Niteblade News

Tapestry of Tales

Book review by A. R. Braun

In Tapestry of Tales, Sarah Deckard gives us a multitude of protagonists and antagonists to entertain us deep into the night with the timeless writers’ question, What if? What if the elder brother of twelve sisters becomes a necromancer and tries to destroy them by dancing them to death? What if when a princess kisses a frog, it brings her to ruin? What if waking Sleeping Beauty invites a sanguine doom?

Sarah’s warped fairy tales bring to mind yarns I learned in school with a fresh and evocative twist. The lusty, violent and sometimes perverted plot twists are something you’ve never read before, though you’ve perused the basic plots. ”Zodiac Dancers” brings the reader to a hidden underworld of dangers. “The Enchanted Kiss” makes the reader question selfishness. “The Sleeper” ends in a way you won’t see coming, showing her expertise when working in the dark fantasy genre.

I found the collection quite refreshing, a genre I don’t usually read but was able to enjoy whole-heartedly. The tome is not predictable or tiresome, the stories bringing to mind morals, questioning avarice and narcissism and evoking surprise and sometimes shock when the endings are revealed. I definitely recommend this to any fantasy aficionado.

Shadow of the Antlered Bird
Book review by Amber Stults

Shadow of the Antlered Bird is about Tam.  Born of a fairy mother and human man, he’s at an age where he wishes to strike out on his own and learn more about the human side of himself.  He uses the knowledge of magic gained from his mother to keep her from finding him.  It’s not that Tam is superior at magic or his mother’s ability is inferior.  In fact, she’s quite powerful.  He uses different materials in his spells in order to obfuscate his mother’s ability to track him.  As a result of her interference with one of Tam’s spells, something is released that has desires of its own.  And it wants to have Tam’s life by any means. 

April, a human, joins Tam on his cross-country trip simply because he’s her friend.  It doesn’t hurt that he’s kind of cute too.  She teaches him more about being human than he was able to learn on his own.

The fairy world of David Sklar’s making is not like the others I’ve encountered.  Many have dark undertones in their dealings with Tam but they aren’t malicious.  They recognize whatever is after Tam is powerful and they’re more worried about self preservation than about angering Tam’s mother. 

The themes in Tam’s story are timeless ones told with humor and honesty.  Shadow of the Antlered Bird is an engaging read that happens to be a page turner.

Unholy Embrace
Book review by Amber Stults

Unholy Embrace by Neil Benson is the tale of what happens to Frank after he meets a vampire in a bar.  Frank is an architect in his 30’s who spends his spare time oil painting or drinking Heineken.  He does not believe in vampires, werewolves or other supernatural creatures.

His mind changes after meeting Nessa, a Hungarian vampire who is several hundred years old.  Whatever his intention when he enters the upscale vampire nightclub, he leaves with Nessa and a chance at love.  His association with Nessa brings him into contact with werewolves and other supernatural creatures he never imagined he’d meet.

Chapters vary between Frank’s and Nessa’s point of view but mostly the story is told from Frank’s viewpoint.  The plot is solid but the characters didn’t come alive for me.  Their interactions with other people are minimal.

Benson’s back story for Nessa is solid and believable.  At first it’s difficult to see what Nessa finds attractive about Frank.  The attraction is probably his skepticism and his loyalty.  This book has action sequences and love scenes but is not a straight horror or straight romance so keep that in mind if you’re not a fan of both.

A pale faerie ponders in a sepia wood. A blue-lipped beauty tips her head alluringly beneath a Gothic arch. An exotically attractive otherworldly assassin stands proud beneath a green moon. A weird but strangely intriguing figure in red wanders a checkerboard world. A lavender-haired heroine looks to follow her path of destiny through a tortured landscape. Fantasy goes digital in the colourful creations of the digital artist Junior Mclean.

O. Mclean, Jr. showed artistic talent from an early age. A self-taught graphic designer, Junior studied basic web page building and then began work on graphic and digital design for a handful of clubs and events. He found great artistic and practical inspiration while working at various anime and comic book conventions in the New York City area. He now wishes to be an inspiration to younger generations, hoping to motivate the creativity of future artists.

Being greatly influenced by the art of anime, much of Junior’s work exhibits an anime vibe. Once he discovered 3D rendering, Junior began to connect with others interested in that style of art. Working as a freelance digital artist, he creates and sells various 2D/3D print designs, as well as fractal designs. Mid-town and Times Square are his favourite sites to hang out and work on his digital creations.

You can check out more of Junior’s art here:
http://www.freewebs.com/slayer_x/
and products featuring his art can be purchased here:
http://www.zazzle.com/SlayerX

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Review: Tapestry of Tales: Classic Fairy Tales Retold
Author: Sarah Deckard

Reviewer: Kari Wolfe, Imperfect Clarity

Did you ever wish you could change the ending of the fairy tales you read as a child?

