GZ needs YOU!

I've been a one man band on my brand for far too long. GZ needs people. It needs people of all kinds.  It needs readers, sharers, and people to spread the word that this is something to see. It needs more than a fanbase however. It needs a creative team willing to take it to the best it can be.  A creative team that can be counted on for artwork and graphic design. People interested in designing board games, card games, apps, book covers and graphic novels. People who want to be part of something.

No one likes the risks of failure and it can take a lot to believe in a project this size.  It can be daunting to know that, for a while, no one gets paid (myself included) until things make sales. Yet, anything that has become worth anything today started in a garage just like that. Now we can work online. There is so much that can be done.

Working with me won't be hard, but you do have to get to know the universe you are diving into. Read the books (I will provide) at the very least and tour the artwork.

I know what I have created has great potential. I know it can carry on for a long time after I am gone. If it can only get the support it needs. As I continue to fight MS (Multiple Sclerosis), I am losing my ability to do my artwork anymore but it was never about my drawing ability in the first place. I have never been what I would call a stellar artist. I've had far too many other creators tell me I'm not good enough (not that I listen to them).

I've written 5 books an developed a board game series so far. If you are looking for a potential project to belong to and are willing to share the risks with me, then talk to me. Let's see if we can work together and if your style fits what GZ needs.

Summer Board Game Update and More

Daxeon, Vengor Angel-Chessmen

It's hard to keep a blog up to date when you have so much to do in development, writing and art. I'm going to touch on all three of these today and more.

GZ New York only needs it's box design and rule book in order to be finished. Then I have to order a set from TheGameCrafter.com  and make sure it all looks right. If you've been following along, you know this expansion has more components than I've ever put in a game. That is all thanks to suggestions from you, my awesome readers. I know blogger makes it difficult to post comments directly and that may make for some changes in the future. But you've let me know what you thought. I know the box can be one of the most critical designs of all so I'm brainstorming hard on how to put it together to be better than anything I've done.

At this point the game cost looks to be around 80 dollars retail and that's not gaining a lot for myself. But then, I don't think I'm quite known or selling enough to raise prices. If I can get known and move my brand to a full on publisher, the cost may just go down. Who can say. But I know people are willing to pay that much and more for games by going out and talking with people. From what I've gathered. GZ New York may just take over the game representation for my brand. So much to decide and none of it easy.

My writing has been interrupted via genre. A non-fiction project has jumped to front burner and I'm nearly done with it. I'm not saying too much about it here because it needs its own special reveal and launch past this blog posting. Still, my next book of short stories is halfway done and I'll be starting a new novel soon as well. I already started it, its just hard to write so many projects at the same time. My brain loves to try. The book series has been hard to get out to people and I've been trying out Facebook ads. For a free book, it went pretty well. About 40% of people who clicked on the book, took one. No one has come back and given any reviews yet, but 40% is a pretty good number. I just hope doing a non-fiction project helps get my brand noticed a bit more.

Ah, the artwork. Art is such a fickle thing and is the most criticized of any factor in game or book cover development. Because I am still at such a grass roots level, I'm still doing over 90% of the art myself. Because my hands have gotten worse, I've had to learn new digital techniques with mixed media and layering to make it work better. Some have said it's the best work I've put out to date. I have my critics though. I've been told plenty of times that I'm not good enough. Some of this criticism came with a dollar amount. If I don't pay someone over a thousand dollars for artwork, it will be unacceptable. That's fine and all, but I've seen plenty of work that someone paid out the nose for, that people still hated. With my art, I aim for engaging, colorful, and fun. I aim for a comic bookish style that relates to the type of characters I create. And I constantly look to learn new things as best I can.

I do wish I had a team and a company to put this out because I know its good. I know it can be a great success. I just need to keep on trying. So the fight goes on. Now I have a couple of questions for you my readers. I do hope I get some feedback from this.

First of all, how do you like the new layout of the blog? I  have had some input that white letters on black are faux p aux and not liked that much. Darker letters on lighter color, they said. So here is a try at that. Please let me know what you think. I tried to get black lettering, but I would have to lose the cosmic backdrop for that to work.

