Elves, by Andy the Octopus

It’s a little bit hard for me to share my rough drafts. I think that’s a byproduct of my creative process, such as it is; an audience makes it harder, the same way that dreams, so vivid and real when you first wake up, start to fade and slip away once you try to share them in the morning. If I keep them to myself, though, I can hold on for just a little bit longer; I can close my eyes and nudge the edges of my memory just a little bit further out, shuffling the words around and trying to piece them together in that not-quite-certain way until they feel “about right”. For any given story, I’m usually able to count the number of people who’ve seen previews on one hand, and one or two (if that many) get to see me working on it.

Finding artists is only a little bit easier. I have a little bit of a love-hate relationship with handing a story to an artist for illustration. On the one hand, I like to give them a lot of creative liberty, just for the chance to see my work through someone else’s eyes, but I can’t help sometimes but feel a little anxiety, wondering if it will come through just right.

I got very lucky with my friend Andrew Skelton (“Andy the Octopus“, as he’s dubbed himself). He’s been a good friend of mine for over a decade now, and I bounced quite a few drafts off of him, tuning as I went, so it was only natural that I offered him one version to illustrate.

He’s done a great job of setting the scene…

Elves, by Ten-Chan

Back near the beginning of the month, I asked Ten-Chan to illustrate her pick of the four Elves versions, leaving most of the specifics open to her best artistic judgment. Yesterday morning (I suppose I should say “Monday morning”, by now), I opened my laptop to find her finished art waiting for me, and I think I can safely say that it’s been well worth the wait. Click through the thumbnail to see for yourself.

At the moment, I plan to commission a different artist for each version of Elves, but I’m not sure. Either way I’m sure I’ll have Ten-chan return in the future. What do you think?

A Last Fiery Gasp of Summer

It is the last fiery gasp of summer 2009, and it is too hot to move. I am a child of the desert, of the dry Bakersfield heat, and ninety-five degrees is almost comfortable, but humidity makes me sweat; it makes me sticky; it makes me miserable. I throw my shirt across the room and sprawl in bed, over the covers. The fan beside my bed sweeps its meager breeze up my chest, across my face, and I close my eyes.

Elves

Love is blind and knows no gender. There are four versions of this story.

Elves

Love is blind and knows no gender. There are four versions of this story.