My Documentary

By this time next week in phoenix I will be filming my first documentary, with a little assistance from Kristen Denbow and Staci Winston.  So I figured I’d take the time to explain why I’m doing a documentary and what it’s all about.

In short I love comics.  Anyone that’s read anything of mine knows I love the artform.  It’s an amazing thing to see writers, artists, letterers, inkers and editors all come together to tell amazing stories.  If done even decently, it’s a great retelling of the age old struggles of good and evil.  If done well, it can talk about deep things like faith and love and childhood and pretty much anything you can imagine.

And every year people gather to celebrate and promote cool thoughts and ideas at conventions and halls.  A comic convention is the only place you can see artists, models, actors and writers all talk about an artform they love.  That in itself is worth filming.

What I should also point out is that I’ve kind of caught the bug to want to film some things.  It started about two years ago when I worked on my first movie with the very talented people at Dalmation Coast Productions for the Calgary Underground Film Festival.  Trafford Road is a small film, but one I’m proud of doing.  Hell, it even got to be seen in a packed theatre.  I know some writers and artists who don’t have that dream from hollywood come true yet.  I’ve done it.  Cool huh?

I don’t know if there’s any kind of masterplan here but I want to do some more things on my own and I figure a convention is a great place to cut my teeth doing so.  What happens next for the summer is something I hope to mention very very soon.

In the meantime in the coming weeks I will post interviews with the various people I interview at the con, and hopefully put together something half decent for my first film.  I don’t honestly know what to expect.  But that’s the exciting part isn’t it? 

Beyond that, look for another unique piece of prose for the wordpress.  (first week is already written.  Hope to have it all done by the weekend.)  The month of june promises to be productive.

Beyond that, I promise to update all my columns in other places in the weeks to come.  I’ve been behind for far too long.  And hopefully some long awaited comic stuff can happen.

Alright…enough from me for now.

More to come soon.

Inspiration for the day:

“Endurance is the crowning quality, And patience all the passion of great hearts”

James Russell Lowell

Kick butt out there.

Conor McCreery Interview

This is my first video interview…and it will not be the last. I’ll have more to say about Calgary Comic Entertainment expo on a later date, but one of the reasons I wanted to go this year was to test my camera. I’m doing a documentary later this month and wanted to see how the camera would perform. I think it did pretty good. I’ll have to work on sounding more intelligent on camera then I did with this interview but I think it’s not bad for a first one.

I want to thank Conor for doing this.  Conor is one half of the mega talented creative team of the Kill Shakespeare series from IDW.  I talked to him about Shakespeare, writing in comics, and the benefits of the collaborative process.

The video is here.

Enjoy.

It’s Official: Phoenix Here I Come.

Today my ticket and my hotel are booked.  I’m officially going to be off to phoenix to film my first documentary on the convention experience.  I can’t wait and excited to be a part of something like this.  It’s a good first step I think to working towards a bit of filming.  Hopefully if all goes to plan there will be lots of interviews from a variety of people.  I hope to have a few surprises for each and everyone of you in the weeks to come about who is in this video.  As is, I can’t wait to meet a lot of cool people and catch up with some old friends.

Speaking of friends, I figure I should take a moment to plug a new site The Geek Moot right here  The geek moot is a friend of mine’s little passion project.  This is the second year it’s running and I feel you should check it out.  There’s the link right in this paragraph and on the page.  The art is done by the mega talented Lance Buan, who is the illustrator on the forthcoming Anomaly.  Maybe I’ll even have a quick interview up for it as well in the not too distant future.  Time will tell.

Check out a review of Conan by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan at All Pulp.  It’s one of my better reviews if I say so myself.

I got my first rejection letter back earlier last week.  It was the most positive reviews for a rejection I’ve ever seen.  The editor was encouraging, and I take that to heart.  I can do this.  But also, as a writer it’s important to acknowledge one’s weaknesses, which if I were to be honest would be tenses.  It’s something I’m going to keep in mind as I re submit the story elsewhere and work on my next short story.  Still, I feel closer than I’ve ever felt.  I even have my next story in mind to write too.