Second, I started up a mailing list and have been working on getting readers to sign up. I've only done four newsletters and the percentage of people opening them has been pretty dismal. When I compare it to the views I get right on this blog, it's an enormous gap. Over 100 readers click on this blog. Out of 30 subscribers to the email news letter, less than 10% open the email. What do you think? Should I keep putting time into the newsletter? Or should I just stick with the blog and keep asking people to subscribe? Let me know. I value your input.

Till next time!

New Year 2017 Update!

It's high time for a new update and what better way to kick off the new year? While planning stories for GZ Tales Volume 3, I've also dug into revisions for the GZ role playing game. This will be an official publication, likely available on Amazon! If you enjoy role playing games that give you lots of freedom and creativity, this will be for you.

GZ RPG will be a percentile and D10 based system. It is a game in a preset universe of characters, monsters, alien races, magics, and more. The old quote of 'everything but the kitchen sink' certainly applies.

It's a game where you get to choose how to build your character by use of Karma points you earn for your side of the balance of good and evil. And yet, you don't have to just good or evil. You can serve Chaos if you prefer and make your life goal the destruction of the balance. It's up to you!

It is a game of magic and super powers so there are lots of cool ways to power up your character creation. At today's count there are over 386 powers and you can roll for your powers on a new character totally at random. For that matter, you can roll your entire character at random if you so desire.

That's not to say there isn't an intelligent side or academic side to the game. There are over 200 possible occupations/academics for characters that give modifiers to dice rolls. Since it's set in a modern day setting, your character could be a person with any kind of actual job before their life turns upside down on adventures.

Still, you can be anything you want with a broad number of alien races also in the mix. You can see prime examples of all this with a visit to the Galaxy Zento Facebook page or even by perusing these blog entries.

I don't have a release date at this time because I'm just jumping in on the revisions now. But there will be updates.

Project work also continues for the board game and it's expansions and accessories. If you haven't jumped into the GZ universe yet, there's no time like the present. The current accessory pack will bring the gods of GZ to the board game. More posts on those completed cards will be coming soon. Currently, I'm halfway through the artwork (and there's been lots of positive feedback!).

That's pretty much it for the current update, but it's a major desk full for me!

Here's hoping you all had a wonderful holiday season and face a new year of all new excitement and adventure.

All the links!

Hey all you awesome people out there! Today's post is a special one. I've been having trouble with my author's page lately. Not all the books are attached to it properly. I've written to Amazon and haven't had any luck. On Goodreads they are pretty much all together, but not where it seems to really count. Naturally this causes confusion issues. So I've decided to create a post where you have all of those together in one place. But not only that (because just a set of links would be boring), but a recap of what you get and what the stories are about. It seems like the perfect time of year for this and folks have asked me where the best jumping on point is among my books. So, for your convenience I will also make a note of which those are. The name of each book will be linked to it's page on Amazon (for the hardback, but they are all in Kindle too). So just click on the name to get the book you want.

Chessmen: Opening Moves:  The queen died in childbirth and the king has been murdered. When the Royal Guard is framed for that murder they have no choice but to go on the run to protect the infant princess from the real killer. Pursued by mercenaries and assassins, attacked by monsters, and forced across the stars; the heroes soon discover a plot overshadowing their own problems and threatening their whole solar system. This is the origin story of a unique team of heroes. [Good starting point]






Chessmen 2: The Queen's Gambit:  Having survived what they thought was the worst, the Chessmen prepare to take the fight to their enemies once and for all. But Queen Margel has invited a new threat to do her dirty work for her. The Maker has come for the Chessmen and will take anything he wants in the process. He is a threat that neither side my survive. This story carries maximum action from beginning to end on a spiraling roller coaster ride with all new characters. Witness fantastic feats of power and survival. Will the Chessmen finally return to Chyssia?

Chaos Rising: When the Earth is enveloped in darkness bands of killers with strange weapons attack all the police precincts of New York City. Nothing seems to stop them short of taking off their heads. But that's only the tip of the proverbial ice berg. The White House is taken hostage and bizarre acts of evil erupt across the country. Hakim only just got his powers in the likeness of Anubis and will have to learn as he goes. A new team of heroes must band together to hunt down the cause of their problems before something even greater comes to destroy them all. [Good starting point and these events occur before Chessmen 2]

GZ Tales Vol 1:  Assassins with a mystery target, an imaginary friend that kills, the core of time and space, and a demon that serves Death himself, are just a few of the short stories that wait for you in the first volume. This book includes the short story, Tale of the Gator that won honorable mention in Writer's Digest. Some stories are origins that carry on and others are about heroes that appear in the novels. Either way, they are action packed and full of fun. [Good starting point]

GZ Tales Vol 2: Even more awesome stories about GZ heroes and villains. Meet Maestro, the King of Demons, take on poachers with Killer Whale, and see what a day being a psychic is like. Read stories that pick up where some left off in volume 1. You'll read about heroes in unlikely places with the strangest of problems.








