emails with superheroine site webmasters before where I've basically said "Hey, you know, doing transformation stuff will probably get you a whole new audience!" and been told "I know my business and if I had a dime for that" etc. While I'm sure these people do know their current business, they're missing a trick with new business, and that was what bugged me. End of lengthy aside.)

So basically I purchased a movie from New Phoenix recently (more on that in a moment) because I was hoping for some nice transformations; the trailer certainly seemed to contain a few. In the end while there wasn't as much as I was hoping for, the movie was fun and I was happy I spent the money... so I started thinking I might buy some more, but wanting to see where I'd be best placed to spend my cash I drop the New Phoenix folks a line. And got a reply from Andy, which I thought was cool; he seems to belong to the same school of thought as me, which is that while the customer might not always be right, they deserve to be listened to!

But here's the best part; Andy actually listened to my idea (which, unsurprisingly, was "Hey, how about more transformation stuff??") and entertained it. Here's a man who knows if there's one person asking for something, perhaps there's ten behind him who are also interested, but aren't saying anything. While he certainly hasn't promised anything yet (although he's teasing me, dammit) he at least considered the idea... which is more than I got from other webmasters I could mention. So we'll see.

Back to the movie I bought briefly, before I go; I picked up Retrogirl 4: Nightmare, which was quite a bit of fun. While the production values aren't exactly $100m Hollywood movie, everyone involved took it seriously, Andy's script is fun (with a nice, genuine twist) and the cast are pleasing on the eye... especially the lead, Megan Redstone, who looks fantastic in her Batgirl style Retrogirl costume. Yeah, bet you ain't surprised I went for that movie....

Anyway, keep an eye on New Phoenix, folks. They have plenty of back catalogue material, and you can watch trailers for almost all of their movies on YouTube. In particular check out PowerCat 3 - it's due out in a couple of weeks, according to Andy, and damn, if that evil impostor theme isn't giving me ideas. Lots of ideas....

Oh yeah, 'the reason'

A while back I mentioned my plan to post Spider-Girl #5 and #6 at the same time (well almost) and said that "the reason will become apparent". Well, if it did become apparent to you folks, no-one shouted about it.

The 'reason' I was referring to was my own concern that you folks might be in an uproar about issue #5, because it is the issue I referred to way back in March that doesn't contain any masking. Shock! Horror! And believe me, right up until Saturday morning when I was editing #5 I was asking myself "Should I just put in a small masking scene?". Then I reminded myself of what I'd said back in March... you've got to write for yourself sometimes. So I didn't change it. Look at me, all strong of will!

Well, not that strong of will because I released #6 right after, thinking someone might call foul on #5. But none of you did. Which is cool. Honestly, I now suspect if you were the kind of person who would bitch about that, you wouldn't be reading the series anyway. I mean, there are a lot of words in there....

Anyway. Re-reading (and editing, natch) #5 on Saturday I really did feel proud of it. For me it was the first 'new' issue that I wrote; while issue #4 was all written brand-new this year, it didn't feel new as I was finishing a years-old plotline. Issue #5 (and onwards) felt entirely new to me though, as the plot was newly realised, and for the characters it's really a new start. The Chameleon's gone, Betty thinks her life is back on track... and then it all goes wrong again, heh heh. But that's what comics are about kids....

Right, off to try and put a dent in #11. Great to hear from everyone. Keep those Goblin ID guesses coming!

Editing and being a continuity cop

There's a simple but perfect quote about writing, which is "Writing is rewriting" (originally attributed to EB White, it seems, but it's been stolen ever since). I'm not actually at the point yet where I sweat bullets over my fiction... I just feel happy getting it done. What I do religiously though, is edit.

Editing is something I used to do for a living, so I'm in the habit now, and once you start you can't stop. If I'm presented with a piece of text on a screen or in print, I see spelling mistooks first, often immediately. (Gotcha.) So I can rarely read through anything I've written without wanting to mess with it a little bit.

