Wearing the Cape: Team-Ups & Crossovers
Eee! I’m so excited! So Wearing the Cape is one of my favorite superhero novel series. I’ve mentioned it before, usually when a new volume comes out, and guess what?
<—— Hmm. One of those gals looks familiar.
A while ago, Marion G. Harmon, the author of WtC (and as it turns out, reader of Grrl Power) contacted me and asked if I’d be interested in co-writing a cross over story with him. Naturally I said yes, even though I’ve never really written much in the way of prose before. The basic premise of the book is, as the “Team-Ups & Crossovers” subtitle suggests, Astra (the WtC protagonist) goes tumbling across dimensions and bumps into various other realities including a few people you might recognize if you’re a voracious consumer of all things superhero. Now keep in mind, the chapter in the Grrl-verse is just one section of the book, but this is a canon story for Sydney and co. It takes place just a bit in the future of the comic. Sydney is a private, but there’s nothing that spoils anything between then and now. Here’s a link to the kindle version. The paperback will be available in the coming weeks.
I mostly wrote Sydney’s sections and Marion mostly wrote Astra’s, but there was a lot of back and forth and editing and I think it came out really good. (Though you can safely assume any dip in the quality of the prose is one of my sections. :)
Please feel free to comment on the book here, especially Sydney’s adventure with Astra. Remember, you can put spoiler tags over text by putting [spoiler] stuff you want to spoil [/spoiler] in your comment. Don’t forget the “/” on the closing tag or it won’t work properly.
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Bought it and skipped direct to Grrl Power. Really liked it. The humour was A class as expected with Grrl Power :)
However, some of the descriptions of events and actions are hard to understand what is going on (heck, I still don’t, but I do understand the outcome), something you avoid in a web comic by having images portraying the actions.
I rate it 4/5 – a really enjoyable read, only let down by the action narrative.
Could you give an example? I’ve read the book yesterday and did not see any problem with the action scence at the Con… The only part I did not understand was how come the lighthook got through the shield of The Servant Of… if it just got around it, Astra would have tracted herself along the shield, not inside…
By the way, I found the whole book quite good, not only Grrl Power’s crossover, and I think it could be interesting if it started a shared-universe production of stories, not with more Grrl Power crossovers (even though I would not refuse them – I think a Dabbler/Kitsune team-up could easily be explained and be a really interesting way to make both universes interact again), but with Dave Barrack and K. F. Lim contributing to the WtC universe on spin-off series (I love shared universes).
I think that the War for Oz (it’s coming, clearly) could offer a lot of opportunities for all three of them to deal with several sides of the stories and, thus, making it far more enjoyable and original (Dave would certainly be great at writing the Wizard, but I doubt Marion Harmon would let this character be managed by someone else… who would? ;-) )
You’ve got the main one, as I have to re-read it several times to make sense of it.
The description, now looking back sort of makes sense, the problem is with the two potential “its”: when it talks about the vector, the text makes reference to the opponents shield, and then uses the word “it”. Normally, you would use the last object referred to in the sentence, especially when it has be emphasising that the shield is wrapping around him, when it is, in fact, talking about the light hook.
That isn’t the only one though, pretty much the chaos of all transformed super heroes is hard to read.
As I was reading it, I was thinking at various points “this would be much easier to understand if it had been drawn out”. And it’s that problem that the action narrative was too hard to follow at times that causes me to dock a star.
Well, I can’t say I was confused. To me, it was more of a continuity glitch, I was not sure how it could happen (since the shield was not supposed to allow the lighthook to get through).
Still, complex battle scenes, especially involving multiple characters’ points of view, are by definition hard to get and I can see how you could be lost with all that was happening. :-)
The nature of the shield changed during the final transformation. The staff was focusing nearly all it’s power on that so the shield went from a 10/10 to more like an 8/10.
Okay, I understand, now. So I reckon Astra was actually skirting on the edge of the eye of the storm, not getting closer, until Hiro pushed her, while still being closer than she could have before the final transformation rechanneled the power, is that right?
