We had ourselves a big adventure last week. Sarah had been in the LA area the last few weeks helping to take a care of a sick relative. By the 9th she’d decided she’d done everything she could do and it was time to come home. While she was down there she had lost her ID. She talked to the airlines and TSA and was told that she could fly with a photo of her ID if she had other documents that also established her identity. What they failed to tell her was that she’d need to answer some background questions as well. Questions like being able to recognize addresses where she’d lived over the last 20 years. She’s brilliant but her memory for dates and numbers has never a strong suit. Trying to answer those questions in a crowded airport with a bunch of people waiting behind her was a recipe for her not remembering.

TSA told her that she could try again later. We decided she’d been gone long enough. I bought a one way ticket to LA on Wednesday. I met her at the airport, we picked up a rental car and we spent the next 22 hours on the road. I did all the driving. We did stop for food and bathroom breaks and a couple of times so I could grab a quick nap. We were home before midnight on Thursday.

Friday we slept til almost noon and then spent most of the rest of the day watching episodes of The Good Detective, a South Korean cop drama on Netflix. Leaving the house wouldn’t have been safe. It snowed during the night and continued to snow all day. We live on a side street in Burien. No snow plow would be clearing our street.

Saturday the sun came out and the snow was gone before dusk.

By Sunday we’d started to get back into the swing of things. We’re not quite in a routine yet. That probably won’t happen until I go back to delivering mail but life is feeling more normal.

There’s a big difference between reading a story and writing a story.

As a reader, I’m a tourist. I travel through the world as it is written. I might not like some of the story, aspects of the plot or a few of the characters but, unless the story is really boring or really poorly written I take the good with the bad and enjoy the ride. I laugh or groan at the stupid bits but I keep going.

As a writer, I’m a god. As a god I have responsibilities. Give the reader an engaging ride but also make it make sense. I do that according to my own sensibilities and taste and I recognize that my taste and sensibilities won’t work for everyone.

When I read Morgo the Mighty I enjoyed it enough that I thought I wanted to adapt and illustrate it.

As The Surrilana Depths has become more and more its own thing I am recognizing how much of Morgo I need to abandon. I’m altering names, expanding old characters and creating new ones, changing protagonists, finding motivations, world building and …

Last week I finally recognized how much attachment I still had to Morgo. Every time I tried to plot or outline the story I kept trying to attach it to the events of Morgo. I felt like I owed it the author to retain some essential part of his story that was inspiring mine. The trouble is, Morgo reads like a first draft. It reads like O’Larkin got the job to write a pulp serial and just keep writing until he’d made the word count. It reads like O’Larkin had maybe read a couple of Tarzan and Pellucidar novels and tried to duplicate the premises but he lacked the imagination of Edgar Rice Burroughs so Morgo lacks the crazy confidence needed to make it really memorable.

I can’t claim to be a better writer than O’Larkin. But I know have read a lot more fantasy and science fiction, most of it written since 1930, the year Morgo was published. My imagination has more elements to choose from. My sensibilities are different from O’Larkin’s. So, last week, I said a silent thank you to O’Larkin and gave up the need to retain any part of Morgo. The things that will remain in Surrilana are the things that fit. One of the things that doesn’t fit is the plot of Morgo.

This is freeing. It does mean it will take longer for me to start drawing the graphic novel. Oh well. So it goes.

Over the last few months I’ve been doing a lot of background drawing – character designs, creature designs, world building stuff. It’s time to share some of it.

The fellow above is Jerry McRory. He was the protagonist of Morgo the Mighty. The story was told first person, his point of view. I demoted him to a supporting character when I decided to do Surrilana as a graphic novel. Now that I’m weaving a new story I’m unsure what part he’ll play.

The fellow above is Gram. I changed the name because he’s not really same character as Morgo. He’s younger. More fun. And he’s now the protagonist.

More next week! Thank you for reading.

Touch grass. Punch a nazi. Stay well!