Flexing Your Muscles as an Artist… and I am RIPPED!

As mentioned in my last entry, my first book STOLEN HEARTS: THE LOVE OF EROS & PSYCHE has been published through Campfire, which opens the door for me to talk about what I have been doing behind the scenes for the last year or so.

You can find the book at the following link:
http://www.campfire.co.in/Books.aspx?catid=3

Here a while back, I got hooked in through a comic contact with a company that would eventually become known as Campfire. They are an outfit based out of India looking to break into the educational comic market.
In the first trial run with the company, I adapted a literary classic for them that is going to be published soon. It was a feeling out period for both of us. I was a relatively unknown writer with only a few credits to my name and they were a brand new company I knew nothing about. I am sure they were afraid that I was going to stink as a writer and I was uncertain if they were going to be a fly-by-night operation that might not pay me. (They are based in India and that makes legal recourse really difficult.)
So after that first book, I think the editors realized they had something special. I say this not to brag or anything but I have been screaming inside about taking the comic book industry by storm. Writing comics is what I am supposed to be doing and Campfire has provided me with the largest outlet to do that in my career so far.
And how did I know that they liked me? Because they came back saying, “What do you want to do next?” I kind of shrugged my shoulders and said, “Mythology?” I had always been fascinated with Greek mythology and thought that could be a fairly large avenue for me to conquer. So when they came back with the thumbs up, I suddenly had to scramble to start relearning everything.
Again, time schedules and artist work can be delayed for various reasons so strangely enough, STOLEN HEARTS is my third story for Campfire but it is the first one published. Don’t worry, it just means more stories are coming and my output is going to look insane.
When I first approached my editors about the story, I had just come off a real adrenaline-fueled, hack-and-slash warrior action story with sword fights and monsters. I remember several years ago, I met comic superstar artist Michael Turner at a comic book convention. (He died a while back. Huge loss. Rest well, brother.) I was a budding artist at the time. I remember how he talked about setting a scene for a book in a place with a lot of curtains and drapes because he couldn’t draw them. At the time, I thought, “Why would you intentionally draw something for publication that you can’t draw?” But I understand it now. He wanted to flex his muscles.
My writing for all my comic projects to this point had been action and swords and monsters and magic. Guy stuff. And when I went to go speak at Osage Elementary about writing comics and Greek mythology, girls outnumbered the boys.
Granted, comic books and video games are largely a male dominated field. I think as many girls read Harry Potter as boys. But one girl asked me if there were “girl comics” and that was when I knew that this story would work.
So I flexed my muscles. I wanted to grow as a writer (and as an artist). I wanted to grow as a storyteller. So I thought, why not do a romance? Luckily, Campfire was willing to take the plunge and the result is the book STOLEN HEARTS: THE LOVE OF EROS & PSYCHE… on bookshelves now! (I know it’s a cheap pop. Sue me, my last name is Foley.)
While I am nightmarishly out of shape physically, my storytelling muscles were blasted with cardio with this story and I think I came out quite well. It is a definite departure from the norm for me but I feel it is a wonderful story.
The company did a whole one-page blurb for me in the “About the Author” section. (Personally, I think they should have split the info between the artist and me because we are a team.) But in that section, they mention the forthcoming books for Heracles, Perseus and Theseus. Which pretty much means the cat is out of the bag for those titles. Hopefully I will learn more soon about their release dates.
STOLEN HEARTS is a story that I am tremendously proud of. It is not “my” story. It is a tale over 3000 years old but I feel like I have put my own unique spin on the tale. Nothing was changed from the story. There are no time-traveling cyborgs or lightsabers in it and He-Man doesn’t make an appearance… although that would have been AWESOME! But I feel that the way I have presented the story is very unique. As strange as it sounds, this one is for all the fourteen-year-old girls out there but I certainly hope that everyone enjoys it and comes back for more.
All value-degrading autographs on the book are always complimentary.