Unfortunately, Frontier was on its last legs at that time, so I shelved the project. A few years later, I had the idea of revamping her again. This time, I threw out the vampire hunter angle and cast her more in the light of a Lara Croft/Indiana Jones character.
Derrick Ferguson, a very good friend and a great author in his own right (if you haven’t read his Dillon or Fortune McCall books, then you need to correct that oversight right away), was who I first told this idea to. We had briefly talked of collaborating together on a project, and I thought this Elisa Hill story would be a great one to do, under the title of Mythworld.
He gave me some extremely great advice on the character. The whole idea of Elisa using ancient weaponry? That came from Derrick. The idea of Asami dressing in a pinstripe suit and fedora? That was also his contribution.
Mythworld was first planned as a comic, although Derrick wasn’t able to commit to it, so I took it on solo, writing a script for a first issue. I had briefly found an artist who was willing to work on it, although after some concept sketches, he stopped responding to emails and then vanished altogether. I briefly collaborated with another artist, but he became too busy and I shelved the idea indefinitely.
In 2010, I released my third book, Love & Bullets, under the PulpWork Press label. I felt the itch to do something more pulpish as New Pulp was just starting to emerge. I went back to the Mythworld notes and dusted them off, then began working on the first book.
There was a name change around this time (or possibly before, who can remember now?). Russ Anderson, another writer I’d known for years and who was also working with PWP, had his own book called Mythworld and he asked if I’d be willing to change the title to avoid confusion. I had no problem with that and then came up with the title of The Myth Hunter, which was far more perfectly suited to the character.
I published The Myth Hunter in the summer of 2011 and among the New Pulp community at least, it was pretty well-received. A lot of people really responded to the story, but more than that, to the characters. I felt like I was onto something special here.
Dragon Kings of the Orient followed about a year later. And then it was about three years before Curse of the Necronomicon, the third book came out. Since then, I’ve put out a new one every few months.
The series has gone through a lot of ups and downs. When I decided I wanted The Myth Hunter to be the name of the series and not just the first book, I had to go back and change the title to The Lost Continent.
Covers were another evolution of the series. The original covers I did for The Myth Hunter and Dragon Kings of the Orient weren’t bad, but they also weren’t connected in any way. I briefly worked with an artist who redid those covers and also did the first cover for Curse of the Necronomicon. But another problem with these covers is that the art style was a bit too comic bookish. And while they looked great, it was throwing off potential readers who thought it was a comic book series instead of a novella series.
At this point, I’d become a member of an online writing group and the people in that group have been nothing short of amazing. They gave me a ton of advice and as I developed new covers for the series, they provided endless amount of input and feedback. I have to give special mention and thanks to Shayne Rutherford, an incredible cover designer. She provided the basic template that I followed for The Lost Continent and Dragon Kings of the Orient and would also set the tone for the rest of the series. But by far her biggest contribution was the awesome logo for The Myth Hunter that you see at the top of every single one of these books. I was struggling for some sort of logo branding and she gave me the perfect one.
Sadly, no amount of great cover design can help a series that’s kind of difficult to define in the current market. What is this series? Pulp adventure? Sure, but that doesn’t really help the modern-day categorization. Action/adventure? Oh definitely, except that category is extremely broad. Mythology? Yeah, in a way, but not the way most people probably think of mythology books. Urban/contemporary fantasy? Maybe a bit, but again, those are very popular genres and this isn’t quite a fit for it.
Because the series is so difficult to really classify, that’s hampered marketing efforts. The lack of reviews on the series also doesn’t help. And without those reviews, marketing becomes much harder. That means lower overall sales for the series and as a writer trying to make a career, sometimes the bottom line has to take priority.
That’s what led me to make the decision in early 2016 that I would end the series with the sixth book. I’d already planned the fifth, Hammer of the Gods, but that didn’t feel like a good place to end the series. I needed an additional book to tie up some of the loose ends that had developed over the course of the series.
Atlantis Rising is this book. It brings back almost every character who appeared over the six titles and provides what I feel is a satisfactory conclusion to Elisa Hill’s story and provides plenty of callbacks to other titles in the series.
So what now? Well, I’ve got other series I’m working on. But as for Elisa Hill? That’s a very good question. I’ve thought of doing spin-offs, possibly a series centering on Asami.
And there’s always the possibility that Elisa Hill could return. After all, she wouldn’t be the first character brought back to life over these six titles. But whether or not that happens depends entirely on you.
If you’d like to see more stories about Elisa Hill, then show me that there’s enough demand. Review every book in the series, recommend them to your friends, or even go ahead and buy them copies.
The only way a book series can compete in today’s extremely competitive environment is if fans support it. Not only by buying the books, but also by reviewing and helping to promote. If Elisa Hill is going to rise again, then that’s what needs to happen with this series.
Thanks for the support.
Perry Constantine
August 2016
ALSO BY PERCIVAL CONSTANTINE
THE MYTH HUNTER
All the legends of the world have some element of truth to them. And to track down those legends, there are the myth hunters. Some, like Elisa Hill, are explorers, trying to learn more about the world. And some are soldiers of fortune, whose only goal is pro t and exploitation, no matter the risk.
INFERNUM
A shadowy, globe-spanning network of operatives run by the mysterious power broker known as Dante. They hold allegiance to no one, existing as rogues on the fringes of society. No matter the job, Infernum has an operative to execute it—provided you have the means to pay for it!
VANGUARD
The world has changed. A mysterious event altered the genetic structure of humanity, granting a small percentage of the population superhuman powers. A small team of these specials has been formed to deal with potential threats. Paragon—telekinetic powerhouse; Zenith—hyper-intelligent automaton; Shift—shape-changing teenager; Wraith—teleporting shadow warrior; Sharkskin—human/shark hybrid. Led by the armored Gunsmith, they are Vanguard!
LUTHER CROSS
Luther Cross has been through Hell—literally. Born of a mother he watched die, conceived as part of a demonic ritual, and raised by monks after being saved by a mysterious, murderous individual, Cross now makes a living through confidence schemes...and the death of demons.
Visit PercivalConstantine.com/books/ for an up-to-date list of all titles!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born and raised in the Chicagoland area, Percival Constantine grew up on a fairly consistent diet of superhero comics, action movies, video games, and TV shows. At the age of ten, he first began writing and has never really stopped.
Percival has been working in publishing since 2005 in various capacities—author, editor, formatter, letterer—and has written books, short stories, comics, and more. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Mass Media from Northeastern Illinois University and a Master of Arts in English and Screenwriting from Southern New Hampshire University. Currently, Percival lives in Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture,
where he works as a literature and writing instructor at the Minami Academy.
If you’d like to know more about Percival, you can find links to his social media accounts, his blog, and other works at his website, PercivalConstantine.com.
COPYRIGHT
ATLANTIS RISING
License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Percival Constantine
The Myth Hunter logo created by Shayne Ruthersford
Cover image © piolka | Depositphotos.com – Way to Atlantis
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Published by Percival Constantine
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