I hope you enjoy reading this sneak peek! Feel free to let me know in the comments of this blog post, if you are interested. That will help me a lot! 🙂
Something quite interesting (and upsetting) happened when I submitted the e-Book version of Space Grind: Robot Takeover! Despite the fact that the paperback copy is up for sale, KDP decided to BLOCK the e-Book version.
I’ve done what I can to reach out. I’ve already made a phone call and even sent an email. The KDP employee told me they should reach out in a few days. Hopefully, this issue gets resolved quickly. It’s really important to me that the digital version is available, too!
I will keep you guys updated on the situation.
Update (7-19-2023): Good news! The comic book’s e-Book version has finally passed the Kindle Content Inspection!! You can buy it now on Amazon 😀
The paperback version of Space Grind: Robot Takeover! is finally available for purchase on the Amazon website. I will submit the e-book version sometime today.
June 18th, 2023 — Finished a Front Cover, Back Cover, and blank journal page for an Upcoming Journal (Radmu/Radioactive themed)
June 18th, 2023 — Set up a manuscript for the 100-page journal
June 19th, 2023 — Officially submitted a manuscript to Kindle Direct Publishing for the Radioactive Journal
June 19th, 2023 — Finished page 26 of “Girls’ Night Out” (page 37 overall)
June 20th, 2023 — The new Radioactive Journal showed up on Amazon’s website 😀
June 20th, 2023 — Finished page 27 of “Girls’ Night Out” (page 38 overall)
June 21st, 2023 — Finished page 28 of “Girls’ Night Out” (page 39 overall)
June 23rd, 2023 — Finished page 29 of “Girls’ Night Out” (page 40 overall)
June 24th, 2023 — Finished page 30 of “Girls’ Night Out” (THE FINAL PAGE + page 41 overall)
June 24th, 2023 — Finished a bonus page for the “Art Gallery” (page 53 overall)
June 24th, 2023 — Edited the Table of Contents (page 3), because page 42 accidentally became a blank page. I’m going to utilize this blank page for FAN ART made by people who enjoy Space Grind 😀
June 26th, 2023 — Got started on rewriting a script for a future Space Grind comic called Space Grind: Hot and Heavy! I plan on that comic having two different comic stories. One of those two scripts already got completed last month.
Phew!! My eyes got a workout, reading all that progress! In fact, THE ENTIRETY OF SPACE GRIND: ROBOT TAKEOVER!‘s “Girls’ Night Out” comic (30 pages) GOT COMPLETED! WOOHOO!
Unfortunately, on June 14th, 2023, the letter “T” came off my keyboard. It is still usable, and hopefully it will remain usable for as long as I need it to.
For this month’s “sneak peek,” here is a timelapse video of one of this month’s pages getting drawn.
May 1st, 2023 — Began planning the script for the next comic book (this time, about Rachel the Vampire).
May 4th, 2023 — Began writing the exposition script for Rachel the Vampire, called “Rachel Explains.”
May 9th, 2023 — Finished writing the first draft of “Rachel Explains.”
May 13th, 2023 — Finished page 19 of the “Girls’ Night Out” comic (page 30 of the overall comic book)
May 13th, 2023 — Began recording myself drawing page 20 of the “Girls’ Night Out” comic for a YouTube Timelapse video
May 15th, 2023 — Finished page 20 of the “Girls’ Night Out” comic (page 31 of the overall comic book)
May 15th, 2023 — Uploaded a NEW Youtube video on the AlexZenDraw channel
May 16th, 2023 — Corrected something on page 24 of “Girls’ Night Out”
May 16th, 2023 — Backed up my Clip Studio Paint files for the comic book using Google Drive
May 16th, 2023 — Finished the Introductory page of the Robot Art Gallery (page 43 overall)
May 16th, 2023 — Finished page 21 of the “Girls’ Night Out” comic (page 32 of the overall comic book)
May 17th, 2023 — Downloaded a new font for a certain scene in “Girls’ Night Out,” and added the font credit on Page 56
May 17th, 2023 — Got started on the first page of “Rachel Explains” (the introductory comic for Rachel the Vampire)
May 18th – 25th, 2023 — Completed a BRAND NEW script for Space Grind, while on vacation in Florida. (36 pages)
May 29th, 2023 — Finished page 22 of the “Girls’ Night Out” comic (page 33 of the overall comic book)
I feel like a lot got done! Even while I was on vacation in Florida 😀
For this progress report’s sneak peek, I’m actually going to share a snippet of the new script that I completed in Florida. This is somewhere in the beginning of the script, so it’s not really spoiler material 😉
I just uploaded a timelapse video of me making a whole page for the next comic book, which is called Space Grind: Robot Takeover!
