Cloaked Jack and Eliza:

Well... this is a new outfit design for Jack and Eliza I suppose!

I wondered about whether I should give Jack a hood and scarf and we both decide that Eliza's outfit should change half way through the comic. This picture was done a few weeks back, and I love it! I just love Jacks hood, it's very effective! :D

Plus Kathryns design for Eliza is brilliant, it's still victorian yet not in the obvious corset over the top dresses way! :D *loves it*

She may well be wearing something like this in the comic at some point hopefully!

It's also half of a little comic that Kathryn did (from a short story I wrote) but, the problem is, if I were to type it up for all to see the story (not the picture fortunately!) would reveal a massive spoiler. And I really wouldn't want to ruin it all before it even started!

picture here! :D

Prospects of imagination

This week I've gotten to page nine of the new volume one script! I did want to get more done, but half term proved to be a lot more packed out than I originally imagined. In fact everythings got so much busier, I almost completely forgot to update!

Very unlike me I tell you!

So what's been going on?

Well... like I said, I finished nine pages of v1 script. I'm on track (even if I wanted to spend more time writing!) so that's all good. The only thing I'm having a problem with at this moment in time is choosing the look and feel of the first part of the story.

Those of you who read the script last week will know that there's something to do with a door. And I need to decide whether we're going for a "dark and gloomy" look or whether we're going for something slightly different.

The first 11 or so pages are so crucial for the storyline that I need to get it right. Either I go for full blown scar, dark and gloomy or I go for something and slowly build the tension up.

One things for certain, this comic certainly isn't something light hearted. The way it's going to end for example is pretty horrific actually. But you'll all have to wait and see for that! And yes, that includes people who have already read the script! :P

Oh, except Kathryn. :P She knows what's happening but then she's the artist so she needs to know the basics of it!

Kathryn also stated that she thinks Jack needs a new haircut, but we're both too reluctant to resdesign him!

I love that guy!

Even if he is a prospect of my imagination... (I liked that phrase so much I decided to call it just that!)

We also discussed the actual design of one of the main supernatural beings in the comic (:P Yes I'm not naming anything! It'll spoil it!) because we both came to realise that:

a. they'd changed since the beginning.
b. we hadn't actually come up with a "proper" design on paper because we loved the character designing/ world building so much.
c. They're the most difficult thing to describe in the history of story telling.

I don't know how on earth I'd describe them to someone... I imagine saying something along the lines of:

"Well... they're these supernatural beings that...hang on, they're not exactly beings... OH BUGGER! Right...well you'll need to read the script to get any kind of grasp on what they do.. it's so hard to explain."

Script preview:

I decided the other day that it was about time people started seeing a little bit more of the story. It's a slight worry of mine that we're putting up all of this content for people who don't have any idea what on earth the story is or the characters are.

And because, as I stated last week, the script is now getting rewritten. I'm posting a little bit of the first few pages of the script for all to see. Now, one thing you have got to realise here is that the script is old, and the new script is different.

So, here's the first few pages of the old prologue for all to see. *ducks under something and doesn't come out for a long time.* I'm slightly nervous...

Pages 3-6 of the Prologue: Volume One:

Page 3

3.1 Trees, surrounding a small
church in the countryside.

Caption: Ashes to ashes, dust to
dust...

3.2 Jack, as a seven year old boy
holding his mothers hand at
the funeral. Jack holding the
ring on a necklace wrapped
round his neck tightly.

Caption: There comes a time, when
every one must leave home.

3.3 Jack and his mother Jane,
walking down a graveyard path.
Jack looking ever so slightly
older/taller (he’s now nine
years old.)

JANE:
You’re father loved you very much
Jack.

3.4 A bright light coming into
view, a small door forming in
the middle.

3.5 Jack covering his eyes from
the light.

3.6 Jack looking at the door,
running towards it.

3.7 Jane, reaching out for Jack
as he runs for the door.
Terrified she was going to
lose him.

JANE:
Jack no!!!!


Page 4

4.1 Victorian city, storming with
black mystical like creatures:
The Shadows. Like a ghost
forming on the ground as a
big black shadow chasing after
someone.
Caption: The Shadows. They come
every time.

4.2 The shadows terrifying people
in the middle of the street.
Caption: Terrorising people...

4.3 A man laying dead in the
street.
Caption: Taking their lives.

4.4 The door, formed in the middle
of a wall on a house.
Caption: It’s a mysterious world.
Everyone’s knows that.

4.5 Mrs Hattigan, taking Jack by
the hand gently.
MRS HATTIGAN:
Come along Jack. We’ve been
waiting for you.
JACK:
Where’s Mummy gone?

4.6 Mrs Hattigan introducing Jack
to Henry in the middle of a
kitchen somewhere.

Caption: They come every ten
years.

Page 5

5.1 Eliza standing in the middle
of some kind of field,
Supernatural beings on one
side, and shadows, coming from
the other.
Caption: There’s going to be a
war.