Yup. Maybe I took for granted that was what was happening, but it’s always a fine line between letting the reader work out your intention on their own and potentially over-explaining stuff. Of course, the “work out the author’s intent” tactic is potentially something less skilled writers say they’re doing when really they actually need to be more explicit. :)
Fortunately, since I’m already putting up a fixed file, I’m going to look into that paragraph and see if we can’t smooth it out…
Excellent fix – it’s clear now what is happening!
Been reading your series for a while my friend. Your characters are well thought out, your plots are excellent, and your story lines are charismatically concise in the detail and the action. I even love how you began the first book with the introduction show and tell on how Astra got her powers during a bridge collapse. I find most interesting your take on Quantum mechanics when it deals with the use of the Tea Time Anarchist and the devilishly clever way you show how his power works. Two bodies one mind in essence, but its a mind divided by intent. I hope my first book, or any of the things I’m working on and nearly ready to publish for the first time, is even half as good as your series. As for this latest work, the Crossover book was pure genius!!! You pulled this one off easily enough and I have to say I love where you went with it. Each of the worlds you showed us was a real treat. I particularly liked the story with the final scout she saves upon entering his world, won’t go into details for the sake of anyone who hasn’t read it yet, Just brought it up because that world has a lot of potential for more stories and I have no idea where you came up with it from. Just saying that the world shown there could be really interesting as another series to write in either case.
That seemed fairly clear to me – it wasn’t a shield so much as a wind-wall, it pushed things away instead of blocking them. And it weakened during the final transformation sequence.
Will you illustrate your part of the story?
Check the Vote Incentive.
No, I meant as a chapter in the comic.
No, not unless you want to wait 3 years for me to draw it all. :/
On the other hand, novelization of the comic is not out of the question…
Drawing it all can be skipped. Drawing core bits or… 5 4-panel comedic strips with chibi-everyone?
Why not a graphic Novel version? That could be very interesting couldn’t it?
Awesome read, really enjoyed it, the action was easy to follow and understand.
Some bits of Sydney’s POV remained black text in Kindles white text on black background mode, but that was easy to work around. (Highlighting it or changing to black text on white)
I think a bad code snuck into the file Dave and I passed back and forth; I’m going to sort it out and re-upload it to Amazon.
Attempting the fix, it would really help to know exactly where the blanks are. Could you give me the first three words and last three words on each block of blank space?
Sydney was still – from wearing gloves.
Finishing it, she – either; more like. then a sentence in white, the word sick is blacked out, then;
flipped past it – and normally she’d
Sliding off her – “weighed” the crowd.
Sydney named each – a fake Halo.”
“Should have brought – gold chrome, but–
six or seven – tonight, right honey?”
“Paul!” Maxima exclaimed, – without getting caught.
It’s all in Sydney’s first PoV.
Thank you; this narrowed the search down considerably.
Weird. I wonder if that’s an artifact of Word’s revisions history markups.
It’s very possible. It afflicted Wearing the Cape, and it took us years to figure it out.
Doesn’t seem to be an issue on my Fire, unless the fix is already in. ^_^
And BTW, Marion, you’re now on my List. Of authors I need to read more of. ^_^
Thank you. And no, it’s not a problem on most readers. I can’t see the blanks myself on anything I have, which is why we didn’t catch it. But we know how to patch it and I don’t want it to spoil anyone’s reading.
What you have to read is, “Bite Me, the Big Easy” I love the whole vampiric New Orleans situation in the Wearing the Cape world, just too dang funny!!
six or seven – tonight, right honey?”
“Paul!” Maxima exclaimed, – without getting caught
I’m filling a credit card application right NOW!
I need a guinea-pig. Being unable to see this problem on any of my devices, I need to ensure that we found all the bad code. I’ve made a mobi-pocket file of Astra Gets Grrl Power, and I want someone to check it on their device. Can you accept raw mobi-pocket files?
Yeah, I can do that.
Wonderful. Send me an email address at mgharmon65@gmail.com
I bought it the day it came out but I didn’t have any of the errors, using a Kindle Fire though so maybe in that format the mistakes didn’t show up… Anyone else?
I got a notice from Amazon that an updated version of WTC:TU&C was available. Just in case anyone who was still having issues didn’t get that email. ^_^
That’s good to hear! Especially since although I purchased my own book on Nov. 3rd to make sure it was being downloaded correctly, I haven’t gotten an update notice myself! Could you please forward the notice to mgharmon65@gmail.com so I can look at it? Also, if anyone else following this discussion thread didn’t get the notice, please let me know!
