Building the Perfect Beast

by MJ Preston

This brings me to the 3rd installment of the MAY MONSTER blog hop and to the end of my blog regarding digital art. My present writing project is a horror novel which is under the working title: ACADIA EVENT. I say working title, because I haven't pledged myself fully to this title. It may not change between now and publication, but I can't guarantee it won't. I am taking a "wait and see" approach because given the opportunity to go back and rename my debut novel I think I would have definitely gone with another title. That aside, I think I should warn you up front that I'm not going to tell you what the new novel is about. Instead I am going to post some artwork here and allow you to draw your own conclusions.  
     And with that said here you go. I present to you a monolithic piece awash in emerald green and super nova blue detonating from my minds eye and tunneling straight into your cerebral cortex.

Artwork for ACADIA EVENT is an ongoing process that happens chapter by chapter.

     When I started Acadia I decided to use the same approach I did with 'The Equinox'.  which is to create virtual storyboards and use them to mold the things I see in my minds eye as I approach writing each new chapter.

     In writing the new book I was left to consider what the new monster(s) would look like and I began churning out ideas. An early picture had the creature looking somewhat like a conehead and though I liked it and it remains in an early promotional piece, it would not stay the same as it evolved.

    In the first drafts it stood upright, with an exoskeleton and primitive claws that could pluck out an eye or better yet an internal organ to feast upon. But the more I learned about this creature and how it would eventually operate I thought it best to both change how it walked and give it the ability of something that had higher intelligence. 

As you can see in the following pictures the creature carries itself in a dog-like stance, but it also has a human characteristic in that it has opposing thumbs. In the following three picks you can actually see a minor evolution taking place.

The end result of this exercise is not only to solidify how this monster, but how it will act as it bounds across the pages of my new novel taking victims as it does.
      I came up with a name for the creature as well. I call it a Skentophyte as to what that actually means; you'll have to read the book when it comes in the latter part of 2013. In addition to the wiley fellow you see on the left there is another creature that is involved with the Skentophytes, but I'll hold onto that tidbit until the book is ready. With that said, I aam going to stop rampling before I give something else away and just post a bunch of artwork and let it do my talking.
     Just a quick note to let those know who frequent this page I will be doing a bit of traveling over the next day or so. Given that, I may miss a blog or two and I ask your forgiveness in advance.  

     Thanks for the feedback and kind words. Be sure to check out all the other cool blogs during this weeks MAY MONSTER MADNESS and kudos to the founders. Okay, enough of my yammering. 

 

  

  

Visit: MJ Preston's Official Webpage

MJ Preston is the Author of the Horror Novel: THE EQUINOX

His new novel ACADIA EVENT is forecasted for release in late 2013
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 RATED AS ONE OF THE 
BEST HORROR NOVELS TO HIT BOOKSHELVES IN THE LAST 10 YEARS!!
'The Equinox' is a tour de force of brilliant writing, fast-paced action, and gritty characterisation. 
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MAY MONSTER MADNESS:Blog Hop

1.	Annie Walls	18.	GingerRead Review	35.	Tasha's Thinkings
2.	Magaly Guerrero	19.	Carmen Jenner Author	36.	Stuff! Also, Things.
3.	Stephen Tremp	20.	Book Me!	37.	Lexa Cain
4.	Toni @ My Book Addiction	21.	Design du Jour	38.	Roland Yeomans
5.	QueenCicada	22.	Not This Time, Nayland Smith	39.	Real Queen of Horror
6.	Ninja Captain Alex J. Cavanaugh	23.	FIRE IT UP! Beer-fueled Horror Musings	40.	Procrastonaut
7.	Something WicKED this way comes...	24.	Shah Wharton	41.	Ms Misantropia
8.	Little Gothic Horrors	25.	Tim Brannan, The Other Side	42.	Zombie Author Rose Wynters
9.	Maynard Morrissey's HORROR MOVIE DIARY	26.	Holly's Horrorland	43.	Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
10.	Kweeny Todd	27.	Professor Z	44.	My Haunted Attic
11.	This and that...	28.	Dark Rosaleen	45.	Dr. Theda
12.	L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off the Edge	29.	The Beveled Edge	46.	Jenny's House of Horrors
13.	The Dark World of MJ Preston	30.	Candilynn Fite	47.	TF Walsh
14.	Entertaining Interests	31.	Jason Lloyd	48.	Fallen
15.	Emily Unraveled	32.	Diane Riggins	49.	It Came From The Man Cave!
16.	Cinematic Catharsis	33.	Lori Parker
17.	Unnatural Selections	34.	Coffintree Hill

(Submissions close in 7d 2h 30m)