Hazardous Tales #4 Cover and News!

Holy smokes! I finished it!

Last night I finished the fourth Hazardous Tales book. Treaties, Trenches, Mood and Blood is the title. It covers the full length of WWI. This was the hardest Hazardous Tales book to complete. It is dense, dense, dense--so much information.

I think it is probably the least funny, but the most awesome book in the series so far. It'll be out in May, you'll have to tell me what you think. It can actually be pre-ordered at some online booksellers right now. 

Hazardous NYC all this weekend!

Bergen Street Comics this weekend!

Southern Festival of Books, Saturday Oct.12

Find Your Next Book! (and find the Donner Dinner Party!)

Superstar librarian Betsy Bird and infographic site noodle have teamed up to create this cool info graphic--FIND YOUR NEXT BOOK.

There are some great books on this list. I haven't read them all, but I can certainly vouch for Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood and Co. That's the audiobook currently playing in the studio. Me and the kids are LOVING it--SO SCARY!

Brought to you by: Noodle.org

Baltimore Book Festival. this weekend!

I forgot to mention last post--along with the deadline dungeon, there is also a lot of touring going on in the next few weeks. Baltimore, Nashville, NYC, and a few events in my home state of Utah. I'll keep you posted on when they are as they approach. Up first, Baltimore.

I'll be drawing portraits again this year, so if you see me at the festival, come and get your likeness drawn!

The Deadline Dungeon

Boy, oh boy. You guys, I am in tight, tight deadline mode. The poor blog has been flat out forgotten for nearly two months now!

It's busy at the Station! This coming spring will see an all new Hazardous Tales book about WWI--not only that, but you'll be getting a second serving of the Hangman and co. in a 20-page mini-story also being published next year. The details on the mini-story are still TOP SECRET, but it'll be very cool.

So hang in there. I only have a few weeks left to finish this crazy stuff, then we'll get back in the posting groove.

Work In Progress

Just poking my head above ground for a minute. This blogging-free month has been a busy month for Hazardous Tales #4. Here's a sample of one 2-page spread in progress:

If all goes as planned, this book will be out next spring.

How is everyone liking DONNER DINNER PARTY? Do me a favor and post your reviews on your favorite review-posting locations--even if it's just a hand-written note on your fridge!

Hap-Hap-Happy Birthday!

Can you name everyone in this party?

Nathan Hale's HAZARDOUS TALES is now one year old! Thanks to fans, bookstore owners, librarians, teachers, and especially you--the reader--it's been a great year!

We're going to celebrate the best way we can--which is working hard on the next book. In fact, the next book is taking so much work, we're taking a break from the regular weekly posts you've come to expect here at hazardoustales.com. Don't worry, we'll be back with regular Monday posts in September!

If you are new to the series, take a look back at the site's archives. There are loads of great posts, Historical Hats, This Week in History, Hazardous Holidays and a few mini stories. Take a look! And come back in September for more.

Thanks, and have a great August!

(this is the post over at the hazardoustales.com blog) I may have a few odds and ends to post here at the Station through August, but mostly, it's book 4 crunch time. Yikes.

Last Preview, First Review!

One last preview of Donner Dinner Party, before it comes out next month. This is from the back of the book. Every member of the Donner Party is here. The darkened squares are the ones who didn't make it. Follow the key at the top to find out how they died.

Yesterday, we got our first review for DONNER DINNER PARTY, care of the San Francisco Chronicle!

Donner Dinner Party By Nathan Hale
(Amulet; 130 pages; $12.95; ages 8-up)

Heading up to Tahoe on Interstate 80? A tidy graphic novel recounts the mess at the summit in the winter of 1846-47. Quick summary: Things go from bad to worse for a wagon train headed from Illinois to California, and there is nothing left to eat but each other. The narrator is Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale, who foresees another gruesome chapter in American history right before the British hang him in 1776. (With the same name as the real-life author, he ties together the "Hazardous Tales" series.) Although it's based on somber truths, irreverence rules with Mad magazine edge and snarky asides. Still, the main themes are intact: arduous journey, bad choices, hubris, hunger, cold and an infamous end.

Susan Faust is a librarian at San Francisco's Katherine Delmar Burke School. E-mail: books@sfchronicle.com

Diggy is the new Taco

Hey gang,

The world has landed on me this month. I have a positively crushing deadline with Hazardous Tales #4, and a few new things have been added to the stack. One you'll find out about this week, the other (and it's very cool) will be announced later this year.

In any case, pardon the delays. We'll get back on track ASAP.

Donner Dinner Party Ad 2

We're so close! It's almost out! I've had a few early readers say it's the best Hazardous Tales yet--can't wait to see what others think.

Hazardous Tales book 4 banner

Boy, oh boy. It's been a busy couple of weeks. Busy weeks lead to spotty posts. I'm deep in crunch time for Hazardous Tales #4--that's the WWI one. 

