the jilted league

You are currently browsing the archive for the the jilted league category.

So now that I’ve finally gotten The Girl Who Would Be King back out to my agent and have settled in for the inevitable “long wait” that is a natural but sometimes frustrating part of the process, I can finally get back to work on NEW work…which is always really fun.

This is my favorite part of the process, when everything is shiny and new.  I suspect that’s true for most creators – whether building houses, or writing novels.

On deck right now are two YA novels I’m very excited about. They’re both very different and I’m having trouble deciding which one to push forward…but that my friends, is a great problem to have.

Anyway, I just wanted to let all of you know that one of the projects I’m deciding between is this one, which some of you so kindly offered encouraging feedback on a few months ago.  I did in fact decide to push forward with it as a novel, and thus, below, meet Tessa and ‘The Black Dove’ (that’s the name of her axe).

Tessa and "The Black Dove"

The other YA novel it’s up against has been in my head for more than 12 years, though it originally was going to be a comic book in my mind, it has since turned into a great concept for a novel series.  I love the characters and the concept, but I confess that the world building (which is major) frightens me a bit.  Still, here’s a peek at an old sketch of the main character Berkeley:

Berkeley 'Berks' Grey

Also in the pipeline, though always more complicated since I’m not enough of an artist (these days especially) to draw my own comics, is a comics mini-series/OGN I’m prepping to pitch.  And here’s an old sketch of that character.  Her name is Emma Elliot and she doesn’t have a badass weapon, but she DOES have a very disturbing magic box. Which is…not a euphemism.  Oh god…stop thinking bad things!  You’re all bad and you need a time out.  Go to your corners!

You're going to have to trust me that there's a very good reason that Emma is in her bra...I promise you it all comes around!

Clearly my poor ladies of The Jilted League are getting jilted yet again.  Val has been right about me all along, I’m a jerk. 

But still…EXCITING SHINY NEW PROJECTS!!!!  WHEE!!!!

So we just cruised past 300,000 hits here on 1979 Semi-Finalist, and it’s kind of a big deal.  Not that 300,000 is some magical number or anything, but a mere 6 months (ish) ago, in July 2009, we celebrated the two year anniversary of this blog – and the fact that we were closing in on 150,000 hits…that’s right, in a little over six months the traffic to this blog was more than what it was in the first TWO YEARS.  And that is some mother fucking progress!

So I wanted to offer up a huge thanks to all of you that have made that happen – and to encourage you to stick with me here – as we’re only going up it seems!

Someone uncork the champagne, you all know I’ll use any excuse to drink some champagne (more accurately, an entire bottle)!

The girls have offered up their congratulations below…and maybe it’s just me, but their enthusiasm seems a little…uh, well…begrudging…if not full on sarcastic.  I mean…look at that sign!  Pitiful.

Then again, maybe they’re just punishing me for using them to continue testing out my Wacom Tablet…clearly, it’s going to take me some time to get better at using it…I may have to find some other less grouchy guinea pigs…

The Jilted League aka The Bimbo, The Bitch, and The Brain aka Olympia, Dina, and Val.  Click to enbiggen! Words and Art by Kelly Thompson.  Colors by Adam Greene.  Thanks Adam!

Well, so much for that.  I sent the ladies to deliver a message and as usual it’s lost in a sea of bitching and moaning.  I hope they’re better superheroes than messengers…time will tell.

So here’s what’s going on with my novel, for those of you who have been asking (you precious but devoted few!).  As some of you already know, I got an offer from an incredibly talented and powerful agent to work exclusively on the revisions to my novel with him.  This essentially means we have both put in considerable time and effort on my book and are both hoping to work together, but we have not signed a contract.  So officially, I’m working exclusively on revisions to my novel with this agent, but technically I do not yet have an agent.  But don’t worry, this is not so uncommon as it sounds.

Anyway, sometime last June the agent and I came to this exclusivity arrangement at which point I began the painful process of waiting for his revision notes.  They arrived in early August and I got to work quickly after they arrived.  The notes were excellent – but much larger in scope than I had expected.  I (finally) finished the revisions (which included cutting about 60 existing pages and adding 130 new pages) at the end of October.  Upon finishing the revision I sent the notes back to the agent to get his feedback, at the same time I sent the revised manuscript to my writing group for a critique.

