Before you can reach step 2, you must first complete step 1. Step 1 will lead you into step 2. Our Lady of Righteous Rage was my step 2. The books I’m about to tell you about, were step 1. They’re the books that helped me develop the stories and characters in the Our Lady series.

Terror in the Woods: 1998

The first book to feature Woolent characters a little closer to how readers of the Our Lady series would recognize them was Terror in the Woods, written in January of 1998. This was my first attempt at a “scary story”. It features Jon and Olivia at eight-years-old, in the second grade. They have an assignment: write a short story about an interesting experience. Olivia is troubled by this because she feels nothing exciting ever happens to her. Jon wonders if they could go camping, and Olivia thinks its a good idea since it would make a great short story. Jon asks his cousin David if they can go, and after some convincing he agrees. He and his sister Daveda and girlfriend Amy round up a few friends and they make plans to go camping. Things start out pretty normal, until Jon and company begin to hear strange noises in the woods. Next, the campers begin disappearing, one by one…

I drew illustrations throughout this book. I won’t ruin the ending here, because I’m currently posting Terror in the Woods on my Patreon Page. This will be the only publication of this book, and per usual, the first two chapters are free while the remainder of the book is for patrons only. BTW: the illustrations are also on Patreon.

Sarconi: 1999

Sarconi is a collection of short stories I wrote in 1999, and it based on my idea for an animated sitcom. Remember David Sarconi from Our Lady ? He’s the lead character in this one. He lives with his girlfriend Amy Edwards, his sister Daveda and his little cousin Jon (recognize anyone else from Our Lady?). The stories revolve around their misadventures together. I did manage to draw a handful of comics to complement the book which I also used in a calendar I created that same year.

From Here to There: 2001

This story is a but closer to being a pre-Our Lady book. It’s about Amy Edwards and her friends experiencing the final year in high school. There are a few differences here, the primary one being the relationship between Amy and Rob: they’re half-sister and brother in this one.

Our story begins with Amy and her older sister Lana in their mother’s attic, going through some boxes. They come across Amy’s year book from her senior year at Benjamin Cardozo High School, and Amy begins to reminisce on her senior year. She recalls spending time with friends Vanessa, Carmen, Del (Dee or Delfino), and David Sarconi, her only male friend. She has feelings for David but isn’t sure of how he feels about her, plus he has a girlfriend named Gina. However, Gina and David break up, and Gina blames Amy. Amy and Gina get into a physical fight where Amy winds. Later, in celebration of Amy’s seventeenth birthday, she and her friends go out to the mall in Roosevelt Field, where she meets a tall red-head named Rob. After talking with Rob, the two of them learn they are half-siblings through her father Jonathon. The story ends with Amy and her friends graduating and feeling hopeful about the future.

Of these three books, From Here to There provided the most inspiration for the Our Lady series. I pulled a few elements from this one for Our Lady, including Amy’s fight with David’s ex and eventual relationship with him. Oh…and swearing. There’s a bit of swearing in this book, too. Of course the story in From Here to There only accounts for 10% of the final story in Our Lady.

Next time: Nyda Summit’s series and the original handwritten Our Lady of Righteous Rage vs the published version.