AMBER LOVE 01-MAR-2014 Returning to VODKA O’CLOCK is writer/model LELA GWENN who gives updates on her Nerd Bondage Projekt and her current comic book series BORN DARK which is on Kickstarter. BORN DARK is being illustrated by long time comic book artist RICHARD CLARK and edited by ADAM P. KNAVE, both past guests on the show.

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I love the fact that someone as talented as Lela still has incredibly awkward fangirl moments. No matter how long you’ve been around in the convention scene, it’s a very energizing thing to feel that uncontrollable swell of excitement meeting icons in the industry. We talk about a couple of those moments we’ve shared.

In the knitty-gritty of running a Kickstarter campaign from the point of view of the writer with the original story, we get into Lela’s personal philosophy about hiring the rest of the creative team as opposed to asking people to work for free upfront and getting percentages of the backend sales. We also chatted about how to market a campaign without being too annoying.

This week at the ComicsPro convention, Image Publisher Eric Stephenson made some controversial remarks about intellectual property comics calling them “not real” comics. Through some interpretation it seems he meant that they aren’t ways to rely on getting new comic readers but that’s not really how he said it. Lela and I give our two cents on this and his obvious statement that there’s a market for women — something ignored or berated when women say it.

In the details of BORN DARK, there’s our real world and a goblin world which can be seen through mirrors and only certain people have the ability to see it. Her reluctant hero Malcolm had his own unfortunate dealings with Bulvis the goblin and now Jacob, the 11-year-old foster kid, is faced with similar decisions to make. I had to “go there” and find out what was significant about age 11 in Lela’s past that would influence her in writing this story about facing danger and making tough decisions. Her real life story about that moment is scary as hell.

“It takes those kinds of scars to make a writer, a writer or an artist, an artist.” ~LG

To wrap up, Lela shared the story of her Irish family curse!

Amber: “I’m not aware if I have a family curse.”
Lela: “Well, you should get one. It’s pretty cool!”

LINKS:

@LGwenn @zipyrich @adampknave
borndarkcomic.com

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.