Tag: site news

Good news, Techwarrior fans!

Good news, Techwarrior fans!

A rough script for Techwarrior #5-12 has been completed. When the series was started, a 12 book run was proposed, so having the script complete makes it one step closer to rendering. Now, before you get all excited, note that this series is a collaboration. The script has to be approved before rendering can start, and that takes some time sometimes.

Once the script is approved, however, expect books to begin appearing regularly through the 12th book. This is good news for Techwarrior fans, is it not?

What about Dream Angel and Hillbilly Hoot?

Dream Angel at this point is a larger collaboration. Getting the minds involved to do their part has been a slow process I’d hoped would be done long before the book’s time to be rendered. It hasn’t happened that way. The current story arc has been more than a year in the making. Having fellow creative minds involved has in fact slowed down the usual pace for rendering and releasing. Fortunately, things are beginning to pick up gradually and the writing may soon be completed for the arc.

Hillbilly Hoot is another collaboration and health issues have been slowing it down. Life has kept the minds involved with these books quite busy, so it’s difficult to keep a regular schedule at times. Fortunately, these are independently created and released, so there’s no publisher schedule to keep, merely a personal one.

Still fun to be had!

Have you checked out the activity streams page lately? There’s some cool blitz art challenges going on there! Even if you’re not the artsy type, the idea’s to draw what you see and I like to think anyone can do that, no matter how bad they might think they are at drawing! So, come on! We don’t judge! Just have fun with it and enjoy! Despite what people might think, even tracing can be artistic and I can say from experience, it helps with learning to draw, as well.

I won’t apologize!

“I won’t apologize” is based on a simple writing prompt. It may or may not end up being about characters in the books on this site. Okay, little disclaimer over, on to the story.

“I have nothing to apologize for!” she yelled. “This planet is mine!”

“You can’t be serious,” he said sadly. “Thousands dead because you have an itch for power and you have nothing to apologize for?”

“Fool!” she screams as she slaps him hard across the cheek.”Don’t expect me to apologize for them throwing their lives away stupidly!”

“You’ll regret it,” he sighs sadly as he leaves the room.

The war was over, but the damage had been done. Thousands lay dead and thousands more horribly wounded. He was right, she had an itch for power and she’d scratched that itch all over the planet, leading to complete conquest. He knew she’d have to make peace with the people sooner or later unless she wanted to risk a major uprising again, not that she’d admit it.

As he walks down the dimly lit halls of the castle, he thinks to himself, “It’s a good thing the kids aren’t here to see just how viscous their mother can be. I wouldn’t want them learning her murderous ways.”

He walks into a room and finds himself face to face with his young son.

“Father, what’s wrong with Mother?” he wonders innocently. “She’s been so angry lately.”

Upon seeing the large golden brown eyes on the verge of tears, he bends down and wraps the boy in a warm hug. “I wish I knew, son. I wish I knew.”

Okay, that’s all you get for this writing prompt. Whether or not it’s about anyone in the books available in the shop, I’ll leave up to you. As for seeing more books released in the near future, well, we’ll just say I’ve been taking a break to write ahead and this little exercise is a break from even that. So, hope you enjoyed the little story. I know I’m leaving a lot open to the imagination by not telling who or being very descriptive, but I wanted to keep it pretty generic on purpose.

Triple release party coming soon!

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Come join us at the Facebook party! It’s been a lot longer in the works than usual, but finally, we’ll see a triple release party for Dream Angel #23,

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Techwarrior #4,

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and announcing the all-new Hillbilly Hoot #1!

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Although the latter two have been largely ready for a couple weeks now, the idea was to have a big party for all three to celebrate the new series.

Dream Angel was supposed to be done a couple weeks ago, but other things ended up taking priority. Nevertheless, it’s rapidly approaching completion with a good possibility of the party being this Saturday. This is one party you won’t want to miss!

These books are all amazingly rendered with great care and attention to detail. Well, don’t take my word for it, check them out for yourself when they’re released!

In other news, the redesign of Daybright and Firebright plush characters has turned out adorable. The sample Daybright I made has a full armature even inside the ears and wings. The plan is to finish off Dream Angel, have the triple release party and finish off the last of the details for the sample before posting pictures, so keep your eyes open for those to appear and beware: He’s a thief! He’ll steal your heart at first glance!

There’s plenty of charming darlings just waiting to be adored in the shop. Not forgetting key chains, travel mugs and other assorted goodies! There’s lots of cool stuff to do and see on this site, so don’t be shy!

Opinion time!

Are you excited about the triple party? What do you think of the redesign for Daybright and Firebright with the armature? Granted, you have yet to see it, but be imaginative for a moment. It’s a blue Pegasus unicorn with a complete armature that makes it poseable. Here’s Daybright in the shop as he is currently. Now, imagine a more realistic redesign with the armature.

