She was immediately enthralled by the offer, and jumped on the chance to put her skills to the test.  Primarily an artist of physical talents, Rhianna wanted the opportunity to try a change of pace and try to work in the digital realm.

While you can see her finished art for the third book in its current form (as well as various pieces of concept art, including the charcoal sketches of some of the characters on this site), over a brief period of getting to know one another, we decided not to mix business with pleasure.  A great many things happened to coincide in our lives, and we just made sense more as a couple than as business partners.

That isn’t to say that Rhianna isn’t still involved in matters of Tellest.  She is the Alpha Reader, my muse, the First Lady of Tellest.  When I have something that doesn’t make sense, or needs some kind of tweak, she’s usually the person who steers me in the right direction.  She also lends her hand in art in a more reserved manner at this point.  She essentially creates concept pieces that go out to the cover artists, to try and preserve much of my original idea.

She may begin to morph into something further for the world of Tellest in time.  For now, we’re happy with the casual approach to business that we have, since it made way for a serious, happy relationship.

The post The Crew – The Alpha Reader appeared first on Tellest.

Nace (not his given name – nobody is that cool coming out of a womb) and I happened to meet when we worked at the same company, upon one of the festering blisters near Satan’s butthole.  There were very few positive experiences that I could take from that part of my life.  They were the dark years.  Among them, however, was the friendship I began to cultivate with Mr. Phlaux.

There are people who are not going to like my material, especially the first book, because it seems unwittingly juvenile.  I will openly admit that.  I still make some very freshman mistakes, but I’m sure that as you see my progression as a writer, you can bear witness to the careful fermenting that has taken place.  Now consider this: Nace was one of the very few lucky people who saw these books before they were edited into a coherent mass.  Before, they were just the scribbles of a madman.  He deciphered and cleaned them up, and now they sparkle, in their own way at least.

Nace is the editor of the Tellest books.  He polishes the would-be turd that I could willingly place before you, and he shines it up so nice that you think you’re looking at a gem.  He challenges me when my ideas are good, and he rips into me when my ideas are stupid.

In recent months though, he’s evolved to being something more for Tellest.  He’s worked on making the presentation all the more magical.  He’s made communication with the outside world more fun and added better ideas.  Most surprisingly, he’s added to the saga.  His story, Becoming a Man is ready to hit the virtual shelves any day now.  The only thing we’re waiting for is a cover and a little something extra for front matter.

One thing is for sure.  Tellest would be a much darker place if it wasn’t for the light Nace shines on it.

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At this point, I like to think of Kevin as a sort of modular consultant.  He’s the first person I typically go to when I have an idea that I want to run with.  When it comes to Steel Tip, and his past, I value Kevin’s opinion most of all.

When he’s not working on Tellest related material, or spending quality time with his girlfriend and son (aka Family Adventure Time), Kevin is leisurely pursuing other interesting ventures.  He’s headed a variety of different podcasts, including The Zombcast, OUaT and Happy Hour.  He’s also tried his own hand at writing, dipping into several different projects, including novels of his own, movie scripts and a web series.  A self-professed lover of Kevin Smith, comic books, and The Batman (I’m sure he would cuddle with either if given the option, and probably has cuddled with his comics), he’s got just the right amount of nerdy to press Tellest forward in interesting ways.

The post The Crew – The Sidekick appeared first on Tellest.

I’ve mentioned before that the world is getting bigger.  As such, we’re going to start to prove that in September.  The first story that was not written by me will be published.  We’ll also, hopefully, start to see some more content that I’d like to call Guest Wednesdays.  You might get a blog, or you might get an encyclopedia entry, but I want Tellest to be a consistently growing place (and website).

Over the next few weeks or so, I’d like to introduce you to the team members that I’ve had the privilege to work alongside over these past three years.  Today though, I’ll tell you a little bit more about me.

Hey, I’m Michael DeAngelo, and I’ve got more ambition than I know what to do with.  When I was seven or eight years old, I determined right then and there that I wanted to be a “software engineer” – that was my pretentious way of saying that I wanted to make videogames.  I’ve always created worlds in my head or on paper.  I remember going through school with massive pads of graph paper and making labyrinths for RPGs that never saw the light of day.  I created sprawling game worlds that never really took off because I instantly gravitated to the next thing.

It never occurred to me that writing was something that I could ever be good at.  Even if you’re one of the people who think that my last statement might be true, the Tellest series has grown to be something that I can’t leave behind.  I’ve seen tons of people try their hands at penning a novel – sometimes it’s because they want to try and get an unexpected paycheck.  Sometimes it’s because they’re bored.  Ultimately, if and when sales are poor or reviews are worse, there is a part of them that burns up and cracks, blowing away like ashes on the cherry of a cigarette.

For me, the Tellest books are almost like people I’ve met.  I like to think of the novels that I’ve written (or am in the process of writing) as stories that have already been told, but only to me.  It’s my duty to tell these tales, even if only a handful of people enjoy reading them.

Some of the things I’d like to do with the Tellest books include, but are not limited to, an audiobook, a graphic novel, a slew of videogames, and a foothold in Japan (Tellest as an anime? Come on.  That would rock!).

Over the next few months, you might find a lot of a new content on this website, and releasing on Amazon.  That’s because, though I’ve been doing this for a long while, every day I become more enthralled by this world.  Every new idea that crosses my mind makes me that much more excited to be adding to the Tellest universe.

Be on the lookout for the profiles of the other Tellest team members in the near future.  I work with a great team, and I will be proud to introduce them to you.

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