It’s always fun to roll out a new screenplay competition laurel. The one above was earned by my feature-length sci-fi screenplay INFINITY CANVAS. The competition is still under way and I’ll find out if I made it as a finalist on November 22. Either way, it’s a nice follow-up for INFINITY CANVAS after it landed as an official selection and a Top 50 finalist at FilmQuest Fest.

I’ve been spending a lot of time marketing INFINITY CANVAS recently because, well, I love it. It’s based on a short story I wrote that was nominated for Best of the Net by Thirty West Publishing, so I’ve always had a sense there’s something special there. I love it so much, in fact, that I adapted that short story into a feature-length screenplay and a graphic novel.

Recently, I pitched the graphic novel to a literary agency and just when I thought they were about to offer representation — after they read the full manuscript and we exchanged several emails — they said they didn’t think they could sell it to a publisher without art. Well, that just begged the obvious next step.

So I found the best graphic novel artist I could find for this project and convinced him to partner with me as the artist for the graphic novel. We’re working on art for 10 sample pages right now, and I’m unbelievably happy with the early results. Here are a couple of the initial sketches (we’re hoping to have 10 completed sample pages before the new year).

First up, Monica and Lily — a woman and her daughter abandoned by their husband/father for a supposedly utopian metaverse — roam the apocalyptic Philadelphia streets seeking to create something beautiful out of the bleakness.

Next up, Daniel — the husband/father now living as an avatar in the metaverse — tries to find meaning in his virtual existence and cope with the grief of abandoning his family.

I’m looking forward to sharing the final art once it’s finished!