Finally this summer I will be doing a lot more filming.  I have a series I want to work on and shoot throughout the summer months.  More to come on that as well.

That’s not a bad update writing wise.

Everything else?

Not too much to say yet.  Friends of mine are going on personal journeys about where they want to go and what they should do.  I’m hitting this point myself.  It’s about not just finding the right place to belong but also I think about being comfortable with who you are.  I’m happy with what I’m doing, but I want more and there are some things I’ve always said I wanted to do and haven’t done yet.  I want to remedy all that in the fall.  I’m single and free and without any real obligations.   It’s time I do some  of these things.

More to come soon.

I think it’s about time to get back to that Nemesis thing.

Exploring Metalmagic with Derek Donais

I’ve been meaning to put this interview up for a while, as it’s one of my favorites I’ve done. I met Derek Donais about a year ago at the Calgary Con and Entertainment Expo. We exchanged books – my comic Veritas with a copy of his amazing book Metalmagic – Talisman. Metalmagic was probably the nicest surprise of the year last year. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have had a chance to have a few conversations with Derek since. Derek is an overachiever. During the first week of this book, he managed to make the top ten bestsellers on Amazon.ca in epic fantasy. Look at the names on this list: Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordan, Stephen A. Donaldson, Brandon Weeks…and Derek Donais. And he did it on his own, which is truly an incredible feat.

Now on his 40th birthday (happy birthday bud!) and the impending release of the second book of Metalmagic series Revelation pending, I had a chance to sit down with Derek after one of his signings here in Calgary and we managed to talk about his book, his accomplishments, and the challenges facing an independent author.

Joshua Pantalleresco: Where did the idea for Metalmagic come from?

Derek Donais: I like reading stories where there’s a very strong magical element. Just thinking about new ways to go at that theme, I thought, what if there’s some bridge between the magic and a the person doing it? I’ve read stories about crystals or magic talismans in other stories in the past and the idea of metal just came to me. It’s kind of a metaphor of technology. The more we rely on the technology to create new things the further we move from what we are; from our fundamental nature.

I thought it’d be kind of neat where people are doing the magic and it is an important element, but there is also a bridge to the magic. In metal magic it starts with talismans and it just evolves as you become more familiar with it; simple talismans are replaced by forged metal implements and other artifacts that compliment your gifts and talents, and the more you can do with the magic. I kind of liked that metaphor and that’s how the story began.

JP: I’m glad you mentioned talent. When I read Metalmagic that was one of the things I noticed going through it. One of the key themes in your story is the concept of talent and people having different gifts. Was that conscious?

DD: It’s one of the themes that is talked about in the later books, too. One of the things you’ve you’ll discover is that things aren’t what they seem. It comes back to that connection we have with technology. Where does the human part come from and where is the part where we separate from our more natural instincts.

JP: Considering the nature of faith that comes up with the main character, if you don’t mind my asking, what is your spiritual background?

DD: I was raised a Catholic. For my early years I went to a catholic school. But as I got into junior high and high school and I got away from it. It was a while before I practiced it; not until after I was in my mid-twenties. I looked back at those earlier years and I really admired fantasy, works like CS Lewis’s Narnia and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings really were my favorites. Considering their connections to faith, I think that’s what drew me to them in the first place. You can read them and enjoy them strictly as stories of adventure and magic, or you can go deeper.

You can follow Metalmagic in that way, or you can just ignore it and enjoy the story for what it is. I don’t want to impose my beliefs, but the themes are there if you want to find them.

JP: You made the top ten sellers in epic fantasy in amazon with some heavy hitters.

DD: It was cool to see my name with Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, Stephen Donaldson and others…

JP: For the life of me I can’t remember who else was on the list at that time.