In “Tapestry of Tales: Classic Fairy Tales Retold,” Sarah Deckard has taken a large dose of fairy dust and sprinkled it liberally on her keyboard.  Using fairy tales such as “Rapunzel,” “Rumpelstiltskin,” and “The Little Mermaid,” she has rewritten them, changing the narrator’s point of view, their ends and even the story themes themselves.

Ms. Deckard has done a great job of keeping the original spirit of each author alive in the stories she has chosen.  The themes chosen fit seemlessly into each setting as you might remember and add a surprising touch and modern twist to the stories.  For example, in “The Gilded Cage,” a spin on the story of Rapunzel and her long hair, we see a more independent Rapunzel who slowly realizes the world isn’t necessarily what her rescuing prince tells her to be.

The stories I enjoyed most were the ones I had read as a child such as “Little Red Riding Hood,” Ms. Deckard’s version entitled “Beware of Wolves.”  In this adaptation, we learn that sometimes it’s not the wild animals that you need to watch out for.

Being partial to books that draw upon my own reading experiences, it was fun to try and determine what the original fairy tale was and then to see how Ms. Deckard took the characters and made them her own.  Ms. Deckard has brought the childhood world of the fairy tale to adulthood.

                                            Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist

                                                   Book Review by A. R. Braun

Hiram Grange is an unlikely hero. With a penchant for loose women, drugs and booze, who would expect him to be a demon hunter? But that’s exactly what he is, fighting to keep the demons in hell and off the streets. A long-haired, gun-toting protagonist who loves hard-loving, young chicks? You know I’m all over this series!

In Hiram Grange and the Digital Eucharist by Robert Davies, Hiram shows up with his cohorts, preventing a demon named Giblis from entering our world. He does so, but not without sacrificing the life of his now worst enemy’s girlfriend, a lithe, supple beauty. The other survivor gives him The Scorpion’s Kiss, a bomb blast of a drug stash, hoping it will do him in. Hiram must go up against the Occultionist’s Tower, a deadly corporation helping the demon, Giblis, come back into the world . . . and now he’s hunting Hiram, the man responsible for preventing his entry last time. Will Hiram have to drink The Digital Eucharist, a symbiotic potion primed to take the conscience of man away, to gain entry and fight the demon?

I enjoyed the raw humor and the subject matter. It wasn’t a bad novella by any means. Some of the description at the end I felt a bit anticlimactic. Everything else was rock solid, nothing boring and tedious. There’s plenty of gripping, gory details and amazing artwork throughout the graphic novella. The non-cumbersome ninety-seven page read held my attention throughout. It’s definitely the best graphic novella since Stephen King’s Silver Bullet. I could have done without the author’s comment at the end, saying mimetic writing is for wimps when talking about writing of lobster girls and laser beams. Seeing as two other writers wrote the first two books, this comment doesn’t make sense to me. Otherwise, a quick, fun read that kept my attention.

A. R. Braun

Just a quick note to let you know that the impossible has happened. My submission inboxes are both empty. Empty! That means I have responded to every submission I’ve received as of this exact moment. If you’ve not heard from me I didn’t get it, so please resubmit. It also means I need some more submissions to consider for our September issue. As of right now I don’t have very many pieces accepted, so there are lots of spaces left for your work.

p.s. We re-opened to fiction submissions today.

Issue number twelve of Niteblade is now live and ready for your reading pleasure. It’s a shorter issue than many of our previous ones (as is reflected in the reduced price for the pdf) but it’s packed with awesome. I kid you not. Check it out, and leave a comment on your favorite pieces — the author’s really love that.

Also, how awesome is that cover? <3

The March issue of Niteblade included a short review of The Field on the Edge of the Woods.  It’s my pleasure to give you something else related to it before Volume II is released.  Mike “Frick” Weber took time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions about the project.  The interview begins with a question that was on my mind when I saw who was given credit for Volume I. 

How did you get the nickname “Frick”?

Swim team in high school . . . my real name is Mike, and there’s a lot of other Mike’s out there . . .  so it kind of stuck, I think it makes it easier for other people to keep track of all the Mike’s they know.

I read in another interview you wrote the story, Gary Morgan does the penciling and Loran Skinkis handles the inking.  The Field on the Edge of the Woods is a collaboration that competes with home life and other jobs for time.  How often do the three of you meet to discuss and review the project?

Does NOT ENOUGH qualify as an answer? . . . I think we’re all on Verizon wireless so we talk and text a lot . . . when we do meet, it’s usually about once a month, and it serves as a great deadline of sorts.  While I don’t think most artists like deadlines, they are very helpful to keep us all on track.

Why was the decision made to release The Field on the Edge of the Woods into four volumes?  I’ve read the first volume.  It hooked me in but left me with a lot of questions while I wait for the second volume.

