Hilda and Richie Excerpt on YouTube

 

Meet Hilda and Richie Page 4

 

Another page from "Meet Hilda & Richie" - despite the fact that he lives in a mansion with a rich woman and can have anything he wants, Richie is just a normal little boy.  Yes, he does go to school!

Meet Hilda and Richie Page 3

 

On this page, I made a change in the text.  I officially added the fact Richie is NOT related to Hilda in any way but she is his legal guardian.

Meet Hilda and Richie Page 1 Plus Cover

 A day late but here it is: the free book Meet Hilda & Richie!

That's right - Hilda's last name is revealed here as it is not mentioned in either Hilda & Richie or Hilda & Richie's Wizard.

More pages will be up tomorrow!

Announcing Meet Hilda and Richie!

I've got a special treat for you Hilda & Richie readers.

Starting this Friday (Good Friday) April 15th, I will be serializing a free book both here and on DeviantArt titled "Meet Hilda & Richie".

There's no real story to this book.  But it has two purposes.

First, it is meant to introduce people to Hilda & Richie and get them interested in both existing titles as well as future books.

Second, it is intended to give more information not in the books such as the characters' last names, Hilda's wealth, the country they live in, etc.

Stay tuned for pages from "Meet Hilda & Richie"!

Hilda and Richie's Wizard Official Trailer

 The official trailer for the next book, Hilda & Richie's Wizard, is now up on YouTube!

Get ready for their Kickstarter on January 5, 2022!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOEFrEnwNZk

Wizard First Draft Page 8

 

And now we come to the plot point!

Uh-oh...Richie's pendant broke.

Wizard First Draft Page 7

 

Richie behaves as any normal little boy does; he goes off to play, jumping over rocks, climbing trees, swinging from branches and so on.

He is meant to be someone the young readers can identify with.  He is a fox but he is still a child.

Wizard First Draft Page 6

 

Picking up from where we left off, Richie heads off to play.  

This is a rough concept.  When it comes time to do the final color artwork, I really want to make a beautiful page that's full of colors, wilderness and energy.

Wizard First Draft Page 5

 

Richie eagerly runs out to play.  See those two figures above?

Those were two backers from the first Hilda & Richie Kickstarter; they pledged to get a cameo in the upcoming book as a background character.  I am still hammering out their designs so you'll have to wait to see those.

Wizard First Draft Page 4

 

This is why the pendant is important.  Hilda makes it clear to Richie that he is not to lose it.

While the two have a casual relationship, Hilda does make it clear that she is the one in charge as she is an adult.  She makes rules that Richie has to follow, which should be obvious if you've read the first book.  (If you haven't, go buy it!)

Watch for more pages soon!

Wizard First Draft Page 3

 

First, some news before we get started on the commentary: I got back the first draft of Hilda & Richie's Wizard from my book doctor.  It will be getting a MAJOR rewrite so the final version of the book that will show up on Kickstarter in January will be very different!

In the meantime, I hope this draft about what could have been whets your appetite.

That said, we have the item that is considered this book's MacGuffin; that is, an object that drives the plot.  Hilda has a pendant to give to Richie.  That will figure into the plot that is about to unfold.

Wizard First Draft Page 2

 

I'm using Richie in the extreme foreground here to show that he is closer to the readers than Hilda.

Anyway, one of the other changes here as opposed to the first book is that Hilda doesn't get as much screentime here as she did in the original book.  I do plan to change that in future Hilda & Richie books; scripts and story treatments already exist for that.  But that's a whole other story for another day.

Wizard First Draft Page 1

 And now...without further ado, it is time to start sharing the first draft of my next picture book and my foxes' next adventure Hilda and Richie's Wizard.  

This is probably going to change - either the text or the art as Richie isn't exactly jumping for joy.

Like the first book, we open up with Richie.  Unlike the first book though, he will be more of the focus here.

Watch for the next page soon!  And get ready for their next Kickstarter launching on Wed. 1/6/2022!

Three Kickstarter Videos Planned Today

 The Hilda & Richie Kickstarter continues!  As I promote the picture book campaign, reach out to backers and get press coverage, I'm turning to YouTube to help pull in traffic and backers!

Here is the first one!

Back Hilda & Richie now!

Hilda and Richie Kickstarter ready to go!

 Yesterday on Sunday, the final check was completed.  

The Hilda & Richie Kickstarter has been reviewed by me, the images are up, the links work right and all the details have been finalized.

We will launch in less than 48 hours.  

Get ready for our launch!

Second Draft Page 28

 

And so we come to the final page of the second draft of Hilda and Richie!  That's all!

Watch for our Kickstarter launch on January 6!

Kickstarter is nearly done!

 I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

While all of you were sitting around the Christmas tree, opening your presents, enjoying your Christmas dinners and indulging in cheer, I was working to get the planned Hilda & Richie picture book Kickstarter finished.

That picture you see is of the core pledge to the campaign.  For a pledge of US$15, you (the backer) get a paperback copy of Hilda & Richie shipped out to you anywhere in the world!  Plus you get a digital PDF copy of the book AND you'll be getting bonus material!  I'll share early drafts, concept sketches and various notes.

Anyway, all that remains (at the time of this writing) is to hammer out the timeline, finish the project image and then submit it for approval to the Kickstarter staff.  I expect to do this by tomorrow but if all goes well, I may even submit it tonight!

Approval shouldn't take long.  While the website claims it takes from 1 to 3 business days to approve, I've had mine only take a few hours at most.

I will discuss more of the Kickstarter rewards later and my plans for funding too.  Stay tuned!

Second Draft Page 27

 

Hilda has to lay down the law as Richie's legal guardian.  But she can be more understanding too than a parent.

Second Draft Page 26

 

I like how this turned out!  I felt with the body language, I genuinely made Richie look sad.