About
Genre: Dark Comedy, Super Hero
Themes: Fate, Death, The Meaning of Life
Pages: 196
Words: 53,847
Squeaking in a 12:30AM on November 30, this marks the first time I finished the entire draft during November instead of getting out just the first 50,000 words and taking the rest of the year to write the last 20,000. The story originates from one of those drunken bar conversations I get into on Wednesday nights. Interesting thing about writing this particular style of comedy (reality-based) under these conditions (a 30-day speed-writing contest): You tend to write the story first, then you go back and craft the comedy back into the dialog and descriptions on the next draft, which is really the hard part. In fact, I will admit, the original draft, missing 75% of the humor, was so dark dark that I let it fester in a folder on my hard drive and didn’t touch it for two and a half years. Finally, I was inspired to give it a once-over and punch it up with some wit. Now, as a bonus, I’m trying to convince an artist friend to adapt this story into a comic book miniseries for his next project, which we can co-market together.
Back Cover Blurb
Mild-mannered Hal O’Grady, is about as boring as they come, even for a Jr. High Volleyball Coach. When he finds out he has less than a year to live, however, he decides it’s time for a major life change.
Rather than wallowing in self-pity or wasting his money on finishing some meaningless bucket list, he decides to go out and make a difference. Cashing in his 401K and calling upon his two best friends — computer hacker Vicki Montana and former Marine Barry Chase — he resolves to die saving the lives of innocent citizens, disguised as a superhero vigilante.
The problem is, it’s a lot harder than it looks in all those movies.
Read the Latest Draft
Playlist I Listened to While Writing It
Revision History
| Draft 0 | Original NaNoWrimo draft | November 2022 |
| Draft 1 | Grammarly Edit | December 2022 |
| Draft 1.25 | Revised First Act (CH 1-5): Grammar and language edits, first humor punch-up, lighter tone, no plot or story changes. | April 2025 |
| Draft 1.5 | Revised First Half of Act 2 (CH 6-10): Grammar and language edits, first humor punch-up, lighter tone, no plot or story changes. | April 2025 |
| Draft 2 | Revised Acts 1 through 3: Grammar and language edits, first humor punch-up, lighter tone, no plot or story changes | April 2025 |
Current Issues Being Worked On
- More distinctive voices for characters, especially Heirophant
- More superhero missions leading up to reveal of Heirophant
- Rewrite first Heirophant battle
- Multiple humor punch-ups, still not funny enough
