BALTIMORE, USA

Baltimore, Baltimore

I’m home. Been a bit since I’ve been to Baltimore, but once I get here it doesn’t take long for me to remember why this is my second home. I came here for a bunch of reasons. The place I stay at in Baltimore is the Governement House which is a bed and breakfast in the Mt. Vernon section of B-more. The place is magical. I've loved the building and the propietor since the first time I walked through the door. Jeanie, always takes good care of a poor poet trying to live his dream. I am blessed.

Confession time: I am a nerd. Always have been always will be. So it should be no surprise that I am a huge comic book fan, and for the last year or so, I’ve been pretty serious about trying to write comic books. So when I was planning this trip to read Julius X, it seemed to be fate that brought me Baltimore the same time as the Baltimore Comic Book Convention. In addition to the Convention, another business contact was going to be in town during the same time. I knew this was going to be a busy trip.

The Baltimore Convention.
Everything I’ve read about breaking into comics says you need to go to conventions and get to know people. So that’s why I went. I had a great time as a nerd. As a writer, it was the big goose egg. The conventions are made for Artist to connect publishers, but for a writer without an artist, not much going on. I talked to a few people, tried to make some connections, we’ll see if anything happens.

On the big ole phat nerd tip. I met some of the creators that I love. Like Amanda Conner. I spoke to her like I was a little kid. I’ve just been digging her Art work forever. Check out her stuff: www.amandaconner.com. (she’s my celebrity crush) LOL. I met the king John Romita Sr. This man is a legend. I shook his hand, and could barely speak. Jimmy Palmiotti was there, he’s a great talent unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. I met a new writer named Raven, he’s pretty good too. So on a whole it was fun. Ultimately, I need to figure out how to break in cause it seems like the convention route isn’t going to get me far.

JULIUS X
Monday was the reading of Julius at the Eubie Blake Community Center. I had a good meeting with the director Troy Burton the day before the reading. He listened intently as I explained my vision for the piece. I could see the light bulb go on as I explained it all. He helped me think somethings through, and I think the piece is really strong. The reading made me even more confident of where it's going. Which I needed because writing a “Poetical” isn’t something that comes with an instruction book. This time I’m a little more free with the poetry, and the blending of it with dialogue. The play will be finished in a couple weeks. (We read the first half of the piece) and once that’s done, then it’s out of my hands. I’ll be in Baltimore again in November to do a reading open to the public, which will be much more intense. Anne @ the Theatre Project is happy with what she heard. I felt a little pressure to make her happy. She supports me fully, and I want her to know I appreciate it. At the same time I want to prove that the work is worthy of being supported. Big ambitions, but you gotta dream big right? I’m excited to see where this will end up.

On a separate note, a new business oppertunity opened up. I met some wonderful people while I was in B-more, and we may do some work together. Don't want to talk much about it now, until we get the details hammered out. But if it all works out which I think it will, the project could be pretty big. It's all pretty exciting. This was facilited by Jeanie Clark (the Inn Keep), as always she's looking out for me. I hope I can "pay-it-forward" in the near future.