About a month ago I signed up to take part in an interesting little exercise over at the Webcomic Beacon. Basically I was paired up with a random writer and we were asked to put together a little something webcomic(y) in honor of Valentie's Day.

David Tulloch of Virtually Comics was tossed in my way, he tossed a few script ideas my way, and we banged this little gem out.

 Maybe "banged it out" was the wrong way to word that. 

In any case, it was all said and done I was left sweaty and spent and I needed a cigarette. Also, feel free to head over to Dave's website and the Webcast beacon site by clicking the links above as well.

Steven

With the Forts series wrapped up, I've moved onto something else, and believe it or not that something else is getting released in March!


Goats Eat Cans is coming soon!

What the heck is Goats Eat Cans and why should you care about it?Trust me when I tell you that you're going to like this thing.

If you hated Forts and you hate me for writing Forts, you're still going to like this.

Goats Eat Cans isn't Forts. It's nothing like Forts.Nothing at all.

Click the picture below to head over the official Goats site.You won't regret it.


Maybe.

The book is arriving soon. Really soon. Before you know it, I'll be asking you to fork over some of your hard earned cash to read it. 


Until then, here's some free stuff.

16. TEMAZCAL 
   The heat was sweltering. The summer had been particularly rough and dry, and altogether uncomfortable. This was an angry heat, tailor-made for the suffering of those forced to live through it. In the backyard of the Jarvis family, tucked safely beneath the shade of a thick-trunked Oak Tree, sat the house of the family dog, Mr. Button. Built when Button was a pup, the years were noticeably rough on the modest dwelling. The rain had warped its walls and rusted the nails holding them perilously in place. Once a crisp, almost blinding shade of white, the paint had been peeling away for quite some time, exposing the worn and damaged wood beneath in softball sized clumps of pure ugly. The roof was little more than ragged jumble of partially rotted materials, and the likelihood of the structure's collapse grew substantially with every passing day. So pathetic was this shell of a once proud doghouse that Mr. Button had taken to lying outside rather than in. Even he was capable of understanding it was a disaster waiting to happen. 
   Despite the heat and the ever-present fear of being buried beneath a heap of rotted wood, jagged sheet metal and copper colored nail chips, eight year old Tommy Jarvis had been sitting cross-legged inside the funky-smelling piece of construction for hours. His hair was soaked with perspiration, his clothes drenched so thoroughly they could literally be ringed out. The dirt beneath him transformed into a moist, muddy-wet stew of yellow-tinted sweat and soil that smelled as bad as it looked. His throat was dry and his lips cracked to the point that that act of running his tongue across their surface no longer accomplished anything at all. 
   Despite his aching bones, and the fact that his vision had begun to blur, young Tommy had no intentions of leaving. 
   He was determined to remain exactly where he was. He wanted to sit there, and stay there, and keep himself angry, because anger was what he was feeling, and because it was all he wanted to feel. Would it have been possible, Tommy might have sat in that exact spot forever, until his skin peeled away, caught the breeze and fluttered off, until his bones turned to dust and became indiscernible from the ground beneath. 

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It's been a while since I updated over here, so what have I been up to?Working mostly.Was that a boring answer?I guess it was a bit of a boring answer and I guess I should elaborate.The final piece of the FORTS TRILOGY is on schedule and expected sometime before the end of the year (November). If you haven't yet scooped up a copy of the first two, my suggestion is to get on that. If you have no interest in scooping up the first two, prepare yourself for one of my patented knuckle sandwiches. Beyond that, I'm currently illustrating a picture book for Featherweight Press, and I've been slowly piecing together my next project.Check out the trailer below:The first volume of Goats Eat Cans is in the hands of my editor and set for release early next year. You can find more information at the OFFICIAL SITE.Even if you hated FORTS, give this one a try. It's nothing like FORTS.Nothing at all.Seriously.

It's official!

The above image is the final cover for the thirds and final book in the Forts series, Endings and Beginnings!

The OFFICIAL WEBSITE is also in the process of being updated to reflect the look of the new book and I'll be adding some goodies on there over the next few weeks!

Steven

I recently finished up a cover for a new series I'm planning on releasing over the course of 2012. The first volume with basically be a bunch of short (humorous?) stories from my life and it'll be followed by two more. I'm hoping to get them all out over the course of the year, but laziness might yet win the day.

