Some very nice accolades for the Ninnies!!

Paul Magrs's THE NINNIES, a book I had the esteemed privilege to do the artwork for, just made the Irish Times list of Children's Books of the Year. Click on the link below to check it out:

Irishtimes.com: 30 Treats To Put Around the Tree

If you are unfamilar with Paul Magrs's books and audios I think it's a shame. Paul has written some of my favorite fiction including several novels and audio plays based on the cult series Doctor Who. His own addition to the world of Doctor Who in the guise of Time Lady and trans-temporal adventuress Iris Wildthyme who has found life in her own series of audio spin-off's. The fun and spooky Brenda and Effie Mysteries which I have nearly read every single book in the series.  And now Paul is in the process of unleashing his most recent creation Vince Cosmos: Glam Rock Detective!!

To check out Paul's latest series, click on the link below for more information about Vince himself as well as how to pre-order the first adventure in the series:

Vince Cosmos: Glam Rock Detective

For those who love David Bowie, Marc Bolan and T-Rex, Brian Eno and the glammed up 1970's this series is for you. And even if the 1970's isn't your cup of tea, you'll still love it!

Series you should be reading: The Brenda and Effie Mysteries by Paul Magrs

If you haven't read Paul Magrs's Brenda and Effie Mysteries, then you're missing out on a really great and fun series!!

 

At the moment it is my favorite series of books. And not just because I did the cover for the final installment of the series. But because Paul incorporates everything I love about classic horror. Both in the literary and the Universal Monster Movies sense.

 

We meet Brenda in the first book Never the Bride. We come to find out she is the Bride of Frankenstein. For those of you who have read the original Mary Shelley novel, you may recall Baron Frankenstein creating a mate for his creature but opting tear her to bits and leave her lying on the floor as he and his first creation battle each other to the ends of the Earth.

 

Well, it turns out Brenda wasn't destroyed. Pulled herself together and had been roaming the earth since then. Until she finally settled down in the English seaside town of Whitby where she opened a little bed and breakfast and made friends with Effie. A rather austere old woman who runs an antiques shop nex door. And also happens to be descended from a long line of witches who have lived in Whitby.

 

And if that's not enough, apparently Whitby is where the gateway to Hell resides within the ruins of the old abbey on the hill. And Hell is filled to capacity which means some of the nasties are getting out into our mortal world.

 

And that's not half of it!!

 

What I've always liked about Paul's writing is his balance of the creepy horror with a touch of humor. You'll get the willies but you'll be laughing the entire time from the funny and clever lines Paul writes in his stories.

 

Here is the list of Paul's stories. You can find them on Amazon.com,  Obverse Books and Snow Books:

  

Never the Bride (Brenda&Effie Mystery #1)

Something Borrowed (Brenda &Effie Mystery #2)

Conjugal Rites (Brenda &Effie Mystery #3)

Hell's Belles! (Brenda&Effie Mystery #4)

The Bride That Time Forgot (Brenda &Effie Mystery #5)

Brenda and Effie Forever (Brenda &Effie Mystery #6)

Full cover art for Brenda and Effie Forever!!

 Here's the full cover for Brend and Effie Forever! By Paul Magrs in all it's glory!!

 

I have been a fan of both Paul's Brenda and Effie series as well as his other writing for some time. So it was a real thrill to be able to supply the cover for the ladies of Whitby's final adventure.

 

And if it's anything like Paul's previous books in the series, it should be great fun!! All the usual nasties will be present in this story as well as the first appearance in the series of a certain Art Critic Panda. Whom fans of Paul's Iris Wildthyme and Doctor Who work might recognize.

 

I highly recommend you get your copy when it hits bookstores this month!!

Cover art for Brenda and Effie Forever!

 

Well, I can let the cat out of the bag now.

 

Here's the cover I did for one of my favorite writers Paul Magrs's latest book Brenda and Effie Forever.

 

Sadly, this book will be the final chapter in the Brenda and Effie series. But I was very pleased when Paul sent me a message asking if I wanted to do the cover for the book. Naturally I said "Yes!!" and here it is.

 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Paul's series, I highly recommend you check it out!! It stars Brenda, the Bride of Frankenstein, who is trying desperately to live a quiet life in the seaside town of Whitby running a little bed and breakfast. But those dreams never turn out as planned as she is continually pulled into strange and otherworldly escapades with her spinster friend Effie.

 

I'll let you all know when the latest of the Brenda and Effie saga is available for purchase.

 

I should also mention there is a delightful radio adaptation of Paul's Brenda and Effie series under the title Never the Bride (the first novel in the series) on BBC Radio 4. Check it out online. It's a fun listen for those of you like me who still love old time radio:

 

Never the Bride on BBC Radio 4

Brenda and Effie

A commission I did for writer Paul Magrs based on his delightful and wickedly charming Brenda and Effie Mysteries. Which features the stars of the series Brenda (the Bride of Frankenstein) and her friend Effie on the right hand side of the illustration along with some their more villainous characters from the series as well as the not-so-villainous Art Critic Panda from his other fan favorite series Iris Wildthyme who are looking on from the left.

If you have not read Paul's Brenda and Effie Mysteries you are really missing out on a fun series!! I highly recommend you check them out!!

