D is for Dragon

D is for Dragon
Available Now at Lulu.com

Welcome to the Hearthside

The Hearthside is a blog for the writings of Nathaniel Hart. Check out the sample stories to the right. Check Below for updates on appearances, readings, and current work.

16 April 2016

Friday Art Update: A Word on Kobolds

Friday was Art Update Day for my Kickstarter project. Here is a page in the Inked stage, "K is for Kobold,"You can click on the image to view it at full size and get a real idea of the detail.


Kobolds are fairies or sprites from Germanic myth part of a long line of horrid little monsters that haunt mines or caves like Knockers, goblins, etc. People would sometimes carve effigies of them or practice other strange little rituals to ward them away or appease them so they wouldn't create mischief. Thinking of how frightening a mine or cave would be in pre-industrial times (some how more dangerous than modern ones) and also imagining how much of human physiology would be a mystery too its easy to see why someone would obsess over magic or curses emanating from "something else."

On a more relevant note: Kobolds are one of the weakest monsters in Dungeons and Dragons meaning your characters are likely to face them when just starting out. Kids being kids, most games of D&D never really made it more than a session or two so it seemed like every time you played you always ran into these little bastards. Now, this isn't just a D&D thing, Kobolds are a classical folkloric monster. Being in the public domain means that the concept gets reused and reinterpreted by many different authors, from Neil Gaiman's American Gods, to Siegfried Wagner's operas, to World of Warcraft.
Noah had his own idea for presenting these classic little fiends. He has really outdone himself with the realization of these monsters. They are malicious, but cute, threatening, but whimsical. I could not be happier with how they look.

You can find out more about our Kickstarter Project for "D is for Dragon" at Kickstarter.com or by following one of the links below from previous posts.







11 April 2016

D is for Dragon Kickstarter launches!



Today is a big day, the launch of my first Kickstarter campaign!



The project is a collaboration with artist Noah Latz. It's a children's picture book called D Is For Dragon and with your help we can make it a reality. You can watch our launch video at the link above. The art for D Is For Dragon is more than a third done, but publishing is an expensive business, if enough people kick in we can afford to print the books in bulk and make what would be a vanity project into something professional and high quality.

But I'm not asking for donations, join our Kickstarter and you can get a copy of the book, a T-shirt, or even be part of the art! If the Campaign goes well enough I may even be able to produce additional titles and make this into a whole fantasy series! Check out my Kickstarter page for more at the link:


D is for Dragon Kickstarter

Children's literature is something I have always loved, especially the aspect of rhyme. A good rhyme to me has such power to make me love a piece while a false one, or just a simple choice, can likewise make me hate it. I am not, by choice, a poet but I feel I do stumble into poetry accidentally. (Yes, I know that I have been writing and sharing a novel about a poet including large segments of a fictionalized poetry meter, along with historic sources, but bear with me here.)
Poetry is something special that I have never quite felt accustomed to. One often hears that there are no rules to it but, to quote Niel Gaimen "there are thousands, and they are changing all the time." The fields of meter and flow are something I can never seem to suss.
Why poets often break,
one sentence in to two or more is,
beyond my understanding; especially if it has semicolons.

But rhyme and syllable I can hack well enough. Being a father I have come to realize just how big an effect a book can have on a small child and how big an effect they had on my own writing style. Re-reading all the classics from my childhood and seeing them enchant my daughter has been a true gift and one I hope to continue to savor for years to come. To it, D is for Dragon is my own attempt to make something like them while staying true to both my nerd heritage and the beauty of Noah's art. You should check it out, I think it is something truly special.