5.2 Close up on Eliza’s face,
in the midst of the
supernatural/shadow beings.

5.3 Jack walking amongst the
supernatural beings, looking
slightly worried.
Caption: He doesn’t know that I
made a promise.

5.4 A light above Eliza, Jack in
the fore gorund seeing her.
Caption: The end is drawing near.
JACK:
Eliza, wait!!

5.5 Eliza, looking round, smiling
slightly at Jack. The light
from above illuminated off her
face.
Caption: They talk of underworlds,
and of gods watching over us day
by day. When the world goes black
from your eyes...

5.6 Jack running over to her. Caption: what will happen?
Panel Description Dialog

Page 6

6.1 Jack grabbing old of Eliza’s
arm, white light surrounding
them.
Caption: When everything ends?

AN: Whoever it was that said there's a lot of "Jack did this" and "Jack did that" was so right! I think it's safe to say I've developed quite a lot since I wrote this :P I can't wait to go to uni and learn more about Graphic Novels...well and writing in general. :)

The metaphorical (of course!) death of Mrs Hattigan

When I started this project in 2008, I never really knew how much planning had to go into it. Of course I should have realised it, but I didn't. And three and a quarter volumes later I've found myself realising that perhaps there are things that need to be changed.

The whole point about this came about when I said to Kathryn I needed to cut it down the other day. We then spent the next hour (and would have spent a lot longer if we weren't seen a film :P) planning and drafting out the important parts of the story and changing it.

I suddenly realised that it took three volumes to get to some answers. Which really did consist of three hundred pages of "why are we doing this?" "what are the shadows?" (more to come about those! :P) and just general questions.

There are of course webcomics who manage to get away with slower moving storylines. The Pheonix Requiem for example, that's fairly slow moving (yet incredibly gripping all the time, as you may have seen it's my favourite webcomic) and I really admire Sarah Ellerton for managing to tell the story like that. But for Heartstones I don't think the slower paced kind of storyline would work. We're new at this, we don't know how to do it so we need to make the story a bit shorter and faster paced and also one that makes more sense for the readers (and to Kathryn and I!)

For example there are a lot of questions raised within the first chapter and some of these questions don't really answered until the beginning of VOlume three and I just thought it took too long to get to them. Although someone could argue that it was good like that becuase it set up tension within the storyline but then I realised that there's also several different kinds of tensions. Some of you may have seen that there's a character called Mr Stanter, obviously I can't say too much without giving away spoilers but he's one of the villains in the story. At least he was until the other come (remaining un named! :P) came along and then he sort of fisseled out a bit.

So he doesn't play as bigger role in the third volume as he did in the first, so therefore I want to go back and change it so that all the villains are slightly more connected and it makes more sense.

Mrs Hattigan is also another character that fisseled out as the story developed. At one point she was a main character and was there constantly within the story but then it developed we changed it and she didn't really have a purpose to the storyline anymore so we decided to change it, and cut her character out completely.

I think the fact that the story is getting changed (in terms of getting out the bits we don't need and changing it so it makes more sense :p) then the characters will slightly too. So I think I'm going to find it quite interesting to see how they've changed. :)

It may seem like I'm being quite radical or harsh (maybe even shocking) about this. I don't think anyone I spoke to this week about Heartstones quite saw this coming. But it's a nessisary change and I hope that we'll have a better, more structured story when I've finished it.

We want Heartstone Odyssey to be the best it can be. So we're aiming to get the story exactly right so when it comes to Kathryn drawing it, it'll be fantastic.

Pictures! :D

There's been a lot of squeeing over certain pictures (which Kathryn has then adapted for Heartstones) for Kathryn and I. I think it's safe to say that we're both obsessed with this little universe we've created together. So we wind up with pictures a bit like this:




In case you didn't already know this, Kathryn and I are Whovians. Which means that I obsessively buy myself Doctor Who magazine every month and in the January issue (I think!) there's a picture of the Master and the Doctor. Looking just like that above, and I decided that I loved it so much Kathryn had to draw Kandower and Jack like that.

So she did.

Oh and, since we're on the topic of Doctor Who. The Doctor gets quite battered in one of the episodes (I won't say which one in case there's someone who hasn't seen it!) and well... because I seem to squee when the heroes get hurt...Kathryn did this (and she squees too! :P) Oh and the bottom left hand picture is also Jacks new profile picture. :)



Like I stated above, Jacks profile picture is from that one above. That's another thing we did this week (although granted those pictures were done a few weeks ago, we just uploaded them yesterday...I think) get the character profile pages sorted out. So I'm hoping (because as I write this I haven't uploaded Jacks yet!) that the characters page will look a bit more orderly!

Writing wise there hasn't been a lot happening. But then that's what happens when you read a book and get so into it you can't think of anything else (or write anything else but something related to sky ships!) but I did come up with a way of planning the last volume. One that actually seemed to work for me so when I do open up the document again I'll know just what to write and where it's going. :)

Plus I've just thought of a massive twist... which again is influenced by a picture that Kathryn did yesterday (and I loved so much I made her scan it and print it off for me haha. :P)

Enjoy the art! I love it. :)

More next friday!