S. Gates's Blog, page 2

Bodies Are Disgusting: Art III

This week’s art post is a bit of a spoiler, so catch up with it under the cut!

For a while during the development of Bodies, I was regularly attending trivia at Battle & Brew (side note: if you’re in the metro-Atlanta area and want a cool place to hang out, B&B ought to be top of your list). One evening, I sketched what would be the first concept of Doug as they appear at the end of the story. It didn’t come out quite Doug-ish enough for me to finish the sketch, but it served as a good jumping off point for what I eventually did clean up and finish:

(Incidentally, this doodle happened at work, because I was in a position where I spent a lot of time on the phone on hold. Since I kept my head down, kept my metrics up, and got stuff fixed, my supervisors didn’t bat an eyelash at me sketching avatars of cosmic horrors in a legal pad.)

Both of these sketches actually date from relatively early in the development of Bodies. The back third of the story was finished almost before the front third was, and the hardest part was stitching the two pieces together in a way that built the tension I wanted.

Next week, we’ll have a look at some finished pieces. :)

Fiction Friday #3

From Smashwords: In the middle of America, on Route 44, Amy Lewis has a plan — to get to her grandma’s house in time for dinner. Galaxies away Loki is waking up in a prison cell, strangely without a hangover, and with no idea what he’s done wrong — this time anyway. But he does know Thor is hiding something, Odin is up to something wicked, and there seems to be something he’s forgotten…

In this tale that is equal parts “Another Fine Myth,” “American Gods,” and “Once Upon a Time,” a very nice midwestern girl and a jaded, still very mischievous Loki must join forces to outwit gods, elves, magic sniffing cats, and nosy neighbors. If Loki can remember exactly what he’s forgotten and Amy can convince him not to be too distracted by Earthly gadgets, her boobs, or three day benders, they just might pull it off…

This first volume of “I Bring the Fire” is for anyone who suspects chaos and mischief makers might have their own redeeming qualities, and anyone who just wants a good fantasy romp through modern Earth, ancient Asgard, and beyond!

Why I recommend it: It’s a little slow to start, but after the first 30 or so pages it becomes exceedingly difficult to put down. There are also several books in the series which are similarly engrossing, and the series is overall a refreshing pop-culture look at Norse mythology and urban fantasy. The cast is full of colorful characters that really stick with you, even after you finish an installment. Watch out for the narrative break between books one and two, though, as it can be a little jarring.

Bodies Are Disgusting: Art II

In continuing the artistic tour through Bodies, I figured it was only fair that I share the picture that started it all:

This was the very first image I ever drew of Ori and Doug, not long after I started picking at the story a couple of years ago. They’ve both undergone some changes since then, especially Doug, but it’s always important to recognize one’s roots!

Music Monday #3

Big Black Sea – Gary Numan (feat. Rico)

I left a rose at the bottom of the big black sea

For you

From me

I haven’t uttered a sound since you set me free

I wish I was you

and you felt like me

Outside connection’s breaking down

Internal wiring’s burning out

The clouds so thick that I can’t see

This is for you

from me

She said: ‘tell me all your secrets, fantasies and fears;

Let me see the polaroids of people you hold dear.’

Trapped in tunnel vision, in monophonic sound

She says she loves you

she loves you

then it all falls down

Echoes in the bedroom

Projections on the walls

Translations of her letters:

Forever’s not at all

Trapped in tunnel vision

and monophonic sound

she loves you

she loves you

then it all falls down

Outside connection’s breaking down

Internal wiring’s burning out

The cloud’s so thick that I can’t see.

I wish I was you

Instead of me

I left a rose at the bottom of the big black sea.

I did it for you.

from me.

I haven’t uttered a sound since you set me free

I wish I was you

and you felt like me

Outside connection’s breaking down

All internal wiring’s burning out

I dive down towards the big black sea

this isn’t for you

this one’s for me

This time it’s all for me

And this time it’s all for me

(she loves you, she loves you then it all falls down)

Fiction Friday #2

From Goodreads.com: The Dominion, once divided by savage clan wars, has kept an uneasy peace within its border since that long-ago time when the clan Leonne was gifted with the magic of the Sun Sword and was raised up to reign over the five noble clans. But now treachery strikes at the very heart of the Dominion as two never meant to rule–one a highly skilled General, the other a master of the magical arts–seek to seize the crown by slaughtering all of clan Leonne blood.

Why I recommend it: This is the first book in a six-book-long fantasy series. I recognize that not everyone has that kind of time or love of fantasy, but for those who are able to invest the energy and attention into the series, they will find a very rich world with vivid characters and gripping political struggles. This particular book starts out a little slow, as it’s setting the stage for much of the series-wide conflict, but I had a hard time putting it down the first time I read it, and subsequent re-reads always reveal new information I’d missed. If fantasy, world-building, and political intrigue are your cuppa, this series is not to be missed.

