I, Jake Thomas, being of completely unsound mind, have decided to make 2016 the year I attempt something I've long wanted to do, but haven't had the gumption to: become a professional writer. This blog will be a journal documenting that journey. For those who don't know, I'm an editor at Marvel comics. That job entails a rather absurd number of responsibilities, many of them at cross-purposes, and on any given day so many seeming like they are set up for failure and disappointment. Perhaps I'm alone in feeling this way, but my guess is that any of my fellow editors reading this are probably chortling to themselves in weary recognition. Hopefully courting similar recognition, one of the reasons I believe we stick around (it's certainly not the money or acclaim) is that, on a good day, on the best days, we make someone's dream come true. We help a writer or an artist tell stories they've been longing to tell since childhood. We help them create something beautiful and fulfilling and of themselves. There is absolutely nothing better than that.
This blog won't be about that job. So if you're here looking for a peak behind the Marvel curtain, I suggest you go elsewhere. Tom Brevoort's Formspring is always good. This blog will be about me and my attempt to make my dream come true, to get my stories out there, to, in the immortal words of Jim Morrison, break on through to the other side.
There's a very real possibility that this will be the story of a noble failure, the tale of a man whose reach vastly exceeds his grasp. This could, in short, become heinously ugly. What I'm hoping for is that this might, in some way, lead to a bit of community. I'm going to be running an experiment this year to be outlined in the next post, maybe some will choose to join in, or lend some critique or thoughts, or just some sympathy and encouragement. I'm hoping, in some way, to make this experience of locking myself away from friends and loved ones for long periods of time to be a bit less lonely.
More shortly. Hopefully MUCH more. I'll see you there.
Play us out, Lizard King:
-Jake T.