Journey to the Middle Kingdom set for October 8th on Kickstarter!
Journey to the Middle Kingdom is my next project and I am very excited for it! The story basically goes like this: Three young kids are sent back in time to ancient China to take part in Chinese fairy tales to make sure they happen the way they should. To aid them in their journey, the Jade Emperor of Chinese heaven grants them three magic calligraphy brushes. Whenever someone writes a Chinese character with the calligraphy brush, whatever you write, becomes real.
I got the idea back when I was studying Chinese and I used to imagine the characters becoming real and jumping off the page. From there, I simply added brushes. The idea to use Chinese fairy tales as the backdrop came from the face I love fantasy stories in general from any country, but I especially like Chinese ones, so the two seemed to meld together perfectly.
The first story arc, which I plan to take 6-8 books if my outline holds, will be based on the "Legend of the White Snake Maiden" or "Bai She Zhuan" in Chinese. The tale is about a White snake demon who falls in love with a mortal man named "Xu Xian." Their love is forbidden, but heaven remains silent. Eventually, a Buddhist monk named Fa Hai captures the White Snake Maiden in a tower and breaks up the two lovers forever. Eventually, the White snake maiden is freed by her best friend, the Green snake maiden.
Of course I'm going to have my own unique twist to the tale itself, so you'll have to see how it all turns out. I'm using Kickstarter to help me with the artist fees and printing the book. I've got a lot of nice perks for anyone who wants to help make this project a reality, including Kickstarter ONLY artwork, T-shirts, a digital copy of the book, and even your own calligraphy brush (magic not included). It all gets started October 8th! It's going to be one heck of a ride. If you want to stay posted on updates, visit the "Journey to the Middle Kingdom" Facebook page or website.
Website: www.journeytothemiddlekingdom.com
Twitter: @yithril
