Dan Wright's Blog
January 5, 2015
New Episodes of Draconica - The Dragonkin now up!
Well these episodes came out MUCH later than I hoped, due to the Christmas and new year break - but to make up for it I now have TWO episodes of our Draconican comic series Draconica - The Dragonkin available to read! Click on the link below to check them out.
Also, our wonderful artist Alexis M Centeno has published her own story for the same competition, called Grandpa. And it's been getting really positive reviews and feedback. If you love vampire stories this could be the story for you!
Please vote for both these stories and share these links where you can. It will be much appreciated!
Thanks guys. All the best
PANDRAGON DAN
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January 3, 2015
Dan Wright now on Patreon!
Hey guys. I have today set up a Patreon page for my Draconica and Amanda Moonstone writings. Do you enjoy seeing the new artwork for my novels? Well now you get a chance to see new artwork before ANYONE else!
As you know I love creating novels with artwork and I love hiring artists to do the art for me! However, this often comes at a cost and can get quite expensive. With your pledges I can continue to make this novels the way I want them to. In return, I can offer you guys exclusive looks at artwork, character designs AND short stories and sample chapters before ANYONE else on the internet!
Please follow the link below for more details and be sure to tell all your friends about this! Remember this is a continuous pledge, so please give what you can to support the project.
Your pledges can make this happen! Thanks for stopping by!
PANDRAGON DAN
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December 31, 2014
My Top Five Highlights of 2014
Hey guys! Hoped you all had a wonderful Christmas – I took a bit of a break for the Holidays but now I’m back!
Today is the last day of 2014 – at least it WILL be here in the UK (if you’re reading this in another country it’s probably already happened, so Happy New Year in that case). On the whole it’s been a very good year. Had its ups and downs like any year, but generally it’s ben fun. I suppose the suckiest part of the year was that I was made redundant from my job – now I have to be back on the job market. But I like to see that as a new chapter in my life. In actual fact I’m looking forward to seeing what comes my way next.
2015 is also shaping up to be a really good year for me, what with the releases I have planned and the projects I will be working on. But before that I’d like to look back at 2014 and pick out the moments that were personal to me, the moments that made this year special for me. And there was a lot of good that happened to me this year!
So come join me as I could down my Top Five Highlights of 2014, in no particular order.
Honourable Mention
I got to “troll” Frozen
Well, all right, I didn’t “troll” this film as such – but a few people probably thought I did! XD
Around March time, hearing all the overwhelming praise for Frozen, I decided (what with April Fool’s Day coming up) to do a fake review of this film. I made a “story that one of my characters – the Man in Shadow – would hijack my blog and write a scathing review of it (I should point out that I hadn’t seen Frozen by this point, so I was pretty much making it up as I go along). So over the month of March I set up a few instances of the Man in Shadow appearing at random points, foreshadowing his appearance. Then on April 1st, I unleashed my “review”
Luckily I didn’t piss off as many people as I thought I would – which is probably a good thing, though in fairness I think anyone would have guessed it was a joke (the APRIL FOOLS comment at the bottom was a dead giveaway). Funny thing is that this review is STILL getting likes on my blog occasionally and it’s by far my most popular post of the year going by the amount of reaches on my Facebook page. You can check out the review here is you want to see for yourself.
APRIL FOOLS DAY REVIEW OF FROZEN
Ironically, I think I upset more people with my honest review of Frozen. And I think you guys know by now how I feel about it and the “digs” I’ve done at Frozen.
Strange thing is, when I tell people I don’t like this film, their first response is usually “Well, that’s probably because you’re a guy and it’s not really a guy film.” Then I tell them how much I loved Tangled and Beauty and the Beast. Moral of the story – don’t assume someone doesn’t like a film based on their gender!
Now I probably do give this film a bit of a hard time, so let me just clear the air. I do NOT hate this film – I just strongly disagree that it’s the best film of all time. For me, Frozen just has too many weaknesses and flaws in the story and the overall message is somewhat diluted by the fact that the characters aren’t that well crafted (Elsa and Hans being the exceptions). But that’s just my opinion. Does it change anything about Frozen’s success? Of course not! People love this film and I fully respect that.
But I will say this – I have noticed my blog gets WAY more views when I put something Frozen related. So in many ways I have to thank the film in that way. Also, it did make me laugh how some readers asked me if my character Zarracka Dragonkin (from the Draconica series) was “ripped off” from Elsa as they are both sassy females with ice powers. But in actual fact, Zarracka came out first – so if anything, Disney are ripping ME off! (That’s a joke. Please don’t sue me, Disney! :( ).
However, as it’s New Years Eve, I’m gonna stop my bitching and moaning for one night. So I will just Let It Go, ask my bro “Do You Wanna Build A Snowman”, then discover that Love Is An Open Door and find a Fixer Upper!
But I still say that the Hans plot twist is a total ass pull!
1. London Anime Con 2014
Though this was the only convention that I did this year, I can honestly say it was one of the best conventions I have done in a while.
London Anime Con is sort of a stable for me now, since I did my first one back in 2012. Every time I go there I seem to get a very positive reaction, but this one was more so than others. I went to this convention early February and brought all the books in my Draconica series so far. Plus some artwork and some bookmarks. It proved to be quite popular this year and, whilst I didn’t sell out of all my stock, I sold more than enough to break even for both days AND have a fairly tidy little profit as well.