I was already a fan of WtC, and I had fun reading this book. Most of the stories were pretty enjoyable. My favorite bits of the Grrl Power story were not the action, but just seeing Dave’s characters meet and interact with Astra. Fun like I would expect from Dave.
I have to say thanks for introducing me to this series. Picked up the first one during a slow day at work Tuesday and have since eaten through one novel a day.
So what are spoiler tags for this platform?
Sorry I stupidly posted this without making sure my text didn’t actually parse the tags. I’ve fixed it now, but it’s [spoiler] blah blah blah [/spoiler]
Cool. Testing .
I enjoyed the first WTC book and have been meaning to get caught up on the rest. Maybe this will give me the kick in the rear to do it.
I have been a fan of the WtC books from the start and I was thrilled to see that there was a crossover with Grrl Power, my favorite web comic. So I just finished reading it and it made me want to read a Grrl Power book series. I especially enjoyed the whole section that was the Grrl Power crossover. .
Can you have a three book series for me to read by say… Xmas? No?
Heavy sigh, well maybe someday.
Thank you for your great writing and wit, keep it coming.
Three of my favorite superhero authors! (Actually two plus characters from the third). I bought this as soon as it became available, and enjoyed it all.
I just talked about the launch here: https://marionharmon.com/ It’s been going great, and I appreciate the enthusiasm shown by Grrl Power fans!
This sounds neat, but my brain’s just looking at that cover and going “Bunnybunnybunnybunnybunnybunnybunny~”
I’m reading the second book in the WtC series as it was mentioned here. Good series so far. I’ve always felt superheroes were best in comic book form and avoided novel about them, but a few are worth reading. JIm Butcher wrote a Spider-man novel “The Darkest Hours”, Ausitn Grossman’s amazing “Soon I will be invincible”, Tom Kings “A Once Crowded Sky” , and Carrie Vaughn’s “after the golden age” to name a few.
Well, the discovery works both ways. I’ve been a fan of WTC since it was first published, and the Crossover book happily led me to Grrlpower. It’s taken me 4 days to catch up from #1 to #472, so I’m almost up to date. :)
Umm, it kinda looks like Sydney is doing the FU sign on the cover of the book. Unless it was supposed to be a reference to the iconic symbol for girl power in the 40’s Rosie the riveter?
PS have also been reading both series since the beginning. Y’all are awesome.
Knowing Sydney it could be both, but yes Dave sent me the Rosie the Riveter image as a reference for my cover-artist.
When Astra gets handed her own choker at the end of the story it says the star is six pointed when her symbol is eight points just letting you know.
Thank you! I’ll make that part of the fix.
I reread WtC:TU&C this week and my kindle copy still says 6. Is there something that I needed to do (other than erase then re-download to my device) to get an updated version?
Please don’t let minor editing issues like this delay the next WtC-verse book though. Please!
I think you need to send to amazon directly with a request to remove the old file from your “virtual library” and replace it with the edited copy. I’m not sure how to send that request, however.
The book is now on Santa’s list.
*keeping claws crossed that it will be in my stocking*
Is there any chance that we could get Dave to draw a comic of Astra’s adventures with Sydney and Co.? Perhaps as some sort of Patreon bonus? Or just a straight up comic to buy?
Also, how cannon will Astra’s shenanigans be for GRRLPower? Will it be considered full canon, or taking place in a mirror universe that is functionally identical to the main GRRLverse?
It is explicitely mentioned in the original post here that this is fully canon (contrary to the Velveteen crossover).
I don’t usually read the blog posts at the bottom of the comic page so I was completely surprised by the crossover. What a treat!
Any new WTC activity pings my radar, so i had bought the book within an hour or so of spotting the original blurb here.
Are we to understand that the Sentinels series in Sydney’s universe more or less parallels Astra’s actual life?
{Thinking about a Sentinels TV series caused the mysterious two word phrase “Joss Whedon” to suddenly pop into my head…}
Hope mentioned that the show was mostly correct.
The minor differences were probably due to the fact that the budget of the show was not infinite.
