The Graphic Novel
THE LAZARUS DEVICE will be 128 pages of full colour graphic novel - every panel composed of 3D-rendered awesome (like the images on this page).
In an alternate post-Victorian world on the brink of war, a mysterious woman struggles to break the chains of duty, before they smother her.
It's a steampunk adventure that takes place in 1911, in Manchester UK, and is a tale of fantastic science, thrilling action, cynical politics, deep secrets, naive love, nightmarish truth, and terrible betrayal.
I need your help to make it become a reality.
Who am I?
My name is Steve Turnbull and I'm a USA Today Bestselling author of over 30 novels in the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Steampunk genres. I've been writing professionally (in different fields including technical magazines and screenwriting) for nearly 40 years.
While still writing novels, I recently got interested in 3D rendering using the Daz3D software, and realised I could turn my old web series script The Lazarus Device into a graphic novel. The images you see on this page, and the sample page 2 at the bottom, shows what can be achieved.
If you already know my books you can check out the FAQs to find out where this story fits, but if you don't, an important question is whether I'm any good as a writer because you need to know whether what you're going to get is going to be worth reading.
I'm only as good as my reviews, and across all my books I average 4.3 stars out of 5. Here are some sample reviews, all for different books:
"What a book. A pure original plot and unique characters."
"Great books, but I want more! Thanks for a well thought out world, the books were fast paced without wasted words."
"I'm addicted. Steve is officially my favourite author!"
"Seamlessly incorporates history with fiction and fantasy. The only thing I would have liked better is to have the books longer!"
All those exclamation marks are genuine, in fact I cut a few out.
How long is it going to take?
The final projected size of the graphic novel is 128 pages, divided into five episodes.
I'm not a full-time writer, and I'll still be producing novels, so I have to be realistic about time scales. This is not going to be a short project and at one page per week minimum, that's over two years of work. It might be quicker since some pages will take less time but let's stick with that estimate.
However, since it is in five episodes, I will release the individual episodes as we go along. As well as having updates and bonus material throughout that time.
There will be times when I do more than a page per week, but I do hope to have the occasional holiday as well.
But Steve (you may ask), you've never done a campaign for any of your books before, why are you doing this now?
Because I hit a major problem...
The process of rendering 3D images requires a powerful computer but all I have is an old laptop which is great for writing books but can't manage The Lazarus Device.
I have tried using online render farms, which can do the job, but I live in an out-of-the-way part of the UK and, to be brutally honest, my Internet connectivity stinks. It's always slow but even worse, it vanishes completely for minutes several times a day.
The amount of data I need to upload to create a scene is typically 7GB. At my internet speed that's about 7 hours uploading, and in that time my Internet will die and I have to start all over again. I honestly tried to make this work. I have spent days (and nights) just trying to upload a single scene.
Occasionally it works, but mostly it doesn't.
I can't rely on it.
So here's the deal...
I would like you to help me buy a state-of-the-art render machine so that I can make The Lazarus Device a reality. And, in return, you get to see it first (plus any extras I might come up with as we go along).
At the very least, a PDF you can print out, or a print copy in soft/hard cover, and even ones signed by me.
The story is fully planned out. The only thing stopping it from progressing is the lack of 3D rendering. If I can't get a machine I can use, it can't happen.
The Render Machine
Let's look at the technical specs of the machine I need.
When it comes to using the Daz3D software, or any 3D rendering package, you need to max out on storage and power. Storage because the files tend to be very big, and power to make the rendering happen fast enough. I have to balance those features against overall cost (I could have chosen a machine that's over three times the cost of this one, but it wouldn't be three times faster).
Processor: Intel® i9, 10 Core
The number of cores indicates how much work the machine can do simultaneously. This is a beast of a processor and will handle the task well.
Memory (RAM): 32GB
This is the minimum to do what I want sensibly. As a rule the more RAM you have the better.
Storage: 4TB
As I mentioned, we need lots of storage because the files can be very big. This is good amount to start with.
Graphics card: 11GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti
This is the most important element because it's the unit that performs the 3D rendering and there are reasons why it needs to be this specific card. The Daz3D software uses "Iray" rendering, and that only works on an Nvidia card.
When it's doing the rendering the whole file is loaded onto the card, so the onboard memory needs to be as much as possible. Only the 2080 Ti has 11GB, earlier cards have less and are slower.
So those are the important parts of the package. There are other things like cooling, motherboard and the power supply but I won't list them here.
What will it look like when finished?
Every page is based on a 3x3 panel grid and will be full colour. This is what page 2 looks like.
If this is a story you'd like to hold in your hands and read. Choose your perk to help make it a reality.