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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