Elf~Fin Leaks and Peeks 33

Just wanted to give you a little bit of a hint about future characters in the second and subsequent issue of Elf~Fin: Hyfus & Tilaweed. We're not ready to release panel art just yet but we will show you a couple of our new supporting characters: Grall and Innahri who are both "Quoths" (rhymes with "goths") within a new pod.

A Two Trickster Christmas Treat

Jozef was lucky to attend a book launch a few days ago for Sophie Masson's new title Two Trickster Tales from Russia, which was launched by fantasy author Kate Forsyth in Sydney.

The book features two retold Russian folktales – "Masha and the Bear" and "The Rooster with the Golden Crest". It was illustrated in a classic style by David Allan, and designed by Fiona McDonald who happens to be a mermaid aficionado.

Sophie also has a connection to mermaids – or to be more precise – selkies. We covered her children's book Thomas Trew and the Selkie's Curse last year in a blog post.

Sophie is one of Australia's prolific children's fantasy authors. She is also the Chair of the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) and an advocate for children's writers and illustrators.

Two Trickster Tales from Russia is the launch title for a new Australian publisher called Christmas Press. You can find the names of stockists on the Buying Our Books page or order it direct. The RRP is AUD$22.95 plus postage & handling.

We've each got signed copies and we're delighted to add them to our respective libraries.

Congratulations, Sophie, David and the editorial and production team, for a major coup!

Halloween Black Mermaid® “Mer Mummy” Design Released

Black Mermaid Productions™ (BMP) has just released its annual Halloween design in the Black Mermaid® range of artwork. This year’s image consists of a mer mummy and fits comfortably in the horror oriented collection, which also features a mer zombie, mer ghost, mer witch and mer vampire.

Designed by Jozef Szekeres, this piece is also a departure from the more animated stylisation of previous designs.

The BMP Black Mermaid® silhouetted logo, which is beloved by many fans and who indeed has a Facebook page of her own, is the star of this design and the rest.

The design features on a range of t-shirts, greeting cards, framed prints, homeware and other collectibles that can be found at the BMP online shop—Black Mermaid® Boutique.

Support Mary Doe Trailer Kickstarter Campaign

“I also lend my voice to endorsing and celebrating in the film you are shortly to make. The script, planning and design you have already done is far superior than a lot of projects that we read and I have no doubt that you are on the road to making a truly wonderful piece of cinema.”

Richard Taylor, Creative Director WETA Workshop

5 time Academy Award Winner 
The Hobbit, The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy, King Kong

You can't get a better endorsement than that, and that's why we're asking our readers and fans to transition from mermaids to zombies for just a few moments in time and to check out a new Kickstarter campaign that was just launched by our great friends and supporters of 20 years – Nick and Paul from Makeup Effects Group

Nick and Paul are serious dudes with some serious screen credits. They've done Hugh Jackman's makeup in Wolverine, Aaron Eckhart's makeup in I Frankenstein, and even Marlon Brando's makeup in The Island of Dr Moreau. They've worked on The Matrix; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Babe and many more movies (check out their show reel at the bottom of this post). 

They are also kind-hearted and generous to a fault with a razor sharp focus on quality makeup effects and production values in everything they do. They are now transitioning from SFX to directing and producing. The first project they want to work on is a horror / zombie thrilled called Mary Doe. They've got all the infrastructure in place but need to raise $75,000 to film the trailer, which is the starting point for financing the film that has been building for the past five years. 

We LOVE these guys and have spent many hours talking comics, hanging out at their studio and going to movies together so please support the project if you can. We've included the campaign video so you can check it out here in the first instance. That's Nick in the second video.

Here's the link to the actual Kickstarter Mary Doe Promo Trailer campaign. If you've got some time, also just check out the Updates page, which has some other groovy material.

Most importantly, please dig deep to get them over the $75,000 funding line.

Halloween and Comics at Liverpool City Library

Black Mermaid Productions (BMP) will be exhibiting at Liverpool City Library at "Comics in the Space" on Halloween, along with several other top homegrown comics talent including Marcelo Baez (ManBat), Naomi Hatchman (Zeera the Space Pirate) and Sorab Del Rio (Zombie Cities).

