Steamcon Bound!

After quite some time away from the con/event circuit, Lizzie and I are going to be at Steamcon V this year signing books and having a blast! We have a table in artist alley and will have a bunch of new and old titles for sale. In addition to the two Dreams of Steam anthologies I'm in, we'll have Her Majesty's Mysterious Conveyance in which both Liz and I have stories in as well as the re-issue of the first Thomas Riley book and the brand spanking new Thomas Riley and The Maelstrom! We're also taking part in the Steamcon Passport shenanigans so stop by our table to get your passport stamped for Libertania! So, if you're in the Northwest or want to fly up for an amazing time, check out the Steamcon website here: http://www.steamcon.org/steamcon_v/index.php There's still time to get rooms for the discounted rate!

We're very excited to see our steampunk friends again if you get a chance, pop by our booth and say hi!

Random notes:
The steampunk RPG game is coming along nicely. We've been working on a variety of famous airships, gangs and next famous criminals!

For my hockey friends, the Predators open the season in St. Louis tonight! Go Preds!

Promised Sands Kickstarter

It's no secret at this point that Liz and I are working on the story book for an RPG game being made for the Harsh Realities game company. This particular game won't be out until 2014 but in the meantime, (Ok, I just had to stop writing and go listen to Helmet) I think it's about time to give a signal boost to their current project, an amazing RPG game called "Promised Sands" which I may have a very small part in as well. Part of that requires a touch more funding though. They've done a sweet job getting over $3000 in funding but need more for some really cool stretch goals. So if you like top notch RPG games, take a peek at the Kickstarter for Promised Sands... Gamers beware, once you get into this, you'll totally be hooked.

Just working with these guys gives me a profound respect for the intricate detail and passionate care that goes into Harsh Realities games. Seriously, it's literally like stepping into a new amazing world where everything is viewed in gaming high definition.

See the Kickstarter here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1299187159/promised-sands-for-sixcess-core

Like Harsh Realities Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/HarshRealities6S

Check out the Harsh Realities website: http://harshrealities.org/

Forks Washington

I have no shame in my game. Two years ago, we took our oldest daughter to Forks Washington because she loves all things Twilight... I mean really loves all things Twilight. Now honestly, I was never a fan myself, but her pure love for it reminds me of my love for all things Star Wars... So her excitement is infectious and fun. Before the whole Twilight craze totally dies, we wanted to take her and the rest of the kids to the place where it all takes place one more time, Forks Washington. I mean who am I to tell her what to like and not like, if she likes it, then I'm going to support her happiness.

For all the hype that surrounds the town, it's a tiny place with a few hotels, one primary road, a few diners and a smattering of essential shops. But packed in this three thousand person town is a myriad of tourist destinations made famous by the books and movies. For those in the know, there's the Swan's house, The police station, the high school (sign), the hospital, Bella's workplace, and the Native American Indian reservation of  La Push, to name a few.

We went with all three kids, Liz's sister, Jen, her daughter Autumn, and her son, Noah. Oh and we brought Luna. So everything was crazy, all the time. But you know, for all the craziness that went on, it was a great time and no one had any issues or problems... it was somehow a pretty stress free trip (yes with five kids and a puppy) and we had a wonderful time seeing the cheesy landmarks, shopping for the last hold outs of Twilight souvenirs, and eating at the places that were either in the movie or had Twilight themed food. (I will say that the Bella Burger and Twilight punch at Sully's is the best thing to eat in town.)

So in short, our trip went like this: We arrived on Friday around dinner time, we ate at the diner where Bella and Charlie ate in the first movie, Liz and I went to the Grocery/Hardware store where Bella apparently worked to get some snacks and beer. The next day was Twilight mania day. We visited and  took pictures at Bella's truck at the Chamber of Commerce, visited Dr. Carlile's parking spot at the hospital, back to both of Bella's apparent workplaces, the high school, the last two remaining Twilight-esque stores, the police station, the "Cullen's house" (which is a B&B) lunch at Sully's Burgers, then to First Beach in La Push where Jacob is from. We spent some time at the beach then went to the "treaty line" where we had dinner. By Sunday, we were pretty worn out but went to Port Angeles to have lunch where Bella and Edward had their first date but sadly it was only open for dinner, so we went to the apparent bookstore where Bella got vampire books and had lunch at a surprisingly pretty good spot called Smuggler's Landing. A whirlwind of a mini-vacation but a great time had by all. And we have pictures to prove it!

 

The Grown Ups in front of Bella's Truck

 

Luna Running on First Beach at La Push

 

The kids at Dr. Cullen's parking spot at the hospital. Noah is doing his own thing.

