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The very emotional final scene in this sequence, and even when I was doing touch-ups on Olivia's artwork and lettering it I was crying.

Do yourself a favor, go back and re-read the sequence from the moment that Selphi gets stabbed and tell me if it flows well. Again, this is where I thought the series really found its voice.

And it's certainly when the story changed.

And Selphi's last words, "Why do they hate us?" is the question that I constantly ask whenever I hear about religious wars or tribal conflicts going on in the world. Sure, we all have different ideas and beliefs, but why do we have to kill for them? Why do we have to make it personal? Why do we have to hate each other?

I'm sure it's asking a lot to say, "Can't we all just get along?" but is it too much to ask, "Can't there be another way other than killing?" Forgiveness has to start somewhere.

But I digress. This story is hardly ever going to turn any heads or open any eyes to the error or futility of old ways and bad blood. But if it could generate a little tolerance in the world - if even one person read this and decided to use their words instead of their fists - then it would have exceeded my wildest expectations.

We can only hope.

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The 2009 Drunk Duck Awards
The DD Awards are upon us once again, and the categories are up. Last year, without trying, you the reader graciously nominated The Temple of a Thousand Tears as the Most Profound Comic - an honor which I'm told that if popular demand had determined the winner, Temple would hold that title.

This year, I'm asking for some nominations - so please be sure to vote for Temple:

Best Action Scenes
Best Adventure Comic
Best Dialogue
Best Fantasy Comic
Best Overall Story Comic
Best Philosophical / Spiritual Comic
Best Protagonist: Sophia
Best Sci-Fi Comic
Best Dramatic Comic
Best Overall Writing

If you think that Temple deserves any of these awards, then I implore you to vote for The Temple of a Thousand Tears in the 2009 Drunk Duck Awards. Voting goes until July 31.

Labels: comics, drunk duck, drunk duck awards, samurai, temple, the temple of a thousand tears, web comics, writing

My Site and Drunk Duck

Perhaps this is the changing point for Sophia that turns her from the badass that we've seen in this story into the sweet wife and mother that we saw in flashbacks in the original story? Perhaps not. There's another Sophia story that I want to tell sometime after this about her meeting with the swordsman.

I'll be honest, I was crying when I wrote this sequence. It was a very emotional thing to write. Sophia is so helpless right now, doing the most that she can - but the car can only move so fast, and her sister is clearly coughing up blood. A lot of blood.

In the script I envisioned Sophia with her eyes closed and her mouth open wide screaming the last line, but unfortunately we weren't able to make those changes in time. Perhaps in a collected edition?

I'm in pre-production right now for the first two @$$hole! collections, which should be available later this year. My goal is to have them done before my speaking engagements in the late summer at a few conventions, and then get more of them printed next year for con season. However, let's take a poll: anyone here who might be interested in a Temple collected edition?

Labels: comics, samurai, sci-fi, temple, the temple of a thousand tears, web comics