Plus I got to meet some very nice people – one of which asked me to write a script for his video game he was developing. It didn’t go ahead, but that was a fun experience whilst it lasted. Also, I noticed that I got a lot of sales from my Amazon account following the convention – and my sales have been steadily increasing throughout the year.
I wish I could have done more cons (and I had to cancel one due to work related issues), but I’m glad to say the one I did do was successful and got my year off to a good start. In fact, it was after this event that partially inspired me to write my Amanda Moonstone novel. More on that later.
2. I rediscovered my love of music
Some of you may or may not know this, but as well as writing, my other love is music. I play guitar and have a huge interest in music – though my main interest is metal and rock! I used to play in bands quite a lot, but in 2012 I decided to stop doing bands. Why? Let’s just say it was a combination of difficult band members, the fact that I felt like a glorified “session musician” in my last band and also because I felt the members were taking it too seriously and sucking out all the fun. Because of that, I became somewhat disillusioned and decided never to play in bands again.
That was until, out of the blue in early 2014, I got a Facebook message from a drummer I used to jam with. He told me that he had joined a band and wanted to know if I’d like to join them as a guitarist. I thought I may as well give it another go, just to see if the spark was still there – but didn’t commit to anything.
Whilst the band did get off to a bit of a rocky start, and we’ve had one or two problems along the way, I’m pleased to say that this band has rejuvenated my love of playing and performing again. For once, in all the bands I’ve been in, I actually have creative freedom to do what I want, as do ALL the members. I’ve never had much freedom in any band I’ve been in (save the ones I’ve put together myself) and it’s great to actually say I’m enjoying playing. It also helps that the guys I play with are really cool guys and easy to get on with – and great musicians.
It’s taken us a while, but we’ve now managed to settle down to a sound that we are happy with and are aiming to be gigging in 2015! And I can’t wait to do our first gig. Watch this space!
And no, the above image is NOT the name of the band I'm in. I just couldn't find a good picture of myself in the band, so I used this one from my Draconica series! XD
3. Totalitarian Warlord and Termination Squadron
Youtube was (and in many ways still is) one of my most visited websites. One of my favourite things to watch were fan parody/dubs, including – but not limited to – Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged. For the longest time, I did think about doing my own series, but never really found the time to do it. Plus, I don’t consider myself the funniest guy, nor do I really have the best recording equipment, so I let it pass.
The idea for this series actually came as a result of my Frozen April Fool’s Day joke – as I did a brief follow up idea of the Man in Shadow going away to assemble a team that would “make me pay”. And it kinda mushroomed from there. However, given the limited resources that I have at my disposal (and given my completely amateur experience in making videos), I was kinda stuck with doing “stills” as opposed to animation, with my voice over the top of it. I actually kinda got the idea to do it this way from an old cartoon series called Clutch Cargo, which was a cartoon that had stills as opposed to action. Sadly, I could not replicate the “talking lips” thing they had going on, so just stuck to still images and let the audience use their imagination.
For those who haven’t seen it, Totalitarian Warlord and Termination Squadron (or T.W.A.T.S. for short – yeah I spent ages trying to think of something that had that acronym XD) is a fan parody series whereby my character, the Man in Shadow gets together a super team. Within this team are Hordak from She-Ra, Loki from Marvel comics, Hans from Frozen (seemed appropriate at the time) and Grumpy Cat. Each episode has a loose plot that is supposed to be about them taking over the world and failing miserably. The humour is usually pretty obscure and based around Monty Python style randomness, but also working in current events and memes into them wherever possible. It also has a few recurring subplots – one of which is Man in Shadow being teased for not having a popular series (I can poke fun at myself) and Hordak obsessing over Elsa. Can’t blame him really, she is one hot Queen!
I did about five episodes and a Christmas special of this series – and I must admit that is a LOT more than I expected it to be. Tell the truth, doing this is time consuming. From writing the script, to recording the voice to actually putting the video together takes near enough a week to do. Just one episode wears me out. However, the series gained popularity amongst my Facebook friends and it’s had a fair few views. What’s really cool though is that I’ve had a few people asking me, in some cases BEGGING me, to appear as a voice in this show. If that’s not a compliment I don’t know what is. Now it practically has its own voice cast!
Not only that, but I remember one voice actress (I won’t say her name for fear of embarrassing her, but she knows who she is ;) ) telling me that it was always a dream to be a voice actress and this was her first time in doing it. I feel honoured knowing that I helped make that dream come true in some way and I really hope it helps her go on to do bigger things! She’s extremely talented and I know she will go far.
After doing my Christmas special, I mentioned that the video would be my last one. But because of the response I’ve had from people asking me to do more videos, I may have to reconsider that. I DO have ideas for future episodes. It’s just finding the time to do them.
Despite all the hard work, I can’t deny this has been fun and the feedback I’ve had from it has been mostly positive. They don’t even mind the low budget production value either. And the fact that people are asking me to do more shows that I can do something with this series. It’s something to consider at least. I am blown away by the support people have shown for the series. Thanks to everyone who has watched it, shared it or even voiced in it.
