It’s been a long time since any updates. But that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been working on projects. Quite to the contrary, for the past few years me and Stipan Morian, the incredible artist of 20th Century Men, have been cooking a long-form story. While still under heavy development in both writing & drawing, we have managed to put together the beginnings of a very special book. We have titled it Our Soot Stained Heart. Our other collaborators include colorist Rope Mann, letterer-extraordinair Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, and last but not least our developmental editor Francesca Lyn. A killer team if there ever was one. In short, this is my big make-it-or-break-it book. I’m very much putting everything that I have into this book.
Though I have been writing this story in some form since at least 2020, me and Stipan started talking about this at the beginning of 2022 after I’d finished a full script for a one-shot. Stipan saw the potential in that, but very much demanded that we make a full book out of this. And oh boy was that the right call. He’s very clever, that man.
Later that year, I had the incredible pleasure of visiting Stipan in his homeland of Croatia. There, on a picturesque island in a small peaceful town, we laid out the book together. And we’ve kept going since then. Well, Stipan has done a lot of the heavy lifting. Me, I’ve tried to keep up, but ultimately I’ve been the one who has been too slow. With a dayjob, and other various pursuits, I realized early this year that I hadn’t properly written anything new for OSSH in almost six months. Yikes.
So I decided to do what worked last time. Take a holiday, and dedicate it to writing. I was lucky enough to find an arts & writing residency spot, in the historic old town of Assisi, Italy- where I’ve been working on the book for a week and a half now. My stay ends in a few days, but I feel optimistic that this trip has rejuvinated my energies. I’ve definitely made a lot of headway. I’ve rewritten sections that needed it, I’ve written a lot of new of dialogue over Stipan’s amazing pages. And I’ve gotten a good handle on the most important part, writing out the remaining scenes in enough detail that Stipan can draw them. It’s not going to be ready by Saturday, but after a long time, I can confidently say that it’s getting there.
I’ll leave you with just one of the incredible pages that grace this book. Stipan Morian, everybody.
Joni Hägg 