 

Lizzie, Luna and I at First Beach

 

At the "Treaty Line"

 

The kids at Bella's truck

 

There are two hardware stores in Forks. Both claim that Bella worked there... This one had her vest, so naturally, Kaya posed for a picture.

 

Trystan at First Beach in La Push.

 

The view at first beach. I think it looks like a scene from The Goonies.

Luna

We are big time animal lovers at our house and giving our Siberian Husky, Skye, to another family was heartbreaking. At the same time I know she has a better life full of long hikes with outdoorsy people in the Washington wilderness.

Lizzie and I went on the search for a dog that would be a better fit for our family. We looked at a multitude of dogs and did a lot of research on behaviors and breeds. Among the types we checked out Havanese, French Bulldogs, Pugs, Poodle mixes, Yorkys, and Pomeranians seemed to be the best for us.

After visiting a multitude of shelters and pet fairs, out of the blue we came across a female runt in a litter of "Porkys" (Pomeranian/Yorky) and we absolutely fell in love. Upon seeing her picture, we both knew she was the one.

An amazing 9 week old puppy, we snatched her up and named her "Luna" after Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. She's a typical puppy, full of energy, tiny play growls, naps and pure unbridled love. Being that she probably won't get over ten pounds, she's manageable and eternally cute.

Meet Luna

12 Awesome Logos

Like everyone else in the world, my entire life I've been surrounded by advertisements. My dad has been a successful professional graphic designer for decades, doing work for The Oak Ridge Boys, Bridgestone, and Kyzen Chemicals to name a very few. Ever since I can remember, typograpghy and creative advertisements were pretty much a part of my daily life.

I dabbled in following the family business but I seemed to have more passion for other creative things like music, stencil art and writing, but I never lost the love I had for cool eye catching logos. Since I moved to Washington, I've been taking pictures of logos and such that I think are pretty impressive. You'll see I have a love for a certain style and for some reason, I love animals on my logos... can't explain it, just do. They look regal to me, royal and important if you will. Also, I tend to gravitate toward a dark look and alcohol labels... that last one's a given I guess. And I just love the stencil aesthetic which you see a lot of in the logo's I like.

I'll continue to take pictures of logos and labels as I find them but here are the top 12 for now.

I love dark designs. I've been drinking Avery Brewing company's White Rascal for years but I must say whomever is doing their label is killer. It's sinister yet beautiful and darn it, now I want one! I rarely see cans of this stuff, but I found this at the local "Harbor Greens" market in Gig Harbor.

My picture is poor but this beautiful design is a beer label fashioned for the amazing HBO show, Game of Thrones. The Iron Throne Blonde Ale was pretty good but I couldn't help appreciating the complex and old world gold and red and black design. Hmmm, is the "Iron Throne BLONDE Ale" a spoiler alert? Go Khaleesi!

Ok, I'm from the South, so I love BBQ. I have no idea if this stuff is any good but the label is cool. It's also very stencil-esque so that speaks to me too. It's a bold design which translates that the sauce if bold as well. Well, that's what they're going for I guess.

This one's a bit simple, but I dig the 2D stencil-ish demon head... see another theme? I mean who wouldn't be excited to get a box in the mail with Diablo printed on the side? Even if it were saw blades.

I've never had Sheep Dip before but the name is a huge turnoff. How can anyone make it cool and inviting? Put an angry woodcut of a devilish sheep on your label, that's how! I'm a fan of anything that hearkens to antiquity and I can almost see running across this in an Edwardian era pub. Even though it probably isn't, the design makes me think it's old, with a recipe that's been handed down and hand crafted through the ages. Let's give the ole' Sheep Dip a try.

This is not that unusual, but I like the turkey and you just can't help noticing the shiny gold and black package. At 100 calories a bag, I've heard this stuff is amazing. Eye catching... check.

I'll admit, I used to be a hard cider hater, and I'm still a beer guy at heart but I've learned to appreciate a good hard cider and well, besides having a cool fantasy/Lord of The Rings looking design, Angry Orchard makes good stuff. The colors are impressive and pop right off the can. It's like a painting, how can you not want to try it?

How can a mouse trap be cool? Just stick an ultra cute mouse inside the V on your logo, that's how. I seriously want a shirt with their logo. I'd rock that around town like it was the latest Prada design.

I have not had this brand of cider yet but the Rhino is awesome! So is the typography in my opinion. It says it bold and dry and traditional without reading a word. Pretty cool and of course the angry stencil Rhino is awesome. Yeah, I'd rock this as a shirt too.