Storm of awesome coming!

There’s a storm of awesome coming! One you won’t want to miss at all! Dream Angel #23, Techwarrior #4 and Hillbilly Hoot #1 will all be released soon in a fun triple party.

All three of these have knock-your-socks-off fun just waiting for you. Dream Angel’s in trouble again in #23 as her friends and family have been captured and she’s left almost alone to save them. Techwarrior is visiting an old friend when trouble starts again for him in #4 and Hillbilly Hoot is the premier book! I don’t dare spoil it other than something is missing!

The art has taken a definite jump for the better lately and stories are better than ever. Sweeping landscapes, huge battles and awe inspiring villains await in these books.

These books are so full of beauty that the computer can barely handle it! Scenes have taken 12 hours or more to prepare for rendering and much longer than in the past to render. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an excellent computer with enough power to do the job of course, it’s just been having trouble because the scenes have so much going on.

In other news, the plush action figures also look awesome! The new 11″ Arora/Dream Angel is a redheaded knockout. I’ve also acquired a new horse pattern for Daybright and Firebright that’ll be appropriately modified for them. These more realistic characters feature a soft body with a strong wire armature inside the body so they can be posed. Even the horses likely will sport these wire armatures once the pattern is modified and finalized.

This storm of awesome will definitely take you by storm. Don’t take my word for it, though! Stick around and find out for yourself!

Cool news!

Cool news for anyone eagerly anticipating Dream Angel #22 and the printed edition of Techwarrior #3: Dream Angel #22 will be released tomorrow morning live in the shop and Techwarrior #3 has been submitted for listing in print on indyplanet!

What of Hillbilly Hoot? Well, that one’s gradually coming together. It’s good to know that these books are getting back on track and looking absolutely breathtaking!

If you’re wondering, I’m just getting warmed up for the year. You might have noticed I missed the February and March releases for Dream Angel. Well, that just means I was gearing up for bigger and better than ever stuff. New toys for making rendering faster and better, learning new tricks and coming up with all sorts of awesome goodies you’ll love.

So, the year got of to a sluggish start for book releases, you’ll find it’s worth the wait and if you stick around to enjoy the fun, you’ll find some very impressive visitors popping into the story of Dream Angel. I don’t dare spoil it, of course, but you’ll find some fun surprises just around the corner as the excitement builds!

Signed books available right here?

I’ve considered it for a while, and I’d like to hear thoughts on having signed books available right here in the shop. I know people have reported having trouble with IndyPlanet’s checkout system or would rather get a signed copy from the artist, so I’m opening the idea for discussion.

To clarify, I’d have to markup the price of the books even though I can get them at cost, which is a little over $6, generally. Including shipping to me, that’s not bad. Now, think about it this way: to break even, I’d have to markup the books to about $12 on individual sales. To make a profit, we’re talking $18 – before my own shipping cost is added on. Fortunately, if I can order a bunch at a time, the cost is driven down for me.

This would mean I could do an unsigned book for about $6.50-$7 and a signed book for $7.50-8. A fair price, all things considered. Individual shipping to you via flat-rate (My preferred method because it’s insured!) comes out to $5.75. So, we’re talking $12.25-12-75 and $13.25-13.75 with shipping. Still pretty fair, all things considered.

Why would I reveal the prices? Well, I like letting people know what they’re paying for. I was taught early on “Honesty is the best policy” and I’ve stuck to that consistently for years. I’m being honest with you concerning the prices of these books, but for those who want printed copies and don’t want the hassle of IndyPlanet’s checkout system or want it signed by the artist, well, this would be a golden opportunity, don’t you think?

The other consideration I’ve put out before for discussion is doing a signed book and plush action figure combo pack for $25. I’ve had people agree that would be an extremely good deal, but I’m opening it for discussion again. I really do want as much input as possible on these ideas.

Signed book + character plush bundle?

A signed book and character plush bundled together for one price? Am I seeing ears perk up? Well, the price might even turn a few heads. The price that’s being settled on is $25, including shipping.

So, how will the bundles work? Well, Dream Angel is getting the bundling first. So, here’s how it’ll go:

  • Dream Angel #1 + Dream Angel plush action figure
  • Dream Angel #2-20 + fan’s choice character plush action figure
  • Some books between might have a particular character paired with them, but most will be fan’s choice

In other news, Dream Angel #21 will be released on Thursday, January 28, 2016! Since the site’s acting up about images, unfortunately, those will have to wait, but the product page will be live that day. I’ll also be able to order the proof copy of the printed version which soon after will appear on indyplanet with the books that came before it. As for adding Dream Angel #19 and Dream Angel #20 to indyplanet, there have been some setbacks with that process beyond my control. As soon as the problems are worked out, I’m sure they’ll be live as well.