On a continuing series like Spider-Girl though, what becomes interesting about the editing process is that I have to start looking out for the dreaded continuity. I get nutty about this. I constantly go back through and check things like whether or not a character was holding an item (and in which hand), which door they entered through in the last scene, what they were wearing last time I mentioned it, which piece of clothing they just took off or put on... and so on. But that's internal, inside one issue continuity - it's flowing things from scene to scene, the literary equivalent of avoiding those movie continuity gaffes. It might not mean a heck of a lot to you, but it matters to me, and often I find myself adding stuff or rewriting to get around some tiny point of internal continuity.

Besides that, though, I worry about series continuity, and with 10 issues finished now this is starting to get a little harder. What's even more crazy is trying to deal with Marvel Comics' own continuity, particularly the screwed-up early continuity you find in Amazing Spider-Man.

For example; in issue #5 I introduce Liz Allen, who I originally wrote down as Liz Allan, because I was sure that was the right way to spell her surname. (I know, it's just one letter, and it's still a vowel and it doesn't change the way the word sounds... but this is what being an editor does to you, folks.) Finally I checked the original comics, and guess what? Stan Lee managed to spell it as both 'Allen' and 'Allan' in different issues of ASM. So I made my own choice.

Next, I was sure in my mind that J Jonah Jameson was Editor of the Daily Bugle. I mean, he sure as hell acted like the editor. Then I went and checked, and he's the publisher... always has been, right from his first appearance. That took quite a bit of find-and-replace to fix.

Finally there were the Susan Storm variants. Once I start referring to a character in one way, I try to keep calling them the same thing over and over. In other words, I'll call Peter Parker 'Peter' and not 'Petey' or 'Pete'. (The exception is when I'm dealing with Betty/Spider-Girl; I call her 'Betty' when out of costume and 'Spider-Girl' when in, because in many ways, they're different personalities, almost different people.)

(The reason I do this, by the way, is that I follow a tip I read years ago, which basically said that people stop consciously reading character's names when they're reading a piece of fiction over a long-ish period of time (eg a novel or a series). They just see the 'shape' of the word, and the first letter. So the advice was: try not to have two characters with the first initial, and always call them the same thing, consistently, so they don't get confused who's talking at any given point.)

So back to Susan Storm. Or Sue Storm. Or the Invisible Girl. Or the Invisible Woman... Sue or Susan were both perfectly reasonable alternatives, but I wanted to stick with one, so 'Susan' it was. What got confusing was writing dialogue for the FF, where Ben would call her 'Susie', Reed would call her 'Susan' and Johnny could call her anything! As for the Invisible Girl/Woman thing, I only messed that up once. (She only became the Invisible Woman after John Byrne's excellent 'Malice' storyline. And thanks to Steve Zink, that particularly kinky moment for Susan (clad in black leather playing the evil dominatrix...) is stuck in my ideas file as a future possible plotline.)

Of course, there are occasions when I need to bend or break Marvel's continuity for my own purposes. I mean, we're working in a 'What If' inspired universe anyway, so no biggie, right? Apart from the major breaks that you all know about ("What, Betty Brant isn't heavily into disguise and kinkiness in the real Marvel U?") I had to tweak a few other things. Like, I gave Susan Storm force fields a lot earlier than she was supposed to have them; I also ignored the fact that she eventually managed to use her invisibility powers to make other stuff invisible. Because, you know, that would have made issue #4 kinda boring, wouldn't it?

Also, in the first version of issues #3 and #4, I had Reed and Susan already married (arguably, if we're assuming this series is at the start of Spider-Girl's career, they should have been single). Which was fine at first; it made the stakes higher and the dramatic tension of Susan and Betty getting together was increased. But then I started having so much fun with the two of them as a couple, I decided to revert Susan and Reed to just being girlfriend and boyfriend. With things like that, Susan can feel a little less guilty about seeing Betty (Yep, it happens again) and I also get to do a potential Susan-Reed marriage plot further down the road. Because everyone knows superhero weddings never go off without a hitch. Especially when the bride's been engaged in some hot action with one of the bridal party. F'r instance....