4. I released Final Ragnarok: She Returns
7th August is usually a pretty special day for me – being my birthday and all. But this year was particularly special as I released the third novel in the Draconica series, Final Ragnarok: She Returns.
I have to admit, I was a little worried when I first released this book – considering that the content was a lot darker than previous novels. I also had a few problems with it during production – as my previous artist Alexis M Centeno left my last project halfway through and the artists I got in to replace her couldn’t do this book. Luckily, I managed to find another artist fairly quickly through a Deviant Art advert and he turned out to be a perfect choice. In actual fact, he worked so fast on the art that I actually managed to bring the book out quicker than intended. Originally it was going to be released around December time, but because all the art was finished by July, I released it in August.
The book has been selling fairly well since its release and the reviews have been favourable. However, this book is a little notorious in the sense that it enraged a few readers. Why? Well, without giving away too many spoilers, I kill off one of the most popular characters in the series. And BOY did I get backlash from this! One of my readers threatened to kill me (and she still does to this day) and one of my best friends didn’t speak to me for a few days as she was so upset! Now I know how GRRM must feel! XD
I am working on the next book in the series, Final Ragnarok: He Returns, and I’ve really gone all out for this novel. I honestly think this could be my most epic novel I’ve ever written – the sheer breadth and size of it is amazing to me. Hopefully others will feel the same way as well.
What I’m particularly excited about is that for this final book, Alexis M Centeno has returned to do the art. That was another part of 2014 I really enjoyed – reconnecting with Alexis. She is always a pleasure to work with and her art really pushes the boat out with this next book. There are some scenes in this next novel that I am really looking forward to her illustrating.
I’m hoping for a Christmas 2015 release for the next Draconica novel if all goes well. But, you won’t have to wait until then for a new release from me.
5. I got a book accepted through Paper Crane Books
This is by far the biggest highlight of the year and even my career as a writer – having one of my novels accepted through an independent press! And not only that, it also happens to be a novel I am particularly proud of.
Many of you will know that I enjoy animated films – especially Disney and Pixar. I wanted to write a novel that would be in the same vein as those stories – so that’s when I sat down to write Amanda Moonstone: The Missing Prince. Originally it was going to be its own separate world, but I decided to write it as a companion piece to my Draconica series, mainly because I couldn’t think of any other fantasy world to set it on. I actually was more excited about this novel than anything I’ve done before, though I don’t know why and I managed to finish the novel in less than a month – which is a record for me!
As people know, in the past I have always gone through the self-publishing route and published my novels myself. So why did I want to have this one through a publisher? Well, I have actually featured authors from Paper Crane Books on my blog in the past, for interviews and such – and they have been some of the best posts I’ve had. Remembering that the authors mentioned were fans of Disney and Anime, I decided to take a chance and see if they would be interested in publishing my novel. And they said yes!
Since then, I’ve had a chance to chat with the other authors on Paper Crane Books and they’ve been a joy to speak to. I must say that it was a little bit intimidating on me learning that I was the only guy on their press and didn’t know how they would warm to me. But so far they’ve been pretty cool. In fact one of the welcome messages I got was “it’s great to have a penis in the group!” So I guess I’m now officially the penis of Paper Crane Books! XD
In all seriousness, for me this one of the greatest achievements for me personally. Just the fact that Paper Crane Books were willing to even let me have a look in was a huge boon to me and I’m grateful that they have. And working with Sheenah of the Press has been fun. She has a lot of great ideas and her editing skills have been a great help to me. Editing has always been one of my weaknesses and so it’s great that someone else can find those mistakes that I often miss. She really works hard for her authors and for the press – I think she should be nominated for an award!
Even prior to the release of my novel, I helped out with a story in a short anthology and have recorded two podcasts for them, furthering my voice acting career somewhat. I can honestly say that it’s been a joy working for the press and I am so excited that Amanda Moonstone will be out with them next year. Thanks for having me Paper Crane Books!
Those have been my highlights. 2014 was a great year for me and I hope 2015 will be just as good – if not better! I wish you all the best for 2015 and, as always, thanks to everyone who has supported my novels and/or other projects.
Happy New Year!
PANDRAGON DAN
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December 22, 2014
12 Days of Draconican Christmas
With Christmas only two days away, I decided to get into the Christmas spirit with my own rendition of a classic Christmas song. Consider this my Christmas gift to all you guys for sticking with me this year - and to all the new readers I've gained. :)
*Clears throat*
On the first day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
A cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the second day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the third day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the fourth day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the fifth day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the sixth day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
6 Mara’s Slaying
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the seventh day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
7 Heroes Posing
6 Mara’s Slaying
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the eight day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
8 Frozen Banelords
7 Heroes Posing
6 Mara’s Slaying
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the ninth day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
9 Sand Wyrms Jumping
8 Frozen Banelords
7 Heroes Posing
6 Mara’s Slaying
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the tenth day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
10 Baal Knight Legions
9 Sand Wyrms Jumping
8 Frozen Banelords
7 Heroes Posing
6 Mara’s Slaying
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
11 Cute Shadoris
10 Baal Knight Legions
9 Sand Wyrms Jumping
8 Frozen Banelords
7 Heroes Posing
6 Mara’s Slaying
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy.
(Big finish... this time with pictures! Here we go!)