Galaxy Zento, the Adventure Game: You've read the stories (or even if you haven't), now play the board game! Travel the universe for good or evil and race to complete your mission before anyone else. The characters from Chessmen are there as enemy or ally. Face beasts and obtain artifacts. Escape from dangerous traps. You never know what the deck will throw at you next. About an hour of fun for 2-6 players, aged 10 and up. This game is customizable so you choose what goes in the deck.

Galaxy Zento, Expansion One: Lots of great cards to add to your board game. Check out the all new Monsters! More spells, more characters, more artifacts! Comes with a tip guide on how to customize your game!

Marshmallow Fight!: (I would be remiss if I didn't put a link here even though it's not GZ). This is a great family party game! Perform stunts with marshmallows for points and be your household champion. You can finally play with your food! This game has been reviewed by PalladinElliott and FatherGeek with approval from both!


And there you have it! This will be the ultimate guide to all the links that I will share in a few places. If you haven't jumped in on GZ yet, you've been missing out. It's a universe of unique and original characters. People have said some interesting things about it:


- It's like Star Wars met Marvel.
- It's definitely not Disney.
- A new kind of space opera.

And the story is really only getting started. Big thanks to all my readers! More to come!

Fall Update: Guess what's here!

This week has been loaded with surprises and now you can catch up on all of them at once. The first image you are seeing with today's post is the cover art for the box and yeah, it's the expansion set! I'll be getting my first copy from Thegamecrafter.com sometime in the next week. After I check it over, so long as all looks good, it will be launched. How much is it going to be? Just 24.99.

Now, with holiday shopping already starting, it's as good a time as ever to plug the board game and you get get your copy HERE for 44.99. It's new and improved to match the new layout of cards in the expansion. But then there's the lore of it all and there's something new to that too.

The newest novel and the second book in the Chessmen series is now available via Amazon and Kindle right HERE.  Be sure to use the "look inside" function for a quick sampling of the story as it begins. If you haven't read the first Chessmen story you can find it at the link in the upper right regarding the books. Here is where I have to address something more serious.

There is one thing the new book is  not going to be, aside from filled with action and adventure. It will not be FREE. For every book prior to this, I have done a free giveaway and put a lot of free books into people's hands. Unfortunately, it's time to admit that this has not been good for my own bottom line. I strive to be low cost in a tough age and I hope my readers will understand. The idea behind the free giveaway marketing is that it brings in sales of the other books and, in the last five years, this has simply not happened. That's not to say I'll never give anything away for free again, you can bet I will. Just not at that magnitude anymore. Just can't do it.

Okay, enough seriousness. I have been asked to clarify the order the books go in for people who want to catch up. Where to start? The exact order of the books is as follows:

Chessmen: Opening Moves
GZ Tales Vol 1
Chaos Rising
GZ Tales Vol 2
Chessmen: The Queens Gambit

Now, in the first three books, you could start with any of them. There is a character connection, however from Chaos Rising to the second Chessmen book. I won't tell you what those are of course, you'll just have to read for yourself.  So what will this have me working on now?

Crazy Harry

More artwork of course and more stories. My next bookwork will be GZ Tales Vol 3 and that is going to have some awesome stories in it. I can tell you that the adventures are only going to escalate from here. After that, I will dive into chapter work for the book that comes after Chaos Rising, tentatively called Wicked Ways. And for my in between time when I'm not writing I'll be working on the game expansion for New York City and the GZ combat system card game as well. Sound like enough for me to do?

Outside of Galaxy Zento, I want to point out that my family/party game Marshmallow Fight now has two glowing reviews (reviews are not easy to get) and you can check those out at the following links by author:

PaladinElliott
FatherGeek

And you can get this game HERE also at theGameCrafter.  If you are considering developing your own game, I highly suggest looking into theGameCrafter. Not only can you put together a playable and nice looking prototype; you can continue developing with their step by step process and even sell your game on site (print on demand). Excellent quality, shuffleable cards, and bright colorful rendering. I have loved making my games through them so far. Customer service also gets an A+ from me. So check it out. And if you are looking for games further off the beaten track and want to support some true indy designers, you will be in the right place.

