Inspiration

[Spazzoid]

Howdy!

I'm curious to know, what influenced you to create a story like Picatrix and how did you compile such a colorful cast of characters (try and say that five times fast)?

[Picatrix]

I wish I knew Honestly, Picatrix comes from a really weird dream that I had last February. I remember waking up and thinking, 'That would make a great comic idea', so I wrote down what I could remember which was mainly the big plot points (like, up to this point, Winnie being kidnapped and then, the ball).

Where the characters come from really eludes me... with two exceptions. Winnie pretty much acts exactly like I did back in my freshman and sophmore years of college... actually, that's kind of embaressing to admit... heh, oh well. By the bye, Red from the comic Normalness is also based on me from that time... ( http://labrats.keenspace.com/d/20020109.html).

Crystal Summer is based on a coworker of mine back in college, who has since, unfortunately, passed away.

Three characters, Winnie, Crystal Spring and Sadie, are all taken from an earlier comic I did, called The Anubis Chronicles. That was really an experimental learning-to-design-comics work and wasn't really any good, so it's not online anymore. I'll probably post some images from it once I unpack (I'm moving in a week and a half)...

Ah, but the guys... there must be a muse hanging over my head, helping me come up with them. Sometimes, their personalities even surprise me, especially Samael...

Hope that was a good answer

[Spazzoid]

That's happened to me before! I had a weird dream that I ended up writing down and turning into a story called "Lowlifes".

Thanks for answering my question. I'm always curious to know how writers and artists come up with their ideas. I'm a writer, so I know how frustrating some characters can be, while others just seem to write themselves.

[Picatrix]

Ah, so I'm not the only one who takes stories from dreams Truth be told, I'm not a very good storywriter when I sit down and try to think. I just have to sort of let them come to me. Ooh, Lowlifes... that's a great name... I remember having a terrible time trying to come up with a name for Picatrix... but it all worked out

[Spazzoid]

Names are terribly frustrating A lot of times I have to write a whole story out before I can think of a title. Then there's the writer's block...grr

Before I forget, is it alright if I put a link to your site on my webpage?

[Picatrix]

Oh yeah, names are tricky. And I am so glad I have the plot for the comic worked out. I think it would kill me to have to think up something to write every day

Oooh, links are good. I'll link back to you from my site. I'm halfway through reading your story and am loving it

[Spazzoid]

Oh, wow, thanks! I'm really flattered

My website isn't very big, so I can't guarantee a fancy link or a very big boost in traffic...mostly it's just a place to put my stories.

Anyway, I love your comic, and thanks for linking back to me!