Spotlight: Helshred

Helshred is a member of the Chessmen and in my novel of the same Chess name. He's a character who's bound to get your sympathy vote and amaze you at the same time. I never realized just how much this would be true until I had a couple people read the story.

Helshred is a Teri-Moor, a race of beings with 3 eyes, four strong arms, and prehensile tail. In his picture you can see a jagged scar on his head. It's because of that scar, Helshred remembers nothing of his past before the Chessmen.

Helshred was found on a mountainside by Falconer, leader of the Royal Guard. Helshred's gauntlets were found to be permanent in nature; bonded to him. Once conscious he could only say what seems to be his name. He can say a few more words than that now.

Helshred proves to be a very special member of the team as they run in order to protect the infant Princess. At anytime, the Teri-Moor is ready to leap into battle with those intimidating blades and a shout of his name. I don't want to give away too much about Helshred, so to learn more you'll have to read the book and I'm seeking agents soon.

Spotlight: The Teri-Moors

I didn't intend on Teri-Moors to become one of my major alien races, but there is growing interest in them, thanks to Chessmen. I actually made them as a cousin race to the Orcanians and they are very similar in several ways. The Orcanians are for another time, though. Today, it's all about the Teri-Moors.

As you can see from illustrations, Teri-Moors have three eyes, pointed ears, four arms and a tail in addition to a muscular build. They have no hair anywhere on their bodies and their eyes have a silvery hue in addition to any other colors. They are a space age cousin to the Elves, but they don't go out of their way to claim any kinship. They prefer to keep to themselves. They aren't part of any alliances and were at war with the Orcanians for many generations.

Teri-Moors are pretty strong, as in lifting small cars strong. They can easily wield a weapon in each hand over a hundred pounds. Their tails are prehensile, giving them the same ability as their hands. So it's not uncommon to see a Teri-Moor in combat with five weapons going. You might think that's hard to concentrate on, not for them. Thanks to how those three eyes are positioned, Teri-Moors have excellent eyesight with broadened peripheral vision. Their hearing is even better. Finally, there's one more thing that makes a troop of Teri-Moors especially dangerous; teleportation.

The trinity of these races; Teri-Moors, Orcanians, and Perithins are all long range teleporters. All of them train excessively in using their teleportation and other attributes in combat. Teri-Moors are especially brutal warriors. All males are expected to be able to take up arms and fight. Females can fight too, but they do so closer to home so they can protect children and elderly.

In technology they have starship capabilities but none of the major technologies (Dimensional, Time, Reality, Genetic). Even so, they have a fair armada of ships. It's not their ships attackers should worry about anyway, it's being boarded. Thanks to the extra arms and tail with heavy training, Teri-Moors are easily able to take on multiple opponents. They actually consider being outnumbered quite funny.

The leader of their race is a Chieftan with several Chief's under him to govern various tribes. Religiously, Teri-Moors have abandoned religion because the god they had used them for bloodsports with two other gods. Any weapons or documents of those times are sealed and outlawed.

As you can see, I have a few characters and if you peruse my fan page or deviant art page you can learn more about them. Perhaps they'll get their own spotlight soon? I'll take requests.

Guest Artist: Brian Rogers!

Known best as Labguyinwa on Deviantart.com, Brian is my first official guest artist for Galaxy Zento. He perused my characters and something about Victor Darksong said, "hey, try me!". And let me tell you, you can see the result. We have hopes of another artist jumping in to do inks, but that's for another time. Brian did a great job of making Victor look grim and gruesome. Victor is also one of the villains from my Chessmen novel. How fitting a first is that?

But enough about that, more about Brian! Brian is an artist of many talents. He's been doing the art thing since 1980 and been on Deviantart for two years.

He does professional caricatures, comic strips, and various other comic art. He writes a strip called "North by Northwest". You can check out his work HERE (there is one naked elf so mature notice just to be on the proper side). As you can see, Brian is a family guy with a dedication on page to his lovely wife, Michelle. His favorite part of doing his art is any inspiration he can give to youth.

Now, I'm going to hand out hint and promo here. As I write this, he's doing a sale on black and white caricatures for ten bucks each! You can contact him at labguyinwa@gmail.com! So, if you would like to get one for your loved ones this holiday, now's your chance! Here's the link to his caricatures folder HERE!