Seems like I have enough to keep me busy during the school year. The only thing I haven't been doing is conventions. Well, that will change around Spring, so stay tuned! Much more to come!

Our experience at Southern Geekfest!

Photo by John Ethridge

We made it! Not only that but I have to say that I had the best convention experience I have ever had.

The con was arranged by the awesome people of Southern Geek, spearheaded by Rafe White and Tim Nicholas. With an awesome crew of volunteers they did a wonderful job of making this convention run very well. I know there were many times it didn't feel that way to Rafe as he was on the run non-stop.

The convention had everything you could hope for! A huge list of celebrities for autographs, amazing cosplayers from casual to pro, astounding artists, talented authors, a board gaming section, and vendors of geek paraphernalia. TEAAM for autism was there with their amazing Doctor Who Dalek laser game and a couple of cool TARDIS boxes for photos. ECTO1 from Ghostbusters was there as well as the awesome car from Supernaturnal.

Hangin with Discount Dark Knight and Capn Murica

Amazing people. That's what made this convention so special. I met people that I had only known online up to this point. Yes, that's something that I've done before, but this was the best meetup I had ever known by far. Southern Geek is a truly fantastic group of people. Everyone was friendly and glad to be there. Someone was always stopping by just to see how we were doing. The camaraderie was at factor 11. That doesn't even include the great people who came to see my board game or books. I had some wonderful discussions with people about my brand and everything in it. I'm still stoked today after this incredible weekend.

I was also on a panel for autism at conventions and it was such an honor to be involved. We discussed autism friendly environments, how to help someone who is being overwhelmed, and creativity in autism. Everyone on the panel had very educational information. Just one more great experience to add to the weekend.

Since this was a first time for me running a table (for my wife as well), I was a bit nervous. It went so smoothly, that I don't think I could have had a better first time experience if I tried.

For us, our convention fuse is lit. Now to figure out what we will do next!

You may enjoy the GZ Board game IF...

Because such exciting times are coming up in the next couple of months, it seems fitting to share this list. I'm still seeking the audience I know is out there for my game. In that I'm still hard at work learning new ways to reach people (hopefully without falling into the spam trap). I'm going to have to dedicate a blog to that later on.

Besides that, if you like any of the following in your games, you may find GZ to be quite a bit of enjoyable fun!

-If you like rolling D20s for any reason: The 20 sider is used heavily in the game for almost everything you have to roll dice for. It's for escaping traps, recruiting allies, combat, evading enemies and more. The simple combat system employs taking turns with D20 rolls to hit your targets defense. First person to score three hits wins the combat. No chance of ties.

-If you are a fan of games like Munchkin. Mostly the random draw from the main deck, gives the game style a little bit of a "munchkin feel". Kind of like "kicking in doors" for Munchkin, for every move you make on the board for GZ, you reveal a card from the main deck and deal with what ever jumps out at you. It's a randomization that will keep your game on its toes.

-If you like games you can customize or change with expansions: The planned expansions will allow you to change your game up in practically any way you want. You decide what kind of characters, monsters, and traps will await you on your mission. And it doesn't stop with just those. Items, spells, artifacts, and special events are all available to spice things up.

-If you like to beat up other players: Because you totally can! Not only can attacking your opponents be fun, it can keep them from completing their mission before you do the same. The game is all about completing your mission before anyone else does theirs. A well timed combat can really slow someone down. Player revenge has not been uncommon among players so far.

-If you like fantasy adventure with original characters: With the game based on the characters from my first novel (with a 3.5 star rating on Amazon), you get to interact with a unique character base. You don't have to know the story to enjoy the game, but it sure doesn't hurt. As I'm currently working on my fifth book, you can expect the adventures to continue! But guess what, you may be able to get a free copy the book as a pdf, just for being involved with GZ!

Yep, all you have to do is send me a request to be on the GZ mailing list for updates, stories, and more. Once you send me your email address (that will not be shared) I will send you a pdf copy of Chessmen: Opening Moves. With the king and queen of Chyssia dead, only an infant stands in the way of the killer taking the throne. After being framed for the royal murders, the royal guard have no choice to but to take their princess on the run to protect her. They face mercenaries, assassins, and monsters but those are only the beginning.

