THE GENDER BLENDER

Kathryn and I wondered what all the characters would look like, should they be the opposite sex.

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I love Eliza and Riley (so does Kathryn!) especially. :D

New Header

Annoyingly, I'd written out about three paragraphs then accidentally deleted the whole lot of it! So meh to my mouse!

This week Kathryn and I have both been working hard to get some work in before the weeks holiday we have over here in the UK. The work we did (much to our amusement) turned out to be 22 pages each! We've sometimes realised that we've said things in similar ways, or described film sequences in the same order, but I think having one that's the same length is a new one and is quite hilarious when you think about it!

We are very similar. :D

Anyway, so because we've been busy writing these reports and other little things within college that needed to get finished we haven't had a lot of time to concentrate on editing Heartstones (although do bear in mind that it's just about done now!)

But, when we have managed to get the time we decided that we would attempt to design the new header. I personally am extremely fond on the one we have now, but the new one is ten times better and I can't wait to see it! I think the website needs something else adding to it because neither of us are 100% happy with it, and when this new header is finished it may well be what we'd been searching for.

Either that or we just get a new website. It's something we've been considering anyway!

It took us a long time to come up with an idea for it. We knew we wanted it to be dramatic and exciting, but when it came down to actually thinking about what it may be, it was a lot harder than what was expected. We came up with some other ideas and Kathryn drew them (all of which I love in they're own right) but we hadn't got the right one by that point. And so Kathryn and I finished our last day of this half term of college and left for home with the instrcutions that when the burst of inspiration did happen, we were to tell the other immediately. :D

Merely hours later, that happened!

My mother and I were walking around the massive shopping centre we have here, and as my mum was blathering away to me I got an image in my head. It was so sudden and random that I couldn't quite work out where it came from but it's not unusual for me, I can be sitting on a bus or walking through a door (*coughs* to people to have read the script and are Kathryn, there was no pun intended there!) when ideas hit me.

And of course, Kathryn loved it. :D

And I love it.

It's dramatic, intriguing, emotional and exciting and I can't wait to see it when I meet up with Kathryn next week! I don't know if she's finished drawing it yet but you know, I'm excited anyway.

I just want to see it. :) As I'm sure she's the same when it comes to the dramatic, intriguing, emotional and dramatic scene I've written in my notebook! :D And yes Kathryn, I have done it, I'd just fallen asleep before I could reply to your emails last night.

We'd decided a long time ago that it should be something more than just a random header with the characters. We wanted it to be something that fitted into the story, and this one does just that. Although so does the one we have now, but I don't think it's got the “dramatic” factor that Kathryn and I are craving at this moment in time.

I suggested that we could just use the picture I posted on here a few weeks back. But then we realised it was quite a romantic picture, and that just wouldn't fit at all. Much as I love the picture and squee when we think of romantic happenings that could go into the comic and it's characters, this story isn't about a romance, it's about friendships and journeys and sci fi-fantasy happenings that threaten the world!

Everything that Kathryn and I love to watch and read within the films, books and graphic novels we're addicted to. Of course we're not copying things, yes we get inspired by them but we don't ever copy. I love making up ideas that are mine, not someone elses. And I refuse to attempt copy something either.

And that's what this project is about. It's for both of us to make something that we enjoy (and hopefully you will as well) but at the end of the day we're not looking for massive website views or getting it published. Yes of course we've considered this, but this project is going ahead because we love it. If we didn't love it as much as we do then this would have been abandoned years ago.

And only that.

We're making this our own.

Robert and Jane Wedding Picture

Much of the last week has had me stressing about college work, doing college work, calming down about college work and then getting a little bit more stressed again. It's come to the time of year where everything builds up, and everyone starts getting a little stressed and well panics like mad. So, in the midst of all of this I didn't get very much for Heartstones done so I'm glad I got Heartstones V1 finished last week!

Kathryn and I have managed to go and have a lovely afternoon where we both went through the script and edited it. So the moment I've got my work for college finished and to a standard where I'm happy (which will be in the next week hopefully!) I can type up the edits we've done and the drawing of V1 can commence properly! :D

That been said, we do want to show the script to a few people as well so we'll be doing that at some point very soon as well. My mother included... who's just read it within the last minute and who's now said "It's very gripping." Whether it is or not, I don't know, you can decide that for yourself! :P

So my little extra feature this week is Jacks Parents wedding photograph...well drawing. but it's a picture of a wedding photograph that Kathryn drew on a very cold winters day when we were in the library in town. It was very good fun! We were both giggling at Roberts suit and attempting to find the right kind of dress for Jane in some wedding clothes books we found. They're wedding would have taken place in about 1950ish, and also, the little bump you see on Jane is baby Jack. :P

And no! It's not a shot gun wedding!

The characters in this picture just in case you hadn't all guessed, are Robert and Jane Fellows which are Jacks parents.

Volume One is finished!

As the title suggests, I've literally finished the writing on volume one! I've just done it now in the last five minutes. :)

Not a lot has happened in the last week in terms of development, Kathryn and I haven't had enough time to sit down and chat as we've both been busy finishing off work for college. And it's only going to get busier over the next few weeks so I'm very pleased that I've managed to get on with V1 and finish it today.