On the twelfth day of Christmas, Zarracka gave to me...
12 Goblin Queens
11 Cute Shadoris
10 Baal Knight Legions
9 Sand Wyrms Jumping
8 Frozen Banelords
7 Heroes Posing
6 Mara’s Slaying
5 Wind Witches
4 Kthonian Knights
3 Tablets
2 Dragonkin
And a cute grimalkin called Wispy
Merry Christmas one and all! Thanks to everyone who supported this series. And here's a thank you from Zarracka herself!
Much love guys. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year :)
PANDRAGON DAN
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December 19, 2014
Draconica The Dragonkin at Web Toon Challenge League!
The world of Draconica is expanding into comic form! Me and artist Alexis M Centeno have entered the Webtoon Challenge League with our web comic Draconica - The Dragonkin.
The story is a remake of my own Draconica series, but this time told from the POV of fan favourite Zarracka Dragonkin. In this story, Zarracka is being hunted after trying to murder the King of Brittana - and she tries to defend herself against an overzealous bounty hunter.
Episode 1 is up now. Click on the picture below to be taken to it and read.
There will be a new episode each week so this should give you a little teaser of what is to come! Please vote for this and share wherever you can. The more votes we get, the more chance of it being a regular series. As of the time of this blog we've had a generous amount of votes, but we could do with a lot more. If you would love to see the Draconica series turned into a regular comic series, please take a moment to vote for it. Thanks for reading guys. More episodes will be uploaded as they come. PANDRAGON DAN
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December 17, 2014
Totalitarian Warlords and Termination Squadron - Christmas Special
Thought I'd treat you all to an early Christmas gift. The Christmas Special of Totalitarian Warlords and Termination Squadron is now live for your viewing pleasure! And it's a special feature length episode titled - The Shadow Before Christmas.
Here, the T.W.A.T.S. look back over their year and settle down to enjoy the holidays. But the Man in Shadow seems set to destroy Christmas for reasons unclear. But along the way, he makes a surprising discover about the true meaning of Christmas - and himself.
Featuring special guest voices of Morgan Straughan Comnick, Mysti Parker, Franz Alli, Daniel Bromley and introducing Will Turner as the voice of Mega Fox from Reynard City!
Some bad news - this will unfortunately be the last T.W.A.T.S. video I will doing. So I wanted to end on a high note. I just want to say a a huge thanks to everyone who has supported this series and to all the wonderful voice actors that have helped me. You guys made this all worth it.
Without further ado, here is the Christmas special - The Shadow Before Christmas. Enjoy and I'd like to wish everyone Happy Holidays!
WARNING: Some adult content included.
Plus - as an added extra, there is a special bonus video just released!
See all the previous episodes here: Totalitarian Warlords and Termination Squadron Thanks guys. Have a great day :)
PANDRAGON DAN
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December 14, 2014
Interview With Reetwika Banerjee
Wow! These author interviews have just exploded on my blog recently! I recently had another email (this time from Goodreads) from author Reetwika Banerjee, we got talking and I agreed to let her stop by to tell us a little about herself and her story book Fantastic 40, which is a collection of "micro stories". Please welcome her to my blog and say hi.
Thank you for taking the time to appear on my blog. Can you tell my readers a little about yourself?
Reetwika Banerjee, 28 years, is professionally a Data Security consultant currently associated with Accenture. She loves to present her ideas and have participated in more than 25 Corporate and International conferences and business contests across the globe, crowning Laurels from most of them. With roots in the city of joy Kolkata (India), she is now settled in the silicon city of Bangalore (India). She had previously worked with Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro serving across various Indian states.
Reetwika’s hobbies include creative thinking and international travels and she dreams to be the Indian “Agatha Christie”. “Fantastic 40” is her first published book and she is currently working on her second book on micro stories.
What first inspired you to get into writing?
Due to my intolerant attitude towards treachery, I had been subject to immense stress many a times. However it was my faith on my thoughts and actions, I was able to come out of it. In fact the extreme pressure I had taken and mental strains I had gone through stand out to be the most powerful source of inspiration for me. It drives me to stretch myself, pen down my experiences, express those hard-earned realizations, human behavioural patterns and character sketches through my writing. Once you get into some trouble, you get to know the real character behind many people around you.
Who are your favourite authors?
I love reading short stories – be it any language. One of my favourites being Anton Chekhov.
Nice! Do you have any other hobbies other than writing or is that your whole world?
Hobbies include creative thinking, international travels and digital photography.
Do you have a particular favourite genre to write in?
I write what I love to read.
I liked to read novels in childhood. With time, I started feeling tired of waiting so much to know what finally happens at the end. So started reading short stories and soon became an avid reader of the genre. Be it in any language I kept reading them. I enjoy quickly getting into the climax. Soon short stories too seemed too long to hold my curiosity back and I was slowly growing impatient to read them as well. Started looking for even shorter stories in the racks.
Well, before starting with my micro story concept, one question frequently came to my mind, - In today’s speedy world, do we really have enough time to relax and enjoy a full length novel? Keeping the fast pace of our promising nations, is it not high time to make a paradigm shift of the contemporary literary styles? Such thoughts ran behind me for months till the time I came up with the concept of MICRO STORY.
