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!

Psych

As I said earlier, two years is a bloody long time to go without releasing anything new, so I've dug around and came up with a short I'll call 'Psych'. You can get it on the Yahoo! Maskingwriter group - here's the link to the folder:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/maskingwriter/files/GhostlyWriter/Misc/

You'll obviously need to be a group member to get it.

For a little more background - Psych is a sort-of prequel to The Babysitter, in that it features a very early, proto-version of the main character in Babysitter. After I wrote this I sort of 'got' where I needed to start Babysitter, and things went along from there. However I'd caution you that this shouldn't be taken as the first part of Babysitter, not by a long shot. The story doesn't continue from this point (or even reference this, at least not so far). So it's a sort of stand-alone story that has similar motivations.

Ah whatever, it's something I had lying around that you might enjoy... let's leave it at that.

Right, back to writing so it's not another two years before you see something new!!

Two year anniversary of... nada

I realized, sort of by accident, that tomorrow will be my two year anniversary... of releasing no new writing. The last thing that went public was the last issue of BBSSG, issue #20.

Err, sorry?

I look around at the 'scene' (not that there's much of a scene... more of a Yahoo! Group and a couple of websites where you might get mask fiction... occasionally... by accident) and I wish there was more stuff to read and enjoy, but I guess I'm as guilty of this as anyone else. I have some bloody good excuses for not churning out the words in the past two years, but... whatever, you don't want to hear that.

As I've said before, I'm still hammering away with 'the Babysitter' (and I really must come up with a better title... as it's really not about babysitting any more). It's really all I've been working on, although I have got two-and-a-bit issues of BBSSG done sort of at the same time.

I'd love to tell you I'm mere months from finishing the Babysitter, but I'd be lying. It's got a long road ahead, although I think it'll be worth it.

Still, two years is a long-ass time and I want to reward your patience, somehow. So... come back later this week and I'll try and do... something. I have no idea what. And I need to cook dinner.

Busy in the wrong way

Busy month for me, work wise. Not so busy writing wise.

As I should have always known was going to happen, I got to the end of 'Part I' of Babysitter and wham - hit a wall. I know what happens next (kind of) but I'm debating all sorts of stuff - which PoV to write Part II in, whether I need an interlude between I and II, whether I want the protagonist to tip his hand early, etc etc.

In the meantime I'm scribbling down ideas for scenes in Part II, all of which are very kinky and fun, I assure you. Unfortunately, things aren't moving forward at the rapid clip I hoped for.

It's tough sometimes to strike the balance between scenes that you want to write because they're very sexy in your mind, and scenes that actually advance the plot. Might sound ridiculous, I realize, but I do like to have the characters inhabit a world that sort of makes sense, at least in terms of motivations and so on. We'll all assume the amazing mask thing is a given.

Anyway, someone asked for an update and that's it.

Oh also: try not to play too many videogames when you're supposed to be writing. Also: don't be married. Also: don't have a job. All of these things are just distractions.

Edit: Of course, I've written about this 'striking a balance' thing before. Who knew there was content buried in this thing?

Interested in advice?

I am a conceited ass sometimes. I state this up-front, for those of you who read this and think "Who the hell does this guy think he is?" Let's just be clear: I think I'm full of myself. Sometimes.

With that out of the way...

I've thought for a while that, if people are interested, I could potentially do a series of articles giving out advice for how to write mask fiction. (Or, more specifically - and this is the 'ass' part -how to write better mask fiction.)

Would anyone care? Is anyone even interested in the advice? Is anyone reading who's thinking "I'm interested in writing this stuff but I don't know where to begin?"

If not, no problem. I've got plenty of other things to occupy my time. But if you are interested, speak up....

More progress, and a warning

Here's my thinking. I'm happy to say I'm still marching forward on the Babysitter. It's starting to get into a nice steady rhythm, and that pleases me. Fingers crossed it'll continue as it has been.

I'm now closing in on 45K and the official end of the first part - but really, it's the first half. I have many, many ideas for part two, where the 'action' really gets going and our 'babysitter' takes up residence.

But did you notice the word 'half' in there?

This is pretty much turning into a novel. By the end it'll be a good 200 page story, if we assume standard paperback page sizes. I'd love to tell you that'll be completed next month, or even the month after that, but I don't think it's going to happen. Realistically I can't even guarantee it'll be done this year.

However - despite the fact that I am approaching a perfect point to release Part One as-is, I'm not going to do it. Believe me, I am tempted. I need feedback. I crave it. But I'm scared that if I do that, I'll never finish Part Two. And you want a finished story, right?

In the meantime though, I'll be sharing it with some very select people...

... and maybe they'll share their thoughts.