This year Dee and I started brainstorming a new cartoon series, as she still wants to collaborate with me, and wanted to do a fantasy setting for a cartoon. Since I have an extensive background in fantasy TTRPGs, and she is an expert cartoonist, this seemed like a fine idea.
Once I got the concept locked in and I started establishing the setting and characters, it started taking off with a life of its own.
I scripted the first 5 books (around 32 comics pages), panel to panel, page by page, to resolve the plots I had built. After that, I started just plotting so as not to be dictating to my creative partner, but to leave room for her to help pace the action. So from book 6 on, just plots and descriptions.
Last night I got inspired, not once but twice, and I am sitting at 28 books summarized and plotted, ready to be scripted. And as I work, I marvel at how the ideas come. Apparently I have mapped out a bit of the Immateria, and it is developing quite the place with my little Taverntown and the world of Imperial Urth. It is coming along like Springfield from the Simpsons, as I intrioduce characters and plots that expand the world, making it more vibrant and alive.
Inspiration is a marvel, and I share your joy at creating and finding solutions for stories!
Aint it amazing how criticism is the mother of invention, if you take it the right way? Sry about that, necessity, but I've taken your child away from you. Meanwhile, your talking umbrella is hilarious. Children's books need that.
i love hearing about your "karbiti spieron" experience. i've had similar dreams like this, and i love when dreams offer you a little secret mantra or spell. i wonder if you tried exploring the phrase as an anagram? it might reveal some insights or interesting tangents..
You were probably right to ramp down on the violence in your new book. I am living evidence that exposure to even funny, unrealistic violence can tip into the real thing: When I was a kid, there was a US television program called "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," which featured Ruth Buzzi playing an angry, purse-wielding woman named Gladys (you can see some of her skits here: https://youtu.be/jTgzaKyx_dg?si=Yp3-_NceWU4CbAlW) - on one Easter Sunday, at the extended family celebration, I once used my brand new purse (which my mother had purchased for me to go with my new Easter dress) to repeatedly hit one of my cousins on the head until he begged me to stop, shouting, "That hurts!" I just thought it was funny, and until my cousin complained, I truly had no idea that TV funny is not the same thing as real-life funny and that getting hit in the head with a purse is painful...
Your dream sequence is really cool! I did some digging on the 'net, and though "Karbiti Spieron" doesn't bring up any hits, I discovered that "Karbiti" is "carbide" in Albanian and "Spieron" is the name of a GPS tracking company. Maybe "Karbiti Spieron" refers to a super strong ability to find things? Though "The ancient hidden kingdom of Karbiti Spieron" sounds a LOT cooler! Do you even speak Albanian? At any rate, I think it's totally cool how our brains can come up with such weird stuff while we sleep!
I don't speak Dutch, but I wish you luck with "Scheidoma." If you ever release an English version, I will definitely buy a copy!
And finally, your last cheerful, wonderful comic - "Don't worry, be happy" are words to live by!
Kids will mimic violent actions whether the umbrellas are handheld by humans or an anthropomorphized creation. If an action elicits laughs, esp. a repeated action, a kid will try to duplicate it, not considering potential real harn or increasing anger of those who are hit. Not sure what you'd replace that action with, though - maybe a magic bucket that suddenly appears overhead & dumps water on the angry people? That would cool them down, be less harmful if copied in real life, and hopefully be funny, too.
p.s. Or a water balloon. Or a flying squirrel that lands in their hair and dances wildly then zooms off. Or a trumpeter who marches on, blasts a loud BLAAAATT! that covers all dialog, then marches off. Or any other absurd, harmless silliness that disrupts the anger. Love the granny drawings, and the Dutch name for the one-word, talking umbrella! (Note: I erred when trying to post this postscript earlier, so i deleted the original and am reposting again, even though i'm probably commenting too much.)
I love the idea of Talkiebrella! I had a weird dream once too about having a friend named Zafar, but the thing was, I have never heard of the word Zafar anywhere. It's so cool that our minds can be so highly imaginative!
Those mysterious service lights are the worst!
It's probably just because I reached a certain mileage, but still: I have to bring it in and that's going to cost SOMETHING.
One of my buddies here just covers the offending service light with a piece of duct tape... though that might not be the brightest move!
😂
This year Dee and I started brainstorming a new cartoon series, as she still wants to collaborate with me, and wanted to do a fantasy setting for a cartoon. Since I have an extensive background in fantasy TTRPGs, and she is an expert cartoonist, this seemed like a fine idea.