So those are a bunch of examples where editing and continuity either got me out of trouble, or got me into it. It makes writing interesting, that's for sure. But I tell ya, I'm going to have to start a series index pretty soon just to keep all the details straight in my head....

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #6

Spider-Girl captured by the Green Goblin - her secret identity threatened... what horrible schemes will the villain subject her to? Find out in...

Issue #6: Triumph of the Green Goblin

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

As promised... less than 24 hours after issue #5!

There are two more issues of this arc to go, and I think after you read this issue you'll be left wondering just where we go next... suffice to say, I don't think you'll be able to guess (but feel free to try!).

Comments as always are welcome... which villains should Spider-Girl face? What situations do you want to see her in? And most important of all... who should she become next? Answers on a postcard, please....

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #5

With the Chameleon exiled to another dimension, Betty Brant feels her secret identity is finally safe, and can get back to a normal working life. But when a plan of Daily Bugle publisher J Jonah Jameson leads to unexpected danger, Spider-Girl must go back into action against a new foe...

Issue #5: Beware the Green Goblin

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

Yep. I'm doin' the Goblin... an all-new arc! A perfect jumping-on point for new readers, as they like to say in the comics biz!!

Remember, issue #6 will be getting released tomorrow, so come on back for that, or just keep checking the files section over at Maskingwriter. Have a great Saturday, wherever you are!

At last

Put the finishing touches on Spider-Girl #10 last night, and I would have written about it then but finishing it had already made me late for a colleague's leaving do (nothing like a pressing, imminent deadline to focus you, folks!).

Anyway, it's done. At last. Even though my revision history says it 'just' took two weeks, it's been a (very) tough two weeks personally, and I've been wanting to Get It Done during all that time. So now it finally is. Phew.

With that over, this weekend I'm going to be releasing not one, but two issues of Spider-Girl. Not because I'm feeling particularly generous... you'll see why. I guess I am feeling sort of generous, but not in the way you're expecting. If all goes well issue #5 will be online today, and issue #6 tomorrow. So I hope you enjoy.

Speaking of enjoyment, thanks to those of you who voted in both my polls on issue #4... looks like I'm polling along the same lines. Next stop: running for office.

That's it for now, but I warn you, I'm feeling wordy. I may well be back later with more to say....

Hunt and peck

So...

.. I've been having quite a lot of trouble writing recently. Sure, I've made progress on SG #10, but damn it's been slow. I've had the 'sitting staring at the screen' session. I've had the 'all my ideas are shit' session. I've had the 'my writing sucks ass' session. I've had plenty of 'oh what the hell I'll just go browse the web' sessions... and at least one 'I'll just go blog about writing instead of writing' sessions. Consider this another.

I'm not blocked - not really. I just have a lot of personal and professional stuff whirling around me at the moment which is making it harder to focus my writing chi and get what I'd regard as good stuff down on paper. Or down in bits. Whatever. It's not easy right now.

I feel a little disheartened by a real lack of other people's stuff around right now. I don't graph it out (although I could; I'm geeky like that) but it feels like we're going through a mask fiction dry spell. I know some people are working on stuff. Are you? Do say if you are. It'll give us all something to look forward to, and of course, we'll cheer you on.

Back to me though. I fully intended to release Spider-Girl #5 this weekend, and possibly #6 too, but I want to finish #10 first. I know, my release points are sort of arbitrary. But right now you've had a whole arc to chew on, and so there's no great cliffhanger for you to nailbite over. You can wait a little longer.

In addition I'm off working again this weekend, so there's little to no chance that I'll get any writing done. I'm leaving the laptop at home; going cold turkey. There's every chance I'll get ideas, but those I'll file away for when I'm writing again.

Eh. Not gone. Just not feeling it right now. Dammit.

Thoughts on Spider-Man 3...

