Cursed Blessings Kickstarter

It launched yesterday and is doing OK, please do pop over to :-

Cursed Blessings Kickstarter

and check it out.

Cursed Blessings Kickstarter

The pre-launch page is up now, should you wish to be notified on launch.

Cursed Blessings Kickstarter

... and here's a great little video pulled together by Andy Bloor

Thanks Andy.

Cursed Blessings Kickstarter

My Cursed Blessings Kickstarter is coming together very nicely, the book looks really solid (with big thanks as always to Andy Bloor for his design work).

I'm just trying to work out what tier rewards (tempting extra etc) to put up with it. It's a challenge when the stories are only loosely related (at this point) but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Exeter Comic Con

Got an invite to this, it's a bit of a trek but as it's 2 days and I'll have Steve Tanner riding shotgun I thought it would be a good way to spend a weekend.

it's the weekend of the 10th and 11th of October.

Exeter Comic Con.

BURY Con 26

As we're up in the North West, we head further north after MaccPow and stay in a hotel in Bury so we're refreshed for the Bury Con.

It's our second and I love that we've already scoped out our favourite Indian Restaurant and know the local pubs.

We had a great curry, I have the mildest and Steve has the hottest on offer, and I ask them to the sure not to confuse them. After that we found two nice armchairs on the first floor of a busy pub and sat, with few beers, to eat h the England game. 

Hmmmm... the first half was pretty boring so we headed back the hotel at half time and watched a better half in the hotel bar.

It was a game of two halves.

The Con itself had moved venues and wasn't as busy as last year, but we did well enough.

Again it's great chatting to new readers and old alike, and to people who wondered just what on earth was going on 😆.

After the event we headed back south, I dropped Steve back at his and was home by about 8pm.

All in all a really enjoyable weekend, and hope to do the same next year.

MacPOW 26

We really enjoy the convention in the centre of Macclesfield.

I bought my first house in the outskirts of Macc many years ago and it's great to have an excuse to visit every year, I still love the town. 

Setting off around 6am, I pick up Steve Tanner on the way, and we arrived in Macc at around 9am. It has changed a bit over the years and I did get lost a little, I knew roughly where I was but didn't recognise the road I was looking for. I found it in the end and we arrived at the Town Hall, with comics, at 9.30am. 

Not idea as I do like to be early at events but it only takes me about 10 mins to set up the table.

This year I was sandwiched between Steve and Kev Sutherland, and as I had only a half table, focussed on the WesterNoir books.

It was great to meet up with old friends and meet new fellow creators. 

It's never a very busy event but it's great fun. 

We had enough sales to make it worth it financially too, which always helps.

We'll certainly be back in 2027, if they'll have us 😊.

A Banner Advert for the Thought Bubble event

As I seem to change my company name every other year I decided to have an advert for this year's Thought Bubble Convention.

To let people know that they an still get their latest WesterNoir at the event, and to look for us as 4D Comics.

Andy Bloor pulled it together and I think it does the job very nicely.

Portsmouth Comic Con

So, last weekend was Portsmouth's Annual Comic Con.

I've done this for a few years now, and as it's only 1.5 hours away I tend to drive back and forth each day to save money that would be spent on a hotel room. Had I been travelling on my own then the current cost of petrol may have challenged this approach but this year I was bringing Gary Crutchley and his wife Karen (who were staying over at my place for the weekend) with me so it was definitely cheaper.

But, would we all be able to get up, out of the house and on the road, in time?

It all went very smoothly. We arrived in plenty of time and after two short trips between the car and my table we had sent up with plenty of time for a nice breakfast.

As always there were queues forming, which is nice to see.

Once again my table was in its usually position in the marquee and it's great when people look happy to find you.

We had a lot of people coming back to buy more, having bought our WesterNoir books over the last few years. In a couple of cases we even had people coming back to buy more having only just bought a book or two an hour earlier.

You get to see some great cosplays at this event and my favourite this year had to be the Planet of the Apes couple, with baby Ceasar.

It was great to catch up with a couple of fellow Dungeon and Dragons enthusiasts and continue to talk about our plans with regards a WesterNoir RPG. More on that in the future, but for now it's early days.

Sunday was much like Saturday. Yes it was a little quieter, as is usually the way of Comic Cons, but there were still lots of people to chat to about our books and sales weren't bad at all.

