A New Look for Fenris...?

For a while I've been considering changing the FWB logo and coming up with a different illustration of the old Viking wolf-god for our visual identity. Not necessarily because I think the old one is lousy - I still really like it after all these years - but the FWB catalogue has branched out a lot since it was first created.

Recently, as part of work I'm doing on my epic Old Norse graphic novel/fantasy cycle, I came up with the following illustration - the goddess Hel and her two brothers, the serpent Jormungand and of course, Fenris (here depicted as a goofy cub who still has a lot of growing up left to do).

I thought about perhaps adapting the portrait of Fen here as a new look corporate ID. What do you folks think?



-Posted by Chaz

"Boys Don't Cry" by Ostragoth Publishing

Fenriswulf Books are always happy to help any fellow writers, creators and artists in the self-published and independent world of books and graphic novels. Herein Chaz is proud to present an offering from some fellow creators which he felt was deserving of a little extra publicity:



Teenage boys aren't known for sharing their fears and emotions, so if you're the father or sister of one, how do you know how he’s coping with his mum's death?

Fifteen year old Hunter isn't entirely sure himself, and even if he could put any of it into words, he no longer knows who to say it to.

"Boys Don't Cry" is the debut 80-page graphic novel from Ostragoth Publishing: Jacqueline Saville, Mark Pexton, Andrew Woods. Jacqueline is a sensitive writer, and Chaz has long been admirer of Mark Pexton's dark and beautifully detailed artworks on the Deviantart.com website. Andrew Woods is responsible for everything else, including layout and design, and has helped to bring together two fine creative talents in this (and other) projects. "Boys Don't Cry" is a well known song by the English goth/rock band The Cure, and the music of that band would make a fitting soundtrack.

Proof, if ever any was needed now, that 'comics', 'graphic novels' and 'illustrated fiction' are no longer the clearly defined genres that many believe them to be, "Boys Don't Cry" is something of a unique and beautifully emotive experience, laced with Mark's delicate yet incredibly naturalistic pencil lineart, and complimented by an exquisitely-wrought text. This is a low-key and intelligent work of art which is as unrelated to the worlds of vapid superheroes and other traditional comic-book trappings as is possible to find, and Chaz thoroughly recommends it to anyone who appreciates good art and writing. Even people who hate comic books.

"Boys Don't Cry" can be downloaded for free here - available under the Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND, where the print version is also available for £6.99. Their latest comic, 'Moon of Endine', can also be purchased from that page.

The free download is also available free from the Ostragoth Wordpress site, right here.

There's also an author's blog post about the book, right here.

A 25th Anniversary

Not content with this January being the 6th year since the conception of 'Maranatha', this month also holds another significant personal writer's anniversary for me - namely 25 years since I started writing my first serious piece of fiction, a truly epic work of adult fantasy (even though I was only 13 and a half when I began it!) inspired by Norse mythology, Wagner's 'Ring' cycle, 'Penthesilea' and many other things.

It's a strange piece of work, something I've deliberately abandoned at various times in the past until I felt I was more mature to be able to handle the material the way I wanted it, and illustrate it the way I felt it ought to be. I would regularly get so far and then decide that I didn't have the talent to pull it all together. First it swung one way, from heroic tragedy to more whimsical traditional fantasy, and back again. Now the pendulum's swung all the way around and the work has evolved into what I reckon will be its final stage, fused from the salient points of all the previous incarnations and the multiple revisions and dramatic evolutions. The writing of it has been an epic drama in itself. By turns frustrating, exhilerating, time-consuming and demanding, it's something that's always been a part of me, and probably always will. This I now attribute to the very powerful symbolic themes and motifs which inspired it, and which I've always regarded in the very highest esteem.

And what has actually helped to pull it all together has not been new writing, but new illustration works, which have taken on a somewhat industrial - even science fantasy - edge, to create something that is new and yet true to its origins, like a post-modern staging of the 'Ring' Cycle itself that delves into the deeper symbolism and meaning with radical set design and costuming, my re-imagining of familiar characters and scenes is throwing up brainstorms of creativity right now. I know this is working well, because it was the exact same process which kicked off my work 'The Wish and the Will' recently, and led to a similar flurry of action (producing three full episodes and dozens of full-colour illustrations in less than six months).