It's a whole lot different than what I did with Forts, but I felt like I really needed to try something different.

I'll have some more details soon.

Anyway, that guy on the cover is me.

Aint' I cute?

Steven

That's right, for a limited time the first novel in the Forts series, Fathers and Sons, is a measly $0.99.

That's almost nothing.

That's less than a Snickers bar.

It's slightly more expensive than a penny candy, but this isn't 1942 and those don't exist anymore.

There has never been a better time for all the Kindle users out there to snag themselves a copy.

Just click the link below!

Okay, so here's the story.

In one of my grade school science classes, my teacher asked the class to bring in something from home for an experiment the following week. He suggested maybe a baseball might work, or a basketball, or an apple. You get the idea, right? Something roundish. Something that could be easily rolled.

Honestly I don't recall the specifics of the experiment or what we were testing. More than likely this is because I honestly didn't care.

I was a terrible student.

I was a worse student than Dr. Phil is a therapist.

Anyway, most everyone int he class managed to bring in something roundish, and something capable of rolling. Most everyone, except my friend, Mark. Mark was a dunderhead. (Yep, I typed the word dunderhead) and Mark forgot to bring something in at all. With nothing available, he opted to try and roll his pen.

He failed miserably.

And I mocked him mercilessly for it.

Just when he thought I was done making fun of him, I decided to make him the lead character in a comic book called Pen Man.

Soon enough my little seven page joke was making it's way around the class. My friends liked Pen Man. The class liked Pen Man. A few of them wanted a copy, so I made some photocopies and sold them for a buck each. It wasn't long before they wanted a second issue.

People started calling Mark, Pen Man.

In fact, they called him Pen Man more than they called him Mark - which annoyed him to no end.

When I moved away a few years later, I kept on drawing Pen Man.

I don't really know why I did it. Pen Man expanded into other books and soon enough my little brother (who came up with some characters of his own) and I had created, Novak Comics.

When I got into High School, I was still drawing Pen Man. I drew him in the library. I drew him at lunch, and I drew him in class when I was continuing my legacy of awful studentry. (Which I know isn't a word, so shut up.)

You might think I would have stopped scribbling on typing paper in my free time and stapling the pages along the edge, but I didn't. Pen Man was still a part of my life. Though the time I had to draw Pen Man had dwindled to almost nothing, I was still plugging away.

When I graduated, moved to California and got married?

Yep, still doing it - at least for a little while.

Eventually I did put the kibosh on the adventures of Pen Man and the whole Novak Comics thing as a whole. It was hard to do, but it had to be done. By that time I'd probably drawn well over five hundred issues - which is both sad, and a bit remarkable.

Mostly sad, though.

For years now these books have been gathering dust in my office. The paper is crinkling. It's turning yellow and its getting brittle. These things simply weren't made to last, and because of that I've been slowly scanning and converting them to digital files.

Because I have nothing better to do with my time and apparently love to embarrass myself, I've decided to turn them to PDF's and upload them all to Scribd for the world at large to "enjoy."

A part of me hopes Mark is still out there somewhere and he'll stumble onto them.

Maybe, for the briefest of moments he'll remember how much he hated it when everyone called him Pen Man and cruse my name through clenched teeth.

Thats the kind of stuff that brings a smile to my face.

Steven


You can find all 35 issues of the original PEN MAN series HERE with more on the way.

If you're one of the lazy schmoes out there that hasn't purchased the book yet, Jenn over at Booksessed is offering up a chance to win not only a copy of Fathers and Sons, but Liars and Thieves as well.

That's right. Two books for doing almost nothing at all.

It's that easy.

Oh, and there's also a free piece of original art thrown in there.

Giveaway ends on the 10th. click the linky-link below and get on it.

This post originally appeared as a guest blog at OwlReviewaBook.







BE A JERK AND YOUR CHARACTERS WILL THANK YOU FOR IT


Bethany asked me to write a little something about character development, so here I am attempting to write a little something about character development.

There’s one major problem.

I honestly don’t know anything about character development.

Okay, so maybe I’m exaggerating just a little bit for the sake of comedy.

The truth is that I don’t know anything that I’m supposed to know about character development. Plus, I’ve always found it a bit weird for me when someone asks me to write about the “craft” of anything.

