Monday, October 31, 2011

Getting around


So, while the website isn't ready yet, Galaxy Zento is starting to get around. It's slow going, but that's entirely to be expected. The project is still small as of yet, even with around fifty pictures posted so far and the work of this blog.

I'm sure some people are waiting to see if this will really go anywhere. Will it gain attention and keep going or just stop and fade away? Well, I don't intend to do the fade away part. I intend to keep posting and writing. It's what I do.

I'm currently working on drawing new illustrations and getting the basic framework for the second book together. On top of that, I think I still need to go through a little bit more of the first book to check and double check that things are where I want them. Then it's time to start drafting query letters for agents.

Query letters are tricky and your hook in them has to hit even harder than the opening of your story itself. So I will have my hands full with that.

The other hurdle I face, is that most think my work would be best in graphic novels. Unfortunately, despite my illustrations, my hands aren't capable of that. Some of what I do can be very slow going and tedious. Still, that's not something you can let in your way. If you want to do something, you have to keep doing what you do.

Will I get published? I say 'yes I will'.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Guest artists invited to Galaxy Zento


While I’m working on illustrations and writing, I want to make an invitation to you artists out there. I want to invite you to be a guest artist at Galaxy Zento. Here’s how you’re invited and what it includes.
You are invited to draw any of my characters in any format (except adult or rated x stuff). If you do, your work will be posted on the fan page and upcoming website and I may even include you in my blog. Your name will be posted and if I write about you in my blog and you have a website, I will include links. So, basically, it’s free advertising for your talents as an artist (or just for fun- you decide). You may also post your art at your website provided you state property of DJ Wilde/Galaxy Zento. I would also greatly appreciate you posting links to the fan page where ever you post my characters.
To have your work posted on the fanpage or website, you must email it to me at mrnycegy@gmail.com
That will change once the website is up.
If you want to be as character accurate as possible, just message me and I will give you any details you require, otherwise, HAVE FUN and let’s post some art!
Just remember that I cannot pay you. This is for interaction and you get publicity out of it as this grows.
Other requirements past copyright stuff: You must come and click LIKE on the Galaxy Zento fan page on Facebook. Wow, that’s not hard, right? You don’t have to add me on FB but it would be cool if you did. Also cool if you click on “follow” at the blog site, but also not so much necessary. Of course, if you do and spread it around, better chance someone will wind up reading about YOU.
Galaxy Zento and it’s characters are property of DJ Wilde (me) copyright 1987-2011

What are PCs? Roleplaying days


I mentioned before that Galaxy Zento has a fully printed role playing game and has been played by myself and friends for a long time. Since 1987 to be precise. I've added a new folder section at the fan page for Galaxy Zento, called PCs.

The deal: If my players could make and play an original enough character in my gaming universe, I would add that character to the published files. Of course, waivers had to be signed and so forth, but just about everyone liked that idea. If the game ever became published out in the full market, they would know their character was in it and it was their influence in the game, immortalized forever.

Some still wanted to play a Zento version of their favorite comic book characters and that was okay, but rarely. I've had lots of great players over the years and very cool characters played by them. Some of those characters may even show up in then novels. In any case, they are a permanent part of the Galaxy Zento universe.

In my next blog, I want to share how I would like to make Galaxy Zento more interactive for it's style while I write the novels. I did rewrite the first two chapters of Chessmen and it looks and reads much better. And, as said before, please like my page on Facebook!

(Autism is a real condition, please learn about it and support autism education)

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Writing and rewriting


It's a constant process. You may get all the way through your writing project and realize some portion needs a total rewrite. Maybe the opening isn't working for you or something just doesn't match up to the character. Either way, rewriting is a necessity in all writers' lives.

Currently, thanks to having a couple people to read and critique, I've discovered that the opening to the Chessmen, just doesn't work. It doesn't have enough of a hook to keep the reader into it. The idea was sound and makes sense, but I've likely just chosen the wrong place for it. So, it's back to the drawing board for the opening. Not too much trouble really. I know what I'm going to do.

What I did, was explain what Chess means to the planet Chyssia. As I've discovered, explanations as openers just don't cut it. Not enough action and not enough of any hint to what's coming in the real story.

What your writing has to grab a reader from page one. The very first sentence can make or break you. Well, maybe more like the first paragraph or page, but you get the point. Of course you have to consider your audience and what they may be looking for. People who want romances aren't necessarily looking for an opener with someone fleeing down a hallway in stark terror (unless that's what the story involves, of course).