DD: The Way of Kings was Sanderson’s own work, and he was on the list with The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight with Robert Jordan.

JP: Could be.

DD: It was nice to be in that company. Grant you I wasn’t on that list for long.

JP: But who cares, you did it right?

DD: True. I didn’t set out to be famous. I was just interested in telling a story. If I make it back on this the list, cool. But if not, that’s okay too.

JP: Is there a definite end to your series? Do you have a set number of books in mind?

DD: Before I set out to work on Talisman, I had the series laid out. I had a general idea of where it went, the series of central events that I wanted to see worked out. Even though there were a few twists and turns I hadn’t expected, it’s they’ve all fit into the trilogy and haven’t changed the overall story arc.

JP: Can you tell me one of the twists and turns you didn’t expect?

DD: Let me think. Actually, I’ll tell you one from the sequel.

I always knew that they would be going to a group of islands in the south where the original group of mainlanders were relocated. Centuries ago they were forced to leave. I knew Jaren was going to go there and something very important would be discovered. There’s a lie that overhangs everything and that’s where the truth comes out
.
This deception affects everyone, whether they know it or not, and the ones that do know about it are on edge. I knew there were some secrets revealed, which is why the second book is called Revelation. I introduced a third character that became part of the JaredJaren/Iselle romance triangle.

I knew I wanted there to be a little subplot dealing with Jaren and Iselle and their feelings for one another. But I didn’t plan for this person to complicate matters. It just sort of happened — she needed to be there.

JP: The second book is called Revelation and it’ll be out March/April this spring?

DD: I’d like to say March, but for sure April.

JP: Are there any kind of objectives or goals with Revelations Revelation that are different then with MetalmagicTalisman?

DD: When I set this my initial goals, my biggest aim was to land an agent and get a publisher. That’s not quite the case anymore. I found that I can do fairly well on my own. I’d still like to get into an agent and a publishing house, though, but it’s not the most important item on my list now.

JP: That you’ve done it?

DD: Kind of. Self publishing still has that stigma to it. There are still people who refuse to touch any book that’s self published. Originally, I had this goal of selling 1000 books. I didn’t know what to expect but it seemed like it was reasonable. I’ve nearly hit that now, so now I really want to see how well it does and to once again throw the line out there and see what happens. Not because I don’t think I can make a go of it, but just to have that extra credential.

I definitely wouldn’t do anything differently if I had it all to do over again. I’m glad I took the route I did. I learned a lot about the industry and what authors have to do to get out there, whether published in by a traditional house or not.

JP: There are a lot more platforms for self publishing. What is your biggest piece of advice?

DD: Before you make that decision, make sure it’s the best work you can do. In my case I went through either a freelance editor or the editor from my old publishing house. Again, self publishing has that negative stigma. You don’t want to give people who don’t think highly of it more ammunition. Try to catch as many of your mistakes as you can. Then get an editor. Read, Read, Read. Revise. Revise. Revise. Then repeat.

JP: What advice would you give to authors to brand yourself?

DD: One of the biggest things I’ve faced is distribution and obscurity. I’ve had people come up to me and look at my cover and say “Hey! I haven’t heard of that one!” Identity and recognition can go a long way. I’m trying to build a local readership and if it goes somewhere it does. I enjoy being a local author and I appreciate the support people have shown me here in Alberta, and in the Calgary area especially.

JP: What’s your favorite scene in book one and your favorite you are working on right now?

DD: For book one, it’s the scene in the canyon when Jaren and Morgaine are against the witch’s minion, Andra. It was the moment when Jaren finally broke through the barrier and tapped into his power. I was rooting for him and all along, but I made things difficult so it was nice to see him finally get to realize his power.

For book two, without giving too much away, I like the beginning when Jaren and Iselle are off to rescue King Aldrain. He’s been through a lot in the first book, and right here he’s finally forced to stop and think. He’s forced into dwelling on what has happened to him. It affects him psychologically. His nemesis had devised an interesting torture for the character and it all plays into the deepening mental turmoil he faces.

