When I was a teen, I became fascinated with American comics, so I began drawing them. I drew every type of story I wanted to see, and friends becoming intrigued started asking me for them. So I began promising friends who asked, a story of their own. It was a great little time.

Then this trend hit my school, with classmates becoming fascinated with what I was drawing during boring times in class. People would ask me to see, and I would oblige. Then that became requests.

Fore you know it, I was the resident storyteller. Taking requests and fulfilling excited demands to see my latest in class.

I became a little bit of an interruption. I would obey suggestions to put away my side activity, but the attention proved intoxicating enough to bring the comics back out. Also at that time, I had an increasing interest in boys and … well… things we were all becoming interested in at 13/14. So my comics began to reflect that pre-occupation.

But this gave rise to very involved discussions which my classmates now engaged in, not-so-secretly, as they passed the comics around. Then one day, said teacher decided she had had enough, and interrupted us, investigating where all the comics were, and rounding them up.

To my horror.

And now, I was officially a ‘trouble maker.’

But the rounding up wasn’t even the worse part in my mind, the worst part was what I depicted being seen by the adults in my life. That teacher then decided to take the comics to the principal, who then decided to discuss the content with me, then bring my parents into a conference. All very surreal for a 13 year old.

Well I lived, obviously. But that was the end of that.

I continued to cartoon, but I went into hiding with them. Drawing my stories just for me now. And soon, I grew a new fascination – movies. In fact an obsession, so I then aimed to combine cartooning with movies, and began drawing what I wanted to see in a movie, in cartoon form. Later that decision grew into an interest in animation, which I then went to college for. Til I began encountering the “live action” filmmakers.

I was as in awe of them, as much as movies, and soon I wanted to see what that world was made of. Make “live action movies.” But I had more of an art background, so I didn’t think I could really do it. Conveniently, I began becoming annoyed at the meticulous nature of cell animation.

Then at the height of my annoyance I left the animation coursework in the film production program, for “live action.” The head of my department easily switched my major. So soon, all my former training in drawing, painting, illustration and cartooning, took a back seat, then, fell by the way side.

Fast forward…to now. Recently, I’ve been looking at the visual elements of a story I am conceiving. Looking at how I could build this across platforms.

Then this happened…

…causing me to revisit a format for the story, I’d been resisting.

Animation can be beautiful can’t it? Anyway, I will attempt to write a feature animation, co-design an accompanying graphic novel, develop an app with video game and character pages. And I’ve started.