Zane Wins!

To be sure, it was really close. Zane and Tally were only about two votes apart. (I say “about,” because it is boring to count these things accurately.) So let’s just reveal Zane this week and Tally next.

*VERY MILD SPOILERS BELOW*

So without further ado, here is (ugly) Zane!

You may recall that the Crims were an ugly gang before they were a pretty clique, and Shay was a member way back then. The manga starts with Shay’s first meeting with Zane and the Crims, which is months before she knew Tally at all.

Note also that Zane has blond hair back in his ugly days. He didn’t get all black-haired and goth-y till he becomes a pretty. (In manga world, white hair more or less means blond.)

I like this bit of dialog between Zane and Shay. Plus, I HAD to show you some hoverboards.

And finally a panel that involves SLIGHTLY BIGGER SPOILERS, we learn that a dog whistle plays a major part in Shay’s Story. (Okay, maybe not a major part. But enough to go “ta-da” about.)

Hope you enjoyed that. Next week we’ll be back with Tally Youngblood. And Fan Art Friday will be going up on Saturday, because otherwise I’d have to post two days in a row. And it’s my year off, yo.

Pre-order Shay’s Story at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Or buy it on February 28 at a proper bookstore.

Character Reveal Voting

As promised, I’ll be revealing a character from Uglies: Shay’s Story (aka the Uglies manga) every week between now and February 28, when it comes out.

I showed you a bit of Croy last week, of course. So who shall it be this time around?

Tally?
David?
Zane?
Astrix?
Ho?
Ryde?
Dr. Cable?

Shay has already been revealed, of course. Ugly Shay, anyway.

Note that we won’t be revealing anyone in their pretty form (well, except Dr. Cable and some random residents of New Pretty Town) until Book 2.

Use this comments thread to vote, debate, inveigle, coerce, and otherwise pressure your peers.

You can pre-order Shay’s Story at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Or purchase it on February 28 at bricks-and-mortar stores everywhere.

Tesla’s Letterhead

Just in case you think that my representation of Nikola Tesla in Goliath was over the top, you need to see his letterhead:

Yes. He was THAT cool.

The image in the upper right of the letterhead is one of the remote control boats with which Tesla tries to repel the German walker attack in Chapter 39 of Goliath. They were totally real!

In case you’ve forgotten, here’s Keith Thompson’s version:

Of course, the central image in the letterhead is Wardenclyffe Tower, as it was to have appeared had it ever been completed. Note that Keith and I cheated a bit to make it more spectacular:

But as you can tell from the letterhead, it was pretty awesome anyway.

So keep this image on your phone or whatever, so that if you ever get transported back to the early 1900s, you can get in touch with Tesla. (As you can see, his phone number is “8080 Bryant.” I’m not sure how you dial that.)

And while we’re on the subject of mad scientists, I’ll take the opportunity to reveal my new author photo:

Photo from Moonie Baloonie. It no doubt took all day in Photoshop to get my eyes that red. Appreciate it!

FAF with Radio Interview

After my continent-spanning tour for Goliath, I did what’s called a “radio tour” for the book. This phrase may sound mildly glamorous, but what it really means isn’t so much “tour” as “sit in a room and talk on the phone to strangers at weird hours of the day.”

Alas, some of these strangers will be drive-time yuck-meisters who talk in their funny radio voices EVEN WHEN NOT ON THE RADIO. It is churlish to complain about any form of publicity, but those guys hurt my brain.

Them: “So what ABOUT that World War I, huh? It was a PRETTY BIG DEAL!”

Me: “Yes. About fifteen million people were killed, and another thirty million succumbed to the Spanish flu cause by the dislocation of–”

Them: “So, are they gonna make a MOVIE?”

Rest assured, though, that many of my interviewers were articulate hosts who’d read the book and had cool questions. I thought I’d share one of the resulting interviews, from Texas Public Radio’s Some Books Considered. The host is Dan Skinner.

(And yes, it DOES sound like I have a lisp. I think that’s my crappy phone’s fault. Well, not MY phone. I don’t actually have a landline, and had to borrow one. Because, excuse me, LANDLINE? Sorry, but 1993 called and asked to have their communication protocols back, so I sent them all the twisted copper in my house.)

Click here to listen to the interview at TPR’s site.

And now for some FAF.

Two weeks ago, I said that Helen Yoon’s lovely piece of fan art would make a good poster for Goliath, the Musical. And someone did it . . .

Remix by is by Margaret E. Original art by Helen Yoon.

And here are two chibi pieces from Helen. Lil’ Lord Alek:

And the mighty Deryn Sharp, of the Clan McSharp:

Chibi versions of a character allow us to see into the true soul of that character. Of this I approve.

And from one of my rather younger readers, Jeremiah, here’s a Clanker vs. Darwinist battle!

I can’t tell you how many things like this I used to draw as a kid. But it was always either World War II or aliens vs. tanks. But I never did any drawings with a bat-poo attack. No, we didn’t have bat-poo warfare in my day. We used to lie awake at night, dreaming of bat-poo warfare. You kids don’t know how lucky you are.

And here’s a sketch from Eli, clearly inspired by the Goliath bonus chapter:

I can see there’s going to be more Alek in a dress stuff. And why not?

And here’s something for those of you who’ve been asking for more Newkirk. Here he is! On an old-school motorcycle!

And finally, this steampunk scrapbook by fanpireashley:

It is a beautiful thing.

For the first time in a year or so, my coffers are slightly low on fan art. Maybe it’s because the series is *sniffs* over. But feel free to send some my way.

Please Enjoy Some Croy

Shay’s Story, the manga-style graphic novel telling the Uglies story from Shay’s POV, comes out February 28, 2012. Also known as 56 days from now!

During this eight-week countdown, I’ll be treating you to reveals of all the characters, one per week. We will be voting each week about what character to show, but because Croy would win all the votes, we’ll’ just start with him.

Here are three images of the same panel, showing the pencils, inks, and toned stages that every page goes through. And yes, I get to comment at every stage. Quality control!

Without further ado, I offer you Croy on a hoverboard:

The art is by Steven Cummings, who you can follow on Twitter, or check out on Deviant art. The toning and lettering are by Yishan Li. Text by me and Devin Grayson.

You can pre-order Shay’s Story at Indie Bound, BarnesandNoble.com, or Amazon. Or purchase it on February 28 at bricks-and-mortar stores everywhere.