Hoodie: Reality Killed The Vigilante

My new ebook, Hoodie: Reality Killed the Vigilante is now out to buy from Kindle.

 

Reality Killed the Vigilanteis a story that holds a close place in my heart because (although it might sound strange once you have read it), but I feel that it has the most of me in it, compared to any other of the material I have put out there.

Interlinked to this, was my belief that I could show the world that an ebook could be so much more than just prose written on an electronic page. I think that this might all have come from my love of comics as many people tell me that they want something more than just the comic page when they get a digital comic. With that in mind I started to think how could I make this even more special. I already had one of the ideas cooking in my head but I also wanted the reader to have something to listen to when they were reading the book. So I made a music list. However the music list grew and grew until finally I think the best way to describe it is as a reference list. The reference list includes a lot of the mediums that inspired me to write this book. From philosophical ideas to paintings, to comic books, to music it is all there for you to see and pick up if you please. These are the things that inspired me and here are just a couple of them:

• Radiohead, (2001) ‘Amnesiac’, Parlophone Records
• My Chemical Romance, (2010) ‘Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.’ Reprise Records
• Descartes, R (1968) Discourse on the Method, Penguin: New York
• Baudrillard, J (1994) Simulacra and Simulation (The Body in Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism), University of Michigan: Michigan.

Before you say it I know I am a bit of a tease when I do that but I am going to do it again in a minute. On this project I have had the pleasure of working with three fantastic artists. Staticgirl drew the cover for Hoodie 1 and 2,

Staticgirl’s cover to Hoodie 1 and 2

and Matthew Craig drew the cover to this volume.

Matthew Craig’s cover to Hoodie: Reality Killed the Vigilante

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But there was more to this book than just standard prose. There is a scene near the end of the book that I had always visualised as a comic and therefore I thought it would be fun for the whole thing to change into one. I hired the talented Steve Horry to draw the pages and I can say they have turned out incredible!

An image of Hoodie from panel one, page one, by Steve Horry

So all that is left to say is that I hope you buy Hoodie: Reality Killed the Vigilante and that you enjoy it!

New Hoodie Cover

Hoodie has a new cover, drawn by the hugely talented http://staticgirl.deviantart.com/

Check it out

Check out Hoodie 1 and 2:

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006IC2Z52

US: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006IC2Z52

Comics Anonymous Shout Out

Recently, Comic Anonymous came to one of the Glasgow League of Writers meetings and were kind enough to write an article on it. They also included a shout out to Hoodie.

 

Thanks a lot guys. Really appreciate it.

 

You can read the article here

 

You can check out me ebooks at:

 

UK: here

 

USA: here

Payback

A new Sam o Hara and Jessica McIntyre thriller, Payback was released today.

Check it out here.

USA: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0078JY692

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0078JY692

Hoodie 2 trailer

The Hoodie 2 trailer has arrived.

Check it out

You can check out Hoodie 2: Witch Trials on amazon

UK: B00619WWB4

USA: B00619WWB4

Becoming The Witch Doctor

At the moment I am working on the Hoodie 2: Witch Trials trailer.

For that it means that I have had to dress up as The Witch Doctor for some of the scenes.

So this is how it went.

This is how I always conceived The Witch Doctor

Now I could not get the dreadlocks but I thought that a hoodie (so important in this book!) would work well and give off a menacing look.

So this is my transformation.

The Hoodie 2 trailer should be up soon.

In the mean time if you want to check out Hoodie you can by clicking these links:

UK: B0053CNRAK

USA: B0053CNRAK

And Hoodie 2: Witch Trials by clicking these links:

UK:B00619WWB4

USA: B00619WWB4

Eagle Awards Nomination mentioned by Graphic Scotland

Graphic Scotland has mentioned that Hoodie and myself, Luke James Halsall have been nominated for awards at the Eagle Awards alongside fellow GLoW members Gordon Robertson, John Lees, Gary Chudleigh and Gill Hatcher.

Check it out here

You can vote at www.eagleawards.co.uk

Check out Hoodie

UK: B0053CNRAK

USA: B0053CNRAK

Hoodie 2: Witch Trials

UK: B00619WWB4

USA: B00619WWB4

One Nation Under The Hoodie

Hoodie and myself Luke James Halsall have been nominated for the www.eagleawards.co.uk

Vote for Hoodie for favourite comics related book (question 25)  and Luke James Halsall for favourite new comer writer (Question 1)

You can check out Hoodie on the amazon website.

Hoodie

UK:  ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1325623427&sr=8-2

USA: B0053CNRAK

Hoodie 2: Witch Trials

UK: ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_3

USA: B00619WWB4

Hoodie 1 and 2

UK: ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_5

USA: B006IC2Z52

Conceptualising The Witch Doctor

The villain for Hoodie 2: Witch Trials is called The Witch Doctor. The Witch Doctor came from many different influences but first I want to share with you the main reason why he did not appear in the first book. I have long been an avid comic book fan and believe that often it is best to let your greatest villain shine later on in your series. Lets look at film versions of comics. Batman Begins works much better than Batman (not just because it has an awesome script, Nolan, brilliant cast etc) but because Batman has the air time to shine. In Batman he had to share it with his arch nemesis that meant that his characterization was completely void. Batman Begins no-over overshadows The Dark Knight. Further when the time came to bring the Joker in it was just as effective because the character was so well built up: he was rounded, three dimensional.

I wanted to try and do something similar with Hoodie. I am not sure whether The Witch Doctor is his greatest villain but everything that happens in this book will effect Hoodie in book 3 and 4: everything is down to The Witch Doctor and his influence. When writing Hoodie I want this series to show every action has a consequence: just look at his origin! Therefore someone as lethal as The Witch Doctor will have huge effects on Hoodie, his life, and the city he lives in.

So how did I come up with the character you might ask?

Well first of all I remembered back to my childhood and I thought about how I watched wrestling. At the time there was a character called Papa Shango. He was a voodoo character and he scared me like never before.

Papa Shango

From here onwards I started to think about Witch Doctors. I thought about how they are always seen as great and good figures: I wanted to do something different. I wanted to take their opinions and show how someone completely screwed up could mess around with them. I was already taken by Papa Shango’s costume but I wanted to do more research. Once I saw another picture of a Witch Doctor I knew I had the right villain for book 2.

traditinonal Witch Doctors

As soon as I saw the mask and the hair I knew that I was onto a winner. I loved the way they looked. I thought to myself that here is a character that could look truly terrifying at night if modeled right. I wanted to modernise the costume though and decided that the mask was the best thing to keep. I want to take what I will call the hair and use dreadlocks instead for greater effect. So the mask itself has a huge role in the book and the story.

Here is what I think the mask would look like in the book.

If you want to check out Hoodie in the UK click here and in the US click here

If you want to check out Hoodie 2: Witch Trials in the UK click here and in the US click here

Hoodie gets Lauried

The genius artist known as Iain Laurie has drawn Hoodie. Here it is!

 

Check out Hoodie 2: Witch Trials in the UK here and the US here

 

Check out Iain Laurie’s amazing All The Dead Superheroes