New release: Spider-Girl, issue #21

Betty has finally returned from Gotham City, having helped cage the Chameleon once more. In her absence, Susan Storm, AKA the Invisible Girl, 'kept up appearances' as Spider-Girl - and in the process, may have gotten Betty into more trouble than she'd like....

Issue #21: Imaginary Friends

Download from Maskingwriter (Yahoo! Group)

Unbelievable! A new issue! Only two years after the last one! This is getting to be like real comics with these delays! Seriously, for the one or two of you who still care... thank you for waiting!

The good news for you stalwart fans is that this arc is seriously advanced, with about two, almost three more issues in the can. (It's hard to tell just how many as I'm juggling what goes where right now. Aiming for it to be three more issues but it might stretch to four.) So I'm hoping to release following issues, probably once a fortnight, until this arc is done.

After that - I warn you in advance - the series is probably going to go on hiatus again as I try and switch focus back to my novel-in-progress. This was just an itch I had to scratch and hopefully this will scratch it, at least for a while.

Getting back to this issue; this picks up right where the 'Crossover' arc left off, so if you haven't read that in a while (say, two years) you might want to refresh your memory before diving back in. This issue ties up a few things but also sets the stage for the introduction of a classic villain... you'll see exactly who at the end of the issue.

As usual, all the back issues are available at Maskingwriter (membership required). Going forward I'm not going to be using steekr - I never got any feedback on it, and I have other methods in the works to get the issues to you outside of Yahoo!. (BTW if you've tried to sign up to Maskingwriter and got rejected, it was by me. I assure you it only happens if your age isn't displayed in your profile.)

Last but not least - if you enjoy, please do leave a comment below, and click on an ad - thank you!

Now on Tumblr

Blogger's a little cumbersome for quick and easy "I found this" posts, so I set myself up on Tumblr.

See you there maybe?

Messin' with the blog

I came home ready to write tonight, but for some reason when I hit the keyboard, it wasn't coming. It's not writer's block - I'll get back to it later - but it was a good excuse to spring-clean the blog here, which I'd been meaning to do for a while.

Apart from re-arranging, cleaning out the clutter on the right hand side and giving the whole thing a damn good thrashing (ahem) I added yet another exciting way for you to interact with me here. Under every post now you'll see something called 'Reactions' where you can check a box and leave an opinion on the post. It doesn't require a login or anything, it's totally anonymous... so for all you lurkers, here's a chance to say something. Without... saying something.

Of course, I always love to hear from people via email (ghostlywriter AT g mail DOT com) and in comments - but here's a new alternative. So tick those boxes! (And also let me know if you want alternative... reactions. Like, say, 'Meh'.)

Right, back to the real work.

Fave Betty bits?

I'm writing issue #23 of BBSSG* right now, and for reasons I won't go into for fear of spoiling it, I'm referring to a lot of the previous issues to make sure I get details right.

One of the pleasures for me of having, well, quite a lot of issues behind me is that I get to revisit favorite pieces of writing and, usually to my surprise, find they don't suck. I've written so much of this stuff I genuinely forget whole scenes.

Got me to wondering: what are some of your fave bits of the series? (This is of course, assuming you've even read it. If for some strange reason you tuned in during the last two years - which we'll refer to as the Great GW Drought from now on - then this might not make any sense. And if you do intend to read the series over at Maskingwriter, well, huge spoilers below.)

Some of mine?

• The Chameleon becoming Betty, in issue #1
• Betty and Susan getting it on for the first time in issue #3
• Betty's gradual transformation into Gwen, as she seduces Peter, in issue #6
• Betty and Susan getting it on for the second time in issue #7
• The Green Goblin's defeat in issue #8
• Betty becoming Gwen full-time in issue #9
• Betty becoming her brother, Bennett, in issue #11
• Betty invoking the Chameleon in issue #12
• The Chameleon becoming Catwoman in issue #15
• Betty becoming Batgirl in issue #17
• Catwoman's seduction of Barbara Wayne in issue #18

... and as they say on the commercials, many, many more. Any of these ring bells? Any other scenes you particularly enjoyed?

* BBSSG = Betty Brant, the Sensational Spider-Girl. I'm careful in referring to the series by acronym, mostly, because frankly I don't need the Google traffic.

Two random cuttings

I was hit by inspiration on Spider-Girl a couple of weeks ago, so Babysitter is currently on hold while I try and finish this arc. As I've said before this arc has been a merciless bitch to plot, so I'm really glad it's coming together (and even more glad that I'm getting to include all of the kinky shit I wanted to...).

Anyway here are two pieces of random text that have been cut from the final issues - ie, these scenes won't be in the final version. First one is from issue #22, which is finished, and the second is from issue #23, which I'm about two-thirds done with.

Just so you know, both of these excerpts contain fairly major spoilers - even though these pieces won't be in the final issues, they still contain plot details. So if you don't want to be spoiled... stop reading!