Meet Harry

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Cary Snowden

Harry enjoys the irony of being a bald pirate. He also enjoys a good wordplay with homophones because, unlike Red, Harry is very well read.

He often knows more than he lets on, and has a reputation as being somewhat of a walking encyclopedia. He spends his every spare minute reading any book he can find and has a sharp memory.

When the crew want to know about an animal they spot in the water, or about a star they see at night, they turn to Harry for the details and he rarely disappoints. He also knows a lot about how the ship works and what to do with the sails if they get caught in the weather, or knot.

Looming and gruff, Harry is not a pirate with whom you’ll want to trifle. He takes his job seriously and, despite his scrappy appearance, has an eye for detail and knows how to handle a knife. He also knows that his bookworm image softens his pirate reputation, so he practices looking mean and wears a scowl on his face for effect.

He may one day marry. He has a girlfriend and works aboard the ship to earn money and saves every penny so he can return to her and has plans to buy a small cottage near the sea. They are both certain to be merry for ever thereafter. Her name is (you guessed it) Mary.

How To Build A Pirate X-Ray Machine

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Cary Snowden

It’s not often that you need to look inside a sick pirate to see what may be the matter, but when you do, a Pirate X-Ray Machine is just what you’ll need.

Until today, I hadn’t ever considered one, but in a brainstorming session with illustrator Zach Clough I came up with the idea after mulling the comparative dearth of interactive possibilities on page 14 of our soon-to-be-released book app titled ‘The Day I Became A Pirate‘.

Page 14 has our sick pirate, Jerry (you’ll meet him later) lain on the beach where he is being attended to by The Boy. Under circumstances which shall not be divulged at this time, there is a need to see what is in the sick pirate’s stomach. Zach created a collection of items that are mentioned in the story, and I animated them in TaleSpring as a movie of sorts, scrolling through each item in sequence and leaving the page with only a single interactive action.

My first concept draft.

This would simply not do for a book app that has between four and eight interactive clickable actions on each page. Oh, no siree.

I decided to break up the action and make each item (in the pirate’s stomach) a separate action to explore and visualize. This certainly seemed much more fun but required a mechanism to allow the reader to control the action. Enter: The Pirate X-Ray Machine.

The first of its kind, I am certain.

Initially drafted by me as a scroll of pirate parchment with buttons for each x-ray item, I sent my idea to Zach as a draft illustration based on a combination of some items we already had in the story.

Pencil sketch as the idea began to take shape.

Zach wasn’t gelling with the idea, so we kept working it out. We tossed around a few ideas when suddenly Zach went silent for an extra few minutes during our Skype conversation. His next message indicated he was going to send me a text message, and only a few seconds later I received an image on my phone. Zach had penciled out a quick drawing of a pirate x-ray machine made of wood; perfect!

We talked through a few adjustments and it wasn’t long thereafter that I was working on the animation of a full-fledged pirate x-ray machine complete with working switch and some exciting sounds to go along with the action. The page is now fully animated and almost plays like a pirate game. It’s a lot of fun!

A final component of the Pirate X-Ray Machine

We are both pretty excited about our page 14; it has 10 interactive buttons and just over 100 animation elements making it one of our most active and exciting pages to date!

I’m really hoping everyone loves all the fun things we are doing with my pirate story. In the meantime, I’m having a great time building it and enjoy sharing the progress with my wife and children. The collaborative process has been very productive, and it’s been great working with an illustrator who has really jumped in with both feet to catch the vision and add to the story.

Zach is excited, too, and has been sneaking a few peaks to his children, also. We are both thrilled to be so near the finish line after over a year of work, planning and brainstorming.

More to come; stay tuned!

Oh, and if you haven’t yet, please Like our Facebook Page.

Thanks! —Cary Snowden

Redbeard (aka ‘Red’)

Posted on April 10, 2012 by Cary Snowden

Redbeard joined the crew as a deckhand many years ago. He has proven to be a high achiever with an eye on progress (the one without the patch).

As a deckhand he proved adept at raising the sails and was known for his bravery in scaling the ship. When a head rigging became stuck and someone had to climb out on a boom to loose it, Red (—as his mates call him), would walk out on the boom with the confidence of a tightrope walker. He also proved to be quite good in the galley…

Red was promoted to Chief Steward about a year ago when the former cook was caught substituting Alaskan pollock for fresh crab. The former cook was made to walk the plank, and Red has been feeding the crew, since.

With traditional Scottish temperament and the skills to best any man at almost any pirate game, Red has gained a reputation as a capable pirate. The fact that he is also one of the best chefs on the high seas makes him a valued member of the crew.

Captain Black has a high degree of respect for Red, and appreciates his unwavering loyalty. The Captain has relied upon him many times in tense situations, and Red has proven time and again that he is trustworthy, loyal, and helpful (though not always friendly, courteous, or kind).

He plays the pirate flute, too, but more on that later…

Red wears a heart tattoo on his arm in loving memory of his mother, who taught him how to cook and to strive always to work hard, respect others, and fight to win.

Illustration by Zach Clough

Captain Black

Posted on April 7, 2012 by Cary Snowden

According to his own self-proclaimed legend, Captain Black hails from ‘far Down Under‘. Although no clarifying back-story is offered, many think this is in reference to his early days as a pirate off the shores of Australia.

According to pirate legend, Captain Black terrified sailors on the high seas near and about Australia including the coastal areas of New Zealand and Tasmania. He was known to find port near Manly Beach in the earliest of days to treat his men to an ale or two before heading out to sea. Sometimes his ship would be at sea for many months at a time, so a break on The Corso was a welcomed treat for the crew.

Not tall in stature, Captain Black makes up for a lack of height with a threatening air about him, and a penchant for wielding his cutlass in the face of danger. Terrifying; yes, but always willing to give a man his due and to offer fair reward for a good deed done.

The Captain is the fearless leader of our band of pirates. He is a very capable seaman and has earned the respect and admiration of his crew. None dare cross him; he has been known to throw a pirate or two overboard when mutinous words have been spoken.

His reputation among pirates is that of a fierce, quick-acting captain who’s only loyalty is to The Pirate Ode. (…to be continued.)

The Day I Became A Pirate, is still on track to be available on iPad in Spring of 2012. We’ll keep you posted! Thanks for stopping by!

Illustration by Zach Clough

The Boy

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Cary Snowden

We are still sailing strong on the book and getting excited to be in the home stretch. As things will start to pick up more and more I wanted to take some time to introduce a few of our characters and give some behind-the-scenes insight into the inspiration for the characters and their part in the story.

I originally came up with this story while walking along the beach with my two sons. I have written a story for each of my four children and each has a prominent role in their own story.

This one I later designated for my youngest boy, Kaiyan, who to that point was the only of my four who did not have his own story.

The Boy in this story is a representation of Kaiyan as drawn by Zach Clough and based on some photos I sent his way for inspiration.

The character in the story, too, is much like Kaiyan; curious, brave, and always willing to try things others are not. Kaiyan is always looking for adventure, too, and was so engaged with this story when I told it the first time that it made us all laugh.

The Boy in our story is unnamed, and although he was inspired by my own son, I hope you can find a little of yourself in his character here.

Illustration by Zach Clough