Grandmother Hydra

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In The Shadow Over Innsmouth H.P. Lovecraft introduced the deep ones; immortal ocean dwelling amphibians that traffic with humanity for dark, evil purposes. Over the years other authors expanded on Lovecraft’s mythology and the deep ones have shown up in numerous stories, games and even a film or two.

Grandmother Hydra here was inspired by the idea that deep ones don’t stop growing as they get older. I added the idea that old deep one sorcerers could mutate themselves by adding aspects of other sea creatures and then started sketching. Hydra seemed like she’d make a good adversary for King Roach.

Looking for Bernice Jinkerson – Response

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On January 16th, 2003 I posted this message –

And because one never knows who might be reading – I’m looking for Bernice Jinkerson (or perhaps Jinkersen). We both attended the same high school in Sebastopol. Last I heard she was working for Bill Graham Productions but that was over 15 years ago. I’m not sure that there still is a Bill Graham Productions any more. SJ and I have been wondering whatever became of her. Anyone who might have a clue what’s become of her, please contact me at chaosunit@aol.com. I get a tedious amount of spam so be sure to mention Bernice in the subject line.

On January 14th I got this email –

Hi, Just wanted to let you know Bernie passed away in September 2006 from liver disease. As you most likely know she had a drug problem when in her teens which was brought on by parental abuse (dad).She beat the drug deal and had a good life until she died. When in the drug scene she got hepatitus the bad one which was the cause of her liver failure. We lived in Costa Rica for four years which she loved. She was a great person and I miss her a lot.

It’s taken me a while to figure out what to say.

More Oblivion Seas

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More character sketches for Oblivion Seas. I’m not sure who (or what the figure in the top left is). The guy with the muttonchops is the first mate. The kid with the scarred lip is the slave of the guy in the powdered wig. I’d planned to set the series in the mid-1900s or earlier. The masked figure was inspired by Hodgson’s novel The Ghost Pirates

Shipwreck Survivors

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Here are rough sketches of the some of shipwreck survivor characters featured in Oblivion Seas. I remember planning to have about a dozen of them to begin with. Then, of course, I’d start whittling them down as the horrors of the Sargasso took their toll.

Someday I’d like to do the story as a graphic novel. One of many someday projects. Sigh.

Logo Design

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These were sketches for a logo design. Right now I don’t remember what the project was. It was either for a business that trained other businesses in being more green or it was for a website promoting environmental stewardship. Jason Oxrieder did the final logo design, whatever it was. If you ever need a logo done perfectly Jason’s your man.

Oblivion Seas

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Another series that made it to the proposal stage was Oblivion Seas. It was inspired by the writing of William Hope Hodgson, especially the novel The Boats of the Glen Carrig. The series was to feature the adventures of a band of castaways trapped in the Sargasso Sea. One of the menaces that they must overcome were “weedmen”, intelligent amphibious creatures that liked the taste of human blood. Hodgson was somewhat vague in his description of the creatures; they seemed to have aspects of human shape but weren’t strictly humanoid.

Malekin

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The elf detective’s name was Malekin.

The basic premise behind the series came up while tossing back and forth imaginary taglines for cop shows. You know the sort of things – “She’s a wacky underwear model, he’s an uptight venture capitalist, what mysteries will they solve before they unlock the puzzle of their love?” or “He’s a priest, she’s a vampire, they fight crime!”

The original tag for The Cauldron was “She’s a hard-boiled big city cop. Her new partner is a fairy. They’re detectives.”

Lame. Definitely not a tag I’d actually use. But you’ve got to start somewhere. From there it was a matter of figuring out what sort of fairy the new cop was. What sort of relationships did humans and the fey have? What sort of crimes did they investigate? It would have been a fun series to write.