Nia Black

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with The Comic Cast. I could try to describe it but I still feel like a n00b when it comes to the show so this is taken from the site ( http://thecomiccast.com/ ):

"The Comic Cast is an Irish based show about comic books - from the heroes of DC & Marvel to the anti-heroes of Fantagraphics and Drawn & Quarterly and beyond. Hosted by Craig O'Connor and Liam Geraghty, the show comes out fortnightly alternating between comics news and discussion and interviews with mainly Irish comic creators, illustrators and animators."

On the show released today they discussed Redshift! Redshift is the first comic I ever wrote and I am quite proud of it. The comic is reviewed around an hour, seven minutes into the show. I feel really happy that it's been reviewed on ComicCast and the hosts seem like pretty cool guys. There's a link to download or another link to just listen to the show on their site here: http://thecomiccast.com/2009/08/25/its-my-swine-flu-and-ill-cry-if-i-want-to/#more-664

If you browsed through any of the pages today then most of them seemed like there was nothing on them. In the change from cream background to black I stupidly forgot all of the font on the pages were black. I'm currently fixing this, sorry if it inconvenienced anyone.

Well it's been a while since I updated but I've made quite a few updates this time. Just look! New, darker layout and new banner. Let me know what you think by email or on the brand new forums! I've added the forums more as a general discussion area for the moment. If you have any ideas for sub-forums that I should add or anything like that then please let me know; I want the site to be better for people to read. I just pop in here now and then to update, it doesn't really matter to me how the site looks. At the moment the forums I made are for Books and Comics, Art, Current Affairs and two forums to do with me.

I've also added a small bit to the "About Me" section with some things that I like. Another thing to note is that what used to be the homepage is now the "Contact // About" page. The blog is now the homepage to make it easier for people to find my updates.

A few new stories coming soon as well... And a larger project I'm working on right now which I'm going to mail to this amazing literary magazine in the States. If it's not accepted there then I will put it on the site. If you'd like to read the first few pages of the first draft then I have that available as a pdf. If you'd like to read that until I'm finished then let me know and I'll find a way of getting it to you.

Added the dates for three Irish Conventions to the calendar as well as two concerts I'm going to. The conventions are: Octocon which is in October of this year and is a science fiction, fantasy and horror convention. I can't go to Octocon this year because my parents are away and I would have gone with them were they here. I also have to watch the house apparently, as if our alarm doesn't wake up every dog in the neighbourhood. Next up after Octocon is the Dublin City Comic Con which I will definitely be going to! I only got to go for one day last year so I'm going to try and make a weekend out of it this year. That'll be taking place in November. And finally, Phoenix Con is next March. This is also a sci-fi con although there'll be a lot of comic stuff happening there too. Details and venues are in the calendar. For quick links, check the sidebar on the right.

If anyone's wondering what concerts I'm going to then it's Green Day and Muse

I think that's it for now. I don't think there's any other site news. If you want a quick response from me about anything then ask me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/niablack . I'm constantly on Twitter but if that doesn't work for you then there's the slightly slower way of emailing me at: writerniablack@gmail.com .

Please spread word of this site! If you know anyone who likes reading (or invovled in publishing) then please tell them about this site. New members make me smile

Cheers,

Nia

But indeed my (very few) people, it's true. I have a new project and a big project at that. Once the junior cert is over I will be working full time on a graphic novel with my best friend. Well if she's still up for it once she sees the amount of work I'm going to give her. It's been both of our dreams to be published someday. We've dreamt of it since we were eight and I can't see either of us doing anything else but writing and being creative. The story is something I have been working on for a while. I've been plotting it out since before December and now I think it can be plotted no more! The story is there and I've started to write it. Carolina has agreed to illustrate it and do the lettering. Although I imagine I'll help out with the lettering too if it becomes too tedious. What's even worse for her: she's doing it old school with a pen and paper. Most comics are done on Photoshop now (which is $600 by the way). I don't think our parents will hand over their credit cards so they can buy us a piece of software though. Shame.

The story will be kept under wraps but little snippets may be unveiled the closer we get to finishing. This will not be a webcomic but instead we will be sending it off to actual publishers (once we've copyrighted it of course).

As of yet it isn't official of course. Nothing may ever come of it but here will be a reminder that we started it at least. If it were a movie then it is still currently in the "pre-production" stages but it's better than nothing.

Watch this space as I will eventually be posting back here whenever I get writers' block. And now to go off topic: You know why I love computers? It's hard to buy new ones with €10 in your pocket. I always blame my writers' block on my notebook. I think "It's too small", "It's too big", "The lines are too faint, my writing's all over the place". However, with computers everything is always neat. You can change the zoom so your page is as big or as small as you want it to be. Can't blame a computer for writers' block. It always has a cure. Especially if that cure's name is 'Solitaire' or 'free Wi-Fi zone'. When I blame my notebook I buy a new one. When I get writers' block on my computer then I go on Twitter. Computers are made of win.

Till next time!

If anyone saw my calender then they'll know that Mis-Hap was playing in Triskel today. They were on first. It was awesome. We got a shout out! For once I think I like being in St. Al's...  To be honest Mis-Hap was probably the best band there. Then again they were the only band that had a full room. I think some people that had seen them from St. Al's went just for them (and for some reason found the idea of moshing and public displays of gay affection strange...). And they played a 30 Seconds to Mars song just like they said they would! And they also sang the theme song for Postman Pat when there was something wrong with the drums. I think everyone joined in for that! Their own songs sounded incredible in that tiny room; way better than they sounded in our school. 

To be honest I can't remember what else I was going to say. I am so tired now. Yet at the same time I manage to be hyper? My mind is telling me to go out and mosh some more but my silly body is tired. Although I didn't really mosh. Half joined in with the Wall of Death later on at the gig. Then the security guard nearly got crushed so we had to stop  Malteasers ice-creams are really nice. So is water. Iced lattes from Gloria Jeans are not! Need a Starbucks in Cork city. When we were walking over to Paul St. after the gig there was a guy singing Hot n' Cold by Katy Perry as he was walking. That was interesting. 

Now I'm very tired. And my food is ready! Yay! Will write more later.