As seen in one or more of the Pratchett novels, story ideas can cross between universes.
I can only hope that the TV series writers are subconsciously picking up events from the
Astraverse and not causing them.
There IS a time lag from the Astraverse to the Grrl Powerverse, plus the time needed to
produce each episode. Roughly 2 years, but they might catch up.
Other than Fraiser, can you name any characters from a cancelled TV series that
continued to exist in other series?
Benson. Gomer Pyle. Angel, Spike, and company.
Would the various Star Trek series count as Canceled? Or even as separate series?
Then there was an attempt to make a Bewitched sequel featuring an adult Tabitha. Although casting that one might have been easier if the original actress had been older than twelve at the time…
Now that one I’d never heard about.
A question about the Velveteen-universe stuff – i understand it’s non-canon on the Velveteen side; is it possibly canon for Astra?
Marion Harmon confirms it in the forewords of the book: it is canon for Astra, as well as for Sydney.
Well, it could not NOT be canon, honestly, with all that happens in the book (between Oz and the Ascendant… not even including the introduction of the maritime team). Contrary to most inter-universe crossovers in comics, this one matters.
still at 48% and haven’t gotten to the grrlpower bit, but I’ve read most of Astra’s adventures and this one is pretty good so far.
The story is A class despite the experimental change in perspective and narrative or that some snow globe encounters are missing.
I can’t say if the GRRL part was the best, but it certainly was the funniest, and I especially liked the twist about Astra arriving as a fictional characters in a fictional story having to face down fictional characters coming to live as comic con.
I was hoping and waiting for a written GRRL story for years now, long enough to consider transfering comic to prose myself, which is why I was really thrilled to learn about this cross-over. ;-)
In the GRRL comic are but a few mentions of the comic con, one panel showing Sydney on it, and there was a “Halo Fun” vote incentive featuring it as well.
This little was turned into an entire very well made chapter. Consider me impressed, and consider me warned how much volume turning GRRL into a written story would create, even if it covers but a few days so far. :-o
It was certainly interesting to read Sydney’s inner monologue at times, that is not something you can do as easily in comics and shows how she struggles all the time to keep focused.
still have to finish the last chapter and I hope the Maxima pony will be animated by velveteen, but i guess it would break cannon too much for that world.
As for the missing encounters, personaly, I preferred it that way. I have seen enough anime, movies and books where the number of chapters is exactly equal to the number of things to get, as if each and everyone of them HAS to be as challenging as the others (or specifically more challenging than the previous one). It does not work that way in real life.
Sometimes, it makes sense but, mostly, it is an overused plot device and/or a justification to drag the story in order to produce and sell more material.
For example, it just so happens that Harry Potter needs seven years to get enough power to vanquish Voldemort. And in this example, it is both obvious and subverted since the author did not bother to deal with the last year as a school year. Sure, it helped flesh out the hero and his sidekicks’ personal growth, but it was artificial nevertheless.
So, when an author skips over some of those “mandatory” steps, honestly, I’m relieved. Here, it was well done in my opinion and allowed the story to move at the right pace.
(as for an counter-example, Super-Powereds uses the same “high school” justification, but seeing as the graduation/certification is part of the main story [since the basis of the books is – mostly – about Powereds being treated as equal as Supers], it makes sense, but it would be best if the second main story was ended in a different book for example, with both the altered Powereds and their Super friends dealing with the truth about Globe, the treatment and everything else – I don’t read the online chapters, I only read the finalised books)
Except its a four year college certification program and the main characters are still getting used to having “working” powers that could actually go on the blink or stop working at any moment. Not that they will, but the fact that the procedure which gave them control of their powers is experimental in the first place, they never know if they’ll become powered again instead of staying super. Their are many hints that their powers are permanently controllable, but things are still very static which is why each year is a separate book in the powered universe. I do however see your point, and well made other than that one issue.
Well, honestly, I’m not sure I see your point, here. I was precisely using Super-Powereds as the counter-example of the artificial mandatory steps, meaning the opposite of Harry Potter, where the whole Voldemort issue had no reason to respect the seven-year education calendar (every single one of his actions to gain more power just happen around the final exam period of Hogwarts or the final event closing the school year, come on…), while, in Super-Powereds, the years actually make sense (especially since the summer holidays ARE depicted and used for personal growth).
