…to one day have a cover as awesome as this. 
I read some of Alan Dean Foster’s stuff when I was a kid and always enjoyed it (Nor Crystal Tears was fantastic). He wrote a Star Wars book, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye which was, I believe, the first EU book ever written, at least for Star Wars, which puts in the running for first EU ever. It came out before the revelations of Empire, so there’s a romantic sub plot between Luke and Leia that’s hilariously creepy. Maybe I’ll hunt around and find some of his other stuff sometime.
Writing exercise: Use these three things in a short story/scene: a superhero, a church, a spoon
The spoon was a bit tricky, but I worked it in there. This was a hero mentioned a couple times in Shades of Red, but I hadn’t really fleshed him out any. I’m thinking he’s a government-employed hero who works with the Chicago PD. His on and off relationship with the Scarlet Ranger (not mentioned in this piece) is no doubt great fodder for the tabloids.
I’m really digging the villain in this. He’s kind of reminding me of the Joker, but with less style and actual powers. Maybe an archenemy for the Defender? As a telekinetic, he can find ways around the Defender’s powers that a lot of other enemys can’t, and his personality is a complete 180. He’s all emotions–rage and hate. I’ll have to come up with a name for him (especially since I had trouble coming up with enough different things to call him in this, heh).
Holy cats, it’s 1300 words. And I just realized this is the second Sam I’ve used in a row. Hmm.
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I’m a big fan of Dr. Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme of Marvel Comics. He’s just a cool guy, and I enjoy his origin. The urban mage is a fairly common archetype in comics, from Dr. Fate to Zatanna and Harry Potter (I love Zatanna, too; the backwords-speak spells and fishnet/top hat combo do it for me I guess). Magic is always fun, of course, simply because its only limits are your own imagination. But with the urban mage you have a chance to create characters that readers can actually identify with. Plus the chance to give these sorts of characters, who usually have over-the-top powers and are deeply rooted in ancient traditions and so forth, modern dialogue and problems is just too fun.
So I’ve created my own little contemporary sorcerer, Sevastian Dušan, Mystic Extraordinaire and forward for the minor league hockey team Vancouver Cougars. The thought of a guy in his full hockey dress casting spells with a magic hockey stick amuses me. No helmet, though. That hockey hair needs to fly free. Here’s the opening to a story with him. I’m kind of stuck on it at the moment, with only vague ideas on how to go on.
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