Up and Running

After working out a few bugs, we've finally got the gallery page up and running on my website, matthewdowsmith.com. We put up some examples of my recent work from SUPERNATURAL:ORIGINS and MIRROR'S EDGE, along with some older pieces from projects like STORMWATCH:PHD. There are also a few pieces from some of my personal projects that haven't been seen until now.

We'll be updating the page from time to time, so keep an eye out for new pieces. And there's a new 'stories' page, where we'll be posting a few of the early FADE stories, just as soon as we format everything so you can actually read it. In the meantime, we set up a 'links page', where you can visit the websites of some of my publishers and friends.

As usual, this flood of content is brought to you by the talented Claire Stancampiano, who has used her considerable skills with the computer to help put all of this together. A big thanks to her, and to everyone who has emailed asking where they could go to see more of my work.

Now Playing

DOCTOR WHO: THE SIRENS OF TIME
by Big Finish Audio

I'm hard at work on the third issue of MIRROR'S EDGE, and running out of things to keep me entertained. I've already listened to all the audiobooks I've stored in my computer (including delightful recordings of two Christopher Fowler mysteries I discovered on iTunes), so it was time to hunt out something new.

I'd heard that Big Finish Audio was doing new radio shows continuing the long-running (and recently returned) British television show, Doctor Who, but I've never listened to one before.

Anyone who talks to me for more than a few minutes probably knows that I have two great nerdy pleasures -- old radio shows and Doctor Who. The combination of the two was too hard to resist, so I downloaded the first story Big Finish produced, THE SIRENS OF TIME.

I'm about halfway through now and loving every old-fashioned minute of it. I've always enjoyed the rigorous demands of telling a story with only dialogue and sound effects. It's tougher than you would think, but the team behind this production has it well in hand. I suspect I'll be downloading the next story as soon as this one is done. Since Big Finish has produced more than 75 Doctor Who stories, I should be well-entertained long after the six issues of the MIRROR'S EDGE mini-series are completed.

On The Shelves

MIRROR'S EDGE #1
(DC/Wildstorm)

The first issue of the Mirror's Edge mini-series hit the shelves this week, with a beautiful computer rendered cover from one of the artists at EA Dice, who produced the game this comic is based on.

The script is by video game writer Rhianna Pratchett, and the colors are by Jim Charalampidis. I just got a sneak peek at Jim's colors for issue #2, and they're looking really sharp.

Much like SUPERNATURAL:ORIGINS, the ME comic is a prequel, setting up the game while telling a stand-alone story at the same time. Rhianna's scripts have been quite good, with more subtext and characterization than a lot of comics out there. I've been pretty lucky with writers throughout my career, but Rhianna is definitely a stand out.

Here's the official blurb from the DC Comics website:

MIRROR'S EDGE #1 (of 6)

Written by Rhianna Pratchett; Art by Matthew Dow Smith

Coinciding with the release of the highly anticipated new Electronic Arts game Mirror's Edge comes an adventure unlike any other! Faith is a Runner in the city – a courier who delivers sensitive cargo by traversing the rooftops of the city's skyscrapers. But how did she come by this unique black market trade...and what secrets from her past may affect her future?

Written by famed game writer Rhianna Pratchett and illustrated by Matthew Dow Smith (SUPERNATURAL: ORIGINS), this new book presents an adventure that'll further flesh out this incredible video game world!

Wildstorm | 32pg. | Color | $3.99 US

On Sale October 29, 2008

On The Nightstand

FLETCH
By Gregory Mcdonald

I've always meant to read the Fletch books, but never got around to it. With their tight lean prose and colorful main character, they've always seemed like my cup of tea.

A few weeks ago, I found out that Gregory Mcdonald had died. So I went to the ubiquitous Amazon.com and ordered the first Fletch book. As anyone who has ever worked in a bookstore knows, the minute an author passes away, there's a sudden rush to buy his books. It's an odd phenomenon, but not a bad thing. At least people are reading.

Needless to say, the first Fletch book turned out to be out of stock, so I ordered one of the later books in the series, instead. It was so good that I immediately went back and ordered everything Mcdonald had every written that was still readily available. 19 books in all. They came in dribs and drabs, and in no particular order. And each one was as good as the next.

