With Saberbeak being written, I wanted to touch on more Brenda Lyons interior art, and this time we have Hatzel, a smilodon (saber-toothed tiger) plus Haast's eagle gryphon. @toadalled was very useful here in helping me to imagine how the sabers on the beaks would look. When it comes to saber cats, the sabers are an iconic feature that I never saw translated into gryphons. We tend to associate gryphons more with birds, and I wanted to really bring the cat out. Kieran was amazing with that. We looked at colors, too, even though they wouldn't be in the interior art. (You know, juuuust in case Hatzel ever ended up on a cover some day.) That brought in the influences of the black-billed magpies and Cooper's hawks that the character was closely associated with. Sister prides, if you will. I love Hatzel, and many of you have, too. There's a stereotype in gryphonic literature where there's a massive gryphon who is very full of themselves, just a brawler and a love whose arrogance and vanity are unmatched. Hatzel subverts that trope by being extremely level-headed. Whereas characters like Xavi, the denfather, are protective of the gryphlets, Hatzel protects everyone under her care. Of course, when she gets to let loose, there's no more ferocious gryphon in Belamuria. Though she gets PoV time in Eyrie and Ashen Weald, part of having such a stable character is that you're not presented with many opportunities to spotlight her, as she doesn't need to change and grow the way other characters do. It took the entire world changing around her before she earned her time back in the spotlight. With a character like this, the last of her kind (and based on extinct cats and birds), in a pride that's made up of several smaller prides, you're left wondering how she got that way. How her values were shaped by the loss of the saberbeak pride. Or, as the last ruler of Poisonmaw might say... "Family isn't who looks like you. It isn't even a feeling in your heart. It's in your beak and claws, and who you're willing to bloody them to protect."

I'm about 17k words into Saberbeak now, Hatzel's book, and I think we know who her family are.

playful

zeph play pouncing towards hatzel

My idea of a seraph from @kvalenagle's Gryphon Insurrection Series

Drew this a while ago, I think while I was reading Opinicus. Not entirely happy with it but I mainly just sketch anyway and never finish anything lol

If you like creature fantasy and gryphons, highly recommend GryphIns! One of my favorite series!

Cherine (Gryphon Insurrection) with eagles, chocolate, and golden glitter and slime for @nightheartfan!

🦅|🍫|🦅 🍫|🦅|🍫 🦅|🍫|🦅

gryphon book birds

It was not a great month for reading enjoyment. It did not start off strong, a book I was really looking forward to enjoying was boring as hell, and now my brain is too foggy to enjoy anything more complex I've been wanting to read. It WAS a good month in terms of volume, though. Two chonky books, and eight overall, if we care about those stats. Which I do a little bit. Numbers are arbitrary, but it does give me a sense of accomplishment when I read an 800 page book, I will not lie.

Eryie: Gryphon Insurrection by K Vale Nagle ⭐ - I'll admit, this is partially my fault. My brain skipped right over the Gryphon Insurrection part of the title, so I wasn't really expecting gryphon genocide, the children's novel. On top of that, it just wasn't well written! POV changes well over halfway through the book, no character is distinct, only thing it has going for it is it finally made me jump into Guardians of Ga'Hoole, but. uh. Well you'll see.

Dragon Pearl by Yoo Ha Lee ⭐⭐⭐- It was fine! Entertaining! I know YA and MG books don't have the luxury of going too deep into lore or anything, but it was really lacking here. She was sad about her brother being dead for like. One line. And then got over it. Kids deserve to read emotional depth! It was a cute adventure, but nothing I'd read again. It does make me more excited about Ninefox Gambit, though, because I can see the bones of good writing!

The Dragon of Jin-Sayeng by KS Villso ⭐⭐⭐⭐- Ow. What an end to a series. Everyone is awful, everyone sucks, except Khine, love of my life. It's always harder to talk about the books I like, but I did really enjoy this series. I'd like to reread it one day!

Legacy of Ash by Matthew Ward ⭐- I was sooooo looking forward to this. I even bought book two (at a secondhand shop thankfully) because I really thought I'd enjoy it. LOL. It took 800 pages to say nothing at all. It was long for the sake of being long. It was like four different plots trying to be one, and none of them really amounted to anything because the focus was so split. Really, similar problems as Priory, but at least that was gay.

