Photos Related to Shattered World II: Russia -- Demon Spawn Concept Art

After I published Shattered World I: Paris, I posted a series of blog entries with photos and images that inspired the novel's locations and demons (Mont St. Michel, St. Mere Eglise and Falaise, Paris, and Demon Spawn Concept Art). As with Shattered World I, I have been fortunate to have visited most of the major locations in Shattered World II: Russia. To bring Shattered World II alive for my readers, every Wednesday for the next four weeks I'll be posting blog spots with photos related to the locations described in the novel and/or concept art about the demons. I hope you enjoy them.

This week's photos are the most interesting of the series because it will be dealing with the concept art and ideas that went into developing the Demon Spawn. [WARNING: There are spoilers in this blog post, so if you have not read the book be forewarned.]

I was on two minds whether to add dragons among the hordes of demons pouring from the portals because I didn't want the books to seem like fantasy novels. I decided to include them because I needed Demon Spawn capable of inflicting mass casualties. They will only appear in Shattered World II: Russia. Uwe Jarling, who did the cover art, came up with this design for the dragons.

 

For Shattered World II: Russia I wanted to up the ante and introduce Demon Spawn much more terrifying and destructive than the soul vampires from Shattered World I: Paris. When I stumbled across this piece of artwork, as well as the next two in this posting, I developed the concept of the ravagers. I think these are one of the most evil demons I've come up with... so far.

When I was developing the demons that would guard the portals, I came up with the concept of using Golem, the animated anthropomorphic protectors of Jewish ghettos. However, I wanted mine to be much more intimidating and powerful than the man-sized guardians from Hebrew folklore. To give the Golem a more gruesome appearance, I changed them from being created from inanimate material, such as stone, to being a compilation of human body parts. I stumbled across the above artwork while researching other demons and decided to adopt the basic body design for my own Golem, although those that appear in Shattered World I: Paris and Shattered World II: Russia have significant differences. The process on how the Golem are created will feature prominently in the next book in the series -- Shattered World III: China.

Are the flesh eaters zombies? Not in the traditional sense. I liked the concept of hordes of shambling dead roaming through the countryside and attacking the Demon Hunters en masse, but did not want to turn my book into a zombie apocalypse novel. So I created the flesh eaters as the desiccated bodies of those condemned to Hell who come back to wander Earth because this is the realm they know. Yes, they eat human flesh, which is what makes them dangerous, but they do not have the other attributes of a zombie -- they are not rotting away, and being bitten by a flesh eaters does not mean you will die and come back as one.

Upcoming Events for March to May

I have too big things coming up this Friday the 13th, which is a very appropriate day.

My latest book, Shattered World II: Russia, will be released on 13 March. This is the sequel to Shattered World I: Paris, my young adult post-apocalypse series about portals opening between Earth and another dimension, allowing demons to invade our planet. The book will be available in print, on Kindle, and on Kindle Unlimited. You can pre-order your Kindle copy here.

Also this Friday, I'll be attending several conventions and book signings over the next two months. At each of them, I'll be selling/signing copies of all my books that are in print or, if you've already purchased one of my books, I'll autograph it for free. Below is my list of appearances.

-- Northeast Comic Con and Collectibles Extravaganza from 13 to 15 March at the Boxboro Regency Hotel in Boxboro, Massachusetts.

-- Author's Night by the Sea on Sunday, 19 April, from 2 to 6 PM, in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

-- Vermont Sci-Fi and Fantasy Expo on 25 and 26 April at the Champlain Valley Exposition Center in Essex, Vermont.

Plans are also in the works to release the first in my new zombie novella series on 1 May. Nothing is definite about this -- the title, cover art, published format, etc. The beta readers of the first draft loved it and wanted me to publish it as soon as possible. Who am I to argue with my fans? The tentative publishing schedule is 1 May, the first zombie novella; 15 June, Shattered World III: China; 1 August, the second zombie novella; 15 September, Shattered World IV: Tokyo; 1 November, the third zombie novella; and 15 December; Shattered World V. The zombie series will continue well into 2021.

Soon I'll be making announcements about two other convention attendances I'm trying to arrange, one of which is awesome (wicked pissah, for my Bostonian friends) as well as newsletter I hope to release soon.