I have to say, I wish I'd read these earlier. I might have learned a lot from Mcdonald's prose style. He approaches the written word in much the same way I try to -- direct, no nonsense, very few flourishes.

Gregory Mcdonald wrote two series that you can find fairly easily. There are the Fletch books (which are far more interesting and layered than the Chevy Chase films I used to love before reading the source material and wondering why they couldn't have just filmed the books as written and not tried to make it silly), and the Flynn books, which spin out of CONFESS, FLETCH. Both characters are fascinating and worth following.

So, of course, the last book to actually arrive was the first FLETCH, which in the end, is the fourth book in the series. Mcdonald ended up writing 3 prequels. It's good. Very, very good. My one regret is that we won't see any more Fletch books, at least not from the painfully talented pen of Mr. Mcdonald.

I've torn through all 19 books in record time, (19 books in 3 or 4 weeks is fast, even for me). They're quick reads, but full of shockingly well-written prose. I'll be turning them over in my head for a long time, taking them apart to see how they tick. And they all tick. So quietly and smoothly that you never notice how quickly Mcdonald is steering you through the plot. Even the weakest of the bunch -- THE BUCK PASSES FLYNN -- is head and shoulders above most books out there.

Now I may have to hunt down some of his out-of-print books, or at least badger his publisher to bring them back in print. If they're up to the Fletch and Flynn standard, I would really regret not reading them.

On the Borderlands

Come January, I'll be attending the Borderlands Press Boot Camp for writing. This will be my fourth, and probably last, time through the gauntlet of razor sharp critiques from my fellow "grunts" and our star-studded lineup of instructors.

It's a crazy experience. You spend a weekend at Towson University, talking about writing, taking stories apart, and staying up all night working on one of their infamous "secret assignments", which usually involves writing a new story from scratch to be read aloud on the final day, just to show much you've learned.

I attended the very first Boot Camp*, and I've tried to attend every session since then. So far, I've only missed one due to my workload. Still regret it.

This year, the instructors include two big shot New York editors, Gary A. Braunbeck (whose Cedar Hill short stories are well worth hunting down), and Thomas F. Monteleone (editor, writer, and one of my favorite people I've met in the business so far).

For those of you who don't know, Borderlands Press is a small publisher that specializes in Horror and speculative fiction. They've done beautiful editions of F. Paul Wilson's Adversary Cycle, as well as a number of other classics in the genre, including an upcoming edition of Whitley Strieber's THE HUNGER that I designed the cover for, my first real book cover.

They get good people for their Boot Camps. F. Paul Wilson, Douglas Winter, and David Morrell have all taught at the Borderlands Boot Camp, and their thoughts and notes have had a huge impact on my writing.

Last time, I brought a Fade short story**. This year, I'm bringing the Fade novel. I'm nervous about showing it to people, since it's such a personal project for me, but I'm excited at the prospect of getting some good feedback. I've never come away from a Boot Camp without a stack of notes that will help me make my story -- and my writing -- better.

I've said it elsewhere, but anyone who is serious about their writing really should attend one of these sessions. It's intense, tough, tiring, and one of the most rewarding things a writer can do. There are several of us who have attended multiple Boot Camps, and each time I see one of them, their writing is better and sharper.

This week, I started reading the other submissions for this year's Boot Camp, making notes to give my fellow grunts. Looks like a good batch this year, and I'm looking forward to meeting everyone. Have a lot of reading to do between now and then, though.

As I said, this may well be my last session. Between drawing comics full-time and writing on the side, time gets to be a bit of an obstacle, especially if you spend as much of it reading as I do. But I've gotten a lot out of each Boot Camp I've gone to. There's always something new to learn and you never run out of room to grow as a writer.

For anyone out there who might be curious about their program, or interested in attending, visit the Borderlands Press website and see what other people have to say about the experience. This year's session is already closed, but if we're lucky, there's always next year...