It's a great chance to get your read on! Now, if any of the above are of interest to you in your games, then you are just the people I am looking for! Check out the free print and play where you can read the rules for yourself!

Early schedule for 2016!

Oh yes! 2016 is starting with a bang. I have two events to tell you about and you can bet I'm planning on having plenty of goodies to hand out!

I'm so honored to have been invited to these events, I can't even relay it in effective words. Just so you all know.

Bar Con at Bad Wolf! Starting at high noon on March 12th will be a con unlike most I've ever heard of. It will be held at the Bad Wolf Bar and Grill in Marrero, Louisiana. I'm going to be there with my wife. We will have the books, the board game, and goodies! My wife will also have some great geek stuff from her project (partnered with GZ) Passions by Pecanflower. I'll get more into her work in a minute! This really looks to be a unique and amazing event!

Southern GeekFest! April 2nd and 3rd will see us in Hattiesburg, MS for the first ever of it's kind, Southern Geekfest con! You best check out the link because the guest list is already huge! I can already tell that, for being a new con, it's going to be mind blowing! Again, dear wife will be with me and you can meet us both! More books, games and goodies!

For the creative schedule, my next direct projects are finishing Chessmen 2 and getting work done on the expansion set for the board game. This first expansion of cards are really going to spice up the game. You're going to have the ability to tailor your game experience with all new characters, artifacts, and spells. There's even a CURSED artifact! The art is going to take some cool new directions with guest artists to make the game even more unique. The next expansion after this will actually have a new board with bearing a new location and new effects! I'm really excited about this.

The schedule follows the books that have already been released, so you can get an inside view by reading the stories.

Now I want to tell you about Passions by Pecanflower. My wife Lisa Hale makes the coolest crocheted geek things in our given area. Her best work by far has been the Dr. Who scarf. But she's great at so very much. The link is to her Facebook page. Don't worry, she'll be posting more there soon. But she makes dice bags, geek scarves, and pretty much anything else. Her prices are good too. She'll have some works to show off at the events mentioned right next to me. Be sure to add her page to your favorites!

That's the update for now but there is so much more to come. 2016 is going to be a great year!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2015! Year in Review

Well, it's been quite a year. Ups and downs, ins and outs, and all of it survived to bring us to this holiday season. It's amazing. My wife and I just celebrated our four year anniversary and I couldn't be happier for that. It was a great day. She's been by my side for so much that is GZ. She's the editor and proof reader for the stories and my morale support.

I put two books out this year; Chaos Rising and GZ Tales 2. I haven't been able to keep any stock on my person or send to all the people on my list to send to, but there is so much in process that such will change. I'm listed as a guest for a great convention coming up in Spring (Southern Geekfest) and there will be more on that as the date gets closer.

Early in the year I tried my hand at Kickstarter, but a severe concussion ended that. I don't know if it would have been successful or not, but it really doesn't matter at this point. The work goes on. Putting the board game out with The Game Crafter has been excellent exposure for the game. People who have played it have reported it as a fun game and it made an appearance at Geekonomicon this month with the help of a good friend and supporter at the con, Steve Huckabee.

So the official score is two books and a board game. That's pretty darn good for a year's work.

Guest artists have stepped forward this year too and I couldn't be more grateful. Billy Barnette helped out with several illustrations that will be in the expansion set for the board game. Other artists are in consideration for the upcoming year where most of the work will take place to put the expansion together.

The art you see in this post is holiday art from last year, but it still holds up to festive theme and I am working on new art as well as improvements.

I look forward to blasting into a new year with a wonderful fan base of people all around. So happy holidays and every other way you look at this time of year. May all of you be blessed, happy and safe. See you next year!

GZ Tales Volume 2 Line Up!

In about 12 hours from the time I'm typing this, my fourth book should be available via Kindle/Amazon. When it's ready, I'll be doing the usual freebie book promotion to get it into folk's hands. Today, I'd like to give you the line up of what's happening in this edition of stories.

Volume 2 has 10 stories with some new characters and familiar faces too. Let's check them out by title and in order as they appear in the book.

