MERRY CHRISTMAS - AND THANK YOU!

The time has come for a final post before the holidays bogs everything down. In a good way, right? Right…

This year was very exciting for me as I focused a lot on my own projects and had my first US graphic novel out in May. I was fortunate enough to have three visits to the US, spending the entire month of July in California with my wife and two daughters. I will be carrying the sound of the ocean and the majestic calm of Big Sur in my heart for a long time, just as I will always remember the sounds and smells of New York City and the friends I made there, visiting the MoCCA Festival in April and NYCC in October while having the privilege to work out of Hang Dai Studios in Brooklyn.

Not everything went according to plan; some projects got pushed ahead while new opportunities arose, some things just didn’t happen. Like the Christmas card I was supposed to send out (the above motive is an old one. Sorry). But 2011 feels like the year I finally found myself - at the age of 39. One of my new friends introduced me as “Danish noir artist Palle Schmidt”. That makes me feel very proud, since I don’t think anyone in the history of Man has ever been called that before!

Next year I’ll be studying screenwriting at the National Film School of Denmark a week out of every month, and I’ll be working on at least two new comics projects with US writers besides my own graphic novels. I will also be contributing to a couple of new web sites; Trip City and Making Comics, just as I’ll be continuing to update my own site.

I want to thank you all for your support, for dropping by, for commenting and contributing. I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you on the other side.

-- Danish noir artist Palle Schmidt, Copenhagen, December 2011

The Devil's Concubine: GEEKS OF DOOM REVIEW

Another excellent review of The Devil's Concubine is up at Geeks of Doom. Here's an excerpt:

"Palle Schmidt has created a book that adds another stunning chapter to the already deep and vivid cannon of crime books. The Devil’s Concubine takes notes from its predecessors while rebranding itself into a truly gripping graphic novel".

You can read the rest of the review here.

The Devil's Concubine: LINDA OSUGI [spoiler warning]

Appetite for destruction

Linda may lie about her background, but only to give the right impression. A thrill-seeker by nature, Linda has bluffed her way into the underworld and a job as Jean-Luc’s assistant on a freelance hit. Getting away with murder seems easy and Linda clearly has a talent for it. With total disregard for rules and authorities, Linda risks it all on this job, convinced of her own immortality. To begin with she may respect Jean-Luc’s decisions but soon the status between the two starts to shift and Jean-Luc is no longer in charge or control of the mayhem.

Where Jean-Luc is worried about his career and simply wants to get the job done, Linda grows an appetite for killing. Greed and recklessness clouds Linda’s judgement and it finally brings about her own destruction as she kills her one accomplice and friend in the world. Perhaps too late she realizes her mistake, as life oozes out of her and all the cops in the city are just outside the door.

Working methods: PITCHING

I really don't know much about this subject. That's why I signed on for a seminar recently, about pitching your ideas. Unfortunately all I learned was how NOT to do it.

The speaker was a young, beautiful woman who had worked in ad agencies in New York and L.A. and had worked with major clients throughout the years. While her resumé was very convincing, her PowerPoint presentation was not. She took more than an hour of our time, going through all the different projects she had worked on, and barely gave us any info on how to pitch. Our pens remained poised over our notebooks, waiting for nuggets of wisdom, and nothing came. And I was consistently aware of the typos that appeared on almost every slide, even misspelling the name of a client.

The final message was presented on one slide, in giant bold letters:

"Only sell to people who is listening"

I'll let that sink in.

And yes, that is a correct quote.

So; what I did get out of it was two things:

• When you're pitching something, keep it short.
• Check for spelling or leave your PowerPoint slides at home.

For a much better run-down of pitching, check out this article on makingcomics.com.

The Devil's Concubine: JEAN-LUC BROUSSARD [spoiler warning]

Killing for a Living

With a background in the French Foreign Legion and an intimidating physique, Jean-Luc ought to be the right man for a little freelance murder. He is effective, if not too bright, and he doesn’t get attached to people or things – Except his car, a 1960’s Citroën. A loner by heart, Jean-Luc breaks his own rules by bringing in an assistant for the Dietrich job. His only other ally is Omar, a 13-year old “wise-man” whom he buys his weapons from.

Jean-Luc wants to build a career for himself in the underworld. Where Linda doesn’t seem to care who she pisses off, Jean-Luc is actually trying to resolve things in a non-violent way and rarely kills anyone other than in self defence. He clearly wants to amend things with LaTour, even when LaTour is trying to kill him. And he is smart enough to know when the game is up, not wanting to go down in a rain of bullets. Linda disagrees with his decision to surrender, and Jean-Luc is forced to a final confrontation.

On the move: BACK TO SCHOOL

It's official; I have been accepted to the Danish Film School screenwriting master class. So next year will be pretty busy...

I posted this news to Facebook yesterday and got over a hundred "likes". So it seems there are people out there who appreciate my efforts to break from the artist to writer side of things. Not that I plan on abandoning the pen completely. Although yesterday I had to go out and buy new pants in the middle of the day because a cup of ink wash slided off my tilted drawingboard and splashed all over me. That made me kind of tired of the whole drawing thing.

I feel very priviliged and thankful when people recognize my writing skills rather than my art skills. And when a prestigious school like the Danish Film School takes me seriously it does wonders for my confidence. As an artist I have thousands of drawings and paid work proving me an artist, but when is it okay to call yourself a writer? When you've written a published novel? When you have written a thousand pages? When you've written a couple of short stories, or when writing pays your bills?

Anyway, I just wanted to share my thoughts and my excitement. And I'll be sharing some more tricks on writing next year so it seems. Come on back.

Video: ALL NYCC 2011 INTERVIEWS

All the interviews I did at New York Comic Con this October, edited together for your enjoyment. The music is Robert Green's "Kiss Me While We're Waiting to get Famous".