No excuses, just apologies. I neglected to post that Hologram Chapter 11 was complete, so I’m posting it now.
What prompted me to do that? I just released Hologram Chapter 12 – the final chapter in the Counting the Days story!
Everything has been building up to this. Joe can’t change back to his pre-accident self. His marriage is a mess. His now-former employer is up to no good. It’s time for the chips to fall, and oh do they fall…
Tony Lorenz jumped in on Chapter 10, and his work is pitch perfect for this story. I’m so excited at how it turned out.
Story-wise, Chapter 11 cleans up a number of loose plot threads while setting the scene for the climax in Chapter 12. Chapter 12 is a bit of a storytelling experiment for me, telling the entire Chapter from the perspective of a TV news reporter.
For those interested in things physical, Chapter 12 continues Chapters 10 and 11’s use of clear plastic covers for the minicomic editions. The WAR overlay was pretty nifty. Special thanks to Tony for letting me cover up his work (but you can see it without my overlay if you just pull the plastic back).
At risk of getting sappy, this is a bit of a milestone for me. My small press comics history is littered with unfinished stories. I never finished anything from back in my Heroes Past time period in the 80s, Hologram included. And while I finished the Patriots four-parter in Heroes Now, it’s not the same as completing a 12-chapter arc.
I wrote this story back in 2021, plotting the entire arc before scripting a page. The character developments, ebbs and flows in the plots and subplots…it was all strategically placed for specific reasons. I think it worked out for the best that way; there was no “winging it” with the story, and I was attuned to establishing character elements early in a way that pays off as I slowly ramped up the action to the crescendo in Chapter 12.
Plus, it’s a story with a beginning, middle and end. From me. Go figure!
The entire Hologram story is available to read in PDF form via the Hologram dropdown in the Library tab at the top of the page (or just click here). I’ve also sent Hologram: Counting the Days Book Two off to the printer with a fantastic Scott McClung cover; we’ll talk about that another day.
For now, just enjoy Counting the Days…in its entirety. It’s good to have this complete…and gives me energy to finish writing the next book!
Phoenix Productions 
Way to go, Tom!
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