Bad Idea is a fantastic story about a stunted comic book writer who meets a make-up effects (FX) artist who comes to inspire his creativity and affect how he lives his life. Trip Spector has spent the last 4 years writing Hero High about goodie-two-shoes teenage superheroes, and he's tired of it. When his boss/editor steals an idea Trip presents him and gives it to another writer, Trip decides to write something new and radical that actually inspires him. Only he gets stuck with an anti-hero and a sidekick, but no villain. 
 Early on he meets Silas Goolsby. Silas has been something of a player before now, but when he meets Trip, it feels different, and he wants to treat Trip with respect and not as a trick or one-night stand. They click on multiple levels, which leaves both of them guessing as to how they should move forward, a "too good to last" sort of feeling. (Not to mention they keep running into Silas's exes everywhere.) They are initially sort of hit-or-miss with each other, but Silas makes it up to Trip by helping him (inadvertantly) name his creation, Scratch, and creating his villain, the Judge. 
 Most of Trip's friends are happy for him, but his editor, Cliff, is particularly displeased by Trip's creative foray into a niche "indie" comic which could "ruin" his reputation (a gay erotic sex demon! OMG!), and by association the Hero High deal which Cliff has been working on with a major retailer. Trip has had a crush on Cliff for years, and Cliff has used that knowledge to manipulate Trip into whatever he asks. Though Trip starts to see Cliff for what he is, and Trip learns a lot from Silas about licensing, eventually he has to decide whether he's going to believe in Cliff's deal, which means hiding Scratch, or venture out into the unknown on his own with Scratch, and with Silas. (If you want to know the story of Scratch, Isaac, and the Judge, read Horn Gate, the written version of the graphic novel which Trip developed with Silas's help.) 
 The secondary characters are all really well crafted also. Trip has 3 best friends and a godson who make sure he knows who he is and isn't, and try to keep him grounded. Silas has a best friend in Kurt Bogusz, the CEO of a well-known video game company, who comes with the requisite arrogance and attitude to match. And we also meet one of the company's genius developers, Ziggy, who also has an interesting part to play. (I'm really hoping in the future that the author will give us some more details on the history and future of Kurt and Ziggy.) 
 There are lots of threads to follow on multiple levels between these characters. I kept thinking that certain things were going to happen, and they didn't, and other things I didn't expect to happen did. The story always kept me on my toes and avoided common tropes and cliches. It was fantastic. 
 At the end, I also had to go re-read Horn Gate, Isaac and Scratch's novella, and I picked up different details this time through after having read this book. I also now understand better how the world-building of Scratch's universe influenced the dynamics between Trip and Silas after having read both stories. (That's a great article for aspiring writers, by the way.) 
 So, awesome story, and I can't wait for more in either universe.