It’s almost painful to write. I cringed a little writing those scenes, but they have to happen in order for the character to develop.

JP: You enjoyed it a little.

DD: A little, but there’s a point where you try not to be sadistic. I know where it’s going, otherwise I’m not sure how much I should enjoy being cruel. There’s a reason I put my characters through the things I do.

JP: Is there anything left you like to add?

DD: I very much appreciate the time you’re taking to do this. Getting recognition is the biggest challenge an indie guy has to face. And I want to thank everyone that’s bought a book and supported me, especially those who took a chance on an unknown author. They’re a growing group and I want them to know how much I truly appreciate their support.

Thanks Derek!

For more information on Derek Donais and his books, check out his webpage at http://www.derekdonais.com.  Feel free to click it here or with the rest of my links on the main page. Check out Metalmagic – The Talisman and stay tuned for Revelation. You won’t want to miss it.

Nation of Fear

It’s been a while since I’ve written in this thing. It’s a shame. I could come down with a ton of excuses, but the bottom line is that I’ve been away from this blog far far too long. That is remedied now.

I wanted to write about something personal. I haven’t really done that with this blog and figured if I was going to say something it wouldn’t be about my personal life per se, but rather something far far more relevant to the grand scheme of things.

Fear.

I was thinking about this. Four years ago I was heading to the San Diego Comic Convention. I was having a blast talking with this family about anne arbor and talking to them about some cool people to meet at the con when I see it for the first time. Most people heading into California are probably used to it.

I’m talking about the border patrol.

Now to me this is a foreign idea for so many reasons. I’ve lived in Canada first off. This idea that there is a patrol for illegal immigrants is laughable in the great white north. But not only did I live in Canada, I lived in Windsor Ontario. For those that don’t know, Windsor Ontario has one of the busiest borders in history. You can see line ups on Highway 3 some days as long as the road is in Windsor. It’s a sight to see let me tell you.

There is no border patrol outside of Windsor near Belle River. There is no border patrol in Southfield Michigan or Mount Clemens. Canada and the States for years has been the largest undefended border for years. You can’t really defend it honestly. Look at that map. It is impossible to place a guard every mile. The manpower alone to combat this is staggering.

This is where I live. And I see on the highway a border patrol run by Homeland Security not even on the border! I almost laughed until they boarded the bus. I had my passport with me and had no issues. I had a feeling I’d need that stupid piece of Identification and was fortunate and thankful. The guy three rows in front of me wasn’t so lucky. He had no idea and was carted outside the bus and was stuck now in the middle of nowhere.

Someone may point out that this was that guy’s fault. He should have brought his papers – but wait, papers? “Do you have your papers?” When did we get this far into life? When did innocent until proven guilty become thrown away?

It isn’t just the fourth amendment though going down the way the do do bird, it’s the whole constitution. One thing that isn’t talked about is the department of homeland security seizing and interrogating citizens coming back into the country, confiscating their electronic equipment and harassing people who are not a threat at all and haven’t been convicted of any crime.

Don’t believe me? Read this:

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/08/u_s_filmmaker_repeatedly_detained_at_border/

That’s scary shit no matter how you look at it. Yet nothing is being done about it. Politicians are at best, vaguely interested in this. Most of them are exempt from a lot of the practices done to the average american citizen. And the american people?

It’d be easy to say that Americans are ignorant of their problems. There is some truth to this – manipulation of information is so common and deliberate that it’s very difficult to find accurate and honest information about anything whether it be Kony 2012 or whether or not Ron Paul is still in the presidential race. Ignorance is almost a given.

The thing is, your gut doesn’t lie. A lot of people deep down know something sinister is going on. They may not have a face to the evil but they sense it’s out there, waiting and willing to do harm. When you have that kind of power given over to institutions and corporations and organizations you take people out of the equation. Deep down everyone knows this.

