The Wish & the Will: A New Angle

While Chaz continues to puzzle over the finer details of Episode 4 (which will most definitely not be entitled 'A New Hope'). here's a visual sample of the forthcoming episode, courtesy of Mr. Frang.

Chaz commissioned Frang this year to produce a few pieces of artwork for the series, focusing mainly on architecture and aircraft design. As various forms of flying machine are integral to the books, and Chaz was never much of an aeronautics engineer, he was curious to see what Mr. Frang would come up with - and this one-man, hand-held flying device really caught his imagination:



We think this one ought to be filed under 'steampunk', even while Chaz has since refused to use that term any longer in connection with WatW.

As always, the first 3 episodes are still available for download from the banner links upon this very web page.

Wish and the Will: Episode 3 Now Available!

Chaz published the text-only Amazon Kindle version of Episode 3 over the weekend. Somehow we've also managed to bring the price down, too.

The fully-illustrated version will be available in due course via Lulu.com, once the interior artwork is completed - this will take a little while due to current client commitments.

Here's the blurb:

Back in the City of Old Mid, outlaws Jeth Sundancer, Renzo K. Castello and Claudia get their 'biggest ever bank job' off to a shaky start when a bank manager confuses a vault with cask-conditioned whisky. Once underway, however, unexpected spanners are thrown into the works and Claudia is once again reminded that being a natural redhead has lethal disadvantages.

Therein they encounter a Droxen lavatory repair man, who may secretly be the legendary saviour of the Grotmongers, a race of repulsive sewer-dwelling creatures who believe he will deliver them into a promised land of light and wonder (as foretold by the quatrains of Justin the Pustulant).

Desperation and misunderstandings combine to push Claudia and Jeth into an impromptu music-hall appearance in front of the Daemonlord Prince Marbas, and a highly excitable audience of Sli'ix aristocracy. But Marbas and his lords have eyes only for one beautiful performer – and it isn't Claudia.

However, events soon take a turn for the sinister as the forces of law muzzle the growing cries from the people of Old Mid for political representation and an end to tyranny at the hands of the Daemonlords. And as Duke Barbatos, Lord of Justice, begins to pursue his own agenda, a new and terrifying threat is unleashed from the secret cellars beneath the Headquarters of the Gang, the Duke's elite secret police...

(That is, in fact, Mr. S on the front cover...in one of the weirder scenes to grace this quirky series so far.)

Here's the link for UK readers.

Here's the link for US readers.

The Wish & the Will: An Illustrated Excerpt

Presenting a recent illustration for the epic fantasy series, episode 3 of which is due out soon...a Karityldian warrior chief of the tribe of people to whom one of the heroes, Captain Ssorg, belongs. The Karityldians are native to the mountains and jungles of Garuda, and their story is not unlike that of the Zulu nation at the hands of the British in the 19th C. The following excerpt is from a field guide published after one of the earliest expeditions to the Karityldian homeland...



Karityldians: A singular and quite abominable reptilian race to be found in the jungles of the North-Eastern Outlands, sufficiently far enough from the hub of our great civilisation to prevent offence to our refined sensibilities. Their primitive hunter/gatherer society could benefit from several thousand seasons' worth of contact with our own infinitely superior culture. Central to their society is the ludicrous belief that they are somehow superior to other races by virtue of their great antiquity and adherence to absurdly primitive spiritual beliefs which refer to unknowable, unseen beings referred to as “gods”. In short: I humbly propose to their Daemonlordships that an expedition be launched to exterminate these monstrosities and claim their mountainous jungle lands in the name of Middengarth's Geological and Surveying Society.

-From Notes on the Peculiarities of Diverse Races of Middengarth, And Why Gnoems are Better than All of Them by Grath Galladon, Gnoem first generation explorer

Text and art (c) Chaz Wood, 2011. All rights reserverd.

Labels, Genres, and Pigeonholes...

Chaz recently contributed an article on the use and value of labels, genres and pigeonholes in promoting and publicising fiction to a friend's blog. The post addresses general issues of promotion, and also deals with his current progress in determining exactly how to promote the 'Wish & the Will' fantasy series - specifically, how far one should go in making use of sub-genres and categories to reach one's target audience.

Read the full article here and show Julieanne some support on her page while you're there!

'The Wish & the Will'...Slight Return

Chaz has been thinking (and working) hard on restyling the visual identity of his current series of steampunk-flavoured fantasy adventures of late. The web poster above is the first of his new attempts at adding some depth and distinctive design elements to the books, as well as hinting at their medieval occult and magical origins.

The Wish and the Will Episode 3: A Sneak Preview

Episode 3 of the quirky comical steampunk fantasy series is well under way at present. Chaz is working on bringing a wealth of new characters and increasingly surreal situations into the series, all of which combine to create an intricate weave of weirdness and wonder. Due to the epic scale of the work, Chaz has just hired long-time artistic partner-in-crime Mr. Frang to provide some art and design works of a technical nature, and we hope to be showcasing some of those on this very blog in the near future.

In the meantime, here's a sneak preview from one of the aforementioned scenes from Episode 3, wherein Mr Sundancer and Miss Claudia, in ever-desperate attempts to evade the clutches of the Constabulary, inadvertently find themselves on stage during a Royal Command Performance...for an excitable male-only audience.

