Romeo, Romeo, where had we got to with Romeo?

It may not look much to you, but this picture (above) marks a significant step forward with my books. We're moving again, creatively. 

After a busy time with schools, and the only really productive thing on my desk this year being the colouring of Richard The Third (did it take as long as drawing the book itself? It felt like it), this week I got back to the writing, and eventually drawing, of Romeo And Juliet.

It was over a year ago that, buoyed up by my new agent Emily, I started working on new graphic novel material in the same vein as my Richard The Third. I began by taking another stab at Midsummer Night's Dream, a fresh look at King Lear, and my twisted version of Twelfth Night, aka Twelfth Thing. And, following a meeting with one (rather big) publisher who showed some interest in my Shakespeares and suggested I tackle this most popular play, I began a version of Romeo And Juliet.

Because they were thinking of printing books in just one spot colour, I drew up the first 27 pages of my Romeo with red only colour, looking for all the world like the strips I used to do in the Viz lookalike comics thirty years ago. I had completed these pages by the end of May last year (so my worksheet tells me).

Feedback in June told me they weren't so keen on Romeo & Juliet, but would like me to try redrawing the others in a slightly different style. So I redrew Midsummers and recoloured it and tweaked and recoloured a bit of Twelfth Night. This led to some sample art tryouts on different books, with another publisher, which was followed in October by another art tryout, the verdict on which I'm still waiting to hear. So I've had meetings with three significant publishers, which is great. But none of this has furthered my Shakespearian ambitions very much. So...

I started colouring the pages of Romeo and Juliet in the Autumn. I did this to show the potential publishers at the Lakes Comic Festival Rights Market. Of course nothing came of those meetings so all my Shakespeare works in progress have lain dormant for six months or more. 

Now with the success of Richard The Third as a self-published book - 1000 copies sold last year, 450 already sold this year - I'm looking to putting Romeo and Juliet out under my own steam. I'll need to discuss this with Molly and Emily (Emily is on maternity leave, Molly is standing in for her right now, and at time of writing will be at the Bologna Book Fair) but hopefully this won't stand in the way of me finding a trad publisher.

Romeo and Juliet Kickstarter anyone? Watch this space. When I left we had 27 pages written and drawn. I've only drafted a tiny bit more, but we've already met Nurse and Juliet, had the Queen Mab speech, and I'm about to do the Romeo and Juliet Meet Cute. Wish me luck.

Update: Thursday May 1st - I have finished writing the first draft, the biro scribbled version, of Romeo and Juliet. Next, to draw the whole damn thing. And, yes, line up that Kickstarter.

Other update: The nail in the coffin of Romeo and trad publishing came in an email from my agent (Molly, in for Emily) on April 30th which said: "We discussed it and, while we both love your Shakespeares, we felt that you should be free to self-publish these. I’m afraid this would pretty much mean the end of the road in terms of traditional publishing, but from talking to Emily and from looking back over all of the feedback from when these were shopped around the publishers last year, it feels like traditional publishing just isn’t connecting with the Shakespeare element. We feel it’s best that they’re out in the world and that you’re able to actually sell copies rather than holding out hope that publishers will pick them up. It’s such a shame as we’re huge fans of these books here, but hopefully this will give you a bit more freedom."

My Books And Where To Find Them...

Richard  The Third Paperback • signed	Findlay  Macbeth Paperback • signed	Prince of  Denmark Street Paperback • signed	Midsummer Night's  Dream Team Paperback • signed
Shakespeare Omnibus Paperback • signed	Comic Tales From The Bible Paperback • signed	Joseph, Ruth & Other Stories Paperback • signed	Space Elain Paperback • signed
Book Of Esther	Who Notes	Sweet Smell Of Sockcess	Attack Of The Sausages
My 1975 Diary Calendar	Colouring Books Paperback • signed	Scottish Falsetto Socks Annual	Tales Of Nambygate

Colouring Books: Doctors Who, Hollywood Legends, Punk, Cult TV, Eurovision Vol 1, Eurovision Vol 2, Eurovision Best Of British & Irish, 1960s Pop, 1970s Pop, 1980s Pop,  1990s Pop, 2020s Pop, Bowie, Scottish Pop, Royalty, Rom Coms