Now, finally, I post my version of Victor Darksong so you can see both of them. Big thanks to Brian for being the first guest artist!

Now, how about you? Can you do my characters? Pencils? Inks? Colors? Waterpaint? What ever you got, show me! Whether you want to get in for fun or show me how it's done, the guest artist project remains open! Any medium is fine from crayons to acrylics! I only ask that there are no adult themes. Contact me about any character info you want to know. Just peruse through my characters and see which one challenges you to draw him or her! Dirty secret: I have the most trouble drawing the ladies *shrug*. See my characters at the facebook fan page or my Deviantart page.

Who will I get to write about next? Will it be you?

A slight hiccup and hold up

Well, I actually don't have any new pics colored and ready to post. That's because I actually have to draw new ones! So I'm doing that and there will be new art to see soon. I have done several pencil sketches and they need to be inked in, so I'm on it. Writing is moving along too. I hope to enter a contest in January for short stories.

I won't be getting the website launched this month after all. There are delays and things that need to be taken care of first. I'm bummed but a lot has been accomplished this month so I'll survive to launch later. Aiming at January now. That would be a great way to kick off a new year right?

In the health zone it's been confirmed that I do not have MS and that's great news. Still don't know what autoimmune I do have but I'm being scheduled for a lumbar puncture to find out. Yeah, that won't be fun.

So, the pic I posted is a marker colored drawing of Lord Kestrel getting some magic on. There was an accident with the pic that I decided to keep because it looks like green magic orbs. Weird. I may try to digitalize it since I recently learned how to get that effect going that way.

Well, sorry for the slump in posting. It's the holiday season and busy busy busy! Have a great holiday season and I'll be posting again soon!

December update

Wow, is this month getting started off with a bang!

First, I'm getting some of my best art yet done and moving on towards my big goal of all those illustrations. My Christmas shopping is very close to done, yay. I just bought a new artpad with 100 large pages for those illustrations and....

I have my first official guest artist, Brian Rogers! Be watching for my posting on him, it's in prep now!

This month I also plan to launch the website! Oh yes! There will be lots of awesome information and activity going on there! I plan to have character bios, artwork, short stories, and a forum too! So I really hope that all the Zento fans and more will join in! I'm pretty excited about this, can you tell?

I've about got the flavor of the query letter ready. Yes, it takes a while and should for a good query letter. You really want the ideas to simmer in your brain for a good two or three weeks before you finish them on paper. That includes writing and rewriting until you think it's good enough. Fortunately, I'm not doing it alone. I have some great support here and proofreading help. I have people to bounce ideas off of. It's really great.

So, I hope you stay tuned in, some great activity coming this month!

A marathon project

I wrote out a list yesterday of all the characters I need to draw. It's not a short list. I've developed over 400 characters and only a portion of them are on the fan page or DeviantART. Put that with all the writing I want to get done and it's a marathon project.

I'm still working the kinks out of the query letter for Chessmen. I look forward to getting it out to be looked at by agents and publishers. Becoming a graphic novel would be awesome too, but I need more artistic help in that area. Most of the time, I'm okay with my own artistic talents, but they are slipping. The kind of work needed for a graphic novel is not the kind I can do.

Speaking of artists, I'm happy to say there has been interest in the guest artist program. It will still take a while, but eventually I think we'll see some cool guest work with articles here and postings to show it off. So off I go with lots of work to do. Back soon with more to show!

The You will rise project: King Falcon Poster

Through my page at DeviantART, I was contacted about an amazing project. You can check out this project HERE.

It was asked of me, would I be interested in submitting the King Falcon anti-bullying poster. Of course!

The project is all about rising above bullying. If you've been a victim of bullying and you use art or writing to overcome it, they want to hear from you. You can see the King Falcon entry on their blog site HERE.

I think any project that takes on bullying is worth while. Especially one that shows people with talents who have overcome or are in process. You see, you don't have to listen to the bullies. They put you down, but they are wrong. Just check out the talents on that page to see what I mean.

And don't say you have no talents, it only means you are still finding your way. Things will get better and you can rise above bullying. I did.

Two special posters

So I've done two special project posters. One on Bullying and the other on Autism awareness.