The Wish and the Will Episode 2: Promo Trailer

A new promo trailer for Episode 2 of the 'Wish & the Will: Sundancer's Regret', again featuring the further voice talents of Mr Dave Allison. With his help and collaboration, we may end up even extending these into small animations (rather than glorified slideshows), as he is proving particularly adept at producing individual character voices for many of the cast!



I feel the first effort was a bit too epic and ambitious for its own good, so I'll be making shorter, snappier clips in future. In any case, it's great to have somebody else on board the Fenriswulf boat who's enthusiastic about the projects and getting involved.

(If any browsing reader is interested in Mr. Allison's voice talents, he's readily available for all occasions, including weddings, birthdays, and bar mitzvahs.)

The Wish & the Will: Live on Kindle!

As promised previously, Fenriswulf are now throwing (just about) everything they have at the Amazon Kindle platform. The brand new, revised 2nd edition of Maranatha is now out there.

And the first two episodes of The Wish and the Will: Sundancer's Regret have just joined them:

Episode 1.

Episode 2.

Unfortunately, the limits of the Kindle platform have meant that we are unable to present these editions with the full-colour illustrated steampunk experience that is The Wish and the Will - however for those hungry for more, information is provided in the Kindle e-books to obtain these (free of charge).

And for good measure, here's the brand new promotional trailer for The Wish and the Will, which has just debuted on Youtube:



Busy old weekend so far, really.

The Wish & the Will Continues

Due mainly to the long-term holdup with Lulu's ISBNs, Chaz got cracking on with the steampunk fantasy serial...and has rather forgotten how to stop. Episode 3 is now well under way, with a good number of illustrations for that, and the fourth and final episode now in the bag. The entirety of Book 1: Sundancer's Regret will, at this rate, be completed inside the next couple of months. In truth, Chaz is enjoying working on this project immensely, and we hope this shows in the final product. Episode 1 is due out on Kindle in the near future, inspired by recent sales of Maranatha and The Black Flag (the latter which was seen to be sitting at #82 in the top #100 for Graphic Novels in the sci-fi and fantasy categories last week!)

However, due to the limitations of that platform, it has had to be shorn of all the full-colour illustration work which has become such an integral part of the stories - however, the complete, unexpurgated versions are always available from this very website, in PDF format. Just click on the WatW banners on the left.

In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the sneak preview image from the fourth episode of Sundancer's Regret. There'll be many more to come soon...

The Wish and the Will Episode 2: Now Available

...and it's STILL only £0.99 as well!

In the world of Middengarth, where fairytales and folklore are history, and magic still lingers in the air, strange things are afoot...

Outlaws Jeth Sundancer, Renzo K. Castello and Claudia have been chased out of Middengarth City by the forces of law and order, and now struggle for survival in the harsh realm of the Outlands. Herein, they have to contend with a crusty riverboat captain and his rag-tag crew; a psychopathic First Mate on board a trading vessel and an incredibly ill-fitting corset, all on the road to the 'biggest bank job ever'. Things are further complicated when Renzo & Jeth's old friend, Smiffy Smurkin, takes an instant dislike to Claudia on account of the colour of her hair and threatens their entire operation. How can our hapless anti-heroes hope to throw a spanner in the clockwork wheels of the tyrannical Daemonlords against such continued opposition?

You can download the new episode right here.

The characters now also have their own Facebook page!

The Wish & the Will Comes Alive on Facebook

While the silence in the Lulu.com corner continues to be deafening, Chaz is continuing work on the surreal fantasy digital e-book series, 'The Wish & the Will' (which at least doesn't require ISBNs to get out there). The series has already attracted some interest and sold a few downloads, so Chaz is understandably keen to keep the momentum going.

As such, he has recently decided to set up a fully interactive and in-character Facebook group for readers and interested parties:

The Facebook Group is here.

Currently the principal five characters are in the process of bickering among themselves as they struggle to get acquainted with the wonders of social networking, and take each other to task both on matters related to events in the books, and elsewhere. If time allows, Chaz hopes to expand the cast of Facebook personalities to include 'bad guy' individuals and even some of the strange and sinister Daemonlords who rule the fantasy world of Middengarth.

The Wish & the Will: Episode 1 Now Available!

THE CARDS ARE STACKED...

The world is in turmoil!

In the solitary city of Middengarth, the strange and sinister Daemonlords rule the inhabitants with ever-increasing firmness. The great City Clock stands still at one stroke before midnight, and the whispers on the street are that soon the Clock shall strike - to signify an event of literally world-shaking proportions that none could ever foresee.

In the Outside, the untamed lands far beyond the City, a cruel warlord known only as the Moderator kills or enslaves all those who wish a new society free of the Daemonlords and to exist in peace.

But one insignificant human is worrying only about his own skin. That is, until Fate decides to lend a hand.

When down-on-his-luck gambler Jeth Sundancer reluctantly teams up again with old partner Renzo K. Castello to perpetrate the 'biggest-ever bank job', the brainchild of the appealing but mysterious Claudia, he soon wishes he had stayed among the anonymous outcasts in Middengarth's Warrens...

For Jeth Sundancer; sardonic, weary and distrusting of his only friends; the cards do indeed seem to be stacked.

You can download the e-Book version of Sundancer's Regret: Episode 1 right here. 77 Pages, illustrated in full colour. Price: 0.99 GBP.

Read more about the Wish & the Will series here.