So, saw Spider-Man 3 yesterday. Liked it, overall, but didn't like it as much as the previous two movies. I think it had something to do with the slightly uneven feel to it - turning a character 'evil' and taking them on that emotional journey is always tough to do, tougher when it's 'superhero evil' - but overall I had no serious complaints. It's definitely worth seeing as the first big movie of the summer, although judging by box office you've all done that already.

Of course given where my thoughts have been regarding Spider-Man recently, re-working and re-thinking just about every major event and character to some degree in my head, it gave me something else to think about as the credits rolled.

Seeing Gwen Stacy brought to life by Bryce Dallas Howard was very nice, even if her character was underwritten. In comics history Gwen was brought in slowly to Peter's life, starting as a supporting character and then becoming his girlfriend - here that role's already filled by MJ, so she's the 'other woman' during the movie. I couldn't help look at her as the 'real life look' for Gwen though, and the idea of Betty masking as her was nice to think about.

Betty herself, of course, was another quick cameo role for Elizabeth Banks. She's a knockout, really, and has been great in all three pictures. There was a brief moment of flirtation between her and Peter in the original film, a nod to the comics really (when she was Peter's first love, of course) but that's gone since then. I always felt it would have been cool to enlarge her role, and arguably she could have played the Gwen part in 3, if they'd rewritten the script. Can't blame Sam Raimi for wanting Gwen though, and I'm sure most fans would prefer it that way.

Finally from my perverted point of view there was the symbiote - the black costume. I've been thinking a bit more about Venom since someone suggested that introducing him/her/it to the Spider-Girl series might be interesting. I don't want to say much but I was planning to acknowledge that 'saga' at some point in the future. However I hadn't thought much about the possibilities of the suit itself; the film didn't really highlight anything major that I hadn't expected, either. I think there's plenty more I can do with the symbiote in a specific, disguise related capacity than the comics writers or film-makers would ever put their minds to.

After all, they're not quite as specific in their thinking as I am....

Re-releasing: Her Smile

Back when I ran MaskFiction.com and was feeling cocky, I said in some forum or another that I would write stories 'on request' for people.

I think I was hoping other people's specific tastes would be exactly the same as mine, and that I'd enjoy the process... not quite the case. While I did enjoy writing Her Smile, which was the first (and only) 'by request' story I wrote, I couldn't see myself doing it again for someone else... at least not for free.

(So the implicit message here is: I can definitely be bought, people... and I'm sure we can come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.)

Anyway - recently I uncovered some of the my early MaskFiction.com writing and Her Smile, in its complete form, was in there. So it's now posted on Maskingwriter. I thought I'd at least give you something to digest this weekend. Apologies if you already have it on a hard disk somewhere - but if you've never read it before, perhaps it'll be fun for you.

Anyone else seen Spider-Man 3 yet? I imagine so. I'm off in a couple of hours to see it. Wonder if it'll spark any ideas....

Out and about

This weekend is a long weekend here in the UK, with a Bank Holiday stuck onto the end of it... which might normally be excellent news for the fiction writing, but this weekend I'm unusually busy.

Today I'm hiring a car and driving north location for a work-related event, and I won't be back until Saturday night. Tonight and tomorrow night will be free, and the laptop's going with me, so I hope to get some writing done in my hotel - but I doubt I'll be posting any new releases. More on that in a moment.

Sunday and Monday are both currently spoken for, too, although you'll be glad to hear I'm seeing Spider-Man 3 on Sunday, so I sort of see that as research anyway. In addition, next weekend (12th/13th) I'm off for work again (Don't cry for me... I get to go to comics shows) and so right now, I have no idea when the next release will be.

On top of all that... the next issue of Spider-Girl, #5, is sort of special. It's the setup issue for the rest of the arc, which runs for four issues. I may post it and #6 at the same time. The reason will become apparent.

#9 is finished by the way, and #10 is started, although it's been stop-start recently for many different reasons. Anyway I just wanted to give you a heads-up on where I've been, what I'm doing, and what's happening next.

