Tuesday, December 13, 2005

The Heat Man Cometh

...OK, it's the day! Our fave heating specialist Rick Fortier is coming in this morning and installing the baseboard (hot water heat) into the new studio/office/library room. This is the final bit of work necessary to the room's completion, and I couldn't be readier or happier to see it all finished.

The second part of my two-part blog entry about freelancing was the first chunk of computer work and writing done in the new studio. As I worked, the space began to feel like, well, mine. At a couple points I stopped typing and looked around, conscious of the fact I'd accepted the space completely. It feels a bit like the old trailer studio I had behind my garage in the house Marlene, the kids and I lived in on Lower Dover Road in Marlboro -- the length of the room, the prominence (and smell) of wood, the feel of the space itself.

That studio was kind to me, and I got a lot of writing and drawing done (and started: Tyrant began in that trailer) there. My first Deep Red reviews, articles, and interviews were scribed there, along with the whole of the We Are Going to Eat You! manuscript, the first and second drafts of Aliens: Tribes (the third and final revision was largely completed on our kitchen table, due to -- oh, never mind), all my Video Watchdog and Ecco submissions, reviews and articles, and my few scripts for Swamp Thing. In the second room of the trailer, where my drawing table dominated, I drew the world's second 24 Hour Comic, the first pages of Tyrant (portions of what I then thought would be the first chapter, but ended up being the third), portions of 1963 (though the bulk was done in a studio Rick Veitch found for us that was roughly midway between our houses, The Hypernaut was done in my home, as were my pinups and covers), and much more. It was a great work space, and it was kind to me.

This is better. It will be kinder.

Off to CCS for our final session of the semester. See you here tomorrow...