You see the Autism aware poster here first. I drew my character, Dimension Man for the very first time in making this poster. I've put it in several groups and have it available for purchase at my DeviantArt page. Just click on the "prints" tab toward the top of the page. A large poster is only about 20 bucks and I get a small commission of that. Past that, it's okay to share on your website so long as you post links back to me. It's okay to share on your Facebook page so long as you post link to the fan page or share about me. Fair enough, right? I also want to give access to the Autism Society.

Dimension Man is a cool but rare character. He exists on multiple dimensional planes so nothing can physically stop him from going where ever he wants. His evil counterpart is Tick Tock.But more about him later.

I chose King Falcon for the anti-bullying poster because he's the defender of several planets in his stories. It just made sense to me. I wanted that arm to come across really huge in the picture and then I did my own form of lettering. I ordered a print to donate to my son's elementary school.

So, how easy is this for me? Well, as you can see in this picture, I tried to draw a single line. My hands shake so badly at times, that it takes me quite a while to get a drawing done. It gets frustrating too. I'm hoping, once my diagnosis tests are done, there will be something that I can do to help steady my hands and slow the tremors. Till, then, no giving up!

Still no entries for the guest artist program, but it takes time so I'm hopeful that maybe the holiday week will stir things up. I really look forward to writing an article here about a fellow artist!

Touch ups

I'm almost through the touch ups on the Chessmen novel. I've found a lot of problems with my "it's" and "its" being mixed up. I really don't know why I keep doing that. Good ol grammar program does help by marking it at least.

We have a copy of this years Writer's Market and I need to start going through it and seeing what there is in information on agents and publishers.

There's still a lot of illustrations to do and I'm adding pics over at Deviantart. For the fan page, I've actually caught up with myself and now have to post my custom miniatures to fill in while I do more illustrations.

I have had a couple of artists show interest in the Guest Artist project. It will take time.

The current count in three weeks at Deviant art is 359 page views and I'm on four peoples watch list.

On the Facebook fan page, current likes are at 38. I would really like to see that number climb some more. People are looking and I love that. I've had some very nice correspondence and I love that too. There has been a very nice show of support. It's still a good start, and still early too.

So, it's just a short update today as I catch up on a few things around here. We just got our dog home from heartworm treatment and I had to make a hundred mile trip yesterday to a neurologist. As for that dr trip? There's more testing to do. I had lots of blood drawn to do an "auto-immune" panel. An auto-immune" condition is a disease that causes your immune system to attack itself or other points of your own body. MS is an auto-immune condition, but we still don't know if that's the one we are dealing with.

Looking forward to posting more soon!

Guest artists, what's in this for you?

Yes, this is another bid for guest artists to come and take part in Galaxy Zento. But I realize you must be wondering if it's worth it. After all, I'm just getting started. Still, I'm not showing any signs of stopping, and I won't. Just check these places out.

My deviant art page!

My Facebook fan page!

My Facebook page! Add me, I have over 3000 connections and growing.

My Twitter! Follow me and I'll follow you!

Numbers are growing, even if slowly. So what will I do for you?

- Blog article all about YOU. I'll post links to your pages where ever they are and I would also like to interview you about your art and influences in art. The article will include the piece you do for Zento and hopefully a couple other pieces of your work to showcase your talent. I've been writing for some time and gathering a decent following of readers, just look here: Wildeman's Words So, I'm putting my writing to work for you, plus the publicity.

-Exposure across all my mediums. I will create a guest artist folder on both DeviantArt and the Facebook fan page. When the official website launchs there will a guest section there too! I will put links to you with your work in any place that I can. As I get more attention out there, so will you.

Naturally, you also get to post the work you do on your own pages so long as you do the same in links for Galaxy Zento. That way, we create publicity for each other.

Want another twist? Did you create your own universe and characters? Tell you what, you draw one of mine; and I'll draw one of yours!

What am I looking for? For you artists, no matter how good you are, to do a Zento character in any medium except adult themes. This could include doing just pencils, inks, caricatures, cartoony things, what ever. If you want to get cute, try doing a Zento character versus one of yours (I'll do the same). Do one against any fave character of yours, whatever! But please, no adult themes. Galaxy Zento is family friendly and for a young audience.