I have not yet heard back from the agent, though I hope to soon, but Wednesday night I got a very in depth crit from my writing group on the new draft.  Now, I must tell you, it’s pretty scary to wait for a crit like that.  You’ve been pounding away on your keyboard all alone in a room writing 130 new pages that could be brilliant or could be the worst dreck you’ve ever written, and while it seems like it should be obvious which it is, I have to admit that I am wildly inconsistent in how I feel about my work.  I can write an amazing scene before lunch, pat myself on the back as if I’m a genius, go make a sandwich, come back in half an hour, look at the same scene and proclaim myself King of Hacks…the hackiest hacky hack to ever live.  It’s quite a sight.  So suffice to say, I really had no barometer about how those new 130 pages were working.  Some days I felt pretty good about them, some days…not so much.  And since not a single soul in all the world had read them yet…I was pretty anxious to hear what the group thought.

Overall, they really liked the new draft and the change in plot and arc (130 new pages – that’s definitely some changes).  There were problems of course (there always are) and I haven’t yet had a chance to go through all four manuscripts to see their individual page to page notes (which can sometimes be a blow to the ego), but the response was overwhelmingly good…much better than I had expected.  So I’m really happy today.  And really grateful to have such a wonderful group of writers that are supportive and critical.  Joining a writing group was hands down the best thing I’ve ever done for my writing.

So what does all this mean?  It means that I’m not crazy (yay!) and that hopefully the agent I’m working with will feel similarly about the manuscript as my writing group did.  I have no doubt that more revisions will still be needed (not to mention a strong edit – the ms is coming in at a bloated 419 pages right now) but hopefully the agent will be on board for the new direction…and sometime…sometime!…in the relatively near future we can sign a contract and get this book out on submission to publishers. So everyone, please continue to keep your fingers crossed – I know it’s already been about six months – but if you can hang on for three or four more I’d really appreciate it – and hopefully this thing will really get to go somewhere…and if I’m lucky…take me with it.

Thanks for all of your support…and know that by “support” I mean agreeing to buy at least 500 copies of the book each when it finally (hopefully!) sees publication.  :)

*Oh – and click here if you want to know “what happened LAST time” according to Dina in panel two.

YAY!  Today is our two year anniversary!  YAY!

Also, we’re just about to cruise past 150,000 hits…which is awesome considering at the first anniversary we only had 42,000 hits.  Which means traffic more than doubled this year.  So the blog is definitely growing…baby step by baby step and I wanted to thank all of you for your support in making that happen.  Thanks!

Here’s a little something I made for all of you to show my appreciation. :)thank you postable

all-the-girls

A rare one of all of the girls together.  I hate the way Bimbo is drawn here and think she’s evolved, but everyone else looks pretty good.  I also love the fact that it’s completely low-rent and drawn on yellow lined paper…

platinum-assassin

A sketch for the mysterious Platinum Assassin…also on sweet yellow lined legal pad!

evil-catholic-schoolgirls

An older (but respectable enough) character design sketch of Evil Catholic School Girls (from left: Mary Jane, Mary Pat, Mary Rose).  They’re one of my favorite villains for the series…

I’m sorry to keep pouring on the teasers…there really is an actual project in your future dear readers (I swear) but I’m still (yes, still) hip deep in novel revisions, but as soon as I can get clear prepare for the deluge…!

villains-gallery-sketch

I thought you guys might enjoy a teaser sketch for a drawing I’m working on for a Jilted League “Villains Line Up”.

Here we have, from left to right:  ‘The Mos”; Evil Catholic Schoolgirls (Mary Jane, Mary Pat, Mary Rose); MCP aka Male Chauvanist Pig; and The Supermodel and Regular Model.

There are three more pieces to this sketch so far…if you ask nicely maybe I’ll post them in the coming days.  Who knows how long before the final (yes, with color!) drawing goes up.