London Fables: The taunting letter to police claims that 100,000 people are going to die. Is it a terrorist threat or just a diversion to something more sinister? Federal agents, Blacktide and Nyhtwulf will face off with a criminal crew called the Fables to find out. You'll wonder at a crime boss who calls himself, Mother Goose.

Anubis and Horus: The Castle of the Demon King: The cosmic duo are back! This time they are sent on a mission to rescue a captured Starknight. This pits them in a new villain's cruel game for entertainment. Meet Maestro! His debut is only the pre-beginning of what he has in store for GZ heroes! Anubis and Horus will never forget this.

Shadowplay: Someone is practicing a special and gory craft of killing on New York's homeless population. Federal Agents, Anthony James (from Chaos Rising) and Panther Steele seek a killer with "a knife in his smile". What they discover will challenge their combat skills and raise concern of future threats.

Appetites for Power: The whole Southern crew is back! Percival and Vicky meet back up with the Gator. When word comes that Amon Le Fey is still alive, they journey back to Gator's swamp. But Gator's hands may be full with a new enemy of his own! Enter Coven's newest weapon, the Piranha! A super speed cannibalistic killer with alligator on the menu!

Brother Whale: Killer Whale is the last of his kind and living on Earth. He's taken to being a protector of the seas. When he learns that whales of Earth are being poached and killed, he decides to take action the only way a sea faring hero can! You're going to love justice dished out like this!

The Fist of Allah: A hero from the Middle East reveals himself on a rescue mission. A terrorist regime has taken hostages and the Fist isn't standing for it. These terrorists are about to get a major lesson in right and wrong!

A Day in the Life of a Psychic: The Elven telepath, Dreamseer returns to Earth (after Chaos Rising) to visit. In her casual stroll through the city, she takes heroism to a new and unexpected level. All in a day's work? We'll see!

Return of the Demon: Demonjack makes a fiery and rage filled return at a medical center. Can Sandstorm and Electrode contain him before lives are lost? There's fire, wind and lightning in a showdown of epic proportions.

The Falcon and the Kestrel: Finally the full story of how King Falcon and Lord Kestrel became the enemies they are today. This is the precursor of stories to come. Learn the historic tale that will be passed down for generations on planet, Arconia.

The Fight in the Dog: Introducing, Dolphin Man! When you can shapeshift into any combination of animals, you can do almost anything. When investigating a dog fighting ring turns up something even more  heinous, this hero will become anything to get the job done right! Just don't let him near your cell phone.

There you have it. 10 tales of heroism that you will just have to dig into for yourself. Some do tie in to prior stories in Volume 1, so if you haven't read it, be sure to grab it! Just click on my "Author Page" link in the upper right or on the "Shop Now" button on Facebook! Happy reading!

Chaos Rising: An inside look

So, as many of you now know, my third book is officially available on Amazon. You can click on my author's page link in the upper right of this page. But what are you going to see beyond what I've already given? Well, today I'm giving you a bit of a who's who to help you out.

The Ultimate Threat: The villain of the story is Jonathan Stormy Knight and he's on a mission to release the god, Chaos from his imprisonment. While that sounds like something that's been done, the threat is no small one. Chaos in the GZ universe is the embodiment of all technology in the universe. He appears as a colossal sized robotic entity with swirling search lights, canons and lasers. His hand alone is bigger than a four story building. His concept is an idea that, while beneficial, technology is stealing our humanity. The result is a hole in the balance of good and evil, resulting in chaos. Stormy engages in a number of bizarre plans that confuse the heroes, but everything he sets in motion damages the balance.

The Rookie Hero: Hakim is a lost college student who is given the powers of Anubis, Guardian of the Dead. Throughout the book, he discovers how to use his many abilities and learns what it is to be a hero.

The Old Veteran: Sandstorm is arguably the most powerful human being on Earth. He has the power to shape change into weather and elements in any combination as well as control those around him. This story brings him out of retirement from the CIA to join a government task force. He can feel the damage being done to the planet because of the sun being blocked out.

The Protege: Electrode, is the nuclear electric man, capable of moving at twice the speed of light. He's Sandstorm's partner and student. He'll follow Sandstorm anywhere, even the depths of space.

The Damaged One: When Larry Peter's disintegration powers manifested, they killed his parents. His powers are dangerous and sometimes out of control. As Blacktide, he tries his hand at becoming a hero, perhaps as personal redemption. He will meet someone who will become the best friend he ever had.