The only real “craft” I have any right lecturing on is Kraft Macaroni and Cheese – which happens to be the only food in existence with a taste wholly dependant on your mood. If you’re depressed it’s awesome. If you’re happy, it’ll make you depressed.

That should be their slogan.

The only real bit of advice I can offer up when it comes to your characters is this: Be a jerk.

As a writer you’re in control of every aspect of your character’s lives and it’s pretty safe to assume that you feel a certain love for them. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s great actually. You should love them. If you don’t love them, the fact that you’re going to spend endless hours and upwards of a 100,000 words writing about them would just be silly.

A problem arises when you love them so much that you start treating them the way you want them to be treated, rather than the way they need to be treated.

If it makes sense for them to get hurt, be prepared to hurt them. If they have to die to get across your point, I suggest you find yourself a sturdy tree and pull out the hangman’s noose.

Remember that great story where everything always worked out for everyone and everything was fantastic all of the time?

No?

That’s because it doesn’t exist.

You can’t be a good friend to your characters. You have to be a terrible friend. It’s a necessity of the relationship. At some point you’re going to make them hurt. You’re going to drag them through the mud and make them cry. You’re going to take them to the lowest of lows and just when they think you’re done hurting them, you’ll slap on some more.

It’s for their own good.

It has to be done and you’re the heartless jerk that has to do it.

In my opinion the love you feel for the characters you create has be a tough love. Anything else is a detriment to your story. It does them an injustice, it does you an injustice, and it does the term injustice, injustice.

Wait…

That last part didn’t make any sense.

Ignore the fact that I typed it.

Love your characters and love your story enough to be the jerk they need you to be.

Wow, that almost sounded like I knew what I was talking about – a little bit anyway. And I wasn’t even ruminating on the pros and cons of Velveeta Shells and Cheese as opposed to Kraft Macaroni and Cheese.

Don’t even get me started on that battle of the unhealthy titans.

We’d be here for hours.

Steven

My pal, Bethany, over at OwlReviewaBook reviewed Fathers and Sons on Saturday morning, gave it a whopping five stars, and has decided to dedicate an entire week to little ol' me and my little ol' book.

The best thing about it is that she's giving you a chance to now only win a SIGNED COPY of Fathers and Sons, but an original piece of art as well.

That's right, here's your chance to get your hands on an ACTUAL chapter illustration from the ACTUAL book! It's the only copy in existence and it can end up on your wall, your desk, or in your trash can.

You can even burn it in the backyard and make me cry.

Or sell it on ebay.

Or sell it from the back of your van.

Or use it to scoop up the dog crap in your back yard.

Do with it whatever you want. It's yours.

Click the link below to head on over to Bethany's blog for your chance to win.

It’s been a busy week around here and because of it I haven’t had a whole heck of a lot of time to write.

Which pretty much sucks.

For anyone that doesn’t know, my wife is a sixth grade teacher and her school year is winding down. If you, yourself happen to be a teacher or perhaps you’re married to one, I’m sure you’re well aware of the fact that things can get a bit – crazy – around this time of year.

When I say crazy, I really mean testy.

When I say testy, I guess I actually mean wackadoo.

When I say wackadoo, I’m actually just taking the opportunity to type a silly word.

Anyway, the wife is pretty much bonkers at the moment and it’s basically my job to keep a safe distance and offer up a steady stream of chocolate whenever she starts to freak out.

Despite the wackiness of both work and home, I did manage to find the time to get Fathers and Sons into the hands of a few quality bloggers (reviews should start rolling in next month – hopefully good), record another podcast with one of my good friends and fellow LitU author, Nina Perez, and whip up a little teaser trailer for the finale of the series.

Speaking of the finale of the series – I guess I should finish writing it.

That’s sort of an important part to the whole process, isn’t it?

I’m a terrible promoter.

I really am.

The problem isn’t that I’m lazy, or that I don’t put forth the effort, or that I’m unwilling to put in the time. It’s none of that stuff.

I’m actually not the least bit lazy, my effort-abilities are second to none and I have nothing but time on my hands.

The actual issue is that my personal persona and my business persona get mixed up a lot. A whole lot, actually.

I say stuff I shouldn’t. I put things out there that I should have locked a safe, wrapped in a chain and tossed into the ocean.

