Sea Dragons and Warrior Mice

Recently I have been elbow deep in edits and deadlines, so I haven't been able to do much clay work.  Still managed to make a few things.  I've made so many dragons lately I thought I'd try something a little different.



Sea serpent.  He really is swimming through the table, you just can't see it.  ;)

Hellooooooo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warrior mice?  Mouseguard?  Ooh, the Three Mouseketeers.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Okay, I lied.  I did make dragons.  Can't stay away, it seems.

 

 

I love the white spikes against the blue on this little guy, and his white belly, which was a pain to keep clean during the sculpting process.  He's holding a blue diamond, and he looks like he doesn't quite know what to do with it.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

And, my new favorite:

 

 

 

Don't take mah key.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

In related news, I have decided to open an Etsy shop sometime next month.  Probably the second or third week in March.  Most of my clay critters will be up for sale then, so if you see something you like or did like in previous posts, make a note of it, because it will probably be in the shop soon. 

 

Keep checking back for more news and pics.

 

-Julie

Still Clayin'

With all the excitement about the new series and the movie deal and the Kickstarter campaign, I haven't been able to post my newest clay critters.  Rest assured I am still claying away.  Here are my newest renditions, for those interested.



Still trying to perfect my phoenixes.  I think I'm happiest with this technique so far, which is simply to cover the entire body in feathers.  Cool effect, but dang it takes a long time!

                                                                      

 

 

Phoenix family!

 

 

 

More dragons

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

 

This big guy is Daedmond Blue Therror in his dragon form.  He is a character in my author friend's book, Dragonwings by D.C. Grace.  Y'all should check it out.

 

 

 

 

And lastly, for something completely different, a Kirin. 

 

 



 

 

 

That's it for now!  Still clayin' so keep checking back.  ;-) 

 

 

 

-Julie

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



The Iron King comic and Kickstarter

Hi everyone!


Wow, this has been a crazy year for me.  First, the announcement of a new series to HarlequinTEEN, then The Iron King comic, THEN the movie deal to Universal Pictures right on its heels.  I'm exhausted, overwhelmed, and way too excited than what's probably healthy.  ;-)


And we're just getting started.


The new series deal.

The movie news.

The Iron King comic book news.



So, THE IRON KING comic...

The cover above is  not final, and we're still working on character designs, so what you see here will not be the end result.  But this will give you an idea of what we're trying to do.  Bluewater Productions, along with a fabulous team of artists, writers and graphic designers, are working hard to bring Meghan, Ash, Puck, and Grim to full-colored life, but they need YOUR help to do it.


Which is why we've started a Kickstarter campaign. What is Kickstarter, you ask?   Kickstarter is a fabulous program that gives you the chance to help in the creation of The Iron King comic by "pledging" donations, and recieving some awesome prizes in return.

Some of these awesome prizes include the following:

-A signed Iron King comic
-A handmade "chibi" sculpture by me (check out the giveaway prize below for an example.)
-Your own likeness being drawn into the comic
-Team Ash/Puck shirts
-Dinner with moi
-And more


To see all the fabulously creative prizes go to the Kickstarter page.




So that is my NEWS.  And now, I promised a giveaway, didn't I?  I did!  And we'll make it international, so everyone can play.  Here is what is up for grabs:


THREE brand new, shiny, signed ARCs of THE ETERNITY CURE, the second book in the Blood of Eden series, not out until May.

And ONE lucky person will recieve, along with an ARC....



A handmade, polymer clay sculpture of Allie in chibi form, fangs, sword and all.  This is the only one of its kind, and your chance to own a chibi figurine before anyone else.

Allie says: "Giant rabid?  I'm not scared of you.  Bring it!"

So, how do you win these lovely items?  Easy.  I want you to SHARE THE NEWS.  Share it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, everywhere.  Post about the new series, the movie deal, the comic, and ESPECIALLY link to the Kickstarter campaign.  Spread the word, because the more people that pledge to the cause, the better the chance for even more Iron Fey comics.  Which means more awesome stuff for you guys as well.
 

The giveaway and the Kickstarter campaign will run till March 12.  That's a month to get the word out.  So leave me a link to your share post in the comments (plus your email), and spread THE NEWS.  

And, of course, if you choose to back the Kickstarter campaign, even by a dollar, you would have my eternal thanks and gratitude, plus the knowledge that you would be helping make the comic a reality.

(Plus cool stuff.  I did mention the cool stuff, right?  As we all know, stuff is good.)





Thanks so much, everyone!  I wouldn't have gotten this far without you, seriously.  You all rock!


Julie













 

Movie news!

Okay...

*Breathes deep*

I know I've had a lot of NEWS to reveal lately, but I think this might be the most exciting yet.