Take care folks - feel free to drop me a comment, or throw me an email - ghostlywriter at g mail dot com.

Particular kinks

It's Saturday, and the wife has gone out for the day, leaving this particularly horny devil alone. So what's a guy to do? Spend time contemplating his navel, of course.

I don't know about you but when I'm 'feeling it' and I'm not in the mood to write (which sometimes doesn't happen when I'm just plain horny, to be honest) I end up wandering the web a lot, often coming back to the same haunts. I expect my stops are much the same as many of you; from YouTube to Yahoo! Groups and back again, with a few side-trips to the odd kinky site.

What I've always found interesting is that there are so many subtle variations on the 'big' fetishes, and that they often have devoted followings. For example I'm very much into my superheroines, as I'm sure will be no surprise to you. Particularly, I'm into superheroine transformations, although more specifically than that I enjoy watching women getting dressed as superheroines. The reason the image at the top of the blog holds so much power over me (of Betty masking as Spider-Girl) is because it's a transformation using clothing.

I'm getting this specific, by the way, because I know there are some people out there who enjoy superheroine transformations, but specifically a la Wonder Woman TV show (spinning, flash of light etc) and She-Hulk (growing stronger and bigger; this links into the superheroines-as-powerful women thing). So already, I'm in a niche of a niche.

It's much the same thing with mask fiction, of course. Although there's plenty of female-to-female mask fiction (and I'm writing it!) generally speaking mask fiction often includes transgender elements. But we're a niche of general TG and TV fiction, a niche which I'm sure plenty of people have no interest in. What I'm writing in Spider-Girl is even more specific; superheroine mask fiction, and specifically F2F. Sometimes it amazes me anyone's even interested in this stuff, as it's so specific.

Then again, the more I look around this world wide web of ours the less I get surprised. It's the connections I find fascinating. Take superheroines: the majority of fetish sites seem to focus on bondage situations (Superheroines in Bondage), or girls-in-peril type stuff (Superheroines Demise). There have been a couple of sites starting recently (like SuperSexyHeroines) where the peril is diminished or even not there at all, but they tend to favour the 'powerful woman' model, which is epitomised in 'musclewomen' sites. There are actually precious few, if any, sites where the prime focus is on superheroine transformations; this has led to me over the years buying subscriptions for sites where I have no interest in the primary subject matter (peril sites, especially) just to find the few photos or videos where a gorgeous gal is pulling on her costume.

There's a popular theory these days which I happen to subscribe to - the idea of the 'Long Tail' where essentially every single taste in the world will eventually be catered to, as more and more of us come together via the internet. Ten years ago when I first found Kerry's home page (with her in Spider-Woman costume and latex mask), and realised that (ye gods) I was not alone in my weird fetish, I never would have thought that today we'd be getting closer and closer to commercial companies taking my fetish on as a money making idea. We've seen it start in Asian countries - it's only a matter of time before it comes over here.

I'll stop here before I start banging a familar drum. But that's just what's on my mind today. What's your thoughts? Do you find your own particular kinks well catered for out there, or do you find yourself wandering the web looking for interesting stops?

Old poll, new poll

Very quickly in and out today. Don't look at me like that, I can totally go for a long time and you know it....

Thanks to all of you who voted on my identical polls here and on Maskingwriter - I appreciate knowing people's thoughts, and I always strive to improve. Here are the combined results:


So come on, who's the wiseass who voted for 'Poor'?? Nah seriously, if you didn't like it - sorry, but please let me know why. (Not accounting for general taste of course. There's plenty of fiction out there I'll never like despite how many masks might be in it.)

Of course with Issue #4 out that means the cycle begins again... so if you've read the issue feel free to give me some feedback in the poll on the right hand side of the main page, here.

Alright, off to work once more. Anyone with money want to be my patron??

