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.

Character spotlight: Falconer and Sersi

His real name is Dar Macabon and he lived on the planet Chyssia as leader of the royal guard for many years. Then his team was framed for the murder of the king and they were forced to flee to protect their infant princess. Because Chyssia is where the game of Chess really originated, they were called chessmen without a king and the name stuck. They became the Chessmen, fighting to go back home.

Dar earned the name of Falconer when he rescued an injured red falcon in the mountains. But this was no ordinary bird. Her name is Sersi, a mystical falcon and very rare. Being highly intelligent and capable of speech were only the beginning with her. Sersi is an amateur spell caster and getting stronger every year. For the sake of her team she specializes in healing magics, but her combat prowess is nothing to dismiss. Her power dive comes with a peal of thunder and red lightning. She can fell a thick tree with one pass.

Dar has power over the elements and weather. He can generate storms and manipulate elements in any form. He can make earth churn like water and shape fire into anything  he can think of. He can generate micro winds for shoving people out of they way or full force hurricanes. In a major fight he prefers lightning but is highly practiced in every angle of his abilities.

When it comes to his team, Dar is deeply concerned with their innocence and the effects of being forced away from home. His leadership is firm yet caring and conscientious. Sersi is in love with him but keeps that fact well hidden, hoping to one day change form to a humanoid woman for him. Together they inspire a team loyalty that surpasses most similar hero teams.

Dar's most notable drawback is his personal guilt over what happened to his team and the situation they are in.  He feels he should have seen the whole thing coming and no one, not even Sersi, can convince him otherwise. (Avoiding spoilers, you'll just have to read Chessmen to find out.) Dar also prefers to avoid combat if possible, but he isn't afraid to deal punishment to anyone who earns it.

Falconer and Sersi in combat are a fearsome force to behold. If he doesn't have to worry about his teammates, he and Sersi can clear a battlefield of minor threats in seconds. He can obliterate heavy artillery and possibly even throw it into orbit. Both of them can fly in space with assistance of Sersi's magic and Falconer's ability to carry an aura of sustainable atmosphere with him. He can channel lightning in space, but the lack of other elements restricts his abilities.

Their dedication to the princess is stronger than any known bond and they protect her with their lives. The only thing more powerful is the drive to take her and the team back home.

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!

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!

Meeting Challenges

Brave the hurricane

No matter where you try to publish anything in any genre, there are an army of challenges to face. A lot of them are in marketing, gaining an audience, and taking rejection. The greatest of all challenges however, are in yourself.

Completing projects are typically the number one hurdle to scale. If there's one thing we authors do well, it's procrastinate. But that's not the only factor to work with. Self doubt, writer's block, and changes in ideas are all common demons of any creative work. Challenging perceived norms is another hurdle, if that's something you do. I know I do because I write stories and apply my universe to board games as well. Some people seem to think that's like crossing the streams in Ghostbusters.

As if the natural layout and environment of challenges weren't enough, you have to challenge yourself. What do I mean by that? I mean you have to push yourself. Whether it's coming up with that new idea or just finishing an art piece of chapter. You have to give yourself deadlines and push for them any way you can. We all know, if we get to that plateau we dream about, the deadlines will be imposed on us. We have to ready ourselves. Practice those deadlines now.

And don't get too down on yourself when a deadline doesn't work. Don't succumb to self doubt.

"If you begin to doubt your power, you lend power to your doubt." Yes, I just quoted an old movie, Mystery Men. Laugh away, but you know he was right.

I have multiple projects on my desk all the time. I have challenges of time management, completion, and self imposed deadlines all over the place. How do I handle them? I put my head into the game and just keep forging forward. It's the only direction worth going in. Right now, as many of you know, I'm pushing work through on my first expansion set for my board game, but that's not all. There is a cool surprise coming right along with that. It's been an additional challenge to keep my mouth shut about it. Then Chessmen2 is in final edits.

I have the challenge of appealing to varied audiences (something I will get more into later on). Board game audiences and book audiences are very different. But if you are a game designer, this advice holds just as true to you as it does an author. You have a lot of work to do in components, rules, and theme. You have management in development and manufacturing depending on how you follow through and what sources you use.

Not unlike being burned alive

Our age of self publishing ability can actually lend to a dangerous level of laziness because it's so damn easy to just publish whatever you want. This means you have an additional challenge of surpassing an ocean of crappy work that's all around you. And all the audiences for all aspects can be not only critical but unforgiving.

There is a lot of wonderful advice out there on developing board games, writing books, and publishing all of the above. I think, the best advice possible, is to just DO the work. And keep doing it. You have to have a special love for this too or you won't be able to handle it when someone says you suck. Another challenge, bad criticism hits hard. But keep doing the work, even if you fall flat on  your face. Your refusal to give up will eventually speak in your favor.

Next time I'll delve into understanding audiences and how diverse they are while being very much the same. Keep creating!

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!

Open Challenge to Graphic Artists or...

