Today, Grit City Publications creator Ron Gavalik (Grit City):

Who would’ve thought that a small group of dedicated individuals from Pittsburgh would change the world of fiction, by creating the new medium of emotobooks?

That’s right, no one.

Just what the hell is Grit City. How about I write the short pitch here, and if you want the in depth stuff, visit the website.

Grit City is a dark and calamitous world in the throes of self destruction. The main character, Dillon Galway, is a freelance journalist and blogger. He’s our idealistic, yet hard-boiled hero that’s doing everything he can to pull the city he loves from the brink of self-destruction. He tends to rely on Alyssa Stephano (hottie with guns, as my friend called her) to help him out of jams and expose the perpetrators to their rightful demise.

Now, here’s the kicker that will piss-off the fans of detective stories, and hopefully delight the younger urban fantasy crowd. Dillon is going to come across someone special that will forever redefine his reality and at the same time, help him in his idealistic crusade of sorts.

Oh, it’s going to be great fun.

The next things I suppose I should do is define what the term emotobook means. Again, I’ll divulge the nutshell here and you can visit the website for the whole kit-and-caboodle. The term emotobook is something I came up with one day while sitting on the can and forgot to bring something in with me to read. See how quiet moments of thought can lead to great inspiration? Anyways, an emotobook is a short (about 30-pages) serialized story that uses emotional representations (illustrations) to enhance a character’s emotional state in certain key scenes of the story.

I’m fortunate to be partnered with Zak Revale for this task. He’s the illustrator I work with to create the expressionistic images. Once a month we sit down with a copy of the issue I’ve written, and the talented Rebecca Hoffman has proofed and edited. We’ll discuss which portions of the story deserve an emotional representation. Usually, we decide on four or five illustrations for each issue.

Don’t expect to buy a comic book or picture book full of drawings. Grit City is not a comic book. It’s an emotobook. You’ll see when you read a copy or visit the website.

The truth is, I really can’t take the time to rest on my laurels. Only the first leg of a long and arduous journey has been completed. What most writers tend to believe is, “Hey I’ll write a book, get someone to publish it and I’ll be a famous person that everyone wants to love and throw small pickles at, because I’m so awesome.”

Ummm, not so much, fruit loop. 

To write a short story, novel, or serial takes work. You might say, “Sure, Ron. I’ve heard that before from other writers, professors and others, but what does ‘work’ really mean?” 

I’m not going to get into a long winded explanation of the writing process or the post-publishing marketing approach a writer has to take, but I will say that AWARENESS is your friend. If no one knows about your story, how can you possibly convince someone to read it? It’s impossible. Suffice to say that a comprehensive marketing approach is needed. I’ll try to find some time in the future to discuss some of the smarter tactics to use. As a professional who’s worked as a communications manager and technical writer, this kind of stuff is my background. 

With all of that said, Grit City has simply been born into the world. It now needs fed, clothed, doctors, dentists, and not just a little tender loving care. And like most parents, it’s the job of the creative team to show it off to every single person in the world. 

No problem. We’ll have it done by lunch, right?. (Chuckles.)

Writing Grit City Emotobooks is an ongoing labor of love. Enjoy it.

Thanks, Ron, for stopping by my blog today!

 

Ron’s extensive background and education in fiction and nonfiction writing led him to innovate the revolutionary medium of Emotobooks. Grit City is GCP’s maiden EmotoSerial. When not writing, he runs GCP for others to find publishing success and uses his free time to read fantastic stories or dole out writing advice. When weather permits, you can find Ron biking, hiking, of fishing in the outdoors of Southwestern Pennsylvania. Ron blogs here.