I've been privileged to know Dave Beaty for more than a decade now, but the opportunity to work with him on this book has been a real highlight of my relatively short time as a writer. We were both appearing at a local comic store to hawk our individual wares, and decided to grab dinner before he had to drive back. We got to talking about various ideas and Dave said he had one he wanted to explore but really only had two words at the moment.

"Red Skirts."

I finished drinking whatever I was drinking and told him to stop right there, he'd struck gold. Then I shamelessly begged him to let me write it. Ideas flew into my mind at a breakneck pace, and I believe it was the next day when I approached him with about half a notebook worth of ideas, characters, notes, worlds, etc...

Five women demoted to security detail on a massive spaceship. A death sentence for sure, but they've managed to stay alive by playing to each other's strengths and working together against whatever the universe throws at them.

We've told the story arc of the first woman in the quintet. At the rate we both work, we'll both be in the old spacefarer's home by the time we tell the fifth one's tale, but along the way we're having a lot of fun working together and making a book we're proud to show off.

Artwork by Dave Beaty. Words and lettering by me. www.redskirtsonline.com