Nick Davis's Blog, page 72

Arriving on my doorstep The Daughter of Frost Illustrated Edition

Once Upon a Time I started a Kickstarter project to get The Daughter of Frost, a fairy tale I wrote for my Daughter, illustrated. The Kickstarter project was successful and the last few months what started as a simple Kickstarter publishing project ran into problem after problem… Now though The Daughter of Frost – Illustrated Edition has finally arrived on my doorstep and now it is time to distribute it out to everyone who helped Kickstart this book. If you are interested in ordering the Fairy Tale I wrote for my Daughter, you can take a look at this tale of wonder, a classic story of love and the power of innocence by clicking here.

To everyone who supported this Kickstarter thank you! And I am deeply sorry for all the delays this project has been a quest all of its own. I hope you all enjoy and find your happily ever after in this beautiful new book.

Monsters under the Bed Figure Update – Here come the Knockers a work in progress

Knocker work in progress

You’ve seen Tristan and of course the No Name  figures well now here is some work in progress pictures of one of my all time favorite Monster under the Bed – The Knockers.

These angry little Monsters are not only a great danger to Tristan and his Companions, but to themselves and other Monsters too. Once  hammer time starts they just cannot stop until they have smashed and bashed to their little hearts delight. Enjoy the gallery below for more work-in-progress of the latest Monster under the Bed Figure.

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Repost – Brutal Tips On Breaking Into Comics (Warning: LONG!) by Gail Simone

If you are thinking about breaking into the publishing industry albeit writing as an Author or into Comics then you need to read this most excellent and very truthful blog from Gail Simone (re – Batgirl, Secret Six). It contains the absolute truth you need to know to break into this industry…

Click here to read it and remember persistence, belief and some talent is the key, even then it takes timing,  little luck and a lot of gumption… Good luck True Believers!!!

OUT NOW!!! The Princess Archer’s adventures continue in The Wonder Tales Issue 10 – The Golden Comb

The Wonder Tales Issue #10 – The Golden Comb

Out Now!!!

Live the adventure and magic of Once Upon a time… The Princess Archer adventures continue in a land far, far away in Issue 10 of The Wonder Tales ‘The Golden Comb’ 

After finding Jiki Ninki the Goblin of the Crackling Mountain. The cunning old Goblin sets quest for the Princess Archer before he will answer the location to Baba Yaga’s door. Gwendolyn must travel to the Rolling Hills of Mist to find the Giant Panda Chung and get the Golden Comb from his collection, so the Goblin may comb his one remaining lock of hair. The Princess Archer and her companions Kurt the Werewolf and Tobisum the Inch High Samurai set out to find Chung in what seems a simple quest, but one that could end in great peril for them all…

Learn more about The Wonder Tales Issue 10 and how you can read it today by clicking here.

Congratulations to the Baltimore Ravens Superbowl XLVII Champions!

It was a game of two halves, of spirited play and gritty determination, a game that wasn’t pretty with two teams that did not give in until the final whistle. It was a game that was the Raven’s to lose and they almost did, with an extraordinary power outage that shifted momentum and stopped the game from being a 49ers rout. While Superbowl XLVII may not go down in history as a showcase American Football game, it will be remembered for the its high tension and going right down to the wire… Congratulations Ravens, this one is all yours, hard-fought and well deserved. You stepped up, you did good… Onwards!

Steampunk roles into Dieselpunk with this upcoming War of the Worlds Heavy Metal Animation

War of the World Goliath, an animated movie slated by Heavy Metal magazine as ongoing series has had a troubled birth. Now re-imagined as a complete movie this Steampunk/Dieselpunk story finally saw a limited release in 2013. Which means we might start seeing this out on DVD soon. The concept does look very interesting a world-wide defense force raised on the tech from the first Martian invasion, although like you I do remember how poor Heavy Metal animations usually end up being. The trailer is below and if you want to learn more click here.

Steampunk Tale of Wonder – Prepare to Repel Borders!

“They are closing sir!” said Ensign Harrington pointing out of the bridge window.

“Looks like they are up in the stream,” added Lieutenant Johnson putting down the viewer. “We are still climbing, and they will be on us before we get up there.”

“I see them Mr. Johnson,” replied Captain Harris calmly.

“All crews to their guns, I want full power to the newton’s, prepare to drop the chargers at my command. Helm maintain the current heading.”

“Aye Sir,” said the Ensign echoing the Captains orders down one of the brass speaking tubes.

The deck plates shifted under the bridge crew’s feet as Rally’s newton’s strained to push the Frigate higher into the sky. Taking the viewer off Johnson, Captain Harris looked at the darting images of the pursuers, “We must have something they really want those are Sturmhawks they are sending after us.”

