Anyone who
has read my book White Mexicans (I’ve
been reliably informed there are at least three people) will have read the
short story Heroes of Hollywood Boulevard
and have gotten an insight into my love of all things cape, mask, and
underpants outside of trouser-related.
Since
writing that short, almost two years ago, I’ve been working on an expanded
narrative that builds on the mess that Stu Hogan and co have made of their
lives. It has launched with Kindle Scout
and is now available to vote for [here]. What does voting for HoHB mean? Well, for one a
five year deal with Amazon’s publishing wing and a $1500 advance. The other (and probably less interesting) is
my undying appreciation.
Long before my first trip to
Years later
I wouldn’t even recall them, but they were there… waiting. Then on a trip to LA I found myself leaning
towards the Boulevard and the stories these men and women dressed in the cloth
of legends had to tell. For the most
part their stories were that of the origins of the American Dream – they were
fighting over territory. Smaller than
States, certainly, but all the same they were willing to go toe-to-toe with one
another over a patch of concrete that could make or break rent day. It was in that instant that I knew I wanted
to write “something” about these heroes of Hollywood
Boulevard
Back at the
drawing board their single biggest truth kept ringing in my mind. All the on-street conflict boiled down to
territory. Public land as private
property; the idea that to occupy is to own and that it was the ownership of a
particular section of street that was the difference between feeding their kids
and not.
It is that
truth, even now after countless tweaks, changes and revisions that appears on
every page of the final novel. In
addition to that, two DC-Marvel crossover covers were kept at the forefront of
my mind while writing. Both are from
1981 (the year I was born), with the Batman
vs Incredible Hulk book released in
September of that year, the very month I was born.
Previously,
I have found myself writing about incredibly personal issues. Things that, to this day, make it
uncomfortable to know someone I know has picked up a copy of Lost Angeles or Bone Idol [bohn ahyd-l] but in many ways Heroes of Hollywood Boulevard is the most personal read of them
all, as it has been forming for as long as I’ve been able to hold an action
figure or turn a comic page.
