The Salty Roos are HERE!

I’ve stepped into the Comic Book Realm and it’s NUTS here!

Soooo . . . clearly I’ve been a jerk to my blog. My last post was in August – AUGUST. What the heck?!? There is no excuse for that! Well . . . actually, being a writer I could make up a novel-full of excuses, some involving mutating chocolate sundaes and sharks with primordial feet, but at the end of the day, I’ve just been slacking on my blog.

Bad me.

And I know – I KNOW – people are asking where the heck my newest book is hiding. I get it. I set myself up for this monument failure by dropping a novel a year for the past six years because of Undertow (the gang, still alive and well, are haunting my brain – read more about what Eila may be up to in this post below). But ya know what? Freaking supernatural, sarcasm-laced WWII is not easy, y’all, so hang tight – I’m a workin’ on The Coffin Crew!

But, if you are in desperate need of something to hold ya over, then have no fear – the Salty Roos are here! (you – with the questionable what the heck face in the bean bag chair – PAY ATTENTION!)

A while ago I was approached by a man named Erick Anderson, who asked me to help write the origin story of the genetically enhanced half-human, half-kangaroo surfers from Cape Cod called the Salty Roos.

No, seriously. I’m not lying. I’m NOT!

When we first chatted, I confess: I was wondering if I was actually witnessing the long-term effects of childhood glue sniffing, because what warped mind comes up with surfing, muscle-bound kangaroos that solve crimes??? Then I finally met Erick face-to-face at a questionable coffee shop and realized that A: Erick is a cool dude and B: he’s not as nuts as I first thought, and C: Elmers is probably non-toxic anyway and does smell awesome.

Erick was passionate about his story idea and totally focused on bringing it to life. He had an eye towards the story and the slant needed to make it fly (or surf). He also knew my work, knew I was equally crazy when it came to characters (and a boat-load of other things, which we won’t mention here), and basically swung for the fences to try to bring me in. After seeing the art and speaking him, I was totally sold . . . hairy, hot kangaroos and all.

So I wrote the prologue story for Salty, tweaked the bios, and then really went to town with writing Piper’s origin story (because every knife-wielding, gun-strapped college-age female should have parents that pissed off a crime-Lord . . . or five).

Here is where you come in to help this comic book launch – Salty Roos is part of a Kickstarter campaign. Comic books, unlike the Undertow novels, really need to be printed in large “runs” and to do this, it costs some up-front cash. The Kickstarter is to pay for this printing process.

The first edition of Salty Roos takes place in Maine and the art and story is crazy awesome. Edition #2 I’m told is Martha Vineyard and involves a pirate, and #3 . . . MIGHT, JUST MIGHT, be a crossover with the UNDERTOW CREW!! More details on that as we hash them out ;)

But hey – if Salty Roos #1 can’t get printed, how the heck will you get to Salty Roos #3??

HELP US!

Support Cape Cod’s own Salty Roos! Click the picture below to be taken to the Kickstarter! Please LIKE the Salty Roos on Facebook and help us spread the word!

THE SALTY ROOS CREATIVE TEAM

Erick Anderson (creator, publisher) believes that when you start your own brand, you have control. “You decide what the product looks like, in this case the comic book Salty Roos and their amazing characters. It’s your vision, you determine what your branding looks like and where the brand goes in the future,” says Anderson. To complete his vision he found Jon Parrish, who he discovered while perusing Kickstarter and stumbled across Clusterf@#k. Erick knew he was perfect to write Salty Roos because of its intense action, humor, and characterization. After being happy with the script, he hired the Chilean Trio of Diego Toro, the amazing penciler/inker, who he knew was the perfect person for the job after seeing his stunning, action-packed panels in the series Clusterf@#k; the amazing colorist, Kóte Carvajal, who came to my attention thanks to his extraordinary color palette in Clusterf@#k; and the amazing letterer, Cristian Docolomansky, who is known for his very distinctive dialogue balloons and lettering for various characters to complete the book. Erick provides the financial backing for each team member and works closely with everyone until the book is completed. Having built and owned a successful string of brick-and-mortar stores along with an eCommerce business, Erick has the knowledge and follow-through to make Salty Roos an enormously successful venture.

Jon Parrish (writer) has written and self-published multiple comics including Secrets & Shadows, Clusterf@#k, Career Criminals, and the one-shot Someday. He is a Franklin College Alumnus and former Assistant Language Teacher. He currently resides in Hammond, Indiana.

Nicole D’Andria (editor) is my go-to editor. She currently is the Editor/Marketing Director at Action Lab Entertainment, a journalist at Comic Frontline, and writer of Road Trip to Hell.

K.R. Conway (contributing writer – prologue / Piper origin) is the author of the Amazon bestselling urban fantasy series Undertow, which includes six novels to date. Her career as a professional writer has spanned more than two decades. She can be found teaching at national writers’ conferences, visiting schools, and holding online school visits with high schools and book clubs worldwide. In addition to being a writer, Conway is an active blogger and graphic artist at Wicked Whale Publishing and Cape Cod Scribe.

Diego Toro (illustrator) is a comic book genius with a gift for expressive artwork and an eye for detail. He has spent 11 years working in illustration, comic books, graphic pieces, and music for video games from multiple countries including England, Italy, Spain, Canada, and the USA. He also has worked extensively for educational publisher Didactic in Canada. His recent comic book titles include: One Must Break for Beyond Reality Media (New Zealand), Mechanical Knight for Winter City (Australia), The CW Chronicles by Silvano Williams, and Clusterf@#k for Alterna.

Kóte Carvajal (colorist) has been a professional comic book colorist since 2008. His projects include work for IDW Publishing, Alterna Comics, Beyond Reality Media, The 4th Monkey Anthology, and Fantasmagoría. Besides his gifted eye for colorization, Kóte has written/published three graphic novels in Chile (El Colorista Nana, Corazón Nerd, and El Cardenal). In addition to Salty Roos, Kóte is currently writing and coloring an all-ages sci-fi/adventure graphic novel of more than 100 pages. He lives with his lovely wife and their three bunnies in Santiago-Chile.

Cristian Docolomansky (letterer) was born in Barcelona, 1977, though he now lives in Chile. He currently works as an inker or letterer for several American, New Zealand, and UK publishers, including Beyond Reality Media, Scout Comics, Advent Comics, Crow Hill Comics, Ariete Producciones, and Dogitia, among others.