This week we've been working on the cover. Each Hazardous Tales book has a different set of flags on the mast head. When you are doing a WORLD war, you can't just have two flags--you need a whole bunch. Here we have the Allied Powers on one side (US, Russia, France, and UK) and the Central Powers on the other (Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Germany). In all fairness, the US flag should be the one in the back, they didn't join in until the end, but we always have the stars and stripes up front on the cover, so it'll have to stand as is.

The pacing on DIGGY SHARK must seem positively GLACIAL. Picture books are a fast read, when you chop them down to a page a day it gets slooooooooow. Already in this post there have been three times as many words as there are in the entire DIGGY SHARK story.

Diggy and co. will be back tomorrow (hopefully).

DONNER DINNER PARTY sample page: "Make room for Grandma!"

Hey gang, only a few more weeks until NATHAN HALE'S HAZARDOUS TALES: DONNER DINNER PARTY launches. Here's a sneaky peek at page 10!

Diggy Shark 13

Diggy Shark 12

Diggy Shark 11

Sorry for the hiccup in posting. We're back to the epic tale that is Diggy Shark.

DONNER DINNER PARTY--the advertisement!

We're just a few weeks away from the launch of DONNER DINNER PARTY! Here's a little advertisement we worked up. It's in the style of the old late 70s-early 80s magazine page ads.

The kicker, that kid is only on page 20!

Summer Break!

Hey gang, taking a summer break. Be back next week. Enjoy the holiday.

Hazardous Monday: the PICKLEHAUBE!

Joining This Hazardous Week and Hazardous Holidays, we have a new feature on the Hazardous Tales blog: Hats of History! The Provost is running the show on this one and he's very excited about these hats!

Diggy Shark 10

Diggy Shark 9

Diggy Shark 8

Diggy Shark 7

Hazardous Monday: Studio Tour

Gaps!

Sorry for the gaps in the posting schedule, everyone. This week's been raining deadlines!

Diggy Shark 6

Diggy Shark 5

EDIT: Early morning readers saw a slightly different wording here--late night grammar was no good. It has now been fixed.

This little shipwreck illustration was done months ago while I was writing this story.

Hazardous Monday! Donner Dinner Party is here!

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Donner Dinner Party is almost here! Look I even have a copy!

We've got a shiny new sticker on this cover--"A Pioneer Story," newer editions of One dead Spy and Big Bad Ironclad! also have stickers. I haven't seen them yet, if you see one with a sticker, let me know!

Say hello to the new and (slightly improved) Provost action minifigure, and--for the very first time, the Nathan Hale and Hangman minifigures! So exciting!

Diggy Shark 4

Now you've met the three main characters. Next week starts their adventure!

Have a good weekend!

Diggy Shark 3

Diggy Shark 2

"GLUG CHUG VROOM Here comes Diggy Shark."

How's that for an opening line?

Pretty solid if you ask me.

NEW STORY! Diggy Shark 1

One of my favorite things about blogging is the freedom. One day you can finish a horror story about tacos, the next day, you can post a bright, cheerful story about a shark in an excavator.

Without further ado, I present DIGGY SHARK! (Bring in the toddlers! I promise no gruesome twists, only light-hearted, submersible fun!)

This is a shorty. Picture book length. Here we go!

Hazardous Monday, High Voltage!

Boy, oh boy. Nothing but nasty twist endings around here lately.

Tomorrow starts a brand new story. Short and sweet. Time for something light.

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-30

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-29

The Taco story ends tomorrow! A special SATURDAY post. I've already created and posted the final page, it goes live at midnight.

PS: Space Station Nathan and its creator IN NO WAY endorses arson or the burning down of Taco Bells.

Taco Hell Drive Thru, part 4-28

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-27

Hazardous Monday! The Lost pages of Scheherazade

One of the upcoming Hazardous Tales books was a bit too long--too much info to fit into our 128-page format. I had written a long rambling prologue to set up the hanging/storytelling background of the series. We cut it. 

Here, just for fun, are the two first pages of this lost introduction. Someday, we might have a slimmer story with room for a big introduction--then who knows, these pages might see print after all. But for now, the only place you'll see them is right here! Enjoy!

Taco Hell Drive Thru, P4-26

This probably looks like the the final page, but it isn't--there are three more pages (maybe four.) Have a good weekend!

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-25

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-24

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-23

Hazardous Monday, Memorial Day (Hangman version)

The Correction Baby is totally going to lose it over this one.

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-22

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-21

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-20

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-19

Hazardous TRAILS Monday

Look! It's a brand new Hazardous Tales poster! Click on the image to get a larger, easier to read view.

Librarians who go to next month's ALA convention will be able to get this poster at the Amulet booth. I'm very excited about this. I've had two books get posters before, my first book, THE DEVIL YOU KNOW, and RAPUNZEL'S REVENGE. Both of those books have had good luck, so hopefully this poster will be a good luck charm for DONNER DINNER PARTY.

I hadn't ever studied the Pony Express before--wow! There are a lot of great stories there. Check out a book on the Pony Express next time you visit your library, you won't be dissappointed!

Taco Hell Drive Thru, Part 4-18

Taco Hell, Part 4-17