Special considerations: Galaxy Zento is all about overcoming disabilities with me. Why? Because I have conditions that I am fighting with daily. I live with Asperger's Syndrome, Bipolar disorder and a degenerative condition yet to be identified (possibly MS- I see the neurologist tomorrow because my MRI was "abnormal"). So I consider anyone who clicks LIKE on the fan page to be a supporter of the same idea. This is why I'm pushing as hard as I can to make something out of Galaxy Zento, while I still can. That includes a series of novels. That being said:

Special consideration goes to any pictures that mix theme with Autism Awareness, Anti-bullying, Anti-child abuse and Anti-suicide. I plan to do some portraits in that way soon too. This will involve yet another special folder in the websites. If there are enough pics done for Autism, I plan to submit work to the Autism Society of the United States. Other considerations are possible.

Special consideration will also go to guest artists when it comes to the novels or any possible graphic novels (at least that's the pitch I will give the agents and publishers).

Remember, it doesn't matter how good you are, it's a show of support with lots of possibilities. I don't care if you are just 10 years old (with parental permissions) or a top notch pro. And that's not to say a 10 year old can't be a top notch pro.

So what do you think? Do you want to be a guest artist for Galaxy Zento? I would love to have you.

(We do reserve the right to refuse any work deemed a conflict of interest or inappropriate for Galaxy Zento)
(Galaxy Zento and it's characters are property of David J Wilde)

Great friends remembered

The picture you are looking at was drawn by my best friend and brother, Denver Steele. This blog is a dedication and memorial that shall live on in Galaxy Zento for me, forever.

You see three characters in that drawing. Those characters are an interpretation of three friends who formed a kind of trio when they met at Clearfield Job Corps Center, in Clearfield, Utah. The middle one is Denver, I'm the "falcon" and the bear? The bear repesents another dearly departed friend, Nelson Howell.

Denver wanted to be an actor and he was very good. We lived in Henderson, Nevada and he had a job at a small video store. I was working at a cabinet shop. With my writing and his acting, we hoped to get something started out there. That plan was cut short when his store was robbed and they shot him three times with a .22 revolver. I was the last person to see him alive (that was considered family)on the double shift he agreed to work. His killers were caught, and because I was part of that timeline, I testified in court back and forth for two years. They rot in prison to this day.

The news hit us all hard, but life goes on and more is always to come.

Ten years later, after we all had moved one. Nelson had a family of his own in Washington, Iowa. I had a family of my own too in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nelson was a big man, no denying that. We called him the bear because of it. He never worried about his weight. It ran in family heritage so he just took it as it went. It was early in the morning when his mother called me with the news. Nelson was out on his paper route when he simple passed out and fell. He was on blood thinners for a clot in his leg. There were already concerns that the doctor had him on too high a dose for his body, but it was too late. He left behind a wife and two kids.

So, that makes me the last of the trio from Job Corps, but there's one more who deserves just as much recognition.

Zach was a great kid, who was part of my last gaming group for Galaxy Zento. He went to Gen Con with us twice and I considered him and his sister as "god-children" to me. These two were very special to all of us. At first they were scared to hang out with us and join our little group. Why? Because they and their mother had to hide from and abusive man. He was dangerous and had tried to kill them before by setting fire to their home. To say the least, we took these kids under our "wings". Our group was comprised of people who worked heavy jobs, law enforcement, and bar "bouncing". No one was going to hurt these kids with us around.

But then, life changes again, one of us got a new job, and I moved to Wisconsin. I don't think it was six months after we moved before the phone call came. Zach was killed in a head on car accident with a truck and trailer. He was on his way to a heroclix game across town. He was 19 and studying architectural drafting. At his funeral we all put dice in and on his casket to send him off as a gamer should.

All three of these special and still missed people, created characters to help test Galaxy Zento. Those characters will live on in memory of them so long as I can keep it that way. So, if you are looking through pics on the fan page and see their names, you'll know why.

Spotlight: The Cyborians

The Cyborians are a highly intelligent and scientific race. For many eons they lived in peace on their metallic planet until they were forced to drastic change for survival.