Gradual progress

So I finished Spider-Girl Issue #9 last night, which I'll tell you is currently called Double Life. Dun-dun-daaaah!! Yeah I know, that reveals practically nothing, but that's sort of the point... heh.

Took a little longer to finish than I expected, this issue, but I think that might be partially because it's a new arc, so I'm finding my feet with it - and the plot is totally new, too, as I threw out my original Enforcers idea and went with something different (as previously mentioned). I'm looking forward to where this arc's going, but this first issue (of four, probably, for the arc) is mostly just setup. The big payoffs will come in the following issues. Anyway, I wanted to let you know it's still rolling.

In other writing, I've also written a bit more recently on Project T, and that's looking better, too. It's been on the backburner for a while as I've concentrated on Project SG (Spider-Girl) but I wanted to get working on it again. I've replotted the ending, and it's a lot tighter than before... so I'll just keep plugging away at it. I'm planning to release this as one big piece, but as I'm maybe half way through it, with 15k words written, it'll be a while before it surfaces. What I'm absolutely not going to do is release half of it, or something. It's not a serial, it's one piece, and I'm not falling into the 'release a bit of it to get feedback' trap again.

If you're wondering what Project T is about, by the way... well I'm not going to tell you. I will tell you it's primarily focused on male-to-female masking, and that it's more 'R' rated (that's 18 for us Brits, and sorry, I don't know movie ratings elsewhere!) than SG. The story isn't exactly earth-shatteringly original, but I think it's running quite nicely, and I'm enjoying it. Tonally (Wanky Writer Alert!) it's completely different from SG, which is a really nice change when writing.

In fact, I think I'll go tinker with it now. Cheerio!

New release: Spider-Girl, Issue #4

What will the final fate of the Chameleon be? Will Spider-Girl be rid of him forever? And what will happen when Betty Brant gets close to Reed Richards... while disguised as Susan Storm??

All is revealed in...

Issue #4: Exiled

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

Enjoy - comments are welcome as always.

(In case you're wondering, Issue #9 isn't quite done yet... but I've been tinkering on other stuff, too. Never fear, we're all good. More soon.)

Checking in

I almost checked in with you folks last night, as I was attempting to drunk-write, and was going to talk about that experience. But surprisingly after the fog began to roll in I began to get used to the restricted vision, and the ability to write came back. Not before I'd written this sentence though:

Peter Parker paced the perimeter of his paltry parlour as he planned for his partner's presence.

Do you think Stan Lee was ever tempted to do the same? I swear it makes sense in the context of the story. But booze may have had something to do with its creation.

So, Spider-Girl #9 is rolling along, about two-thirds done I think. Not as fast as I like, due to various work hassles leaving me in no mood to create recently, but I'm pushing through.

I'm starting to think that there's really something to the argument that there's no such thing as writer's block - just writers who block. In other words, there's no special force preventing you from writing. It's just you. And sometimes you do literally have to sit at the keyboard for a couple of hours to make that blockage shift. I also find Senokot helps. (If that works too well, try some Imodium AD.)

The point is, sometimes I haven't felt like I was 'in the mood' to write, sat down to do it, and gotten good stuff. Otherwise I feel creative, sit down, and nothing comes out. (It helps then to switch over to things like plots. Sometimes writing is just getting it down, while plotting needs the real creative ideas. Sometimes.)

Anyway. Issue #9, as I say, is almost done. I would imagine it'll be finished before I realise Issue #4, but I also doubt I'm going to be able to keep to a 'finish an issue, release an issue' schedule for all sorts of reasons. So hopefully, look for Issue #4, featuring the final fate of the Chameleon, this weekend on Maskingwriter.

I think that'll do it. Thanks to everyone who voted on the poll, either here or on Maskingwriter. Keep your comments and emails coming, especially if you've got ideas or suggestions for stuff in Spider-Man history that might work well for Spider-Girl.

Oh, and for those of you totally uninterested in Betty Brant, even if she is a mistress of disguise, I'm working on Project T on and off, too. That's pretty much the opposite of SG.