The Demon: Nyhtwulf comes to our world from the castle of the Four Horsemen and meets an unlikely friend. If you ever wondered if a demon could be a hero, wonder no more. Nythwulf comes to Earth with an endearing innocence of the world and delights in discovering its wonders (like cream cheese).

The Heroic Damsel: Her name is Nightfall and she can cause mental blackouts by touch. She's the one who may just teach Anubis everything he needs to know to be a hero. She may even show him he can be in love again.

If you miss out on the free giveaway (that's going on through this coming Monday, July 13th), you can still get your digital copy of this epic for 99 cents.

As always there is more to come an next I plan to have a second book of short stories put together. After that, it's Chessmen 2 (long awaited I know).

Enjoy the story, heroes and remember; never give up.

Just the start of the summer giveaways!

I'm finally jumping into an area of  promoting that I hadn't before. I'm actually going to give out some seriously cool free stuff.

Tomorrow I will begin with a 3 day event that allows you to get Chessmen, the fantasy novel, for free as the ebook version. All you have to have is the kindle app and you're golden. Guess what, the kindle app is free too! So there's really no reason not to jump in and grab yourself a book. The only thing I hope people will do in return is to return to the Amazon page later on, and do the 'star vote' thing to rate what you read. Even doing that is free. And no one has to write out anything, but if you do I consider that a bonus and I'll be quite grateful! Here is the LINK. But really it's also in the upper right of this page, my author's page.

Each of my books can only have ONE promotion like this in a month, so you can bet, that the book of short stories will be up next and not far behind.

But I'm not stopping there. How many of you would like to have your own print and play version of the Galaxy Zento game? It's a board game, but the cool trick to it is, that you don't actually need the official board to play the game. You can play GZ on any board game with a sufficient amount of square spaces to move around. Put a pair of chess boards next to each other if you want!. More on that will come later for you print and play fans out there, just know that.

I'm also still working on getting the new novel Chaos Rising ready to hit the shelf! It's not far from done, I promise. Then there is the next book of short stories and Chessmen book 2. So work is still being plugged away at.

On the board game front, we may go ahead and make the game available at The Game Crafter for a very fair price of 45 bucks. That is pending the next prototype I ordered this month. When we get a look at it, we will decide the next move. This should not affect print and play.

So much to learn and discover and so little time to cram it all together. I'm working on more than that, but I honestly have no idea what that all will be just yet. So stay tuned, there is more to come!

You're going to fail!

When I was a kid, I wanted to write books and I wanted to be a detective. Yeah, I'm always a mixture of things.

"You'll never be worth anything." Those were the words of my abusive stepmother. I won't go into the things she did because I'm not looking to shock or trigger you. Suffice to say I left home at age 14 to escape the abuse. I showed my determination by trying to travel from Utah to Florida. I started by hiking over the Wasatch mountain front. I was caught and sent home but left again and made it from Kaysville to the Colorado state line.

In my fleeing home I was made a ward of the State of Utah and the social worker assigned to me didn't seem to like kids much. "You'll never be a detective. You'll never be anything." She said it in such a matter of fact tone that I didn't say anything back. But my determination only grew.

I was told to give up on writing because I would never publish. But I proved them wrong on all counts. I joined the army and the 186th Military Police. I became professional security, a bodyguard, and eventually, I became a sort of detective. I became an animal cop and investigated things like animal cruelty and animal fighting. I send dozens of cases to court every year. I wrote official tickets with official fines. So I didn't become Sherlock Holmes, but I still achieved a great deal.

Then MS came along. It wasn't first, but it's here now. So I did the next thing that they said I wouldn't do. I published two books. I'm about release the third. Are they perfect? No, but who is? The fact I carried through to the end in my condition should tell you volumes. But to some people it still doesn't. I must just have a look about me that says "don't take this guy seriously". Yet, my track record continues to prove them wrong. And I'm not done.

Here is the thing. Critics will always look down their nose at everything you do. You can show them that your Facebook page has over 750 likes, but they'll go through and count the likes on independent posts and tell you your page isn't worth it. They'll look at your artwork and say that you should give up and go to paying someone else to do it (never mind that there's way simpler art out there that's making millions, just see Cartoon Network ;) ).