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Kathryn Lasky (1-4) ⭐⭐⭐- Finally starting this series after a million years! It came highly recommended from many friends throughout my life, so I've naturally been putting it off. It's fine. I did really enjoy the first one, but reading more left me really picking it apart and it's a solid three stars for me. I think Animorphs is more well rounded, but it's still an entertaining series. My biggest gripe is the inconsistencies! Soren and crew decides to withhold information from the Guardians, and then the next book the Guardians have that information? And said they got it from the gang?? Not sure how th timeline works for Metal Beak to be Soren's brother when Metal Beak was supposed to be a Big Scary Enemy to all of owlkind. Thought it might be a Dread Pirate Robert's situation, but nope! Kludd has been the only Metal Beak! Kids deserve better lol I'll read what I have (eleven books) but probably nothing more than that.

I don't have reading plans or goals for February. I'm still sick, doing things is hard. I'm just trying to survive over here. If you have recommendations for easy to read silly books, I am all ears!

It’s new Valdemar book day! Yaaaaaay!

Anyway, Gryphon in Light. Starts off with a prologue giving a brief recap of previous events, followed by a summation of the current crisis. Said crisis is that a group of wealthy merchants decided they weren’t happy about the way things were with them not owning ALL the things, resulting in a “trade dispute”. They did not appreciate a Herald coming in to sort things out, and forced him out of the city at sword point, followed by outright armed insurrection, seizing the goods of others, annexing territory, etc.

Basically, things got all Phantom Menace in here. Like, to the extent that if I knew anything about video editing I’d make a Star Wars opening crawl out of the prologue text with an instrumental version of one of this series’ filks. What “episode” would this be anyway? Let’s see, count the upcoming 3rd founding novel, but discount all of those anthology books… 40? Episode 40.

Holy crap, this series is going to be 40 books long by the end of the year...

New grydscaen Hacker Logo Designs

New Year New grydscaen - Cyberpunk Reboot 2021

Today I started desgning new logos for the cyberpunk "grydscaen" series to kickoff the new round of hacker character designs WIP for the "grydscaen: hack the mainframe" RPG trading card game promos and kickoff of my new newsletter and the release of the new release of the special edition "grydscaen: the seal maker 2nd edition with a cool new cover featuring bio hacker Hiro Yamaguchi the Velveet Hour terrorist who bombs the subway. The first logo design featured in this post is the mascot avatar for the illusive DNA data pirate anti-government rebel hacktivist group, the Black Holes lead who claim militiant strategist and mastermind Gryphon as their leader.

The idea behind the new designs was the re-release of four grydscaen books specifically grydscaen: war book 2 when the Atlantea Federation attach the Pacific Territories in the City, grydscaen: alliance book 3 when Packrat Saicho and leader Faid Callen is wounded starting an internal Packrat civil war, and grydscaen: insurrection boook 4 where the Psi Faction team is deployment direct to the Atlantea Federation homeland of Londes on mission with the Esset battlefleet aboard the Battleship Escalon.

These re-relases are accompanied by the new WIP release currently in galley edits grydscaen: idol whihc focuses on one of the main musicians that pops up in the grydscaean story, the glam rock band, Athens with lead singer Hibiki Sato and drummer Takira Mizutani as they train to become rock stars at IHS Music Academy inn the Echelons. Plus was have the second edition re-release with a fully re-written storyline of the flagship grydscaen title, the first book published in the dystopian cyberpunk series grydsacen: retribution which Kirkus Reviews called "anime-esque and well written" and Rainbow Gold Reviews called "dark adn gritty, an unpolished gem... as dark as it gets" for a new decade renamed to grydscaen: revolution featuring the Packrat leader Faid Callen startng a hacker revolution and all new cover art featuring the same character on the original cover which was drawn while I was studying animation inn art school the clandestine psychic operative and damper Julian "Blue" Iskafiin.

The Black Holes Logo Concept

I wanted to kickoff the new logo designs with bold hard black-and-white lines with hard angle fonts, gritty graphitti-like urban warfare logo gamer graphics and a bold statement. I started with the hacker group the Black Hole because they are the most militant of the rebel anti-government hacker gangs in the grydscaen series.