For those still awaiting news on Techwarrior #3, that one ought to start production soon. How soon, is hard to say, but when it’s green lighted, I’ll make sure you know immediately! A small teaser for it would be that the action gets more intense and soon new characters are introduced. It’s a book worth anticipating, so keep an eye out for news on it!

The discontinued 10″ and 16″ plush figures…

The 10″ and 16″ plush action figures are going to be discontinued and the shop will soon reflect this. Why, you might ask? Well, for several reasons.

  1. Fans have been wanting the 11″ and 12″ figures more
  2. The 11″ and 12″ figures are fast to make (this is more a reason for me)
  3. More often than not, the 10″ and even the 16″ size figures have faces that look like they’re sucking lemons – not as cute as they’re intended to be
  4. The 11″ and 12″ have a wire armature inside that makes them pose-able, they’re realistic-looking and soft.

I’m in the process of making the “sample” collection of action figures whose pictures will be in the little galleries on the product pages.

In the meantime, keep an eye on the Facebook group for further updates. At the moment, wordpress won’t let me upload images.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Granted, this site’s still not quite 100%, but it’s about 98% complete. Only 2 pages (that I know of) are missing content, but all the pages have something on them at least!

That said, are you ready for Dream Angel #21? Yep! I’m going to be preparing the Comic Life file today and possibly starting rendering. Techwarrior #3 might soon be joining it in production. The script is still waiting for approval. Perhaps soon to follow might be Hillbilly Hoot #1. That one’s still in the early planning stages, but it’s a new year, so anything’s possible.

How’d I end the year? Playing happily in DAZ Studio and making some very impressive renders. Wanna see? Keep in mind these characters aren’t mine. They belong to my good friend Winston Jordan and his series, Dragon Trio.

Let’s start with the test animation with the new dynamic outfit. Keep in mind it’s only 1 second long.

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I was having so much fun after that, I thought I’d have some more, so I added a set and lights. I wanted to do a longer animation with the set and lights, but it was taking too long to render unfortunately, so I stopped it and did some still image renders instead with the poses I’d picked out for the animation.

dtbro1sceneI was really just playing around at first. We’d been discussing the fact that the guys don’t have sleeves and the original outfit I’d put on the characters was… fussy about removing the sleeves. Fortunately, I have a spare outfit installed that’s dynamic. What’s dynamic? That’s simple: realistic cloth simulation. It means that when the cloth is animated, it moves in a natural and realistic way.

dtbro1scene1I found myself enjoying the character and after setting up the outfit to suit the character (adding a special dragon to the back, to be specific) I started playing. Adding in the scene and lights just set him off perfectly.

dtbro1scene2I couldn’t resist enjoying myself and the poses I’ve got work beautifully to suit the character. dtbro1scene3 The renders kept improving on one another, I just had to do the other two brothers of the Trio for one last render of 2015:dtbrossceneBearing in mind that Midora (who’s in the shop already as a plush figure) is already a part of the Dream Angel series with her appearance in Dream Angel #10, it’ll be exciting to see if the three brothers make an appearance. midora600Isn’t she just stunning? Easy to imagine her going at it with the guys, but it’ll be fun to see what she does in the Dream Angel Universe. Looking forward to new books? I know I am!

We’ll be back soon!!

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Bad guys have gotten the boot (quite literally, as you can see Techwarrior is demonstrating on CryptoLock!) and this site’s getting a full rebuild. You’ll notice that the pages are in the navigation, and the shop has products, but content and prices are still missing. Obviously, it’s a work in progress and pages might get missed, so help us out and report pages that are missing content still. You’ll see it’s getting added, of course, but it helps to have many sets of eyes finding flaws. You’re also welcome to suggest changes, ask questions and offer constructive criticism.

You’ll also note that it’s not yet possible to sign up for the site to make purchases, comments and enjoy the fun, but of course that stuff will be added very soon. Pardon our dust while we rebuild in the wake of repeated bad guy attacks and a move to a more secure location. Thankfully, there’s a lot of backups and other helpful stuff to make the transition and rebuilding faster than usual.

Long-time fans will recall that this time last year and the year before this site suffered crashes at the hands of faulty plugin updates. This year, as you know, the bad guys decided to attack and a complete rebuild is needed.

The good news is that once the rebuilding is done, new books will begin to appear again. A hint can even be dropped of a new series in the works. It’s in the planning stages, but just like Dream Angel and Techwarrior, it will be family-friendly. So, the new year will be starting off on a very exciting note around here, even if the first book of this new series shows up before the beginning of the year. We’ll get to enjoy lots of cool stuff together as things get started up again.

Once again, pardon our dust!