Once I got the concept locked in and I started establishing the setting and characters, it started taking off with a life of its own.
I scripted the first 5 books (around 32 comics pages), panel to panel, page by page, to resolve the plots I had built. After that, I started just plotting so as not to be dictating to my creative partner, but to leave room for her to help pace the action. So from book 6 on, just plots and descriptions.
Last night I got inspired, not once but twice, and I am sitting at 28 books summarized and plotted, ready to be scripted. And as I work, I marvel at how the ideas come. Apparently I have mapped out a bit of the Immateria, and it is developing quite the place with my little Taverntown and the world of Imperial Urth. It is coming along like Springfield from the Simpsons, as I intrioduce characters and plots that expand the world, making it more vibrant and alive.
Inspiration is a marvel, and I share your joy at creating and finding solutions for stories!
I love that the comment about it being too serious led you to my new favorite cartoon character--Talkiebrella!
SERENDIPITIOUSLY! 😀
Love that umbrella. Irrefutable!
Aint it amazing how criticism is the mother of invention, if you take it the right way? Sry about that, necessity, but I've taken your child away from you. Meanwhile, your talking umbrella is hilarious. Children's books need that.
i love hearing about your "karbiti spieron" experience. i've had similar dreams like this, and i love when dreams offer you a little secret mantra or spell. i wonder if you tried exploring the phrase as an anagram? it might reveal some insights or interesting tangents..
Interesting! It yields “breakpoint iris” - Iris is my mom’s middle name. 🤔
😯!
Loved this post and the comics you shared, especially the last one. Spot on!
Dear Margreet,
Great piece!
I love this sentence: "The Talkiebrella is the result of an experiment gone wrong: it was supposed to be a Singing Saw, but then this came out."
Thank you for sharing as always!
Love
Myq
Wow, you covered a lot in today's post!
You were probably right to ramp down on the violence in your new book. I am living evidence that exposure to even funny, unrealistic violence can tip into the real thing: When I was a kid, there was a US television program called "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," which featured Ruth Buzzi playing an angry, purse-wielding woman named Gladys (you can see some of her skits here: https://youtu.be/jTgzaKyx_dg?si=Yp3-_NceWU4CbAlW) - on one Easter Sunday, at the extended family celebration, I once used my brand new purse (which my mother had purchased for me to go with my new Easter dress) to repeatedly hit one of my cousins on the head until he begged me to stop, shouting, "That hurts!" I just thought it was funny, and until my cousin complained, I truly had no idea that TV funny is not the same thing as real-life funny and that getting hit in the head with a purse is painful...
Your dream sequence is really cool! I did some digging on the 'net, and though "Karbiti Spieron" doesn't bring up any hits, I discovered that "Karbiti" is "carbide" in Albanian and "Spieron" is the name of a GPS tracking company. Maybe "Karbiti Spieron" refers to a super strong ability to find things? Though "The ancient hidden kingdom of Karbiti Spieron" sounds a LOT cooler! Do you even speak Albanian? At any rate, I think it's totally cool how our brains can come up with such weird stuff while we sleep!
I don't speak Dutch, but I wish you luck with "Scheidoma." If you ever release an English version, I will definitely buy a copy!
And finally, your last cheerful, wonderful comic - "Don't worry, be happy" are words to live by!
Kids will mimic violent actions whether the umbrellas are handheld by humans or an anthropomorphized creation. If an action elicits laughs, esp. a repeated action, a kid will try to duplicate it, not considering potential real harn or increasing anger of those who are hit. Not sure what you'd replace that action with, though - maybe a magic bucket that suddenly appears overhead & dumps water on the angry people? That would cool them down, be less harmful if copied in real life, and hopefully be funny, too.
p.s. Or a water balloon. Or a flying squirrel that lands in their hair and dances wildly then zooms off. Or a trumpeter who marches on, blasts a loud BLAAAATT! that covers all dialog, then marches off. Or any other absurd, harmless silliness that disrupts the anger. Love the granny drawings, and the Dutch name for the one-word, talking umbrella! (Note: I erred when trying to post this postscript earlier, so i deleted the original and am reposting again, even though i'm probably commenting too much.)
I love the idea of Talkiebrella! I had a weird dream once too about having a friend named Zafar, but the thing was, I have never heard of the word Zafar anywhere. It's so cool that our minds can be so highly imaginative!
Great post!! Love a talking umbrella!! You’re a true creative- very talented artist. If it helps, my car is also getting repaired this week. 🥲😅