This is a little different for me, but it caught my eye. It's the old style that I like. Come on, it looks like a dog biscuits recipe from your crazy great great grandmother that used to hand make dog treats for strays on the farm. That has to be quality stuff right?I want to get these for Luna. (More on her soon)

I'm a sucker for labels and well, anything that has edition numbers on it. I guess it comes from my love of limited art and toys. It also doesn't hurt that it's kind of a dark design and it has an old school demon guy on it beckoning you to jump in head first.

Now this is just bad ass. The negative space armored Spartan is brilliant and it instantly relays the message that this is a strong, determined, tough company that's not afraid to get their hands dirty... or spend a little money on a great logo. Also, it says a lot about a company like a "Sewer and Drain Cleaning Equipment company" to make themselves look good... I mean who would expect such a weird company to be so forward and proud? Kudos guys! If I had any need for Sewer and Drain Cleaning equipment, you'd be the first I'd call.

So that wraps up my logos for now. I'm sure I'll make a new post semi-soon as I come across some eye massaging logos and designs.

July Updates

Some cool things are afoot! First off, the release of Thomas Riley and The Maelstrom is going very well! I'm in the planning stages now for some signings so I'll let you know when and where I'll be with the brand spanking new book in hand. You know I love rubber stamps right? If you haven't seen it yet, here's the stamp that will come with every signed copy of TR2.

If you haven't gotten your copy yet, here's where you can get it: (TR2 is now available for the Nook!)
Amazon.com

Kindle

Barnes and Noble.com

Get Thomas Riley for Your Nook

I can't say a lot about this yet but I think I can say that Liz and I are working on the story book for a steampunk RPG game coming out in 2014 from the Harsh Realities game company. It's going to be huge and super fun! I'll let you know more about it when I'm allowed to do so.

Life is good, we are as busy as can be.

The Haps

So what's the haps? I figured I'd give you all the scoop on what's been up in Liz and mine's lives. First off the blog tour is going super well. Thank you for EVERYONE that's hosted me so far. My next one will be live this Friday on Cabin Goddess.

Presale Thomas Riley and The Maelstrom
I have to apologize for the delay in the presale books. So far they have not reached my door but I am assured that they are on their way. So, if you've ordered a book or three, I thank you and I whole heatedly apologize for the delay in getting you your signed copies. I promise, I'll have them to you ASAP.

For this blog I'm going to take a little break from book stuff and give you all a glimpse into our lives. We've been busy between work.

Leavenworth WA
I've been hearing about this Bavarian themed town for quite some time. I've been to Hellen Georgia which is very similar but I have to say, Leavenworth is even cooler and bigger. We went with Liz's side of the family and had a great time. Pretty mountains, good German food, and of course, Hoffbrau beer! We also got treated to the water park which was about two hours from our home base but wow was it fun.

       Everything is Bavarian in Leavenworth

        The girls on the way to the pool

             Lizzie and I downtown Leavenworth

Lizzie and her brother Brian at the playground before the Beer Olympics

Skye and Goulia
When we got home from our trip, we had a little incident with our pets. Skye, our Siberian Husky who for some reason was not getting along with her dog sitter decided to break a window to get inside the house and flush our cat, Goulia outside. Note that Goulia is not an outside cat at all. Skye is kind of a crazy dog. Anyway, after having a missing cat for a while we finally found Goulia in the middle of one of our huge (and very complex) bushes in our front yard around midnight. We then took tree clippers and hacked the bush until we could get to the traumatized kitten. She's doing good but it made us realzie that as much work as we put into Skye that sadly another family might be better suited for a more active and outdoor oriented family. Much to our sadness, we gave her to a wonderful couple that love to hike and camp. It killed me to do it, but I really had to consider her happiness over mine.

                                 Goulia says hello to the Internets

                            We will always love you Skye


Rattlesnake Lake
Liz and I also took a Sunday and worked at one of Northwest Trail Run's events. We basically hung out at an aid station providing water, snacks and information for runners doing half and full marathons. Again, pretty mountains and good times with my girl hanging out with runners.

               The starting line for the half marathon

          There are no rattlesnakes at Rattlesnake Lake

                Lizzie manning the aid station

Stanely and Seaforts
We got a huge surprise gift from my cousins so that we could celebrate the release of Thomas Riley and The Maelstrom. A night out at the famous, Stanley and Seaforts in Tacoma, WA. We feasted on a multitude of dishes, (we like the tapas style of dinning) so we got a bunch of things to try, Salmon, Steamed Clams, Steak, Oysters, Scallops, Lobster Mac and Cheese. It was awesome and such a blast. We also had some good beverages. I had a Dark and Stormy and a Spiced Long Island Iced Tea. Lizzie had a Moscow Mule and a glass of white wine. Great times, great place and a killer view of the port of Tacoma. Thanks so much Jim, Beth and Nate!

           Here's Lizzie with her Moscow Mule