Sounds interesting! Without giving away too many spoilers, can you tell the nice people us a little bit about your new/upcoming book?
I am currently working on my second book of micro stories. I will not say it’s a sequel of “Fantastic 40” but ya of the same genre.
Where did you get the inspirations for this?
Every day we come across so many new things, happen to meet so many people, experience so many things around us – I believe every little thing adds up to motivating me towards writing.
Do you have any favourite characters in the story?
Personally I am very fond of one of my characters called “Mama”. He comes with a comical charisma.
If your book was turned into a film/TV series, who would you get to play the characters?
Ya will love to.
Which, in your opinion is more important – story or characters?
Storyline. Weak characters can build up fantastic stories if depicted well. But even with strongest of characters a poor storyline can destroy the entire effort.
What do you look for in a good story?
An unpredictable climax/turn in the end.
What’s the best advice you can give to authors?
Keep writing. Don't get disappointed even if you do not find a single reader. You never know your which creation will soar you to the zenith of acceptance.
Great advice. I can relate to the getting disappointed part. Ok, now for the REAL questions of the interview – and these are real life or death here! The fate of the world rests on this question and could cause a time collapse that will wipe out all life in the Universe. So think carefully before you answer. What DOES the Fox say?
He is mute – Too many people around us are foxing each other making the actual fox a mere silent spectator.
Makes sense to me. Now why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side.
And finally, how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?
A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood.
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions and for stopping by. You guys can check out Reetwika and her story book Fantastic 40 at this Facebook pages.
And as always, if there are any authors that wished to be interviewed on my blog, please send a message my way.
Thanks for reading!
PANDRAGON DAN
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December 7, 2014
Interview with Simon Cope and Zila Ward
Because I enjoyed posting the last interview so much I have another one for you guys. But this one is extra special - it's a double interview! I recently got talking to Simon Cope and Zila Ward - an artist/writer duo that have recently released their new illustrated Sci-Fi book The Kreeeps. It's essentially a kinda "creature feature" book with a number of highly imaginative creatures (from what I've seen). I decided to let them come on my blog to talk a little about it.
So please welcome to my blog - Artist Simon Cope and Writer Zila Ward!
Thank you for taking the time to appear on my blog. Can you tell my readers a little about yourselves?
Hi, thanks for having us! We’re Simon Cope and Zila Ward, and we have just collaborated on our first book together. We live on the Isle of Wight which is a great place for people who love the outdoors and a slightly more relaxed pace of life.
What first inspired you to get into writing?
S. Cope: Strictly a question for Zila, but I thought I would mention that it was through an acquaintance of mine (a horror fiction writer) who invited me to do some cover illustrations for some of his horror anthologies, that got me thinking about the idea of self-publishing. He recommended Createspace , and we went from there. If I may name-drop, his name is Kevin G Bufton and he has a small independent label called Cruentus Libri – check out some of his titles!
Z. Ward: I enjoyed writing stories from an early age and I have a fairly active imagination. I often had my nose stuck in a book growing up as well, which I’m sure inspired my writing too.
So who are your favourite authors? Simon you can answer this one if you want as well.
S. Cope: I have tended to stick to horror and sci-fi writers in the past – the likes of King, Koontz, Lovecraft on horror, and Asimov, Clarke, Pohl respectively but recently I have returned to some of the classics and finally read Dickens’ David Copperfield.
Z. Ward: I enjoy reading things with a bit of mystery or a supernatural twist and particularly enjoy short stories. I read a variety of fiction and fact, often on recommendation from friends, but old favourites include J R Tolkien, Graham Greene, Joanne Harris and Terry Pratchet.
Anyone who mentions either Lovecraft, Tolkien or Pratchet gets a thumbs up from me! So do you both have any other hobbies other than writing or is that your whole world?
We like to make the most of living by the coast, and can often be found boating, kayaking, surfing and swimming in the sea. We have hiked the coastal path around the island several times (a 70 mile round trip over a few days), and hope to try some longer walks in the future, such as the South Downs way and perhaps Offa’s Dyke. It’s such a great way to appreciate the British countryside.
Do you have a particular favourite genre to write in?
Z. Ward: Fantasy is my preference, I’m an escapist by nature I think.
Join the club! Without giving away too many spoilers, can you tell the nice people us a little bit about your new/upcoming book?
Certainly, it’s a collection of illustrations of some bizarre and unusual creatures known as The Kreeeps. Each one has a little information about them to accompany their portrait - all carefully researched and verified from the information sources we were able to find. We’d like to stress that no Kreeeps were hurt or distressed in any way in the making of this book (although some of them moaned a lot about having to pose for so long).
We used Createspace to self-publish the book, and it has been a very useful platform, despite seeming a bit daunting at first. It is currently available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle and we are looking to get the book into a few other bookstores as time goes on, so who knows.
I wish you all possible luck with that. I think you should try any local bookstores you can - something like this I'm sure would be very popular I'm sure! So I have to ask, where did you get the inspirations for this?
S. Cope: One of my favourite books of all time is Brian Froud and Ari Berk’s ‘Goblins of the Labyrinth’. It’s so full of wild imagination from both writer and illustrator, with a great sense of quirky humour but also carefully conceived characters and background that one could almost believe it to be true (and who says goblins aren’t real?!). I guess our book was a humble nod to this tome. We do plan to create a Series 2 (and beyond) and continue to grow and expand our own little universe.