But we’re afraid. We’re afraid of seeing what exactly is going on in the country and why. We’re afraid that job we’re lucky to have might disappear in smoke the next day due to some random whim from the current administration. We’re afraid to challenge authority with the rights and powers given to the american people by the constitution. We’re afraid of people who like all of us, just want to make ends meet and feed their families. We’re afraid to leave our house, wondering if our neighbors plan to do you harm, over nothing more than a few dollars. We’re afraid that we are alone and isolated and cut off from anyone that can hear and understand what exactly is going on.

Whatever the fear, we’re afraid. That is the reality of today. We have become afraid of tomorrow and what just might happen. So we do what we shouldn’t and trust others to lead us out of the abyss, not realizing that these people are what have caused us to go down the path we have.

I’m not bashing America. I am afraid for it. I’m not liking what is coming down the pike. It looks mean and nasty and a rude awakening for anyone involved with it. Even in Canada it affects me, because whatever happens to you will sooner or later happen to me. I don’t want anyone to suffer. But I think if things continue everyone will.

I’m just tired of being afraid.

Where do we go from here?

I normally don’t write these things down. I have an idea in my head and I do my best to move towards it the way I know about going. I keep asking myself a question with goal five and I thought let’s talk about things rationally here.

Goals one through four are writing and media goals. I’m hoping to have some announcements regarding a huge number of projects in the months to come. I plan on attending several cons and plan on growing as an artist and a person. Blah blah blah right? The last goal is a conundrum I feel I need to talk about.

Calgary has been great to me. Since I’ve come back I find myself making more money than I ever have, able to pursue my projects and by and large am working to get to all of my dreams. I’m surrounded by good people. Yet, I find myself hitting the ceiling. This year after working on several goals, I find myself facing down the very real possibility that the following year after that, that there will be no new ground for me to explore. The ceiling as I know it is creeping up on me.

I’ve never been completely comfortable in the city. This time has been far more enjoyable, but I find myself still quite unwilling to call this place my home. Because I realized that I can only go so much farther before the ceiling and me meet head on. Something’s gotta give.

What held me back is a clear lack of clarity of where to go next. That no longer is a barrier. I already know where I want to go. After the documentary (Goal Number 2!) I intend to move forward with exploring that possibility.

So the question I’m asking myself as I type this is why am I moving so much? The only answer I can think of is that as I get closer to my goals, things need to change. That means looking at other locations. I’ve been fortunate not needing to move for the last little while. Yet my goals beckon and I find that Calgary no longer quite has what I’m looking for.

So where do I go from here?

I’m going to keep that to myself for now. June is going to be interesting. That is all I can say about that.

Nemesis returns with the next entry. I also have a great interview lined up.

JP

Kickstarter

I haven’t been as religious about updating this blog as much as I should have been. It’s been a busy month preparing for the forthcoming weeks. Not that I have been just planning for the future, I’ve done some cool stuff this last few months. On All Pulp I’ve done some amazing interviews. Martheus Wade and me talk about Ninjas, fate and free will here. I also do an interview with perhaps my newest favorite novelist here. Chuck is an amazing read. I’ll be reviewing Black Centipede shortly for All Pulp. Finally I did a small review of Lord of Jungle for the site as well. My favorite thing about this particular one? Honestly, the link. It’s awesome.

At Comicbloc I’ve only managed one column so far. You can read about my favorite celebrity comic books on this linkright here. I do contribute a little bit to sunday reading which isn’t too bad. This week I will be releasing an interview and a column for the bloc and hopefully something else at Allpulp as well. I can live with the production so far, but I want to do more.

This seem like a good place to segue into the future. Let’s begin with something I did way way back in the past. Unscrewed is an Anthology whose proceeds will go to creators cheated by the nefarious Rick Olney. His history can be found with a simple google search. I won’t waste the time here to discuss him. Frankly, I’m honored to just be part of it. With names like Kurt Busiek involved, I’m just happy to have such a small part in. Look for it later this year.

