Zeros 2 Heroes - The People's Publisher

In response to the discussion started in the Slaughter Inc. Novel blog, I started a group for all those interested in giving Nanowrimo a shot this year.

Don't know what Nanowrimo is? Read MrIrony's blog or go to http://www.nanowrimo.org/

So why have I started a group here at Z2H when Nanowrimo has it's own forum and so forth? For one thing, some of us (me, anyway) aren't going to take the time to join up over there and interact with a new crowd of people (as nice as they might be). Plus, were going to add our own twists here. For instance, at the end of the month, we will draw names and then each critique one other person's book.

Along the way, we will throw out challenges for each other, such as X number of words in the next 48 hours. And maybe even some silly dares, such as MrIrony's suggestion of adding in a character that wears nothing but pink but never explains why.

If you want to play along or just watch our progress, join the group!

Hm. Seems I had forgotten to upload this little piece here, what with all the excitement around this place.

Well... here we go!

CCN Pinup #4: Gregory Heathcliff from Tom-Oliver Martin's Slaughter Inc.

       
My fellow man sees the dusk of Humanity.
I see Opportunity.
(click to embiggen image in new window)

I think this one's pretty self-explanatory. I mean, wouldn't YOU enjoy your job if you were standing in Gregory's shoes? No?

I'm fairly certain I wouldn't, either. At least for the smell.

Comments and critics welcome.
Next pinup: I honestly don't know... Maybe I'll go with either Abigail's War or Hero High. I'll flip a coin and get back to you on that.

Artfully yours,


- Christian

In celebration of the impending Hallowe'en, the Death Star entertainment council has assembled the following distracting production [viewer discretion advised]

Slaughter Inc, Page 16

So with the inexorable approach of November also comes the promise of Nanowrimo, an event in which I participate each year no matter what my current social, financial, physical or mental situation I find myself in. Part of the challenge of Nanowrimo is to win against the odds. It's to say, "You know what, extenuating circumstances? To hell with you! I'm going to write that novel I've been meaning to write since high school! So what if it'll be a hundred pages of drivel. It'll be my drivel, and I'll have done it, and I can always go back and edit it! So nyah!"

So wait, what is Nanowrimo? Well, it's a simple challenge: in the month of November, write a single novel of minimum 50,000 words. What does the novel have to be about? Anything you want. What prize awaits the winners? Well, for one thing, you'll have a story that you've just written waiting for you to finish it, smooth it over, or toss it in the garbage and try again next year.

It's a very simple challenge but one I highly recommend anyone who's into writing to take. Especially those of you who are aspiring comic writers. The benefits of participating in Nanowrimo extend far beyond the written word. In fact, I have Nanowrimo to thank for a lot of really awesome things in my life, right now.

You see, on top of being an excuse to kick yourself in the ass and finally write that pulitzer-prize-winning novel you narrate on the bus on the way to work each morning, it's also a very social affair. On the website, you'll find hundreds if not thousands of other participants, many of which actually live in your city! And in each city, there's usually a gathering of some kind where like-minds can meet!

My first year participating, I bought a cheap laptop so I could sit in the park and write. That laptop prove invaluable for when I moved to another city in the years that followed.

My second year participating, I met many interesting people, a lot of whom are now very close friends I could not see myself living without!

The last year I participated, I wrote Slaughter Incorporated in novel form. I don't think I need to explain that one.

So for god's sake, join! Join in the madness! Any excuse you use to not join is just another reason why you should join! There will always be excuses not to write! Do you need a reason to start writing?

Well now you have one!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

Please don't hate me for my absence from this site. I actually lurk quite a bit, I just don't have the spare time I used to.

So Sturstein may have mentioned something about me studying when he unveiled our little side-project (more on that in a second). Well, to elaborate, I am currently taking courses in Level Design at the UBIsoft campus here in Montreal! It was my second time applying for the course and I managed to fight my way in!