Beware of the NINNIES!!

It'll be available for purchase in May but you can preorder your copy of The Ninnies by Paul Magrs now!!

I've always enjoyed Paul's Doctor Who, Brenda and Effie and Iris Wildthyme work. So, I was thrilled to be able to supply the illustrations for The Ninnies!! It was a lot of fun to work on and to read!! It's one of those books intended for Young Adults but you can take it off your children's shelf and not feel embarrassed reading.

Click on the image below to preorder your copy today:

Never the Bride illustration

A full color illustration I just finished of Brenda and Effie as well as some nasty characters they come across in Paul Magrs book Never the Bride. However, not ALL the characters in the background are as wicked as they seem. Or at least as wicked as they have been in the past.

More NEVER THE BRIDE sketches

A first pen and ink attempt at Paul Magrs delightful Brenda and Effie. I've been having a difficult time trying to get out of drawing all my characters looking like railings. This was my second attempt at making Brenda look a bit more plump. But she still doesn't quite have that sewn up from different body parts look to her as she's supposed to.


A third attempt at Brenda. Second in pen and ink. I tried to maker her look a lot more earthy than the previous one. And I made one of her legs and foots noticeably bigger than the other one. I also decided to give her a little patchwork coat to emphasize that found element of the character.

With Brenda's character, you really have to think of a really friendly maiden aunt or great aunt you might have had at one point of your life or another. Or a friend of your Grandparents who had this very large and outgoing personality and appearance. And a smile to match.


I wasn't terribly happy with my first sketch of Alucard. You hardcore Universal Monster Movie fans know what that name is spelled the other way around ;-) When I was sketching the character I had decided to go with the author's favorite Dracula Louis Jourdan rather than my own preference of Christopher Lee. Louis Jourdan had starred as Dracula in a really great and atmospheric BBC adaptation in 1977. I added a mustache to keep in line with the Bram Stoker novel. But unfortunately, I think my first rendering of the character came out too bland sooooo....


...I did a second one. Paul's book is a celebration of the Universal Monster Movies to me, so I'm trying to get that across in a lot of my character sketches. So, this time I decided to go with a cross between Louis Jourdan and John Carradine who played the Count in a couple of the later Universal Monster Movies.


The rather odious Mr. Danby. He's kind of a cross between Mr. Joyboy from The Loved One and Truman Capote (if Capote was an evil Mad Scientist) in my sketch.


And here are a couple extra characters I really liked from Never the Bride.


A quick sketch of Mrs. Claus. The owner of a Christmas inspired hotel and another rather vile character Brenda and Effie come up against.

Brenda and Effie character sketches

A couple sketches I did of the main characters Brenda and Effie from probably one of the best new books I've read Never the Bride.

Brenda is to the left and Effie is to the right in the first sketch. The second sketch I tried to make Brenda look closer to the way B+E author Paul Magrs describes her in the book being plumper, friendlier and a big more bosomy.

What I like about the series is it features a pair of older women having these adventures. Which is refreshing seeing that most stories seem to have younger people as the central characters.

If you're a fan of classic science fiction, Hammer Horror and the Universal Monster movies you will enjoy the Brenda and Effie series!!

Books you should read: Brenda and Effie

I first got into Paul Magrs writing when I read his Doctor Who novel Verdigris. What I really liked about the book is how he captured everything about the Third Doctor era of Doctor Who on television as well as the feel of the 1970's. I could just imagine the fun tatty sets and gloriously over-the-top villains.

I was also very pleased to get to know Paul Magrs through many of the online networking site and do a little book swap.

This brings me to a series of books he has written featuring a pair of characters by the name of Brenda and Effie. I had just finished reading the first book in the series Never the Bride about a month or so ago and now I'm onto the second book Something Borrowed.

I have to say this is probably the best new series I have gotten into for some time now. The first thing I like is Paul makes the lead characters a pair of older women rather than a couple of young girls going on these rather otherworldly adventures.

As a matter of fact Brenda is quite a bite older than most and had a very long and checkered past before she decided to settle down and run her little bed and breakfast in Whitby and finally live a quiet life...

...or so she thought as she and her friend Effie seem to be dragged from one strange adventure to the next.

There are so many things I love about the first novel alone. The first being how Paul Magrs has broken each chapter in the book to read like a separate television episode. The other is how he has taken the best bits of classic science-fiction literature, the Universal Monster Movies of the 30's and 40's and reintroduces them in a very fun and unique way by blending them with a humor quite reminiscent of writers like Evelyn Waugh and Stephen Fry.

The way the characters talk in the book are so much fun to read.

I highly recommend you pick up Never the Bride, Something Borrowed, Conjugal Rites and the recently released Hells Belles on Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com!! You will not be disappointed!!

I should also mention that Paul has also has a series of Doctor Who audio plays out called the Hornets' Nest which star none other than Tom Baker as the Doctor. These plays are great for people who are fans of Doctor Who or Tom Baker. As well as people who are fans of the old Sherlock Holmes radio drama's starring Basil Rathbone. These plays read very much like those radio drama's.

Speaking of the nocturnal dandy Sherlock Holmes, Paul was very kind to write a great introduction for my upcoming graphic novel Sherlock Holmes: The Painful Predicament of Alice Faulkner.