That's the bottom line, what is your story and what emotions do you want to convey? How can you stir up your reader and keep them interested? So that's where my rewriting is. I am about to go through my book again to look for derailments and fix the opener. That's the process of writing. You tweak it until you get it right.

Soon, I'm going to go into another series of characters that deserve attention to explain how interaction gave birth to many new characters. I also want to do something interactive with my universe to get people involved. The idea for this came from that other group of characters.

Till then, be sure to visit the fan page for Galaxy Zento! New art posted there daily! And, as always, support autism education and awareness.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Making Heroes 2: PAC


So, my first team of heroes is what I said I would tell you about. I called these guys PAC and they were involved in some of my first attempts at novel writing. I have a complete book with them in it, but that's for another time. As always, you can click on pics for larger view. Enjoy!

PAC originally stood for Parahumans Against Crime but that was found to be, frankly, lame. So it now stands for Parahuman Activity Commission. They are meant to deal with threats that standard agencies can't.

So who are they?


They are led by Lombard Ogleson (Sandstorm) who is a weather and elemental shape changer. Not only can he control weather and elements, he can become them. He served in the CIA seeking MIA in Vietnam and no one knows for sure exactly how old he is. There's more bio on the Wiki pages.


His protege since before joining the team, and best friend, is Scott McCross (Electrode). He's also called the Nuclear-electric man. Thanks to being caught in a terrorist bomb plot at an experimental energy facility, he has the power to move at double the speed of light. He can throw high powered lightning bolts that can crack titanium steel or power a small city at full strength.


They brought the loner, Larry Peters (Blacktide) into the team. Larry can disintegrate any solid objects he comes across. He can't stop liquids or gasses. He has an aura around his body that effectively protects him from things like bullets but may endanger anyone who tries to touch him. He can also cause objects to temporarily implode, but seldom uses this power.


This is Nyhtwulf, a Twilie dimension demon who served the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as a butler. He's naturally intangible (ghosts through solid objects) and can redirect energy beams that hit him. He's also a brain wave tracker. He can track anyone he's met by their brain wave emissions. He can even do this world wide. As if that weren't enough fun, whenever he passes through a person he partially scrambles their life force, brain waves, or both. He helps Larry control his powers via a psychic link. That's another story.


Jason Marigold (Atomizer) was one of the recruiters for the team. Jason's an FBI agent who can cause multiple scale atomic explosions from inanimate objects. The scale is something he can control and his teammates are very thankful for that. He joined the team with his partner, Ray Redeagle.








Agent Redeagle is an Amercian Indian with powers of several animals. He has heightened senses, telescopic eyesight, super strength, agility, doubled reflex speed, and can move in absolute silence. He's also an accomplished martial artist and military combatant.

Then there's Christine McDonald of the CIA. She's a telekinetic who's often finding inventive ways to use her power. She once put a telekinetic barrier around a gangster thugs head and removed the oxygen to make a point.


Finally, Galose, the Cyborian, joined the team at a later date. He serves as an Ambassador of his race and helps the team with more extreme missions. He's not always around on Earth, but easily reached with a signal device. Cyborians are a race of dimensional scientists who are all bonded with multi-dimensional combat armor. They do this because their race was nearly wiped out (another story). The armor has thousands of on board computers and is loaded with high tech weaponry. Weapons extend from dimensional pockets located all over the armor. Going into what Cyborians can do will take a whole other blog post.

Anyway, this was my first team of heroes ever made. I'm doing short stories on some of them and hopefully you will get to hear more about them soon.

Be sure to come to my Facebook Fan page and hit the LIKE button. Follow my blog and check me out at Deviantart.

Finally, I support autism education and awareness. Autism is a real condition that affects social interaction and sensory issues. Still, it's even more complicated than that. Do you know and understand someone with autism? I do. It's me and my son. Thanks for reading!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Making Heroes

Through my school years, I often got into trouble for doodling in class. I drew my heroes and even started drawing a comic strip shared only with friends. He was called Crazy Harry.

Crazy Harry was a parody of the old Clint Eastwood character, Dirty Harry. Crazy was a private detective that eventually led his own team of weirdos to solve crims. Dirty had a couple he taught but worked mostly alone. Dirty carried a big bad handgun, Crazy was a super strong surfer type. Crazy Harry had a special mixture made by a friend of his called "Whupass", but we'll be changing the name I think. Anyway, it's a chocolate flavored mixture that instantly amps his powers by about ten times. He also goes a bit nuts and his hair stands on end.