I can get on with college work properly now without the massive finale floating in my head!

We did however, go to Nottingham last Saturday and we planned out a map of the actual land that Heartstones is set in. We've decided that it's set within a parallel work called Angland (equivelent to England of course!) and those of you who've joined our facebook group will have seen that Kathryn posted the picture of it on there. :)

It was very interesting to discuss the other day and I feel that Heartstones, yet again, came out much more developed than it was before.

but never mind that! I say that all the time! How many times do I get to say that:

I'VE FINISHED THE SECOND DRAFT OF VOLUME ONE AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Onto Volume Two now! :)

Emotional Jack and Eliza picture

Although I have also added this picture to the Heartstone Odyssey website, I wanted to write about this in it's own blog because it's one of my favorite pieces she's done. Interpret whatever it is you think is going on, in whatever way you want. I know Kathryn and I interpreted it (which I don't think was necessarily intentional as I didn't write something for it to be like this) as though something really bad had/is going to happen to Eliza and Jack.

You could possibly also interpret this as a romantic picture and it'd be great to see what other people think to what's going on/what's happened for them to look so sad. if you have a suggestion then get in contact!

Enjoy the picture! It's now my computer Desktop on my mac! :)

This weeks blog update: <<< there.

The End of Volume 1

As the title suggests, the end of V1 is near. I've gotten past my personal aims, hit another dead end but sorted it out fairly quickly and Kathryn and I are now in planning and talk for the finale of the volume. I know how it's going to end, I've always known it. But now it's come to it, Kathryn and I have had to talk about the whole scenario and discuss exactly what is going to happen. Just because it's such an important part of the story and we want and need to get it right.

Because the story, characters and art deserve it to be the best it could possibly be.

The thing about me (and Kathryn for that matter!) is that we both love dramatic, tense things that make you lose your breath for a moment. And if there's one thing I wish to achieve with this ending is that we both do that. And of course you readers will hopefully do the same thing!

At least, that's the intent. :P

So, I really hope that when I sit down and write the ending (which will hopefully be tonight or another few days in the next week because it's not far off at all!) I get the adrenalin rush that I always do when I write scenes like the ending of V1 is going to be.

We had another trip to the cinema, where as usual we find ourselves chattering away in the cafe after the film. And we talked about Heartstones. In fact that's all we've done all week, and because of this, we've wound up developing the world, characters, story and art even more. We've been working on this project for two years, so it's hilarious when we say something else and decide that we hadn't gotten answer for it. So therefore make one up straight away and the whole thing is just so much more developed.

We find it brilliant and strangely amusing all at the same time.

I love it.

When this project was started I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know anything about how to write a graphic novel script, I didn't know that there needed to be a bit more planning involved on more lengthy projects such as this. And I certainly never expected to find this world inside my head that sometimes feels as though it's real.

We know the characters so well now, I can hear them speaking themselves. Sometimes I wonder whether it's this lot in my imagination that are writing this story.

And I suppose in some regards they are!

I'm signing off and probably now going to spam the website with a load of drawings Kathryns now scanned! And yes, it is my upmost pleasure to announce that the artist now has a scanner of her very own!

There's nothing holding us back from doing this comic now!

ON WE GO! :D

Kinds of Writers

There are two kinds of writers. One kind of writer sits down and researches something. They then go onto days, weeks, maybe even years of vigorous planning to make they’re story. And in some ways it’s probably easier because you sit down and know exactly what it is you’re going to write.

Then there’s the other kind of writer who doesn’t plan things because they don’t like it. They just get an idea and write away.

There’s nothing wrong with either of them of course! I always think that whatever suits you are fine and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.

So whilst Kathryn and I were sitting in a restaurant in Soho (with very sore feet and student prices of course!) on Saturday night, we were discussing the kind of writers there were. Kathryn also writes, as I also draw, and we’ve both deciphered that we’re the second kind of writer.

And this is where I’m going to contradict myself.

I like not knowing what I’m going to write, for small things. I like making up scenes and situations and just sitting down and seeing where my hands guide me. Of course, when it comes to bigger stories I’ve discovered for me that there needs to be a little bit of planning in order for things to work.

This is just so that there are less continuity errors, the story makes sense and characters don’t get forgotten about! I’m not ever going to be someone who sits down and plans things out so vigorously I know what the characters are going to say, but I do plan things out so that I know the essential plot points for each volume.

Then I leave the rest to my imagination. And I like that, because when I write action scenes I feel as though my heart is pounding and have adrenalin running through me, even though all I’ve done is sit down in my living room chair and write. If it’s dangerous then I have fear inside me. If there’s something sad, I feel it and get sad or low. If it’s funny I laugh and get looks from whoever else is in the room with me and if it’s romantic I squee for my characters.

That’s why I found myself getting more and more excited with the last scenes I was writing. They’re very thrilling scenes and I can’t wait to open the file in a moment and type out even more of it. Especially now it’s getting towards the end of V1, obviously I won’t say what happens but I know that I’ll come out of the other end of it and feel so excited/tense/thrilled by what had happened.

This is how I’m writing Heartstones, by a little bit of planning (very, very small amount which then probably changes anyway) and a very, very, very, large sum of imagination.