Creating a Graphic Novel : Art – Food – Photography

Tabby Sketchbook has been launched on Kickstarter! Please support it if you can as well as share the link around. It’s been a crazy 24 hours since it was launched, it reached its funding goal already so the project will be going ahead. It did it in less than half the time of the first Tabby Kickstarter!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1917428739/tabby-sketchbook-graphic-novel

Cover :

Click for Epilogue – Page 2

Big News coming up! The Tabby Kickstarter Kickstarter was a great success. One of the rewards was original sketches from the artist P.R. Dedelis. Some examples of these sketches have been posted as previous posts! (Have a good dig through some older posts to check them out.)

Anyway . . .
I’ve planning to launch a Tabby Sketchbook through Kickstarter later in July! This will contain lots of the sketches from the original Kickstarter project as well as new ones! There will also be a new short original story (in COLOUR!) included.

Keep watching this webpage or the Facebook Page for more updates as they become available. A quick sneak peek at some of the new sketches!

Zoo :

Titanic :
Read more »

During Supanova Sydney 2015, I had the opportunity to meet Australian artist Sarah Ellerton. She did this amazing commission of Princess Zhu from my upcoming Dragons project. The scan really doesn’t do it the justice it deserves!

Dragons – Princess :

Click for Epilogue – Page 2

Tabby will be making its first comic convention appearance at Supanova Sydney this weekend from Friday 19-Jun-15 to Sunday 20-Jun-15. There will be a Sigmate Studio delegate on the Friday however you’ll be able to get Tabby autographed from me on Saturday!

Where will Tabby be?

Tabby will be at A021 & A022 on Table 5 with Sydney Comic Guild. Please drop and say “Hi”! It’s so exciting to have a table displaying my first published book. Looking forward to meeting everyone on Saturday!

Some additional character designs from my upcoming project Dragons with the artwork from P.R. Dedelis. The initial arc of the first story has a very Asian settings borrowing Japanese, Chinese and Korean elements in theme and designs. This is a sneak peek at the production process at this point as I’ll be covering more of the story in another post. (Until then . . enjoy the amazing designs!) Hua has definitely been the character I have had a fantastic time writing.

Dragons – Hua of the Elite Guard :

Dragons – Rong :

Dragons – Thug :

Dragons – Princess :

A sneak peek at a character concept from P.R. Dedelis. The detail is amazing! This one is a fantasy story and what’s a fantasy story without a princess?

Dragons – Princess :

A previous Kickstarter (Nyobi) has been successfully funded! At the time of the Kickstarter, I was provided the pitch version to review as the comic was still being worked on. Now that the Kickstarter is done, I am excited to see the Nyobi rewards been shipped out, Nyobi selling out in local comic stores and even appearances in upcoming conventions.

Nyobi is definitely progressing from strength to strength. (Larry has already mentioned to keep a watch out for more news on Nyobi #2!) The full copy of Nyobi has been provided to me and I was looking forward to reading the whole story.

Cover :

Nyobi Review
Larry crafts an interesting human interest story. The titular character Nyobi isn’t the main focus, it follows the depressing story of Lucas as he bullied and victimised by his school peers. There is a gradual build up as the reader sees Lucas’s day go from bad to worse.

I really enjoyed this story telling which is refreshing from standard superhero fare. With no supervillians or save the world (city) agendas, the human element came shining through. More of a backstory of Nyobi will probably be covered in future issues (it’s covered in a fact sheet at the end but would live to see it drawn out!) however it does not detract from the story.

I’ve liked Coates’s artwork on Psychosis and he does a great job here to find the story. The grey tones (rather the colours) suit this story a lot better. There is a fantastic splash page (No spoilers!) of Nyobi near the end of the story which is great. The panelling is very standard and I would love to see Coates experiment with different panel shapes or angles to create different sequential visuals.