It's a great course so far, with classes about 3D modeling and animation, but my favorite class right now is Narration where we swim deep within the secret lairs of story-telling in all its interactive video-game glory. The course itself is about a year, so you won't be seeing my name in any mainstream credits just yet. But you will... Oh, how you will.

In the meantime, I'm trying to kick my own ass into writing so I don't fall out of habit. I was actually hoping to have a Slaughter Inc story ready to show, but I haven't quite completed it: in short-story form, it's the continuation from issue 1.

I'm also trying to finish writing the second issue to the adventures of Mirka (aka, Under Vattrovian Skies). I gotta say, working with Bruce on the project was a lot of fun. We would constantly bounce ideas off each other, being totally honest when we felt something didn't work or felt out of place and we ended up with a vastly superior story as a result, I think. The whole process was a great exercise in creativity, so really, I have no excuse no to get on this right away (well okay, it is three-thirty in the morning as I write this, but whatever).

I haven't even seen the physical copy of the comic yet, but anyone who has, don't hesitate to let us know what you think. Both Bruce and I agreed quite early that we'd be doing this for the sake of making comics, not to make a ton of cash (though a ton of cash is never unwelcome), so we encourage you to pass the comic to your friends, family and enemies (also: strangers)!

A friend linked me to this, an excellent short coming-of-age film... with zombies.

WARNING: Contains graphic violence and gore.

This is the sort of thing I want to populate the world of Slaughter Inc with. The more I work on the story, the more it's becoming about the world that surrounds them and their place in it.

I wasn't finding many pitches that piqued my interest, then Lord Maim told me to check this one out.  I'm so glad he did!  I enjoyed your entire pitch!  Great characters and story!  Zombies, the end of the world as we know it, good vs evil and a good dose of humour, all my favs!  I can't wait for the next issue when we hopefully find out what the jack in the box is.  Continue the good work!

Check it out! A comic about zombies!

The Zombie Hunters appears to be a really well-drawn comic about a group of people staving off the hungry hordes for the sake of survivors. Not only is the comic entertaining, but the website provides a lot of interesting extra material to read, such as an encyclopedia about the current state of the world.

... Or, "Kuba, Will You Marry Me?"

I haven't had time to sit down at this site since I came back from BC on Monday (with pictures of the Z2H HQ -- coming soon to a blog post near you!), and am actually at work posting this, but it simply blew me away so much that I couldn't wait to share it.

Kuba went ahead and did up a cover for Slaughter Inc and it's exactly how I pictured it. Kuba does some truly amazing work:



How can this not be a movie?

Joe England over at Zebra Girl has done me the honor of promoting Slaughter Inc in his news section! If you've never read his comic before, go read it now! The art is consistently amazing and the story is all sorts of awesome!

Those of you here from Zebra Girl: welcome to the madness! Enjoy your stay! Help yourselves to some complimentary braaaaaaaains...

Page 2 of An Empire Of Death is now up!

I welcome feedback, comments, criticism, questions and requests! I know the pacing is a little slow, but the scripting actually takes longer than the writing. This is strange for me since my other comic, Sandwich World, was scripted pretty much as I drew it (which is why there are many instances where the dialogue makes me cringe).

The six-panel format is to sort of simulate the camera's POV, which is somewhat limiting but, later on, will allow for some interesting shots. It also occurs to me that an update need not be limited to six panels, but however many I need to get each point across.

Anyway, enjoy!

Zombie Apocalypse! Zombie Apocalypse! Zombie Apocalypse!

I hope  the story leads to instances that Gregory's greed will bring him and his team in ala-Left 4 Dead scenarios. It offers venue to either improve or degrade his humanity.

I also hope the Zombie taxonomy grows beyond Lurkers and Runners and the virus/pathogen mutates the zombie into weirder and more dangerous species.

Anywho, great start, I love it so far!

This proves once again that zombies make everything better. It's not out just yet, but I'll definitely try and get my hands on it once it is.

In other news, tomorrow I update An Empire Of Death!