As much as it pains me to admit, I’m an idiot.

The fact that I’m writing these very words at this very moment proves I’m an absolute dolt and that I’ll never learn.

Do the followers on Twitter that are interested in my YA novel or my artwork really need to know that I spent the night bent over the toilet due to a nasty bout of food poisoning? Probably not.

Did I tell them? Yep.

Was it necessary to let them know that because of it I spent the entire next day breaking wind like Chris Brown breaks ladies’ faces? Most definitely not.

Was that Chris Brown joke a massive mistake?

You better believe it.

I’m a goof-ball and I don’t know when to stop.

I spend so much time cracking wise and making you feel uncomfortable with awkward-delicious nuggets about my personal life that I sometimes forget I’m trying to sell you something.

Then the bill collectors come calling. Then my wife shakes her head and I pull out the lining of my pockets and shrug my shoulders. Then she hops on-line and types the words “divorce attorney” into Google.

It’s a vicious cycle.

So how do I plan on solving this little problem of mine?

I have to get serious. I have to get more professional.

I’ll need a briefcase of some sort . Maybe some papers to put in it.

Wait, wait, wait - maybe I don’t need the papers at all. I mean, what are the chances anyone will actually ask to see what’s inside, right?

Combing my hair, putting on a suit and brushing my teeth more than once every other day just isn’t going to cut it anymore. It’s not enough. I have to take things to the next level. I’m going to have to make some drastic lifestyle changes.

I’ll need to straighten that hunch in my back and smear that sloppy-creepy grin off my face.

Maybe I’ll even shave.

I’ll have to mind my P’s and Q’s while making sure my F’s and U’s are never allowed in the same sentence together.

I’ll need to be better than the sum of my parts and better than the sum of the sum of those parts.

I’ll have to blog about books and writing, and the writing process and the process of writing.

Speaking of my blog, I’ll need to maintain it a bit more diligently. I guess I should watch that I don’t accept a friend request from anyone and everyone on Facebook. I should also try and make sure current and prospective clients don’t catch wind of my uncontrollable post-puke wind breaking in one of my many unnecessary status updates.

Breath mints will be important.

New shoes too. New shoes are a given. Shoes are the first thing people look at. I heard that somewhere.

No more gobbling on burgers so stuffed with goop the juices leave stains on my shirts. Nope – gonna have to put the kibosh on that one.

I’ll need some new shirts as well.

Maybe I should change my name? It might be smart to change it to something a little more professional sounding.

Max Hardcopy?

How about, Patrick Gitstuffdun?

No, wait…Stephen Nowack.

No one commands respect like a Nowack.

Or maybe I shouldn’t do any of this nonsense.

Stephen Nowack? Seriously? That’s just silly.

Breath mints? That’s even sil

The second edition print version of Forts is now available!

It's been a long and frustrating process getting to this point, but I'm pretty happy with the direction things are headed these days. It's starting to feel like everything is back on track. If you've already purchased the first book, there's not any REAL reason you need to pick up this new one - you know, unless you're just a really nice guy.

There isn't anything "new" added to the story, but he printing is better, the editing is sharper, the price is cheaper, and the cover is a lot crisper looking.

All in all, it's a far better experience.

Just click the picture below.



For those that have lost interest in all things print, there's also versions available for the Kindle.



And of course Nook



Book 2 should be arriving in the next couple months. There's some last minute editing being done on it as I type, and based on the incredible amount of errors in this blog post, you can understand what a difficult task it is for my poor editor.

I want to thank everyone out there for sticking with me through this. It's been a rough year or so since the book was first released and things went south with the original publisher.

Everything happens for a reason though, right?

Despite the craziness, I couldn't be happier with the people I'm working now and the direction the series is headed.

Steven

Liars and Thieves will hit in both e-book and print editions in the next couple months. In my eternal attempt to keep you interested, I'm going to be offering up some chapters leading up to to the release.

If you want to get caught up before Book 2 becomes available, the cheapest method is to snag yourself a copy the Fathers and Sons "Special Edition" for Nook or Kindle at the link below.

CLICK HERE

Okey dokey, enough with the babble.

Enjoy Chapter 2!

2. Family Visits

“Boys?” Edna Williamson called out from the bottom of the stairs. “Your father and the chaperone should be here soon! Why don’t you come downstairs?”

