I'm sure you've all noticed those words at the top of the page by this point, but what makes this "The People's Publisher"? Well, it's the fact that it leaves it up to the people to decide what's published. At least, that's what the statement says.

When you call yourself "The People's" anything, it's a bold statement. To the crew's credit, they have done an incredible job of following through on their slogan, but we've never discussed (as far as I know) what is expected of a publisher for the regular guys.

That's what I'm asking today.

For me, the publisher would need to be active with the regular folks. Not just letting them decide what gets made, but also reaching out to them to fill their needs.

A perfect example of this is giving back. Now, I know it is impossible to give back to everyone, but Dark Horse did a damn good job of giving back to the comic shops a while back when they sent every shop a free retailer-exclusive hardcover of Sin City: The Hard Goodbye.

However, they've done a lousy job giving back to the same retailers by never once mentioning the Comic Shop Locator in any of their projects that aren't comic books (movie, TV, etc.)

With time, I can say with almost 100% assuredness that Z2H will go beyond my expectations with what they will provide (which they already have) and, simply, what I would expect from "The People's Publisher"?

Anyway, the point of this wasn't to give love to the website I'm currently blogging on (okay, maybe it was a little), but instead to ask: What do you expect/want out of something claiming to be "The People's Publisher"?

Remember, keep it realistic. "FR33 COMIX ALWAYS!!1" and "EVERYONE GETS PUBLISHED!!" aren't going to happen.

Here's a pitch idea I have, but I need your help:

I'm so very pumped about next Sunday Oct. 19th. It's the 2008 Ottawa Zombie walk! This will be my first zombie walk ever, so now I'm trying to figure out what kind of zombie to go as. I'm thinking homeless zombie with a sign that reads " Will work for Brains."

The walk begins at 280 Beechwood Ave, the cemetary, and ends at Parliament hill. Looks like its going to be fun. If anyone happens to be in Ottawa area, come on out and join the party!

And you better believe I'm gonna take pictures.

Well, first off, CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FINALISTS! I see Blake Undying: The Broadway Extravaganza! in our futures.

I'm still too shaken up by the outcome and the stress leaving my muscles, so I'll just say this:



Deutschmaschine
2 parts freezer-cold vodka
1 part Midori Liqueur
Fill with white cranberry juice to preserve the green tint of the Midori (we only had red on hand, too bad)

Cheers and thanks for the support! CCN winners, Beta-Bookers, the real fun begins for ALL of us!
This is when Z2H starts pimping our books in style! :D

*jazz hands*

- Christian

Have a good long weekend everybody!

(we're having roast beast ourselves though)

Congrats on the top four ranking.

So all day long I've been beating myself up, wondering why I didn't get picked to get shortlisted to Greenberg.  I cried.  I stormed around the house.  I threw a hissy fit.  I nearly kicked the cat.  What is it that Yen, Crackwalker, Fetternity and Lord Maim have that I don't have?  How is it that they were able to accomplish what the rest of us could not?
Are they better writers than us?  I don't think so.  They're good, don't get me wrong.  But so are all the other CCCN winners and Beta books, so it's not that.
Is it because they are so good looking?  Well, they are a splendid looking group, but again, I don't think they have anything on the rest of us.  I mean, better looking than Mekikas, IanG and Will Gibson?  I don't think so.
Maybe they're smarter?  But no, we have mariathedreamer, MrIrony, Jayls and genrewriter so it's not that.
Their stories are somehow superior?  To those of Lotus, MorganJ, Ruroshen and DoctorNaberius?  Not on your life.
So what is it?
And suddenly, as I was taking the garbage out it hit me (the answer, not the garbage though the smell may have helped).  It's the one thing they all have in common that the rest of us do not.  The Gutter.
That is the missing ingredient in my recipe!
I wrote, I blogged, I had some fan art made up, I tried to find fans, but nothing worked.
And all I had to do was get down into The Gutter!

At least I'll know for next time!

I've recently hired a writer to my creative team for my future pitches here. His name is Stephanos Williams. And he's helping me with the script for my Blackbird Bluegrass script.

Expect the script to maybe be a bunch of story beats without dialogue. Hope that may change in the near future.

I'm hiring him to write a script story to my upcoming pitch "Johnny Rush. So look for the new pitch is the next few days.

For more on Stephanos, check out his DeviantART page.

This is an update on Stan's Last Deal. I've added another page to the script section. This brings it up to a grand total of eight with two more pages to be posted by Sunday. Also, the big announcement of the character I've had the most fun creating thus far, Marv! Who is he? How does he fit into the whole mess? Swing by and check it out, I look forward to reading your comments.

And Happy Thanksgiving to the entire Z2H community!


For anyone who wants to see an actual Satanic turkey heres a link.
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/DETHCHEEZ/EVILTURKY.JPG

Be safe and get stuffed! Get it? Stuffed?

I don't know if anyone else works the same way but I find I write some of my best material when I'm sleep deprived and exhausted. Tonight for example I'm absolutely beat, but I stumbled upon one of my old story ideas thats was half developed, cold, lonely and begging for money on the streets of Calcutta. So I picked up this forgotten gem of mine, polished it off and now its well on its way to graduating the Z2H Academy of story pitches. That being said my head is going to hate me in the morning but if thats the price of a good story, so be it.

Well, here it is, the complete story arcs for my new series, THE NEST. Any interested, read on. But remember, spoilers. I am looking for someone willing to draw it, so PM me.