The only caveat I added was about the series and the main plot (about Globe) ending at volume 4 (which is not even certain). The trope would be completely subverted if there was a fifth book ending things AFTER graduation (or if the fourth book ended things mid-year, but this would be both awkward [with the need for them to graduate] and too fast).
Its the separate situations in the Harry Potter books that make up the trip actually. He needed what he learned in each book in order to have the knowledge and ability to defeat Valdemort. Each book was one lesson, even the last two where they learned about the way Valdemort had split u his own soul and what weapons they needed in order to defeat him. Plus the final lesson, which was all about the three items, one of which was his cape of invisibility.
I don’t say that Harry Potter did not need seven books nor that they were useless (even though you could probably remove one or two easily). I say that it was completely artificial that he needed the exact same number of lessons as there are school years, and that each book started and ended with the school year (well, except the seventh, which is special… and yet still tries to follow it).
You can consider that the first three books are justified in being matched with the school years, but the fourth is far less justified and the final three definitely should not: the main topic once Voldemort is reincarnated, why should he wait for the start of the school year to act, and why should he plan to make his actual moves at the end?
It is this artificiality that I dislike, and this is one of the things that I liked with “Cross-overs” (to come back to the main topic ;-) ): when faced with a pre-established number of events, we skipped the less interesting ones.
Actually it was eight books, the last year was divided between two books, but there you go.
Err, no, it was the seventh book, and the seventh and eighth movies.
yeah sorry, its two video games too, I keep forgetting it was just one book when they divided the game and the movie into two.
*puts paws over ears, and shuts eyes*
La la la, tra la la….
I am going to have to be very careful any time I check in on this page. :-D
If I don’t end up with the book in my Xmas stocking, it will be quite some time before I can get it myself, due to more than expected pet-related expenses, this year. :-/
Don’t despair: age does not really spoil a story as it does food.
Anyways: The best of luck in getting a copy. ;-)
Aside from that: Is “pet” your actual pet or yourself avatar wise …, Yorp ? I mean, paws over ears and all that … ?
Oh a mixed bunch of pets. I adopted a feral cat (now called “Feral Cat”) and had to put down another one, which had its leg severed by a wolf-trap. Plus my longtime companion, a Jack Russel, has required various ultrasounds and other tests, and medicines, due to ill health. However, to end it on a happy note, I managed to rescue and rehouse a couple of puppies! With the associated expenses such entails. It does not take much to disrupt my hermit budget. :-D
It is my eyes I need to avert mind. For however long it takes me until I can afford to get the book. But patience, fur such things, is a normal part of my lifestyle. Which I am relaxed about. Whether or not anybody else will still be checking out this page, whenever that day comes, is another matter!
Lol.
Lot of fans already! Yeah, I bought and read it, too. Finished yesterday. As I said in my tweet, you should do a graphic novel of it, at least the Grrl Power part. Some of the crossovers I wasn’t familiar with, so I didn’t get as involved. Grrl Power and the first story, Dating, were my favorites. It was a fun book!
For some reason, my Kindle wouldn’t download it, so I had to read it on my computer with calibre, which did detract from the fun!
Something I found interesting was Sydney used her lighthook inside her forcefield a thing I don’t think has happen in the comic as far.
Other things we haven’t seen in-comic yet:
Pew-pew wanting to be used.
Varia’s reaction to Arianna.
The new heads-up displays.
Super-senses look at the orbs.
We have actually seen super senses look at the orbs (and draw a blank).
Okay.
I have been a fan of WtC since I first saw someone’s blog.
All I can about this is…
LOL!
I have adult ADHD and Sydney comes far closer to my own mind at times than I care to admit. (Not the power spheres of death, but the hyper and inability to focus. Never grabbed anyone by their tongue to body slam them mind you but the thought has occurred on occasion. usually with my sister who is worse than me.)
I devoured this comic in less than a day after reading the book. THANK YOU for the comic.
My literal rolling on the floor laughing disturbed my stepfather growling at the politics on TV long enough for the channel to change to something else, so that is also a benefit.
I will follow this comic and I sincerely hope Archon has the best insurance in the world when they try to figure out what Sydney’s last two orbs do.
