December 7

The Battle of Oakenfall is here!

After a month of mind numbing work I have decided that work on the Novel had to end… What? Oh! It’s finished. I just did not want to push it any further, and instead leave room, and time, to work on the second part, when I could eventually get to it. You see, the Battle of Oakenfall was meant to speak about a particular event in the Armello Civil War, and I successfully did that. What I wanted to leave all of you dear readers with is a sense of “Oh, what will happen next?”. I have ideas, lots of ideas, but aside from hobby writing I need to do some work that actually brings in a buck, so that I can then continue my “writing for pleasure”.

In any case, here is the full, free PDF of the Battle of Oakenfall. It might not be the longest (or best formatted or edited) book out there but it’s my own. The final word count is 21,700 words, so not at all shabby for a first timer, eh?

The Full Novel (in PDF)

Enjoy!

Category: Projects | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 26

The Helmet

Sometimes when I cannot motivate myself to work on one of my projects I decide to write something a bit shorter. Usually I look for an image to inspire me, or a “phrase” or word. Anything to get the gears of imagination going. In this case I used an drawing that an artist at Comic-Con drew for me of a character called Meenoo. This young cub though small has the energy and bravery of the greatest heroes known to man. No shrubbery, tree or frog will stop her in her quests and adventures! So, here is a bit of Meenoo for you. Hope you will enjoy!

Forgive the poor image quality, but the scanner was doing a poor job so I tried to photograph it.

This art piece is by Karolina Jedrzejak. You can find her on facebook: facebook.com/rinrindaishi

Continue reading

Category: Short Story | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 25

Another day, another two chapters

Progress is slow but I am getting somewhere. Work and my studies have been sapping my strength but I am sure that by the end of the year I will either finish the novel (time permit) or at least I will be close to finishing it.

In any case! You did not come to listen to me moping, so here’s Chapters 4 and 5. Enjoy!

And just in case you do not know what this is all about, check on the right under “Ongoing Projects” the Battle of Oakenfall Novel. There you can read all the previous chapters!

Chapters 4 and 5

Enjoy!

Category: Projects | LEAVE A COMMENT
November 10

Progress Report – Battle of Oakenfall Novel (And a small preview)

Armello

While NaNoWriMo continues and I slowly progress through the novel (it will be tough as nails to get it all done by the end of the month) I wanted to share what I have prepared, to a greater or lesser extent, and that is the first two chapters of the novel.

While it’s just a small chunk of the whole novel, and we still have a way to go I think it’s a nice stopping point to introduce any and all those curious what this is all about.

So, if you wish to read the Novel in its current state (the first two chapters of it) follow the link below to the PDF and be free to download and print it as you see fit. Apologies for any mistakes in the text but I am not a great editor or even a spellchecker. I can at least hope it is readable.

Disclaimer(s): This novel will not be sold for any sum of money, it will be available for free download from this site. At the same time pleasure assume that the characters in the novel, how they are presented and how they act is not part of Armello canon/lore. It’s a work of fan-fiction, and as such I take some liberties in presenting the world in my own way (though hopefully close to the original).

http://smokingcatstories.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Novel-The-Battle-of-Oakenfall-Chapter-1-and-2.pdf

Enjoy and expect more!

P.S. You can also see the tapestry of the Battle of Oakenfall here.

Category: Projects | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 29

The Battle of Oakenfall is HERE!

Armello

A month of hard work and the Tapestry of the Battle of Oakenfall is finally FINISHED!

Oh, you hoped to see it here? Not so quickly!

Click here to go to the Battle of Oakenfall page, where you will get to see the final tapestry, poem and some more background information on the battle.

Or… click here to find out how the Tapestry was created, with a lot of sketches and drafts to keep you entertained.

Also, all of this would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of Travis Fam. Look at his Deviantart account, look at this work, and order commissions from him. I can be a starving writer but we cannot let the artists starve!

ENJOY!

Category: Projects | LEAVE A COMMENT
October 3

The Little Steps Toward a Larger Plan

Hey everybody,

You might be wondering about the visible lack of updates or new stories. Comics take time to make (the Armello “Comic” should be ready by the end of the month, no ETA for “It’s Over”) and stories take a bit of a time investment to write properly. That, and as of last week I have been secretly working on a project that, I hope, I will be able to turn into a larger series. Hush hush though, no details yet.

Continue reading

Category: Something or Other | LEAVE A COMMENT
September 17

Slight illness and Mini-Project Updates

Hey all!

Well, due to some annoying flu I am on anti-biotics until such a time that I fully recover (which should be about a week). But, fret not, work has been slowly moving forward.

The Script for the 1-page comic known as “It’s Over” has been approved and work is under way. I do not know when the first drafts will be ready (to give you all a sneak peak) but Joel needs his time to make sure the panels are as good as they get.

Now, onto the second Mini-Project. Together with Purpleground03 we are working a… “Tapestry”. Neither of us ever tried to create a Medieval Tapestry, so we are looking at actual historical works, and I sent forth a very rough sketch of what it might look like. I would show it to you all, but I am so shamefully bad at drawing I’d rather not.

If all goes well we will have two mini-projects finished by the end of the month, and what happens next? We shall see!

I am still figuring out how to work with Crowdfunding best, as it’s no easy piece of toast, and maybe, some time soon, I will be starting a small campaign for, at first, a shorter comic.

Until next time!

Alex

Category: Uncategorized | LEAVE A COMMENT
September 10

What am I working on now?

If you are curious what I have been up to lately then here is the scoop:

I am planning a few 1-page comics, for now one will be set in Armello the other in Fallout. I do not want to spoil the details just yet.

Other than that, I am researching ways of funding something a bit larger, namely a full-sized 24 page comic (in some instances this is considered a full issue), but what the comic will be about is still not on the table. It’s more about the calculations of the costs, and thus the needed funds to make it happen. And, most importantly, how to get them.

Still a lot of time before September ends, so who knows what will happen? I sure don’t!

Category: Projects | LEAVE A COMMENT