The tag line for this year’s blogs is “Expect the Unexpected.” And I have.  I came up with a “brilliant” idea several years ago taking characters from short stories I’d written and putting them together into a novel. They were all fantasy characters, and my plan was to take them and merge them into one story.  These characters would make a band of superheroes with one main goal in mind.  Maybe not so “brilliant.” What could they possibly have in common?

I might have bitten off more than I could chew when I tried to make these characters blend. It turned out to be more of a challenge than I had imagined. When it was finished, I wrote an author note for the beginning of the book to tell the reader where the brainstorm came from.   It went like this:

The novel Flatiron Death Grip is the culmination of characters from four original short stories. These stories were the birthplace of some of the main characters. “Sarina” from Werewolves in the Park – published in Legends of New Pulp Fiction by Airship 27 Productions, “Vlad” from Red Eye took Honorable Mention at the 2016 Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. contest,  “Jeremy” from  Zombies are People Too – was published in sections during Halloween 2017 on my blog www.peggylchambers.com. Brucie was the main character from my flash fiction “What’s That Smell?” They are characters I created in the past and dredged up again to combine into a gang of superheroes. Teasy is a newborn.

But that was just the beginning of the novel.  There was also the original art.  And my publisher, Airship 27 Productions, came up with some winners.  The inside black and white illustrations were done by 16-year-old Gabriella Saenz. I am proud to say this is the first (of many) books she has illustrated.  The cover was painted by Canadian artist Ted Hammond http://tedhammond.com/. They are both so talented and made the book a winner.

I hope to have an interview with Gabriella soon and introduce you to her and her art.  Then maybe Ted will have time to talk to me too. 

I am planning a release party locally soon and will let you know about it when plans are made.  In the mean time you can purchase copies of the book at Flatiron Death Grip: Chambers, Peggy, Saenz, Gabriella: 9781953589101: Amazon.com: Books.

What are you reading this week?