* An annoying personal side note -- one of the other benefits of these sessions is getting to meet other writers who take their craft seriously. I've met a number of people I keep in touch with fairly regularly, and a few who have become close friends, including the annoyingly talented Daniel Waters, who took his Boot Camp submission (GENERATION DEAD) and sold it to Hyperion Press. They published it this year to a flurry of good reviews, including a spot on Oprah's recommended reading list. It would be easy to hate him if it wasn't for the fact that he's such a nice guy, overflowing with talent, and endlessly supportive of my own writing.

** Yet another annoying personal side note -- I wouldn't be writing a Fade novel now if it wasn't for the Borderlands Boot Camp. At my second session, F. Paul Wilson (who had seen some of the Fade comic book stories) said he was disappointed that I hadn't brought a Fade prose story to be critiqued. Never one to question Paul, I wrote one and brought it the next time. It went over well enough that I found the courage to finally start a full length Fade novel. We'll see how it goes over.

On The Nightstand

KNOTS & CROSSES
by Ian Rankin

I've been buried under work for the last few weeks, but I've still found some time to do a fair amount of reading. Having been on a bit of a mystery kick lately, I decided to read the first few John Rebus mysteries by Scottish author Ian Rankin.

My parents are both voracious mystery readers and love the Rankin books. Come to think of it, I suspect I've bought them a few as presents over the years.

The best part of having readers for parents is that they'll often loan you the books you gave them after they've finished with them, which is how I came to read some of the later books in the Rebus series. But I've never read the first one, KNOTS & CROSSES.

Rankin's mysteries are always interesting and complex, driven more by the characters than the twists and turns of the plot. And I've always enjoyed the descriptions of Rebus' crumbling home turf, Edinburgh. But while KNOTS & CROSSES has plenty of atmosphere, Rankin is obviously just starting to master his craft.

Don't get me wrong, it's a good book, with a lot of great characterization and atmosphere, but it doesn't have the same polished prose as the later books in the series. Still, John Rebus is a fascinating character, and he appears here nearly fully formed. My only complaint is that Rankin's technique gets far smoother over time, which really isn't much of a complaint at all.

I've already set the next two books in the Rebus series on my nightstand. Deadlines permitting, I'm hoping to dip into them very soon.

Last Days

When I Left Los Angeles in the fall of 2000, the first thing I did was go and find myself a day job. I'd been working in comics for 6 or 7 years by then, and while projects popped up from time to time, they never came regularly enough for comfort. So I went looking for something that I could do at the same time as my comic book work and not steal too much of my creative energy. Being a voracious reader, I of course applied to every bookstore in the area, and ended up as a bookseller at Borders.

I've worked for them off and on ever since, with some time off in the middle for my stint at Crossgen Comics in Florida. Eight years, more or less, which has always amused me since one of the other bookstores I applied to didn't hire me because they thought I wouldn't hang around for very long.

Now, with the new project DC/Wildstorm under way, and the novel still in progress, I had to finally give up my position behind the information desk. Today was my last day. It's a strange feeling, knowing I won't be coming back, at least not as an employee. And I'm not sure how I will handle not having a day job to get me out of the house and interacting with people on a regular basis.

Working out of your house seems like a great thing, but you soon learn that it's far too tempting to work all the time and forget to go outdoors and spend some time away from the art table or the computer. Working at a bookstore was the perfect excuse to get away from deadlines for a little while and meet interesting people.

I could tell horror stories about difficult customers, but I can also tell you about helping someone find a new author or a book they've been trying to find for years, but couldn't remember the title. I've often said that my head is filled with useless information. It's a useful thing, especially when you work at a bookstore. You'd be surprised how often something you remember from a documentary on Post-Modern composers helps you find a piece of music for a customer.

But today is also the last day for the Borders I started at, eight years ago -- Borders #35 on Wolf Road in Albany, NY. I didn't plan it that way, but that's how it worked out. I haven't worked in that store for years, but I have fond memories of it and the people I worked with there.

So to all my friends at Borders #35 and #389, thank you for your kindness over the years, and the hours of interesting conversations about books and movies and music, not to mention your help keeping a roof over my head in between projects. But I think what I'll miss most of all is coming into work and seeing all the new books waiting to be shelved. There's nothing like putting away a stack of books and finding something interesting buried between all the romance titles and the Stephen Kings.