Special Announcement: Returning to Maxima City

Back in 2016, a Twitter conversation about the lives of sidekicks and henchmen sparked a story idea that became A Shot at the Big Time. Initially, it was meant to be a one-off standalone story, but while I was writing, comic book movies were gaining more and more ground, and inevitably offering up more and more tropes and plot devices just ripe for the parodying. So when I was formatting the paperback, I made a decision to add "Volume One" to the title, ensuring that there would eventually be more titles. I even came up with about six potential plots. 

But after that, The Kyroibi Trilogy became my main focus for the next year and a half. At that point, I was in the early stages of burn out, so I took a hiatus from writing to draw. Last summer, while still on hiatus, I dragged out my Maxima City notebook and started writing the second book. I got about one and a half chapters finished before I realized that as much as I wanted this story to happen, I wasn't in the right frame of mind to write it. I also realized this likely meant I would put it aside and forget about it (much like a certain clone thriller I've had on the back burner since 1997), which meant that the "Volume One" I added to that cover was about to look very, very silly.

So I hatched up a plan. A very, very smart plan. I went back to Twitter and sent a DM to the two authors who had inspired the original story, CB Archer and Ben Mariner, and asked them if they'd be interested in writing in the universe of my creation. Both are humor writers who have done satirical parodies of their own and I am proud to say I'm a fan of each. Fortunately for me, both Ben and CB were not just interested, but also highly motivated and now, just a few short months later, I can officially announce that the second Maxima City Talent novel is coming soon!

I give you, An Honest Living, Maxima City Talent Volume Two:

Nice cover, eh? Yes, I will shamelessly boast that this is kinda, sorta not bad for my first attempt at digital art. But we weren't talking about me...

Ben has picked up exactly where I left off, switching the focus from Lisa to her twin brother Lane, whose antics in A Shot at the Big Time are revealed and expanded upon in one hell of an adventure. There's new characters, as well as many I've already established, and while the voice is different (Ben's signature style of tossing in 90s pop culture references is in full effect here), the world is familiar. Which is great, because the third book is in it's early production stages and I can happily confirm that CB is taking this joyride on a sharp turn into uncharted territory (but I promise it too will be just familiar enough).

And what's even better is that bringing new perspectives in to what was previously destined to fade out of existence was exactly the kick in the pants I needed to start writing the stories I'd planned for this franchise. I expect to have the fourth volume out sometime before the end of the year. In the meantime, keep an eye on this space for updates and release information for An Honest Living!