Harry, poor Harry, always had some terrible luck of one kind or another. Then in some random indirect way he would solve the problem, usually by punching a hole through it. (click on the image to see it larger)

Harry was for laughs and there were good times. Now I draw Harry on home made greeting cards for special occasions. Crazy Harry may have been the first official super hero I decided to make, but not my first team. I'll tell you about them next time.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Chessmen novel


When the Chyssia Royal Guard are framed for the murder of their king, they have no choice but to flee. Falconer knows that the real killer will also take the life of the infant princess. In order to save the princess and possibly his whole world, he must regroup the scattered Royal Guard, face mercenaries and assassins, and find out the truth behind a plot bigger than his home world could ever know.

That's The Chessmen and, as you can see from the illustration, it's pretty serious in Falconer's world. The plan currently is a series of books on the Chessmen and what they do in order to clear their names and save their entire solar system. Yeah, more than just their planet is at risk. You don't want me to tell you everything right here do you?

I've completed the first book which is a small novel but only the tip of the iceberg. Work on layout for the second book is underway now.

So, who do you see in this picture? Well, you see Falconer diving from an airship to rescue the Princess. Above him circles his friend, a mystic falcon named Sersi.


In the Zento universe, Falconer is what's called a "lord class" elemental. That means he has control over weather patterns and elements. He can generate fire or freezing air at mental command. He can control the shape of stone and wood too. Sersi is highly intelligent and knows a few spells as well as a couple of very special aerial combat maneuvers. At the Zento fan page on Facebook, you can see illstrations of several characters from The Chessmen.

The title is yet also under consideration. Currently we are considering "Chessmen: Dangerous Moves" but who knows? Galaxy Zento: The Chessmen is also a possibility.

There will be far more to come out of the Zento universe than just the Chessmen. There are lots of stories, both short and novels in the works. Who are the Chessmen going to meet? Well, you'll just have to stay tuned to eventually find out!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

How it started


I loved drawing characters and monsters ever since I was a kid. I got in a lot of trouble in school for doodling instead of doing my class work. My hero fantasies were my escape in many ways from tough times.

While I attending Job Corps in the late 1980's out in Utah, a new idea for my characters came about. I decided to incorporate them into my own role playing game. I couldn't afford the cool Dungeons and Dragons books that others had. Beyond that, I was taught by my Godfather to make my own games. He felt my artistic abilities would be best utilized that way and he was right. I made all sorts of my own games as a child. Now I would make the biggest one I had ever made.

I had no idea what I was doing or getting myself into. I didn't know the first thing about designing character statistics. What I knew, was how to tell a story. In all the years of developing and playing my game (called Galaxy Wars back then) what my friends came around for most of all, were the stories. They were stories they got to take part in, but that was the key point to the game.

I was often criticized for not writing these stories rather than playing them out as a role playing game. They were right, I held myself back. Now the books are well under way and this will change. I still have bound copies of the game now called Galaxy Zento. We even took it to Gen Con. With some basic improvements it could be a great role player. But first, the novels. Those need to be done now.

So now I have so many characters and stories to share, that is why this blog is under way and the Facebook page I hope you all will follow. I will also be doing some spotlights in this blog with info you may see on the website once it launches... or not. Only by following along will you know.

Facebook fan page link -Hover your cursor before these words for a link that refuses to show.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Welcome to Galaxy Zento


Hello and welcome to my new blog and first post on my fantasy universe. This has been a long time coming. Zento means "the journey ahead" and I do hope you will join me for this wonderful and exciting journey.

Zento is a fantasy/hero/sci fi universe that boasts over 200 alien races and over 400 characters. I've been building on it and working on it since I was a kid. Now that books are being completed, I feel it's time to start sharing.

Not only am I the writer and creator of Zento, I'm the sole illustrator (for now) so all the pictures you will see right now are by me.

What you can expect upcoming: Information on the background of Zento that you won't see anywhere else; news on the upcoming website; sample chapters; artwork and even challenges directed right at you. Also coming up very soon will be the Facebook fan page. On that page you will see lots of artwork with names and a tidbit of info. You won't get the full bios on these characters until the website, but don't worry, I'll keep you posted!


As I circulate this, first I will send to friends and family and post on my Facebook page. I will also post this in a couple of interesting areas. I will put this in the autism groups that I am part of for two reasons. Reason one is that I have a mild form of autism. Reason two is that the Zento Universe will also support autism education. It's our way of giving back to a community that needs it. No, I'm not talking about money or donations. It's just what I stand for, therefore so does Galaxy Zento.

I will also post this on at least one Heroclix forum because I made custom heroclix of my characters for my own use (not to sell) and I hope to share those soon too.

So stay tuned! There's much more information to come on what Zento is and how it came to be. No doubt you will find it quite entertaining how a universe in a kids head came to this.