Cyborians are metaloids. Metaloids are beings with organic metallic skin. To look at their faces, you would see two large black eyes and two sets of gill-like slits in a v-shape (like: / \) from the nose area to just above the chin. Their mouths are located under the chin. In this fashion, digestive tract and airway are separate from each other. They speak through the gills,so they can actually talk with their mouth full. They digest their foods with powerful acids. For that matter, their blood is called "metaphoric acid" and is the strongest acid form in the known universe (of Zento). Naturally, Cyborians themselves, are unaffected by acids. In reproduction, Cyborians are A-sexual and each capable of creating offspring.

The race is proud to have one of the highest technology levels possible in Dimensional technology. They perfected the use of linking dimensional pockets, anomolies, and energies to each other for power and tools. For example, they developed a high powered energy called Metron. One tool using this energy is a one ton cannon made for excavations through Cyborus's metal mountains. This massive device is harnessed in an easily carried, wide barreled, rifle shaped device. Because the tool is completely anchored and buffered in a dimensional anomoly inside the rifle, it's power can be fully used, hand held, with no kick back.

Being peaceful, the never thought twice about building a military until the Rotanians came along and nearly wiped them out. Because of the severity of damage and dwindling numbers of their race, they Cyborians took drastic action. They had all adult citizens bonded to multi-dimensional combat armor. That's right, it never comes off. Never again, would their race be defenseless.

Cyborian armor is formed to the scanned personality of it's wearer to maintain individuality. The armor itself, carries hundreds of computers and programs to maintain it in every way. Because the wearer is actually in another dimension attached to the armor, they are very hard to hurt. Past that, all manner of weaponry is capable of extending from nearly any surface of the armor. It's common to find a Cyborian armed with laser cutters in their optics and all manner of rifles, cannons and small missile launchers extendable from their arms, legs, and torso (front and back). The armor can cloak itself, fly through space, teleport from planet to planet, and link to or decipher any lesser technology they come across. Enough damage to the armor or it's total destruction, will kill the host. Still, that's no easy feat.

The armor comes in different sizes because of the personality traits scanned. Some Cyborians or as much as 50 feet tall. The Cyborian Overlord is as tall as the Sears tower. Larger Cyborians are given purposes to match their size, such as construction or anti-enemy starcraft details.

There is one drawback. A rare side effect of the bonding process is criminal insanity. This created the renegades, dangerous beings who could be anywhere. Most of them are wanted for reprogramming to try and correct the side effect. Some have to be destroyed.

Despite all their armor's abilities, Cyborians also created a fleet of star ships. These are huge craft with just as many capabilities of the armor itself. The Wrecker class is the largest of these powerful ships.

Cyborians are just one of the feature races in Galaxy Zento. You can see more of them at the FAN PAGE. Hope to see you there!

Table of Legend

So, how serious or crazy about my characters am I? Well, about 11 years ago, I built a table and burned a mural of my characters in it. The whole pictures goes from one end clear to the other.

It's a heavy thing, around a hundred pounds. I made it from a solid wood door and some banquet table legs. Once the picture was all burned in via a woodburner, I put some brass corner fittings on it. This was our gaming table.

We sat around this table for several games, but mostly for playing Galaxy Zento. What was special about this table, was that I didn't just put core characters on it. I put many current player characters on it too. So who all is on this thing and have you seen them already? Lets see, and remember you can click on a picture for a larger image.

In this first image, you can see King Falcon and just behind him is Lord Kestrel. This is the left side of the table centerpiece. Up in the right you can see someone's legs, that's EO, the Equal and Opposite man. EO is the upper center of the centerpiece.

Now, you see Maestro clashing with King Falcon. In the lower section from left to right there's General Zarose (bad guy), Galose, and Crazy Harry. You can see and arm up on the right and that belongs to Anubis's best bud, Horus. You'll see soon enough. Did I mention the table is made of oak? Well, now I did.

Now you see EO. To the left you can just make out Doomsday Weapon. On the right is a big clawed hand belonging to the Stardragon, Gilgameer. You can see a leg belonging to Nyhtwulf too.

In this image you see Anubis and Horus fighting a villain named Mr. Wicked. You can also see a tornado twisting away behind them and someone's shield. Yes, this table took a long time to do. Currently it's my work station where I do art.