The character gryphon is central to the climax of the book grydscaen: dark after Jester wipes the Triumvirate leader Zoon's memory. Though we see him in other books, this is the first time we actually get a close iinsight into his personality. That messed-up narcissistic militant view of a harsh world full of goernment corruption and lies shapes gryphons view and drives him. I wanted to have the Black Holes logo be sort of subversive and edgy so went with a sneering mask feel. The blue highlight colour I chose to resemble to blue sky before the nuclear bomb which is now shrouded in a reddist lightening toxic colour left over from the uceal explosion caused by the Dionysis Effect which forev rendered the sky red lightening covered innn radioactive fallout. The blue is a hint at Grypon's soft spot hidden deep within his militant harsh exterior.

The grydscaen Hacker Factions

There are many hacker factions in the grydscaen series. Each group has a particular purpose. They include:

- The Black Holes - DNA Data Pirates led by Gryphon

- The Packrats - Anti-government Psychic Cyberterrorists led by Faid Callen

- Velvet Hour - Climate Terrorist Bio Hackers led by Rafe

- The Terror Hack - Anti-Government Rebel Hactivists led by Mage

- Jester Hacker Guild (JHG) - Anti-Corporate Blackhat Hackers led by Jester

- Clannet - Organized Crime Drug Gang Directed by Drug Dealer Wraith

- The Soul Deep - Jet Jockey Underground led by Hacker Informant Jazz

The Packrats Clan is then further broken down into sub-groups called "inner factions" which are only recognized internally and include:

Runners led by Ang responsible for runs and psi inducer drugs. Mobile Comand Center led by Dark responsible for the Mobile Frames. Wastes led by Set later Naito Sennish, the main Packrats fighters . Acolytes run by Elite Level 9 hacker Acoyle formerly of Terror Hack. Prophets led by Aseth who act as spiritual gides for the Packrat clan. Hosts whose members are hosts and escorts. The rules for these groups are all layed out in the Packrat Code which is included in the series bible, a sort of fandom encylopedia of characters, locations, drugs, political factions, warring governments, global powers, rebel hacker groups and terminology used in the grydscaen seriesand included in the appendix of the backstory book grydscaen: beginnings.

Hacker Logo Design Plans

All logos will be black and white with a single highlight colour for each group with the Black Holes colour as neon blue. The designs will be timed to the re-release of grydscaen: revolution and hoping to have them all completed by the indie release of the tech noir series sequel to grydscaen: dark and grydscaen: scout with the new novelette called grydscaen: zero day.

My Next Logo Design

Next design will be the bio hacker terrorist group Velvet Hour and the new 18 year old host Nier Ishida the petulant and flamboyantly gay younger brother to Sakama Ishida the Psi Faction Night Team Lead and psychic operative. Sakama can use the technique "witch blood" spiritual which is a psychicinduced medium power of the Prophets first highlighted in book 10, the final book in the main grydscaen series titled grydscaen: imperium.