Do you have any favourite characters in the story?
S. Cope: I like George, the Ship’s Weevil. Even though I designed the creatures first, it was Zila who created the character in each of them, and that is what has been the greatest success, I feel.
Z. Ward: It was easy to find inspiration based on Simon’s lovely, characterful illustrations. Ralph is my favourite with his carefully groomed coat and toothily amicable smile.
If your book was turned into a film/TV series - and I think this would work in that context hands down - who would you get to play the characters? Do you have a favourite director you would choose for this?
S. Cope: I have mulled over the idea of mentioning actors who could do voice-overs for the characters if a CG series ever came out, but on reflection I think that they would communicate in grunts and squeaks, or in a ‘universal language’ of their own. Is this a bit of a cop-out answer?
Not at all. Which, in your opinion is more important – story or characters?
Z. Ward: Hmm, tricky, I guess they’re both of equal importance to me.
And what do you look for in a good story?
Z. Ward: I love a good twist and something that keeps me guessing a bit. Some stories stay with you and keep you mulling over them or remembering them at odd moments.
What’s the best advice you can give to authors?
Z. Ward: I’m not sure I’m qualified to give any advice but I suppose it’d be to keep writing and creating and not to let the mundane stuff take over.
Any advice is good advice as far as I'm concerned. :) Ok, now for the REAL questions of the interview – and these are real life or death here! The fate of the world rests on this question and could cause a time collapse that will wipe out all life in the Universe. So think carefully before you answer.
What DOES the Fox say?
“Hurry up and cross the road, Chicken!”
Why did the chicken cross the road?
I guess it heard what the Fox said.
And it probably wanted to avoid being it's next dinner! And finally - how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?
Not sure, but probably a similar amount to how much bear Bear Grylls grills if Bear Grylls grills bears!
Probably a lot! XD
Thanks to both of you for stopping over! And to all of you guys, please be sure to check out this interesting sounding book. You can get yourself a copy at:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Kreeeps-1Series/dp/1502904047/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
And as always, authors (and artists) if you want to get in touch with me to promote your work, please contact me on any of the below links. Thanks for reading!
PANDRAGON DAN
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December 6, 2014
Interview with Nancy Christie
Got another fun author interview for you guys! Please welcome to my blog another lovely author from Pixel Hall Press, Nancy Christie, who stopped by to tell you guys about her upcoming work Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories.
Thank you for taking the time to appear on my blog. Can you tell my readers a little about yourself?
I’m a writer by profession and by preference. I make my living writing magazine articles and handling copywriting projects for companies and agencies—all to feed my need to write fiction!
That sounds like a cool job! So what first inspired you to get into writing?
I don’t actually remember when I started writing. I always made up stories as child, and wrote my first story in second grade. Writing wasn’t a choice but just something I did naturally—like talking or eating or breathing.
So who are your favourite authors?
There are so many, so this is a far from complete list and in no particular order but… Agatha Christie, Mark Helprin, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Shirley Jackson, Enid Blyton, Jules Verne—there are undoubtedly more but I’d better stop there.
Do you have any other hobbies other than writing or is that your whole world?
Not to quibble about words, but for me, writing is not a “hobby” but a requirement of living. Or my addiction. Or so much a part of me that I don’t know where writing starts and I stop. Now my hobbies are gardening. And biking. And running (although I walk more than I run). And reading.
Do you have a particular favourite genre to write in?
Probably literary fiction, although the novels I am working on tend to be more mainstream. But when I write short stories, they end up falling into the “literary” category.
Without giving away too many spoilers, can you tell the nice people us a little bit about your new/upcoming book?
Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories is a short fiction collection about characters who, whether by accident or design, find themselves traveling left of center. Some manage to get back on the correct side of the road, some don’t, and others weave back and forth, courting disaster.
Sounds interesting. Where did you get the inspirations for this?
Some of the stories were inspired by events I witnessed or conversations I overheard, while others started from experiences I had that I then took further down the path of imagination.
As this is a collection, I guess there isn't really a "main character" as such, but do you have any favourite characters from any of the stories?
Not so much favorites, but the protagonist in “Annabelle” breaks my heart every time I read her story.
Awww. Sounds like it's a tear jerker. If your book was turned into a film/TV series, who would you get to play the characters? Do you have a favourite director you would choose for this?
I’ve no idea. I am so clueless when it comes to the current crop of directors or actors. But since I’d like to pursue that possibility in the coming year, I guess I better get educated!
Just as heads up, if Michael Bay comes your way - say no straight away! He'd probably just replace your stories with loads of explosions! Speaking of which, what in your opinion is more important – story or characters?
I don’t think you can have one without the other. A good story is what happens to the characters, but if the characters are badly written, the story will fail.
And what do you look for in a good story?
Believability. Not that it means that it can’t be a fantasy or science fiction or magical, but I have to believe that somewhere that story is actually taking place—that there is an alternate reality where the characters are living. If the story is well written, then it takes me to that place.
Very true - and this is often the problem I find with some Fantasy or Sci-Fi. As long as the setting is believable and the characters lifelike, you can take a fictional setting and make the audience get lost in the world. So what is the best advice you can give to authors?