You know that new series that got picked up by HarlequinTEEN?  The one that isn't written, or even titled yet?

It just got picked up by this little company called Universal Pictures.

Yep!  A MOVIE option!  From Universal!  In fact, this is what Hollywood Reporter said today:



Fantasy Author Julie Kagawa Sells New Book Series to Universal (Exclusive)

Chris Morgan, the writer of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, is on board to produce.
    

Universal has picked up an untitled young-adult book series proposal from fantasy author Julie Kagawa, with Chris Morgan attached to produce.

The supernatural story is set in a present-day coastal town where mythical creatures hide amongst us cloaked as humans. Slayers belonging to an order that dates back to St. George infiltrate the town disguised as out-of-town kids, setting up a confrontation and, as is the case with YA books, a love triangle.

The 104-page proposal was described as strong in execution. The deal went down late Thursday.
Harlequin TEEN-- in a seven-figure, five-book deal -- picked up book rights in January for its young-adult imprint. The first book is to be released in 2015.

Kagawa is a big name in the YA fantasy world. The Kentucky-based author is behind the fantasy series The Iron Fey, set in the realm of faeries, and Blood of Eden, a fairly new series centering on vampires set in a postapocalyptic future.

Morgan, who has a first-look producing deal with Universal, is best known as the writer of the studio’s Fast & Furious franchise and has Fast & Furious 6 opening May 24. He also wrote 47 Ronin, the Keanu Reeves samurai movie that opens Dec. 25. Chris Morgan Productions is also producing The Legend of Conan for the studio.




So yes, that is my uber exciting news!  What do you think?  And I'd love to hear your guesses as to what these mythological creatures are.  (Though I can say nothing yet, no hints or spoilers, sorry.)

A MAJOR thank you to all my readers and fans.  It's because of you that this could happen, and I'm so grateful for all your support!  And so excited for what is to come.

Thanks again.

Julie








 

Some (Disgustingly) Cute Things

I seem to be on a roll here.  Yesterday, my tiny little sword charms that I ordered from Etsy arrived, so I felt compelled to make something out of them.  More on that in a minute, but here are my newest clay critteres.





Recreated my first dragon, who was black and orange. I'll be keeping him forever, but this little guy might be up for sale one day, if I ever get an Etsy shop up and running. Someday soon, I hope.

Someone challenged me to do a manticore, and I got to wondering if I could make a manticore cute.  Take a look below and see if I've succeeded.  Chibi manticore ftw. 

 

 

Glow in the dark unicorn.  Just because.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite dragon so far.  He's "hovering" in the air by virtue of his tail, and boy did he take me a long time to make.  Everything about him was uber complicated, but he turned out pretty well, I think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally.  Remember that disgustingly cute thing I was talking about on Twitter last night?  And remember those tiny sword charms?  Well, this is what came of it.  Beware, it makes me want to gag a little.  ;-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think Valentine's Day has affected my brain.  Now I need to go kill off a character in a book or something.

 

 

-Julie

 

 

Oops

OOPS.

Sigh, apologies, everyone.  While trying to clear out my spam inbox, I accidentally deleted several pages of everyone else's comments.  AARG!  So if you've left a comment recently and don't see it anymore, it's because I am a doofus. 

Stupid spam.

>.<

Glowing foxes

Blerg.

I was supposed to run a giveaway this week, but things kept happening to make that impossible.  I still plan on running the giveaway later, but for now, here are some more chibi clay critter pics.


FOXES






Actually, he's a kitsune, a Japanese fox spirit.  See his kitsune ball?  (It glows in the dark)



And his kitsune tails?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

White chibi kitsune.  (They put leaves on their heads when they change shape.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has multiple tails, too.  (You can tell a kitsune's power by how many tails they have, up to nine for the most powerful.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This little kitsune fox glows in the dark. Its so cool; he turns all white and glowy, and his ball turns blue-green.  Sadly, he doesn't glow bright enough for pics, but its still pretty neat.

 

 

 

 

Several people said I should try a phoenix, so I made two chibi phoenix chicks. The one on the right must've tripped and did a beak plant into the ground, and his brother is either telling him to get up or laughing his feathers off.  (Actually, he had a tragic oven accident where he fell over before he was done cooking, but I decided to go with it.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little red Asian dragon with ball.

 

 

 

 

Another dragon.  I'm trying to experiment with different props, so this little guy has a key.  Did he steal it?  Is it the key to a treasure?  Someone's heart?  I dunno, but he has a key. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's it for now!  Keep checking back; one of these days there WILL be a giveaway.  In the meantime, who's your favorite?

 

-Julie