An Announcement and Some Silliness

So, CorgiHat went live while I was at MomoCon, which is why the announcement for this is a little belated. You’re still completely welcome to sign up for the CorgiHat Beta group, as we’re going to be improving the app and launching other apps over the next several months. For now, though, we’re taking a bit of a break to get caught up on personal stuff and plan the next iteration of the product.

I also completely forgot to mention that Bodies Are Disgusting is now available on Google Play! It took a little while for me to iron everything out, and to celebrate, the book is free until 6/6/14 on Google Play only!

In silly news, I realized that yesterday was the third anniversary of Alonso Munich’s death! Happy death day to him. :D I’m very excited about his story and hope that I can share some more of it with you all soon.

Bodies Are Disgusting: Art

It’s hard to believe that Bodies Are Disgusting came out over five months ago. In the interim, I’ve been working on multiple different projects (CorgiHat and Alonso Munich Is Now Dead, I’m looking at you), but that doesn’t mean that I never think about Bodies anymore.

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to share some of the art that goes with Bodies, including some of the art I did and some of the things my friends have done.

Kicking it off in style is a piece done by my friend Luke (AKA Ludicrousbox/Studio Under The Stairs):

At the time, Luke was doing pixel commissions. From left to right, top to bottom, we have: Ori, Doug, Lucien, Amanda, and Simon.

Looking at them all together like this still makes me ridiculously gleeful.

CorgiHat Beta Sign-Ups

So, the first cut of the application is available now for our beta testers, and we’re planning a full release by Friday! This is a really exciting development, and we can’t wait until we can show our hard work to the world. :D

If you’d like to sign up to be part of the CorgiHat Beta, you can do so here: Beta Tester Sign-Up Please allow a few hours for your Google ID to be added, as we have to do manually add each group member.

(Cross-posted from the CorgiHat Development Blog.)

Music Monday #2

Animal Life – Shearwater

Born inside the gates of a family

Hardened by a roman machinery

Cast among the building sites,

The coiling wires, the shots collected

Called out in the wake of a lottery

Held inside the family gathering

Mirrored beams and dog-like stretch

A wandering association

Murmurs in the dark confessional

And rides along the road, ephemeral

As an animal life

Rusting in the shade of the batteries

Hanging from a rope in the gallery

Pacing down the balance beam

Of half-remembered holidays

No rush of light, no sun or belonging

No joy in building, love in the finishing

Chasing down an anodyne

And half-reflected radiance

To hide below the ancient barricade

In chambers like the rooms a swallow made

For an animal life

Charging down the maw of the ocean

I want to come close, I want to come closer

I held your name inside my mouth

Through all the days out wandering

But called up from the mouth of oblivion,

Cast away like dogs from the shelter

I shed the dulling armor plates

That once collected radiance

And, surging at the blood’s perimeter:

The half remembered wild interior

Of an animal life

Fiction Friday #1

(To serve as kind of the counter-point of Music Monday, every other Friday will be Fiction Friday, where I’ll post about fictional works that I’ve enjoyed and which I want to share with everyone!)

From Amazon.com: On the outside, Dina Demille is the epitome of normal. She runs a quaint Victorian Bed and Breakfast in a small Texas town, owns a Shih Tzu named Beast, and is a perfect neighbor, whose biggest problem should be what to serve her guests for breakfast. But Dina is…different: Her broom is a deadly weapon; her Inn is magic and thinks for itself. Meant to be a lodging for otherworldly visitors, the only permanent guest is a retired Galactic aristocrat who can’t leave the grounds because she’s responsible for the deaths of millions and someone might shoot her on sight. Under the circumstances, “normal” is a bit of a stretch for Dina.

And now, something with wicked claws and deepwater teeth has begun to hunt at night….Feeling responsible for her neighbors, Dina decides to get involved. Before long, she has to juggle dealing with the annoyingly attractive, ex-military, new neighbor, Sean Evans—an alpha-strain werewolf—and the equally arresting cosmic vampire soldier, Arland, while trying to keep her inn and its guests safe. But the enemy she’s facing is unlike anything she’s ever encountered before. It’s smart, vicious, and lethal, and putting herself between this creature and her neighbors might just cost her everything.

Why I recommend it: It’s a very charming story that spends a good deal of time on fascinating world-building and uses one of my favorite fantasy/supernatural tropes, the interdimensional innkeeper. I could hardly put the book down, and I can’t wait to return to the setting with the next installment in the series.