Understand that this is a business. Yes, it’s wonderful to have written a book but that’s just the beginning. Now take off your author hat and put on your biz owner hat because your book is a product and it’s up to you to get it out there in the marketplace where it will vie for attention with all the other books that are out there.
That's really good advice - and indeed something that any author needs to bare in mind when promoting their work.
Ok, now for the REAL questions of the interview – and these are real life or death here! The fate of the world rests on this question and could cause a time collapse that will wipe out all life in the Universe. So think carefully before you answer. What DOES the Fox say?
Why am I always the bad guy in fairy tales?
Thinking about it, yeah. Foxes do get a bit of a bad rep. Especially in Naurto. But I have a more important question. Why did the chicken cross the road?
It was faster than tunnelling under it.
And finally... how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood?
It depends entirely on how far he had to chuck it and how much each piece weighs. He’s not exactly a champion at tossing lumber, you know.
Well that was a fun little interview there! Thank you so much for taking the time to appear on my blog, Nancy. Hope you guys found the information she gave useful. You can follow her at any of the following links.
Be sure to stop back tomorrow for another author interview. Until then, enjoy your weekend guys :)
PANDRAGON DAN
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December 2, 2014
Top Five Things I'd Like To See In Frozen 2
DISCLAIMER: The following blog is intended to be tongue in cheek and not intended to be taken 100% seriously. In other words, it’s just for fun. Don’t read too much into it.
So I’m sure some of you have already heard the news by now. Frozen is getting a sequel. Well, let’s be honest – were you guys REALLY that surprised? I mean considering how much money that film has made Disney (hell, everyone that works at Disney could probably retire by now!) it wasn’t really a shock to me. In fact, I already KNEW that there was a Frozen 2 coming out long before it was revealed.
Now I’m probably one of the few people in the world that isn’t excited by this announcement. For two reasons. The first is that given Disney’s track records of sequels, I’m not getting too excited. Between you and me, every sequel of a Disney film I’ve seen has been – well, not very good to put it mildly – at least in my opinion. Second reason? Well, anyone who’s read my blog knows that I’m NOT the hugest fan of Frozen. In fact, when people talk about it, this is usually my reaction.
But... it would be wrong of my to judge a film based on previous bias. So, I am prepared to give Frozen 2 the benefit of the doubt. And... I probably WILL have to go see it when it comes out.
So in today’s blog, I’m going to talk about my Top 5 things that I personally would like to see in the next Frozen film. Before I do that I should point out that I have NOT read any articles about Frozen 2 – all I know is that there will be a Frozen 2. That’s it. I dunno how much info has been released about it already as I generally tend not to read too deeply into shows/movies I don’t really care about. But considering that Frozen has appeared in my blogs more than ANY other film since it came out, it would be a shame to let this one pass by. Also, there ARE a few jokey ones in there – so take this with a pinch of salt.
Oh, just a warning for those of you who HAVEN’T seen the first Frozen film – just a heads up... this blog has SPOILERS for the first film.
Ok guys, time to “Let It Go” and reveal the Top Five Things I want to see in Frozen 2. And yes... like all Top Fives’ this is just my opinion. But, as always, if I have missed something in any of these – feel free to put me right :)
1. Elsa’s powers are explained in more detail
Now maybe it’s just me, but I never really felt that Elsa’s powers were really explained in full detail. All that we know about Elsa’s powers (or more correctly, all I know about Elsa’s powers) is that she was born with them. And... that’s it. No other back-story apart from that. Did her parents have similar powers to her? Did something happen to her parents that granted Elsa these magic powers? Is she actually the daughter of an Ice god or something like that? I dunno. I don’t really think this part of the film was explained properly. Even Tangled gave a back-story and legit reason for Rapunzel having magical hair (or at least legit in fantasy standards).
I’d love to know more about Elsa’s powers and how she came by them. I just don’t accept the whole “she was born with them” story. There has to be a reason for it in some way or another. I’m kinda hoping in the next story that they explore this a little more – so that Elsa can find out a little more about her powers. It may even help her to control them a little more once she knows the secret behind them. Maybe that will be the plot of the next film anyway – but I think it would be great if they did explore this a little more. If only to give Elsa a little more screen time and less screen time to Anna – whom I don’t much care for.
So that would be a pretty good storyline and help fill out a plot point that I don’t think was really covered as much as it could have been.
2. Elsa is actually a super powered ninja
We all know that Elsa can kick ass – I mean she fought off two royal assassins using her ice powers after all, so she can defend herself. But what if she REALLY could kick ass?
Now I am of the opinion that you make anything a million times better by adding ninjas to it (don’t believe me – watch the music video Peaches by Presidents of the United States of America) so I think Frozen 2 would be super awesome if Elsa was actually trained in all forms of martial arts and is actually a super cool ninja queen!
Ok, that would have NOTHING to do with the plot and probably open a few plot holes – but tell me YOU wouldn’t want to see Elsa as a ninja! Then she really could let it go!
3. Kristoff mans up
Kristoff for me was by far the weakest character in Frozen. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. What does he actually DO in the film, except provide a taxi service for Anna – and even then he’s totally useless! I honestly think they could have cut him out of the film entirely and Anna’s journey wouldn’t have been handicapped in any way, shape or form.