Portsmouth Comic Con really is a family affair. 

It has something for everyone.

Yes, it has a mostly comic theme to it but there are also computer games, authors with their books, role playing games, lessons on how to paint miniatures and of course a special area for TV and film celebrities. 

The Guildhall has something of of interest on every floor.

There were even said to be dinosaurs about the place..

..but I didn't see any.

It's great to be part of this event.

I'm already looking forward to next year.

Dave's Comics

Took a trip to Brighton this week, I've never really explored the city before and I must say, I'm a fan.

The Lanes were really fun to explore with their mix of art, antiques and cafes (amongst other stuff) and I found Dave's Comics.

Which is a fabulous comic shop.

It has such a good range of books (and comics) and all placed in appropriate sections. 

Great fun to explore, and I could have spent a lot longer there.

Spoke to Stephen about hopefully stocking WesterNoir in the store sometime in the future, which would be great as we really don't sod any Cons anywhere near Brighton.

I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Brighton itself reminded me Brooklyn in the USA, it felt very arty and fun. Lots of great murals too.

Banbury Comic Con

Another well run comic con from the Bolt Events people. 

First outing for my new banner 😊

Yes, I should have put the table cloth lower to hide the boxes under the table but there you go.

I didn't do quite as well at this one as the families seemed to be there for the kids more than at Maidenhead, where the parents were also interested in stuff, but an enjoyable day.

The banners have arrived.

Both versions look fabulous and are ready for the next Convention.

I'll be taking mine to Banbury Comic Con next Saturday...

And also, for the first time in a while, I'll also have business cards.

Once again a big thank you to Andy Bloor for pulling this together. 

I wanted it to be similar to the banner, so that people remembered the table when they got home from the Convention.

Double sided and printed through Moo, but this time I've printed one design. 

Last time I had a few variations and found people collecting them at conventions.. these things aren't cheap 😆

New WesterNoir banner

After 10 or more years, and it has finally started to be a challenge to put up, I've decided to invest in a new WesterNoir Banner.

I wanted one with both Josiah Black and Cassidy McRae and Gary Crutchley did a fabulous job (as always) on the artwork.

Matt Soffe then added mood with his glorious colours

Before Andy Bloor added logo and a few words here and there...

But the problem working with two other creators is that they have different preferences for the words.

Jemma wanted...

Whereas Gary wanted...

and as Gary may well be doing some Conventions on his own, I've ended up getting one of each.

The things I do to keep my co-creators happy.

Maidenhead Comic Con

Maidenhead is about 30 minutes away for me and their comic con had been suggested by both Gary Grutchley (he heard about it somewhere or other) and my barber (who'd been to the last one to look at a version of the Batmobile).

Two people who had never met (as far as I'm aware) mentioning the same event. Seemed like fate.

OK. 

I'm in. 

I contacted Bolt Comic Cons through their website and booked a table, pretty easy to do. 

I've been to small town comic cons before and whilst nice to be at the previous attempts had resulted in not too many people stopping to chat, let alone buy anything. But this was fated to happen, so it would be different wouldn't it?

It took me less that 30 mins to drive there, park up and find my table.

This was to be my first Con under my 4D Comics company name (I usually go along with Steve Tanner as part of the Timebomb set up). It felt nice to have 4D Comics on the table to greet me as I arrived.

The venue was a sports hall in a leisure centre. It was nicely spaced out and I had a fantasy author on the table next to me, with a person selling a load of graphic novels behind me. The rest of the tables were games and toys.

I was all set for doors opening.

The event started at 10am but they allowed a few people in before that, if they had a need (I heard later). I was pretty well attended, lots of families but unlike the one like this I did years ago, the parents weren't just there to follow their kids around. Lots of good chats with people and I sold a good number of books.

The event was well organised as well, and I'll certainly come back to the next BOLT Comic Con in Maidenhead and will also see of I can first any others in (they do quite a lot across the country).

I wasn't keen on the security though...

Dungeons and Dragons in Leek

Last weekend 7 blokes who are older than they were last year gathered in the same converted barn for a long weekend playing Dungeons and Dragons.

I've been playing for about 50 years now and we still play 2nd Edition (with a few modifications we've made (intended or by mistake) over the years). As a group we've been playing some 20 years together now, and we still do the odd crazy thing. 