In May I will be doing my first film documentary. I’m really really excited about this and I’ve already confirmed six people that are going to be part of it. The documentary is about the comic convention experience. Phoenix was my first con and honestly there are some incredible people down there. I am hoping to give viewers a glimpse of what it is like to be part of that particular convention. More on this in the next few months.

But this post is entitled kickstarter for a reason. I just submitted the form for Kickstarter. Anomaly, a story very near and dear to my heart is going to be attempted to be funded there. I really hope it happens as I have plans for the book. The good news is that it’s just about done. The story is written, and even though we don’t have full permission yet, filming has already commenced for the project. The commercial appears to be very entertaining so far. I’ve heard laughter at some of the footage presented so far into it. I also want to thank right now James Julin and Caleigh Cassidy for being involved in the filming.

Check out this blog and http://www.just-lance.com for more details in the weeks to come. Also, I launched channel michaelthroughtime1 on Youtube for a reason….

Stay tuned. More is coming very shortly.

Nemesis Daring Escape Chapter 2

“Another one? Crimey, she seems to like you snake types don’t she?” May blubbered.

“It’s the end!”  The Thing was weeping openly.

“The end?”  May asked.

“The end!  We’re doomed!  She’s going to forget about us!”

“Don’t talk crazy talk there.  She’ll still love us.”

“But, but, but…”

“But what?”

“That’s another pet?  How many pets can she love y’know?”

“You have me there,” May admitted.  “Never thought of it to be quite honest with you.”

After a moment of complete silence, tears started flowing from the lizard’s faces.  May and the Thing held each other and wept.  Nemesis and Raven could only stare in stunned surprise.

“Thank goodness we don’t have arms to hug each other,” Raven said.

“Those two are unbelievable,” Nemesis now understood why those silly humans sometimes shook their heads.  Watching those two act the way they do took some getting used to.    Still, something bothered Nemesis.  He couldn’t quite identify the problem but there was this nagging concern.  Nemesis didn’t like this feeling – it was the first time he ever felt it.

How many pets could the owner keep?  How much love could one person have?  The question was disturbing.

Would she forget him?  Raven?  Even the Thing and May?

No.  She couldn’t.  Could she?

Nemesis didn’t like this thing called doubt.  It was a very human concept.  He should dismiss the whole idea as absurd.  Yes.  That’s exactly what he was going to do.  Let the humans feel those silly human emotions.  Nemesis was better than human – he was a snake.  How could he possibly be forgotten?

That infernal device buzzed and interrupted Nemesis’ thoughts again.  Nemesis decided at that moment to do something about that thing.  It interrupted his deep questions of life far too often for his liking.  It had to go.

The owner was talking to it again.  Bother.  He had to wait another time for the moment.

“I’m not sure what I want you know?  Another corn snake?  Or maybe something exotic?  You know where I could get my hands on maybe a python?”

Nemesis looked at her with the most pleading baby snake eyes he could.  She always doted on him when he did this.  It was a magic trick that gave him all the mice a snake could eat.  It was just a matter of time now.

Any moment and she’d look right him.  Like always.  Nemesis waited.

She kept talking and walked right by him and went out the door.  Nemesis couldn’t believe it.  It always worked before.  What had gone wrong?

Those doubts came creeping back inside him a hundred fold.  This wouldn’t do at all.  Something had to change.  Nemesis spent the next little while planning and thinking. Doubt. It wouldn’t go away. Not one bit.