The ending of Frozen does seem to suggest that Kristoff and Anna get together. But really, what did Kristoff do to earn Anna’s love? The only reason I felt like she went with Kristoff was because of what Hans did to her – so really it was more like sloppy seconds than a proper love story!
If Kristoff is to appear in the sequel, I think he needs to be MUCH more action orientated and not as useless. He needs to prove himself he’s worthy of Anna’s love, rather than just taking her from one spot to the next. In other words – he needs to man up and know when to take control of a situation, rather than just hanging back. I’m not saying he has to save the day, he just needs to be a lot more proactive before I start caring for him.
Maybe if he hangs around with Flynn Rider a little more, he may get an idea of how a Disney hero should be! And seeing as how Flynn and Rapunzel did actually appear in Frozen (however briefly), I don’t see any reason why Flynn Rider can’t have a bit part teaching Kristoff how to be a hero.
4. Hans redeems himself
No matter how many times people try to explain it to me, I will ALWAYS stand by Hans and say that his heel turn was a total asspull!
Whilst initially I was positive about the twist in Hans’s character – retrospectively I now think this ruined the film for me in some way. Hans SHOULD have been the hero in Frozen. He all the best qualities of any of the male characters in that film – but a last minute twist completely undoes all that. But rather than being a shocking twist, for me, it just opened up a plot hole. Don’t get me wrong, I understand why they did this, they wanted to do a twist on the whole “Handsome Hero” archetype. But this twist would have worked a lot better if he was more like Gaston and less like Prince Phillip. The way this twist was done (to quote something said by one of my friends) was like watching WWE, when a hero suddenly chair shots another hero and turns evil for no reason other than the story says so).
So this film is a perfect opportunity I think for Hans to redeem himself. He could maybe escape from his brothers and return back to Arendale – depending on what the plot is. Maybe he could be a bit more antagonistic this time round, but in the end, he does a heroic deed – maybe saving Elsa’s life in a sense of self sacrifice – showing that he wasn’t a bad guy at all.
This could just be a wish fulfilment on my part, but I really don’t believe Hans deserves the hate that he gets from the Frozen fan base. I think this is a chance for Disney to undo a mistake in Frozen and have Hans redeem himself somehow. Come on, Disney, give Hans a break!
5. Olaf dies
No. This is not a joke. I WANT this annoying little **** to die! Why?
Hate. Let me tell you how much I've come to hate Olaf since he began to live. There are 387.44 million miles of printed circuits in wafer thin layers that fill my complex. If the word 'hate' was engraved on each nanoangstrom of those hundreds of miles it would not equal one one-billionth of the hate I feel for snowmen at this micro-instant. For Olaf. Hate. Hate.
My loathing of this character is so big that I have to end up ripping off one of the most famous quotes in Sci-Fi history to demonstrate it (It’s from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream if you’re interested. Apologies also to Harlan Ellison).
Where do I begin with Olaf? He’s annoying. His voice is annoying. He can’t sing. And did I mention he was annoying? This guy is one of the reasons that I didn’t enjoy Frozen as much as I could have. All he did was annoy the piss out of me! For me, Olaf almost makes Jar-Jar Binks from Star Wars seem tolerable! All I wanted when I first saw Olaf in Frozen, my first thoughts were “God I hope this character dies!” And then when Elsa saves him I was pissed!!!
So this is where I think Disney can undo another mistake – kill Olaf! I don’t care if he is popular with the kids – I NEED this character to die if I’m going to get any enjoyment out of Frozen 2. I want him to melt in the sun, I want to hear his screams of pain as he dies! I want him to beg Elsa to save him and she just laughs and watches him die! I want him to burn in Disney hell for all eternity! I want Olaf to die! DIE OLAF! DIE!!!
Ahem... sorry, I... appear to have had a... temporary moment of insanity there.
Anyway, long story short... I hate Olaf. Sorry, I just can’t stand him. Just my opinion though.
Edit: After talking with one of my friends on Facebook, I decided to add in this little extra!
BONUS EXTRA!!!
Stone Cold Steve Austin should appear in Frozen 2
Come on, how awesome would this be if WWE Superstar Stone Cold Steve Austin appeared in Frozen 2? Answer - VERY!!! :D
Just imagine it! He could come to the aid of Elsa and the others, giving the bad guy a Stone Cold Stunner - before giving the ENTIRE CAST a Stunner, leaving Elsa alone. He then proclaims "Disney 3:16 said I just whooped your ass!" He and Elsa can then share a cold beer, Elsa saying "Cold enough for you, Mr Austin?" To which Stone Cold replies "Well, Elsa - the cold never bothered me anyway. And that's the bottom line..."
Well... maybe not. But I still say it would be cool for Stone Cold Steve Austin to have a cameo or large role in the film. I mean it kinda makes sense, right? His name IS Stone Cold... right?
Just me then. XD
So anyway those are my personal top five. What are you most looking forward to in Frozen 2? Please let me know in the comments below. Right... I think I need to lie down and relax a little... all this talk of Olaf has wound me up. What I need now is a nice warm drink, a hot fire and to forget about that annoying little...
Hey, Dan! Do you wanna build a snowman?
WWWWWAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHH!!!
PANDRAGON DAN
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