Well, if this title doesn't grab your attention, nothing will!
My guest blogger today is Martin A W Holmes, and he's telling us how his super new book, ScribblOgrons, which is a cartoon art collection featuring Gruntleigh the Ogron, came about.
My guest blogger today is Martin A W Holmes, and he's telling us how his super new book, ScribblOgrons, which is a cartoon art collection featuring Gruntleigh the Ogron, came about.
 | Martin A W Holmes worked for a long time as a graphic artist before suddenly finding himself with rather a lot of time on his hands in his mid-fifties. Since then he has been pottering around writing stuff, drawing stuff, and recording stuff, mostly because he happens to share his life with someone rather wonderful, who has been very supportive of his silly creative nonsenses. He has become something of a prolific podcaster, and currently also produces and presents VISION ON SOUND for FAB RADIO INTERNATIONAL (a digital radio station based in Manchester), and lives on the very brink of Derbyshire. |
by MARTIN A W HOLMES
My book, SCRIBBLOGRONS has spent a long time not happening.
About five years ago, a creative genius, someone who I have still never met in person (although I “sort-of” know where they live!), started an account in TwitWorld that chronicled his version of the daily adventures of an Ogron named Gruntleigh, living his life on the Dalek Occupied Planet of Ograviss, sometime in the mid 26th century.
A couple of months later, I responded to one of Gruntleigh’s postings with a cartoon I’d drawn, which he was very kind and complimentary about, and so began an online friendship that has blossomed over those years into the kind of mutually creative and supportive collaboration I’ve rarely found in my life.
Now, Gruntleigh has a loyal fanbase, many of whom have also encouraged me in my drawings, and, from time-to-time, one or other of them might suggest that I “ought to publish a book” of these drawings.
About five years ago, a creative genius, someone who I have still never met in person (although I “sort-of” know where they live!), started an account in TwitWorld that chronicled his version of the daily adventures of an Ogron named Gruntleigh, living his life on the Dalek Occupied Planet of Ograviss, sometime in the mid 26th century.
A couple of months later, I responded to one of Gruntleigh’s postings with a cartoon I’d drawn, which he was very kind and complimentary about, and so began an online friendship that has blossomed over those years into the kind of mutually creative and supportive collaboration I’ve rarely found in my life.
Now, Gruntleigh has a loyal fanbase, many of whom have also encouraged me in my drawings, and, from time-to-time, one or other of them might suggest that I “ought to publish a book” of these drawings.
| So far, so brilliant! But they didn’t have to actually write and compile the thing, did they? And so, for several years, the book continued to not happen. I resisted the idea for various reasons, all far too complicated to explain here, but one of them was that, despite those many loyal followers, there was probably unlikely to be very much demand for something that was, essentially, quite a niche product. That, and, of course, we all know how swiftly enthusiasm can wane when you call someone’s bluff, and actually ask them to part with ACTUAL MONEY for that thing that they once said they wanted. And so the book continued to not happen. Every so often I would give it some though, however, and knew that, if I were to start on such a project, it would probably take the form of one of those Annuals I used to get for Christmas when I was young; perhaps some kind of cross between a BLUE PETER BOOK, filtered through the lens of a BEANO BOOK, with just a dash of those popular tie-in books to THE GOODIES TV series. |  |
Well, that all sounds rather lovely, doesn’t it? But still the book didn’t actually happen.
One day, I even went so far as to design a sample page of what it might look like if ever I got around to creating it, and I thought that it was pretty good.
It then sat on a hard drive for three years getting ignored, and still no book appeared.
One day, I even went so far as to design a sample page of what it might look like if ever I got around to creating it, and I thought that it was pretty good.
It then sat on a hard drive for three years getting ignored, and still no book appeared.
 | Because of my cartooning efforts, however, during those years I was asked to contribute to a couple of fan publications, and, for one of these, I went as far as to create some pages describing how Gruntleigh and I actually met, but the editor thought that it was far too niche, and so I filed them away as potential material to include in that Gruntleigh book I might one day write, but which still wasn’t actually happening. Time passed. Radio shows came and went, often with REAL writers as my guests. My particular book still hadn’t started to happen. I did decide to teach myself how to self-publish, though, and, after a very steep learning curve, bundled out FOUR other books via the Lulu website, as well as managing to help in the design and publication of a FIFTH book for a writing duo who had somehow not quite managed to get their own latest book over that publication line. |
Yet the Gruntleigh book still wasn’t happening, because I had started to believe that the cold, uncaring universe really wasn’t ready for such a thing.
More time passed.
Last year I attended an event called WHOOVERVILLE in Derby, and I noticed that there were several very niche publications that seemed to be actually quite popular, and were being bought by the attendees.
THOSE, though, were REAL books, written by people with Actual Book Deals™, and Agents, and stuff like that, not the sort of nonsense produced by little nobody’s like me.
Although I did get to interview an actual REAL writer that day, one who happened to mention that he LIKED Gruntleigh, but then also seemed most disappointed when I told him, quite honestly, that Gruntleigh is not me.
So the book started to look as if it was never going to happen.
However, about two weeks later, a strange thing occurred.
More time passed.
Last year I attended an event called WHOOVERVILLE in Derby, and I noticed that there were several very niche publications that seemed to be actually quite popular, and were being bought by the attendees.
THOSE, though, were REAL books, written by people with Actual Book Deals™, and Agents, and stuff like that, not the sort of nonsense produced by little nobody’s like me.
Although I did get to interview an actual REAL writer that day, one who happened to mention that he LIKED Gruntleigh, but then also seemed most disappointed when I told him, quite honestly, that Gruntleigh is not me.
So the book started to look as if it was never going to happen.
However, about two weeks later, a strange thing occurred.
I suddenly decided that I REALLY wanted to make a start on that book project that I’d been thinking about for so long, and I started scanning the piles of old sketchbooks, cleaning up those scribbles, compiling pages, and writing the text and, four-and-a-half months later, a rather beautiful-looking book full of my drawings and ideas came back from the printers, and that sometimes feels like some kind of miracle in itself, because it took such an effort to climb the mountain of work it entailed that, had I known then what I know now, then the book itself quite probably would have continued to never happen.
There have been issues.
I would rather have used a hard cover, for example, but that, it turns out, would have more than TREBLED the unit print cost, and I could not have, in all honesty, expected ANYBODY to pay that.
Also, the self-publishing site that I’m using to produce the book could not produce the printed endpapers I wanted to get that authentic “Annual” look that I wanted, so it was an easy decision to go paperback to make it more affordable, and, perhaps make it more resemble the “fanzine with attitude” approach I had decided to aim for.
There have been issues.
I would rather have used a hard cover, for example, but that, it turns out, would have more than TREBLED the unit print cost, and I could not have, in all honesty, expected ANYBODY to pay that.
Also, the self-publishing site that I’m using to produce the book could not produce the printed endpapers I wanted to get that authentic “Annual” look that I wanted, so it was an easy decision to go paperback to make it more affordable, and, perhaps make it more resemble the “fanzine with attitude” approach I had decided to aim for.
| I still worry about copyright, and intellectual property concerns, but am “reliably informed” that using my own drawings and words, in a “not for profit” product (because, by not going for “Global Distribution” I’ve slashed the price to the bone to keep it fair for all those Gruntleigh fans), I should be okay. Having sent him a copy, Gruntleigh thinks my book is BRILLIANT (as, if I’m being honest, do I), and I hope that you will, too. Buy ScribblOgrons here Follow Gruntleigh The Ogron on Twitter/X Follow Martin A W Holmes on Twitter/X |  |
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