Nemesis’ Great Escape by Joshua Pantalleresco is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

Arnold Henry – Renaissance Man

I’m not exaggerating when I say Renaissance Man.  Arnold Henry does it all.  An overachiever since high school, Henry was the first man from Saint Lucia to be drafted as a freshman into the NCAA Division I for basketball.  A talented athlete, it would have been very easy for Henry to rest on his gifts, but his drive and determination have allowed him to recieve a degree in Computer Information Systems and he continues to chase his dreams in writing, speaking, and acting.  He published his first book Hanging On To My Dreams, his autobiography about his trials and tribulations from childhood all the way to the college basketball court.   It’s easily the best autobiography I’ve ever read.

I had a chance to talk to Henry a little bit about basketball, his writing, and how he still chases his dreams at this time.  If you look at the left hand side, you can link up to his page.

Joshua Pantalleresco:  What is it about basketball that you enjoy the most?

Arnold Henry:  For me, basketball is like the person or thing you turn to when you seek excitement or entertainment. I believe that it is the most engaging sport in the world as far as the fan’s involvement and reaction to every single second of the game. It goes beyond just a game; it builds brotherhood and a family among the coaches, players, staff and supporters. With basketball, there’s always room for skills improvement that can lead to better opportunities that can be life changing; such as full college sports scholarship or a career as a professional athlete.

JP: Do you wish you had done more track and field?

AH:  I never regret the paths I chose in my life. Basketball handed me a once in a lifetime break which is rare being born and raised in Saint Lucia. If I was offered a track and field scholarship before a basketball scholarship, then I would probably writing about my track and field career. In other words, when there’s an opportunity, I like to take my chances. And if it doesn’t work out, then that’s a life lesson to be shared with myself and others.

JP:  What were some of the obstacles and challenges that you had to adapt to coming to the states?

AH:  For the most part, I had to assimilate into the American habits; that is, at the very early stages of my arrival, the most difficult situations were conversing with the Americans—coming from an island with a heavy Caribbean accent had triggered communication barriers. And these moments became annoying to a point where I’d received insults by the way I spoke. Also, I had to familiarize myself with racism which goes into more details in my book. One of the most challenging moments was my episodes of being homesick. Of all five schools I’d attended, there were no family members in sight—which meant I had to be spending lonesome holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. There were many times when I felt like I needed to see or hear from my mother, or visit Saint Lucia. On the other hand, I had to adjust myself to playing an American organized basketball system—a territory I wasn’t used to.

JP:  Why did you turn to writing?

AH:  My writing habits started at a very early age—at 10 years old. I grew up in a broken home, or rather, a broken family; I felt lonely, unwanted and unloved. Turning to writing was sort of expressing my feelings without anyone being judgmental, or you know that best friend you tell all your deepest secrets knowing that they won’t tell anyone? I’ve been keep journals ever since and it has been a great self-therapy for my depression phases.

JP:  What is your sequel going to cover?

AH: My sequel is still a work in progress. It is going to cover topics such as: never having the courage to confront my biological father about his absence in my life; Dealing with his recent death through cancer; Disowning my youngest sibling; Finding a 34-year old sister from Barbados who I never knew existed; finding love in and my move to Canada; And letting go or still hanging on to my dreams.

JP:  Your bio says you still want to play basketball in Europe. Is this still a goal?

AH: Hanging On To My Dreams isn’t just the title of my book, but it is my lifestyle, though I’ve given myself at least two more years to make this dream come true. Otherwise, I’ll have to fall back on my college degree.

JP:  What team would you like to play for in a perfect world?

AH:  In a perfect world, I like to believe that I would be playing for a team in the NBA, preferably, the Miami Heat. Today, one of my favourite teams to support and they just happened to be located in a sunshine state (warm climate). Lebron James and Dwayne Wade, who wouldn’t want these incredible athletes as teammates?

JP:  What are you working on right now?

AH:  Apart from working out at the gym 4-6 hours a day, after I am finished with my second autobiography, I plan on stepping out of my genre to venture into a fantasy world and also expressing my feelings through poetry.

JP: 4-6 hours in a gym?  Can you describe your workout routine?

