The Tao of Web Comics

You might also want to check this presentation by Scott McCloud.

Wow. I didn't know that making comics can be something deep.

Web Comics: How to Monetize your Creative Work

When I set out to start this blog, (which has not been that long ago), I knew that I was in for a lot of challenges.

First there are not many people who likes to read online because it is hard to look at the computer for an extended period of time.

Second, in this day and age we are so used to immediate gratification. You would rather watch a movie , read a short article, look at a picture - anything that doesn't require too much time.

And third, even traditional publishing business is down so what more for an online novel.

So I keep reseaching for way to effectively tell my stories and of course have someone pay me for doing something that I love.

A video presentation I found at Opensourcetv.tv is certainly one direction we could try.

You can can check out the video at http://www.opensourcetv.tv/video/7.html

Lastly, you might think I'm giving up on my novel, but no. But the presentation I mentioned is certainly one avenue that I am considering for my other works.

Wizard's Chronicle: Chapter 3

The First of Numerous Difficulties

They passed by the city gates. From there the view alternated between wide expanses of farm lands and isolated houses.

Mythos looked behind him and he found that his father and Zulu were already asleep.

“Adults always sleep during long travels,” He thought to himself.

Mythos looked at the horizon. He saw distant flashes of lightning breaking through thick gray clouds. Then it was followed by distant thunders. He was glad they were far away.

After he has grown tired of looking at the view from his side, he looked at the opposite side of the carriage.

He saw a bird flying high. It flew in spurts like it was trying to match the speed of the carriage.

For a moment he thought it was the shape of a man and its wings were the wings of a bat. But it was so distant he could not really make what type of bird it was.

And when he has grown tired of checking the view outside he looked at the small painting framed inside the carriage.

It was a picture of numerous men locked in battle. At the backdrop was a great castle. With its towers formed like hands reaching up the sky.

The carriage suddenly jolted to a stop. Mythos and his father were thrown towards the front. Meanwhile Zulu, who was sitting on the opposite seat, found his back banged against the carriage wall.

Mythos heard the horses screaming. But where was the driver?

“What was that?” Master Brynes exclaimed as he was shaken awake.

Zulu looked at both sides of the carriage, alert for anything he might find.

“Master!” somebody shouted outside asking for help.

It was the driver. Somehow he was thrown a few yards at the right side of the carriage. And he was grappling with a creature!

“Gargoyle!” Mythos screamed.

Zulu slammed the door open and then jumped outside. He held a spear in his hand.

Master Brynes followed closely. He reached under the seat for a bow and a quiver of arrows.

“Zulu! Take the driver’s seat!” He shouted while he aimed at the creature.

“Mythos! Lock the door!”

Mythos quickly latched both doors close.

Then Master Brynes let his arrow loose. It hit the gargoyle’s side causing the creature to fly away.

“Uberko! Let’s go! “He shouted at the driver who was suddenly free.

Uberko ran back towards the carriage.

Then the two jumped on the driver’s seat joining Zulu. The carriage began to move again.

Mythos saw how the creature reached at the arrow stuck in its side. It broke the shaft before it flew towards them again.

He heard the gargoyle screaming. There were several thuds on the roof as his father and the others tried to keep the creature away.

Promoting Online Fiction

Promoting online fiction can be harder than promoting non fiction.

In my technical blog, http://meandthecomputer.blogspot.com, I can talk about a certain topic and the search engine automatically indexes the page based on keywords.

It does this by counting how many times certain words occur in my post. After that it is able to conclude that I was talking about a particular topic.

But with fiction you are not really talking about a topic, instead you are just narrating a story. This makes it harder to target keywords.

The solution. Post non fiction articles from time to time. Which is what I am doing right now.

I hope you don't mind.

This strategy would ensure me that I would get people coming from Google, Yahoo, and MSN.

Wizard's Chronicle: Chapter 2

The Way Home

The servants waiting by the carriage stood upright when they saw Mythos and his father approaching.

“Master Brynes.” They bowed.

“Let us go Zulu.” His father said.

Zulu motioned the driver to mount.

Afterwards, he joined Mythos and his father inside the carriage.

“Any news?” His father inquired as Zulu was closing the door.

Master Brynes wiped the perspiration forming on his forehead. It was turning out to be a humid day.

“There are reports of skirmishes in the border towns.”

The carriage began to move. Mythos held on to the seat tighter as he was momentarily caught off balance.

“Acensians?” His father said. It was more of a confirmation than a question.

“Yes Master. They were Acensian units.”

Master Bryne's brows furrowed and he unconciously stroked his chin as he was thinking. “It is still a mystery to me Zulu. Acensia has always been an ally of our kingdom. ”

“I agree Master Brynes. And we have no known dispute with them.”

“I fear if this goes on a full scale war will break. It is such a foolish move because they cannot hope to match against the kingdom’s army.”

There was a slight pause.

“What about the Northern Lands?”

“Still the same Master, the same collection of tribes fighting among themselves.”

“Hmm. They have been that way for as long as I can remember." Master Brynes shook his head. "That land seems to have no hope of growing into a full nation." He resigned.

“Indeed Master.” Zulu sighed. He was originally from the Northern Lands.

"No matter. As long as they allow us to trade freely,” Master Brynes continued.

“Anyway, enough of that. I heard you have found a better trade route. Where is it?”

Zulu began to take out several maps from his bag.

The servant and his father began to study them.

Mythos heard everything they talked about. But at his age of merely eight summers old, he could not grasp the gravity of it.

All he could think about is playing with the other children at Brigg’s Valley.