This comic book page was made for an upcoming comic of mine called ‘Space Grind: Robot Takeover!’ This particular story is called “Girls’ Night Out.” The tall green alien named “Trax” suspects that his robot might be secretly plotting to take over his planet. He decides to build a remote-controlled robot to spy on her and her friends. His 3 bumbling human workers help him with his “secret mission.”
This blog post doesn’t have much to do with my own stories, but I do feel that this is a perfect platform to talk about a new show called The Garden. You see, I am part of the launch team for an animated show called The Garden, and my job is to basically spread awareness about its existence.
Before I talk about the show, I wanna talk about its creator. His name is Butch Hartman. He produced 4 different animated TV shows on Nickelodeon, and has had a 20-year long career with the channel before leaving to pursue his vision for a new, family-friendly streaming service called Oaxis Entertainment. I personally grew up on 3 of his cartoons: The Fairly OddParents, Danny Phantom, and T.U.F.F. Puppy.
I have personally met Butch Hartman at his very first “Vision: Possible” conference in Illinois back in October 2018. The conference was specifically about making the dreams in your heart a reality. As an aspiring showrunner, I wanted to learn more about what I can do to make my dreams happen. This man taught me a lot! I remember even showing him some of my comic book work (before anything was even published), and he said I would be great at making comics! Little did I know I would publish my first comic book only a few years later. ❤ Words are powerful! Back in 2020, Butch Hartman and his wife both helped me with organizing my ideas for Space Grind, which now has a published comic book on Amazon, and another one on the way.
I had the honor to learn from not just Butch, but also three other Vision: Possible speakers: people-saavy Julieann Hartman(Butch’s wife), social-media-saavy Carly Hartman (Butch and Julieann’s first daughter, who will soon beCarly Conradwhen she gets married this month ❤ ), and business-saavy Nathaniel Spiers (a friend of the Hartmans who is also a web designer).
Alrighty! Now we can officially talk about The Garden…
The Garden is an animated cartoon for children (ages 3-10) that can be watched right now on PureFlix. It is a wholesome, adorable, and even humorous cartoon about “Leni the Lion” and “Lucy the Lamb.” It reverently talks about God and Scripture in a way that is engaging for children. Heck, I think even parents will appreciate the catchy little tunes the characters sing, making passages of Scripture memorable and fun!
As a Christian myself, who received Jesus about ten years ago, I am 100% on board with Butch Hartman’s vision!! It’s like another VeggieTales with its own unique, creative spin! I have watched two episodes myself, and I believe it beautifully teaches kids not only scripture, but how to have their very own relationship with the Lord. ❤ The characters Leni and Lucy have their own relatable flaws, while still being excellent role models for children to watch! They also refer to God as “Boss,” who is portrayed as a lovely rainbow. I feel like the rainbow is such a beautiful representation of God’s majesty and makes me think about His faithful promises. What stands out to me with “Boss” is His gentleness and compassion and understanding, just like the God I know in my life!
The Garden also has their very own app, which you can download onto your phone now! The app has some episodes, some games, and other engaging content that will not just entertain your little one, but also help them relate to God and befriend Him at such a young age. ❤
I really look forward to seeing this show will change lives. I truly believe this series will have that kind of an impact, especially on families. That’s all I have to say for now. I will write more on this cartoon in the future 🙂
I got a little bit done during the month of April. Not a ton, but I got at least a few pages done.
Accomplishments List
April 10th, 2023 — Emailed a YouTuber to potentially review my comic book Space Grind: House Havoc, in hopes of potentially getting more attention for the book.
April 11th, 2023 — Fixed a typo page 23 for both versions of Space Grind: House Havoc, and updated the paperback manuscript (I will eventually get around to editing the digital manuscript)
April 11th, 2023 — Fixed an accidentally left-behind swear word in the censored version of the manuscript (Space Grind: House Havoc: No Swearing Version)
April 15th, 2023 — Completed page 15 of “Girls’ Night Out.” (page 26)
April 17th, 2023 — Completed page 16 of “Girls’ Night Out.” (page 27)
April 19th, 2023 — Completed page 17 of “Girls’ Night Out.” (page 28)
April 20th, 2023 — Fixed a mistake on page 17 of “Girls’ Night Out.”
April 25th, 2023 — Completed page 18 of “Girls’ Night Out.” (page 29)
Unfortunately, I haven’t received any response from the person I emailed, but who knows. Maybe something like that will happen soon. Pray for me lol ❤
As usual, here’s a sneak peek of something that got done for the next comic book 🙂
Alex Zen Draw 