AMBER LOVE 10-JULY-2013 The creator of SOUTHERN DOG and COBBLE HILL comes back to VODKA O’CLOCK to discuss his newest comic AFTER HOUDINI. You may remember JEREMY HOLT from his past appearances on this podcast. His historical fiction about Harry Houdini and his son is compelling and driven through a more focused plot than any attempts to cover all aspects of Harry’s life.
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Because Jeremy found there was almost too much material to cover on Harry Houdini, he invented a son and gave himself the freedom to explore the world of espionage and illusion. Jeremy sprinkles in the facts and real life figures like an actual President but obviously inventing the entire actions and dialog of that are needed to propel the story.
AFTER HOUDINI is currently planned as a miniseries but the creators are open to following up with additional story arcs if it works out. Jeremy’s other projects have been halted because, fortunately for them, his artists tend to get busy with bigger paid work.
“Honestly, I want an artist to feel invested. I want it to be completely collaborative because, ya know, I’ve done the whole page rate and I respect people that go down that route and only work that way, but I never got good results from artists working that way. And I want to share that ownership with someone. It just makes it more fun.†~JH
AFTER HOUDINI will be available through Challenger Comics which is a self-publishing route instead of Comixology because Jeremy and his artist Kevin are first releasing the book as black and white. The tentative plan is to continue issuing the chapters in black and white and then have a color collected version when the arc is finished.
Of course I can’t possibly discussion magic, illusions, and mentalism without bringing up my crush, Derren Brown. Go look up his stuff on YouTube. There’s plenty there but his specials are on iTunes and a complete blast to watch. Another favorite is Apollo Robbins who was the consultant/trainer on one of my favorite shows LEVERAGE where he got to teach the cast how to pickpocket and other sleight of hand techniques (prestidigitation). If you’re into card tricks that are mindblowing, Derek Delgaudio is a fascinating person who is recognized by the Conjuring Arts Research Center. One of the shops that still keeps magicians relevant is the Martinka shop which was one time owned by Houdini himself. All today’s magic performers owe at least some influence to him.
Something that might surprise you is how afraid of the dark both Jeremy and I are. We have no problem admitting it. Whether it’s THE SHINING or TWILIGHT ZONE, there are certainly variations on what’s scary. As you may have heard CABIN IN THE WOODS is becoming an amusement park attraction. You won’t find me there.
Jeremy’s siblings are a doctor, a lawyer, a lead texture painter, and a fitness center owner. He does see them as more professionally accomplished. To overcome this, he realized where he was too focused on things that took up energy he could put to some other direction. His route: create new stories. Since his artists from other stories were pulled away on other projects, all he could do was make new stories and essentially start the process over. Jeremy also found himself spending too much time thinking about being a published writer rather than producing work.
“Anyone who wants to write comics, don’t focus on getting published.†~JH
Jeremy attributes the following to Brian Michael Bendis: “Every day you’re not writing, someone else has your dream job.â€
If you’re a writer, have you ever created a character that didn’t turn out the way you initially planned? Did you like them or hate them in the end?
LINKS:
Jeremy’s columns about breaking into comics, STRANGE LOVE
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.