Putting a speaking tube to his mouth, “Lieutenant Carter prepare your Marines to repel borders, all crew prepare for borders, Sergeant at Arms open the smalls arms lockers. Battle Stations! Battle Stations!”

As he spoke brass bells could be heard ringing across the ship and a grim smile played across his lips, “This is going to get rough, but we should endure those Hawks only have a limited range and operational time. It’s their baseship beyond that will cause us a problem.”

Turning to face the Severn and his charge, he spoke, “You Gentleman may want to go and secure your quarters.”

“I can help you fight them,” motioned the Air Ranger.

“You may have no choice, although your responsibility is to your charge?” said the Captain indicating a pale-faced Daniel standing just behind the Ranger.

“He is,” replied Severn. “But I can help you defend your ship.”

“At your pleasure Sir,” replied the Captain nodding his head.

The bulkhead door opened to the rear of the bridge and a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes dressed in Navy Whites stepped through handing the Captain and Bridge crew service pistols, “Ah, Yeoman Knightly, please show our guests their quarters and then attend your station.”

“If you excuse me Commander, I have to deal with the situation at hand,” The Captain reached for his speaking tube. “Gatling crews, suppression fire 200 yards, Cannon crews firing pattern three canister shot, break up their formations.”

Severn led Daniel from the bridge, which was secured by its Marine guard and followed the Yeoman into the steel and dark wood corridors.

“Don’t worry Sir, you are quite safe now. Rally has never been bordered,” as the Yeoman spoke, the chattering of Rally’s Gatling Steam guns could be heard through bulkheads.

“I don’t doubt it Miss Knightly,” replied Severn, as he spoke the floor lurched under him, forcing the trio to grab the brass handrails.

Knightly paled slightly, “The over chargers have been dropped onto the newton’s.”

The walls shuddered again, the sound of a thunderclap hit them and ship felt like it skipped to one side. “That was an air burst! We are being fired on!”

A Quick Draw Challange give me something to do to practice my skills

Here is the skinny… You may have noticed a growing collection of images popping up all over on my Facebook and Twitter feeds. What I am trying to do is practice my skills and start working on timed illustrations. Inspired by Dan Nokes I want you to start challenging me to do one illustration a day, this will take place during my quiet time between 4-6pm every evening four days a week. The illustration will be Teddy/Cuddly themed but beyond that have at it… So… I am handing this intuitive over to you my Readers to make of it what you will.

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The Lego Star Wars Z-95 Headhunter flies on the scene

Why am I blogging about this Lego kit, especially when there are much more impressive sets out there? I first encountered the Z-95 Headhunter in the Star Wars Tie Fighter game back in the 90′s and out of all the ships you have to face while Piloting your Imperial Fighter the Headhunter was a nightmare to shoot down. Why? Because its ship profile was so small you couldn’t hang behind it and dog it, from the top its T shape made it hard to draw a bead and head to head you couldn’t even see it. It was a pain to fight.

Luckily it was under-armed so you could hang in the fight with it longer and it taught me how to do deflection shooting. The Headhunter was also the precursor to the X-Wing, one of the most iconic Sci-Fi fighters ever to grace the silver screen… Also it kind of reminds me of a Colonial Viper which is one of my favorite Star Fighters. So behold the Z-95 Headhunter,  piece of Star Wars lore that had a huge effect on me. To see more images of this kit click here.

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The Rock set to star in a Teddy Bear Movie based on ‘Protecting the Innocents since 1902′ Poster’ So I have an idea…

Teddy Bears: Protecting innocent children from monsters under the bed since 1902.

I guess it had to happen, eh? An interesting piece of news came across my Google Email feed today. It seem Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is set to produce and star in a Teddy Bear movie based on the ‘Teddy Bears Protecting the Innocent’ poster that has been knocking around the Internets. We all know the poster, the one of a little brown Teddy Bear protecting his child from a shadowy Monsters, it was drawn by Alex Panagopoulos and came to my attention as A Teddy Bear Tale was being printed.

It is a beautiful piece of art and is very evocative, fitting the themes of my Teddy Bear story very well. That little Teddy Bear could so easily be Tristan as he undertakes the task of protecting his child from the Monsters in the night. And now New Line, with the Rock at the helm are looking to turn it into a motion picture. Now I just need to find away to get my book under their noses!!! So I have an idea… I am calling on all you Tristan Fans to Tweet the Rock @TheRock the link to A Teddy Bear Tale… Together we might be able to do something really cool and bring Tristan to life on the silver screen… Who’s with me? I’ve even wrote your tweet for you below….

@TheRock you looking for a story for your @NewLine_Cinema Teddy Bear movie your producing? Checkout A Teddy Bear Tale http://theteddybeartales.com

Click here to read the full article – Dwayne Johnson to Produce, Potentially Star in Teddy Bear Movie at New Line (Exclusive)