It’s been a while. I’ve been busy — both teaching and writing. There’s been a lot of deadlines as I still do freelance work, although I have tried to limit it. But there’s been a lot of creating as well, behind the scenes. But I’ll talk about that in a minute… I really want to catch you up on a few things, like, the release of my first YA graphic novel, Block’D from Mad Cave Studios/Maverick.

Block’D is available in stores now and you can access your preferred online store here and you can read the Kirkus Review here. If you end up grabbing a copy, or if you’ve already read Block’D please let me know what you think. Ignacio and I really had an incredible time collaborating and bringing this book to life. None better than paying homage to the one and only Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi.

Yeah, there was no way that I was going to do a basketball book and not put something in it about my favorite basketball player of all time and honor his and his daughter’s memory. This actually wasn’t something written in the script, it actually came about from Ignacio and I truly collaborating, conversing about different aspects of the book, the feel, the vibe, and how that comes to life. So, yeah, we talked about this and in this particular scene he made sure to place the picture of Kobe and Gigi on the wall.

You know, entering the YA graphic novel space has been an incredible journey. It’s such a fun space where a lot of different genres can thrive. Block’D is a coming-of-age story that is a basketball drama as well as a werewolf shifter story. The combination allows us to do a lot of things and truly utilize the characters as vehicles to tell the story, how they ultimately overcome the obstacles in front of them — which is the tenet of storytelling in my opinion: Always, CHARACTER + OBSTACLE = STORY.

Some TRAUMA TALK…

Going back to what I was saving above, there’s definitely some things that I want to fill you guys in on — one of which is that my journey as a YA graphic novel author continues. I have another book with Mad Cave Studios/Maverick in the works and the only thing I can tell you is that it’s horror — Yup, YA Horror. What? You wanna sneak peak? Ummm… Okay, but don’t tell my editor—

That’s all I can share, y’all. But I can say that my collaboration with Sandra Perea has been dope! She has a touch to her art that really speaks to what this story is about, its characters, and the horror element. Can’t wait for you all to see it! So, stay tuned… You’ll get the first deets and looks here on this Trauma Talk Substack.

Alright, look, it’s been a long time coming, and I am glad that we finally got a chance to catch up. There’s more in the works and more that I am going to share, so hopefully you all will continue to be patient with me (as I finish up this school year, remember, I am also a teacher) and rock with me. Please comment, restack, share, do all those things. I would really love to hear from you!

Talk soon —

B

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I started writing DEVIL’S DOMINION over four years ago. I remember reaching out to BlackBox Comics’ publisher and founder at the time, Dimitrios Zarahakis seeking some freelance work. I knew of him and his company, a fledging small independent comic book publisher, that had already put out a few several books through the direct market — I.T., Psycho List, Militia, and Bigs & Tiny. Needless to say, I was impressed by what they had done so far and was curious if there could be any possibility of me coming on to write a series for them. At the time, I had self-published a few comics, freelanced and ghostwritten a lot through the Upwork platform, and was working as a freelance editor for Mad Cave Studios. To make a long story short, things worked out, and I was brought on to write a series titled, DEVIL’S DOMINION.

Buy Devil's Dominion HERE!

And here we are now, in the Volume 2 of the supernatural action/horror/thriller where Devlynn St. Paul is imbued by demonic powers after making a deal with the Devil only to renege on that deal and use those powers for good. It’s been an incredibly fun ride writing this series and working with the amazing art teams that BlackBox Comics has formed to bring this story to life. Dimitrios has allowed me so much room to create within his original vision and concept for this series, and it has branched out into a universe that is being revealed through other series that BlackBox publishes!

Issue #6, the first issue of Volume 2 of DEVIL’S DOMION is out in stores now and is available for order through BlackBox Comics’ website, as well as all the issues for Vol. 1 (1-5) if you have not had a chance to read the series yet.

THE GORGON

Another series that I am excited about that is returning is my black, erotic, mythical thriller, CURSE OF THE GORGON, published by Bag Bug Media.

Become a Backer of CURSE OF THE GORGON #1-2 HERE!

Issue #1-2 launched on Kickstarter a few days ago and was funded in under an hour! Right now, we are unlocking Stretch Goals.

CURSE OF THE GORGON is my first NSFW series, and it’s about a woman who’s a history professor at a community college that mysteriously recovers from a terminal illness after getting a hold of some of Medusa’s blood. Needless to say, imbibing the blood of the infamous Gorgon comes at cost — lustful provocations that lead to murderous machinations.

This is a five-issue series that takes on a Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde vibe within the context of Greek mythology in a modern day purview. Bringing this story to life is Jeferson Sadzinkski (interior artist) and Antonio Wong (color artist), along with Micah Myers (letterer), a creative team that has been nothing short of amazing and magical, a true pleasure to collab and work with. CURSE OF THE GORGON as a series stands out to me in that its one-of-one: it is a NSFW series that has a black female character as its main character and is created by a black comic book writer (me). And this is on purpose. One of the things that I wanted to do as I set out to create my own studio, BlaX Trauma Productions, was to create stories about black characters, specifically horror stories, and in addition to that, I wanted to extend that storytelling into a space where neither black story or character or creator really existed — the NSFW, erotica, Adult Comics space. I say this and attempt this unabashedly.

Love, lust, sex, intimacy, all of it are a part of the human condition, and I firmly believe in writing about the human condition — as I have stated in previous newsletters, it is at the center of my writing. So, branching out into the NSFW is part of my vision as a black creator and writer, and I am looking to bring a new voice and perspective to the space. Adult Comic stories with characters that are black are very important to see and read, as much as it is for super hero comics and other more traditional kinds of comics.

