My state-of-mind always tends to be in flux. Chalk it up to ADHD or sheer impulse, but the one constant in my life is that there is always something in the pipeline, a new or pre-existing creation that takes up a lot of focus. Sometimes it borders on obsession, or at least it feels that way. In the case of Olethros, a little over two years of my life were poured into its creation. It involved a shit-ton of written outlines and thumbnail layouts which were put through a gamut of revisions and picked apart by my inner critic. Some pages were fully illustrated, then discarded to make room for better, more effective illustrations. When I wasn’t working my day job as a graphic design contractor or playing with my kids, I would pour whatever time I had on late afternoons and late evenings into creating something that felt like more than fan fiction, even though at the end of the day, that’s precisely what Olethros is and always will be. It all started as a way for me to prove that the Alien prequels had more to say and what a third prequel could realistically look like with a big budget and passion to match, but I eventually wanted to put my voice in there and tell a unique story in its own right.
Fortunately, Olethros attracted a bigger audience than I anticipated, and we are not talking about sheer numbers since that would be a shallow way to measure success. I measured its success by all the Alien fans from different countries who reached out with ideas and questions of their own, sharing their enthusiasm for this story and offering words of encouragement. That kind of engagement is so touching because it speaks volumes. A chapter starts out in your head, you hammer away and fret and gnash your teeth to make it a reality and then you see people are responding to it in some way. Every writer/artist lives for that, even if there is no money coming in or the source material does not belong to you. The sheer engagement makes it worthwhile, and I cannot thank people enough for supporting this story thus far.
So here’s another flaw of mine: I try to predict timelines and outcomes without considering the reality factor. When I started working on Olethros, my brain settled on this ridiculous notion that I could write, design, and market 12 issues on a monthly basis from #1 onwards...all by myself. How hilariously absurd! I believed that my undying love for Alien and Olethros would propel me through every obstacle and dry spell that was over the horizon, but the unpredictable nature of reality always finds a way to smack us upside the head and change the landscape of our ambitions. For a lot of us, it was COVID-19, and that will be the last time I mention it in this post because it gets name dropped way too often in our everyday lives as is. In addition to that, certain areas of the country have descended into complete anarchy, and our respective opinions regarding hot button issues have brought us into conflict with our own friends and family members. It is a very ugly, intense era to be living in right now, and it threw my emotions into a bit of a tailspin. I found myself pondering my emotional reactions to things, the future of the world, and my mortality in relation to my creative legacy (it certainly doesn’t help to be bipolar, but a lot of people are in the same boat). The way I looked at it, If I ended up dead by next year, would I be remembered for a piece of fan fiction? Probably not. The last thing I wanted to do at that point was delve into the world of xenomorphs and Augments (or Engineers, for those who justifiably scoff at the audaciousness of that label). I could not put 100% into the next chapter, and if I couldn’t do that, would it be fair to the readers, or myself? However, my creativity has never been stagnant—it just needs to be aimed in the right direction.
That said, Olethros is merely on hold, and I feel like stepping away from it to work on some original passion projects will only pave the way for a stronger presentation in the future. Right now, my focus is on Specters, a massive science-fiction epic that will not only span worlds, but entire universes. A lot of what I expressed regarding the state of the world, our place in it, and our own mental health will feed into it as well. It represents a great, big, beautiful canvas upon which I can project my own creative voice, not to mention new techniques such as motion control, effects, even music production. Just as Specters and Anti-God (another original project) will reflect an evolved approach to storytelling, Olethros will benefit from those innovations when the time is right.
At this point, I know I have lost some of my audience due to my fickle nature, but I wanted to take time to get my thoughts together and offer a concrete status update about the future of Olethros for those of you who were still wondering. I assure you, the interest and encouragement you have invested into it will not be in vain. It will return.