That took way longer than I thought it would but the actual publishing process with KDP was so easy, I felt like I was doing it wrong. Thus concludes my first attempt at an illustrated story!

About “Night Zoo”

Midnight at the Gate: Phantasy Night Zoo, Vol. I will be one of a dozen or more 50-ish page stories that follow two friends (Marc and Brahms) on their adventures in a magical garden.

The 1st Volume:

The narrator (Marc) doesn’t believe in magic or legends or any of that hogwash. Brahms (his bff) loves the stuff. Unfortunately, while Marc isn’t hesitant about expressing his likes and dislikes, Brahms is. Marc misinterprets Brahms’ genuine interest in his grandfather’s fairy tales as simply tolerance/kindness and unwittingly hurts some feelings (good job, dude).

For the first 2 years of college, Brahms puts his love of legends on the backburner (out of consideration for his friend) until an opportunity arises to see if the Night Zoo is real (which he takes).

Future Volumes:

Obviously, the Night Zoo is real. Marc ‘ll have to face that. Brahms will also have some explaining to do about why they’re there in the first place.

The wish at the end of vol. 1 is granted almost immediately, however it’s not the granted wish itself but the wish’s fallout that disturbs Marc.

When they lose their means of exiting the Garden, they have no choice but to hang out with the residents and quickly get caught up in some scary crap.

Friendship. Adventure. That’s the essence of the first mini arc.

Future Future Volumes:

Invited back by the Zookeeper, Marc and Brahms become regular visitors to the Garden. They all go on adventures, learn backstories, venture to other Gardens, etc etc. And then a nice opened-ended conclusion waits for them at the end. (I may paint it all again in prose one day.)

Some pics from along the way:

 

That was fun. (Now, time for more writing! YAAAAAAAAY!)