*sigh*
*saw IT in someone’s blog.
geez, too little sleep. Too much laughs. Never thought I would say that, but… hey. Good job.
Thanks! I’m go glad you like the comic!
Well color me disappointed. I really like GrrlPower and I have all the Wearing The Cape books, so when I read about the teamup on this site I promptly went to Amazon to buy it. Then waited impatiently to buy the book. Only to find just a Kindle version available. Any plans for a print book? I guess I’m just kind of old school on this.
Per DaveB‘s blog on November 3rd, 2016. So hopefully it should be in print soon. I expect Dave will give the heads up, in his blog, when it does hit the shelves.
Unless I do get the crossover book from Santa, I too will intend to get the full Wearing the Cape series too, and reading them before the crossover. I do not like gaps in my library. Whilst there are such, I do my best to fill them, whenever the opportunity arises. And those works come highly recommended. So I am looking forward to them.
A question for Marion G. Harmon, or anybody in the know, please: at what point in the continuity does the crossover occur? Ie what is the last book I should read before starting the crossover? I imagine there will be more published before I get to buy these, hence wanting to make sure I do not read things out of sequence.
Apologies if this has been answered above, but I have been skimming some comments, to avoid potential spoilers.
I have confidence that Dave will give us the heads-up when our continuity catches up with the crossover.
*crosses claws, that my library will be up-to-date by then*
It occurs after book 5, “The Ronin Game” (the second-to-last book… the last IS the crossover, since it is completely in the continuity of the WtC universe). But many events in the crossover book will be spoilers for the previous books. And quite huge spoilers. So I’d recommend you wait to have the whole series, unfortunately.
Thank you kindly.
*wags tail patiently*
You’re welcome.
*pats head and gives a chew bone to help wait*
*(and is impressed by the size of a chew bone for a werewolf, and the fact it is made out of manticore skin)*
My reactions:
Short form:
Worth it, but read the rest of the WtC series first.
Long form:
1) It was really hard to understand many of the references without reading the rest of the WtC series. I actually read the book twice: once before reading any of the previous works and once after steam-rollering the whole series in a week, and it was better the second time around.
2) I normally don’t like characters like Hope/Astra (not going into why)… and I bought and read the whole damn series anyway. Marion G. Harmon’s writing is just that good.
3) I presume the Halo sections were written by Dave and the Astra sections were written by MGH, at least it felt that way. Dave’s stuff is good, but MGH’s is better (see #2).
1.) Yes, the book is _not_ a collection of stand-alone stories.
2.) Glad you enjoyed the character of Hope/Astra, though now I am curious why you normally don’t like the type!
3.) Dave and I mostly wrote the POV scenes for each of our characters, but we occasionally found ourselves swapping; whenever we did we exercised editing rights to make sure that our own characters (well, one for me and all the rest for him) stayed in character. It was a lot of fun to write.
I’m by no means a seasoned prose-ist, but I learned a lot from doing it. Not sure you guys can expect any Grrl Power novels from me any time soon though. Writing takes a lot more time than I thought!
It took me a week or so to finish the series and now I am sad there aren’t any more. Mmm I think I might see if I can find the Velveteen Vs. series now.
If you find a way to get the second book in electronic format, let me know.
The first one can only be accessed through Seanan McGuire’s website or as a paper edition, for legal reasons apparently, but the short stories of the second one are not available on the website (and I don’t buy paper editions anymore).
All three of of the Velveteen Vs books are on kindle and two at lest or on audible.
All three of of the Velveteen Vs books are on kindle and two at lest or on audible. you can get the Kindle version form her book publisher which is what i did, but I think Amazon is carrying it now.
Heee hee hee.. having a genuine and much-needed LOL at the grocery store list, the results therof, and the strong urge to try it out myself…
For anyone waiting for the Dead-Tree Edition (paperback) of _Team-Ups and Crossovers_, it is now out. You can order it directly at Createspace ( https://www.createspace.com/6719879 ), or wait a week or so for it to become available on Amazon.
It’s good to be done.
So now here’s a question; other than Astra Gets Grrl Power, what was everyone’s favorite story/stories?
It’s hard to tell… I hesitate between “The Oz Job” and “Grimworld”. They were both really interesting and, while the second one was more important for the story, the first one was establishing things for the future.