Well, we’re new at this . . . so I don’t think we’d be able to keep up with the timeline of doing a once a month issue, so we figured we’d do our best to give the reader twice as much (48 pages) and sell it for less than that standard Marvel or DC issue ($2.99).  . . the downside is where we are now,  having to pretty much beg the patience and forgiveness of the readers while we put together the next 48 page book.  We’re a work in progress.

How long did it take from the first meeting to produce the first volume?

1 year.

I’ve heard the stories from Jeff Smith and Terry Moore on what it’s like to independently produce a comic.  For them it was doing nearly everything from start to finish while their wives helped with some of the distribution duties.  How do the three of you divvy up the work?

It’s funny you mention Terry Moore, I met him at the Pittsburgh Con last year and talked with him and his wife for about 2 hours on producing independent books . . . he’s a very lucky man, not only is he talented, but he has a great wife to help out with all of the production/marketing, which is a full time job in and of itself.  I’m the one usually doing the marketing and promotion, even though we all reach out via emails, facebook, shows, stopping by shops . . . it’s not unusual for me to spend 4 or 5 hours a night just sending out emails to various people in the industry . . . it takes away from everything else, but it’s the only way to get your stuff out there, and when you stop spending time and doing things like that . . . the interest you’ve created pretty much dries up.  We just started a facebook page of the book (THE FIELD ON THE EDGE OF THE WOODS) so hopefully we can use it as a way to reach out, keep everyone updated, and let them all share along in the process by posting pencils, sketches, roughs, and previews.

How long has this particular story been in your head?

Wow, 19 years . . . it grew from a 1 Act Play I wrote in high school.  And it just kind of bounced around and grew . . . I’m a big day dreamer, and I listen to sound track music a lot in my car, so it’s kind of like my own private movie theater in my head.  I wrote it as a film script, and when I got together with Gary and Loran, I let them read few of the different stories I’ve written and then they picked the one they liked . . . they like THE FIELD ON THE EDGE OF THE WOODS, and I hope you guys do to.  (wow, that’s so cheesy, did I just write that? . . . yep, I did.)

Why did you choose the comic book format to tell it?

I’m a filmmaker at heart . . . and now I am also a husband, father, and monetary provider . . . who loves to spend time with his family AND loves his job (video producer / director / editor) . . . and the last indy film I did (KEEPING THEM BLIND) really kicked my ass (am I allowed to swear?) . . . I did pretty much everything by myself, and it took so much time and effort, not sure I could do it again without sacrificing too much . . . and making comic books is just like making a film, except that you stop at the story board stage . . . for the most part.

Do you have any writing rituals or superstitions?

No.  Unless “praying what I wrote doesn’t suck” counts?  Hmmm, the first and second drafts never really see the light of day, and my wife is the first person to read the third draft.  Then I pray again “that it doesn’t suck.”  And if I’m really feeling down, and start feeling like a not talented, slug, who couldn’t write out a name tag . . . I shut everything down and go to bed.  Things suck a lot less the next day.

Is it difficult to turn your words or stories over to other people for interpretation?

No, quite the opposite . . . Gary and Loran are so damn talented, it’s a huge thrill to see each panel (and I’m not just trying to suck up to them . . . well maybe?) . . . I so wish I could draw like them!  It’s really cool when they add something that I didn’t even think of and it turns a triple into a home run.  (sorry, I like to use a lot of analogies)

The web site, www.filmsandcomics.com, has a three-part film available titled Keeping Them Blind.  What are your future film plans?

There are 5 parts and they’re on youtube.  FILM PLANS . . . Hoping to see this book take off, and perhaps serve as director, producer, or even an editor.  And with that, I have to really thank friendly people like you (Amber), Rhonda, and Niteblade . . . you guys don’t know us from a hole in the wall, and yet you wrote back to us, and were kind enough to look at our book and give us a review . . . and NOW THIS, an interview . . . WOW, we can’t thank you enough.  So when this book does take off (and it will) and when we do make our make in the industry (and we will), please know that you guys had a big part in it.  Thank you!

Thank you so much for allowing us to get to know you and The Field on the Edge of the Woods better.  Below are thumbnails of some images from Volume I.  (Click on them to see the larger individual panels.)

The table of contents for our June 2010 issue, Flea Market Zombies, has been finalised and I’m proud to share it with you. In no particular order:

Poetry
Lycanthropia by Simon A. Thalmann
Flea Market Zombies by Brian Rosenberger
Star Seed’s Arietta by Linda D. Addison
Mid-City Amusements by Alec B. Kowalczyk

Stories
Sympathetic Noose by Iris Macor
Woman Called Witch by Doug McIntire
The Little Girl and the Balloon by Ben Loory
Shinigami by Benel Germosen
Basement Shade by Bill Ratner
Survivalist by Kevin Brown
Stoke the Fires by Brad Chacos
Icarus Redux by Elissa Malcohn