In all the time I've worked on this (still untitled) series I reckon I've barely pulled together half a dozen chapters of finished work that is actually worthy of the name, yet I've filled hundreds of pages and written hundreds of thousands of words, produced dozens of sketches and a stack of finished illustration works since 1989, of varying quality. In this 25th anniversary year (I did say in an earlier post that I'm a sucker for this kind of thing...), to the very month when I began this thing on a cold winter's evening while enjoying a break from school due to the severe weather, I took the executive decision to finally make it happen. Yes, I'm in the middle of half a dozen other writing projects, and have recently just started taking on new illustration commissions again. Yet lately I've been buzzing with a nervous, excitable creative energy whereby I simply want more - more things to do, and the ideas have been surging around with the power of a storm. It's a long time since I've felt this wired creatively, if indeed I ever have at all, even during my blast-through of 'TWatW' this time last year.

And in the meantime, I present one of those new works of visual art which is helping me to focus so clearly on the biggest, sprawling, most chaotic mess of a book I've ever conceived!

A Random Thought...

Don't you just hate it when you nod off over the laptop during a spot of writing or editing, and when you wake up you find you've filled 94 pages with the letter 'd'...?

Now Active on Livejournal.com

Chaz has recently started a new account to discuss writing and related matters over at Livejournal.com.

If you have an account there, feel free to add him. His profile page is right here.

The Origins of 'Maranatha', The Trinity Chronicles and Fenriswulf Books

I'm a sucker for anniversaries, even if they mean nothing in themselves - but it is exactly six years since I started writing in earnest what would later become my first (self-)published novel, 'Maranatha', and lead to the foundation of Fenriswulf Books and this very blog.

Inspired by a Discovery Channel documentary on the Holy Spear of Jesus (of which I'm watching an old video recording at this very moment), I could never have known just how serious that work would become. Nor quite how heavily that documentary would inspire the book and the rest of the series - from the metallurgical examination work undertaken by Dr Robert Feather (that which is attributed to the brilliant but erratic young scientist, Vanessa Descartes, in 'Maranatha'), the mythical origins of the spear and its history, and the subplot of the heroic Roman legionary commander, St. Maurice. The Hitler connection wasn't ignored either but, knowing it was rather suspect and slightly cornball, I played down that aspect as much as I could while keeping the concept of a dreaded 'Fourth Reich' as a publicity tagline.

That hour-long TV programme sent me scurrying to my vast collection of books on King Arthur, the Grail, the Templars, unorthodox Christianity, alchemy, and medieval European history, but even they weren't enough to provide me with the deeply-layered and complex treasure hunt of a plot that I sought - well over a hundred internet webpages also contributed to the conspiracy which pulled Professor Tomas de Carranza, Dr. Emanuel Khalamanga and Vanessa Descartes together. The developing plot convulsed more than a dying serpent possessed by the Devil, but that was part of the fun - for there were times I had no more idea of what was going on, or why, than any of my characters did. It's not a method of plotting that I can recommend to anyone, but it works for me and from my recent correspondences with other writes, I know I'm not unique in this habit.

So, six years on and 'Maranatha' still hasn't made my fortune or my name as a writer, but it continues to sell, and despite a couple of less than ecstatic reviews, nobody has, as yet, actually disliked the book, and the intended entertainment value remains undiminished, it seems.

And as I write this, I consider the future of de Carranza and Khalamanga, and the others. I have dozens of pages of notes for the sequel, 'The Keys of Heaven', and I expect I shall, sooner or later, find myself drawn back to that world of dark religious conspiracy, personal faith, history, myth and science. In any case, I'm sure there will be plenty of exciting twists and turns to come.

'Sword of Lochglen' Issue 3 finally arrives!

...and well ahead of schedule, too!



It took a while, but Chaz & Frang at Fenriswulf Books are happy (and relieved) to announce that Issue 3 of the Scottish comedy/drama series is now out there in print format.

Chaz received the first print proof in the post today (remarkably quick service from Lulu.com, considering the time of year) and found no problems with the issue, barring a few artistic tweaks required for the front cover.

We'll be putting copies into George Cordeiro's 'Black Hole' comic shop in Dundee as soon as Chaz has received the first printed batch, but in the meantime you can buy it right here exclusively for the special price o' £1.99 direct from Lulu.com or from the Lochglen official site. Why this issue turned out cheaper than previous ones is known only to the bods at Lulu.com who keep fiddling with the pricing structure, but it means we won't be bothering to offer a digital download on this edition - as the print version will only work out a few pence cheaper than the PDF equivalent.