Flying in a Blue Dream

Sam goes crazy and starts pushing not only the limits of his newfound ability, but of his own taboos; from going through a wall, to semi-naked on a crowded street during the day. I was tempted to have him flying over the city, but I decided to use more quirky images to show different levels of freedom. I can’t just wrap my head around an image of a fat guy in his underwear flying over London. Quirky? Sure, but the flying part somehow didn’t sit well with me. It’s like in “the Matrix,” I understand what the filmmakers are trying to say by having Neo zooming through the sky, but to this day I still feel it went too far… and I love the Matrix. So I’ll settle for our would-be-vampire sitting on one of Big Ben’s hands overlooking the city. Originally it was set to be Tower Bridge, but the idea of the white background silhouetting our boy in the distance was too compelling to miss.

This is the last page of the year. I’m off for a few weeks, but fear not, we’re far from done with this little tale of supernatural intrigue. So wherever you are, whatever you celebrate (and even if you don’t), have a great holiday and a wonderful new year. I know I will. I can’t ever thank you enough for your readership, your patience, and kind emails. Peace to all. I’ll see you in the page.

Oddman Out

Climbing Up the Walls

It can be said that focus defines our reality. The only difference between page 71 and 72 is the fact that, in page 71 our friend is lost, but in page 72 he has a purpose. It’s still his living room and he’s still a recluse, but the situation has changed due to his newfound motivation.

I’m always amazed at the things that come out of our subconscious when we express ourselves through art. In page 71 Sam’s life is in chaos and the payout of the page reflects that. By page 72 he finds a horizon and the layout reflects that as well. I wish I could claim that it was all planned, but the truth is that it’s the product of another “happy accident.” This makes me wonder if somehow we get tuned in to some sort of collective consciousness in which these ideas flow from the ether into our world, who knows? It’s a nice idea anyway.

I want to get one more page up before I’m gone for the holidays. I’ll see you in the page.

Oddman Out

Pagan Poetry

With this page, I really pushed the level of abstraction in order to convey the passage of time. The interesting thing is that in the main panel (the big one) I had done all this detail about Sam’s apartment, but after I was done with the “overexposure” treatment, a lot of it was lost. I had to remind myself the Metasearch maxim, “it’s all about the mood.” After all, that’s why I chose to do this book in such an unorthodox way. In a way, conveying a feeling to a reader is more important to me than the hope that someone notices the magazines Sam reads, or a trail of cigarettes that leads to a pile on his table.

I’ve always admired the ability some artists have to convey something that is actually not obvious. We all remember a movie for being to bloody, or too terrifying, or too graphic when in fact, if we see them again, all of it was suggested rather than shown. So I rather the reader feel Sam’s depression and despair and create their own image of the details of his life, than go through the process of spoon-feeding them. The details might be lost on some, but the mood of the scene is harder to dismiss.
Suggestion always beats presentation, at least in my book. I’ll see you in the page.

Oddman Out

Cancer

I can’t help but to smile every time I hit a tenth page. You can call it the “decimal joy,” but since Metasearch is delivered in pages, every tenth one is a little landmark to me. Back from abroad, at least for a little while, I made a commitment to produce as many pages as I can before I’m off again until next year.

When I wrote “Reverie” I decided to so in an unorthodox manner. For example, even though the project’s name is “Metasearch,” it doesn’t really focus on the team of psychics. We barely get to know them, as there is no “origin story.” It is implied that this is not their first case, and their development is more professional than character driven. This bothers some readers because they want to know more. This, of course, was done by design and not some relapse in plot development. Another interesting choice is that the story is told by a secondary character, and a victim as discussed before on this blog. Lastly, since I don’t want to dissect the whole plot, it is intended that we don’t get to know anything about the antagonist until later in the book. I thought it would be interesting to go back to the genesis of the case at a later stage of the story. Enjoy the new page. More to come.

I’ll see you in the page.

Oddman Out