A great time was had, and this time none of the characters died (although my half-orc Fighter Cleric Ubik came very close at one point).

Looking forward to the next one.

Portsmouth Comic Con will be here before we know it.

 

Portsmouth Comic Con is one of my favourites.

It is really well organised and is a really family oriented event.

Can't wait.

Thought Bubble 2026 and Bury Con

My application to the 2026 Thought Bubble, under my new 4D Comics company, has been accepted which is great news.

I've been at these events since they started in Leeds Town Hall many many years ago, as part of either AccentUK or TimeBomb Comics. It'll be strange doing this as 4D Comics but I'll have the usual support from Jemma and Gary so all is good.

Also, we've been accepted at the Bury event on the 28th June.

It's getting nice and busy.

POWER Con

Steve and I really enjoy our trips to Glasgow for the POWER and ACME events.

Well organised, easy to find and park at, a good number of people coming through the doors, friendly staff... what more could you ask for.

It's a long drive, which includes a slight diversion to pick up Steve Tanner in Brum and this year another detour to drop off Quantum 13 stock at the Diamond UK warehouse in Warrington. 

But it's worth it.

Stopping off at Tebay services (up and down) is always an added bonus, and breaks the journey up nicely.

We had good sales, lots of chats and it was great to have a customer who bought our black and white version of the WesterNoir Book One TPB come to the table to pick up Book Two.

And I managed to find a restaurant that did Crumble.

Of course, there was the slight embarrassment when Steve had to check out the Things... errr.. thing.

You really can't take him anywhere.

Emma Munday cover titles...

My go-to designer, Andy Bloor, has sorted out the titles for the book now. 

And I'm very happy with what he's done. It feels nice and sci-fi-ish.

I just need to finish writing it now 😊

And then when it's printed I'll have a little pile of them, looking a bit like this...

One day...

Comics Assemble!

Shane Chebsey is trying something new. 

A new convention that is aimed at keeping costs down as much as possible, and also hopefully attract a good number of potential customers.

Free with each table booked you get 10 free tickets, which you can sell for the £10 or give away, and then another 10 if needed. This is aimed at getting the creators to help raise the profile of the event but advertising the tickets to all of their readers. 

It's not a bad idea and worth a try... and worth supporting.

So, I have a table.

You can find out more over at Comics Assemble.

Emma Munday - First Impressions

When my daughter Jemma was about 5 and I was reading her a bed time story, probably a Roald Dahl book, I thought to myself. 

"Wouldn't it be cool if I wrote her a book myself."

And so, every year I picked up Emma Munday's first story and added a bit. And changed the bit that I'd already written.

The trouble is that most of my free time was spent writing comic book stories or colouring in pages of artwork for comic books I'd written.

The years passed.

This year I am determined to finish it and commissioned Ian Ashcroft to do me a wraparound cover image.

I'm very happy with the result.

Yes, it's a science fiction story.

Yes, although it took me years to write Book 1 I have the next 3 books already planned in my head.

The next step is to get my go-to designer Andy Bloor to work out the title fonts etc.

Oh, and for me to finish the book of course.

And my editor, my daughter Jemma (and no, I didn't hold this up until she was old enough to edit the book I wrote for her... I really don't plan that far ahead) will then make it better 😆

It never rains but it pours.

An interesting start to the year, not in a good way.

When I got back from my Mum's after XMas I was confronted with a damp patch on the ceiling in the dining room.

The dining room that Jemma and I had decorated only last year.

The position of the leak pointed at the loo in the bathroom above.

Turns out that my cistern had fractured due to the cold weather,, it happens apparently.

To make matters even worse the previous owner of the house had boxed the cistern in, so to replace it would require breaking the tiles.

The plumber was pretty good though and took all of this in his stride.

It's amazing seeing someone work who knows what he's doing and has all the right tools. 

It took him all morning, he had to pop out and get some wood at one point in order to put the new tiles in to replace the ones he had had to destroy. The only bit of good news was that we found some spare tiles under the bath.

Yep.

Not a great start to the year.

An unexpected expense.

But great to have the bathroom back and working again.

I just need to let everything dry out thoroughly now and then I'll paint the ceiling downstairs.