And please, let’s not hassle me about the fact that all their feet are a bit cut off.  It’s partially the scanning, and it’s partially I’m always bad about getting the feet to fit on completely the page when I sketch…but Adam’s already given me enough crap for that to cover you all…

Have a great weekend everyone.

the-blonde

Daisy Davenport aka The Blonde

Powers:  None.  Paralyzed from the waist down.

Age: 23

Height: 5’6″

Weight: 131 lbs (not including chair)

Eye Color: Green

Hair Color: Blonde

Astrological Sign: Gemini

Favorite Band/Artist:  Daft Punk

Favorite Song: Technologic (Daft Punk)

Favorite Movie: The Usual Suspects

Favorite TV Show: Project Runway

Loves: Herself, surfer boys, dancing, the beach, surfing, money, cars, diamonds,…herself

Hates: Everyone but herself

Most Likely To: “Dump your ass”

Personal Quote: “Get away from me you sheep”

Nemesis: Stairs

Nicknames: Beauty, Blondie, Bitch

Significant Other: No comment

Accomplishments: Student Body President, Swim Team Captain,  Alpha Delta Pi Chapter President.

bimbo1

Powers: Agility

Age: 28

Height: 5’8″

Weight: 153 lbs

Eye Color: Violet

Hair Color: Platinum Blonde

Astrological Sign: Sagittarius

Favorite Band/Artist: Prince

Favorite Song: Closer (NIN)

Favorite Movie: Pretty Woman

Favorite TV Show: Temptation Island

Favorite Color: Red

Loves: Men, women, lollipops, silk sheets, butterflies, flowers, hearts, angels, everything!

Hates: Underwear and mean people

Most Likely To: “BLOW you away”

Personal Quote: “Huh?”

Nemesis: “A man’s right hand”

Nicknames: The Body, Oly, Sure Thing, Lips, Blondie, Tits!

Significant Other: Too numerous to pin down

Accomplishments: US Chess Federation Champion, slept with George Clooney (he denies it)

 

 brain1

Power:  Flight

Age:  17

Height:  5’2″

Weight:  117 lbs.

Eye Color:  Black

Hair Color:  Auburn

Astrological Sign:  Taurus

Favorite Band:  Justice

Favorite Song: D.A.N.C.E.

Favorite Movie:  The Shawshank Redemption

Favorite TV Show: The Venture Brothers

Favorite Color:  Green

Loves:  books, libraries, the internet, the environment, physics, chess, old movies…

Hates:  nuns, religion, and republicans

Most Likely To:  “Run the world from behind the scenes”

Nemesis:  Mary Elizabeth (a fellow schoolmate)

Nicknames:  Brainiac, “HEAD!”, Genius, Velma

Significant Other:  “No comment”

Accomplishments:  Newspaper Editor, Yearbook Editor, FBLA President, Student Body President, Physics Club, Math Club, Spanish Club, French Club, BBLOS Founder (Bring Back Latin To Our Schools)…too many to name.

As I develop the pages for JILTED LEAGUE, I thought I’d give you all a chance to get to know the girls one at a time…so here’s a little bio for your introduction to Val Chase aka The Bitch. 

val-chase1

Name:  Valerie (Val) Chase

Age: 27

Height:  6’0″

Weight:  “Fuck Off”

Eye Color:  Blue

Hair Color:  Black

Astrological Sign:  Cancer

Favorite Band:  Rage Against The Machine

Favorite Song:  How I Could Just Kill A Man (Rage Against The Machine)

Favorite Movie: 28 Days Later

Favorite TV Show:  Law & Order (original version)

Favorite Color:  Black, duh.

Loves:  Not much

Hates:  Almost everything

Voted Most Likely To:  “Kick your ass for no good reason”

Nemesis:  Vic The Virus, and pretty much anyone with a dick

Nicknames:  Badass, Killer, Bitch (obvs)

Significant Other:  None

Accomplishments:  “I haven’t killed anyone…yet.  Oh, and one awesome game of Men’s Varsity Football, my senior year.  Yes, I’m aware it was almost ten years ago…you wanna make something of it?”

« Older entries