Should I check it out?
I have read through a lot of various “indie” comics and most unfortunately fall into the standard revenge (“You killed my brother/sister/mother so I must now . . .”) or the superhero team to save the world. It’s something that’s different and well written by Higgins and pencilled by Coates. Definitely worth checking out!

Click for Epilogue – Page 2

Tabby has made it to its first book store! I love the way they have setup the display for Tabby. You can now purchase Tabby from :

Berkelouw Books Balgowlah
24/215 Condamine Street
Balgowlah NSW 2093
(02) 9948 1133

It was the most surreal experience to see the display and people browsing through your work! A big “Thank You” to Ros from the store for all your assistance to make this happen. There’s 2 signed copies in the store that you can ask for!

Last Daughter of Lilith :

Last Daughter of Lilith is available on Amazon.

In Katrina’s ordinary world everything has a place and there is an order to life. In one day her orderly life is completely shattered. Her parents disappear, a handsome man shows up at her doorstep and she comes face-to-face with a world she also assumed didn’t exist. She begins to confront her demons (both literal and figurative) while gearing up to fight a battle that will decide the fate of both her new family and the rest of humanity.

Coming Undone :

Coming Undone is available on Amazon.

Coming Undone is a personal memoir about my search for love, happiness and peace of mind. Finding love in this digital age isn’t easy, here I offer my journey to help others persevere. There are no easy steps to happiness. It is attainable, if only you have the courage to find it.

I was provided sample chapters by the author J.L. Metcalf to review her work. She was kind enough to give some of her time to answer a few questions as well.

Thanks for your time! Let’s start with with Coming Undone. It was obviously an intensely personal project. The foreward of the novel by Celeste was heartfelt and intense. It provided a peek into the unique bond that you both share. In regards to the journal writing, I understand that those entries may have been written a while ago. Did you consider editing your original entries so they link better and tell the story?

The footnotes are not all that abundant and the breaks were meant for me to allow myself the time to personally analyze and clarify my journey. I felt that the memoir read as I wanted it to read. Again, I do see your point but I felt that in order for me to be as truthful as possible, I had to create a narrative that delved into the issues and then also saw the point of it all.

Was completing such a personal project a cathartic experience?

It was an amazing experience for me. After publishing my first book, I hesitated writing this one. It is obviously extremely personal but the idea kept nagging and nagging at me and then, one day, I sat down and wrote this all in a week. It was the story I needed to tell and I hope that I am able to help even one person with their own struggles.

Was there a single “lightbulb” moment in journey from depression to happiness where things feel in place?

There was no “lightbulb” moment in my journey. It was a struggle and a joy to have to go through the process. I haven’t come through it entirely but the worst is in my past. The fact is, in a journey of self-discovery, some people have those “lightbulb” moments and some do not. Sometimes it’s a gradual process and that’s what it was for me.

Last Daughter of Lilith was your first novel. Great work! The premise was definitely interesting! Nice build up with the mysterious dreams of the “Shadow Man” to what happens when she argues with her parents. What was your inspiration for Katrina?

Katrina isn’t based off anyone. She became, over the seven years it took me to write the story, a person I really loved. She started off so weak and powerless but starts to come into her own by the end.

What happens next?

Oh my goodness, so much happens!! I am hopeful to write this “Last Daughter of Lilith” into a trilogy so we can learn more about who Lilith is and her motivations along with finding out more about some of my other characters. As for “Lilith”, you’d have to read the book to find out more about Katrina’s journey!

A trilogy! Good luck with your work. I’m sure you have a lot of directions you will be taking the character. Thanks again for you time and wish you all the best in your future endeavours.

Click for Epilogue – Page 2

The sketch rewards for the Tabby Kickstarter have arrived! I’m planning to be doing a lot of packing this weekend. They are even more incredible in real life and the pledgers are in for a real treat. All the Tabby interior sketches also arrived and they are incredible, it’s hard to describe the feeling of actually holding them in your hands.

Package :