AH: Four hours on a lazy day; six hours on a day when I have the energy. I usually start off my work outs by shooting some hoops, basically working on my fundamentals such as dribbling, post moves, shooting drills, defensive footwork, etc. Then I will work on my cardio: One mile runs, running stairs, cycling or biking and jump rope. Followed by an intense upper body or lower body weightlifting session. And lastly core exercises to strength my abs and lower back. Don’t forget to stretch your muscles before and after every workout. That’s typically my workout routine which someday will hopefully prepare me for the opportunities of a professional basketball contract.

JP:  Tell me a fun story from your childhood not in your book.

AH:  To tell you the truth, every fun, memorable childhood moment has been described in my book. There wasn’t too many cheerful episodes because I lived depressing youthful years. At an early age, I was already trying to figure out life…my life. There were many questions I needed answers for. To distract my thoughts, I was on an adventure to chase success—you can say that was the fun story in my childhood—to wake up everyday, go to school and practice, workout on my game.
JP:  Besides Basketball and writing, are there any other dreams you are still chasing?

AH:  I’m always dreaming…dreaming big! Besides wanting to live the rest of my life comfortably with God’s guidance, I really want to see my book turn into a Hollywood film. My book, Hanging On To My Dreams, has been transformed into a screenplay by Karen Mueller Bryson (http://www.ahorsewithnoname.com/). And it would be great if I was to play myself in the movie.
JP:  What is your attraction to fantasy fiction in particular?  Does any author inspire you in that field?

AH: My whole thing with fantasy fiction is that, I want to venture out of non-fiction to be able to create my own worlds, characters and plots while exploring my own uniqueness and creativity. There’s an idea for a great fantasy fiction that has been floating around in my mind. When I am finished with my second book, I will inscribe that idea on paper. As far as fantasy authors who’ve inspired me, well I am not a big reader in that field so I wouldn’t be able to relate; though, I’m planning to start reading with that genre of writing. Any suggestions?

JP:  And finally, what kind of poetry do you write?  Could you give a sample?

AH:  I have to be honest: for me, poetry is a way for me to exercise my mind. I write poetry to express my current mood and feelings. You’d have to catch me at the right moment to give a sample but whenever I write a poem, I try to share it with the world by uploading it here: http://www.arnoldhenry.com/poems.html

I thank Arnold for his patience and his candor.  Check out Hanging On to My Dreams and visit Arnold Henry’s site at http://www.arnoldhenry.com.  Arnold is an inspiration for anyone to follow.  Buy his book on his site.

We now return to regularly scheduled programming

Sorry for the delay between posts.  I’ve been busy working on Anomaly and playing Persona 4 entirely too much.  I’m past 60000 words and am going to get this baby polished and ready to start playing the lottery that is the publishing biz.  It’s time I got recognized for how good I really am.  That may sound really overconfident to some people, but the truth is, if I didn’t think I was any good, there would be no need to read anything.  So I’m going to say I’m good…most of the time.

Work on a comic project is going well.  I’ve been very fortunate with the people I’m working with.  Tash O’Toole is killing it right now on the project.  My only little bit of sadness is that I’m no longer going to be working with Nicki Andrews.  Even she though impressed me by recommending a very talented gentleman to replace her.  Still, there was something cool about working with three ladies in three continents.  I hope I get the chance to work with Nicki on something up the road.

I sent a pitch for a film project last night.  Fingers crossed.  I think this could be a lot of fun.  But it’s not up to me if I can do it, but if I can…well…stay tuned.

I did a column for Comicbloc last week called All In.  You can read it here.

Finally, I connected facebook to my twitter thingee.  So I hope to be more involved on the twitting thing.  Twitting.  Can’t believe I said that.

I can’t say this will be the last time I disappear, but hopefully it won’t be quite so long.   Stay tuned for more chapters of Nemesis’ Great Escape, a great interview an a few more things to come in the not too distant future.