4/21. Is there anything that bores you about any of your characters?
I write the books I want to read aloud. I have to avoid characters that don’t interest me. If I can’t bring them to life easily while reading, they need work.
(I have a tarot deck. A few cards gives me a colorful, unique backstory.)
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
"Self-defense" in a #western mouth is the unilateral nonexistent & criminal "right" to destruct the other. It's a warmonger, perverse & mass killer terminology. I couldn't say when they used the notion appropriately once (for the last decades I know & these contemporary times for sure not, before that, I'm not historian. Nor archeologist to excavate the ancient world to which these actual western primitive "quest-of-fire-leaders" as modern as a mummy belong).
4/20. If someone gave you a million dollars (or equivalent) to never write again, would you take it?
Heh. I’d have to know how they’d audit my (lack of) compliance. I could not stop writing.
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
4/19. Have you ever learned something about yourself from your characters?
Yes. I’ve learned I don’t live the kind of high-drama, all-or-nothing life that makes for compelling story-telling. I’m barely an anecdote when compared with my characters.
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
4/18. What would it take for your MC to become violent?
In book I, all it took was Duncan’s hands out of place to set Diane off.
In book II, Antonia doesn’t injure anyone until she is cornered at gunpoint.
4/17. Is your antagonist high maintenance?
The book I antagonist is an ass, but mostly self-sufficient. Considering the standards of the wealthy in the 1800’s, he doesn’t demand a large household staff. Two enslaved workers and a batch of mercenaries seem to cover his needs.
By American frontier standards? He’s a monster.
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
4/16. If your MC wasn’t involved with the story, what would they do with their life?
Pursuing the uncanny somewhere else, not in desert southwest.
Antonia would be telling fortunes somewhere, trying to keep away from the law.
Diane would be living in a tiny shack of a house, hoarding clippings from tabloids and scandal-sheets, bullying people to understand their uncanny experiences.
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
There's nothing inherently #western or #chauvinist about criticizing #China for very clearly and obviously not practicing #Marxism. Plenty of genuine #communists in the #GlobalSouth have criticized China for these same reasons.
4/15. How much attention do you give to the rhythm of your words?
A little.
I write the books I want to read aloud. (I read aloud daily to my partner.) I’m acutely aware of places where I might stumble. I’m also considering where the listener (not a reader) might get lost in a complex paragraph.
It’s not poetry. But. It’s designed with performance in mind.
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
Dust (The Twilight Zone, 1961) is a Western-themed story about a conman peddling ‘magic’ dust - which he says could save a man from hanging.
4/14. Who is your kindest character and how do they show it?
Mr Ross. In spite of having been enslaved, he has a charitable disposition. And — maybe — a deeper understanding that he’s never going to escape from the shackles he was born into.
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
4/13. How dangerous is your MC?
Lethal. Absolutely murderous. Diane — on book I — is not a well person. But she’s trying.
The Cisco Kid by José Luis Salinas and Rod Reed
#comicstrip #theciscokid #western #comicstrips