Left to right, you see Lord Turindell (half angel/elf bard legend), Serka the gray elf, Jojo the dwarven sized lizard man, and Monolith the stone demon. Yep, there's more behind them, but too much to put into just one section now, so next;

Okay, so I really do need to take better pictures of my table now. When I took these, I was using a pretty basic grade point and shoot camera. It served the purpose but you have to look closely here to see all the characters. At this point, I could name them all, but you don't know all of them close up yet. Even if you've been following the FAN PAGE. You can make out Gilgameer's head, Boreas the wizard, the Kyte, the Serpent, and the other giganto guy is called Warhammer (yes, even those he's covered with axe blades). See what you can make out.

A closer look at the upper left of the table. You can see the dragon, the wizard, and one the right is Captain Bizarre. Look in the upper left hand side and you'll see a cosmic faerie. Yes, a faerie.

To the right, you find Red Rhok, Barger, and the spacey looking guy is called Omni. There's more to see as you go. These characters are on the fan page.

In this section you see Maniac and the Sphere. I will have a color pic of Maniac coming soon!

Here's another small faerie who appears on the table. Her name is Ecstasy.

So, I do need to get better photos and all of these will show up on the fan page as linked above. If you haven't already, visit and click LIKE. I appreciate all the support. Enjoy Galaxy Zento!

Making miniatures of Zento characters

First; these custom figures I made of my characters are for my own enjoyment and not for sale or to be marketed as Heroclix figures. Heroclix is property of Wizkids/NECA and no infringement of any kind is intended. Heroclix modding is quite popular and there are several popular artist who sell their renditions of well known characters. Again, I made these for my own personal enjoyment and to give a 3D rendition of what my characters look like.

Since that's out of the way, let me tell you about this work that I've done. I've even started a new folder at the Galaxy Zento fan page where you can see more when I post it. Unfortunately, these are not the most accurate views of my characters. You can compare the drawings if you like. It's just for a general idea. Some came out great while others stayed, well, "general". I've made almost a hundred pieces, so the photos you see are just the beginning.

I used to mod heroclix a long time ago and make quite a few characters that people wanted. This was before those characters got put into a heroclix set. To see some of those, you can check out my Facebook Album.

I keep all my Zento figures on a shadowbox shelf above my work table. That table, by the way, shows up in the photos. More of it to come soon. The important point is that I built that table. So I wanted the photos to be taken on the center of it. Unfortunately, the light isn't all that good so I will have to get some help or more light, or both.

In any case, this file will be one more reason to come on over to the Fan Page and hit LIKE. Stick around, there's much more to come.

My autistic gift?

It's no big secret that I have a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome. I've been an advocate for autism education and awareness for several years now. Children with Asperger's are often called "little professors" because they get so absorbed in one interest that they can tell you almost everything about it. The interest is an obsession really and they have a hard time breaking away from it to anything else. There are pros and cons to such an obsessive interest, of course. Pros being that interests could turn into careers. Cons would be that they take over the persons life and effective freeze them from going any further.

I have been asked many times, if my art and story telling might have been my interests. Well, my mother (who also has Aspergers) is an artist. I pale in comparison. My father was also very creative in writing and became an aerospace engineer to boot. My interests? Maybe. I also loved animals and can still tell you almost anything you could want to know about them. Thanks to some events in my life, I developed and oversensitive sense of justice and went into law and protective jobs. So, I had more than one interest really. The unfortunate side was that my life was very random and it put me in strange places. Cant' help it, it went the way it went. I was on my own at 14 because I ran away from school bullying and an abusive step parent. So I had a lot of life to build and learn.

Through all that, I appeased myself and entertained friends with my role playing game based on my stories. I didn't get the writing done back then because I still had a lot to learn, and my medical conditions were undiagnosed and in control.

I think my creativity may well be linked to my autism. I have a way of seeing the world that others don't.

In any case, I don't post this because I want any pity. No need for that. I've survived this long haven't I? I have a wonderful family, great kids, and a loving lady in my life. Being disabled is just another life challenge. And I don't want you to come and enjoy Galaxy Zento because of any of that either. I want you to come and enjoy it for fun.

While I'm making every effort to become published (like so many others) I want to share my universe with you while I still can. I have a lot to overcome and it's not going to be easy, but hopefully you will come along. That's what this is, you see, "overcoming". Nothing else.

That's why I will always stand for autism education and awareness, even through Galaxy Zento. Maybe that's my gift, I'll let you decide.

Galaxy Zento Fan Page

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'.

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)

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.

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!