==SPOILERS==

1. ISSUE ONE - The FLOCK are sent with RAVEN to a building were she has to do a secret mission. Inside RAVEN is captured by the GENTLEMAN. The FLOCK communicate with ROOK and MOTHER HEN and await their orders.
2. ISSUE TWO - The FLOCK are given a go to rescue RAVEN. Inside the GENTLEMAN abuses, beats and rapes her, slowly driving her insane. As the girls go inside, HEATHER is injured by one of GENTLEMAN?S accomplices. MINERVA stays behind with HEATHER. The other three girls head on.
3. ISSUE THREE - AMANDA, HELENA and DIANA get closer to the GENTLEMAN. HELENA splits and AMANDA and DIANA confront him, who is beating a bloodied and weeping RAVEN. They fight the GENTLEMAN and VALET. They defeat VALET. HELENA had taken a detour and found a point and shoots the GENTLEMAN. They rescue RAVEN.
4. ISSUE FOUR - After the battle with the GENTLEMAN, HEATHER is taken to the infirmary and RAVEN is cared for and taken to the psych ward. The other girls are debriefed. We meet more the girls, specially AMANDA and her mother, who decides to visit. RAVEN, now psychotic, escapes the psych ward and begins attacking THE NEST.
5. ISSUE FIVE - RAVEN?S attack continues. AMANDA tries to hide the happenings from her mother with HELENA?S help, whom eerily looks like AMANDA?S mom. MOTHER HEN appears and AMANDA?S mom goes and both girls enter the fray.
6. ISSUE SIX - The fight between the girls and RAVEN begins. RAVEN dispatches AMANDA and HELENA easily with her superior skills. MINERVA tries to find a way to stop RAVEN but is trapped by one of the fail-safes controlled by RAVEN. DIANA fights RAVEN and gets better also. MOTHER HEN appears and with the press of a button stops the rogue operative.
7. ISSUE SEVEN - Talking heads issue. The fallout of the RAVEN debacle. HEATHER finally reunites with the team. The BROOD gets together. AMANDA heads home for the day with her mom.
8. ISSUE EIGHT - Days after RAVEN?S attack the girls are sent on different missions. AMANDA and MINERVA are on an assassination mission, HELENA is infiltrating a building with DIANA. HEATHER is at THE NEST training to get her strength back. ROOK is instructing the girls. Suddenly an all-out attach on the field as a group following someone named the CUCKOO attacks the girls.
9. ISSUE NINE - Simultaneous attacks on the girls on the field. The FLOCK defeats the CUCKOO?S first strike but now HELENA has been hurt. MOTHER HEN calls them back because she discovered that the GENTLEMAN escaped somehow and they have to regroup.
10. ISSUE TEN - HELENA has lost much blood. It is discovered that she and AMANDA have the same blood-type. Further tests made by MOTHER HEN unveil that they are sisters. After the transfusion, AMANDA goes home to see how her mom is. MOTHER HEN also investigates the GENTLEMAN?S escape and discovers how it happened.
11. ISSUE ELEVEN - A few days later, AMANDA is at home with her mom. HELENA is with her. Her mom talks cryptically. At the NEST MOTHER HEN discover the real identity of the CUCKOO and how the GENTLEMAN was released with the help of a brainwashed ROOK, who shoots her. AMANDA?S mom reveals she is the CUCKOO and HELENA is her clone and sleeper agent. With a code phrase HELENA loses her control and attacks AMANDA.
12. ISSUE TWELVE - As AMANDA and HELENA fight, the CUCKOO heads to the NEST and a war begins between the CUCKOO?S forces and the NEST. The GENTLEMAN joins in along side the CUCKOO. DIANA, HEATHER and MINERVA defend the NEST. MINERVA is knocked unconscious and HEATHER is killed by the GENTLEMAN. In the cliffhanger AMANDA appears with tears in her eyes and blood on her hands.
13. ISSUE THIRTEEN - AMANDA asks her mom why she is doing this and the CUCKOO replies that it is simple revenge. They fight. The GENTLEMAN jumps in and DIANA tries to keep him off. As the fight between mother and daughter continues, the CUCKOO gloats, revealing a secret code word that could have released HELENA from her control. AMANDA smiles and mentions that she discovered it. From the shadows a bullet kills the GENTLEMAN and another hurts the CUCKOO; it is HELENA. The CUCKOO gets distracted and AMANDA kills her. After the battle, the cleaning begins. The team find out the death of ROOK and HEATHER. AMANDA says goodbye to the team, hugs MOTHER HEN and leaves.

Well after saying I would go back to Elemental a few weeks ago I finally did it.  Tonight I had the inspiration to update the characters, worlds, synopsis and re-write 5 pages of the script.  I found the Theme Song for it this week and it just fit with everything I wanted the story to be.  I struggled with how I wanted to start the book and actually had two very different scripts partially written.  I decided to go with what I had originally wrote but significantly revamp it.

BTW - It was great to look back at what I wrote a year ago and see what my writing was like.  Man a difference a year makes!

You can probably guess by the title of the pitch that it is about people with powers related to the elements (Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, etc) and their offshoots.  But trust me this isn't Captain Planet v2.0, it's not about going green and saving the planet.  I wanted to come up with a pitch where the powers that Elementals possess were somehow interconnected with the planet and this seemed like a good way to go.  I also stripped the entire corporation part out of the pitch as it wasn't necessary to the story as a whole.

At its core, its about a guy whose past catches up with him in the worst possible way when he has finally put everything behind him and started anew, but this time the risks to himself and those around him are greater then before and he can't runaway, he has to stay and fight.