Comment
With the publication of the 24th page we finish our first chapter in the first storyline for Ayla. Ayla is created to run with no end in site, but the first storyline is looking to be three chapters, each 24 pages long. This can change as I write, but I’m pretty sure that will be the length of our first story. We may miss a week or two inbetween our chapters here as we prepare the first 24 pages for a printed version. Yes, you heard right, you will be able to purchase a printed version of Ayla shortly. The first 24 pages will be collected between two covers and for sale. We’re so happy we can’t wait here, Javi and myself. We’re in the process right now of getting everything together and ready to send to the printer. We’ll keep you updated and where to order a copy if you’d like one. Thanks for all the support for the first 24 pages and we hope to see everyone here for the next 24.
I’ve been negligence in introducing the newest member to our happy little team here. Gabriella Noriega Arana joins us as the inker on the artwork. I know Javi is happy to be able to lighten his load a bit and Gabby is going to be a great addition to the comic. For more about her you can visit her Facebook page here. Her first page was page 22.
So please welcome Gabby to Ayla and I can’t wait to see more pages from her and Javi.
I know I’ve done a terrible job here with posting besides the comic itself. Hopefully I’ll get better.
We’re almost at page 24 and you might wonder why I’m calling that particular page in question. It’s because once we hit 24 pages the plan is to print the first 24 pages and have a physical copy of the comic. For all of you out there that like to have something to hold in their hand and flip through very soon you will be able to do so. I’m excited about it.
There is an ending.
Ayla is created to be an ongoing serial. But I’m writing the series in stories that stand by themselves. Each story will connect to the next one, much like a novel in an adventure or mystery thriller will feed off the ones before it. So each story will have a beginning and an ending.
I know how the current storyline ends. I don’t write my plots out that far in advance. In fact I’ve been known to start a story without really knowing where I was going. For me the characters are what’s important. Not that plot and story aren’t, but if the characters don’t feel real to me, nothing in the story will work. So for this story I knew where I was starting and I know where I’m going to end up. I have one of the final lines in the story already written.
But getting there from here can be a surprise. Sometimes the characters decide to want to branch out and do things I hadn’t originally thought of. In my first draft of the start of the story Ayla walks off from page eight right into the scene on page 18. There was nothing in between there, but the more I thought about it them the other scenes occurred.
Ayla didn’t live above the strip club Big Mama’s in my first version. I’m not going to say where she lived, but I kept re-thinking my original idea and didn’t like it. In another story that never got off the ground I had the main character live above a strip club. The more I thought about it the more I liked that idea for Ayla. It also introduced me to Big Mama, who is one of Ayla’s best friends.
The scene with Little Wing was to give some background to Ayla and show that she didn’t exist in a vacuum. Also it sets us up for things to happen in the future. So by listening to some other thoughts I added another eight pages to the story and more characters.
Like I said I know where I’m going to end up, but the road might have some detours and turns I wasn’t expecting.
I haven’t talked about Diebold yet, but was planning on an upcoming post about the comic. It’s where Javi and I met and first worked together. I will write that post and soon, but wanted to show that Diebold was just written up and reviewed. Please check it out at The Strip Show.