I could have listened to them a long time ago and maybe went to some mundane, who knows what, dead end life (I don't know). But I didn't. I didn't listen to them. Look where that got me. I'm here and I've done more than a few things they said I couldn't do. So if there's anything that my project could teach you, it's that you never give up because they say you're going to fail. You may restart, you may reposition, but you don't give up.

So, it's time to show people what you're made of. Show them that you can do it. I'm certainly not done. Why should you be?

GZ character stat cards!

Some may have noticed that I'm doing my characters from A-Z with some special info. I've hinted at future use for these cards and I wasn't bluffing. These are the first GZ character stat cards. They are based on the formula I use for the role playing game. Yes, I said "role playing game". It's a ways of in the distance yet, but in the meanwhile, you can enjoy the amazing stats and info of these characters.

So what do the numbers mean? In the five stats STRength, ENDurance, SPEed, AGiLity, and MeNTality, you will note a number from 1-10. 1 is the level of a very average human being. 10 is godlike. So, the higher then number you see, the more powerful they are in that stat.

Above that, you see the minimum character level they would start at, their sex/race if applicable, and their alignment from good- evil with personality scale if applicable.

You can clearly read what powers they have and then see any equipment they carry. Don't worry to much about the numbers you see with the equipment. Suffice to say that a number with a + sign is for dealing damage and a number with a minus (-) sign is for reducing damage.

The info section gives you a little bit of insight to the character. There will be a lot of info from stories, so be sure to catch up on the stories of GZ if you haven't already.

Right now, I'm working on this in between other projects What's my current schedule, you ask?

This is my tentative schedule:

Kickstarter for board game (coming very very soon)
Chaos Rising (novel)
GZ Tales 2 (short stories)
GZ Tales game expansion cards
Chessmen 2 (novel)
GZ New York (game expansion with new board)
Wicked Ways (novel to follow Chaos Rising)
GZ Tales 3

That doesn't include the fact that I plan on being at Geekonomicon in December and then Southern Geek Fest next year.

I know you see a lot of reused artwork, but I assure you, I am working on new artwork too! There are definitely exciting days to come. I can hardly wait!

Audio reading: Imaginary Enemy

Today I direct you to the embedded video for a reading of one of the tales from my book of short stories, GZ Tales, Vol 1. Now I do have a couple of spots where I trip up because I have internal spasms from MS, but as you can see, I don't let that stop me. So I hope you enjoy the reading of Imaginary Enemy!

If you would like to get the book for kindle or in paperback, check out the link to my author's page in the upper right of the screen.

Time for a new update

So much has been going on that it's been hard to keep up. Sadly, things like my blog here got neglected in the process. How much can you put on your plate along with what life gives you before you get too busy for your own good? It's not hard to do. I'm a chronic multi-tasker and it gets me in trouble.

But a whole lot is going on in my life and GZ is just one great part of it.

On May 10th, I attended the first annual bookfest here in Monroe. The assortment of authors in one place was great. They even came from near New Orleans to where we are in the Northern part of the state. There were several religious/inspirational authors, maybe two other fictional authors and one who wrote of a life after Vietnam. There was one who had a historical look at one man's life here in Lousiana. It was a fine combination of people.

Quite a few people came by including a couple of local friends and I think some new interest was created. The only drawbacks I give the day are that it was HOT. My dear wife has quite a sunburn. Sadly, the crowd was also sparse. I had really hoped to see more people at the Rivermarket. Some people folded up and left early which is a big NO NO in the agreement with the market. I folded a few things up in the last hour, but remained available to sign my books and talk to people until 4 as advertised. Once the day was done, my wife and I were both exhausted. Forget cooking dinner, we went home and ordered a pizza.

All in all, it was a good day and I met some incredible people.

So what about GZ Legends?

Honestly, I'm not sure. I am writing the second storyline and the first is compiled with new edits for the book, Chaos Rising (coming very soon!) but I have to decide what I can most reasonably do with the time on my hands. I have a lot and I mean A LOT of artwork to do for the card game coming up. I have Chessmen 2 still in writing stage and another book of short stories to compile. And it's not just being a one man band, life itself has stepped in. My son has needed me and I'm about to be a Grandad for the first time. I don't think I've ever had so much happening at one time ever in my life. It's quite amazing.

The next thing to come out, should be Chaos Rising if all goes according to plan!

So it's time for me to get back to building and get the activity rolling again! Stay tuned, you never know what's going to happen next!