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Thanks again, and I’ll see you in the next book!
NOTES ON THE TEXT
This book was a very long time coming. It first began back around 2005 or so. I was developing a few different concepts to pitch to comic book publishers and there was one artist who approached me about working on something together. I didn't feel his style was right for the concept I was developing, but I loved his art. It was very anime-inspired, and that made me think of the Japanese role-playing games I used to love playing in my teenage years, like Final Fantasy VII and Xenogears. Using them as inspiration, I came up with the idea of a group of sky pirates who find themselves thrown into a battle for the fate of the world.
The artist (whose name I can't remember) did some initial designs of Zarim and Ekala but then had to back out of the project. I shopped it around to several other artists, while still developing the backstory for the world and the various characters who would inhabit this world.
Then around 2007, I was contacted by an artist named Frank Jensen. His style was quite different from what I was after, as I wanted something with a manga/anime influence.
I told him his art was great, but I didn't feel like this concept would shoot him. Frank, however, wasn't satisfied with that answer. He offered to do some character sketches and said that if after I've seen them I still didn't think he was a good fit, then he'd let me be. I had nothing to lose, so I said yes.
Frank's designs were exactly what I pictured. He also provided a lot of assistance in pointing out things that worked and didn't work in the story and was instrumental in helping me develop the concept from a series of scattered ideas into something solid.
Shortly after I moved to Japan in 2008, Frank and I still kept in touch, but his email responses became less and less frequent, and then there were no responses. I tried to send out a few messages every few months or so, but never received any word.
I put SoulQuest on the back-burner after that until 2010 when a friend named Ian Mileham began a website for original, serialized fiction. I resurrected the crew of the Excalibur and planned to start writing it at Revenance as a serialized novel. I only managed to get two chapters finished (only one of which was published) before Ian unfortunately had to close the site due to real-world commitments.
From there, it was back in the drawer. I worked on other projects, but when I hit a writing drought in 2012, I took
another look at this project. Trusty notebook in hand, I sketched out a rough outline for the novel. And then I dove back in, picking up from where I left off. From November of 2012 until March of 2013, I just kept plugging away at it, and it kept getting longer and longer. Anyone who would listen at that time can attest to the frustration I was going through at the book continually growing past my initial expectations and how frustrated I had become with it.
Finally it was completed and I sent it off to Joel Jenkins, who did his usual spectacular job as an editor. Be sure to look at his work over at joeljenkins.net. And the spectacular cover comes courtesy of Brad Horton, an incredible artist and I encourage everyone to view and buy some of his art over at bradhortonart.com.
In addition to those two, I also have to thank Frank Jensen for all his contributions to this. Also Ian Mileham, for giving me a venue to revisit the story with Revenance, albeit shortly. I'd also like to thank everyone who gave me words of support and encouragement during a period when I was extremely frustrated and considering giving up writing for good. These people include, but are certainly not limited to, Derrick Ferguson, Tommy Hancock, Ron Fortier, C. William Russette, and many, many more.
I'd also like to thank my parents, Percy and Helen, for
their continued encouragement of my writing, from when I was ten years old and scribbling in notebooks up until the publication of this book and, hopefully, for years to come. And of course, I have to thank my wonderful girlfriend Azusa, who is my biggest fan and supportive not only of my writing, but also puts up with all my geekiness with a smile.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Percival Constantine is proud to be part of the New Pulp movement as an author, editor, and book formatter. Born and raised in the Chicago area, Percival has a Bachelor of Arts in English and Mass Media from Northeastern Illinois University and currently lives in Japan’s Kagoshima prefecture, where he also works as a literature and writing instructor. His first book, Fallen, was published in 2007 and he has since written a number of other works for PulpWork Press, Pro Se Productions, Airship 27, and others. He’s perhaps most well-known for two of his pulp series, Infernum and The Myth Hunter. View all of Percival’s books here.
Percival is also a contributor for WhatCulture and GaijinPot, as well as the Regional Partner for Kagoshima at JapanTravel.
You can connect with Percival on Twitter at @PerConstantine, subscribe to his Facebook page, or follow him on Goodreads. His website is PercivalConstantine.com.
Percival also hosts The Exploding Typewriter: Pulp Writers on Writing Pulp, a podcast featuring various New Pulp creators discussing their craft. He also co-hosts The Geek Screen podcast with John Bracich, where the two comment on movie and TV adaptations of comic books.
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