So when Zulu and his father began to study the maps he tried to peek at the lines that were drawn. But he soon lost interest.

He contented himself with looking at the different houses that they were passing by.

He remembered a house they passed by earlier in the morning. It was beautiful house painted white and built with large stones he have never seen before. In front of it was a fountain with a statue of a man riding a dolphin. The dolphin's mouth was open and from it water spewed back into the pool.

Mythos was sure they would pass that house again. He waited. And soon he saw it up ahead.

He saw that there was also a creature on top of the dolphin’s nose. It was a gargoyle! He remembered it from one of his books. He wondered why he did not notice it before. He must have just forgotten it.

He pulled his father’s sleeve. “Father look!” he said smiling.

His father glanced at it for a while but he did not know if he really noticed. They were still busy studying the map.

Mythos looked at it for as long as it was in view. It was such an amusing sight. He tried to make a picture of it in his mind so that he would remember.

He wished they had one like it at home.

Wizard's Chronicle: Chapter 1

A Test

Mythos clung to his father’s hand as they made their way to the strange old man in long flowing robe and beard.

The man lifted his head from the scroll where he was writing and said, “next.”

Mythos and his father stepped forward.

The man with the long beard took an examining gaze at the child.

Mythos held his father’s hand tighter, “Father. I’m afraid.”

“It’s alright son.”

“Come child. Let go of your father for a while.”

Mythos felt hesitant but he still obeyed.

For a moment he stood there in silence while the man closed his eyes.

It appears to Mythos that he was in deep concentration.

When the man opened his eyes there was a bright blinding aura glowing around Mythos.

The crowd in the plaza gasped.

Mythos did not know what to do. He did not know where the strange glow was coming from.

“Father…”

“I’m here son,” Came the voice from the crowd. The aura was so bright that he could not see the other people around him.

Then suddenly it was gone like it was never there in the first place.

When he looked again the old man’s attention has turned from him to his father.

“Mister Brynes right?”

“That is correct Wizard Stephen.”

“You need to give me directions to your house. As I would need to visit you personally after the testing.”

“As you wish Wizard Stephen.”

His father came to the wizard’s table. He was given a parchment where he drew the directions to their house.

Then his father took him again.

Mythos looked behind him and he saw another child being tested.

“See that wasn’t long.” His father turned to him as they started walking back to their carriage.

“Yes father.”

His father tried to smile but Mythos noticed there was something different about him.

Like he was worried.

Wizard's Chronicle: Prologue

A Spurned Wizard

Once there was a wizard far south of Altera. This wizard was ill treated by their king.

Because this kingdom never suffered any war during the whole of its history; no famine nor pestilence ever visited it; the king and all the people felt that the wizard was a redundancy in their kingdom.

What need do they have for a wizard? There's no sickness to cure; no enemy to turn back; no pest to rid. No, nothing to consult him with. It was such a relief for them that they have only one wizard. How awful would it have been if there were two?

Because of this, the wizard was relegated to the task of entertaining the king and the people during feasts and during great occasions, which the wizard resented very much. The wizard had a high esteem for his art. And providing mere entertainment as a profession was revolting.

One time, during the feast of the king's mother's birthday, the king asked the wizard to perform an entertaining trick for him, his mother, the people, and the guests.

"Prove to my guests that I have the best wizard in all the land and the best there will ever be," The king said.

All the music stopped and all the activity. Everybody's attention was focused on the wizard.

"I have just the thing for you, my great king," Boasted the wizard.

The king and the crowd listened.

"I will call upon lightning to come out from the very ceiling of this magnificent hall of our castle and strike the caskets of wine there."

There was a moment of silence, which was broken by the king's laughter.

" Ha, ha, ha. Enough of that my wizard. Any magician can do that" The king spoke. "What I am thinking is a more challenging and entertaining trick."

The proud wizard's grin disappeared. He looked around him shamed and dejected. With an effort, he hid it.

"Bid me my king," Said the wizard trying to manage a smile. "What would satisfy your appetite for magic?"

"Turn into a donkey," The king said without hesitation. “Stay that way for a few moments. Then turn your self back to human.”

"But my king," The wizard protested. "What you ask of me is a very difficult task. If I turn myself into a donkey, everything of me will be a donkey. And I will not have much intelligence left to turn myself back to human. Why don't you let me turn somebody else into a donkey and then I can turn him right back to human."

"That's is not what I want my boy," Said the king blandly.

"Having left with no choice, the wizard set about the task. Slowly he turned into a donkey. Everyone was amazed and they laughed on top of their wines. He remained a donkey for a few moments struggling to remember who he was for dear life. Perspiration beaded from the donkey's forehead and the donkey's eyes grew wild.

The crowd bursted into a row of laughter.

One of the king's guards, who was terribly drunk, stepped in front and bawled, "Let's see if this donkey is authentic."

"Let' s do to this donkey what all donkeys are good for." Then he kicked the donkey's behind.

The donkey lost its footing and fell flat on the floor. It turned back into the wizard: exhausted and gasping for breath.

This elicited a more boisterous laughter from the people.

"Great work wizard!" Said the king unable to control his laughter. "Great work!"

As soon as the wizard caught his breath he ran away from the crowd. Tears welled from his eyes as he exited the hall.


From then on, he plotted to get back on his king and the people. He consulted books about the ancient black art. He studied necromancy. He summoned great demons and took over the kingdom using them.

But having immersed himself with evil, he grew worse. He not only dreamt of conquering this kingdom, but also the others that are in the land.