Jozef will be doing live sketching at the event, which also includes cosplay, storytelling, prizes and signings. Retailer, Kings Comics, will also be showcasing and selling a range of great comic books and graphic novels.

Julie grew up in the Liverpool / Macarthur area and went to Casula High School where she also happened to be the school captain in her final year, so she is particularly looking forward to talking to library visitors and comics readers from her local area. 

Here's the info for your diaries:

Date: Thursday 31 October 2013
Time: 4pm to 8pm
Venue: The Space, Liverpool City Library, 170 George St, Liverpool NSW 2170 Australia
Contact: Pat Nguyen, Youth Services Officer on (02) 9821 9461
Website: http://mylibrary.liverpool.nsw.gov.au


See you there!

Mermaid Books 10 – The Marked Ones

Australian author, S K Munt, has recently published Book 1 of a paranormal romance trilogy about mermaids called The Marked Ones. It's an epic mermaid tale set in modern day Australian but filled with characters from all over the world. It focuses on mermaid bloodlines and their need to protect the environment in which they live and there's a love triangle to add a bit of steam.

The story has a  great set up in that mermaids have three purposes in life: to protect their environment from humans, to cultivate their bloodlines, and to keep the knowledge of their species a secret at any cost. For a 1000 years they have depended on the Court family to keep their species thriving, and the Ivyanne character is the next in line for the throne. Ivyanne is the embodiment of the mermaid fantasy  beautiful, kind and chaste.  But she has a secret, and when she returns to the mainland to live and work as a human, she finds herself facing him again – the only man she has ever loved – a forbidden human. Ivyanne has been running from the siren within for decades, ignoring all of her urges that might jeopardise her arranged marriage to an eligible son of The Marked Ones – urges that other mers within her kingdom embrace. It was easy to acknowledge them in the sea under her parent's watchful gaze but more difficult to suppress them on land where temptation vies for her heart.

The Marked Ones is aimed for big girls who have always dreamed of being mermaids, and big boys who always dreamed of being with one. Set against the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, this modern fairytale is packed with drama and action and hums with sexual tension.

The book is available in Kindle format from Amazon.

National Young Writers' Festival 2013

The National Young Writers' Festival (NYWF) is celebrating its sweet 16th birthday in Newcastle this weekend. It features 100 artists and 75 free events.

The NYWF is the country’s largest gathering of young and innovative writers working in both new and traditional forms including zines, comics, blogging, screenwriting, poetry, spoken word, hip hop music, journalism, autobiography, comedy, songwriting and prose. The festival presents ‘writing’ in its broadest sense through panels, discussions, workshops, launches, performances, readings, installations, and more. The event gives young writers a place to present their work and share ideas, to learn about the industry in which they write and to meet with like-minded people in a friendly festival atmosphere. 

Because the NYWF is officially coming-of-age, it has themed a few things to suit. The annual Saturday night party is the Paranormal Formal – a débutante combining dry ice and ectoplasm. The comedy showcase First Time for Everything will no doubt share a few awkward first kisses, and it’s followed by a for-real Sleepover – pack your adult onesie! The event has swapped the regular Spelling Bee for the infinitely more extreme Stop! Grammar Time!, and put together a panel entirely comprised of underage overachievers. Each of the Late Night Readings is themed around a key part of the adolescent canon, soaps, with Closer Each Day, Home & Away; Hi, Heartbreak; and Everybody Needs Good Neighbours.

There’s plenty of serious stuff too with a series themed around the powers of memory; an existential trilogy questioning why we write, go to festivals, or seek awards; a debate squaring off journalistic facts and personal opinions; an evening of readings on illness; a presentation of quality journal design; and a suite of workshops helping you write, pitch, create and feel better.

What will be of particular interest to comikers is the annual NYWF / TiNA (ie. This is Not Art) Zine Fair which has a new home in the NYWF HQ – the Blue Writer Disco at the Kensington. Come along for specialty coffee, cracking tunes played on vinyl, and zines, zines and more zines. The Zine Fair will be held Sunday 6 October from 11am to 3.30pm.

Here is the info you need for the entire event:

Dates: Friday 3 to Sunday 6 October 2013
Times: Various – check the event schedule
Venue: Various locations around Newcastle
Cost: Free

CLICK HERE to download the program.

CLICK HERE to check out the website for more information.