David is a fellow gamer, an otaku, and a guy that I wish I could bottle his calm. Every time I see him, he has an easy going, relaxing climate that makes me smile. He is quiet, like myself, but he will gladly engage in conversations, especially about our weaknesses of purchasing more items for our TCG fetishes (mine Pokémon and his Magic). I have never known him to be rude or disrespectful and even though has works his tail off (which he always does. I remember him doing this since he got a job in high school at our local movie theater), the admiration for his wife, my good friend, and the sparkle of love for his children fuels his eyes. Who wouldn’t want to support this amazing man/gamer? So, when he started a Facebook page for a manga series he was starting, he as the artist, I followed him and after a few months, I pondered, “Should I? Manga is more than pictures; there has to be a story. Should I?” Finally, my love for manga took over and I asked my buddy if he wanted to be my June Aspiring Author Spotlight spot and he sent me a very speedy yes! ^_^ It is such a pleasure to introduce the future manga-ka, David Long!
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- When you wake up in the morning, how do you see life?- When I wake up I see life as a mystery. What’s gonna happen today? Who will I run into? Is something going to blow me away either by a song or story or just a good joke. It’s those little moments in life that after you walk away from them you can’t help but smile one more time. That’s how I see life, it’s how many smile and laughs will take place that day.
- How did writing find its way into your life?- I started writing in high school. I was always afraid to show my work (mostly cause I have terrible spelling). But then I started explaining stories to people and they really liked them. I always see them as movies in my head so translating that to paper as comics can be hard. I remember one story I wrote that a friend was proof reading. He was completely ignoring class just reading page after page. All of a sudden he shouts out loud “NO! NOT THE LITTLE GIRL!” every turned and looked at him. That when I realized I could get people into characters and make them feel for them. And from there I just really enjoyed telling stories.
- What does writing do for you?- Writing and drawing really allows me to create. I love to create things, whole worlds to get lost in. It allows me to express emotions as well. If I’m extremely mad you might get a short fight scene drawn or written out of me. If I’m happy then you’ll get something funny or one of those inspiring tales in hope of lifting everyone’s spirit to the same heights of mine at that moment. Really it’s me trying to express what makes me happy to the rest of the world in hopes that everyone can enjoy it with me.
- What sort of genre or type of writing do you do?- Really, I like sticking to fantasy; it’s what I know best. You know, like swords and sorcery kind of stuff. I love video games of that type as well, so it’s easy for me to create those types of worlds in writing or drawing. My favorite genre of art (drawing) is manga and anime. I’ve watched anime since I was young, from early days of D.B.Z. and Lupan the third to my current top 2 animes: “Sword art online” and “Is it Really Okay to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon.”
- Do events in your life or people you know affect your writing?- Everything in my life seems to get included in my art and stories. Every character is a personality from my past or someone I currently know. For example in The World the main character is designed after the Creator Josh Currington. The co main character is based off my personality in the gaming world. I can have a really bad temper and never let anything stand in my way. Everything is either black or white to him and it’s how I view life most the time myself.
- What are you currently work on or what was the last thing you wrote?- My current works include “Magna” and “The World” both of which I’m co-creating with friends. On Magna Jon wisdom is doing writing as well as computer touchups on the art as well as working on a full color version of everything we produce on it. Josh “Tagg” Currington is the creator really of The World. It’s his story and I put in very little so far to add to the story but we are working on future story arcs together where a lot more of my input story wise will come into play. The last story I wrote was a few years back it was a dream I had where it felt as if I lived a lifetime out in it. Long story short there was time travel, mutant slaves and a revolution. Pretty crazy stuff.
- Can you tell us a little about it and its inspiration?- The inspiration for our stories are what we are passionate about. I love super heroes so we ended up with Magna, a guy who can bend matter to his will. On the world, Josh and I are obsessed with Sword Art Online so it got us wanting to write stories on videogames. It seems to be a popular thing right now with all the ones popping up these days like. Is it really ok to pick up girls in a dungeon, log horizon, or no game no life. These have been rising in popularity as of recent, so we have begun producing what we love. Also video games, lots and lots of video games.
- What are your goals for the future?- My goal is to eventually get enough going with my comic and manga that my wife can stay at home with the kids. Doesn’t seem that out of reach considering if I can get up to $750 a month that dream would come true. Otherwise it’s to become a full time comic artist. I really want to get a finished product out for the world to see and if I get even one person to tell me, that was amazing I really enjoyed that story may we get more. Then I will be happy.
- What are your interests or hobbies?- My interests are my family first and foremost. I would drop anything for them. I enjoy reading with my wife, she is always pushing a new book on me wanting me to ready it so we could talk about it. Only thing is she can drop a book a day and it takes me 2 to 4 weeks for one. Other bobbies and such are if you haven’t guessed video games and art. They have been with me since I was very young. My mom would tell me I’ve been drawing and playing games since I could pick up a controller and pencil. I like card games such as magic. I play tabletops like D&D. I also really enjoy working out. I’ve recently went on a 90 weight training program I set for myself. I’m on day 67 and really feeling great.
- If you could be a superhero, what are your powers and how would you use them to help the world?- It’s so unfair! If I could choose it would either be super strength, super speed, or the ability to fly. My issue here is that I know myself I’m a hothead if I think you’re in the wrong I’ll put my foot down and sometimes it’s not pretty. I could hope at best id end up a vigilante like punisher.
- What advice would you give people who want to write?- DO IT! Don’t waste time wishing you could just sit down and start it. Even if it’s just for yourself. It’s a great way to express feelings that you can’t get off your chest. It keeps your mind sharp and I bet that someone out there in the world will like what you have to say.
- If you could be remembered for one thing or thought, what would it be?- That life didn’t get the best of me. That I took the best that life has to offer for myself and so should you.
Samples of work:
Bio on David Long:
I was born in Colorado Springs in Fort Carson. My father was in the military. We soon moved back to Germany, where my mom is from and spent the first 4 years of my life there. After that, we moved back to the states and lived in St louis until I was 14, then moved to Farmington. Finished up High school there and now live with my wife, Jessica, son Connor, daughter, Arianna, our newest addition, and our 2 cats Mulan and Jinxy. I am 28 years old.
URLS:
Www.patreon.com/syrinious for The World and other random art
www.patreon.com/magnagraphic for Magna