But I’d like to add that the other stories were in fact interesting. Short and simple for the most part, but not useless (even “Wargames” was important to understand how the various universes are organised, by showing a universe based on a videogame from Astra’s world, making it more logical to have Astra’s being a TV series in Grrl Power’s universe).
“Historical Accuracy” was good, but its connection with the rest of the story was too thin (I know, you say it in the forewords). I’d definitely like to see more of this new team, though.
Probably The Oz Job, but that’s largely because Ozma has become one of my favorite WtC characters.
I’ve read all the Oz books (although it’s been a while), but you keep reminding of details I’d forgotten.
Honestly, the story I read the least (skipping it every other re-read) is The Traveler’s Tale. I do not dislike it – I just like it the least. That’s out of eight re-reads on two Kindles, Kindle for PC and Mobipocket Reader (of the whole series, not just this book.)
Hey,
Writing this here, since I don’t really know where else to respond, and it’s some what related, but it’s mostly toward Marion. I’ve enjoyed GrrlPower so far, and that got me introduced to the WtC series, and to a greater extend Amazon Kindle. I used to read a lot as a kid, maybe 20-25 years ago, and I’ve realized I guess that it’s still enjoyable. I suppose not being as much of a fan as GrrlPower here as some others, I didn’t jump straight to that section. In fact, I decided to read the whole series straight through from the beginning. This also encouraged me to delve into what is Kindle Unlimited, and that’s opened up a whole wealth of books for me to read. (I have no idea how that works for authors, but I hope you still get something decent from that.) Not sure what else you have planned, and judging from past release dates it looks like it will be another year to wait, but I’m definitely interested in anything else written in the universe.
Regarding the weirdness with fonts. It does look like everything was caught and fixed, or it’s only an issue with certain devices. I use the Android version of the Kindle myself, and you can set the color under the Aa menu. (Black on White, Tan, or Green, and White on Black). Looked fine on all 4 themes. The images of course are designed for a white background, but not much you can do about that.
Thank you! It’s been an adventure, but we got everything fixed.
Awesome. Just downloaded the updated/corrected version.
WtC question: Are we going to see any of the “missing” adventures in the future? Perhaps in a collection of short stories or as a novella? The detective one sounded particularly interesting, taking place in a world with no supers.
That would be a Castle episode, which involves copyright infringement, so no. Not that it wouldn’t be fun to write…
Any chance this series will find its way to Google Play Books? (I have an aversion to the Kindle software after a couple of purchases resulted in cash being taken but no book appearing)
No, sorry. :(
So, is there any chance any of WtC will be made into audiobooks? I’ve spent a long time getting my library converted over to eBooks in various formats, but I’ve started accumulating my favorites from Audible or Blackstone.
I’d love to have WtC on that list.
Wearing the Cape will be made an audiobook sometime next year. Beyond that, we’ll see.
They’ll let me know and I’ll buy it in advance. :)
It is quite obviously a sentinent trenchcoat with the power to project a hard-light image of a person wearing it, duh.
Also, this is in the wrong thread. -.-
I just got the first book and I have to ask. Is the cat named Graymalkin who headbutts shins a Dresden Files Reference?
Shakespeare.
OK, common source then (Jim Butcher pulls from the same fairy tales that Shakespeare pulled from).
Yup. So many references from Shakespeare have made it into fiction and fantasy that it’s hard to keep track.
I thought it was an X-Men reference!
1407 Greymalkin Lane…..The X Mansion.
Ah thank you. Just in time for the amazon gift card I had to cover it lol
So, are there plans to retell “Astra Gets Grrl Power” in a graphic format? Possibly when the main storyline of the webcomic catches up to that point?
I would love to see it, but I honestly have no idea just how far in the future the crossover story takes place. Also, I suspect Dave has his own timeline and goals!
It would take months for me to draw it and most people would already be familiar with the story, so unless I can suddenly put out a completed page every day I don’t think it’s likely.
If I was a betting man I would bet on seeing an Astra easter egg in the future after a “time jump” in the web comic story. Perhaps a framed photo of a freeze frame high five in the background?
Now that would be cool.
Astra has one of those also….