Become a Backer of CURSE OF THE GORGON #1-2 HERE!

As always, thank you all for continuing to subscribe to Trauma Talk and for continuing to read what I write. I always feel indebted to you all and grateful because in order to be a writer, you must have people willing to be readers. I thank you all for being readers and continuing to support!

Talk soon —

Brian

This is how I approach writing, editing, and teaching…

… As a formula… A literature equation as I used to call it when I first began to use it my classroom several years back. I promised to begin talking about my approach to writing more beginning in this newsletter and this seems like the best place to start.

CHARACTER + OBSTACLE = STORY is about understanding that there are two basic and necessary components or parts that make up a story, and that is character and obstacle. The character becomes the vehicle of the story, the representative of us and how we are going to be delivered the big ideas and themes. But this is not possible without that character having to overcome an obstacle, i.e. face a problem. Much like how the character(s) represents us, the obstacle represents the problems in life that arrive from either internal or external, sometimes both, conflict. When it comes to literature, it is this combination that makes a story exist. In comparison, the same is said for life. Humanity always deal with something, whether tiny or ginormous, big or small, our obstacle (s) define us and ultimately, creates our life story.

In my opinion, this is the simplistic beauty of storytelling; that it’s truly all about us and our exploration of the human condition. This is how I approach writing, this is step one for me. From there, it’s about the events that evolve from the character(s) interacting with the obstacle in all its forms and, subsequently, this is how we get the plot diagram.

Right now, in my 8th grade ELA class, we’re doing a soft introduction to all of this in preparation for officially beginning our Unit 1 this Friday that focuses on the theme of Rites of Passage. I will definitely keep all of you informed about that, I’m sure it’s going to be journey…

Remember…

My boy Patrick Foreman (Black Cotton Co-Creator and Co-Writer) has crafted a wonderful crime thriller and has enlisted a master storyteller in Damien Becton and artist extraordinaire Marcelo Santana to bring it to life. With only three days left on Kickstarter, this is a first issue of a limited three issue series that you do not want to miss. Please use the QR code on the image above or check out the link below to the Kickstarter page to read more about it and/or support the campaign.

Become a Backer of Remember

Talk soon —

Brian

My summer hasn’t been horrific, not in the sense that it’s been bad… But it has been horrific in that I’ve spent a lot of time writing horror stories for my BlaX Trauma Productions comic studio.

WOLFGRAVE #1 funded on Kickstarter and while Luis Morocho has been working on pages (which he’s now finished), I’ve been working on the script for Issue 2 and 3. As we begin to wrap up production on Issue #1, getting it ready for the printer and backers, we’ve shifted (no pun intended) our minds to what’s next: And that’s Issue #2 and the preliminary art for that now that Luis has finished inks for number one.

Our supernatural horror story will feel cinematic, giving you some of the most nostalgic calls to action and survival from your favorite horror movies. We’re hoping to add to the continuum of flourishing horror comics, to contribute to the emboldening of them to the medium as a mainstay that is equal to other favorite genres in the medium. That is one of the visions for BlaX Trauma Productions — to tell horror stories that are palpable and entertaining, pushing BIPOC characters to the forefront of traumatic and horrifying events… Where some will survive and some won’t.

WOLFGRAVE is just one of the horror series that I’ve been working on this summer. I’ve also been working on CURSE OF THE GORGON, my black, erotic thriller with Bad Bug Media as the publisher.

Our main character in CURSE OF THE GORGON is a history professor at a community college who finds herself transforming into Medusa with an insatiable lust and a malevolent nature that’s nothing short of murderous.

As many of you may know, I am an educator, an English teacher, and so I’ve been on summer break/sabbatical for the last seven weeks. I’ve enjoyed a plethora of family time and the freedom to write when I want. While I am excited about the new school year and getting to share my experiences and what I know about writing with my incoming 8th graders, there’s some melancholy present as well in that this summer is coming to an end. During this time, I’ve had the opportunity to really dive into the writing process for both WOLFGRAVE and CURSE OF THE GORGON, continuing those series into subsequent issues, as well as other titles that I am developing. Time is a commodity, and I’ve been fortunate to have that time and really indulge in the craft of writing and how I approach it — this is something that I really want to talk about in a later post, one that’s more focused on my approach to writing, and now that I’ve set that up and think we can segue into that topic in the next post/Newsletter #62.

So, as always, thank you for taking the time to interact and be a part of this community here with Trauma Talk. I am already looking forward to the next time and really diving into my writing process as a whole and with all the series that I am writing.

Talk soon —

Brian

What do you think? Really?

That is the tag for my BlaX Trauma Productions’ latest horror series, WOLFGRAVE. Honestly, I’ve always loved Candyman and the idea for this limited horror series is spawned from that love for the movies and franchise. In addition to creating a supernatural killer in veins of Candyman, I wanted to play with the idea of manic delusion and what that could look like in the form of the supernatural and in the realm of paranormal shifter stories: thus, Wolfgrave is born.

WOLFGRAVE is a story about a group of hikers trying to survive after they get lost in the woods where a recluse, wolf-skin wearing man who believes he is a shapeshifting werewolf hunts them as prey. My creative team consists of artist Luis Morocho, color artist Antonio Ramos Wong, and letterer Francisco Zamora.

BECOME A BACKER OF WOLFGRAVE #1 HERE!

Like with all my comics, BlaX Trauma Productions is releasing independently through Kickstarter where we have four exclusive cover options. Right now, we are 40% funded with 10 days left. Become a backer by clicking on the link above.

Talk soon —

Brian