Okay, I've been summoned to Tumblr by cute Satra and Lei fan art, so I should probably introduce myself and my books. Hello! I'm Vale, and I write creature fantasy as K. Vale Nagle. If you like interesting gryphons, you're in the right place: aquatic diving petrel/fishing cat gryphons, poisonous hooded pitohui/tiger gryphons, pretty gyrfalcon/snow leopard gryphons, intimidating Haast's eagle/saber-toothed tiger gryphons, soggy sandgrouse/sand cat gryphons, and a lot more. My series are epic fantasy using mostly real (though sometimes extinct) animals, free of humans but full of queer characters, intrigue, large battles, and ecological apocalypses. My cover art is by Jeff Brown, with interior graphite pieces by Brenda Lyons and gryphon chapter headers by Kittrel (whose chibi hearts you may have seen). I also have a short story collection (best read anytime after Starling, book three) with a beak-cute lesbian gryphon love story with terror birds, a Gryphon vs. Nature blizzard apocalypse tale, a Christmas-y story, and something pretty close to zombies. I've also written a full novel set in the world of Dire by John Bailey called Coldbright which can be found in the Tales of Feathers & Flames anthology. If you like GryphIns but you want something with more mystery, almost horror, as told through the eyes of a snarky little opinicus and his dire gryphon ex-boyfriend, it's a great read this time of year. I love and appreciate all the fan mail, fan fiction, fan letters, and people reaching out about this series. I'm a little slow replying, as I started writing the series right after getting diagnosed with a catastrophic autoimmune system. The treatments are pretty intense, and it's easiest for me to spend my time and energy writing. I used to have a few pen names across several genres, but for the most part, all of my energy goes into finishing up GryphIns. I'm married to dragon author Glenn Birmingham, so if you've seen us posting pictures of our cats and thought it's strange they share a name, they're the same cats. And that's about it. Just a queer author writing gryphony books when I'm not walking my cat. A few common answers to questions: Q: There are sometimes typos in social media, why is that? A: Catastrophic APS means I've had a stroke (and associated memory loss), so when a copy editor isn't coming up behind me, there'll be doubled words and typos from time-to-time. I used to worry about them, since they don't look good if you're an author! But I'd rather reply to fan letters and kind posts. I think if you've read my author notes at the back of my books, you know to expect a few doubled words here and there. Q: When you say a queer author, what do you mean? A: Since people ask about own voices and I have a lot of lgbtqia+ characters in my books, I'm pan, demi, trans, and genderfluid. I'm lucky enough to have a lot of queer friends and first readers who make sure I don't mess up any characters. Q: When's the next GryphIns novel coming out? A: Some years, I spend a lot of my time fighting health insurance battles, and it slows me down. Pridelord (#8) is currently in line edits. It's twice as long as Eyrie and three times as long as Coldbright, so it's a pretty big book! It shouldn't be too much longer. You'll know it's just about time because you'll hear James Scott Spaid talk about narrating the audiobook. Q: How many books will there be in GryphIns? A: I'm famous for underestimating how many books it takes to finish a series. My other pen names all wrote short stories and standalone novels, so my proposal for GryphIns originally had five books. Jeff Brown is wrapping up the cover for Saberbeak (#9) and Nighthaunt (#10). If I end up needing one more book to finish, though, don't be too surprised.

Pat Coupons!

I am gonna add all of them in replies but for the intro I wanted the OG. The one I planned to make on a whim, and what started this pat YCH fire in my ko-fi messages.

The first one was of Zeph for @kvalenagle cuz I started reading (listening to) GryphIns books and have kinda been lowkey harassing them with random art here and there. Even before I started reading these tbh.

The background is supposed to hint towards the mountains and forests featured in the literature. uwu

All right so that first set of Klaxxi missions--the girls are bristling, for slightly different reasons. Vel is understandably pissy about being called “lesser species”; Levaden, very familiar with her own species’ history with the idea of “lesser species,” has just gone from “yeah definitely, there’s no such thing as an Always Chaotic Evil race, let’s go help the insurrection!” to “that thing I said before is still true but also, FUCK these guys and their specific coup”; Talet...has experience being conscripted as raw muscle, and knows what happens to such people once they are no longer necessary, and is looking for escape routes for when the blade falls.

First set of missions is pretty standard kill-em-all stuff, the trio acting as a trio; Talet and Levaden working their way through the hive with Vel spotting them. There’s a natural ebb and flow because they’re too deep in enemy territory, too much in the open, to leave their caster unguarded even if she is mounted on a war gryphon, so either Talet or Lev takes turns staying near her, acting as bodyguard.

It’s usually Levaden--they’re both good at the silent stalk, but Talet is a master and is also better at misdirection and herding pursuers where she wants them to go--you have to learn that skill to survive as a worgen behind the Wall. Lead them off, then lose them. Lev is watching, learning; and Talet is drawing mantid into her ambush range, which is also conveniently where Vel is.

A really cool thing in the Dread Wastes: There’s Sha leakage, just, everywhere. Obviously this is dangerous for all of them; but especially Levaden, too sensitive to shifts in the power of the earth. However...what this has created is a monochrome landscape of scarred black earth, interlaced with thick smoke and blinding, raw white light.

All Talet and Levaden have to do is freeze, black on black, and they can all but disappear on an open field in broad daylight. And this has created an environment in which Vel and Lightning, normally banned from stealth missions on account of being a bright white lion eagle bigger than a horse, is camouflaged. 

Velshada is 100% mobile in the Dread Wastes. She can bring Lightning within twenty feet of a target without anyone even noticing.

The three of them together are nothing short of an ever-mobile killzone.

the blinker. tha looker

Don't tell Kjorn or Zeph.

Not many people know this, but Shard and Younce hang out together on weekends and watch movies.