In the past week, I've been hit with enough unhelpful negativity to dig ten graves. Allow me to explain while simultaneously issuing a serious challenge.

I've been trying to follow the advice of the gurus and blogs by going to certain web pages (Facebook and elsewhere) to get feedback and more advice on moving forward with making Galaxy Zento the Boardgame. What I got, I was in no way prepared for. On two pages that I will not name, I was immediately told that my work:

"will fail"
"looks like a child did it"
"is awful"
"sucks"

And several more fine gems of pure "your work is so bad you should get someone else do it".  Should I? Well, here's a little clue for you. If you are going to talk to me like that, it won't be you.

Yes, I've admitted I can't pay anyone, but you didn't know that before my explanation. For all you know, I could be up for a small business loan tomorrow. I'm looking for people who can uplift, not put down.

I was told to go to these pages for advice. I didn't get that. No one tried to suggest formats I could learn. No one tried to explain WHY a layout didn't work. Only that it's awful. Sorry, that's not helpful by any means. It also does not fit my situation. I was talked to like I should already know all about graphic art. But if that were true, why would I be there asking advice in the first place? Try to figure that one out.

NOW> If you can read through all that, check your ego at the door and still give me two cents of your time, this is what I actually need and what my actual situation is.

Important note: I do not expect to be the sole artist of  my project. I'm losing my abilities to Multiple Sclerosis. As painful as that is, I know I can't be the one and only and I know it hurts my artwork. I don't need reminders of it.

But I have a universe of serious opportunity for the right person or team. I have a cast of amazing characters and I'm about to release my second novel (third book total). I have plans for a series of customizable and interlinked board games. Play testing has been overwhelmingly successful at three venues. There are plans here for more than even just that.

I need someone or a team to take up the job with me, hand in hand to take GZ to the next level. If you think you can do that, then we need to talk. But first, go to my page and get to know my universe. I'll send you my books OR you can get them for kindle for just 99 cents. We can skype or talk on the phone and get to know each other.

Now there's one more thing. I want GZ to help kids. I want to inspire kids with disabilities like autism to never give up. Think you can get on board with that?

By the way, my awesome wife is my business manager and we are a geek gamer family. I'm actually easy to work with and willing to take all your design ideas into consideration. I'm not a tyrant. I want your talent to shine with GZ. You lift me and I'll lift you.

You need to be serious and ready to roll up your sleeves. You need to be ready to be a part of the grand design. Think  you can handle it?

Other places to go with GZ: Card games, graphic novels, and apps. I have the idea building blocks for them all.

If I can't find anyone I have no choice but to go forward myself, win, lose, or fall. I'm not getting any younger. So if you don't want to be on board, but still want to lend your advice, fine, but I don't need to hear how I'm going to fail. So save the negativity if you please.

Character Spotlight: Major Xeroh

Major Bjonn Xeroh (Zero) is is from the planet Ruwano, just like Viro. He's loud, boisterous and over confident. In equality to those traits, he's also a major dork. Fortunately for the good Major, he has great power to back it all up. Viro thinks he's a blowhard, but it's unknown if Viro knows they come from the same planet.

The Major left his planet to escape constant misuse of his powers. He didn't want to be part of Ruwano's violent military force or experiments. He wanted a more noble purpose and found it on Chyssia. People weren't sure what to make of the man who never shows his face, but his cheerful attitude won them over. As for never showing his face, the Major is a military deserter on Ruwano and wanted for trial. That's something, even his closest friends don't know about him. Now he's devoted to the Chessmen and woe to anyone who would harm their child princess.

Major Xeroh's power is the source of his awesome confidence. You'd be confident too if you were a cumulative mimic like him. What does that mean? Not only can he use all the powers of his friends, except Messiah; but he can use the cumulative strength, speed and reflexes of everyone within 50 or so yards of him. What does that mean exactly?

Take ten men who can all bench press 300 pounds. Put the Major near them and he can instantly bench press 3000 pounds. If all those men can run 20 mph, the Major can run 200. You literally add the specifics of all those men together, but there's more. When Major Xeroh mimics abilities, he also enhances them by about 25% so he's even faster, stronger, and more agile than before. He can also control what powers he uses, and never uses a power that would change his shape. The more people you send at him, the more powerful he becomes.  So how do you beat a guy like that?

Major Xeroh cannot mimic academics. Magic users have a distinct edge against him and heavy weaponry can hurt too (unless he's already too powerful). The trick is not to mob him at all. One attacker with the right weaponry or knowledge in combat could outfight or outwit the Major. He has his own strength and agility that is residual of using his powers for years and allows him to fly in space, but that's considerably less than it could be if a whole force attacks him.

Major Xeroh revels in being a hero and doesn't mind letting everyone know that fact. The last thing that makes others around him curious is the eye lens. It's actually a scanner that shows him people,s powers and lets him see where people are who might be hiding in the bushes.

While his loud attitude may be annoying, he's possibly one of the most powerful of the Chessmen and a great ally.

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.

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!