Both Tommy Jarvis and his younger brother Nicky clearly heard her words, yet neither made a movement toward the bedroom door. It had been months since either boy had been in the same room with their father. The abuse allegations, and subsequent investigation proving them to be true, resulted in their removal from his care and placement with a foster family. For almost half a year they lived with a couple of retirees named Ed and Edna Williamson. In spite of their comically similar first names, the Williamsons proved to be decent, caring people — not perfect people by any means, but good people — the kind of people Tommy and Nicky barely believed existed anymore. Neither boy had forgotten about their father, yet at the same time they were only now beginning to settle in to their new life with the Williamsons. Things were easier for them here, quieter and certainly a lot less painful. The truth of the matter was that neither boy found the idea of introducing their father back into their lives even remotely appetizing. A week and a half before, a social worker for the state sat the pair down, telling them that Chris had been attending his meetings, that he was sober, and remorseful, that he was making great strides, and was anxious to see them again. Of the two, Nicky was slightly more open to the idea of reuniting with their father, but then Nicky’s past experiences with the old man were quite different from Tommy’s.

The memories – the awful, stinging memories –just recently began melting away for the fourteen year old Tommy Jarvis. What would happen now though? What would happen, when after all these months, Tommy came face to face with his father? Would the very old, very thick anger boil up from wherever he’d managed to shove it down deep inside his belly? Would the pain attached to those memories like a nasty parasite feeding off a half-starved host prove too much to bear? There were some questions in life for which one simply didn’t want answers. For Tommy Jarvis, these were those very

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25. SAMPLE CHAPTER - BOOK 2 - CHAPTER ONE

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By: Steve Novak, on 3/9/2011
Blog: Steve Draws Stuff (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  book, king, liars, chapter, forts, sample, thieves, release, torture, two, ochan, krystoph, beatings, gragor, guards, Add a tag

The released of Liars and Thieves is just around the corner, as is the Re-Release (Special Edition) of Fathers and Sons! Because I'm a really nice guy, I've decided to post a few sample chapters to wet your whistle. (Which is sort of a gross saying, but whatever.)

I figured it best to start with Chapter One.

Enjoy!

1. Traitor to the Cause

“Tell me what you’ve done with it, and I will consider sparing your life.”

For him, time ceased to have meaning long ago. How many days had he spent shackled in the king’s dungeon? Could it be weeks? Months even? Long enough that the heavy chains around his ankles sliced into his skin, merging with the muscle underneath and forcing the flesh to heal grotesquely around them. How often was he dragged from his cell and beaten? How many times had he teetered through a wobbly haze, barely conscious on the razor-thin line between life and death? Two hundred? Three hundred? Maybe four? His body no longer resembled the one he’d spent a lifetime becoming familiar with. Quite adept in the dealing of punishment, the guard’s fists had changed him into something else. Like a reflection in a broken mirror, he was shattered, distorted, and barely recognizable. Busted numerous times, his jaw dangled from his face, useless. All but a few of his teeth had been removed — some ripped out during hour-long torture sessions, others knocked loose during any one of the regular beatings. His skin, once a healthy dark green, had become a disgusting, blotchy mess of purples, blues, and deep grayish-blacks. Even the most minute of movements on his part brought forth worlds of agony. The gentle breeze from a window nearby instantly reduced him to tears. His limbs had long since ceased functioning, devolving his form a million years and making upright movement impossible. Having suffered through things no creature should ever be forced to feel, he found himself crumpled in a garish heap at the feet of the massive, stone-faced tyrant king of Ocha. A small part of him wondered if he’d made the right choice. This pain could have been avoided. He brought this on himself.

Gently nudging the broken, tangled body of the creature sprawled before him, the massive king sighed deeply. “How sad it is to see you like this, Krystoph. I had such high hopes for you. You were so very talented in the art of killing … so frighteningly, wonderfully talented. There was a time, not too long ago, when my opinion of you approached admiration.”

Shaking his head while flashing a disgusted look at the broken lump, the king turned swiftly, pacing back to his throne before reclining with yet another heavy sigh. “I gave you everything, and what did you offer in return — deceit, lies, and thievery? You’ve shamed your king. You’ve shamed your country and all those cal

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