Sequel Script Almost Complete!

It's been almost a year since the last update. Act I, II and III are complete. The final one is in progress. I truly feel this is the greatest story I have every written. 

It feels like this is taking forever. Only having enough time to put in at 30-60 minutes each day will slow things down. 

Hopefully, this sequel won't be the last story. I have three other stories about important characters in Badin and the Secret of the Saami that need to be written. Ahmed Ibn Fadlan is next. After him, it will be Herr Torsten. Finally, a new adventure about Badin.

Other than during some recent visits to the Chicago Art Institute, I haven't been practicing my drawing skills at all. I have been totally focused on writing and reading—and so it should be! The art serves the story. If this story is bad, there is nothing I could do that will make it look good. 

Much of my project-related reading are comic book collections. Marvel published beautiful, full-color hard-cover bound omnibus volumes that I spent alot of money purchasing at Graham Cracker Comics downtown. 

I am just started Volume 3 of the Micronauts, but got distracted with Volume 1 of Doctor Strange. The writing and art of these books is from the 1970's and 1980's. Flat colors. Grids. Nothing heavily rendered. This is the look I wanted for Badin and the Secret of the Saami. So it will be for the sequel.

One thing I have noticed about the script so far: The characters are more alive than ever in my mind and heart. You will see Vaarvaa—a teenage girl with very little concerns about anything important—transform into a woman who will literally change her world completely around.  

Like Badin and the Secret of the Saami, the theme of family is found throughout the story. The loss of my sister to suicide is one of the most traumatic and transformative experiences of my life (and our entire family). Vaarvaa will experience a similar loss. It will define who she becomes in many ways. I think this personal experience will resonate through all the stories I hope to write in the series. 

Admittedly, Act IV has been extremely difficult to write. The outline for the story was completed long ago. However, as Acts I, II and III were finished, Act IV feels underdeveloped. Maybe that is natural to experience. So I am literally taking it apart and trying to build the ending first. Then I must tie the beginning of Act IV—which I really like—with the conclusion. 

Sequel Update: Final Script in Progress

I am writing the final draft now. The Introduction and Act I is done. Act II is going through some slight adjustments from the first draft. Act III and Act IV may get merged. So far, it's looking like this graphic novel may be twice as long as Badin and the Secret of the Saami. 

The blurred screenshot is from my work on Act II in Scrivener.  

It seems like this project is taking forever—especially with my full-time job at the CTA and being a union representative. However, I have been committing at least 1 hour a night to working on it. During my off-days, it's considerably more time. 

I need to keep reminding myself to stay focused and be confident that I will finish it eventually.  

Update: Badin and the Secret of the Saami Sequel

I am in the midst of writing the final draft of the Full Script. With my time divided between a full-time job and part-time union official, this project is taking an exceedingly long time complete. However, I am working on it for 15-60 minutes almost every day. 

At right is an an obscured screenshot of the completed Introduction, Act I and last page for Act II as I work on them in Scrivener. Excitement is how I describe working on this project. The final two acts are already drafted and locked in an outline I made in Scapple (which I settled at its 8th revision).

The characters now visit me in my dreams on occasion. 

Sequel Progress (Characters)

While I await feedback from advisors regarding the story for the sequel to Badin and The Secret of the Saami, I am making my transition from writer to illustrator. 

Specifically, I am exploring the the world in which the characters live: Their clothing, their personalities and the general look of how I think Indigenous people would appear 10,000 ago. I am also exploring the general look of the giants and elves. 

None of these sketches are artwork for the graphic novel. They are just exercises to build up my strength and technique for the big project ahead of me. 

I hope you find them interesting.

Sketches In Progress: Badin and the Secret of the Saami Sequel

I thought you would enjoy this peak into my slow, but steady progress for the sequel to Badin and Secret of the Saami. 

The screenplay is dragging on. I keep making changes and can never seem to be satisfied. This is truly the most profound, emotional and deeply spiritual project I have engaged in. Sometimes I wonder if I bit off more than I can chew.

My full-time job and union steward duties make working on this project very difficult. Yet when I do work on it—and don't fall asleep—it is very cathartic. The stuff I am dealing with in the real world is very depressing.

The good news is that I am writing the last scenes for the final Act. I am very anxious to get the screenplay to advisers. Dealing with speculative aspects of ancient Indigenous culture (proto- and conventional Saami) is not something I take lightly.

As I am getting closer to the need for switching from writer to illustrator mode, I am sketching more concepts. This latest shows an important character named Mohkku and another view of Lynx-Finder. For the first time I am experimenting with typography. 

So I created letters for names of the characters. Each letter is inspired by glyphs that are found on a number of South Saami, Torne Saami and Lule Saami drums.

Badin and The Secret of the Saami Sequel: UPDATE

The first draft for the full screenplay (script) is almost done! The story is three acts. Enjoy some sketches I put together to give you a glimpse of some characters. 

I leaked a few out already. 

However, as the full screenplay is really maturing, I am feeling more confident about exploring the artwork a little. When it is final, then I will need to shift from writer to illustrator. 

Clockwise from left, Zulsal (antagonist), Vaarvaa (protagonist), Beivve (sun diety) and Lynx-Finder (shapeshifter).

Beaivi (North Saami) Biejjie (South Saami) is a very important god/goddess in the ancient traditions of the Indigenous people who are found in Scandianvia and part of Russia.

Sequel Outline: First Draft Complete

Over a year in the making—and in its sixth revision—the outline for the sequel to Badin and the Secret of the Saami is complete. 

The software to create this flowchart is called Scrapple. It is from the same developer that created Scrivener. 

That program was used to write the script for the first graphic novel—and will be used for the sequel.

Naturally, I obscured the details. Each different color signifies a change of scene for the script. 

All of this will change. However, it is merely a general roadmap for the plot.

Sequel Update: Outlining at Glacier-Like Speed

Vaarvaa, the placeholder name for the sequel to Badin and The Secret of the Saami, is still in progress. With my full-time job and union steward activities, it is very hard to focus and get this thing done. Yet I persist.

I did complete the Directors Notes for the Badin and the Secret of the Saami Special Edition. However, this sequel is so important—and my time is so limited—that I had to put it on hold.

For the sequel, I went through countless writing sessions, trying to develop a premise. After conquering that hell of hurdle, I am now on a death-defying climb of literary mountains: Script outline.

The outline is in its sixth revision (the premise was a grueling nine revisions). My intention is to write a story that dwarfs the first graphic novel. When the outline is satisfactory to me, I will submit it to my advisers—Saami scholars of Saami culture and history. 

Although the story takes place during the end of the Neolithic era—and definitive scholarship about Saami people is not so abundant from 10,000 years ago—my adoption of this ancient culture for the world of my characters requires the utmost respect and sensitivity. The last thing I want to do is insult the ancient ancestors of and the progenitors of the Saami people.

Upon implementing any recommended changes, I intend on writing the full script. From there, will begin the artwork phase. 

However, as you see above, I jumped the gun. Albeit, I did this as a single event—an innocent indulgence! Who they are, I will not share. However, one is indeed Vaarvaa. 

You can learn a little about her in the single self-titled Vaarvaa Mini-Saga or in the Mini-Saga Compilation (Available in print or ebook). She also makes an appearance and is mentioned a few times in the graphic novel Badin and the Secret of the Saami.

I hope you are as excited as me about this special project. I think about it every day and want it to become the best story I ever tell.